“I played an amazing show in Brussels last weekend alongside the legendary Dillinja and your very own ShockOne – the place was going off until breakfast time,” Tom Mundell begins, in between sneaking coffee sips in his kitchen in his London flat on a sunny morning. It’s becoming the norm for the UK up and coming producer who’s fast becoming one of the most talked about names in drum’n’bass. When Mundell released the soulful tune Your World back in 2007, it caught the attention of the big shots – London Elektricity, DJ Fresh and Pendulum amongst others. Then Brendan Collins, aka DJ and producer Futurebound and owner of Viper Recordings, contacted Mundell and signed him to his Liverpool drum’n’bass imprint.
Since then, it’s been a whirlwind of journey for the young producer. “Working with Viper has been a great experience from day one really,” he says. “Brendan [Collins] has a lot of positive personal input in the music and works tirelessly as a label manager and mentor. The output is very eclectic too so I need not worry about what style I put out as I can afford to be diverse. It’s always been my intention from day one to represent a wide variety of sounds and the label have been very supportive of this. It’s been a blast.”
Mundell released Between Worlds, his follow EP to The Departure EP, last year. Continuing his love for space and sci-fi themes, Between Worlds even contains a remix of The Departure EP’s T-1000 entitled T-2000 and American singer Kathy Brown makes an appearance on I See You. “I’ve always been a big fan of the sci-fi genre in general, particularly classic films like Bladerunner, Escape From New York, Alien and TV shows such as Fringe, Lost, etc,” he explains. “I’m a sucker for next level scientific concepts and ‘out-there’ theories. [It] seemed to make total sense to give the EPs a sci-fi theme as it felt a very natural part of my creative vision. The track Between Worlds is actually based on the idea of travelling between parallel universes – no influence from Fringe there at all!” he laughs.
Between Worlds is also Mundell’s first track in which he attempted dubstep and since the tune’s release, he’s produced a number of dubstep tracks. “I massively enjoyed writing Between Worlds,” he says. “I’d been writing so much at 174bpm that it was really refreshing to take it down in tempo and apply my knowledge and ethic of drum’n’bass to dubstep. I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the reaction I’ve had so I definitely feel confident making it. I think it’s important to create music that you love making regardless of genre – if other people love it too – great!”
Having worked with Perth’s very own ShockOne on True Believer, Mundell says he’s currently collaborating with ShockOne again and working with female vocalist Sophia Dorval. “I have recently finished a remix for John B which will be released on the special edition of his album in the next month,” he says. “I have also remixed a track by BCee for Spearhead Records, a label I massively admire and this is due to drop in September. Also, look out for my remix of Kali’s Queen Of Hearts.” Having recently appeared on the Drum & Bass Summer Slammers 2011 record from Viper, Mundell is working on his next body tracks to be released as a new EP and forthcoming singles and says an album could then be in the works for a potential release early next year. “I’m actually sitting on a whole heap of stuff I’m very excited to test out for the first time in Australia,” he says.
Having last played down under at a sold-out gig at Shape alongside ShockOne and Phetsta in celebration of the release of his The Departure EP early last year, Mundell is pumped to be heading back down under for Viper. “I know that from playing in Perth last year I can expect amazing vibes, open mindedness and a friendly atmosphere,” he says. “I felt very welcome in Perth and the show didn’t disappoint – drum’n’bass is very strong there. I look forward to an even better time at Villa this time round!”
And this time round, Mundell says fans can expect a decent load of drum’n’bass. “I try to represent only the best in current electronic club music, predominantly drum’n’bass but with also some other genres in there too,” he says. “I see my sets as a representation of me musically so you can expect to hear a lot of my own released and unreleased material as well as tracks that I love with the odd classic thrown in. I showcase many different styles but the common theme across them all is high energy, big sounds and good vibes.”
After hitting our shores, Mundell is off to Springtime Festival in Belgium before heading to France, Germany, Portugal and Canada for various festivals and club tours. But, for now, it’s all about his upcoming Between Worlds Tour down under. “This time in Australia I will explore more of the cities, beaches and culture – I absolutely love the place!”
BY ANNABLE MACLEAN
