DJ Radicall: A Jungle Revival on Future Retro

Hi Radicall, Congrats on your latest release on Future Retro, junglist Tim Reaper’s label.  FR47 sounds excellent! We were thrilled to discover you used the tracker for the whole EP. Could you give us some background on the album? Could you share how it came about, and what your inspirations were? 

Thanks, pleasure to hear that. I’m really glad Tim Reaper released the EP, which is actually the first jungle release in my discography. The concept behind this material was my own take on jungle and hardcore from 1993/1994, when these genres had no defined boundaries. The moment of transition of hardcore into jungle music is the most inspiring moment for me. I find this release to be the most experimental in my history so far. I reached for new tools and techniques, which resulted in unexpected effects.

There is now a lot of media attention about a “Jungle and DnB revival”. From our perspective, it never left, but there does seem to be an increased interest in it from younger generations. How do you feel Jungle and DnB have been changing and evolving to meet the current times? 

I think the factor that attracts new generations is the honesty of the music. It’s simple, wild, raw in form, but very effective. It’s a bit like 8-bit video games, which are very addictive, and are a lot of fun, although now there are games that are much more technically advanced. The core of this music is still unfettered freedom and energy and there are the things that will always work.

&n

This album seems like a perfect fit for Future Retro, as it has sonic characterics we at Polyend love. It feels like a divergent future where Trackers are the primary music-making tools instead of linear DAWs. Why is the Tracker your primary instrument? 

Well, I have been using Polyend Tracker as a main tool for my hardcore breakbeat and jungle stuff for 2 years now. For years I was producing atmospheric, liquid drum&bass, but I lost my inspiration after 15 years. Then I decided to make some oldskool music just for fun. I never considered hardcore or jungle as my main path as producer. I started releasing vinyl on the Cantina Cuts label run by DJ Jedi, and I discovered how natural, effortless and fun the creative process became for me. I started writing material for Parallax Records, which will be out really soon, still using Ableton. The funny thing is that it’s really hard to make retro sounding tracks using modern software, because it sounds too clear. I wanted to jump into the rabbit hole of Amiga to achieve the authentic hardcore sound just like Pete Cannon or Ant To Be, but then I discovered Polyend Tracker to be a great compromise. The Tracker helps me generate the authentic sound, it magically turns any sound into a rough, raw 90s sound, which is really cool. I used trackers early in my career in the early 2000s, so it was also a nostalgic throwback. The 8-channel limitation forced me to introduce minimalism into my arrangements, which was only good. I have always had a tendency to overcomplicate and Polyend Tracker made me start creating music in a more transparent way. If something is unnecessary, it’s out because I don’t have free channels. This makes the process much easier.

Can you give one tip to beginning producers?

First of all, you can create music on anything, you don’t need to have too much equipment, it’s better to have a small studio, but know your few tools well. Don’t look at fashions, because they disappear, focus on creating music that comes most naturally to you. Remember that the process of creation is the reward, not fame or money. If you create primarily with these potential rewards in mind, the effect will be poor and inconsistent.

Can you give us one Tracker production tip or secret? 

I can suggest that the Granular Playback Mode is a very powerful tool when used on vocals. I also recommend using Granular on already stretched vocal samples from an Akai sampler. Changing the position of the Granular Play head can give very interesting results.

Where can people find more of your music or find out more about you?

Visit my Facebook or Soundcloud. I also run my own Bandcamp where some of my vinyls are available.