Now then some of you may remember that back in November time we did a little review of a track that’s a bit different to our usual vibe. It came courtesy of two artists called ALB and Subdivision, who served up a tasty of remix of PIN – Sorrow Floats. Why was it different? Well it came from a genre of music that we don’t normally delve into: liquid drum and bass. But today we’re treating you to some more, with a cheeky interview with liquid DnB wizard Etherwood, ahead of his Hospitality in the Park appearance.

In the drum and bass scene, Etherwood is a man who needs little introduction. After countless releases on all the right kind of labels, including Med School Music and Hospital Records, the UK talent continues to establish his presence with numerous festival appearances. Coming up first is Lockdown festival in Wales, followed up by the big’un in late September: Hospitality in the Park. With plenty of stuff going on, we sat down with Etherwood to get the low-down on what’s going on in liquid drum and bass. Check it out below.

WWD: Hi Ed mate! How you doing today?

E: I’m good! How are you mate?

WWD: Yeah not too bad, just been chilling really

E: Same here bro

WWD: Nice man! So just wanted to kick things off by saying normally at When We Dip we mostly cover house and techno, but recently I’ve been looking to cover some more stuff from the drum and bass scene. And your liquid sound fits in well with what we already cover, so it’s great to have you on board!

E: Cool!

WWD: So what have you been up to recently in terms of the scene? As in where have you been playing, and what have you been working on recently?

E: I’ve basically just been hibernating a little bit and finishing my third album. So I went out to Finland for a couple of weeks to spend some time in this cabin, completely on my own, and got my head down

WWD: Nice!

E: Yeah it was really good, pretty cool man, just been doing that. And yeah where have I played recently? So it’s festival season, I’ve got one called Let It Roll coming up…

WWD: Ah yeah that’s one of the big’uns of the DnB scene isn’t it?

E: It is yeah, so that’s cool. I’m playing in and around Europe, and I just got back from Australia in May which was nice, so yeah all over really!

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WWD: Sick man sounds fun! And going back to what you said about going to Finland to finish your third album, was it just touching stuff up? Or did you fully make new tunes there?

E: It was just a complete blank slate! I had a few ideas beforehand, a few sketches and stuff, but I just went out there because I’ve got a friend who lives out there and he sent me a picture. And a lot of the Fins have this thing called a Mankee which is a cottage, literally in the middle of the Finnish woods, with a sauna and a lake.

WWD: Ah man that sounds ideal! Perfect settings

E: Mate it was! It’s something I’ve wanted to do for ages, and it suited the inspiration I get normally. I went and stayed in one for eleven days and there was no one else there, and I barely used my phone because it was properly in the middle of nature. It was great.

WWD: Nice! So moving onto your productions, you’re most well known for that lovely rolling liquid, and it’s as if you’ve perfected that soothing kind of sound. But I was wondering if you’d ever thought about producing stuff which is more towards the darker end of the DnB spectrum? Like the sort of heavy roller/neuro sort of vibe?

E: I mean it’s something that wouldn’t come naturally to me. I’ve kind of delved into it a little bit, but I think even the deepest, darkest tune I could make would still only be tiny spec on that spectrum

WWD: Yeah I do know what you mean

E: It’s always fun to sort of play around with that kind of sound but I’d have to properly spend a good couple of years trying to make one good sound

WWD: Well I mean speaking of that, you collaborated with S.P.Y a good few months ago to make ‘Because of You’. We’re such big fans, because you can really hear both of your styles within the track if you know what I mean?

E: Yeah thanks man I appreciate that!

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WWD: The liquid vibe hits home, and you’ve also got S.P.Y’s darkness as well. So I wanted to ask if you’d thought about collaborating with anyone else? And if there’s any artists out there that you’d like to team up with?

E: Yeah man there’s a few guys who I’ve been bouncing ideas between for a little while, like Technimatic, Spectrasoul, the kind of guys in the more kind of soulful scene. And working with Luke (LSB) was cool, I’d like to do that gain. It’d be cool to do another track with Dan (Nu:Tone) because he’s an absolute legend. But yeah I’ve been quite lucky with the people I’ve collaborated with already. I’ve started working on this tune with Alterior Motive and it’s cool because, as you said with S.P.Y, you can hear the different elements in the track

WWD: Yeah I hear you. It’s the contrast too, it works well.

E: Yeah exactly that was the thing. And it’s nice to hear that instead of a collaboration where you’ve got two similar sounding styles.

WWD: Yep completely understand what you’re saying. Okay so, festival wise, one of the big daddies is coming up on the 23rd of September: Hospitality in the Park. You played last year and you’ve got it coming up again, so what can fans expect?

E: Obviously last year was the first festival that Hospital have done, so it was obviously a big thing all round, but yeah they absolutely nailed it. Anyone that’s been to any Hospital show will know how much of a vibe there is there. There’s something about Hospital shows that you don’t get from other drum and bass shows. Everyone’s very chilled, very friendly and just up for anything really. And there’s not a lot of snobbery if you know what I mean?

WWD: Yeah I do get you, that must be refreshing

E: Yeah exactly. And you’ve got people playing from Let It Roll, Rampage, Exit festival and Metalheadz so there’s a really broad spectrum of DnB. And I know Hospital have got a good habit of one-upping themselves, so everything has to be bigger and better than the last one!

WWD: Yeah I hear you, it keeps people on their toes! 

E: Exactly mate, I can’t wait. That’s the thing about the drum and bass scene, it’s always there under the surface, it’s this sort of under current doing its own thing

WWD: Sure you are right, it’s always bubbling! Well perfect stuff! Cheers Ed for chatting to us today, and we’re looking forward to seeing you at hospitality bro!

E: You too man see you there!

Catch Etherwood playing at Hospitality in the Park on the 23rd of September. Tickets here.