5 Minutes With… Hudson
Scottish producer and DJ Hudson is one that certainly is set to go on and do great things in his career. Having released on the likes of Spira Music and now RM Records, we caught up with the main man to get a deeper look in to what creates the raw and moving sounds of Hudson.
How did you come to dance music at first, what parties, labels, producers, DJs turned you on? Were you involved in the Edinburgh scene at all?
I’ve always been massively into all genres of music from a young age, Im originally from Glasgow but I moved up to Aberdeen at the age where I just going out more. To begin with there wasn’t much of a scene up here but I moved abroad for a couple of years with my work at the time and when I returned the city was starting to get some well established nights & parties. Before you would have to travel to Edinburgh or Glasgow to see renowned act’s but fortunately they all play up here on a regular basis thanks to some cracking promoters.
Music wise I was really into my chilled drum & bass for years, and artists such as Logistics & Nu:tone left me amazed at the production & feeling they transferred into the music. From this I searched more into what was out there house music wise. Im also a big garage head which I think you can sense in some aspects of my music. When I moved back to Aberdeen I got invited to play at an ever growing underground house night called Majestik. It’s a really great night that’s kept true to the music they enjoy and it’s grown over the last few years allowing it to showcase some of my favourite artists (Detroit Swindle, Brawther, Oli Furness, Josh Butler) the guys that run the night are passionate about smaller independent labels and this encouraged me to delve into record digging and discovering new music!
Artist’s that are doing it right for me are guy’s like Brawther, having listened to his releases for years and having the pleasure to meet him he is in the industry for the right reasons and the music he pushes is always fantastic. Bicep are an obvious choice aswel as Midland, James Dexter and Baba Stiltz. I also really like the stuff coming from Nick Behringer and crew at BesteModus right now.
How long have you been making your own music, how long til you found your own sound? What hardware and software do you use?
I have been producing a few years now and really focused on it the past 2 years. I would probably say it’s only been the last 6 months I have started to find my own sound. That said I think peoples ”sound” always develops and changes as they progress and experience new thing’s or even a new piece of hardware can change your way of thinking or how you approach making music. I hope as my career progresses so does my sound.
Software wise I tried out a few DAW’s and found Logic Pro the most suited to how I work. I find it the easiest to get my idea’s down and the way everything is laid out is the most visually appealing. To that I added various midi controllers, keyboards and vintage style plug-ins such as the Korg M1. Now that im releasing music Im currently looking to get a Korg Minilogue and my holy grail of hardware the Juno-106.
What is that sound, what is your aim musically? Are you thinking mainly about the dance floor?
Sound wise I would say I try and make music to reflect my mood at the time, I always find I can relate mostly to tracks with some sort of emotion to them and that is how I would like my music to be. I never make music with any particular aim in mind other than that.
I never really found my own style until I moved away from wanting to sound like other artists / purposefully trying to make a dance floor fillers.
How did you link with RM Records? What inspired the latest record you made for them? Where and when did you write it?
I first spoke with them about a year ago when they were accepting demo’s. The original track I sent to them caught their attention as it had 90’s style vibes that they enjoyed so from that we built a good relationship and they wanted me to keep sending stuff through. I sent them over what is now the lead track to my EP and they wanted to sign it. I still kept sending them over new material in the meantime and they decided they wanted to sign another 3 and make an EP out of them. I made them all at my home studio in Aberdeen. Im delighted to have this EP out with RM as it’s a great setup they have got going on.
What are your thoughts on sampling – are there any rules you have? There is a pretty big one on this record…
For me I don’t see any problem with sampling if you are creative with it and use it as a tool to create something completely different and new to how the actual sample originally sounded. I think it can be quite obvious when everything is straight out of a sample pack with no changes made to it and just laid out together.
Vocal’s for new & upcoming producers is quite a difficult thing in my opinion without the use of samples as unless you invest in the right studio equipment to cater for live vocals your options can be limited.
Where do you dig for samples? How often do you go looking, how many do you use in an average track?
All over the place, my favourite sounds tend to be from Old Hip Hop collections which I play around with but 90% of the time it will end up completely different to the original sample. I also take random sounds from my surroundings to make my own samples which is probably one of my favourite things to do.
My drum’s tend to take inspiration from garage, my synths and atmospheric sounds are from my liquid drum & bass background and I try to incorporate that into house melodies, tempo and layout.
Have you got any formal music training? There are some nice chords and melodies on these new jams – did you play them yourself? Or would you like to one day if not?
Ive never had any formal music training all the work I do is done by ear and what I think sounds right. I self taught piano from online tutorials so I play all my chords and melodies. It’s my favourite part in the production process. I can spend hours playing around with synths and making melodies. In the future I would love to learn bass guitar.
These new jams are sunny and fun, is that a reflection of you as a DJ and you as a person?
I would say I have a pretty positive outlook on things and try not take stuff too seriously especially in music as it’s all about having fun and doing it with passion so I hope that’s reflected in my music. As a DJ my set’s tend to start off with me delving into the deeper, chunkier side of underground house but I like to bring the fun side out also as the set progresses.
What do you like to do away from music, how do you chill and spend your time?
Away from music I like record digging and keeping involved in the music scene up here aswell as trying to have as much fun as possible.
What else have you got coming up/are you looking forward to?
Right now I’m focusing on finishing off my next couple of EP’s which I’m really excited for people to hear. I also recently played down in London for RM Records label party which was class and there might be another later in the year to look forward to along with playing various sets up in Aberdeen over the next few months. Im also looking at starting a small vinyl only label releasing music I feel passionate about.
Hudson’s latest Both Ways EP is out now on RM Records, pick up a copy here.
