In Strict Tempo, vol. 74: DJ Persuasion & Liftin Spirits Interview

Drum & Bass isn’t something I really cover enough on In Strict Tempo, in all honesty whilst it’s a genre I enjoy it’s not something I could ever class myself as massively knowledgeable on. Of course, I know the main players, the classic tunes and some of the myths and legends around the scene but other than going to a few Grooverider or LTJ Bukem nights as a youngster it was never a genre I got really ‘in’ to.

I had no excuses really - growing up on the outskirts of Cambridge, a city with a fervent jungle scene centred around the long-running Warning at the Junction I had access to all this stuff on my doorstep, but for whatever reason we flocked towards the UKG and House/Techno nights put on locally.

That said, it’s a genre I still enjoy listening to from, even though I’m in no way a proper head, so when DJ Persuasion hit me up with news that he was making an album alongside no other than Ant Miles of Liftin Spirits & formerly half of Origin Unknown of course I wanted to know more.

For those of you that don’t know DJ Persuasion is an alias of Benji Lehmann, formerly Semtek and the man behind the label Don’t Be Afraid. I’ve been lucky enough to count Benji as a friend for quite a few years now, and he’s one of the few people in music who just gets it. He’s someone who’s helped not only myself but countless others find their way in this sometimes rotten industry, and an individual who’s been a huge inspiration and influence on my career, even if a lot of it is just us sounding off to each other about the state of dance music these days.

I caught up with Benji & Ant as they hit the promotional cycle for their new album Transmission 96 which drops next Friday on Bandcamp and all good digital platforms, and in a special limited-to-30 lathe cut 10” of two of the tracks only available via the Liftin Spirit webshop.

Thanks for taking the time out to speak with me guys. So, let’s start with the the title of the album: Transmission 96 - it's clearly an era of DnB that's close to your heart, can you tell me a bit more about your inspirations for the album?

Ant Miles: Since the early nineties when I first started the label, Liftin Spirit leaned more towards a more liquid soulful vibe. As musicians, we are all inspired by each other’s creations, and this is what helps genres to mutate and evolve, Around the middle of that decade, Jungle was at its peak, with artists such as Foul Play, Omni Trio, LTJ Bukem and many others dropping tunes that truly touched your inner soul and that was a truly magical time for Drum and Bass. I was asked recently in an interview to name a couple of tunes which impacted me the most and I immediately thought of DJ Rap’s ‘Spiritual Aura’ and Foul Play’s ‘Being With You’. This LP Transmission 96 is a nod to that era which will always be close to my heart as you say.

Apart from the obvious methods of distribution (Spotify, Apple, YouTube etc.) how do you think the scene is different to how it was back in the mid 90s?

Ant: For me as a music producer, I was brought up and schooled on analogue equipment. The transition over to digital at the turn of the millennium was kinda difficult to obtain that same warm, punchy mixes we had had at the RAM / Liftin Spirit studio. It was like a new science to learn all over again. Plus, in the former analogue world, once a mix was completed and the faders were reset there wasn’t any real option of going back to that track and so it was ‘done’. Today it’s always tempting to keep going back over and over on a tune, getting to version no.99, sometimes going backwards til you’re fed up with it. Having said that its obviously easier to create anywhere with just a laptop.

I get that, it’s a trade-off between convenience and spontaneity and the constant chase for ‘perfection’. Do you have a favourite track on the album?

Ant: I loved working on all of the tunes on the LP, bringing what I could to the table so to speak. I guess the one that resonates with me the most is Without Me. The emotion and the junglistic vibe we achieved together on that tune in particular was off the scale imo. To be fair, I’m proud of all of ‘em.

The album doesn't shy away from it's influences, and the title I assume references that 'golden age' of jungle from 92-97 - an era you've explored on your mixtapes Benji for Blackest Ever Black, The Trilogy Tapes, Tape Echo & Kindred- and the tracks still sound current, which is a fine line to get right - if you was releasing this back in 1996 what one present-day innovation or piece of technology would you be grateful for?

Benji Lehmann: I think the innovation I’d be grateful for is modern communication networks. The ability to quickly pass tracks back and forth as projects or stems over the Internet has meant that Ant and I were able to collaborate. 30 years ago we’d have been sending each other DATs by snail mail, it never would have happened. On the other hand I’m glad I began making music in the 90’s because the limitations of that time teach you to push the equipment in new and interesting ways.

30 years ago we’d have been sending each other DATs by snail mail, it never would have happened - DJ Persuasion

Cambridge isn’t really known for it’s music scene but there was a really strong collective of DnB producers in the city - how important was having that on your doorstep as a youngster and not having to travel to London?

Benji: Cambridge wasn’t a bad place to be if you were making music at that point in time. It’s not exactly suburban, let’s be honest, but it had certain things in common with other backwaters that became known for their scene. Firstly, there was naff all to do, other than head down to Digital Village or Streetwise Records and scour the racks. We had Warning at The Junction though, which was 16 and over entry back in 96, not 18 and over like most venues, so that was a bonus for 16 year old me.

As Semtek you’re well known for your previous House & Techno releases but as DJ Persuasion you’ve released a number of Jungle mixtapes so it feels like an album is a natural progression. It feels like we’re seeing more artists turn their talents to different styles than what they were originally known for - is this just natural, or do you think it’s partly driven by the world of streaming and it’s desire to be constantly fed new content.

Benji: That’s an interesting question. I think that everyone should do whatever it is they enjoy doing, as long as it’s genuinely what they enjoy and not something they’ve grudgingly adopted for commercial gain. That’s in an ideal world, though. The reality is that if you’ve dedicated your life to learning how to be a producer or a DJ and the scene you’re a part of implodes, you may be forced to earn a living from a rival sound. We’re all just trying to do the thing we love, and that incurs different sacrifices for different people.

The last track is called We R AI - and that’s obviously the hottest topic right now as no-one really knows how AI is going to develop and effect the music scene. It’s already fairly powerful in it’s ability to emulate styles, but what’s your thoughts on it all?

Benji: We R AI was something that I started without thinking it would become one of the tracks that we worked on together. It began as an experiment to see which of the newfangled AI tools that were being hyped at the time would really be useful. I played it to Ant just to show him what I’d been up to and he asked me to send the stems, next thing I knew he’d built a real track out of it and it has become one of my favourites from the LP.

Ant: So it was on the piano and some bass parts that were AI generated on that track. The latest version of Logic Pro gave us the ability to analyse the pad chord line used on the intro and create realistic accompaniments. I did have to edit it up a bit where it had become too mechanical in places but I was really impressed with how it came out. Like with anything new like this it becomes a ‘tool’ in the studio. I hope never to see the day when 100% AI created music beats that human touch as I’ll be out of a job.

And the title - it’s a tribute to Lennie D Ice, right?

Benji: Yeah, it was enormously sad to lose Lennie D Ice so young last year. It’s been a theme of late that some of the originators of this culture are starting to leave this mortal coil. We R AI was inspired partly by that track, hence the nod in the title, but it’s also a contemporary response. It’s as important to be inspired by the recipe behind tracks you love, as it is to be inspired by the dish itself, so to speak.

I hope never to see the day when 100% AI created music beats that human touch as I’ll be out of a job. - Ant Miles

I get that, and that’s something that AI can't quite replace, that human element of inspiration and love. Sometimes it feels to me like AI is seen as this replacement for almost everything you can possibly do in music - from making tunes, creating vocals, album artworks and curating playlists; in a way DJ’s and label heads were the original curators, so how crucial is it that established artists are still able to create and share their work?

Ant: Oh I doubt AI will totally replace everything in music creation. Every artist/act has their own organic ‘sound’. Music creation has been my hobby since 1980 which I have always loved doing. But the best part is for me is putting stuff out into the world, otherwise what’s the point you know? Nowadays it’s much easier to do this than it was 20 years ago. Getting a positive reaction from even just one person is what its all about for me personally. I am so pleased that this LP, being a hybrid of old school Jungle influences, mixed with modern day techniques, appears to be getting appreciation by the Drum and Bass community old and new alike.

Benji: I would echo what Ant has said above. I’d like to think that as producers and artists we can still give AI a run for its money. It’s up to us though to stay ahead of the game. I don’t really agree with people seeking to ban it or constrain what the technology can do (in a musical setting). We R AI really felt like a collaboration between the two of us and the tools, and I don’t have a problem with that. Music is an algorithm, in some ways, a scale is an algorithm, a rhythm is an algorithm. It’s up to us, though, to make sure that the new capabilities AI offers push us forwards and not backwards.

Thanks to you both. Transmission 96 drops next Friday on Liftin Spirit records on Bandcamp and all good streaming platforms. From 7pm tonight (Friday 9 May) a special, highly limited lathe-cut 10” of two of the tracks on the album will be available on the Liftin Spirit webshop.

If you want to know what Ant & Benji enjoy eating whilst in the studio this interview with Jack Murphy has all the juicy details.

New Music

It’s been a while since I reviewed any new tunes on In Strict Tempo so there’s a fair amount to catch up on. Without further ado…

Surgeon - Shell~Wave [Tresor]

Techno as it should be. No fucking about, pure ‘panel beaters from Prague’ relentless beats. It’s not meant to be fun, it’s not meant to be sexy, it’s just a proper workout for your ears and mind. 10/10

Thom Yorke & Mark Pritchard - Tall Tales [Warp]

I’m not going to lie, the first single from this didn’t grab me when I heard it a few months ago. How wrong I was. That excepted, the rest of this album is precisely what you’d expect from two giants of the game. This is a worthy follow up to The Eraser (one of the greatest albums of the 00’s if you ask me) IMO.

Rainy Miller - Joseph, What Have you Done? [Fixed Abode/Supernature]

I’ve been following Miller for a while now and with each new release I find something new to enjoy. Murky northern electronica, somewhere between Dean Blunt, Actress and Space Afrika this is the soundtrack to a David Peace novel yet to be written.

Mika Vainio - Kuvio [Sahko]

It seems like barely a week goes by without them discovering some more lost music from the late Mika Vainio. Not that I’m complaining, this is as hypnotic as they come. Stick it on after that Surgeon record and lose yer mind.

Peverelist - Pulse Decay [Livity Sound]

The floorfiller is making a comeback! Proper banging dance music here from Pev, plain and simple.

Anthony Naples - Scanners [ANS]

Is it possible for something to be a slammer but also elicit emotions at the same time? It’s a rare trick that only the best can pull off. Luckily Anthony Naples can, this new album coming as a nice surprise. There’s more on the way too

Sally Shapiro - Did You Call Tonight? [Italians Do It Better]

A new single from Sally Shapiro on Italians Do It Better. Good to see this stuff is still finding an audience despite not really being flavour of the month with the hipsters any more. I’ll Be By Your Side remains one of my favourite tunes ever, so let’s revisit that one too.

Tomorrow The Rain Will Fall Upwards - Wreck His Days [Blackest Ever Black/Optimo]

One of the most overlooked Blackest Ever Black albums - now available digitally for the first time in ages. I think everyone was surprised when it came out that this was the work of JD Twitch. I’ve got some more to say on this, somewhere else, some other time… keep ‘em peeled.

Hieroglyphic Being - Dance Music 4 Bad People [Smalltown Supersound]

Small-town Supersound are making a really strong case for being label of the year. Everything they’ve put out recently has been amazing, and this new one from Jamal Moss keeps up that run of form.

Moin - Belly Up [AD93]

Moin continue to explore and develop their sound, something that makes them probably the most exciting, and certainly the most interesting band operating in the UK. An absolute must-hear.

Bobby Would - Mumia [Self-Released]

Two nice and long, proper out-there jams from Bobby Would. Cosmic gear to take you on a space odessey.

Borez (Beau Wanzer & Rezzett) — Borez [The Trilogy Tapes]

A heap of mashed-the-fuck-up-whatever-the-fuck-you-call-it skittish future-rave-jams here from Beau Wanzer & Rezzett.