James Evans and Andy Tweedale are Amoss, a production pair who are tearing up drum & bass with their dark and heavy rolling beats. Getting together after playing in a number of bands, they have had releases on an impressive series of top labels. They are now dropping a new EP on Dispatch Recordings, and took time out of their schedule for a chat.
HTF – Guys, tell us about your backgrounds in music.
James – I was brought up listening to a lot of classical music as my mum is a teacher of both piano and violin, I learnt to play the piano at an early age and had a good grasp for music. I then moved on to playing the guitar and quickly progressed learning tracks like Enter Sandman by Metallica, this was the stepping stone onto several rock, metal and funk bands; 2 of which were with Andy.
Andy – For me I had a lot of blues and folk around the house when I was growing up. I played the violin and trumpet early on, but never pursued them. Then I got into playing guitar and percussion the latter which I took the most seriously. That was around my metal period of music listening to bands like At the Gates, Emperor and Pantera. I still listen to all that kind of stuff, it’s my way of escaping electronic music every now and then.
HTF – What was it about drum & bass that made you sit up and take notice?
James – A couple of my mates used to mix and I’d always get excited when seeing what was actually going on because I’d never seen what DJs were actually doing. I later got some mp3s to listen through and then in came ‘The Tide’ by noisia. These sounds were like nothing I’d heard before and was instantly hooked on the squelchy basslines.
Andy – Yeah it was definitely the darker edge that grabbed me in. I’d always found techno and house boring before I really knew what electronic music was, but I could really relate to drum and bass. The tempo was perfect for me and yeah hearing those Noisia basslines for the first time, I can’t really describe it better than just ‘fuck’.
HTF – Are there any tracks from your early days in d&b that stand out?
James – One of the first vinyls I bought was the ‘Block Control’ EP by Noisia and I was obsessed with double dropping every tune with that ‘Its going down’ vocal. Pretty much any work from Phobia, bits like ‘Hatcher’ and ‘Singularity’ will never get old, they have that pure driving sound which smashes any dancefloor.
Andy – Unknown Error – The Yearning. It has the perfect balance between light and heavy. It was also the reason why I was so excited to release on Horizons.
HTF – And which labels have you released on so far?
James – We’ve had releases on Cyclone Recordings, Broken Audio, Buried Audio, Hustle Audio, Inside Recordings, Horizons Music, Renegade Hardware, Dutty Audio, Dispatch Recordings and featured on Ministry of Sound.
HTF – The new release is the State Of Suspension EP on Dispatch. Did you have tracks ready to go, or did you have to whittle down the tracks you’ve chosen from a longer list?
James – All four tracks fell into place really nicely and probably the fastest release that we have compiled. I think we sent over a very early version of Shapeshifter over to Ant (TC1) who really liked it and we were looking at a single 12″, we then sent over another tune and then another and he took them all, which formed the EP. We went through mixdown after mixdown of Shapeshifter which is probably why it wasn’t released sooner but we got there in the end. He also asked if we could do the 5th digital only track which was sorted just before release and fits well with the rest of the tracks.
HTF – Although the weather might suggest otherwise, it is summer. Any festival appearances for Amoss this year?
James – We played a small festival out in the Czech Republic with Lynx & Kemo and the Dexcell boys, next up is Nozstock festival in Bromyard; a local festival to us which we have been playing for the past couple of years. It’s a true slice of what a small countryside festival should be like. After that I will be flying out to Croatia to play at Outlook festival once again.
HTF – What keeps the creative fires burning in the Amoss camp?
James – I think it has to be the diversity of music we both listen to, both of us are always showing each other new music and the same with our friends. I wouldn’t be able to sit at the computer for hours on end making 170 beats if all I listened to in my spare time was drum and bass.
Andy – Yeah taking the time out to look for new and interesting music, avoiding 170 as too much can become tedious as with any genre. I tend to lay off making beats every now and then to focus on just making individual sounds, gathering little sample packs which help when you’re facing a creative blocks or just want to get ideas down quickly.
HTF – Where do you want to go with your music next?
James – I’m starting to write various house tracks here and there between drum and bass, but we still have plenty more music on the way with forthcoming releases on Horizons and Dispatch.
Andy – I’m really happy with what we’ve achieved so far with Amoss, it’s been a great 18 months, slightly unreal to be honest! I’m working on video game music in my spare time which I’m really enjoying. It’s been a great opportunity to experiment with different tempos and sometimes no tempos at all.
HTF – Anyone you’ve like to thank or big up?
James – Thanks to the guys at HTF for the feature, CODE apparel, Abstractions crew, Neil, Ant, O & DLR (for making the EP sound larger than life), Colwall FC boys and out to all the Nozstock crew!
Andy – Mangonation crew, the Moldgreen massive all the guys James mentioned and of course all the people that buy our records, come to see us at shows, support us on Facebook and all that lark, big love to all of you.
Make sure you check the sounds below, and like the guys Facebook page if you are feeling the EP!
