Fathom Audio are Sense, Billion, Fybe and Codebreaker, and are heating up the world of drum & bass right now. Their recent single Promises/Ridges came out last week on Diffrent, and we caught up with Sense to find out more about the crazy world of Fathom Audio…
HTF: How did you guys meet and start making music together?
Sense: Me (Sense) and Bill met when we both moved into what could best be described as a ‘doss-house’ in Tolworth on the edge of South London. It was proper ghetto. Rats, kitchen football, semi-naked hairy Greeks in dressing gowns, hippies everywhere. Anyway, I knew about Bill from Flex FM and from Top of the Pops and shit but he was playing some well fruity UKG and old skool in his room all the time so I just basically constantly bullied him into listening to d&b. We argued about it for a year or so and then decided that I was right after all. After he’d obsessed about it for a year or so we decided to go back to Flex with a new name, tempo and everything. Really the name ‘Billy Whizz’ was an institution already in the London pirate scene and I made him kill it off. Literally. He’s got it tattooed on his arm and everything. But it had to be done. He knew that. Billy Whizz died or at least was mortally wounded and Billion was born, Fathom Audio evolved and we keep moving. The alternative was to play the same (admittedly impressive) pile of records every week in new and supposedly entertaining waysbut we weren’t into that shit. So went in the studio, formed Fathom Audio between us, then went to Flex FM. Flex was amazing for a few years and then we got the opportunity to go legit on a legal station locally called Kane FM so we did it. Codebreaker was playing on Flex when we we’re on and I knew straight away this was someone I could spit with. Believe me, I can’t tell you how rarely that happens to me. Almost never really. There’s probably less than ten people I don’t think are basically wack in the whole game. Anyway, personal politics aside, we don’t see Breaker as much these days as he’s getting booked right, left and centre but that’s cool, as that’s the way it should be. He will make all your hosts look stupid imo and if you put us together then there’s just no-one touching with us lyrically at 170. Simple as that. Fybe I’ve known for years from when I used to do hip hop and he’s one of the coolest guys I know. He’s just overly talented at music and art which is obviously quite handy if you make music and art for a living. We’ve made music at various tempos since the day we met. We have had releases on labels like Dispatch, Proximity, BTK’s Dutty Audio and now with our old mates at Diffrent Music. Moo.
HTF: Tell us more about your backgrounds in music – are you involved in any other projects?
Sense: Bill was an old skool legend, and in my opinion he is the best type of old skool legend because he proved he was capable of completely evolving his sound because he wasn’t into what he was being paid to play, and then arguably surpassing his previous achievements. Dappa. Codebreaker will never hear the end of his appearance on GTA3 but secretly we all think it’s quite cool really. He was around the jungle scene for years getting quietly slept on til we rescued him from obscurity and propelled him towards superstardom. Fybe does about a million other projects and you should all go and check them out by typing Fybe-one into google. He made some amazing shit with another genius called Jono Mcleary which still kills me. I think it’s out on Ninja Tune now. He made most of the beats on Desperate Measures Volume 2 and most of my hip-hop stuff. He’s just one of those annoying briars that is well good at stuff. I’m Sense. I’ve been doing my own thing since day one and I’m not stopping just yet. I’ve made hip-hop and been on albums with KRS-1 and Rodney P and done drum & bass shows and tunes with guys like Randall, Doc Scott, Alix Perez, Lynx and Zero T. All of which means I’ve done my bit as far as I’m concerned. I don’t do too much these days, music-wise, mostly because I have a spinal injury but I still get about alright. Don’t you worry about that. I might even do an album before I jack it in too. See how I feel. That’s the team basically. Billy’s the main DJ and me and Bill make most of the tunes and then we try and get Fybe to glitch em out, Breaker reps the ting worldwide. Simples.
HTF: How does music fit into your world?
Sense: It mostly fits in round the edges but sometimes in the middle. I personally love it like fishing. As in, it’s a part of me, and I couldn’t even process not being without it. It’s art. And life without art isn’t really living.
HTF: Let us know about the songwriting and production of Promises and Ridges.
Sense: ‘Promises’ was what came from an idea I had to make a tune with a hook that never really drops. Basically. I explained it to Bill and then we made the basic structure and then I think we got Fybe round to make it sound more ‘Diffrent’. That could be bollocks as I can’t even remember making it specifically but I’m gonna claim credit for it anyway innit. We’d been making tunes that were more ‘techy’ at that time and were getting played at Tech;nology and Hardware and stuff so this was just the complete antithesis of that really. When we started off the tunes were just made by me and Bill and then we’d get Breaker to spit on it or whatever but then we got the chance to get Fybe in and he just comes at it so different that it was good fun for us. Me and Bill would love to take credit for the b-side ‘Ridges’ too but between you, me and the bedpost Fybe made the whole tune on his own. I thought we were talking about another tune until it came back from mastering. We should really have just called it a Fybe tune but it makes me look much cooler than I actually am so let’s go with it. Big up Fybe. Love you. The hardest thing about making the tunes was making something for Diffrent that they didn’t send back with a little note attached saying “Nah, this sounds like a gay Eastenders”. Took fucking years but we got there in the end.
HTF: What do the tracks mean to you?
Hard cash and sweet, sweet poontang. Nah, to me it means I’m still about making music with my friends.
HTF: How does your perception of your own music change as you move from working on a track to hearing the end product?
Sense: We obviously thought it sounded pretty dope at the time. That’s why we made it. It never sounds as good as you want it to but that’s more to do with human nature than production values. We were trying to make something that didn’t make us cringe too hard at a later date which is actually much harder than it sounds. It was described in the press as ‘future-proof’ so that’s pretty gangster. We never want anything to be perfect. I hate that. I want it to be rough and vibesy. I hate polished music. I love Polish music though which isn’t irony but it’s something like it.
HTF: What are some of your inspirations, both inside and outside music?
Sense: I can tell you some of mine off the top of my head….Bill Hicks, John Martyn, Christopher Hitchens, Raiden, Howard Marks, Richard Dawkins, CM Punk, Stephen Hawking, Sundragon (aka Supa-T), King Robbo, Terry Hearn, David Attenborough, Philip Pullman, Joe Rogan, Bubbles from The Trailer Park Boys, Teddy Sheringham, Randall, Jehst, AVB, Isaac Newton, the guy that played Father Ted, Paul Gascoigne, Bryan Cranston. You know. People who are the best at what they do while they are doing it.
I have no idea what the other boys are into. Could be anything. The mind boggles.
HTF: Do you have any live dates or festivals you want to tell us about?
Tech:nology. Genesis. Both at Hidden in London. They’re the only places to catch me personally. I can’t do many shows so I picked the two nights I thought would be best and I’m just gonna keep doing them til they have to wheel me in or they just think I’m too old and fat to pull it off. In all seriousness Tech:nology is just a really good and well established night and I was pleased to get brought on board by Oscar and Michael. Genesis Nights I have been involved with since they re-branded from a jump-up night to playing serious, thinking people’s drum & bass. I’m very proud of Sam and J as they have gone from relatively humble roots in West London to packing out Hidden with the likes of D-Bridge/SP and me and Doc Scott doing business. The other Fathom lads are all over the shop, you’ll have to check their Facebooks/Twitters for more info. Breaker’s out in Croatia now.
HTF: Where do you see Fathom Audio’s music going next?
Well, it’ll evolve. Because that the way it works. Me and Bill have had a few months off due to work and moving house and stuff but we just fired the Mac up for the first time in ages yesterday. We’re under no pressure so we’ll just see what happens. As it goes what Bill started is very future garagey at 140 odd so who knows. I’m sure we’ll make more d&b when we feel like it. I think we’re gonna do a podcast series at some point too. We get mad love on Soundcloud so we’ll probably do it like that.
HTF: Would you like to kick any shouts to those that deserve it?
Shouts out to Hunchbak and Dexta at Diffrent. Kane FM gang, THTC crew, Rainbow, Leano, Brad, Mikey Gstar, all our family tree and everyone that’s supported the ting. It’s love.
