No matter what the genre, Amit has had no problem crafting unique, dark, weighty tracks that turn heads across scenes. We had the pleasure to sit down with him before his debut Sub.Mission outing at Electronic Tuesdays to discuss his beginnings, feelings of Denver, and approach to music.
How long have you been producing? What kind of music were you into when you first got into production?
I’ve been producing under the name Amit since 2002. Prior to that, I released under different aliases. I decided once I found my sound, my voice I would stick to my name. I was influenced by the dub music I discovered as a kid, particularly King Tubby stuff, and a lot of the Indian music my parents had brought over to me when they moved to the UK. Some sonic youth, punk rock, David Lynch - that kind of stuff. You can follow a particular genre but if you just breed within the grounds of the people that make that genre. You are only gonna be making that music. Whereas if you absorb outside influences and bring them to the table, your music is gonna be different and set your stuff apart.
You've been to Denver a couple times now for Recon. How do you like playing in Denver?
I was just talking to someone outside about this. It is a little more personal here. It feels like people are here for the sound instead of the bullshit. It’s the music that is the most important thing. I think Nicole has done a wonderful job in regards to building that following. Obviously, you’ve got Nicole doing more the 140 side of the fence, then you’ve got Recon doing drum and bass and they’re both good mates. I can see it as a healthy scene. Everyone gets along – it’s a happy family.
Can you tell us a little about your vision for AMAR? What made you want to start your own label?
I had released on a lot of labels but I always felt there were avenues that I wanted to approach in terms of other bpm’s and play around with other styles of music. The labels I had released on before were known to be associated with a certain genre of music. It was 2013 when I launched it. I was listening to other acts I was into and dabbling more into the 140 style of things- which was actually complete accident. I made a tune for Exit that happened to be at 140 bpm, and all of sudden Youngsta and everyone were playing it and it went from there. I realized I don’t want to be just making one style. I want there to be the Amit sound at as many different bpm’s and styles.
Any forthcoming AMAR you can tell us about?
There’s another Nomine EP coming. Then there are three other slates, but I’ll let them materialize as they do.
Have always been really impressed by your production quality! What's your production set-up like?
It is a balance between hardware and software. I really like playing with limitations - me making music with not so many options. Sometimes I’ve discovered a new way of processing, so I’ll use that or one instrument to make a whole track. Cause that was how we used to make music. You’d have a sampler and you’d have like 30 seconds worth of sample time. You’d have Atari as a sequencer. You’d have all these limitations. But the music was brilliant because it was a struggle. Now I find with computers you can do everything in a box and you’re missing the imperfections. In all good forms of music, whether it was hip hop or jungle, they all had this struggle based on limitation. Ultimately, all you need is beats, bass, and a lead, and if it sounds good, you’ve got something.
Who are some of your favorite producers at the moment?
Obviously, Nomine. He keeps surprising me with everything he’s done. I’ve known him since he was 19. We used to work together, producer together, best mates. He took a bit of a pause in the scene and then came back with this fresh sound. VIVEK is a good mate of mine who is always coming out with good music. There’s this new guy named AU from Canada – he’s doing some really good stuff at the moment. Danny Scrilla’s doing some good stuff.
Sub.mission’s mission is to move people through sound not hype. What is your .mission?
I guess to deliver sound through the experiences that I’ve had and I will have. So whatever happens to me – it could be a visual art piece, it could be watching a film, it could be a real life experience. But turning that into sound and delivering that. Every single track I have done, in some way shape or form, has been a result of that equation. If I can continue doing that, then it’s just me existing and the music is just a byproduct. As opposed to me making the music and then existing from the music. Your experiences should come first and the music is secondary.
