15 Nov 2024
UsernamePassword

Remember Me? | Join | Recover
Click here to sign in via social networking

The Upbeats - The Upbeats Newsletter Interview

26 May 2013 // An interview by Shade
 

In the wake of such a prolific impact on the worldwide drum & bass scene, The Upbeats continue to push the boundaries. Perennially packed with enough energy to rock the floor and backed up with genuine emotion and an infinite capacity to inject a taste of something different into their music, The Upbeats’ albums drag you deep into their own personal world of drum & bass. Their fourth album Primitive Technique is out now. Dylan answered the following questions for muzic.net.nz:

How would you describe The Upbeats’ music in one sentence?

Raw grungy electronic pub rock with a musical touch.

What is your most embarrassing on tour/gig moment?

I think it would have to be a toss up between Jeremy falling asleep on stage during a show (Few too many shandys) or me falling through a gap in the stage in Bali in front of the whole crowd at a festival. Good form.

Where is your favourite place to relax in NZ?

In the Upbeats mansion private library with the fire roaring and one of our corgis curled up asleep on the lap, whilst devouring some poetry and listening to jazz.

What can you never leave home without?

Headphone splitter - for breaking up long journeys watching silly comedys on our laptops together.

What local albums have you been enjoying recently?

Have been really into the stuff UMO have been doing lately - even though I guess it's not 100 percent NZ. Love the treatment on everything and feels really fresh but nostalgic... Vibes!

What can we expect to see from The Upbeats over the next year?

Well we are pretty busy now promoting and touring the new album and will hopefully have a bunch of remixes to support that coming out soon. We also really want to follow up these with another EP of newer tunes that we have been working on in 2013. On an totally different thing we will hopefully have a collaboration hip hop / slower tempo release out within the year with MC Armanni reign who features on 'Primitive technique' as well.

 

About The Upbeats

In today’s heady climate of bass-fuelled dance music it could easily be argued that producer-DJs are the new rock stars. Climbing into that mould with a pair of schoolboy grins on their faces, The Upbeats have already been playing that role for years. Their anything-goes live performances are renowned for mosh pits, topless dancers (sometimes women) and crowd surfing, while their approach to writing hard-hitting, unique-sounding drum & bass is lauded across the globe.

Nicknamed Terror Snake and Downie Wolf respectively, Jeremy and Dylan are not your average, boring producers. Meeting at school through mutual interests in surfing, skating and ‘being gangly teenagers’ Jeremy had to work hard to pull Dylan into the world of drum & bass. But, armed with a stack of Mickey Finn & Aphrodite mixtapes and an unrelenting attitude, the snake soon overcame the wolf’s natural propensity for rock music and, fortunately for us all, a love of fast breakbeats and low-slung basslines soon followed.

This love soon grew into a passion for creating their own music and by 2001 the pair were balls deep writing their own D&B. Fuelled by New Zealand’s isolation from the rest of the world and its staggering natural beauty, The Upbeats’ unique take on 170bpm+ bass music has seen the duo work alongside scene stalwarts such as Ed Rush & Optical, Bad Company, Hive, Gridlock, Bulletproof, TREi, State of Mind and Noisia while releasing tracks across a plethora of the D&B scene’s most respected record labels.

Visit the muzic.net.nz Profile for The Upbeats

Releases

No Sleep 'Til New Zealand
Year: 2020
Type: EP
No Sleep 'Til Japan & Iceland
Year: 2018
Type: Album
SSXUB
Year: 2014
Type: EP
Primitive Technique
Year: 2013
Type: Album
Big Skeleton
Year: 2009
Type: Album
Buy Online @ Mightyape
Nobody's Out There
Year: 2007
Type: Album
Buy Online @ Mightyape
The Upbeats
Year: 2004
Type: Album
Buy Online @ Mightyape

Other Interviews By Shade

MNZ Interview: Muzic Speak S01 / E01 - Powder Chutes
06 Nov 2024 // by Shade
Brought to you by Muzic.NZ's Lisa Jones, Muzic Speak is a fresh new interview series which pays homage some of the best up and coming acts this country has on offer.
Read More...
Interview with Angus Woodhams, lead of Weka
16 Sep 2024 // by Shade
Weka is a three-piece electronica band combining unique timbres with pulsing bass and punching drums. Formed of Angus Woodhams on keys and controllers, Mitch Harty on guitar, and Cathal Lennon on drums, Weka’s instrumental electronic sound is diverse, beautiful, and thought provoking, urging audiences to dance uninhibitedly.
Read More...
Pull Down The Sun Newsletter Interview
01 Dec 2022 // by Shade
Boasting an international standard of modern metal, New Zealand's Pull Down The Sun have set many an audience alight with their glorious imagery that holds true to sheer riff obedience, making motions from heavy and erratic to dark and moody, through to light and uplifting with minimal effort. We spoke to frontman Koert, and he had this to say:How did you become involved in music?
Read More...
Coridian Newsletter Interview
27 Nov 2022 // by Shade
Coridian are one of New Zealand's leading rock acts, and they have an exciting 2023 in the works. In recent months the release of singles Rakshasa (with Michael Murphy from Written by Wolves) and State of Mind have further cemented their status in NZ music.
Read More...
1 Drop Nation Newsletter Interview
19 Nov 2022 // by Shade
Otautahi six-piece 1 Drop Nation will be dropping their exciting self-titled debut album on 1 December, and it’s guaranteed to set Aotearoa music fans up for a great summer! They answered the following questions for Muzic.
Read More...
Interview: 2Fly Ty
17 Oct 2022 // by Shade
Despite currently residing in Brisbane, 2Fly Ty still identifies as a Kiwi at heart, as he looks to make a name for himself in the music scene of his homeland, Aotearoa. He answered the following questions for Muzic.
Read More...
Dead Beat Boys Newsletter Interview
29 Sep 2022 // by Shade
Auckland Rockers Dead Beat Boys fuse punk intensity with classic-rock riffs, all strung together in a show uncontainable by the stage. On the 1st of October they released their first and last album, be sure to check it out here.
Read More...
Frau Knotz Newsletter Interview
28 Sep 2022 // by Shade
The original songs of singer, pianist, producer and composer Lauren Nottingham have touched down on Earth under the moniker Frau Knotz. With avant-pop tracks which simulate echoes of an extra-terrestrial yet power-packed video game soundtrack, Frau Knotz toggles between whimsical fantasies and dark truths, switches propulsive rhythms and expansive balladry and tunes glamor with gameplay to concoct elixirs of dance.
Read More...
View All Articles By Shade

NZ Top 10 Singles

  • APT.
    ROSÉ And Bruno Mars
  • DIE WITH A SMILE
    Lady Gaga And Bruno Mars
  • BIRDS OF A FEATHER
    Billie Eilish
  • TASTE
    Sabrina Carpenter
  • I LOVE YOU, I'M SORRY
    Gracie Abrams
  • ESPRESSO
    Sabrina Carpenter
  • SAILOR SONG
    Gigi Perez
  • LOSE CONTROL
    Teddy Swims
  • A BAR SONG (TIPSY)
    Shaboozey
  • GOOD LUCK, BABE!
    Chappell Roan
View the Full NZ Top 40...
muzic.net.nz Logo
100% New Zealand Music
All content on this website is copyright to muzic.net.nz and other respective rights holders. Redistribution of any material presented here without permission is prohibited.
Report a ProblemReport A Problem