Words-Art Jefferson
Photo courtesy of MYR14D
Oliver Keogh, also known as MYR14D is the latest producer to burst onto the scene with his bridging of house and heavy garage styled tunes peppered with r&b elements designed to hammer out raves. To simply place the Buckinhamshire native into the category of bass would do a slight injustice as his production range is as diverse as his musical inspirations which includes d&b and more. This is overall good electronic music that does what it is supposed to do…move you. His recent endeavor is the EP “On My Mind” which is released through the Get Some UK label. With a selection that already stands next to the heavyweights, it is evident that MYR14D is going to be here for the long haul.
AJ-You’re relatively new to the scene. When did you begin making tracks?
MYR14D-I have always been involved in making music of some sort since a young age but I guess I have been seriously producing tracks for about 3 years, starting with drum and bass before discovering slower BPMs.
AJ-Your musical style feels like a hybrid of influences that you were able to get inspired by and then morph into your own particular sound. What genres of music were you listening to beforehand?
MYR14D-This project was inspired by garage, house and r&b more than anything else but I’d like to think I generally have an eclectic taste. I started mixing in a club that wouldn’t let me play drum and bass so it forced me to learn more about genres that I was only familiar with before which was a huge eye opener for me on both a musical and technical level.
AJ-Listening to the EP, I can definitely hear the depth in the tracks which makes them way more than simply bass tracks. How do you define your sound?
MYR14D-I think the foundations of all of my current tracks are all primarily club focused, but you will also find melodies weaved throughout it to set particular moods. I almost always include cut up r&b samples in my tracks too. The latter brings something that I have always included in my productions even when I was making drum and bass. You can do so much with them to alter or set the mood of a track.
AJ-One of the questions that I like to ask producers, is about the type of gear that they use. What software or hardware do you fancy at the moment?
MYR14D-I’m all software based at the moment. I use pretty standard VST’s except one called ‘Effectrix’ which I find can really breathe more life in to synth, vocals and percussion. Apart from that its just all about a heavy focus on side chaining to get movement, but I don’t use an particularly fancy plug in for that. As well, I have been absolutely caning Korg Monopoly sounds recently.
AJ-Will you be featuring any vocalists for upcoming production of yours?
MYR14D-I have been thinking about this for a while but for the moment I think it’s wise to take a step back and develop my production skills more first…and probably buy a descent condenser mic!
AJ-As mentioned before, you definitely have texture in your songs but what I really admire is that you still manage to make it big for the dancefloor. When producing tracks, do you consciously think about what will sound big in the raves or do you just go by what you’re feeling at that very moment? What’s your creative process like?
MYR14D-Yes, this is a conscious decision. I create the general mood for the tune with synths and anything melodic first, usually. Then when I start work on percussion and low end there is literally a moment when I decide whether it will be a banger or something more bedroom. If you listen to some of my other (and older) tunes away from this release you will see a more bedroom-esque side to my production, although this is something that at the moment I have moved away from.
AJ-Finally, with the new EP dropping on Get Some, what can we expect for the coming months?
MYR14D-I have just dropped a free download of my track “Disconnected” on GET SOME’s introducing blog, which is another example of something less club orientated. Apart from that, brushing up on one particular track and also in early stages of preparing a set of new tracks which will be more heavily sample based. I have been just doing a lot of sampling for it recently to get some ideas together. Suffice to say I have been listening to a lot of weird shit.