Weekend Wake Up With Glitch City

So, let’s start at the beginning– What led you to electronic music?

I’ve always been into my Hip-Hop so I started out listening to that. The turning point was when I started going out with mates I guess.

If I remember correctly, I was about 17 years old (a long time ago) when I heard the music played at the local house parties– Stuff like ATB, Tiesto and (embarrassingly) Basshunter. That all fizzled out pretty quickly though.

When some of the older lads we used to hang out with were blasting tunes like Calibre – Drop It Down, Fresh – All That Jazz, C&S – In Love etc. from the sub woofers in their cars, and I was hooked. The rest is history from there!

When we last spoke, you mentioned working at a luxury car dealership during your time at uni. What is one important lesson that job taught you?

Two things– Don’t take crap from people, and find a career in something you enjoy.

Life is too short to work a job when you’re constantly watching the clock and have no interest in it! You wish your life away looking forward to the weekend, and then when its over, you repeat. I’m not about that.

I know it’s a tough bit, but when we spoke, it seemed like your father’s death opened a door for your music. Can you tell me more about the relationship and how it shaped you as a musician?

I suppose yeah, I’ve always, always been 100% devoted to music. I didn’t know my father too well, but I heard great things from a lot of people– he was crazy about his music. He played a few instruments, so I’m pretty sure I know where I get my musicianship from! It’s one of those things where I regret not having the opportunity to sit down with him, have endless chats about music, and jam to each other’s selections.

I think he passed, it made me realize that I had to seriously start making something of myself. I’d already been producing for a while, and I’m not that passionate about much else, so I felt it best to excel in what I knew and what I was good at.

Your production has always had a strong sense of funk about it, but your Glitch City project is quite the departure from your work as Samy Nicks– what motivated the shift in your sound?

It was a case of stepping my game up and not settling for what I had already mastered. For a while I went completely back to the drawing board and shut myself away constantly making a tonne of beats– Buying hardware, new plugins, reading, teaching myself and experimenting with new techniques– Listening to current tunes and the output quality and overall working out a new sound and improving my mastering.

Samy Nicks was my initial project, and was my starting point. You know, everyone has to start somewhere– those were my practice years– Now it’s all serious business.

I hear The Prototypes picked you up over brunch– how did that conversation go? What Get Hype happenings are you most excited for (that you can tell us about?)

Yeah we had a good little get-to-know introduction, and we munched on some really tasty Vietnamese cuisine– I definitely think it was down to the food. It’s important to know who you’re working with, and it’s great connecting with people who are just as serious about what they do and have the same goals.

There’s some huge things in the pipeline for Get Hype Records but for now I think I’m most excited about performing in my favourite part of the country next month – Brighton!

If you’re in the area, and want to Get Hype with the whole team in the town where it all began, here is the place to be!

But now it’s time for a special new installment…

What song is permanently set in your memory, and what is the story behind it?

Thats such a hard question as there are so many to choose from. It’s probably The Coasters – Down In Mexico. It’s from a scene in Quentin Tarantino’s film Death Proof, if you know then you know.. Basically my mate and I put a bet on to see who would recreate that scene first. Neither of us have won that yet, but there’s still plenty more time and the bet shall continue…

What is the craziest thing you’ve ever done in the name of music?

You’re really making me think about these now! When I was about 20 years old I got drunk and managed to talk my way into the biggest nightclub in Ho Chi Minh City, organize a meeting with the club owner, take a few drinks off him, sell to him that I was a famous DJ. He gets the House DJ off the decks and puts me on. It only lasted 20 minutes though before he took me off as no one understood Drum & Bass. Apart from a group of English lads at the very front who were loving it. All in a nights work..

Love that. I wish it wasn’t so, but we’ve arrived at our last Bonus Round question– Tell me the story of the very first time you ever played your music for a crowd of people.

I won a DJ competition in Bournemouth one night and I’d just finished a new tune so I opened with it. Bear in mind this was even before my Samy Nicks days so a mix down was non-existent. Don’t even remember crowd reaction. Got to go for it though, so hey.

Fast forward a couple years later I probably appreciated my first gig in Belgium when I dropped Curtain Call VIP in front of the masses and it went down a treat. That was pretty cool – #excitablerewindbusiness

Well, that’s a wrap for this round, but here are some ways you can help nurse your need for Glitch City!

Listen to Sam’s latest slammer of a studio mix here.
And my favourite single off of his latest release right here: