Lara and I first met the extremely awesome DJ2E back at the first FKOF Bastards excursion, and have been following his talents, both on the decks and on the buttons, since then.

You can catch 2E on RoodFM every other Tuesday on the 6-8PM GMT slot, and don’t sleep on Chris’ appearance on GetDarker TV this Tuesday alongside Hatcha and Pistonsbeneath.

When Chris said he was coming down to the MIG x FKOF party we had a few weeks back, we managed to get him on camera for a video interview (courtesy of the awesome guys over at WeFreeTheBox) to go with his truly sensational mix…

Click to DOWNLOAD

Track list:

1. Pressa – Conger – Dub
2. Core – Rescue room – Dub
3. Skream – Dark light – Free
4. Icicle – Breathing again – Shogun
5. Rowl – Resoloution – ICU Audio
6. Boot – Reeducation – Dub
7. Kawook – Undergrowth – Dub
8. Fused forces – Push Forward – Dub
9. Ipman – Raindance – Dub
10. Killawatt – Topio – Dub
11. Thelem – Cathetus – Dub
12. Artikal – Voyager – Artikal
13. Headhunter – Clone – Black box
14. Sleeper – Narrow – Chestplate
15. Pheral – Hatchway – Dub
16. Sleeper – GTFO (Killawatt remix) – Dub
17. Biome – Propaganda – Osiris
18. Perverse – Skeptic – Dub
19. Benton – Wormholes – Wheel & Deal
20. Ipman – Radiate – Dub
21. Pheral – Sanctuary – Dub

If you have any thoughts on what DJ2E has to say, or anything else you’ve seen – maybe you’ve got someone to recommend to FKOF or seen something you think we’d like? Get in touch via email, Twitter, Facebook or the FKOF TakesQuestions page.

This project was one of those times. Back in November, I had a message, through from my About.me page, from a final year graphic design student from the University of Gloucestershire. Chris had contacted me with an idea he’d had for his Final Major Project – which turned out to be pretty identical to what I’d set out to do with FatKidOnFire when I launched almost two years ago.

Chris wanted to research what was going on in the world of brands producing independent t-shirts, with the end goal of producing an exhibition on the processes that go into making the world’s most popular fashion garment. I can try and explain what he was trying to do – but he can probably do it better:

Whilst the current state of affairs in the world at the moment have made it tough for pretty much everyone, I also think it makes for exciting times in terms of people taking the initiative and trying to make something for themselves. Yes, it’s tough going trying to sustain something off your own bat, but those willing to innovate, take risks, work hard and produce strong work will survive, and therefore raise the bar. It forces people to either sink or swim.

And that’s partly where I’m coming from with ‘Independence‘. It’s the result of 4 months hard work and is, basically, a piece of University work. I study Graphic Design at University, and instead of a dissertation, we can do a practical version – a major research project. I really wanted to use this as an opportunity to explore the independent streetwear scene in the UK, something I’d just started to get really interested in. I spent some time looking at the tees etc. themselves, and realised that one of the more interesting (and perhaps less celebrated aspects) was the ‘about’ page on brand’s websites – the people investing their own hard earned into doing something they love, the people printing stuff up in their sheds, the people holding down a 9-5 and then coming home and almost doing another 9-5 to keep a brand running.

After this revelation, I immediately set about organising to meet up and have a chat with the people behind some of the most exciting brands around, with the help of a certain Wil Benton. I had a fantastic time travelling firstly to Plymouth, and then to London, meeting some really great people and experiencing what they’re all about in person. They really inspired me to invest some time and effort into producing something that’d do the content justice.

Chris and I have traded roughly 100 emails since he first contacted me last year. We discussed how best to get the project off the ground, which brands he was interested in meeting and pretty much everything else under the sun. I introduced him to a few of the friends I’d made over the history of running FKOF – to see if they’d be as intrigued in the ‘Independence’ as I was.

After a while, Chris decided that running an exhibition might be a bit too ambitious (this time), so he had the idea of producing a small run of printed collectables…

Instead of going for a glossy magazine, I instead settled on a newspaper format, printed by independent printers who produce newspapers because they love it. Newspapers have been around for decades, and have been used as a canvas for all sorts of views and opinions from all across the spectrum, much like the t-shirt. I then wanted to give things a personal touch, a nod to the guys printing in their sheds and spare rooms. I got my hands dirty and screen printed a canvas bag to package the paper in – something you can take shopping that reminds you, whilst you’re out and about on the high street, to think of the independent brands.

I’ve received some fantastic feedback so far and have been completely blown away by people’s responses – so much so that this is something I have plans to carry on. I have a lot of enthusiasm and time for people trying to make something for themselves, people who don’t think ‘wouldn’t it be great if…’, but instead go out and do it, and would love to be a part of all that in some way. As they say, watch this space…

I’ve been truly blown away by what Chris has achieved in the past few months. He’s gone from an idea to a collection of featured streetwear brands he’s taken the time to talk to, as well as an editorial and a superb opinion piece from one of the most exciting brands I’ve featured in the past two years, all lovingly displayed in a newspaper – printed by an independent printers. It doesn’t really get better than this!

You can either contact Chris directly, via the Independence blog or his Twitter account, for your copy of Independence, or you can purchase it from him using the Sellaround widget below. As Chris explains below, he’ll not be making a profit if you do purchase a copy – but it’ll go some way to recoup his (fairly substantial) costs.

If you want to see what I’ve put together for yourself, check out the blog at www.independenceblog.tumblr.com and pick up a copy for a fiver. I won’t make a profit out of this – I’m just keen to get my work out there and get some more responses, and the fiver covers postage and makes some contribution towards costs. If nothing else, you’ll get a bag out of it!

Don’t take our word for it. Pick your copy of the Independence up today, but don’t hang around – there are only 20 or so. If you don’t manage to get your hands on one of the 20 that are up for sale, don’t worry. You may see the Independence again…

There are few projects that I’ve been as proud to take part in as this, and hopefully those of you who buy a copy will understand why.

Peace, love and respect.

FKOF

Tonight, I’m not going to be putting eye drops in my ear (I have a feeling the hospital pharmacy gave me the wrong drugs) and I’m more than stoked to be dropping #95 in the MIG x FKOF series. I’m well keen on discovering new producing or mixing talent – and love it even more when it arrives, unprompted in my inbox. Kent’s Konvex did exactly that when he sent me his latest tune a few weeks back. He’s been getting support from Perverse and my boy Sparxy (amongst others) so I knew he’d be a talent worth watching…

Who is Konvex? My name’s Tom McShane, I’m a dubstep producer from Kent, UK and I’ve been producing under the alias Konvex for the last 3 months or so. I’m also a part of the Falkon Records collective along with artists such as Zoobi, KBeatz and Reamz to name but a few.

What got you into mixing and producing dubstep? What’s your style – big, dark basslines or as filthy as possible? Nowadays, I’m all about the dark sounds; subby, deep dubstep. I used to be into filth though, back when I first started exploring the genre and learning to produce. I’d churn out aggressive-style tunes whereas now I feel like I’ve learnt to appreciate the darker, more minimalistic side of dubstep. I think there’s just something that feels a lot less “throwaway” with a darker tune, more intelligent even.

What software do you use to produce your tracks? At the moment, I’m using Reason rewired into Logic. I did use FL Studio but after switching to a Mac, I had to say goodbye. I use the synths inside of Reason because I find it easier to achieve the sounds I’m after with them, though I have started exploring Logic’s native plugins a lot more now. As for hardware, I’ve recently bought some Fostex PM-1 monitors.

Turntables or CDJs? Because of my age, I haven’t had the opportunity to play in any clubs or anything just yet (I’ve still got about six months ahead of me before I can even drink a pint legally!), so all of my experience DJing has been in my bedroom and, on some rare occasions, at house parties in my area. I have to admit I’m more of a CDJ person simply because I haven’t really had the chance to try out wax properly yet (though it is something I plan on investing in as soon as possible).

How long have you producing and DJing? I’ve been producing for about a year now, experimenting with different software and learning how to put together tunes. Originally, I would be playing around with loops and stuff but I found that it wasn’t as personal as I wanted my tunes to be, so I started learning how to do it all myself. I’ve only really been making tunes I’m happy with for the last few months though.

What’s been your best gig and if you could DJ alongside anyone, who would it be? I have yet to play a gig I’m afraid (if you fancy booking me, let me know!) but if I had the opportunity to DJ alongside anyone? It’d probably be someone like Skream, he was the first dubstep producer I started listening to and he’s been a huge inspiration for my music.

Who are your top 5 dubstep producers at the moment; and why? This is a tough one, all of my Falkon Records labelmates are killing it, people like Zoobi, Cauze, Outerdub and Reamz. Also got to mention Dyssomnia, one of the nicest guys I’ve come across while making music and his tunes kill it. Other than that, there’s the big names; people like J:Kenzo (who I only found out the other week lives about ten minutes from me!), Benton and LX:One. All those guys really influence my sound.

I think if I have to choose a top five at the moment, it’d be (in no order);

• Benton,
• Biome,
• Sleeper & District,
• J:Kenzo and
• Perverse.

I just can’t help but rinse their tunes, consistently putting out bangers!

What’s the future of dubstep – where do you see the genre going? I think it’s pretty split at the moment, with people like Skrillex being so popular, we’re no doubt due an abundance of new filth producers this year. But I think on the whole, dubstep’s going a bit deeper. Back to its roots.

Any forthcoming releases we can look forward to? No releases scheduled at the moment I’m afraid! Over Christmas, I put out a free tune with Falkon Records called “Empty” and I’ve recently produced a VIP mix of that track which has been getting some big love, namely by people like Perverse, Percept and Innamind Records. I’m absolutely thrilled about it personally, and I can’t wait to put out tunes that get even more support.

I’d love to work with more labels in future, I’m currently building up my repertoire of tracks at the moment so I can have an EP ready before the end of the year so that should be exciting. There’s a load of labels I’d love to release with, Innamind and Bacon Dubs are gonna be taking over this year, watch out!

Have you got any advice to upcoming DJs/ Producers? Just keep at it, starting out is the most frustrating thing in the world but once it all clicks, you’ll be putting out tune after tune after tune! Contact the right people, don’t go sending your filth tunes to Youngsta or your deep tunes to Doctor P. Gotta have the right contacts!

Any shoutouts? Of course! Massive thanks first and foremost to my girlfriend for putting up with me, inspiring me and supporting me through everything. Shoutouts to Zoobi, Cauze, Outerdub, Mershak, Dyssomnia, Percept, Perverse and Malleus.

I also wanna thank DunesDubstep for all the promotion, along with Sparxy and Falkon Records!

Konvex‘ mix definitely doesn’t disappoint, grab the free download and get it on your stereos. A veritable who’s who in upcoming talent, the artists featuring in Konvex’ mix for MakeItGood and FatKidOnFire are definitely worth paying attention to over the next few months!

Click to DOWNLOAD

Track list:

1. Anex – Drowsy [Dub]
2. Cauze & K-Beatz – Nightmares [Dub]
3. Gamma & Dyssomnia – The Third Stage [Free]
4. Zoobi – LNDNDNGN [Dub]
5. Konvex – Eyes Down [Dub]
6. Sparxy – Shallow Grave [Dub]
7. Konvex – Empty VIP [Dub]
8. Cauze – Shadowz [Dub]
9. Killawatt & Thelem – Swarf [New Moon Recordings]
10. Reamz – Forgotten [Dub]

If you have any thoughts on Konvex‘ mix, or want to recommend a new artist you’ve discovered or just want a chat about something you’ve seen on FatKidOnFire, leave a comment below or get in touch via email, Twitter, Facebook or the FKOF TakesQuestions page.

I’ll be getting the thinking cap on for ways to celebrate reaching all these milestones – but safe to say there’ll be some cool sh!t going down when we hit those markers. Tonight sees another brand feature in the series; which, incidentally, seems to have picked up again this year. Long may it continue!

With the rise in popularity of the social web (if you want more on that, go read some of the stuff on the work blog); blogging platforms, social networks and smartphone apps have enabled pretty much anyone to start making and publishing stuff – and getting people around the world to take notice. It’s the reason I’ve got a job, it’s the reason FKOF is still going (which is mainly thanks to you guys) and it’s how I discover quite a lot of the brands and artists that feature here.

Listen Supply is one such brand. I first noticed them (via the above shot of their superb 5 panel) on Instagram. I started following them, liked their pictures and had a look at their Tumblr. I was pretty much blown away by their debut collection when it dropped on their website – clean and simple designs; a varied product range and some killer pieces.
The Listen Supply ‘Introducing…‘ feature on The Daily Street (TDS) lead to some interesting/ pretty harsh criticisms of the brand and their efforts – so I purchased a 5 panel (which is amazing) to see if the criticism was justified and hit the guys up to see if they wanted to do a feature here. They obliged and the interview follows…

[Listen Supply's launch at Bristol's FiftyFifty]

Who and what is Listen Supply? Three mates residing in Bristol. We’ve been friends for a long time and had spoken about doing this before. That’s pretty much it. Listen is a word you use every day, everybody is familiar with it. We liked the open-ended meaning of it. It can be used in an authoritative way, or simply mean listening; taking in your surroundings. It means whatever you want it to mean.

There seem to be loads of really impressive streetwear brands popping up at the moment. How have you found starting an independent brand in the current ‘hard times’? So much more challenging! We never thought it was going to be easy but it has been a lot harder than we thought. We have enjoyed it all; but at times it has been super stressful. I don’t think the ‘hard times’ made much of a difference. If you want to do something bad enough you will do what you have to to achieve it.  Nothing worth doing comes easy.

You went all out with the debut drop; tees, a crew, two awesome 5 panels and a coaches jacket. Given the extensive first drop, what are you plans for the future? At the minute we’re working on Summer ’12, which is starting to come together nicely. We have so much in the pipeline that we want to achieve to try and establish ourselves as a brand. Cut and Sew is something were very interested in pursuing, more premium headwear and an international collaboration is something that isn’t too far away.

Your ‘Introducing…’ post on TDS seemed to inspire a bit of debate in the comments. What did you think of the criticism? Crazy! We were really pleased to make it onto TDS. It definitely attracted a lot of good comments – as well as negative comments, but criticism is good for us. It really pushes us to think hard and make a great product, at the end of the day… You can’t please everyone!

What does or will distinguish Listen Supply from the rest of the UK streetwear/ independent brands being dropped these days? There is only so much you can do with starting a brand, we all work full-time jobs and work on the side to make this happen. We wanted to launch with a full range of garments including headwear so we had to juggle some financial restraints.

Because of this we made our main focus quality over quantity.

Who or what influences you in your work? People, places, music, fashion. Everyday life sh!t.

What’s your take on the independent clothing scene in the UK at the moment? Bristol seems to be the place to be for streetwear in the UK. Who are you rating at the moment? There’s definitely a plethora of streetwear brands around at the moment, which is cool; there’s something for everyone in that respect. Bristol is flourishing right about now. Everyone’s doing their own thing, so respect to all of them for doing something productive.

Where do you see you and Listen Supply being in 5 years time? It would be good to quit our day jobs eventually, move into some space and travel to work with people/ artists all over the world to build the brand.

Where can people expect to catch your product, is Listen Supply stocked in any brick and mortar stores? FiftyFifty Bristol, Focus Scotland and D.O.M.E in Paris, Open Lifestyle in Leeds will also be stocking both instore and online from mid February.

If you could say something to your fans, what would it be? Likewise to your haters? Thanks for all the support so far. You sick FKOFs.

Shoutouts FiftyFifty, all of the people showing some love through the social networks, Tim Ward and TDS.

Listen Supply is a young brand – but if their first ‘quality over quantity’ collection is anything to go by, we’ll be seeing a lot more of them over the coming months. Bristol once again seems to be the stomping grounds for some of the most exciting talent in the UK streetwear game – and if you don’t believe me grab one of their 5 panels. Seriously amazing quality! I’ve got a feeling Listen Supply are here to stay, and I couldn’t be more excited to see what they’ve got in store.

Head over to the Listen Supply website to grab some of their stuff, I thoroughly recommend it. Or if you’re near any of their stockists (all hyperlinked a few paragraphs up), pop in and support the independents! You can also follow the guys on Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook or Instagram (they’re @listensupply) if you’re on an iPhone.

If you have any thoughts on what the guys from Listen Supply have had to say, or want to recommend a new brand you’ve discovered or just want a chat about something you’ve seen on FatKidOnFire, drop a comment below or get in touch via email, Twitter, Facebook or the FKOF TakesQuestions page.

Unsurprisingly, given the event had sold out, Cable welcomed a fairly massive crowd to the GetDarker launch party for ‘This is Dubstep 2012′. For those of you who couldn’t get a ticket or reach the event, fear not. The GetDarker crew recorded video and audio streams from the main room throughout the night! The video’s embedded below and I’ll update the post if I can find the download links for the sets anywhere…

And, as it happens, MakeItGood and FatKidOnFire did manage to tempt (more than) a few of the crowd into Room 2. Our room was pretty much packed out from when the doors opened at 10pm to when I left just after 4am. It was a madness! Sparxy opened with a superb set, Syte followed up with a huge hour and a bit of stompers and then Benton blew the roof off with his ‘bloodclart jungle techno‘. Killawatt and Thelem went b2b with some serious eyes down business (and their MC kept everyone vibing away) and then after I’d left for the airport, Syte went b2b with Benton and Sparxy to end of the night – with Aems MCing! Utter madness.

And, for those of you who couldn’t make the event, or drag yourselves out of Room 1, our good friends at We Free the Box were on hand to get everything on camera (luckily, everything didn’t make the final cut)! Lara and I were wandering around with a camera so if you want to peep the photos you can find them on Facebook.

After Cable, I jumped in the car with Content and TRPR from the Dubstep Bastards (who flew from Gothenburg to Stansted for the GetDarker event – to then fly back to Gothenburg the next morning!) to Stansted. We slept for about 45 minutes on the plane and then landed in GBG; being kept awake by the ?-17º temperatures. After wandering around the city for an afternoon, we headed down to Röda Sten to get the system going, eat some birthday cake and prepare for more madness.

After Leroy and Yohan opened up, and Content went mental with his set, I pretty much lost my voice(/ head/) it in general; as you can probably tell of the pictures of me dicking about on stage with Joker and Tunnidge. Insanity ensued as Tunnidge did his best to destroy Röda’s rig and people started dancing on the speaker stacks.

I haven’t got around to uploading the videos from the trusty iPhone (although Jens did, check his video below!), but the photos from the night (thanks again, Alex!) are on the FKOF Facebook page – go see. Out to the Excursion crew, the Swedish crowd and the Bastards themselves. It was one of the best birthday parties I’ve ever been to!

I came home with a chest and ear infection and a day later my eardrum blew out. Safe to say the weekend was a messy one! Here’s to the next adventure – if the ear’s healed…

Peace, love and respect.

FKOF

I first started talking to Chippenham’s JayDrop about a year ago – or rather he messaged me on SoundCloud after I started following me and offered up a mix/ interview. Things ended up not quite going to plan, but when Jay messaged me again a few weeks back we got the ball rolling again. To switch things up a bit, the JayDrop mix isn’t straight deep and dark – or even dubstep at all. Jay went old school garage for his MIG x FKOF mix, and it is awesome…

Who is JayDrop? Jaydrop is… Not sure how to answer that! JayDrop is also Lesley Iver, a name which I will soon be putting tracks out under….. I’m 20, from Chippenham and study at Access to Music in Bristol.

What got you into mixing and producing music? I wouldn’t really say I have much of a style, depends on where I get my booking to play! Sometimes it will be at a DnB night so I’ll play the more aggressive and noisy tracks because the crowd will generally appreciate that more. But then if its a totally different crowd then I’ll play a pretty varied set; house, dubstep, grime, garage etc. I try to fit it all into one set, I find playing one genre gets a bit boring for an hour or more.

What software do you use to produce your tracks? I started out on Reason just over a year ago and I’m slowly transferring everything over to Logic. I’ve only finished one track in Logic – which I’ll put on my SoundCloud!

Turntables or CDJs? I used to be all vinyl but in the past few months Drop Records in Bath closed down and it has made vinyl less accessible. It’s not quite the same ordering it off Chemical Records. Occasionally, I’ll pop into Idle Hands in Bristol, which is a wicked shop and label, it’s just out of my way. Recently I have started to buy more house/ disco Vinyl such as Behling and Simpson, George Fitzgerald and Julien Sandre… But yeah mostly CDJS now because then I can play tracks that I get sent which are not out yet.

How long have you producing and Djing? I have been DJing for about 3 years now. I started to play at Instinct Drum and Bass in Chippenham which is a local night run by my good friend Aaron Viveash. It’s really the only dance music night in Chippenham and has been going strong almost 4 years now! Theres an endless list of acts which I have played along side there such as; Danny Byrd, Koan Sound, Hazard, N-Type, Nero, Nicky Blackmarket, Andy C. – as well as the residents Deviant, Dubbz, Verdikt, Woodze, Philzi etc.

I have been producing for just over a year, so still learning a lot each time I open up Logic or Reason, so it can only get better… Hopefully!

Who are your top 5 producers at the moment; and why?

1. Headhunter – He’s been putting a lot of stuff out under Addison Grove which I love, but his recent release ‘Clone‘ is already a favourite of 2012
2. Indigo – One of those producers who seems to do no wrong, whatever style he goes for. ‘Connections‘ is probably my favourite track, very versatile producer.
3. Troy Gunner -  A very good friend of mine, recently had a 12” release on Mindset Records. Some of his older stuff is wicked, but I’m getting sent stuff on a weekly basis at the moment and they’re all great pieces of music. ‘Head in Hands‘ by him is possible one of my all time favourites to just listen to to and think what the FKOF? How did you even think to make this?!
4. Dub Phizix -  Massive amount of hype around the track ‘Marka‘, which is a wicked track, but for me it’s all about the B side of ‘Rags‘. Great original tracks. An older track ‘The Editor‘ is one of my favourite DnB tracks, worth a check.
5. Kowton -  Techno/ house/ garage – Fits all of these well for kowton, great producer and very good at creating weird and strange atmosphere.

What’s the future of dubstep – where do you see the genre going? The future of dubstep? Well, it’s already split up into about 397 sub genres and there are new artists appearing every day. I don’t think there is much left to happen which hasn’t already. You’ve got the “post-dubstep” people who were there from the beginning i.e. Loefah, Pinch and Peverelist (who are on  totally different vibe within their sets and tracks now). It’s only going to get more popular which doesn’t really bother me as much as others who complain about it not sounding like “real dubstep”. Thats just the evolution of a sound and other peoples interpretations, stop crying.

Any forthcoming releases we can look forward to? I have a digital release on WURK Records, which is a new label starting in Bristol. I will have 2 tracks on that, ‘Change‘ and ‘Combat‘. There are talks of a 12” on WURK with my alias Lesley Iver with remixes from Sly One, Ooko and others…

Also in talks with Kinzy to have some tracks on his label Fully Blown Records, alongside some very credible names, so watch this space!

Have you got any advice to upcoming DJs/ Producers? Don’t be scared to send your tracks out to people for feedback, you’ll almost never get slated for that and it’s great for helpful tips. Have confidence in your own work, take on board other people’s views and use them wisely.

Any shoutouts? WURK Records and everyone involved. Instinct DnB crew, Iron Cloud Clothing, everyone at Access To Music in Bristol and everyone else who has helped me to get to this stage in music!

As promised, JayDrop’s 35 minute, 15 track mix steers clear of dubstep and sticks to proper garage bangers – tunes I’ve not heard in a good long while! It’s a bit different from the tunes/ mixes you normally get here on FatKidOnFire but I’m loving it. Hit Jay up on Twitter if you are too!

Click to DOWNLOAD

Track list:

1. Nu Birth – Anytime (Gant mix)
2. Rosie Gaines- Closer Than Close (Tuff Jams Unda Vybe mix)
3. Fabulous Baker Boys – Oh Boy (Ramsey & Fen mix)
4. Body Groove ft. Nana – Architects
5. Sneaker Pimps – Spin Spin Sugar (Armand’s Dark Garage mix)
6. Mosca – Bax
7. Double 99 – Rip Groove (Vocal Mix With Topcat)
8. Somore ft. Damon Trueitt – I Refuse (What You Want) (Industry Standard mix)
9. DJ Bigga G – Mind, Body & Soul (4×4 mix)
10. Artful Dodger & Romina Johnson – Movin’ Too Fast (Bump & Flex Vocal mix)
11. FUN (Future Underground Nation) – The Way 2000 (Hi-Times Dub)
12. Groove Chronicles – Stone Cold
13. El-B – Cruiser
14. Zed Bias – Neighbourhood (El-B remix)
15. JayDrop – Combat

If you have any thoughts on JayDrop‘s mix, or want to recommend a new artist you’ve discovered or just want a chat about something you’ve seen on FatKidOnFire, leave a comment below or get in touch via email, Twitter, Facebook or the FKOF TakesQuestions page.

Which means, tonight, I can finally get around to publishing the next two features I’ve got in the queue. One brand feature and a new MakeItGood x FKOF feature (and mix) later tonight…

A while back, I interviewed a young streetwear brand called Shaka Clothing. A few days after publishing it, one of the three brothers who run the yellowdog brand got in touch to say how impressed he was with the interview – and FKOF’s concept as a whole. I’d not heard of yellowdog so got chatting to Dom, and the more we talked the more intrigued I became. Three guys, a labradoodle, a passion for t-shirts, a screen printing press and a shed combine to form yellowdog, one of the most unique and exciting DIY brands I’ve discovered in ages…

Who and what is yellowdog? Yellowdog is a clothing brand that focuses on the concept of simplicity using bold shapes and clean lines. We 3 brothers; Chris, Alex and Dom, all have a passion for design and between us we probably own about 10,000 t-shirts. We tend to be slightly obsessed with our work so controlling every aspect of our production is very important to us.

My impression is that the independent clothing market seems to be blowing up in the UK. How have you found running yellowdog with such a small team? The independent clothing market is definitely booming – which does make you extremely busy trying to keep up and you definitely have to keep bringing something new and fresh. Even though we’ve just started we’ve got plenty of ideas in the pipeline ready and waiting.

The team is just us 3, and for the immediate future we want to keep it that way. Part of what makes us special is that we are 3 brothers doing something we love; we all have similar views on what yellowdog is and where we want it to go, we also bring a range of different skills to the table making what we hope will be a perfect combination. Throw in a hearty meal and plenty of tea mid-print session and that usually gets the creative ideas bouncing of each other.

What lead you to starting out on your own? It all started a few years back with the purchase of cheap inkjet printer and a simple heat press to make some extra cash by printing stag-do t-shirts as well as our own personalised t-shirts. We worked out of Chris’ loft (which in the summer time was an actual oven) and we began getting better at what we did and started throwing around the idea of creating our own brand. After quite a bit of research, we realised that it was entirely possible for us to do it, so we set about doing it.

The strange thing about creating a brand was we started to look at t-shirts in a totally different way, not just focusing on the design but also the style of t-shirt, the method of printing and what the tags were like. From that moment we knew there was only one way forward and we had to make the dog work.

You’ve not been on the scene for too long but seem to be progressing really well. Can you tell us a bit about how you go about designing and producing each t-shirt – can you explain from ‘shed to shop’? Shed to shop is our simple concept of a completely in-house production which is highlighted in our ‘about’ video on our website [featured above]. The shed is the base of our operation and all the designing and creation comes from within. We set each other targets to meet each month with the aim that we can individually come up with ideas and then collaboratively finalise and tweak designs before committing to production.

So in terms of the production you do all the printing yourselves? We purchased a screen printing kit in January 2010; which meant it was time to move from the loft to a new, bigger workshop. Fortunately, mother dearest said we could move our operation into her shed so we jumped at the chance. This was the day it all changed really, everything turned a little more serious and we officially moved into the realms of professional screen printing.

It was definitely a steep learning curve and we won’t lie, we made some really silly mistakes. We still laugh at them now but thanks to the internet, we were able to get all the answers to our questions by asking plenty of novice questions on loads of different forums. Through plenty of trial and error and numerous t-shirts ending up as rags we now all feel that we can call ourselves accomplished screen printers.

Currently we print all our own designs and even the finer details are covered in the shed, like sewing on the hem tags; Alex has become quite the seamstress lately. We make sure that the designs we produced are within the limits of what we can achieve, but we have a saying in the shed about being an optimus prime and not a negatron and continue to test ourselves with ever more complex designs which you will see in the future. We can only get bigger and better.

What does or will distinguish yellowdog from the rest of the UK streetwear and independent brands being dropped these days? The ethos behind our work is the simplicity of using bold shapes and clean lines but then this isn’t necessarily something new. What we feel will really set us apart is our concept of ‘shed to shop’; it’s all our own hard work from the designing, to the printing and we want hope that people pick up on this and support it.

We aim to give our designs a kind of story, the video mentioned earlier shows the production process of our ‘sundown’ design and this is something that we are looking to take further with each big release. We want people to buy into the journey and hope they look forward to seeing new designs and how we created them.

Another thing that we are quite proud of is our blog, ‘the dog blog’. Although having a blog is nothing new for clothing brands, all 3 of us contribute with our varying styles and individuality which has created a pretty diverse and well-read blog.

Who or what influences you in your work? All 3 of us have different influences which is great because together we hope to create something fresh and new rather than just becoming another copycat brand.

To nail down a main influence for each of us, we would say;

1. Chris – Ugmonk,
2. Alex – Jonny Cupcakes,
3. Dom – Who? Clothing.

These are not just an influence in our work but definitely an influence and aspiration of how we would most like to run our business and all 3 have ended up being unofficial mentors.

What’s your take on the independent clothing scene in the UK at the moment? Booming. It’s a great place to be at the moment with some great concepts being developed. The demand is certainly out there for independent clothing and the trick is to just keep the interest and individuality going.

What’s also brilliant about it is the support you get within the clothing community, despite being direct competitors UK brands still support each other heavily. The positivity between us is impressive – be it a shout out, a link on a blog or even just a simple ‘like’ on Facebook, everyone is helping everyone it seems.

How do we compare to the rest of the world – can UK brands compete on an international stage? We definitely believe that the UK has one of the best up and coming clothing industries. Just take a look outside your window, the variety in what people are wearing is huge! Blending all sorts of styles and not being afraid of trying new things is definitely keeping the UK well ahead of the game. The UK can certainly compete with the rest of the world.

Where do you see you and yellowdog being in 5 years’ time? In short; a thriving online store and blog with our products stocked in a number of independent clothing stores across the country.

We would still want to continue printing our designs in-house as this is so import to us and the yellowdog concept. We would therefore hope to have a fully developed workshop that allows us to expand our product base to include items like snapbacks, 5 panel caps, bags and custom printed artwork. Also, getting our vinyl decks moved in there and a couple of pinball machines wouldn’t hurt either.

Music is another passion of ours so expanding our links within the music industry on a more collaborative scale would be great!

Where can people expect to catch your product, is Yellowdog in any physical stores? Our products are currently only available through our website, however we are currently in talks to get our designs into a few independent stores – so watch this space.

If you could say something to your fans, what would it be? Without sounding too gushing we would like to thank everyone that has supported us so far and hope you stay with us on our journey, wherever it may take us.

Likewise to your haters? Don’t hate the dog.

Top 3 favourite albums? This is a great question, music plays such an important role in getting us motivated and pumped up when we are printing. You just need to see how often we blog about music to see how much love we’ve got for it.

Tough to narrow all our different tastes down to 3 albums, so based on what we play most in the shed, it would be:

1. Crazy P – When We On
2. Plej – Electronic Music from the Left Coast
3. Uusi Fantasia – Heimo

…and we couldn’t leave without mentioning the ridiculously talented Chris Coco, we tune into his ‘Melodica’ cloudcast each week on Mixcloud and they definitely never feel overplayed.

Shout outs

1. Barkley – the resident dog (Chris’ labradoodle)
2. Justin Juno – our web designer
3. Shaka Clothing – always there to help us
4. Ugmonk , Johnny Cupcakes, and Who? Clothing – our unofficial mentors

The yellowdog brothers (+ dog) are testament to what you can achieve with a bit of dedication. There are few brands in the UK that are entirely in house – designing, producing and selling everything completely on their own – and given the workload I’m not too surprised. Even if you’re not feeling the designs, you surely have to give Dom, Alex and Chris props for their work ethos and the effort they’re putting in! I’ve got a lot of time for brands going truly independent, here’s to yellowdog’s future successes. I’ll definitely be supporting them!

For those of you who want to grab yellowdog product, head over to their webstore. For those of you who just want to find out more, hit up their Facebook page, Twitter account, Tumblr page or simply catch up on ‘the dog blog‘.

If you have any thoughts on what the yellowdog boys have had to say, or want to recommend a new brand you’ve discovered or just want a chat about something you’ve seen on FatKidOnFire, drop a comment below or get in touch via email, Twitter, Facebook or the FKOF TakesQuestions page.

I’ve been meaning to start focusing on more than just the ‘dungeon sound’ that has apparently become synonymous with FatKidOnFire, and I’ve noticed that I’ve started listening to more 170bpm bits and pieces over the past 6 weeks or so.

I discovered Ruffan‘s mixing skill a bit before Christmas, primarily his superb selections of 140-170bpm tunes. We got chatting over the past few weeks and I raised the idea of him contributing monthly 170bpm mixes to the site – and he’s more than kindly obliged! The more time I spend listening to mixes, the more similar they become – but I’ve discovered a few standout DJs who keep things interesting. In my opinion, Josh is one of them.

Ez all, the name’s Ruffan and I’ve been mixing about two years now. I’ve followed FKOF for a while now and got talking to Wil. I actually mix alot more dubstep than dnb but this is one site that isn’t short of proper dubstep!

More than pleased to be putting together a monthly 170bpm mix, along the same sort of lines of the dubstep I like; space for bass with some nice percs. Hope you enjoy!

Click to DOWNLOAD

Track list:

1. Fathom – Inject the Formula
2. Arkaik – Trauma
3. DLR & Ruckspin – Safe Secure
4. Skeptical – Structure ft MC Fokus
5. Xtrah – Arise
6. Amoss – Flex
7. Need for Mirrors – Lo Walk
8. DBR UK – Fortress
9. J.Robinson & Shima – Come Correct
10. Hyroglifics – Communication
11. Dub Phizix & Skeptical – Marka
12. Amoss – Footloose
13. Arkaik – Gumshoe (Octane & DLR Sample Track)
14. Skeptical – These Words

Hopefully see you Monday. Finger’s crossed…

Peace, love and respect,

FKOF

For those of you based in Essex, tomorrow night sees my boys the Fused Forces and the Hoodlums return for what promises a night to remember. Chestplate’s Sleeper & District, Black Box’s (and vinyl legend) Lurka and Deep Medi’s Commodo are all taking a trip to The Royal Hotel for the first Scruffy Hoodlum event of 2012. Don’t miss this one – it’s going to be massive. Although, I won’t be offended if you hit Essex and then come to…

GetDarker’s ‘This is Dubstep 2012′ album launch party at Cable. ‘Cause Lara from MakeItGood and I, along with our friends Sparxy, Syte, Killawatt b2b Thelem and birthday boy Benton (yes; it really is his birthday tomorrow), are keeping the 800-capacity bar/ room 2 open. It’s going to be horrendously messy (as it’s my birthday party as well). Then, from Cable, I’m jumping in the car with Tony and Carl and am going to Stansted, to fly to…

Gothenburg, where on Saturday night I’ll be tearing up the dancefloor in Sweden’s finest venue, celebrating the Dubstep Bastards‘ second birthday. Oh, and Joker, Tunnidge and the resident Bastards (!!) are going to be destroying Röda Sten’s new system. I can’t wait.

Please don’t let me get too drunk to fly and hope to see some of you on one or two of the dancefloors. Sorry for anyone who has to deal with Tony, Carl, anyone else who travels from Cable to GBG or I on Sunday.

Peace, love and respect.

FKOF

Tuesday’s MakeItGood x FKOF feature was with Serbia’s Skinz, tonight I sit down with a relatively new producer from the deserts of Dubai. Dubstep in Dubai! Apparently the scene’s only just reaching the UAE – but for those in the know there are raves going on out in the sand. I’ve just found somewhere new to visit!

Anyway, I discovered Outerdub a month or so ago and had a listen through the tunes on his SoundCloud account. He’d posted a few full tracks and a few clips of his progression with the deep and dark – and then sent me a message a week later. We got chatting, and after I’d heard a few more of his tracks and read a few of the interviews/ posts that have been floating around, we arranged the following…

Who is Outerdub? My Name is Moez Munshi, I was born in the UK and am currently residing in Dubai.

What got you into mixing and producing dubstep? What’s your style – big, dark basslines or as filthy as possible? Well I’ve always been into reggae and dub and, after getting into electronic music and discovering dubstep, I found myself addicted to the deep basslines and atmospheres of the genre. I’d say im into the big dark basslines and more spacey sounds rather than the filthy stuff.

What software do you use to produce your tracks? I use Ableton Live mainly as my software DAW as well as a few VSTs. As for hardware, I am running the Access Virus TI and Native Instruments Maschine for percussion.

Turntables or CDJs? I’m Using Traktor Scratch and I’d have to go with turntables.

How long have you producing and DJing? Since the age of 16 I have been experimenting with electronic music production. I’d say at the age of 20 was when I started releasing music professionally.

Back then, I was mainly producing techno and minimal club-based dance music under the alias Uforiq but as I got deeper into my productions, I started to branch into other genres. I’ve been producing dubstep for the past year, just focusing on trying to get the sound I like. I feel now I am happy with my productions and can only aim to better my sound.

What’s the dubstep/ bass music scene in Dubai like? We have a very small scene here in Dubai, a lot of people are into the drum and bass and slowly people are starting to get more into the dubstep. I’d say the scene is still young but it definitely has a good strong following – and in my opinion it will grow.

There are a few nights running in the clubs out here and also there are some raves held in the desert [how cool is that!]; crowds seem to be increasing at every new event which is a good sign of progression.

What’s been your best gig and if you could DJ alongside anyone, who would it be? I’ve only done a few gigs out here and I’d say my new years gig was a great time. We had a rave out in the desert; nothing better than nature and a lot of good basslines.

I’d say if I could DJ along side any one it would be Youngsta. He is a heavyweight in the genre and his sets have inspired me to produce the deep dark sound.

Who are your top 5 dubstep producers at the moment; and why?

1. Kryptic Minds – Their sound and basslines have got me hooked to this genre and I feel they are pioneers for the deep dark movement.
2. J:Kenzo – His productions have heavy impact on the dancefloor and never fail to disappoint. His signature sound; massive bass as well as solid atmospheres, are a great combination for some serious tunes.
3. Biome – I feel Biome is another big influence to me. 2011 was an amazing year for him and he pushed out some serious tunes. He has a unique production sound and has good variety to his music.
4. Sleeper & District – Ever since their GetDarker set i have been following their sound, Real deep dark atmospheres and some of the best reese sounds iv heard. Big inspiration to my music.
5. Killawatt – Some serious weight coming from him and the variety of his music is amazing. I have a feeling 2012 will be an even bigger year for Killawatt and look forward to hearing more of his sound.

What’s the future of dubstep – where do you see the genre going? In my opinion the genre is going to progress rapidly this year, in a good way. There are a lot of new producers on the scene, a lot of great new labels and a lot of good music from 2011 to look back on. I think this year will be great for the genre and hopefully push out all the nonsense brostep and filth and take dubstep back to its core – big deep basslines.

Any forthcoming releases we can look forward to? As of now I have only 1 forthcoming release – that’s on new label Falkon Records. I hope to have more releases coming soon but as of now I am going to focus on my production sounds.

Have you got any advice to upcoming DJs/ Producers? I’m still upcoming myself so the only advice I can give is to never give up and just enjoy the music.

Any shoutouts? Shout outs to the crew over at FatKidOnFire [big ups]! Big Shouts to all the Dubai massive, badman submarine and bassface. And big shouts to the people who are feeling my sound. I have alot more tunes in production and can’t wait to push my sound even further.

Moez has kindly offered up two of his tracks as FKOF free downloads – ‘Shadow’s Edge‘ and ‘Geomancer‘. Both illustrate his talent with the empty space and the big basslines, but what got me interested was his pretty insane percussion; the tribal bits in Geomancer are next level! Get on the free DL and follow Outerdub on SoundCloud, he’s got some talent and we’ll hopefully be hearing a lot more of him…

Click to DOWNLOAD

Click to DOWNLOAD

If you have any thoughts on Outerdub‘s FKOF free downloads, or want to recommend a new artist you’ve discovered or just want a chat about something you’ve seen on FatKidOnFire, leave a comment below or get in touch via email, Twitter, Facebook or the FKOF TakesQuestions page.