June Miller – An effortless precision towards production [INTERVIEW]

 

Making waves across the North Sea from London, England to Utrecht, Holland, June Miller aka Mark McCann and Bart van Dijk pride themselves on their open-minded approach to music. After many inspiring years of travelling across Europe with bands, playing, writing and performing the music they love, they were drawn to the hypnotic sounds of drum and bass. And so in 2007, June Miller was born.

June Miller’s first steps were in fact giant leaps and their talent was immediately recognised in 2007 when they were voted best up and coming act at the Dutch DNB Awards. Their creative flair, along with the diversity and depth of their sound, has caught the attention of a range of labels across the spectrum of drum and bass, as well as dubstep.This effortless precision towards production immediately caught the attention of Loxy, who signed them to his timeless label, Cylon. This was followed by signings from forward-thinking labels such as Horizons, Deep Soul Music, Renegade Hardware and InnerActive.

June Miller’s electrifying live sets have moved audiences across Europe. From Renegade Hardware and Fabric in London, to Outlook festival in Croatia, their eclectic and ethereal mixing will give goose bumps to even the thickest of skins. Their refreshing approach to both production and mixing, and their versatility and love for the deeper side of dnb, will ensure that their musical journey will take them far and wide. The future looks bright for the talented duo with innovative collaborations in the pipeline, adding even further to the dimensions of their sound.

Interview

You started out in the music industry writing and performing with bands.  Tell us about your early experience with music and how did that love and passion jump over to producing drum & bass tracks?

“Well from a young age Bart and I were elevated into music by sharing that love with our friends and playing in bands. We found drum and bass by accident actually, haha. Bart had some turntables and we just picking up old records and started making a mix. It all happened so quickly but we knew we were not going to be satisfied with simply mixing, so we starting learning how to write electronic music as apposed to writing as a band. 😀 “

Your sound is incredibly versatile ranging from dark tracks, such as the recently released “From Autumn to Ashes” to soulful tunes such as “Brave Men”.  Take us through the process you use when producing a track and where do most of your concepts originate?

“I think the versatility really comes from the fact that we love so many different types of music. We normally approach our tracks in two ways: one being with a direction before we even start the track or we just do what we want! haha J Concepts can come from everywhere really such as finding a great sample, inspiration from other artists or just generally things in life.”

In 2007 you were voting best up and coming act at the Dutch DnB Awards.  What is the mindset behind your continues success and how do you insure you constantly improve your sound?

“We think the goal is to always better yourself in whatever you do in your life.  I think it’s about trying to push yourself.  Personally I am quite critical of our output, which is some way of pushing yourself to make it generally better and better. There is always something to learn which will improve your skills, so there is always work to be done J”

Having traveled the globe to deliver live sets to anticipating supporters of your music, what have been your craziest experiences abroad and which venues do you always look forward to visiting?

“Haha! Oh gosh! I remember once in Poland I was half way through my set and a girl jumped on stage and took her clothes off, haha. That was all a bit bizarre. She didn’t stop there though and insisted I must also remove my shirt.  Luckily she was unsuccessful (for the rest of the public’s sake!!) – This summer we have a whole bunch of gigs we are really excited about in Austria, Estonia, UK, Croatia… If you’re around come and say “Hi”!”

June Miller has been signed with labels such as RAM Records and Critical Music.  Which lessons have you learned from such influential labels and who has been your greatest mentor?

“One big lesson is that no label is the same. For example: We were really impressed with how RAM is organised with all the structures in place to let the artist just write music. In a dream world this is how it should be. We also picked up a great amount of experience from these guys. They have been embedded in this music for far longer than we have.  The amount of advice and support they give is amazing. “

The Dutch scene has produced names associated with dark drum and bass tracks such as Nymfo, Black Sun Empire and June Miller.  Tell us about the Dutch scene from your perspective and where do you see it heading towards?

“It’s funny because I believe we have some of the best artists around but drum and bass in Holland will always play second best to a lot of other music genres. It’s never really caught on and the hardcore following seems to have died down. I mean it’s not all that bad and we have some amazing parties here but the focus on our own artists is quite minimal. “

Your latest releases from RAM Records, “From Autumn to Ashes” and “Change”, are brilliant dark drum and bass tracks.  Tell us about the concept behind these productions and how did Sofie Letitre get involved in this project?

“Thanks so much! Well with “Change” we wrote a track with a sample vocal we had. We were not that happy with it so we asked our good friend, Sofie, to lay down some vocals. We ended up writing the whole track again because Sofie brought so much to the table. With “From Autumn to Ashes” we just wanted to write a straight up dark drum and bass tune but also something that was exciting to the ear.”

 What are your future prospects for June Miller and are there any future collaborations or productions which fans of your music can look forward to?

“We have quite a few collaborations on the go at the moment but they are all still in construction so we can’t say much about them at the moment. But expect a lot of new music after the summer!”

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RavingFox

Hybrid Minds – Meant To Be

Comprising of Josh White, Matt Lowe on production, and Jeff Crake on vocals, Hybrid Minds represent a new musical force, with their melodic, soulful Drum and Bass already making waves across the globe. A synergy between influences including trip-hip, acoustic, soul and jazz, Hybrid Minds, consisting of Sensa, Josh and Grimm, draw on a myriad of influences to produce the smooth sound they are known for.

Josh and Matt [Sensa] had worked with one another for a few years running record labels before deciding to put their drive into music making. After only a few joint efforts, the duo immediately shot to the forefront of the Liquid scene, with household names such as Netsky, Lenzman, Marcus Intalex, Logistics, John B and Camo & Krooked all playing tracks from the newly formed duo. Their method of bouncing ideas off each other in the studio yielded immediate results with one of their first tracks, ‘The Place’ becoming one of the biggest liquid tracks of 2011, and receiving vast amounts of love from the UKF fans, a market they did not expect to reach. Combining hard drums, delicate vocals and enchanting melodies, ‘The Place’ features all the elements that now make up Hybrid Minds’ distinctive, soulful sound.

After the unprecedented success of ‘The Place’, Sensa and Haste made the permanent jump to liquid, to the delight of millions of Drum and Bass fans, and began to look for a permanent vocalist. That search ended in the discovery of Grimm, a vocalist from Canada, thus Hybrid Minds was formed.

Hybrid Minds are now set to solidify their rapidly growing reputation in the scene, and become one of liquid’s new supergroups.

Read the RavingFox interview with Hybrid Minds:

Hybrid Minds – A Melodic Dream Affair [INTERVIEW]