Drum & Bass
Logistics - Reality Checkpoint
In only four years, Matt Gresham aka
Logistics has created one of the biggest catalogues of productions and remixes
that TID has seen. Regardless of the quantity what’s striking is the quality,
and while it’s no surprise that an artist on the ever-ready Hospital Records
label is driven to the peak of his skills it’s truly hard to fathom where he
finds the time and energy!
To cement this reputation as one of
the most constant and consistent producers across the whole site, we’re proud to
unveil his second full artist album in as many years. With a mind-boggling
fifteen new tracks, 'Reality Checkpoint' is another benchmark in this relatively
new production talent’s short but successful career. Delving into his trademark
cinematic yet dancefloor approach to production and touching upon other genres
such as dubstep and electro futurism, this album is a showcase of a visionary
who is clearly keeping it very real in the studio.
We caught up with him to find out how he manages to keep this work ethic up and stay focussed on being on top of his game;
With such a prolific output, the team at TID would love to know how you keep on
top of quality control and keep the ideas flowing? Is it meditation or some
high-powered management techniques that help you as anyone who has made tunes
knows that the creative process can be quite a drain mentally and
physically?
I've always found the creative
aspect the most enjoyable part of making music, for me it's a way of channeling
ideas and feelings and if for whatever reason I can't get that stuff out I start
to get really restless and agitated. In terms of quality control I just make
music I want to hear, it's that simple. I also think having the hospital lot and
obviously nu:tone and commix at close call really helps as they all chip in with
invaluable feedback on my tracks and without them I'm sure my stuff wouldn't be
half as good.
How do you keep it real with such
an amount of success in such a short period of time? It must be quite a heady
experience sometimes when taking stock of such achievements?
I think it's impossible not to keep it real in the drum and bass scene, that's one of the best things about it in my eyes, it's a small self sufficient scene with lots of people making music for the love of it. I also think that anyone who could follow the life of a drum and bass DJ / producer for a week would see that it's not all that glamorous. There are times when I feel pleased with what I've achieved but I still feel like I'm only scratching the surface.
What are your musical influences currently and historically? Have these helped
you maintain your output and are you always looking for fresh inspiration?
Having outside influences is key
for inspiration, I had a period last year where I was listening to almost just
drum and bass and I found I would freeze up in the studio. I don't want my
tracks to sound influenced by other drum and bass, I want to reference anything
but drum and bass. In terms of people who have influenced me I could go on
forever but a select few are people like mj cole, curtis mayfield, eloy, dj
premier, todd edwards, etienne di crecy, roni size, pete rock..i really could go
on for days!
You must know your equipment inside out with so many productions in the bag.
What are your favourite bits and are there any production tips or secrets that
can help an up and coming artist?
My setup is really really basic, almost laughable but I know it well and can just about get what I want out of it. I'm running Reason 2.5 on a tired PC and that's about it really, I have been sampling up an old Juno synth lots recently so that would probably be my favorite piece of kit alongside a really basic plug-in called paul stretch which is always good for some interesting time-stretching effects. In terms of tips and secrets I'd say just get to know your equipment and try and devote as much time as possible to making music, it's not an overnight transition from beginner to pro, it really does take time to develop your skills and more importantly your style.
Have you ever had a reality check?
I made a phone call to my girlfriend
once from a hotel in
Does playing out and touring to promote your albums and releases play havoc with
your hectic studio schedule?
It can do sometimes, just this past week I've really had the creative bug again but I've had lots of gigs and album promotion to do. That can be really frustrating as I struggle to write beats on the road so have to collate my ideas and try and remember them when I do get the free time. With this last album I actually took a few months off to work on new music as I find I usually hit my creative peak after a week or so of working on new music.
Your brother Dan is known to us as Nu:tone, is there any friendly sibling
rivalry when it comes to tunes and production?
I think there is obviously a bit of friendly rivalry but we try and help each other out as much as possible, we also collaborate a fair bit and this really helps to cancel out the rivalry. Dan is the main reason I started making tracks so I'll always look up to him in terms of his engineering and skills in the studio, he is far more experienced than I am.
Finally, C
We're just trying to find the
time to get in the studio again at the moment, the last thing we did was 'when
pilots eject' and that was about two years ago so I think we are all really
keen to get back on it. Our styles have developed lots since then so I'm really
excited to see what comes of it!
'Reality Checkpoint' is out NOW on Trackitdown! See below to download.
Featured Tracks:
| Reality Checkpoint (Unmixed Full Album) (70:14) | |||||
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Artist: Logistics Label: Hospital Records Genre: Drum & Bass Release Date: 2008-03-28 
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