Rising talent No-e achieves a career milestone this October, making his maiden appearance on Jamie Jones’ Hot Creations with the three-track A List. It continues a highlight 2021 for the Welshman, which has seen him release on Food Music, Nothing But and several other labels already this year.
No-e spoke on how the release began to take shape, stating: “This EP came about from a real need for some escapism and an injection of high energy during the lockdown, so I wanted to make something that I would play in my DJ sets.”
The title track begins with striking synth pulses and fast-paced kick-hat pairings, whilst old-skool disco samples march on throughout. Fleek manifests as a groovy, vocal-driven number, packed full of female lyrical samples that create a true celebratory feel, before Get It ends proceedings on an upbeat, feel-good note with warm percussion and a swinging underlying bassline.
Welsh DJ / Producer No-e is quickly becoming a talked-about name in today’s electronic music realm. Cutting his teeth in his hometown of Swansea, recent releases on Food Music and All Night Long Records have caught the eye of several well-known talents, including Shadow Child, Alex Virgo and now Hot Creations head Jamie Jones
Hello! Thanks for taking the time to talk to us today. How are you and where are you based?
Hey, I’m good, thanks for having me. I am based in Wales in the UK, just outside Swansea.
For our readers that aren’t familiar, can you tell us a bit about yourself?
Yeah sure. I’m a family man with a wonderful wife and 3 great kids. From an early age I had a keen interest in music and I have been DJing for about 20 years now. I started producing 2 years ago now and I’m loving it.
You are known mainly for rising to fame in Swansea. Can you tell us about how that happened and about the music scene there?
The music scene is great here, always has been. We have some great venues, and I have been lucky enough to have residencies in most of them over the years. Sadly some iconic ones like Escape (Wales first super club) have closed but new ones have popped up to replace them. It started with me nagging friends of mine that were Djing at the time to jump on and play a few until they gave in just to shut me up, I’ve never looked back since.
You also are famed for Hip-Hop and Garage. Can you tell us more about that and how you moved into house music?
I started listening to Hip Hop from probably the age of 10 or 11. People like NWA, Eric B & Rakim & Big Daddy Kane etc and it will always be my first love. The UK Garage scene really kicked off in the late 90’s here in Swansea and as soon as I heard Fine by Jamieson I knew I wanted to DJ and I bought my first set of decks.
I alway wanted to produce but never had the time until a couple of years ago. I had always liked House music and I was listening to lots of stuff trying to find a style and I stumbled across 23 by Shadow Child. From that point it was House music all the way and it’s funny how things work out as Shadow Child now mentors me and has taught me so much.
Who are your musical influences and why?
Oh there are so many, but I think my love of Hip Hop and Garage has shaped and influenced my music especially my use of samples. As far as artists go, I would say Shadow Child, Jamie Jones, Alex Virgo, Dance System and Josh Hvaal have all influenced me the most. They all make great tunes.
It’s been a crazy time during the pandemic. How have you found things and what did you do to keep busy?
To be honest it has been great for me musically. It really gave me the time to concentrate on producing and get better at it. I’m always learning but the time definitely helped.
Can you tell us about your studio setup?
Of Course. My DAW of choice is Reason, it’s great. What drew me to it originally was the instruments all look like hardware instruments so when you are programming say a drum machine its the same way you would do it on a 909 or 808 so you don’t feel like you are just working on a computer screen. I work mostly inside the box, but I do have a Roland SH01a and a Roland Juno 06a synth, which are mini versions of the originals.
Do you have any hobbies outside of music?
Yeah I’m a big football fan, other than that just spending as much time as I can with family & friends.
Do you have any gigs or projects coming up that you would like to share with us?
I have my EP on Hot Creations which is out now and I’m really excited for people to hear. I also have an EP signed to Food Music which will be out later in the year. I have a few exciting gigs lined up and will be sharing them with everyone as soon as I can.
