Esym – Far Beyond EP – VTO Records – Interview

Yo my D&B fans!  How’s it going on this fine October Friday?  It’s Halloween, so one of the best days of the year for spookyness and letting your hair down!

This week, we have a special interview with Perth based producer, Esym who has released a monster EP on the ghoulish VTO Records.  It’s a bone-cracking EP that speaks for itself in terms of heaviness and production quality.  This could have easily been concocted in a witches cauldron with sugar and spice and all things nice!

So without further ado, let’s get into the interview!

Easy Matt, thank you for joining us today!  Pleasure to have you here.

Hi Simon, it’s great to be back, thank you for having me join you again.

1. This EP is sick, how long did it take you to conjure this masterpiece up?

Thank you!
Each tune has been in production for various lengths. Control Your Mind definitely has been
the longest of over 6 months and 20 versions . It took a while to nail the identity and the
contrast with the A/B switch, without it sounding like 2 different tracks. Which nearly
happened but I loved the contrast too much to abandon the idea.
Blast Burn took only a few days to write as the vocal adlib hook I made allowed the rest of
the track to follow quite quickly. It had an identity very early on and once I started to put
together the EP the narrative just clicked.
Far Beyond is the newest of the lot and came together quite quickly once I had the main
hook down. The texture and groove comes from my appreciation and enjoyment of artists
like Current Value, with the musical elements kicking off the start of this narrative woven into
the EP.

2. The tunes on this EP have a great cinematic feel to the intros, especially Control
You Mind. What sort of inspiration did you have for this kind of build up?

I grew up listening to Trance (still listen to it) and movie and video game scores. So when I
started Esym I was learning how to recreate the elements that I enjoyed the most growing
up, and still do.
As I got further in and started DJing I was really enjoying the ‘epic’ and grandiose moments
that these cinematic elements created, contrasting the heaviness and aggressive nature that
neurofunk has.
So really it’s a fusion of me writing small cinematic scores as best I can, and incorporating
my love for Neurofunk.
Maybe one day I’ll compose a score or something in full .

3. That’s awesome to hear!  Who is your biggest influence in your D&B production?

It does change year to year, but I definitely gravitate to those that have more musical
elements involved in their music and I’m a big metal fan, so I love anything combining the
two. Currently; Ekwols, Magnetude, Pythius, Finalfix, Shadow Sect, Toronto is Broken and
Zardonic come to mind.
I also really enjoy the Czech style that has been coming up lately, like anything on
Darkshire’s label (ABSU_NTQL, Zigi SC and Karpa for example). It just hits differently and
their grooves are really infectious.

4. They’re all phenomenal artists too so it’s great to hear they have had an influence on your sound.  I’m also a big metal fan and still listen on a regular!  What was the tune that got you into D&B in the first place? We all have that one
special tune!

Iron Heart by Netsky (on his first album). That really dragged me in on its sound design
alone. It had this synth and groove that I had only really heard in video games on the
Playstation 1. I didn’t associate it as ‘drum and bass’ until listening to Pendulum’s Hold Your
Colour album.

5. Ah that’s quality, that Netsky tune is sick!  Now, this is a hard question for everyone but what is your favourite D&B tune of all
time?

Symplex – Sonar
This goes against my whole “I prefer tracks with more musical elements” and it’s not the
most complex or story driven tunes, but everytime I hear that rolling beat and synth scream
through, it just hits the spot. It’s one of my favourites to mix as well.

6. I’d agree with that, Sonar is definitely a tune I still reach for often, it’s wicked!  So, what kind of things do we have in store in the future for you? Any more releases
this year or next year lined up?

I recently got back from a trip to Bali alongside The Clamps, Screamarts, Tryst Temps,
Dropset and Nemean, so expect something to come from us in the next year, as we wrote
something with all of us contributing and fusing our styles.
I’ve got a few more singles out in the next few months, and plenty of unfinished projects.

7. That sounds awesome, I can’t wait to hear what we have in store there!  Where can we see Esym play next?

I’ve got some shows in December located here in Perth that are being finalised, and I am
also in talks for some shows in Europe for 2026 that i’m keen to lock in and experience.

So again, a massive thanks to Esym for joining me in answering some questions today!  I hope that gives you all an insight into his music, now all that’s left to do is to go right ahead and buy his EP!  Buy links attached to the banner at the top and artwork below along with some clips at the bottom!

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