Blog Features

In Conversation With: Ruckspin

Umut Avialan February 4, 2021

After years of bespoke work for various clients and more importantly, touring as part of the Submotion Orchestra, Dom Howard decided to take a step back to simply focus on his own music. The result is a highly recommendable listening journey straying into an ambient and melancholic no man’s land accompanied by some like-minded individuals such as Ed Thomas, J Appiah, Jinadu, Om Unit, and Ruth Royall. Perfect music to listen to on your headphones, sit back, relax and let the mind wander off on its own.

I recently hopped on a call with Dom aka Ruckspin to discuss his new album and it certainly feels like he has music in his blood. Be it listening to a classical piece and learning instruments as a kid or DJing for people on massive sound systems later on. He got wildly into Jungle and ended up making it by himself but despite being somehow part of the scene he never felt like that. We talked about his feelings of being an outsider and how he coped with that fact. The interview turned out to be a welcomed insight into the world of band producers, client work, and benefit from each other as producers.

Hey! Thanks for joining in! Actually lockdowning?

I’ve basically been in lockdown since March 2020. I was preparing for it in February, watching the news as Italy went into lockdown. I kept asking myself why nothing was happening in the UK because it would only be a matter of time. So I started moving stuff back home – just the essentials. At the studio, I have three pairs of monitors but I only brought one smaller pair, soundcard, computer and headphones as well as a SubPac. All the synths, decks and records are still there. A bunch of outboard gear too. I’ve managed to cope a bit with the upheaval and do the odd bit of mix work for clients. Also, I got the album finished! It was interesting doing the final mixes on headphones because that’s what it was designed for really, rather than big club rigs or whatever.

How was working remotely from home for you?

I learned how to Livestream, so that’s a plus. I got myself a green screen and everything. I’ve worked out how to do collaborations with people. I’ve done remote vocal sessions using software called Audiomovers which has been great for latency-free broadcasting. It has been tough though. Nothing beats being in a room with someone, having them right there. At the studio, I’ve got a vocal booth so I was having vocal sessions all the time. You could just come up with an idea together with the client or someone who I’m collaborating with could just wander over to the instruments, start messing with it and the idea would form from that. You obviously don’t get that if you’re both sat in front of a computer screen because it’s kind of stale.

Less creative then, to some extent?

Yeah, to some extent, definitely. But there has been some really good software that came out which has helped. Also, a few sample packs that raised money for COVID charities. Loads of companies were doing stuff that really helped with inspiring creative things, which was great! I had a couple of Drum & Bass releases on Hospital and one with Ruth Royall on Soulvent which we actually wrote together during a Livestream in lockdown. Also obviously finishing and releasing ‘Songs For The Time Being’ was a big milestone to achieve. I’ve also enjoyed some new challenges like scoring competitions.

The Westworld one?

Yeah and the Berlin International Film Scoring Competition. They were great in terms of giving myself a challenge and something to focus on that was more than just my usual comfort zone of electronic music. I love sound design, orchestration, scoring to picture and have always enjoyed trying to create emotion through music rather than just fixed-tempo EDM loops, builds and drops.

Speaking of challenges! ‘Songs For The Time Being’, actually your debut solo album. What took you so long?

My first proper release on an actual record was 2007 and since then I kinda had dreams of having an album to show for myself. But I think every time I’ve made an album or at least a body of work I’ve ended up feeling like: ‘Well, this doesn’t fit with that, it’s not cohesive enough. This should probably go out on that label. This has been sitting on my computer for years.’ There have been several times where old tunes of mine or sketches for an album have ended up being repurposed for Submotion Orchestra or Author. I also had a side project with Octane, DLR and Quantum Soul called Cymatic years ago, with releases on the now defunct Black Box which we’re planning to re-release somehow.

Over the years I had a lot of collaborative projects that ended up… not exactly getting in the way… but I had that artistic insecurity about stuff where you just think this won’t be good enough if it’s just me. So I would take what I’d done and give it to other people and think it would be better when they then put their stamp on it. That’s probably why it has taken me so long. When I look back, if I had put an album out years ago that would’ve sounded a lot different to how I sound now. In a way I’m pleased that I waited *chuckles* because I feel like I was not ready. It would’ve been just a collection of singles put in an album form (which happens a fair bit in electronic music). Now I feel like I’ve made the album I wanted to make which is a showcase of where I’m at in terms of my tastes, electronic music and all my experiences of over the years doing various things.

It can be described as a quite necessary process then?

For sure! There was something that I felt especially in the last few years of being the producer for Submotion Orchestra. I felt more and more that I wasn’t able to put the music out that I wanted to. That’s the nature of collaborations I suppose. You’ve got to compromise with a lot of things, whether it’s the musicians in the band, the manager or the A & R of the label. Everyone’s got an opinion and so then as a producer you end up just trying to accommodate them, rather than following what you feel. I started playing around with solo ideas anyway towards the last couple of albums and collaborated with people outside of that. Met with other musicians and had some great sessions in the studio. Some stuff became little singles and bits that came out on other people’s labels. But generally I just started enjoying doing music for myself again. Eventually when I left Submotion at the end of 2019 I had a pretty decent folder full of music that was mine, that I could be proud of.

So leaving them was a breaking point for you?

It was a big thing for me. I don’t want to get into too much detail about the reasons, but I definitely feel like a pressure had been lifted when I left. One reason is that for a lot of artists and bands there’s this pressure to release so that you can constantly tour. If you’re not careful the focus becomes about the touring rather than the music. For me, at times it felt like it was a bit of a factory where you’re just churning stuff out whether the band felt ready and inspired to make it or not. Leaving the band just gave me a bit more breathing space to make the music I wanted to make because it previously felt like I was on this conveyer belt. At times we’d be doing writing sessions for the next album before we’d finished the tour for the last album, then I’d be spending time producing up dozens of half-baked demos to whittle down to the final album list. It just didn’t feel good for my soul.

Sounds exhausting as well!

Exhausting absolutely! I just felt like I couldn’t switch off from that. I was dealing with stuff that was coming at me rather than choosing what I wanted to focus on. I think now I’ve got the space and time for that. Yeah, I do a lot of client work for people but I also am in the position where I can take time for myself or arrange some collaborative jams or whatever it is. I’m not under that continuous pressure anymore.

I can imagine that this is kind of blocking the creative process, in a way, if you’re just working for touring. You’re actually focussing on what makes people buy tickets!

Perhaps there are some elements of that. I wasn’t ever focussed on the touring really! I guess because I wasn’t on stage. I wasn’t really bothered about it. I just wanted to make the best music I could, but there’s always gonna be people who are more focussed on that. It’s always difficult when you have a band anyway in terms of who’s writing most of the material and who gets to say what material goes into the album and whatnot. We were always trying to be diplomatic and it was always quite difficult. There’s always going to be some people that put more demos forward than others, but often those who put less music forward are often more precious about it. But then they are less likely to get it on an album because there’s not enough of it to make a cohesive sounding album. That kind of thing got difficult anyway and I’m sure it’s like that for many bands… but then being the producer often made things even more difficult – trying to find the compromise between all these demos and opinions and directions. I don’t think there was a single album the band released that we were all 100% happy with, so every time the process kept changing. There’s hardly any bands where the producer is part of the band. Yeah, Jamie xx and The xx do it like that but I’m sure he has a lot of say in what happens with that band. I think in most cases bands would go to a studio and hire an engineer or producer who can remain healthily uninvested in the outcome… For me it was like I had one foot in the band and one foot outside, trying to be impartial. But yeah I don’t want to complain too much – it wasn’t all bad! There where good times and I wish them all the best for their future stuff. Like I say I’m just ready to focus on my own stuff now.

With outside being all rainy and grey and ruffled it seems like you had the perfect timing for a melancholic album with cinematic proportions, right?

I’ve always been a bit melancholic I guess. This lockdown hasn’t been as hard on me as it has been for others because I’m not much of an extrovert. I’ve never really been like that. I’ve performed as a DJ and I used to sing as a kid as well. I’ve played a bunch of instruments too but I always had to shut out the fact that there people in front of me. I think in terms of the general state of things I definitely feel like it’s a very melancholic time for a lot of people. so perhaps it is good timing! It wasn’t a conscious decision like: ‘Oh I’m gonna make a melancholic album’. *chuckles* It’s more like just what happens when I make music. It tends to get a bit sad. In terms of conveying emotion through music, the melancholy is a powerful mood to convey and I really enjoy that. Actually the track title ‘Mono No Aware’ is about that – it’s a Japanese term that roughly translates as seeing the beauty in transience, like enjoying the melancholy passing of the seasons.

I mean aggression is pretty to transport.

Yeah, sort of. I was thinking about his actually earlier. I was thinking about the whole idea of conveying energy or a mood through music. When I was really young I listened to classical music, then I went on to Queen, then Prodigy and rave music and later Jungle. I remember getting really into very very dark Drum & Bass like Limewax, Current Value and Tech Itch. Do you remember the Moving Shadow CD’s they used to give out for 99p.

Yeah, the mixes!

For 99p you would get a whole load of stuff from the record shop on CD. I was a teenager at the time and had friends who where learning how to drive. We where driving around with these CD’s for 99p with just banging Drum & Bass which was nice. That was definitely a turning point for me. When I think now listening to something with that kind of mood I feel it might be too much for me. At the time though I really liked it. I feel like I had a lot of that teenage pent up frustration and anger! *chuckles*

Now I feel I don’t have that anymore. My wife might say I do! But in terms of what I want to listen to with music, it’s got to the point where, because I choose to spend most of my day working on music, it’s gonna be a solo piano or some sort of really soft ambient washy soundscape. The least offensive thing! Teenage me would be shaking his head but my approach to music generally depends on my mood. If I’m just gonna sit down and write whatever I want, sure it’s gonna be influenced by my teenage years and it may be beats-y, but it will definitely be more paired back – less shouty.

You’ve grown up then!

Maybe thats it! I’m just getting old. I haven’t been to clubs in years *chuckles*.

You’re more disconnected from it?

Yes but it’s more than that because it’s more an acceptance. I wasn’t connected at the time. I was DJing, going to clubs, writing clubby stuff and all the rest of it, but I was never really into it as part of the ‘scene’. I felt more like an outsider. Maybe I have changed but I feel like I haven’t really changed. I just accepted that I’m not like that and I’m not trying to fit in anymore.

Makes sense. The album can be truly be seen as a liberation then!

Definitely! In terms of the way it touches on various genres from the outside perspective. The track at Drum & Bass tempo isn’t a normal Drum & Bass track. The Dubstep tempo one is definitely not what I would hear in a Dubstep environment. Even the House-tempo song. It’s on that tempo but it’s just a piece of electronic music. It’s not trying to be a clubby thing. I’ve been coming to terms with things and started realizing that’s okay. I’m not particularly concerned about who plays it. I mean obviously, it’s nice if I get a message saying that a song has been played by so and so but that’s not the main reason I’m doing it.

Not everybody has the opportunity and/or the mindset for that!

Sure! I’m in a lucky position because I’ve had various eggs in various baskets for long enough that now with my work, be it mixing work for clients, making production music for Ninjatune, be it working on soundtracks or pitches for adverts, I don’t have to rely on DJ gigs for next months rent. I used to, and that then influenced what I was making. I was feeling like I had to make club music because that would get me bookings. Like I explained with the band. I think a lot of DJ’s do that too! There’s nothing wrong with it but in terms of just musically, I felt I had to package myself quite tightly and deliver more of the same as what people already like, to fit into a scene or just to get heard.

Agreed. Despite you being an outsider you’re a pretty collaborative person and you got some sick collabs aboard the album. For instance, Om Unit who’s mindset seems similar to yours, he just doesn’t give a fuck about what people think!

Well, I guess that’s how we gravitated towards each other. He knew me probably more from the Submotion stuff which again is kinda in between two genres of jazz and electronica. I think he reached out to me when I had just come back from the second Author USA tour, as he had a studio in South London near where I lived. I remember I took my viola to his studio because I figured if someone’s gonna be open to something a bit different it’s gonna be Jim. We spent an afternoon making some ideas and I recorded the viola you can hear on the track. Then there’s this sort of rising thing going on in the background and even me sniffing. That’s me on the train with a 2-track recording the train engine. It was quite cold outside and hot on the train, so my nose started running.

We had this sketch of an idea and I then took the stems away, worked on it a bit more and came back to him. I involved a vocalist and wrote a song for it but then it just didn’t seem to work. We tried different vocals and eventually I came to the conclusion that it was destined to be an instrumental and I was trying to push it too far. I actually didn’t only strip out the vocals but loads of the parts too that we had added. We had synth melodies in there, loads more drums and I felt like it was all getting a bit confused. It ended up being a really stripped back autonomic vibe type of track and I really like it. In terms of the collaborations as a whole, it’s just people I bumped into through various friends in music going like: ‘Oh, you really would like so and so because they do this and this,‘ and you end up having a session together. Quark who I did ‘Sunshine’ with (and a bunch of other tracks from the Dubstep era) is someone who I used to live with. I just had to have a track with him so I forced him into the studio! We ended up doing two tracks together. The second one is a kind of acoustic-guitar-meets-footwork track that will probably come out at some point in the near future. We just had a great time messing around in the studio like old times – we started a track just using the sounds of the acoustic guitar to create a drum beat, and ‘Stuck’ came out from that session.

Same with Jesse Appiah. We’ve actually made lots of tracks together. I initially reached out to him because I was sound engineer for the Outlook Orchestra and he was singing Burial’s ‘Archangel’ track. I really liked his voice. We did a Dub Techno track called ‘Struggle’ which came out in Jack Sparrow’s label a couple of years ago. I produced another track that he’s ended up putting out called ‘Chains‘. ‘Save It’ has elements of Jungle and Breakbeats but it also got quite a downtempo feel. It’s kinda songy with the guitar intro and stuff. I had to have it for the album basically. Along with a lot of the other tracks, it’s just one of those tracks that doesn’t really fit neatly in a box, but that’s what I like about it.

Then with Ruth Royall I think Hospital put us in touch. I had written a rough instrumental Drum & Bass track and they suggested that we work together and ended up doing some amazing stuff together from D&B to production library hip-hop stuff! I had that instrumental of ‘Best Laid Plans‘ but I felt it needed a vocal. I sent her the idea and I used some chopped up Motown acapellas just as a rough guide as to what I had in mind. What she sent me back literally the next day was pretty much 90% of what the song ended up being *chuckles*. We then just had a session tweaking it and stuff.

Sick!

I really felt like all of the collaborators have been the kind of people that are very open to not just pushing boundaries just ignoring them completely. Going with whatever feels right, which is really nice!

Getting straight out of the comfort zone of some people!

Perhaps, but they’re also people who I don’t think have a comfort zone. When I’m working with Jim I don’t feel like I’m working with a Drum & Bass producer – I’m working with a music producer. When I’m working with Ruth, yes she’s done a bunch of Drum & Bass songs, but we even did a library track where she’s rapping. The track with Jinadu is a kind of protest-song, but he’s not usually very political with his music – we were having a lot of conversations about Brexit at the time and he wanted to get his anger out into the song. Likewise, with Ed Thomas – he’s written songs for everyone from Maverick Sabre and Jorja Smith to Chase & Status and Stormzy, but we just hung out as old friends and had a chat about where we were at with music. I talked about feeling like an outsider and getting frustrated at stale self-referential genres etc and we ended up writing ‘Still Here’ off the back of that. There was no-one saying: ’Oh, this isn’t me,’ or trying to stick to certain genre rules or processes or whatever – we were just being creative with everything.

So it’s the perfect environment for you?

Yeah, totally!

Thanks for taking the time to speak to me Dom, it was pleasure!

The pleasure is mine!

‘Songs For The Time Being’ LP by Ruckspin is out now and available here

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