Q&A w/ Rame and StormGG from Reloaded Sounds on the new compilation: Reload Specialists
A compilation celebrating the umbrella of bass music, fetching far and wide for that dingy funky aesthetic that rattles your core and inner being. Reloaded Sounds pride themselves with their approach to diversity in bass music. Spinning off from the Nottingham-based 140 focused night, Reloaded Events, the releases on the label replicate the events in terms of spanning each and every corner of bass and electronic music.
With nightlife culture slowly being faded out of society as a result of COVID-19 restrictions, the need for community spirit and a desire to keep the fire burning is more apparent than ever. Reloaded Sounds keep on bringing the goods with innovative and boogie-ridden tracks on a regular basis, so Matt Knight caught up with Rame and StormGG from the managerial team, about the most recent compilation release, Reload Specialists.
Tell us about the compilation, what sounds and vibes have come out of it?
Rame: When I thought of the idea for a compilation, I set myself a target of involving 16 different producers. I stepped out of my usual knowledgable comfort zone of grime, funky and 140 and said to myself that I want as many different genres (eight in total) under the electronic spectrum. Regarding vibes, my personal quotation for the compilation is 'music of a specialist nature meant for the dance-floor in a rave with reload tendencies'. This explains the meaning behind the title 'Reload Specialists'.
What promoted the idea of a compilation release?
StormGG: I think personally the reason we thought of the compilation was to pinpoint a milestone for us as a label. We’ve released so many EPs and single tracks so it’s definitely showing everyone how far we’ve come. Also as we're a non-profit label, it's great to be able to give fans a 16 track compilation to use as they please for nothing.
The compilation demonstrates a wide range of bass music styles, did this come as a natural process or was it more premeditated?
StormGG: I think this has come naturally you know, seeing as everyone on the label makes different kinds of music and enjoys various genres.
We never really set out and said, 'okay we want X amount of this genre and then this etc', so it's definitely a natural process for us. We just love releasing different music all the time, and some people might see that as a struggle for the label as it's harder to pinpoint a select fanbase but it's just how we work, especially because there’s so much unheard music across the spectrum that's so good.
Who or what are you most gassed about?
StormGG: If I’m being honest I can’t choose one select track/producer. Once you’ve listened you’ll understand! Every single track is unreal and it makes us that much more excited to drop it.
With 2020 putting a harsh strain on music businesses and crews, has it affected releases with the label?
Rame: As you, myself and everybody else knows, 2020 has been a very difficult year. I personally feel like we've helped a lot of the producers and also our family (I don't like the word fans) with the music we've been releasing. We have the best interests at heart with everyone we work with, network with and speak to on a general basis. Communication and responsibility within Reloaded Sounds is important and these are the key reasons to why we've been able to have a successful first year as a label.
What artists should people be looking out for?
Rame: The producers apart of Reloaded Sounds (SDLR, 8Bar and Kronzy), everyone involved with the compilation (Fork and Knife, Shinobi Yurei, Archetype, M-Loc, Eone, Dunman, Aranha, Delta, Prof. Oak, IYZ, Sempra, SPD and Majoriti). Then the likes of Korda, Billund, Mincy, Blottarz, Obani, flmngo, Qwirk, Solomon Eves, Kitson, Tribal Dubs, RDubz, S3 Dubs, Nothingnice, Z-Kat, Kontent, Brownson, Sheik, Panix, Ravver, Mungk, Owlybeats, Sterlo, Sensi, Whudi and Hundo.
Why is diversity in music important?
StormGG: That's actually a really good question. I think it depends on how you look at it, if there was no diversity in the people within music there is no music to be listened to! Literally all the genres we release stem from black music so we always have to pay homage to them in that sense, it's been a huge talking point this year with the BLM movement so it's great that that's happened to shed light on how important diversity is throughout life, not just music. If you’re looking at it from a genre point of view, if there was no diversity I think genres would stagnate in the way they evolve. It's crazy how many sub genres stem from one single genre and I think it's amazing how the bar just keeps getting higher and higher from producers across the UK and the world. So you could say, I think diversity is pretty important.
Anything else in the pipelines for Reloaded Sounds?
Rame: We are constantly discovering new producers to work with and our release schedule currently stretches into next year. 2021 will be another exciting year for us at Reloaded Sounds and we already have plans to work on genre based EPs, more free downloads for the masses and our first full international project which you heard here first.
Reload Specialists is available to stream on Soundcloud and downloadable via Bandcamp for free.
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/reloadedsounds/sets/reload-specialists-va001
Matt Knight
October 28th 2020