Matrix and Futurebound
On their own, both Matrix and Futurebound have made their own waves through the world of drum and bass through both their DJing and production efforts, and yet it by collaborating together that they have also now managed to reach a whole new level of both talent and innovation.
“We’ve known each other for a long time just DJing and exchanging music and such, but Brendon (Futurebound) lives in Liverpool and I live in London so we are quite a ways away from each other so that’s probably why its taken us so long to get into the studio together,” Matrix explains of their eventual hook-up in the studio. “We kinda talked about this for a year or so. When we’d bump into each other we’d be like ‘oh we should do some music together’ but we never got around to doing it, and when we did get together it was really easy for us to write together.”
Matrix fully acknowledges that collaboration is able to bring out a different side to an individuals skill, and seems more than happy with the direction that it has taken him down. “Making music is always something new, there’s always a new road to go down or a new avenue so you know, there’s always something to learn. Our sounds are always evolving, this album me and Futurebound have got we’ve got coming out is very different to say, Sleepwalkers – which came out a good few years ago now. The possibilities are endless really, there’s always a challenge there.”
Within their collaborative efforts, it was their remix of American Beauty that really set Matrix and Futurebound on their way and gave their audience something to dig their teeth into. “The first thing we did together was Strength to Strength and after that we did American Beauty and that was quite a big track, Matrix remarks. “It’s a little different from a lot of the drum and bass stuff that’s around – it’s got a bit more of a positive vibe to it and its musical and that kind of thing, and it went down really well. After we did that we did Skyscraper and we did a track with [House vocalist] Robert Owens. At that point we kind of thought right, well, we’ve got a vibe happening here and we just run with it and got an album going.”
After several tracks together, Matrix and Futurebound have now proven themselves a powerful duo with their new album, Universal Truth, set for an April release. Matrix also acknowledges the input that the American Beauty single had on the direction of the album itself. “It definitely sets the tone for the whole thing. An album needs to have a direction or something. That’s the key track on it I think (the American Beauty VIP remix) because that’s the one that started us off on this vibe.”
Their work together has, however, more than paid off, and yet merely completing the album is only one step of many in a long process of releasing it. “There’s a lot of pressure as we spent a lot of time on it. Making an album is very stressful at the end as its always like its now or never, and as soon as you finish it you think you can relax but no , actually you cant because you have a million and one things to do on the business side of it. but we’re just about there.”
With the stage set, Matrix and Futurebound are now off and running, and their fans, old and new, are sure to be more than happy with their upcoming performance.
“We’ve got stuff from the album to play,” Matrix says happily. In terms of other things, it could be anyone and everyone really. I play a lot of stuff from Hospital records and Brendan plays some of the harder edged stuff. Between the two of us we are really across the board. I don’t know man – you’re going to get a bit of everything!”
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