Terminal V Podcast 026 || Rebūke

Genuinely one of the most promising names in electronic music Irish lad Rebuke has no front to him what so ever. From his most recent Drumcode bomb ‘Wasp’ to his older tracks on Hot Creations and Saved Records that gave him his start it is clear that there is serious depth and range to this young gun. By his own admission his sound is constantly evolving and improving, and when you consider that his recent Drumcode EP hit the number one spot in Beatport’s techno charts in a matter of weeks Rebuke is most definitely one to watch.

Having grown up just a short hop across the Irish Sea Rebuke’s party values align closely with our own so it was a certainty that the young Irishman would be back behind the Terminal V decks. For those that missed him back in 2019 and that are equally looking forward to catching him in October we present our latest podcast from the man himself. Hold tight for a bumpy ride.

 

Thanks for joining us Reuben, what has been happening lately?

Just got back from Australia the other day! I did an 8 week tour, was a wild ride to say the least!

Being back out on tour after such a long time must have been special. What was the highlight of your tour down under?

The whole tour was a real highlight. It was probably the most difficult tour ive ever been on.. Touring during covid is really difficult now and things we took for granted like hopping on a flight is not so easy anymore. I think I was one of the first international artists to tour Australia after 18 months of lockdowns, so feel very honoured to have did it!

Where is next on your schedule?

At a glance I play Manchester, Derry, Los Angeles, San Diego and Creamfields over the next month or two!

Your ‘Wasp’ EP has not long dropped on Drumcode, how was the reaction when you played it on tour?

It went down great. A common theme amongst producers was wondering how tunes were going to go down when we finally get to to play them out.. we were so used to testing music out for months on end before releasing it, but thats all changed now.. I am lucky to have a very clued in fan base that listens to all the new stuff I put out, so when I tried it out – it went off like a rocket!

Working in Carl Cox’s studio must have been pretty special? How did that come about?

It was great! My cousin Mike who is also my Australian tour manager and health freak arranged it. Hes been helping out alot of artists and industry heads get fit over lockdown and Coxy got wind of that so asked him to do some personal training with him… one thing led to the other and Coxy found out I was Mike’s cousin and invited me down to the studio. I also did some studio sessions with Coxy’s studio engineer Chris Coe, another fellow Irishman – was a fun couple of days!

How did the session go? Should we expect the results of the session to see the light of day any time soon?

Aye I recon you will!

You recently finished building your own studio, what would you say is the most important aspect of your studio?

For me as long as you have a good sounding room and nice speakers the rest is all bonus. I spent the past 12 years working off my laptop so recently decided to get more into modular and hardware synths. Im still trying to figure it all out but I think its been good for me to learn these new machines and really figure out whats going on in synthesisers rather than drifting from preset to preset.

Do you think this will change your sound at all?

My sound is always changing anyway so I think so!

There has been a fair progression in terms of your sound since the likes of ‘Along Came Polly’ and ‘EP1’ on Saved Records, is this housier side gone for good?

I still love house and tech house and play it when the setting is right – but I found at around mid-2019 it started to get a bit over saturated and lacking inspiration. The scene became swamped with what I call it “instagram house” – you know those tunes with some popular pop or rnb vocal that drops into nothing but a couple of tinny hi-hats and a generic bassline? It just wasn’t for me and I found myself drifting more towards heavier techno. In saying that, im working on a few more house-y tunes at the moment, collaborations with Claude Vonstroke & Dom Dolla and an EP for Hot Creations.

What turned you over to techno? Was there a specific gig or artist that has influenced you more than anything else?

Ive always played techno. Along Came Polly was a techno record – just a slower rendition of it. I think it was part of the reason it did so well – when Jamie Jones can play it but Solomun, Tale Of Us and Adam Beyer can also cain it – thats what I love to aim for in my tunes.. crossover appeal. Ive always been a massive fan of Adam Beyer and Drumcode and found myself playing alot of the stuff from the label, so it was a perfect fit when I started to release on there.

Talking of techno, lets discuss your podcast for us, can you talk us through it all?

An hour of badness!

Is there any secret weapons, unreleased tracks or classic gems in there?

Yeah, there is a remix I did on tour for Patrick Topping’s new EP, my new remix for E-Dancer coming out on Drumcode soon, and a track Chris Coe and Coxy gave me to try out at my gigs that I ve done an edit of.. and a few more wee belters in there too!

What should we expect from your set at Terminal V in October?

Bangers only.. here we fucking go!

 

Interview by  Stu Todd