Tectonic 95 LP by Distance Follow, Killa P Follow, Beezy Follow

Tectonic 95 LP review

Electronic music producer and DJ Greg Sanders AKA Distance returns with his third long player ‘Dynamis’, set for release through Tectonic Recordings on 21st October.

* Alongside recording ‘Dynamis’ over the past four years, Distance has been writing and producing for other artists including Riz MC, Jeb Loy Nichols and Jon More of Coldcut. Working with these artists helped open his mind to other styles of music and led to him veering away from his 140bpm roots. The productions of A$AP Ferg, Drake, Schoolboy Q and earlier Arca and FKA Twigs were a big influence, alongside the soundtracks of Hans Zimmer and Cliff Martinez.

* “I get inspiration from everywhere and deliberately try to ignore what is happening in the scene I'm most involved in.‘Dynamis’ is influenced a lot by film scores, I have geeked out massively to create great dynamics in all of the tracks, sounds are heavily automated and processed to really give the music life.”

* Even the structure of the tracks ditches the typical DJ friendly layouts and is programmed in an order that best helps to deliver the story. Some of the tracks give a subtle nod to this way of thinking - ‘Sink or Swim’, ‘Paradigm’, ‘Instruction to Survive’.

* “I wanted to portray my willingness to progress and that I totally embrace the positives and negatives of change. If you stay stationary within any artform you will surely fail. I named a track "Fear Change" because most people would rather do anything other than change.”

* As producer, DJ and label owner of Chestplate Records, Distance has been instigating change in music since emerging in 2003. Gathering early support from the legendary John Peel and going on to be part of the utterly seminal Dubstep Warz show on Radio 1 presented by Mary Anne Hobbs, he was a regular at seminal raves FWD, DMZ, Exodus and SUB:DUB and hosted on Rinse FM 2003-2012. With 12” releases on Tectonic and Hotflush; his first two albums ‘My Demons’ (2007) and ‘Repercussions’ (2008) were released through the respected label Planet Mu.

* “I feel very privileged to have released two albums on Planet Mu and they are still referenced by many as key albums in dubstep’s history. Tectonic has been releasing my music for almost a decade, so it felt right me producing an album for the label. Pinch is a good friend and one of the few people who’s opinion I trust.”

* ’Dynamis’ is the first Distance album to feature vocalists; helping to portray emotions, tell a story and aid the overall narrative of the album.

* “It was great recording them. When recording 'Badman' with Killa P I got him to stand as far away from the mic as possible and shout the lyric across the studio, as though he was shouting at someone across the street. We were cracking up at the time. I then used these recordings to create multiple layers and textures to his vocal, this gave the impression of there being a huge crowd of people chanting the chorus. Beezy was also a great artist to work with. We were done recording in about 20 minutes, he’s so professional and knows exactly how to deliver the vocals the way I need them.”

* The album’s title is an ancient word: the original Greek meaning "heart, drive, power" and in English “the state of that which is not yet fully realized”.

* “I always want my music to take you somewhere. Because I am experimenting more in sound design and tempo, I thought ‘Dynamis’ was perfect. In a sense I was trying to create something new. At the beginning of the process it hadn’t yet been realised. Maybe only once it has been released and heard by the public it will be.”