Wain, a UK producer from the north-west of the country who’s in his early 20’s has been slowly building a name for himself with a slew of energetic techno releases largely across his very own Rammer Records imprint.
We discuss a variety of topics in our interview with the rising artist including how he began producing music, the biggest releases he has heard in the past 12 months as what the perfect demo would sound like for his own label.
What’s been the highlight moment since beginning your journey into music?
Although my music career has not been very long, I would say the highlight so far would be releasing my first track and having verified artist profiles on Spotify/Beatport. My debut single ‘Eternity’ was released at the end of february this year on Technologic Recordings which reached #68 in the top 100 hype chart! This was a big moment for me as it was my first track that had been signed, since then I have been spending a lot more time in the studio and have quite a few tracks up my sleeve which a few of will be releasing as the year goes on. I have some big announcements coming later this year which unfortunately you will have to wait for haha. Another highlight of mine would be setting up my own label Rammer Records which I created at the end of last year. The name ‘Rammer’ is actually a slang term from where I am from, meaning a track is a banger, so the name fits very well.
Once we’re back to some form of normal, what are you most looking forward to enjoying?
I’m most looking forward to getting back in the clubs and going back to the festivals, it’s been so long since i’ve been on an actual dancefloor! I think i speak for everyone when i say i can’t wait for the raves to come back. I’m also looking forward to getting behind the decks and playing the music I love, this will be one of the most exciting things for me. Hearing my tracks through a proper sound system will be such a great thing after waiting so long, especially the releases coming on my own label.There’s a lot of exciting times ahead as the music scene gets back into action.
Over the past year, what have you learned about yourself?
I would say the most I have learned about myself is establishing my sound and the sound I want to put out there. Throughout my producing career (although not very long) I have created a unique sound which is my own style of hard hitting industrial techno. Over the past year when looking for tracks to play I have noticed I am now going for the harder and heavier tracks rather than your standard club techno. This has helped me to find what I want to put out and how I want to represent myself as a DJ and Producer. Going forward I’m sure I will learn a lot more but always sticking to my unique sound, you have to stay true to yourself in this industry, that’s what will make you stand out.
You have had a lot of time to get into the studio over the past year, how much have you been writing new music?
Yeah I’ve been writing quite a lot of new stuff recently, I have some tracks releasing on my label later this year and also some other tracks releasing on different labels too. Lockdown has kind of been a blessing in a way that I have had a lot more time to get in the studio and just immerse myself in all the hardware and get stuck in. Although covid has been terrible for the music industry it has helped a lot of artists to create a lot more and even inspired a lot of new artists to get producing, which means we’ll have a hell of a lot of new music to play once we get back out there. So things are looking good for me so far in terms of new music, I’m excited.
The latest release, ‘Human Touch’, tell us more about this in particular, what was the motivation?
So for ‘Human Touch’ i wanted to create an absolute banger or ‘rammer’ that would bring people together on the dancefloor after such a long time of no contact and to release it on my own label is something special. I’ve worked on this track for a while during lockdown and I’m glad I am finally getting it released. The track has a lot of heavy sort of rave vibes and sick stabs which i wanted to get out there and can’t wait to hear when things start opening back up, it is also one of my favourite tracks i have produced yet. I’m also looking forward to getting things going with the label, you can expect a lot more from me.
What has been the best release you have heard in the past year?
Throughout the past year there’s been so many good releases, anything coming on Odd Recordings, Suara or Filth On Acid is always a banger but if i had to pick a favourite release from the past year, it would between Resonances ‘Rave Dimension’ EP or Michael Klein’s ‘No Mercy’ EP, what a bunch of absolute bangers. You can always count on Michael to create some utter filth. When i started listening to techno i started listening to your standard clubby style techno which i still really like however as time goes on im rooting for heavier harder hitting sounds to match my own.
When specifically in the studio, what tools or hardware do you most like to tap into with?
There’s a lot of great hardware out there but in my studio I have a few favourites. The Auturia Drumbrute is a cracking piece of kit for creating heavy industrial kicks which have helped me establish my sound. The Moog Sub Phatty is another piece of hardware which is prominent within my tracks, I use this for my basslines. I also like to implement a lot of acid into my tracks in which I use the Roland TB3, I used this to create the slick acid lines in my track ‘Eternity’. For all other elements I use the Korg Minilogue and a variety of other VST’s, all working to create rammers.
If you were looking for new music to be submitted to Rammer Records, could you describe the perfect demo?
I would say the perfect demo would need to be something that blows me away and something I can see myself raving to, within the label I want to put out a variety of tracks but all will be music I love and want to play. The perfect demo needs to be a rammer, if i don’t think it’s a rammer i won’t put it out there. I’m glad to say we have releases lined up for the year including tracks from local talent which I am excited to put out and am also looking forward to sharing more music of my own. Rammers only.
