Axel Boy
Bun Up 'N' Tun Up
At the end of each year, artists and their teams look to not only bring things to a close, but get ready for the next year. One artist who is doing that in a huge way is Axel Boy. 2016 has been a wild year for the Bristol beatmaker who has seen releases on labels like Buygore, Kannibalen Records, Elysian Records and Never Say Die.
Through all this, the people over at Slvyvll had their eyes on him, eventually taking him on board their management roster. Now, things are looking better than ever for one of bass music’s finest gems. To celebrate this, Axel Boy has released two free downloads in the past two weeks, with the most recent being a return to dubstep in “Bun Up N Tun Up.”
We had the pleasure of having a quick chat with Axel Boy to give us a recap of his 2016, as well as give us some insight on what’s to come. Stream the single, read the interview; most of all, enjoy.
TMN: Looking back, how has 2016 been for the Axel Boy project?
AB: 2016 has been very progressive and productive! The beginning of the year saw my first tour of Australia which was life-changing, it really set me up with a ton of motivation to enter into the year with. I’ve really worked on my craft over the last year, wrote a load of music and learnt a lot about myself and the music I enjoy making! I played my biggest show to date in Paris in October which was an unbelievable experience. And of course I’ve linked up with SLVYVLL which is the real landmark of the year, I really feel a sense of optimism now I’m part of the team! Besides Axel Boy I also managed to graduate at University, so it was an excellent feeling to accomplish that alongside working on my own music project.
TMN: You recently got involved with the Slvyvll team, how did you get connected up with them?
AB: I met Steven and Christina back in 2015 when I spent a few weeks in LA. My previous manager Daniel helped me A LOT in taking my first steps towards cementing myself in the industry, credit to him, he helped me make some vital connections & SLVYVLL was one of them! He moved on in his own career and lead me to begin working with the SLVYVLL team. It was a natural progression for both off us, I couldn’t be happier with how things have worked out!
TMN: Can you tell us a little about your most recent release, “Bun Up N Tun Up” that you just dropped?
I was working on various styles of music before my show at ANIMALZ in Paris & I decided it was time to make some fresh dubstep to play. So I worked on some VIPS of other tracks and also decided to write a dubstep original. I wanted to push myself in creating some really fresh sound timbres which I haven’t necessarily heard so much before. I kind of went down a metallic route for the sound design in this track which is fairly obvious, so using Serum I tried to push the boundaries of the sounds I can come up with.
I wanted to capture a few different vibes in this track. One was a very trappy, hip-hop influenced theme which is very obvious in the structure, beat & lead melodies! And the other was a more Halloween & sinister vibe which comes across best in the chords and their progressions! I then proceeded to record and process vocals to put the cherry on the cake! The lyrics just came straight to mind during the production process which in turn helped me christen the track ‘Bun Up ‘N’ Tun Up’. I must say I absolutely love it when a track name comes to mind during the production process, it just makes everything feel so right!
TMN: In 2016, you released a ton of originals with only a few remixes including an official one for Black Tiger Sex Machine. Do you want to keep up focusing on original work next year?
AB: Original work is the number one priority for me. So you guys can expect a lot more of that, I have lots of originals lined up and ready to go. But I think early next year I will be more than happy to start releasing more remixes and collaborations, working with others can really help breathe new light into my inspiration for writing!
TMN: What can fans expect from you in the upcoming months?
AB: I’m going to continue dropping originals of all different styles! I have some singer-songwriter/future stuff on the way, some house/breaks hybrids & of course some more dubstep to come. There is also a big announcement around the corner that I think the fans will be pleased to hear, so stay tuned for that! 2017 is definitely going to be the biggest year for me yet.
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