High Contrast aka Lincoln Barrett is a welsh drum & bass producer and DJ. A lot of his production work involves remixing tracks from other genres of music in to drum & bass, and is so popular that in some instances his version of a track is more notorious than the original. He has an instantly recognisable sound, described on Wikipedia as liquid funk or uplifting jungle, however I believe Lincoln prefers not to utilise these terms when describing himself. His music has comparatively simple basslines, relying more on the other instruments to shape his tracks, a good example of this is his remix of Adele’s Hometown Glory which has a huge piano bridge in the middle before dropping into atmospheric synths, a simple yet driving bassline and Adeles vocals. At the bottom of this post is information about Hospitality Record’s Cardiff gig that High Contrast is headlining. Hit The Floor will be there to report.
HTF – Hit The Floor magazine
HC – High Contrast
HTF – What was your favourite track that you did last year, what’s your favourite drum and bass track of all time, and what’s your favourite all time piece of music of any genre?
HC – My collaboration with Underworld called ‘Scribble’. ‘Sensual’ by Goldie. ‘9th Symphony, 2nd Movement’ by Beethoven.
HTF – You’ve released some house music in the past, is your future in drum and bass, or like Britney are you going to get all over the current dubstep band waggon?
HC – I’ve always worked on all sorts of genres, it’s just I normally only seem to finish the dnb tracks I work on. But on the next album there will be a couple of other styles in there. Some kind of dubstep vibes but definitely not any obvious chainsaw style bandwagon cop outs.
HTF – Is Danny Byrd jealous of your impressive head of hair, and have you ever considered a proper man beard to balance out your face?
HC – No and yes.
HTF – You’re somewhat famous for banging out some awesome remixes – you must have turned down all sorts of rubbish – who especially got you excited when they requested a remix, and is there anyone still out there that you really want to work with but not yet had a chance to?
HC – Remixing Tiesto was an interesting one as he’s such a polarizing figure in dance music. But the track he offered me was so beautiful thats all that matters to me. I’m calling a remix amnesty for now so I can finish my own album.
HTF – We know you’re a busy man and all, but we’re pretty desperate for you to release a new album – is there any chance you could hurry up and bring one out soon?
HC – Yes I am just as keen to get new material out there as you are, believe me. This year for sure.
HTF – You’re headlining a big hospital gig in Cardiff on the 5th Feb, are you exited about that, and how does the DnB scene in Wales compare to the rest of the UK?
HC – Well in Cardiff it seems pretty strong, lots of up and coming producers and DJs. Local chap Lung has just had some tunes signed to Hospital off-shoot Med School for instance. Playing in Cardiff is always good fun, gotta play ‘Hometown Glory’ of course.
HTF – You’ve previously stated that music from films are a big influence on your productions. Given the rise of the chip tune scene recently, are you ever influenced by computer games? We’d really like you to do a remix of Alex Kidd in Miracle World remix please!
HC – Indeed, computer game music from the 80s and 90s has been a huge influence. There was often a haunting melancholy to the 8 bit minimalism of those old games.
HTF – Tell us some more about how you are developing music videos for your records, is this something we’ll see more of, and will you ever be tempted to bring in any video to your live shows?
HC – For the next album I am trying to figure out how to incorporate a visual aspect beyond mere music videos. Adding video to a live show is a possibility but doing it to the level I would want might prove too difficult logistically and monetarily.
HTF – When you were younger, did you ever meet any of the artists your dad managed like Shakin Stevens or The Jets?
HC – Yes I grew up surrounded by rock n roll culture and met many of the acts my dad worked with. One of my earliest memories is of spending a day hanging out with the Blue Caps, Gene Vincents old band. And meeting Screaming Lord Sutch. Quite a character I tell thee.
HTF – We know you can play the piano, are you going to try and learn anything else to layer in some samples – the guitar, the violin, the kazoo?
HC – Well through the wonder of technology I can appear to play all manner of instrument via a device called a synthesizer. But they still havent mastered the kazoo.
Interviewers: Mike Thomas and Adam Brown
You can catch High Contrast playing at Hospitality Cardiff on Saturday 5th February 2011 at The Great Hall, Cardiff Student Union, Park Place, Cardiff playing in Room One alongside: London Elektricity, Danny Byrd, Netsky and Nu:Tone. Room Two: Bar 9, Reso, Stenchman, Koan Sound. Tickets £16 + BF http://www.thisisbedlam.co.uk/event.php?eid=36148
Check www.hospitalitydnb.com and www.hospitalrecords.com for more info.
