RAMSEY NEVILLE

How and when did you decide to become a techno artist? What were your key influences at the beginning of your career, and how have they evolved over time?

Growing up, my musical tastes were a bit all over the place, my first love was hip-hop, but closely followed by early 2000’s Eurodance and Happy Hardcore, so when I first started DJing around 2010, all these genres had a heavy influence in my sets. Over the years, my sound and tastes evolved, as did my appreciation for other styles and subgenres. This evolution refined my musical palate, which led me to the gritty sounds of techno where I feel most at home. It’s the experimental nature of the genre that makes it endlessly exciting to both produce and play.

My journey into techno began around 2015 when I first started making music. At that time I was trying my hand at producing all sorts of different subgenres like tech house, minimal, breaks, deep house, techno and everything in-between. But throughout my life I’ve always been attracted to darker, edgier, and more intense sounds in music, so I was constantly drawn towards techno. Having spent hours and hours in the studio over the years, making techno has always felt natural when faced with a blank canvas, so I decided to dive into the genre head-first and haven’t looked back.

How would you describe your musical style, and how did you develop your distinctive sound? What is your favorite production equipment, and why do you feel it is crucial to your sound?

I’d describe my musical style as gritty, loopy, hypnotic, club-focused techno. As someone who’s heavily influenced by their surroundings, I find a lot of inspiration from the city around me. A lot of the textures and sounds in my tracks come from field recordings I’ve made around my neighborhood in Brooklyn, or from the wild tapestry of sound that is New York City.

When it comes to production, most of my time is spent in the box, so a laptop with Ableton Live is my most crucial piece of gear. In my creation process, sequencers like the MDD Snake and MK16-185 usually play a big part in my tracks. I always find sequencers to be endless sources of inspiration because they can quickly turn a stale sound into something completely new and interesting. Leveraging these tools helps to keep my tracks constantly evolving and dynamic. I also occasionally dabble with hardware and am learning to use my Elektron Model:Cycles, but it hasn’t quite found a permanent place in my workflow just yet.

You have released music on several recognized record labels. What criteria do you use when choosing the labels to release your music?

When I’m choosing which labels to send my music to, I usually look at a few different things. First and foremost, I listen to the music a label has been releasing over the past year or so to make sure the sound aligns with my own, and that the tracks I’m sending would be a good fit. It’s also important that I genuinely enjoy their catalog of music. A lot of times I’m inspired by labels whose music I play in my DJ sets, so I’ll often prioritize sending music to those labels first.

Rather than blasting out my music to a lot of labels at once, I take a pretty selective approach. This not only respects the label’s time and focus, but sure makes sure that my releases remain true to my style and direction.

How do you perceive the impact of your music on your audience and on the global music scene? How have new distribution platforms aided you in establishing yourself as a global producer?

The intention behind my music is twofold - to channel my creative voice, and as someone who makes club music, to make people dance. Everything else is secondary. After many years of being on dancefloors around the world, I’ve found that music is truly one of the only things that transcends any language barrier. This is probably incredibly cliche and lofty, but I hope the impact of my music is that it’s a conduit for connection on dance floors, bringing together people of all backgrounds in every corner of the globe.

With the internet connecting people around the world, new distribution platforms like streaming services and social media platforms have been instrumental in helping me reach a wider audience with my music. Although I have a few reservations about social media (who doesn’t), it’s been incredibly important in getting my music to corners of the world I’ve never been, exposing my sound to new crowds and aiding my growth as a global artist.

Can you provide insight into your current and upcoming projects? Is there any collaboration or upcoming release you would like to share with our audience?

IThe biggest thing I’m working on at the moment is the launch of my record label, IMPULSE CØNTROL, which is an extension of my Brooklyn-based artist collective, mix series, and event brand. Our first release, an EP from myself, is slated for late spring/early summer, followed by a V.A. compilation in July featuring some of my favorite up and coming artists from New York and around the world. Along with getting the label off the ground, I’m making a ton of new original music at the moment. I have tracks set to be released on legendary Detroit-based label KMS Records, as well as an EP on one of my favorite European imprints coming in the second half of the year.

If you’d like to add anything else, what would it be?

Excited to be a part of what you’re building with FUSION, thanks so much for having me