Duke Dumont - FABRICLIVE 51

Born the son of a record dealer and raised in north-west London where pirate radio ruled the airwaves during the late 90s, it was near-inevitable that a teenage Adam Dyment would eventually find himself in front of a pair of Technics 1210s. This was a time of swapping vinyl and mixtapes - a time bridge, really - before broadband internet and mass illegal downloads, but during the early stages of computer software becoming an option for beat making. And this was the era of Adam’s grounding in music; DJing was the in-thing, and was simultaneously the genesis for accessible music production software.

“Everybody in the neighbourhood, of my age, was a DJ. Everyone used to make mixtapes, swap records, but I seemed to be the only one who kept on doing it, and the passion never burned out. The reason is I caught the production bug. My introduction was a copy of ‘Music 2000’ on the Playstation when I was about 16. With ‘Music 2000’ you used to be able to sample CDs - you could just put a CD into a Playstation, sample ten seconds of music, cut up drums, and just start making music. Sure, it was on my TV speakers, and bounced onto a minidisk player, but it was my introduction, an outlet, and everything followed from there. Perhaps the snobs might turn their noses up at that, but in a practical sense, it was no different to starting out on an Akai sampler.” – The Duke Dumont

Music production became an all-consuming passion and, after winning the Diesel U Music award for the country’s best unsigned producer, he was afforded two huge opportunities: being signed to a DJ agency (a move that allowed him to quit his day job and focus full-time on music), and being given the opportunity to remix a track by Mekon featuring Roxanne Shante. His stock has been rapidly rising ever since; for the next few years, his ability to transform indie tracks into his own, made him the go-to remixer for the likes of Mystery Jets, Late of the Pier and Bat For Lashes. However, his production has broadened in scope with remarkable force, and with his debut artist album in the works this year, he is determined not to be held ransom by musical-cliques.

“My whole philosophy is: don’t just jump in with the latest genre. If you’re wearing a badge of a particular dance music brand you can make a lot of money very quickly, but begin to loathe what you love - the really good stuff comes from the heart and the soul, without any external pressures, and letting your imagination take precedence. Essentially I cannot bring myself to stick to a genre, or BPM. Making music, and listening to music must be an all consuming pleasure, and never a chore.” – The Duke Dumont

A short chat with The Duke Dumont on this topic is revealing – conversation can swing from discussing the qualities of Madlib one minute to extolling the virtues of 2-step garage another to enthusing about live shows by The Field or Apparat the next. It’s clear his wide musical proclivities are not an attempt at eclecticism, nor a plea to be a part of the current zeitgeist for genre blurring. They’re simply a result of a deep-seated passion for music, for production and for that dying artform in a 21st Century world of music saturation: discovery.

The Duke Dumont’s burning appetite for good music, first and foremost, is conveyed through a rather surprising collection of sonic treasures on his FABRICLIVE 51 mix. Stripped down to a slim-line 13 tracks, it is utterly free from gimmicks, from nods to tastemakers or from big names. Instead, it rightfully focuses on allowing all 13 tracks space to express themselves and take the listener on an inspiring journey, at once cerebral and emotional, heartfelt and precise. Taking in the acid-tinged techno of Saturn V on Spectral Sound, the Berghain warehouse throb of Scuba, the melodic lilt of Bodycode, the deep 2-step swing of Floating Points and the epic swell of Idioma’s closer, it’s a mix that takes listeners right back to the centre of Room Two’s pitch black 4am dancefloor.

“I’m not trying to promote a genre with this mix, the ethos is simply to make something that I’ll still really love in a few years’ time. It’s all good music. The mix is hypnotic, with structure and atmosphere – it represents what I play: groove-based, bordering on the techy side and all with a sense of emotion, which a venue like fabric allows me to express.” – The Duke Dumont

Tracklist

01 Saturn V – Come Into My Life – Spectral Sound / Ghostly International
02 Audio Soul Project – Reality Check (Vincenzo Remix) – Dessous Records
03 Bodycode – Imitation Dub – Spectral Sound / Ghostly International
04 Argy & The Martinez Brothers – Debbie Downer – Objektivity
05 Federleicht – On The Strees (Kollektiv Turmstrasse’s Let Freedom Ring Remix) – Connaisseur Recordings
06 Alessio Mereu & Matteo Spedicati - Attraction - Toys For Boys Records
07 Gerd & The House Vectors – We Bring U Muzik – 4lux
08 Green Velvet – They Came From Outer Space – Relief Records
09 Late of the Pier – Bathroom Gurgle (The Duke Dumont Remix) – EMI
10 Scuba – Hundreds and Thousands – Hotflush
11 Ieyasu Tokugama – Ryozen – WC Recordings
12 Floating Points – K&G Beat – Planet Mu Records
13 Idioma – Landscapes - Marketing