We decided to let the lads do the legwork and ask each other the questions in this b2b interview.
How are you doing? What have you been up to?
PVC: I’ve been good just a lot of working, a lot of making music, obviously working with Hoax. I’ve been trying to get on the drum and bass side a bit more- practising and producing really.
Producing as well?
PVC: Yeah, you have to understand the knowledge of everything to appreciate the producer side of things when you get into a studio, so you can add your bit. I’m trying to hone my own drum and bass sound at the moment.
Hoax: I’ve been the same really, been producing. Travelling between London and Bristol and getting in the studio with people.
I went down to Brighton a little while back to work with Unglued which was good fun. I stayed over at his with his young kids and his fiance which was really nice. Me and him played the Hospitality In The Woods warm-up and we tied it into the same trip. We’re in the midst of festival season now, It’s my first year of really playing loads of festivals, which is fun.
How did you meet each other?
Hoax: The first tune we ever did together came out on Hospital, it was actually on Anaïs’ mixtape. But it was an instrumental. I wanted to get an MC on it and I really wanted PVC. We’d never actually spoken before. I’d messaged him a couple of times and he didn’t ever get back to me, he just kept looking and ignoring me… I mean, I get it, when you get thousands of tracks in your inbox, you can just miss stuff. Or he just didn’t bother replying. Haha!
I was working with Onyx Recordings at the time, so I said to Chris who runs the label ‘Please, can you just message him from the Onyx account? Because you’ve got 20K that he might actually notice it.”
And then he did notice it. The rest is history we met up and just hit it off. We’ve made a few tunes together now.
PVC: Lesson of the story, always check your message request folder
Hoax: Exactly. You never know what’s in there. I don’t think either of us knew that all this would happen off the back of that one tune. Neither of us thought we’d be working with Hospital off the back of it.
What’s it like to work with Hospital Records?
Hoax: They’re fantastic. It’s so nice because you’ve got the directors who are great. And then you’ve got the actual bulk of the team who are all people much a similar age to me, with their finger on the pulse. They’re all great. I love working with them
Tell us about your latest release…
Hoax: ‘Spark It’. It’s a sort of a deep rumbler- it’s a heavy bass tune all tied together with Ryan’s great vocals.
PVC: You sent it to me and the lyrics came straight away. Whereas, sometimes I can sit on tunes for months and not get a rough idea until maybe the producer sends me an improved version or something.
Hoax: Really? You’re such a quick writer, which really helps. I fire you an idea and by the end of the day, you’ll have a verse, chorus a hook and everything all written out and sent back and recorded. So thanks! Your vocals are some of the easiest to process. So I can just slam them and get them in really easily.
PVC: Sometimes it’s that. It depends on the tune. Every time you send me a tune. It’s been like, “Okay cool, this is something I can just do.” It flows easily. You’re production definitely helps.
Is this an ongoing collaborative relationship, have you got more in the works?
Hoax: We’ve got a couple of tracks we’re currently working on and we’re doing a lot of live sets together this summer with Ryan on the mic hosting and me on the decks. We’ve had Brigton and Hospitality On The Beach, and we’ve some big ones coming up that we can’t quite mention yet.
Ready to take over your interview?
PVC: I’ll start, who’s your biggest influence right now and has it changed?
Hoax: If I had to think around the full spectrum of drum and bass in terms of everything that inspires me- it would be someone like Break, he has probably been my longest-standing inspiration. He nails all the pillars; he has the bass, the soulful side, the heavy side and the really tight mixdown and clean mastering. His tunes are just great and his live sets are brilliant he’s probably my biggest inspiration of all time. It hasn’t changed because he’s been in the game for so long. I think a lot of people would have a similar answer, to be honest. He seems to be one of the most well-respected people in the scene.
Hoax: My turn, what was your favourite cartoon growing up?
PVC: I was a proper Cartoon Network kid so it was Ed, Edd and Eddy, Powerpuff Girls, Dexter’s Lab. Now it’s probably American Dad. I’ve got the tattoos on my legs to prove it.
UKF : What characters have you got?
PVC: I’ve got Roger dressed as Cupid.
UKF: Roger for the win…
Hoax: I loved Scooby-Doo, I used to love Sponge Bob.
PVC: What’s your best festival memory?
Hoax: They all seem to happen at Boomtown which is standard really, but there’s one last year that stands out. There was a mud pit in the middle of the Origin crowd and there was just this guy with a fish mask on and then another guy with a fishing rod. The fishing rod guy was passing the fish guy who was flapping along in the mud. I remember thinking “This is very Boomtown!” But the best memories are things like seeing High Contrast. He always just plays great sets and always hits you in the feels.
PVC: There’s always a lot of stuff that happens. I remember coming back from Reading once, I got separated from my pals and I missed the last train home. Everything was closed and empty, I just fell asleep at the station- everybody left me. Then one of the cleaners from the station was like “Hey, it’s gonna close but do you want to go to sleep in the office?” So he let me sleep in the office and woke me up when the trains started. I had all my belongings and stuff and he put me up for the night.
Hoax: That’s so funny! Next question- What’s one tune that you’ve had on your USB since you started DJing that you still play now?
PVC: I always manage to creep in Bicep– ‘Glue’. Especially if I’m playing day sets. Because again, it gets you in the feels and that can create the best memories. Other than that Wookie ‘Battle’, is probably the one that I play in every one of my garage sets. I love Wookie and that kind of era for me was special for UKG and it’s what I base my sets around.
PVC: What about you?
Hoax: One that’s always been in my sets is Shy FX ‘Cloud 9’ just because… If I had to go back to the other answer about the biggest inspiration, it has to be Shy FX as well because he is the daddy, he’s the king of writing songs that everyone can relate to.
PVC: What’s your go-to meal deal?
Hoax: I like a wrap over a sandwich, so maybe a Chicken Caesar wrap. If it had to be a sandwich probably again- a chicken sandwich or some sort of chicken salad. I really like Squares crisps; the salt and vinegar ones and a smoothie or a little ice tea.
PVC: Always Sweet Chilli Walkers for me with a Chicken, Bacon and Stuffing sandwich and I have a milkshake or a Fanta.
Hoax: What’s the best show that you can remember playing?
PVC: Everything recently has come about so fast so it’s felt like I’ve been dropped into certain situations that are massive ticks off the bucket list. So it’s a really tough choice. I would say the closing party at Printworks with TQD is something I’ll remember forever. Then maybe the Drumsheds set for Craig David or playing with 24hr Garage Girls. Playing to that many people was just something I’d never experienced having that as a first-time experience was humbling and I wanted to happen more.
Now we’ve linked up and are doing things all around the world, there’s gonna be plenty more memories to come and things to look forward to.
Hoax: My favourite show that I’ve played so far might be my Thursday night set on Olive Grove at Hospitality On The Beach this year. The vibe was incredible and I really got into the flow and dug deep for some tunes I hadn’t played in a while, which was really refreshing. I also have to mention my Arcadia set at Glastonbury as the stage was just incredible – definitely a bucket list moment for me to be able to play on the dragonfly and it was great fun going b2b with Anaïs and Unglued.
PVC: If you could only use three plugins for the rest of your life, what would they be?
Hoax: I use Serum on every tune its my go-to since I can use it for all my synth needs and I use a lot of stock Ableton stuff. Then it would have to be Pro Q3 as an EQ- it’s such a boring answer but it’s just such a great EQ and I wouldn’t want to use any other.
Hoax: And what about you?
PVC: Serum always. Just because you can make anything out of it.
I’d have to do UAD Neve Preamp for my mic, it makes everything sound crisp. Before I send anything off I always Preamp…
Hoax: The secret sauce, is it?
PVC: Everybody’s… And then, I don’t know- it’s between Nectar and Sausage Fattener- which is completely different, but I need one.
Hoax: I can’t believe that plug-in is a real thing, I’ve not got it on my new laptop. I need to get it again… A sausage fattener just makes everything a little bit better.
Hoax: What’s your favourite thing about your hometown that you want to big up to everyone else?
PVC: I grew up in Croydon, but I would happily call Brighton my hometown because I’ve lived here nearly half my life and it’s been so good to me. It’s done me so well, not just in my surroundings but mentally and physically- I feel so much better being by the sea. Brighton can be a hub to everywhere else in my eyes.
It just has a certain vibe that everybody carries. It’s just so good for what I want to do and what I want to be. For performers and musicians everybody so friendly and accepting and it’s a vibe. There isn’t a single bad vibe down here at all.
Hoax: And it’s always like that. I love it, every time I’ve been there I’ve had a good time.
My hometown is Bristol. It’s probably the hometown of half of the bass producers in the country. And for that reason, it is great because you’re surrounded by like-minded people. Although it can get a bit saturated sometimes, everyone and their mum is a drum and bass producer or DJ. Which is great though, because it means collaborating and meeting people, especially in the early stages of your career is really easy.
In the summer it’s great for day raves. You’re close to South Wales if you want to get out of the noise for a bit. There are probably a million articles about why Bristol is good for drum and bass, so I won’t bore you with the details.
I’m originally from Devon which is quite the opposite really, there’s a big free party scene down there which is good fun, but, I haven’t looked back since moving to Bristol. I love it.
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