Berlin-based label Sol Asylum is set to launch with debut EP from London’s OdD. ‘Long Time Coming’ features four original tracks from the duo, real names Danny Dixon and Damian Daley. Long Time Coming as the name suggests, means the wait is over for OdD, Sol Asylum and the dance music scene as the EP is set to deliver cutting edge sounds from deep in the underground.
Ahead of their exciting release, we caught up with the two Londoners to get their thoughts on all things OdD.
TNG: Hi Danny and Damian, welcome to The Noise Gate, thanks for taking time to chat with us.
Damian: Hi, thanks for having us.
TNG: We understand that both of your parents were reggae musicians! Anyone we might know?
Damian: Yeah both of our parents were musicians, including my Granddad who was in a small independent reggae band from Jamaica called The Caribbean Cats that released a few 7 inch singles independently, so I’m following in their footsteps.
Danny: My dad’s stage name is Satch Dixon. He’s a professional percussionist that has supported the likes of Sonny Bradshaw, Steal Pulse, Bob Marley, Gregory Isaacs, The Undivided and many more.
TNG: How has that musical upbringing shaped the style of OdD?
Damian: I have always been obsessed with sound so the core structure of our music is the bass, rhythm, groove and melody, which first comes from the drums that we believe are the heartbeat of the music.
Danny: And I’ve always been obsessed with mixing any style of music. Both of us have had very similar upbringings in regards to music. The foundation of our music comes from old reggae, soul, jazz, ska, and all the music we have grown up to.
TNG: It’s great to have all that to bring to the techno table. So one of you is a drummer and producer, the other a DJ and music collector. Your neighbors must hate you!
Which of you is which?
Damian: I’m the drummer and producer. I first started playing on drum kits from the age of four and got into production around 15 years ago, using Cubase and an Atari ST. I was the co-owner and had a few releases on a UK garage label called Krunch Records. These days I use Logic and various bits of outboard kit.
Danny: I got my first set of turntables when I was around 13 and was taught to mix by my older sister’s friends. I was so hooked, I got a paper round just so I could afford to buy new records.
TNG: What forms the bulk of your collection, what kind of records do you hunt down and are there any you’re desperate to get a copy of but can’t seem to source?
Danny: We buy across the board when it comes to music, but the bulk is up-tempo, melodic Techno, you know, the stuff you can dance to. There are many tracks I hear and really want but may never come across. The hardest thing for me is knowing that my parents sold their record collection. I’ll never be able to get them all back, but I dig through Damian’s dad’s old collection once in a while.
TNG: That must be heartbreaking! What’s in the pipeline for OdD in 2014?
Damian: We have the debut E.P on Sol Asylum Records on the 21st Jan. Also the 3rd edition of OdD Music is out this month that features Loopdeville, Innomniati and a remix from us. We are planning to do another release with Moscow Records in the summer, as well as a few surprises in the pipeline for 2014 that we are really excited about from our label and maybe another, you’ll have to watch this space.
TNG: Sounds like a big start to the year then, we look forward to seeing it all develop. Thanks again for chatting to us, good luck with the EP.
OdD: Thanks!!
The Long Time Coming EP is more than merely a collection of songs. Complex beats ricochet about rich and rhythmic futurescapes; panther-paw, lion-roar sound design and undiluted grooves. The tracks are delicately designed and involutely hewn to OdD’s grand, daedalian masterplan – an adventure through the heart of a lush wilderness to a lost, techno metropolis.
‘Ayahuasca’ starts our journey through oddness as we take a sip of a shamans brew. The name is taken from the spiritual concoction of the Amazon. An elaborate mixture of natural ingredients with supernatural effects. This psychedelic trip is pure DMT – deep, melodic techno – dub infused pads, synths and the hypnotic percussion found deep beneath the canopy. Whenever asked how the people of the Amazon could have ever worked out the formula to this intricate mix, they simply say that the plants themselves told them. OdD say the same of the sounds.
The sun sets on Ayahuasca and rises once more for ‘Solar Heart’. The light and warmth gently replace the cool air of the night and embrace with sound, all that surrounds. A busy, snaking, percussive rhythm and swinging hi’s keep the soul in motion, while the heart beats on relentless. Reptilian croaks and absorbing synths take our eyes and ears off the path that cuts through the bundu.
‘Nothing Odd’ is what we try to convince ourselves of while unfamiliar sounds and punctuate the troublesome call of a swelling synth as we move into the menacing realm of the third track. The tension is tangible and the adrenaline starts to surge as this one moves through uncharted territory.
And so we reach the final destination. The clarity we now feel from the ‘Broken Spell’ allows us to reflect in altogether more secure surroundings. A journey to a lost city this may have been but Broken Spell has all the vibrancy and liveliness of a cosmopolitan metropolis, teeming with percussive drops busily going about their business.
Long Time Coming drops through Sol Asylum on the 20th of Jan.
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