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Music

Zomby Wants You To Get Smashed Out of Your Mind To His New Music

The British producer opens up about his creative process: "Sometimes it's not that deep."

Depending who you ask, Zomby is a masked genius, a modern Sid Vicious, public enemy #1, and a million other hot takes. Let's call him what he is, though: one of the most distinctive sounding producers of his generation. Over the past decade, he's developed an instantly recognizable sonic footprint; his drums knock and his synths radiate a corrosive tang, but he always leaves room for the odd elegiac melody to sneak into the mix. It's a signature that's allowed him to outlast most of his naysayers and copycats, even as he's sonically leap-frogged from dubstep to jungle to house and beyond. Love him or hate him, you can't deny that he has a sound and perspective all his own. Can your favorite trend-juggling SoundCloud warrior say the same?

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After a string of releases on Hyperdub and 4AD, Zomby's finally settled in at XL, which has long provided a home for cutting-edge British dance music. Last month, he released his two Let's Jam!! EPs through the label. They contain ripping acid-house ("Acid Surf"), along with some more idiosyncratic material; "Neon," for example, sounds like a series of echoes resonating from a geometrically implausible cave.

Today, XL releases a label compilation, XL Chapter VI, which features a new Zomby cut called "Slime." The most recent edition of the series, Chapter V, came out in 1995. To celebrate, the label is throwing a party in London tonight with Zomby, Mumdance, Special Request, and others. Get info on the party here, stream the compilation on a platform of your choosing, and check out our interview with the man himself below. We spoke about aliens, collaborating with Wiley, and how he keeps his music sounding fresh.

You left NYC about a year ago—What's it been like being back in London? What have you been up to?

It's been great, really. I mean, obviously I was sad to leave New York, but I could've just flown back. I guess NYC isn't going anywhere soon, but I was starting to feel a loss of inspiration at times, you know. Maybe life was overtaking my music, and that's not really happening for me, so being back in London's balanced me again. I love both cities just as much.

What led to you signing with XL? What kind of support do you get from them?

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I guess we've been in touch for a while now, and the time just seemed right. To debut with Let's Jam!! was nice for me, because the obvious move would've been to just smash out a hardcore album and reference all of XL's history, and my own with a love of hardcore and jungle. But looking forward is just as important, so to open with a fresh body of work was great. I mean, "Neon" is one of the more experimental tracks I've written, so for XL to back it for me meant a lot.

What's your favorite XL release ever?

Man, that's a difficult question. Of all the great labels, XL is probably the hardest for me to choose a single record from. Anything from SL2 to Radiohead or The Prodigy. Boy In Da Corner to Treddin On Thin Ice, or even just a single from Jai Paul or a classic album from Jonny L I used to live off in my early days. I could go on all day.

What's your favorite purchase of the year?

Musically probably Syro, or 2814's Birth Of A New Day. Maybe [Future's] Dirty Sprite 2 or this super pineapple sour I had mid-summer too.

Sometimes it just has to be music on a record for you to dance to.

What was inspiring you while you were making the Let's Jam!! EPs? How long have you been working on it?

I guess around a year ago I started to fill a new small studio with new gear and then get to work assembling my old apparatus around it until I felt comfortable. I had the concept for "Surf" for a long time, though. I'm fascinated with frequency patterns and sound waves in perspective against what's actually heard. So when, for instance, I saw waves crash on an oscilloscope, to me that made perfect sense. Also, "Surfboard"—shout to Beyonce.

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When you start making a track, what component comes first?

I've usually got the concept and frame in my mind, and I'll execute it. The clue then is to stick to that and not allow it to deviate. But I will allow it to deviate for the good of my enjoyment, or the track itself. You know what I mean: anything can happen.

Was there anything different about your creative process this time, compared with the last release?

To be honest, yeah—mostly in that I managed to take a nice step back and put myself in the club and studio in different eras at once. I mean, Lets Jam 1 is really designed to be on vinyl and played in context, but Lets Jam 2 is kind of a fuck-it free-for-all. It's probably more in the mode I would write my more claustrophobic work in.

Best environment for listening to the EPs?

The club, smashed out of your mind on the good life.

What kind of images were running through your head while you were making these EPs?

That's interesting, because aesthetically, I find the balance after the work's written, you know? I've never thought about that before; it always just seems to fall into place as the palette informs the work. Sometimes it's not that deep, too. Sometimes it just has to be music on a record for you to dance to.

Tell me about your recent Wiley collaboration, "Step 2001." How did that come about?

Well, I'd been writing a lot of grime and eskimo beats and of course wanted Wiley to feature on one if it was possible. So I contacted him, and the process became "Step 2001." I needed the right vocal, and I loved the "Step 2001," vocal because it's so celebratory of the success of the sound since 2001. I renamed the track that to coincide with the first Wiley Kat release in 2001, which was a big deal for music, because it led to the rest of the Wiley Kat and eski-beat records, which are the bollocks, really.

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How about the remix of Gwilym Gold's "Flex" that you did—how'd that end up happening?

Darkstar introduced me to Gwilym around a year ago, as they've been working with him on some material, too. When I had a small party happening at The Nest in London, I wanted him to DJ, and he played a great set, so that happened and was cool. You know, we stayed in touch, sending bits of music back and forth; then I guess as Gwilym was recording, and I was given the opportunity to remix "Flex." I was super happy about it because the artwork by Eddie Peake is brilliant and I loved the album. I was fully into doing that track up.

Scientists recently discovered what may be an alien mega-structure orbiting a distant sun. Assuming the aliens are able to harness energy from their star and exist in a state of ultimate pleasure post-singularity, what Zomby track would you show them?

Probably "Neon" from Lets Jam 2, because that's pretty much what I had in mind when writing it.

What if their society was a dystopian prison world—would you choose a different track?

Possibly I'd choose something slightly more somber—maybe "Basquiat" from [my 2011 album] Dedication. It's a solo piano cathartic withdrawal from existence, which sounds about right.