Anyone who’s even slightly into drum’n’bass cannot have avoided the huge success of Perth trio Pendulum. Not only have they just released their debut full length album on of the biggest drum’n’bass labels (Breakbeat Kaos) they have been playing on bills that would make most heads salivate. It’s a great story of relative obscurity to worldwide success.

With these guys putting Australian drum’n’bass in the spotlight on the global scene, now is as good enough time as any to celebrate the talent and diversity of those producers lurking in our local scenes who are themselves causing ripples here and overseas. An event set up by and for Melbourne locals is set to expose (in the best possible way!) this talent that is creating interest from significant overseas labels and DJs.

This is talent that organizer, Cubist, believes is well and truly worth bragging about. While plenty of events showcase locals djs there are few nights were the spotlight is firmly on the producer, “Some of our local producers are at a high standard getting tunes signed by various records labels and although many of the producers on this bill can hold their worth as a Dj against some of Melbourne’s best they aren’t getting constant gigs. Therefore people don’t have the opportunity to enjoy their production and DJ talent.” With the upcoming event as an excuse, its time to get to know a little more about the artists on the bill, Spherix, Livewire, Safire, Directive, Valuetime and Cubist.

A producer himself, Cubist has been making his own tunes for five years. While it’s not always easy to define a style, he believes his take on drum and bass is “fun, funky and interesting.” With a love of hip hop spreading into drum and bass he turned to production to “create the songs [he] wanted to hear.”

A finalist in this year’s Nokia Connecting Beats Competition with “Jah” Cubist is currently working on a new version of the track slated for upcoming release. You may also have heard of Cubist after his unauthorized remix of the Cat Empire’s track “Hello.” As for what type of set we can expect from him, it’s a case of “come and see.”

Another name that Melbourne heads are sure to be familiar with is Safire from the Broken Beat Assault Crew. Safire’s path to drum’n’bass production stemmed from studies in sound engineering and a dj-ing career (in both dnb and hip hop) that started at age 16. In terms of a signature sound, Safire is open, “That’s something that I’m still shaping at the moment. Anything from deep atmospheric and techy to dubby orientated dnb, I’m also part of a hip hop cru called Microphone Addicts so that’s had some influence as well.”

While Safire has been mixing for three and a half years, he has been producing for about one and a half years, during which time he has have some rather impressive career highlights. One of these would be winning the Australian National Noise Festival Dj competition in 2003, entitling him some airspace on the national youth broadcaster, Triple J. Another highlight was a number of releases (and potential for more) on the Vic Spitters Compilation.

In terms what set Safire will mix, it’s a journey from “atmospheric and techy to some dubby dnb.” Safire lists Mav, Mindscape, Psideam, Big Bud, Resound, Break, Nosia, Corrupt Souls and Phace as favorites.

Taking us from the atmospheric and dub infused dnb is the duo known as Directive. These two have been making music together for three years, while one of the guys has also had experience playing in metal bands.

With a list of influences that one could not describe any other way than techy and dark, these two nominate “harder sounds” as a characteristic of their production output.

So what to expect from these guys in the mix? They claim to mix a “broad spectrum” though there’s a good chance you’ll hear cuts from their major influences. They list the following producers and Djs as helping characterize their sound: Photek, Teebee, Klute, Silent Witness and Break, Matrix. As for labels, it remains on the dark tip with   Subtitles, Metro, Commercial Suicide, DNA, as key influences. Also the band background also comes into play with the guys sighting “death black metal and hard core/punk” as influences.

Another local also associated with the Broken Beat Assault Crew is Livewire, who started producing “for real” in 2000. Livewire sights mix tapes from the 94-95 era (the ‘ragga-jungle’ sound) the Tru Playaz EP (Ganga) and The Speed of Sound (RAM) as key influencing sources.

Stemming from these influences Livewire describes his style as varied, ”...I do some rolling musical tunes to the hard dark jungle sounds.”  Narrowing it down to what kind of a set we could expect, considering that he’ll be mixing later in the night, “it’ll definitely be dance floor material. A bit of dubwise, tech and definitely some dark jungle biziness.” And just to keep things tantalizing, Livewire has a few local dubs that he has received of late.

Livewire has already had a couple of signings including ‘Movin’ On’ and ‘Headhunter’ on LA based All Time High records in 2003. Recent signings include “The Zone” and “Footsoldier’ to N20 records which are due out soon. As for future releases he is rather secretive hinting there are things on the horizon that aren’t yet to be discussed!

Linking Livewire to our next local, Spherix is a remix that caused many jaws to drop when it was played at one of the Blazin’ nights earlier in the year. It was Spherix’s remix of ‘Movin’ On.’ He sights this as a highlight alongside the signing of his first “serious” tune (‘Clarity’) to TAM (Total Advanced Music) a Russian label owned by Dissident and Bes.  Some more recent work has been alongside a Canadian, Bantom, from Catacomb and Dynafect. This is truly a symbiotic relationship with Spherix rating their work together as his best. There is also talk of interest from “a fairly big name label in drum and bass” but that is the only hint we’re allowed!

“Moody, dark and thought provoking is what I aim for,” says Spherix of his style. “Most of the tunes are written as a result of feelings I’ve had about something, I don’t really write tunes for other people as much as for myself. I guess the fundamental style is tech orientated, but with a deep edge in the melodies, pads and basslines.”

As for  what lead him to production, Spherix says he” Wanted to put [his] own spin on a sound that was already out there. I thought a lot of the stuff I was hearing had so many cool elements, but was missing something I wanted to hear in it, I guess it was kinda a vision of what that sound could have been or something.”

In terms of what we can expect from a Spherix set, ”[Its] going to begin quite deep and rollin with a few of my newer tunes, progressing to a more edgy tech/”neuro” feeling but always retaining my deep component. I’m playing both my own stuff and things by my friends and mentors.”

Lastly in our examination of Melbourne dnb producers is Valuetime. Valuetime first production was a bootleg remix of Ian Brown’s awesome track “F.E.A.R” In terms of what drives him in production Valuetime states “Production is like an extension of DJing to me. I began by spinning the music that’s already out there and then decided I wanted to add something of my own. Matrix would easily be the producer I respect the most, but it’s mostly friends, people I’ve recently met, and sometimes people I hardly know that give me the inspiration to keep writing.”

“Clean, detailed and melodic” is roughly how Valuetime describes his sound, and this sound is sure to prevail in his set that will contain a taste of his own handiwork. Although he is relatively new at production (with two years experience) we are sure to hear big things from Valuetime.  While he doesn’t name any single tune as a standalone in his career, he is at the moment “just learning and having fun. But I’m proud of all my tracks so far.”

Local lineup is on Saturday 27th August at the Bunker Lounge.  Check ITM whatson for more details.