Over the course of 2021, we really have seen the UKG sound re-establish itself among the other genres of UK dance music as a major player moving forward. We have seen so many new garage-influenced tracks both entering the charts on a national scale, whilst also seeing the underground side of things absolutely buzzing with exciting new producers and expansive new label imprints to facilitate their releases. This is a process we have absolutely adored to watch, playing quite a big part in it ourselves through numerous premieres and pieces of interview-based content.
One of the labels that has stood out, especially over the last few months would of course have to be DJ EZ’s Nuvolve imprint, which has hit the ground running to say the least, pushing out top quality single after top quality single in a pretty short space of time. For their latest release, we see them welcome back a favourite of ours here at The 3000 Network as Smasher returns for a sumptuous new post-summer roller by the name of ‘Calling‘. This track itself is a perfect example of garage‘s transition form the more nostalgic side of things to a modern idiom, with some fabulous production techniques being employed to really push it out there.
We were lucky enough to grab a quick Q&A session with the man himself, looking into his unique fusion of vocals and production, alongside his future plans for 2021!:
KXVU: Following on from the album launch earlier this year, how has music making been for yourself during lockdown?
Smasher: Ive been more productive than ever, i dropped the album in April, which was at the start of the 1st lockdown, since then I’ve built a studio at home to sustain creativity and its been a great blessing for me, there is enough music in the stash to keep releases coming for the next year
KXVU: There aren’t many people out there doing up the production / vocal double up, do you en joy having so much control over your sound?
Smasher: Yes totally i do enjoy having the control from a production stand point, but i think there is two sides to it, sometimes i wish i could record the vocal from an artist stand point and walk away from it and let the producer do their job and finish the record, but when you are controlling every aspect from recording, production, mixing etc I’m basically doing multiple jobs instead of one, but i think it also puts me in my own lane.
KXVU: How has it been working with the legendary EZ & NUVOLVE on this brand new release?
Smasher: Its great, when the guys got in touch about a release it solidifies what I’ve been working towards i feel like my output into the garage scene has been high this past few years, EZ has shown great support to tracks from the album and as a DJ i hold him as the best hands down.
KXVU: What direction has your sound taken since the album?
Smasher: Its still on the same vibe really, the feedback from the album has been great so i think its just a case of keep doing what I’m doing, from a production hat i can do many different styles the main thing is about catching a vibe the rest looks after itself.
KXVU: There always seems to be a nostalgic feel about your music when it drops, how do you achieve this every time?
Smasher: Ive heard this a lot lol, i don’t know i just do what comes natural to me, its probably because I’m on a garage wave and a lot of people associate that with nostalgia rather than looking at it like like oh sick in 2020 there are guys that are doing fresh garage music from an artist stand point.
KXVU: Can we expect to see any collaborations with other vocalists and producers in the near future?
Smasher: Absolutely collaboration is something i really enjoy, I’ve already got quite a few collaborations lined up in the bag for 2021 its gonna be exciting, i recently produced a record called ‘Whole Ting‘ featuring Capo Lee & Ayo Beats for a film soundtrack called ‘Against All Odds‘.
KXVU: What are you looking forward to most post lockdown?
Smasher: I was gutted i couldn’t do a live show of the album this year, so hopefully next year getting out and performing again and sharing the vibes with people, the internet has shrunk the world but you cant beat some live interaction.
KXVU: What’s next from yourself?
Smasher: Im already onto the next album which will be released in 2021, more Vinyl releases on my label ‘On Top Records‘, & more collaborations.
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We couldn’t be more excited to see what Smasher has on the way over the course of 2021. You can check out this brand new release via our friends at JunoDownload below:
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Follow: Smasher
Follow: Nuvolve
