Sigma look forward to Jelly

Joe and Cameron are two very lovely men. Lovely men that love the drum ‘n’ bass BIG STYLE. They met 8 years ago at Leeds University; since then they’ve been working to bring their happy, upbeat remixes and original tracks to the ears of the nation. In April they released a reworking of Kanye West’s Bound 2, Nobody To Love, which hit the coveted number one slot, a full 55 places ahead of the rapper's original chart peak. In your face, Yeezus! They’ve also been busy remixing tracks for the likes of Ellie Goulding, Eric Prydz and Groove Armada. They’re playing at The Talk as part of Jelly Festival here on Saturday 5th July alongside other dance greats such as Stanton Warriors and Abakus as the Lord Mayor’s hits the streets for another year. Big up the Sigma massive!

Your single Nobody to Love went to number 1 in the charts in April. It’s a really good Summery tune. Have you been getting a good response when you’ve played it out?

Yeah, better than we ever expected to be honest; it’s been really good!

You’re playing at the Jelly Festival here in Norwich soon with some amazing fellow musicians; how do you feel you fit in with those guys?

I guess our stuff is probably aimed at a younger audience but it’s still high energy and fast paced and quite fun so I’m sure everyone will enjoy it.

Do you think your sound has evolved through time?

I don’t think it’s the case that it’s evolving, as our early stuff is still very melodic, but I think the general public are more open to our sound now.

Drum n bass was so big in the 90’s but then died off a bit. We’ve had dubstep and other dance movements in the meantime but now drum n bass is popular again. Why do you think it’s cool again now?

I think there are a lot of talented producers out there doing it; Pendulum created the massive second wave of drum n bass a few years ago. Dubstep took over in terms of radio playlists and then just recently they’ve started playing drum n bass again. Drum n bass has been going for around 20 years now and doesn’t seem to be going anywhere soon. I think it’s down to producers like Wilkinson, DJ Fresh and Chase n Status who are working hard to keep it strong.

I saw on Facebook you’ve been recording using a live orchestra recently. Was that cool and are you developing your sound in a different direction?

It was a great opportunity to work with such talented people and it’s really nice when you’ve written stuff to see it all take shape with so many musicians. It’s not changed out style, it just makes it sound more polished and professional; it’s for our new single actually.

But what did you give the orchestra to play if you write it on your laptops?

Well we use our laptops to produce it digitally and then we have a string arranger and it’s his job to notate it…he rewrites all the parts for the orchestra as sheet music. It’s sounding pretty solid!

You’re playing a massive European tour this summer. Do you prefer to play at festivals or clubs, and what is your audience demographic?

It depends on the territory really. We still love playing clubs, but we also love the opportunity to play outside and to get that ‘hands in the air’ moment. It can be more intense in clubs; you’re closer to the audience and get a different vibe.

Who’s been the most interesting person to work with in terms of your remixes and how do you choose what to remix?

The thing with remixes you don’t come into contact with the actual artists, you just get sent the parts from the record company. One that we particularly enjoyed doing was for Rusko; that was our biggest remix to date. In terms of how we choose, there are several different factors. You can get sent a track that you love, but it doesn’t always fit with how you work or what you do. If I hear a track in a coffee shop for example, and hear an interesting track, I always Shazam it and may use it in the studio.

What sort of music do you listen to when you’re not working?

All sorts of things really, from old soul and funk to jazz, and we do listen to a lot of dance music, but when you spend 5 days a week making music and gigging at the weekend it’s nice to have a change. At the moment, the charts are taking a turn for the better in terms of dance music, and so lots of tunes are having more a chance to make it big, for example.

If you wanted to introduce someone to drum n bass, what song would you play them?

Probably Nobody to Love! Nah, let’s go with anything by High Contrast.

What can the audience expect from seeing you at the Jelly Festival?

It’s a really solid line up and hopefully people will be up for a party! We’ll be playing our upbeat stuff and maybe some other genres.