The tenth instalment of our Transmit Series is brought to you by Bristol based producer Actraiser. Whilst this mix is focussing on the sounds of Juke and Footwork beats he has a huge arsenal of sound at his disposal.  He has forthcoming releases on Cut, Offworld Recordings, Loose Squares, Gradient Audio and Square Harmony. He has also produced soundtracks for upcoming Indie games on the xbox indie channel and iOS. Naturally, he has a lot to say for himself, so we will let him speak..

Hi, my name is Rob and I produce as ActRaiser. I produce deep electronic music of many genres and tempos. Currently I am producing drum & bass, dubstep, and the 160 bpm music that you can hear in the mix showcased here.

I started speeding up some of my productions from 140 to 160 and thought it sounded quite cool, I then did some searching online and found out about the footwork / juke style music. At first I wasn’t really a fan but then it started growing on me, and once I discovered artists like Om Unit, Ital Tek, Kuedo, and Machinedrum I became much more enamoured with the style.

I wanted to have my own ‘ActRaiser’ stamp on it so did several tunes, a mixture of the deep Dubstep I usually make, Jungle and Electronica in general. I was also inspired by many excellent video game soundtracks, especially the chilling Max Payne 3 soundtrack by the band ‘Health’.

Nice to meet you Mr. Raiser. So, what’s your formula for sitting down and writing your music? What are the rituals you use to get you in the zone?

When producing I usually have an idea of genre or tempo and then just start playing around with drum samples and soft synths until something starts to gel, much of the time I end up finding something I like that was completely different from what I originally set out to do, but I have to just go with what I am feeling in that moment. I often have several tracks on the go at one time and work a little on each until something clicks and I get it done.

My productions are very varied as I love all forms of electronic music and find it impossible to stick to one style. Sometimes I think this could be a hinderence to building a name for myself, but I just have to do what I feel and can’t limit myself to one genre. One day i can be making deep drum & bass, the next a bouncy 130bpm house track or even a psytrance track for a video game.

I don’t really have rituals for producing, I just get in front of the computer and experiment. I do find taking breaks to absorb myself in retro and indie video games can help, or just going out for a walk and listening to random bits on my walkman while checking out the scenery.

Aside from bass music artists, which musicians from the wider world of music pique your interest? You have a very diverse style so we are keen to learn what inspires you..

Currently I am loving trip-hop and funk, from original 70’s recordings to modern funk / hip-hop by DJ Shadow / Cut Chemist / Mumbles / Bonobo etc I have a soft spot for cool car chase style funk music and have always enjoyed this style of music since I was young. You can’t beat a cool hip hop break and funk guitars! I often listen to ‘Amen Brother’ by ‘The Winstons’ to remind myself where Breaks and Drum & Bass came from. I also like the more dance floor modern take on funk by Featurecast and A Skillz, it’s great summer music! I experimented with this style a few years back when I released the ‘Like In The Deal’ LP on Freestyle Records. I am thinking of doing something similar in the near future.

I also love 8-bit soundtracks, whether modern chiptune music or original Commodore 64 music made on the amazing SID chip. Many soundtracks for new indie games (such as Fez, Swords and Sorcery, Shatter etc) are amazing and are a constant source of inspiration for me.

To be honest I can listen to anything and randomly be blown away by something then spend the next month listening to as much of it as possible before finding something else and repeating this process.

If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing right now?

Playing games, reading, out walking, writing gibberish online, or trying to figure out a way to become rich making music (easier said than done). I am a bit of a nerd and collect old Nintendo NES games. I have a huge collection of retro games and still play the classics to try and beat high scores.I really enjoy reading books about people’s travels, meeting people and visited places off the usual tourist trail. I also love the work of Hunter S Thompson, so if you are familiar with his style you get a good idea of my outlook in life and the type of literature I enjoy.

Yep, we definitely get the idea! So, what’s the largest animal you could throw over a crossbar?

Funny you should ask, this is a personal hobby of mine, i should have mentioned it earlier. The animals I have successfully thrown over a crossbar include: a cat, two Ducks, a Rabbit, a zebra, a snow leopard (bitey), and a Mogwai (they don’t enjoy it).

And are we glad we asked! I think we may have a new champion in the animal hurling olympics!

The full mix as promised for free download:

Adam F – Circles (Phillip D Kick Footwork Mix)
ActRaiser – Tropa Z
Omni Trio – Renegade Snares (Phillip D Kick Footwork Mix)
Dream Continuum – Set It
DJ Taktix – Hornz For 94 (Phillip D Kick Footwork Mix)
Krampfhaft – Carl Sagan The Man
Halp – Tic Tac Toe (Krampfhaft Remix)
Slick Shoota feat 5kin & Bone5 – Hit The Flow
Slick Shoota – Love You You You
Interface & Minus – Hardwork
Ital Tek – Gonga
Dream Continuum – Giv A Little Luv
ActRaiser – Lost In The Jungle
Wheez-ie – Desire
Plug – Feeling So Special
Roni Size & DJ Die – It’s A Jazz Thing (Phillip D Kick Footwork Mix)
Machinedrum – U Don’t Survive (Chrissy Murderbot Remix)
Remarc – R.I.P (Phillip D Kick Footwork Mix)
Om Unit – Vibrations (Machinedrum Remix)
Ital Tek – Pixel Haze
Om Unit – An Eternal Way
LTJ Bukem – Atlantis (Phillip D Kick Footwork Mix)
Admin – Pink Gloves (Slick Shoota Remix)
XLII – No Cure (EAN Remix)
Om Unit – Swimming Dragon (Ital Tek Remix)
Ital Tek – East District
LTJ Bukem – Horizons (Phillip D Kick Footwork Mix)

This is actually Volume 1 in a series focused on this particular style of Bass music – Volume 2 will be out next week – Keep your eyes on this page for the exclusive drop! In the meantime you can also check Actraiser‘s recent Dubstep mix, also a free DL.

Keep your eyes on