Its been a good four years for Nick Harriman and Alfie Granger-Howell, the two constituents of UK based Dusky. Since their first release in 2011, the duo have kept a constant cycle of evolution in their sound to drive a wave of fresh new influence into the UK underground music culture, which has seen a new generation of producers to flourish.

 

2014 marked the year where the duo started their record label project 17 Steps, continuing their evolution and  revealing to us another side of the Dusky music universe. Coming from a producers point of view, starting your own record label and curating its sound is a rather special moment. It’s something that I imagine a lot of producers think about. Timing the launch of your label is critical however, but I think Dusky have pulled off the timing perfectly as they have now firmly implanted themselves as established artists in the global music industry and provided a firm foundation to take their journey to the next level.

 

Ahead of their shows at the upcoming Listen Out festival and Melbourne side show at Brown Alley for Smalltown, I shot the duo some questions to explore their thoughts on running a record label and some healthy tips for their fellow producers.

 

 

FS: Dusky has been drawn on by and influenced so many producers, especially a younger generation of producers. What does it feel like to see so many people drawn on works that you’ve done?

 

A: It’s great, we’re honoured that we’ve managed to inspire people in that way and it’s a great feeling to know we’ve influenced others.

 

 

FS: Do you remember a time where you heard something similar to one of your own tracks that it phased you out for a moment?

 

N: Ha, yeah a while ago there was one track that was a very close rip off of our track ‘Nobody Else’. We pointed it out to the artists involved and they took it down from Beatport and so on and erased all trace of it on the internet, so they must have felt guilty about it!

 

 

FS: It takes time and persistence before you can get a track to start sounding like its at a level of quality for release. How would you state the importance of this time and how hard can it be when the urge to be known in the music community comes up?

 

A: I think people don’t realise how long the majority of producers spend honing their craft before they reach a level of proficiency that warrants actually releasing music. For example, I was lucky enough to start using Logic as a kid, but that meant it was maybe 13 or 14 years of me making music almost every day before I actually felt ready to be part of a project that released music. People that really persevere with music tend to make it in the industry eventually though, so persistence is key.

 

 

FS: Why do you think producers put out music at an early stage of their production career? Would you or would you not agree that it may have something to do with the fast paced nature of the internet (where many go to launch music)?

 

N: I guess people have an inflated view of their own skills and the value of their music. It makes sense for people to want to put music on soundcloud or similar, it’s a great tool for sending music to your peers and getting feedback, but there’s no need to put music out on a label unless you’re absolutely certain it’s good enough that lots of people will buy it.  It’s just a waste of time and effort otherwise, and clogs up the download sites with crap.

 

 

FS: After having started your own label, has it been a wave of relaxation in terms of being able to curate a sound? What are some challenges you’ve faced with curating 17 Steps?

 

A: The creative freedom has been great, it’s been awesome being to put out what we want, and it’s been amazing to be able to put out music as soon as it’s ready too rather than wait to fit into other label’s release schedules. To be honest we haven’t had any challenges yet, we’ve been lucky enough that it’s been a very smooth process so far.

 

 

FS: Tracks by Christian Piers, such as “Offf” and “Beat Wiser” on 17 Steps stand out to me in context to the Dusky sound, yet compliment each other on the same label. What is it about these tracks which got under your skin?

 

N: It’s hard to be specific, but we just really liked the vibe of them, they feel very current but at the same time sound like classic club tools that will be played for a long time. They work really well in our sets as well, so it felt natural to put them out there.

 

 

FS: Releases by Velvit take a more smooth approach compared to harder Christian Piers. How would you comment on the variation of sound

 

A: Again it’s hard to put these things into words, but both represent different sides of our tastes, and in this case I’d say both represent different sides of our DJ sets too, the Velvit tracks are more like what we would play in the deeper stages of an extended set, whereas tracks like “Offf” are more the kind of tracks we’d play at a peak point in the night or the set.

 

 

FS: Expanding on the last question, what is the process of A&R that you undergo and what is the concept that you are trying to bring with 17 Steps?

 

N: We’re open to releasing anything if we like it and it’s either something we might like to play in a DJ set, or listen to at home. We want it to be a platform for cutting edge music we really believe in that has a strong sense of identity.

 

 

FS: What are some tips for producers who want to submit music to a record label and what is a big no-no to avoid?

 

A: Label everything clearly and keep things simple in the blurb. Don’t expect every label to listen to every demo either, it’s hard to keep up with a lot of the time. Keep the faith and trust that if your music good enough someone will pick up on it eventually.

 

 

FS: Is there something in the music industry that you steer clear of? Furthermore, what is something about the nature of the music industry that producers should be aware of?

 

N: There’s not much we steer clear of in the industry to be honest, you kind of have to accept all the positives and negatives together as you can’t really pick and choose specific aspects of it. It is what it is. It can be a fickle industry at times, and very hard to make money from, but it’s filled with great people too.

 

Now that Dusky have their presence in the global music scene, they have solid ground to expand upon into the years to come and shall be interesting seeing the duo’s next stage of evolution.

 

By Fergus Sweetland

 

Melbourne side show:
Thursday 1st October 2015 at Brown Alley

Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1629133530692367/

 

Listen Out:

Melbourne: Saturday 26th September 2015

Perth: Sunday 27th September 2015

Sydney: Saturday 3rd October 2015

Brisbane: Sunday 4th October 2015

Event: http://www.listenout.com.au/