In every genre of music, the artists who maintain the longest careers are often those who develop their music to reach a broad audience yet preserve their own specific sound. At a time when Drum N Bass is more divided by sub-genre than ever, New Zealand’s State of Mind has used what some may see as a downfall to DNB to their advantage. “People get stuck into a pattern of producing one type of sound, as though it’s a different type of music.” they explain, “DNB is already underground enough in the big picture of things, without dividing it up into niche sub-genres like Neuro, Liquid, Jump-Up etc.”

What started out as a simple friendship of two friends mixing records and making music has matured into an extremely impressive catalogue in just three short years. What stands out as much as the number of releases is the actual impact and quality of each one. One needs only to listen to a few tracks to hear and understand the brilliance of this team. The way they have been able to diversify the releases in their catalogue, yet stay true to the elements which set them apart from other producers is phenomenal. This is credited partly to being lucky enough to work together. “Working as a duo, it becomes a lot easier to generate ideas.", they explain. "It makes the actual producing of tunes a lot faster, since you can take turns at the controls.”

The team aspect also benefits the age old, unavoidable disease known to every artist: Writers Block. “Sure we get block. I think everyone does. But here’s another advantage to being a duo. If one person is kind of out of form, there is still the other one of us who can step up to the plate.”

In regards to the methods behind the ideas and thought put into their tunes, which as a listener you can tell there are many, the guys explain that in their case, the secret often lies behind finding that perfect sample. “We are really into using sampled sounds etc, so sometimes just finding a good sample gives an idea for a whole tune. That makes the process heaps easier. It’s just the sample finding that’s a drag.” Because of the diversity of their various tunes, different tunes require a different workload, they explain. “Some tracks, for example, don’t need a lot of elements in there, and so are complete without too much editing etc. Other tracks need heaps of edits and effects and so forth before they feel finished.”

As for when a tune is finally done, the guys can’t help but get a little philosophical. “That’s not an easy one to answer. A tune is complete when it feels complete. That sounds kind of ‘wax on, wax off’ but there’s not really any other way to explain it. Having said that, there are some of our tunes that we thought were finished at the time, but listening back could definitely use a few touches here and there.”

As music advances into genres and sub-genres, it often needs labels to define one sound from the next. However, those same labels can often create stereotypes, and put limits on what and artists can and can’t do. The solution? “Why not take bits you like outta all those styles. At the end of the day it helps to keep it interesting, at least that what we think.” With their ability to stand free of sub-genre labelling, one hopes that the influence of this team will start to match the success they are quickly achieving.

Cara Giulioni-Mayday@mtldnb.com

Check Out:
http://www.stateofmindnz.com (coming soon)
www.myspace.com/stateofminddnb
www.myspace.com/stateofmindnz