Exploring with Enei

Guess what time it is! That’s right, time for another ByTheProducer interview with another special guest! This week we have Enei, the man needs no introduction as he’s been producing songs for over a decade now, delivering an array of punchy sounds and low-end warbles that aim to knock your socks off whether you’re dancing in a club or – more accurately in these times – dancing in your house getting a strange look from your dog from across the room. With massive hits such as ‘Sinking’ which topped the Beatport charts and delivered one of the scariest music videos Drum and Bass have ever seen, to the most recent track ‘Fame’, which was highlighted as Rene Lavice’s “Rinse Out Track of the Week” on his BBC Radio 1 show – it was interesting to get some insight into just how he does it week in and week out!
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Recently you did a sample pack for us, including live breaks you created yourself that really taps into the 90’s-esque raw and organic feel the genre was built upon, can you talk to us a bit more about that?

Well I started my music way as a drummer in a hardcore-punk band about 19 years ago, then I turned into an electronic music producer, but I never actually realised that I could create my own breaks using this knowledge! So, I tried it in the pack, and I think it’s quite cool because I was always thinking that everyone is using the same drum breaks in their track so why not try to make a unique one!

Something else I couldn’t help but notice is your newest track with Particle featuring Jakes, it premiered on BBC Radio 1 recently on Rene Lavice’s Drum and Bass show as the rinse out track of the week and it’s an early teaser to your next Voices EP. Can you tell us a bit more about that?

Yes, when we came back from our recent tour to OZ/NZ we decided to make something together with Alex Particle as I think he is an amazing and fresh, forward-thinking producer. Also, having Jakes on every tour show as an MC we were more likely to invite him to jump on this track. About the rest of the EP though, it's a combination of 4 different sorts of tunes as I always do. All were made in my studio in Bristol!

Who else can we expect to see on the new EP? Is there anyone you have been
working with that you have particularly enjoyed collaborating on a track with?

The rest of the tunes are just solo tracks, but I quite enjoy working with people! I’m currently trying to make some sort of project with all my friends and favourite producers. Hopefully, I will have more news soon!

I’m sure a lot of people are curious to see what sort of production equipment you use and what your creative process is when you go about making new tracks. With such an array of sound, how do you go about producing the tracks we all love to hear?

For about 3 or 4 years I've started using hardware synths and other hardware gear but not much crazy expensive stuff. For example, in my collection I have Moog Sub 37, Korg Minilogue, Sherman Filterbank 2 and some weird things like a Roli keyboard. It really helps me to be creative and not to spend too much time on the engineering and processing because it's quite simple to use and has an amazing quick result! I highly recommend buying some of the well-known synths because it really gains creativity and brings it on the next level.

How would you say this lockdown has affected you and your craft? Has it had much of an impact?

It really has! All artists in the scene, including me, lost their gigs and source of income. However, I really like that producers still continue to make music and I believe that one day they will play all of their new bangers in clubs and it could be a new chapter in their careers! With all that is happening I am very happy to supply all kinds of producers with new samples to keep their motivation and creativity going and to never stop doing amazing music.

Got any tips for anyone looking to keep their motivation and workflow alive during times like this?

As always, just be creative, even make your own samples or presets if you are struggling to do music right now because you lost your motivation. Even if you will spend a bit of time making a bit of new unique sounds it will definitely help in the future!

Going back to a previous release earlier this year, your ‘Deep Fakes’ EP with Kasra, the response to that was incredibly positive. It proves once again that you and Kasra, along with Jakes make such a great team. You’ve made many a track with them in the past and continue to do so. What do you think the winning formula is with you guys? Does it all just click and flow the way you want it too?

I think it's easy, Jakes has a really unique voice which makes every tune heavy and cold, and Kasra is a really future thinking talented creative person that brings a lot of freshness to this music and they both are amazing people who are easy to work with!

Have you ever thought about doing another album like you did back in 2012 and 2015 with ‘Machines’ and ‘Rituals’? Those two albums have such diversity in sound with each track and we think it would be interesting to see if you would try something similar again!

Yes, I am always thinking about doing something like a big album project but at the same time I think music is developing so fast now; so while doing an album you can just risk losing the motivation of doing other things altogether. I personally think that EP's and singles work better and make more impact on the artist's career and actually on the fan's reaction as it's really important to not waste the music, where as in the LP's some of the tracks that are really diamonds could be lost!

Are there any other projects you have in the works that you can tell us about?
Something new and spicy on the horizon to keep us craving more Enei?

I am working on a bunch of solo projects and collab things. I think when it is ready, I will announce something, but for now I am just patiently waiting for when the pandemic ends to start playing gigs with a new impact!

What do you reckon the first thing you’re going to do is once the lockdown is over?

Going back to the UK to smash up the dancefloors!

Well, there you have it! We want to say a massive thanks to Enei for letting us interview him, as usual there is more to come! We are currently at 10 sample packs now, with the link to Enei’s down below if you want to get your hands on some raw breaks hand-curated by the man himself, along with our Preset Pack for 2020 containing a whopping 50 presets if you haven’t checked that out yet! If you wish to purchase Enei’s new song that will be forthcoming on his new ‘Voices’ EP, you can do so here!: https://www.beatport.com/release/fame/2999523

Enei’s Sample Pack: https://www.bytheproducer.com/collections/sample-pack/products/enei-sample-pack-official

Pre-purchase ‘Voices’ on Beatport now!: https://www.beatport.com/release/voices-ep/2986337

Socials:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eneiofficial/
Beatport: https://www.beatport.com/artist/enei/53390
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eneimusique/