After a stop in Toronto with Telluric label boss Place 42 the night before, bassline virtuoso Furney started the night off for the UK team in style with some lovely liquid drum and bass tunes. After venue staff closed off the rooms allotted to the night’s talent backstage, we found a spot downstairs, and I got a chance to sit with Mr. Fearnside to talk shop.
What do you think of Brooklyn?
Yeah, I love Brooklyn. It’s my second time here. I was here last year. So yeah, it’s all good, Brooklyn. Good vibe. Good people. Good shops.
Your tune “Brooklyn 1977” samples MJ Cole’s “Crazy Love” – what was the inspiration behind that track?
That track is made up of quite a few different things from different places. The main backbone is definitely obviously MJ Cole. There’s a few other things in there as well. I guess the influence was, I saw a live performance of MJ Cole playing the Rhodes piano that had the bass line to it, you know, the main groove. I think it was the first time I heard somebody play a Rhodes in a modern way with the bass line as the keys as well. I was like, “Oh my God.” Because you know the old Rhodes piano. Who doesn’t love the sound of that? And ’77 was the year my sister was born. And Brooklyn….I love Brooklyn anyway. I think the name Brooklyn has got a cool ring to it. So, I think I would have to say, without rambling on too much, the MJ Cole thing and there’s another vocal in there as well. So I think it was a mishmash of things that came together.
Do you have any new releases you want to talk about?
Yeah, I just had a test press for a vinyl last week of a track I remixed for Tango on Creative Wax. That’s DJ Pulse’s label, which, to me, was a label from years ago, which I have so much respect for, and I love the original Tango track. I met with Pulse recently, and that’s my next release. I’m quite proud of that one. This is a remix of a track that’s quite close to my heart, so that’s my next release. I’ve got quite a few things going on for other labels as well, like Good Looking, obviously.
Did you come up as a vinyl DJ or digital?
Yeah, vinyl, definitely.
What do you think about the transition out of vinyl?
I think that it’s inevitable. Technology influences all types of music, so I think that mixing CDs….Years ago, if you had a track, you had to go and cut a dubplate of it to be able to play it in the club. Whereas now, you can just burn a CD of it. I love CDs, so I think it’s good. You’ve got to embrace technology.
How do you feel your set went tonight?
I really liked it, really enjoyed it. I played first, so I was playing quite a few mellow things. So it was a good change to play them because when things are in full swing later on in the night, you might not get a chance to play those sorts of tracks. For me, it was important to be able to play them in that time frame. So yeah, I don’t mind playing first. Anytime is good.
Do you think that Submorphics was a worthy opponent?
A worthy opponent. Yeah, he played quite a deep set tonight. Some of the tracks were quite heavy, so I think the fact that he went just after me was a good choice.
What other genres do you listen to besides drum and bass?
Oh my days – everything. Everything. You name it. Dub music, reggae, dubstep, soul obviously, funk. I love ambient music. Anything. I listen to anything basically. I love all music.
What about country music?
Country music! Yeah, did you know that country music is the bestselling genre of music ever? I think country music, when I hear it, it’s got a catchy sound to it. Sometimes it’s sad. I think country music’s all good. There’s a place for country music.
Is there anything else you would like to add or promote?
Everything. Good music. People nowadays, I think there’s too many people downloading illegal software and plugins and things like that. I pay for all my software. There’s a lot of people complaining that they’re not making money from music, but they’re not paying for the software. They’re just getting illegal software. So, I think, pay for the software, then you’ve got the right to moan because you’re not paying for the software that you’re making music on in the first place. If I can’t afford the plugins, I can’t use them. And if you think like that, because music is dying if everyone is downloading for free, like illegal piracy. I’m not saying that people won’t do that, but I really respect people that pay for the music big time. So anyone that pays for music, I tip my hat off to them. So, I’d like to promote people paying for things.
