Dub Stepper’s Delight Downtown: The Sublime Sounds Of Synkro Hit Sinning In LA
There’s been a big movement over the last five years or so in the electronic music world, and it comes in the form of dubstep. Melding a fusion of heavy bass, drums, echoes and the occasional dubbed out vocals, this futuristic genre is something that fans of both 10 Ft. Ganja Plant or Pitch Black could equally embrace.
Recently we found ourselves in downtown Los Angeles, where twenty-one-year old super talent Synkro was to have his debut performance.
“I’d say about sixty to seventy percent of the tunes I make, I don’t necessarily create them to be played in a club,” Synkro said to me.
I make them to be played at home after the club.
“I’ve made a few club tunes and I do enjoy that, but when I play out, it is more a party set,” he added. “I play a few deeper tunes but I don’t play a whole set of that because I know the crowd wants something a bit harder for the club.”
The first song I heard from Synkro was the lucid (and lovely), “Lost for Words,” which was featured on a recent mix that Chris Coco compiled for us. I was instantly hooked. I quickly searched for more sounds from Synkro and soon discovered that this was a talented young producer who would simply not be content to be confined within a single genre. Spanning from futuristic dub rhythms to shuffling two-step UK garage with a healthy dose of ambiance mixed in, the only constant in Synkro’s sound is the meticulous layering and attention to melody that can be found on each and every track.
I think dubstep’s just a word. It’s just such an open genre and you can make anything within it.
For the Manchester (England) native, he grew surrounded by the Britpop of Oasis and Blur, but was more interested in other sounds.
“I fuckin’ hated Oasis, so it was drum and bass really,” he recalled. “When I started making it originally, I couldn’t get anywhere in that scene because it’s so massive and hard to break into. So I began making dubstep when I started hearing more of that. But I’ve been messing around with different genres for awhile now. I’ve even been making some slower, funky house sounds!”
Synkro’s releases have been plentiful over the last two years and he’s been particularly compared to fellow dubstep trailblazer Burial over their similar influences of dub, UK Garage and the unique ways in which they sample and utilize vocals in their work.
“I like working with vocals, but I just kind of listen for a tune and see if there’s certain parts in the vocals that stand out to me. I might not like the actual tune itself, it might be from a rubbish pop tune or something but there might be two or three syllables within that tune where the words might mean something to me or something in the pitch or tone.”
Much like the dub music that came from Jamaica in the 1970’s, there maintains a certain organic sound to all of Synkro’s tracks despite the fact that they are constructed on a computer.
“I use a computer to put everything together but some of the sounds I use are from guitars, flutes and general ambiance,” Synkro shared.
It’s good to use things that don’t come from a computer but then re-sample them in a computer in order to get more of a natural feel.
His productions have recently caught the attention of the esteemed drum and bass label Hospital Records, who have signed up Synkro for all future releases. The talented producer is incredibly chuffed about not only breaking into the world of drum and bass (which seemed impossible only a short time ago), but also getting the chance release his music alongside musical heroes (and label boss Tony Coleman’s group) London Elektricity.
“London Elektricity and Hospital Records have always been big influences for me,” Synkro said. “Like before I even got into dubstep. I just randomly sent Tony Coleman some tunes and he played one of them on the Hospital podcast and ever since then it’s just gone on from there.”
“I’ve always looked up to him and I just think my sound fits in with them at the label.”
He fits in here as well, and he’ll be someone to keep an eye on in the coming year. With a slew of releases planned for 2010, we have no doubt that Synkro will be offering up many more memorable soundtracks to nights like these for a long time to come.
Buy:Synkro On iTunes
Follow: twitter.com/synkrodub
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