Q&A – Pennygiles

If you’re a fan of the deeper side of D&B then chances are you’ll have come across Pennygiles by now. The Welsh producer has built up an impressive catalogue of liquid rollers over the past few years, gracing the likes of Rubik, Demand, IM:LTD and Fokuz with his emotional styles.

Pennygiles’ latest 12″ for Tempo Records is due to drop very shortly, so we got in touch for a quick chinwag about the inspiration behind the tunes, collaborating with Ed:it and his use of natural breaks.

DNB Dojo: Hi Stuart! Thanks for taking the time to chat. How are you today mate?

Pennygiles: Hey guys, good thanks! Just getting ready for work…party on.

DD: So you’ve got three new tracks coming out on Fusion’s Tempo Records imprint. How did the hook up come about there?

P: Initially Frodo had messaged me online regarding some of his releases he had for the label so I was happy to listen to them, then pretty much like most label relationships go he asked if I was interested in sending him some ideas and then we came to the conclusion of a release. The release itself has been in the works for nearly a year, so I’m happy that it’s finally coming out.

DD: Let’s talk about Looking In, your collab with Ed:it. I love the percussion on this, some unusual sounds behind the main kick/snare. Did Ed:it contribute to the tune having a slightly heavier sound than your usual material?

P: Sure, yeah Ed:it is a very precise musician when it comes to things like bass and percussion. Ed had a lot to contribute to the collab. I’d had an idea floating about on Ableton for a while, it wasn’t the greatest idea but the music and sample seemed to be really catchy. This usually happens when me and Ed work together, he’s the skilled tradesman behind a lot of our stuff but I tend to be the one who can get those catchy unique sounds.

DD: The tracks on the EP all have a fairly natural sound to them, particularly in the drums. Did you lean on sampled breaks for the tracks, or did you arrange the beats from single hits?

P: I always tend to go for some kind of naturally played break or even something sampled and recorded organically, I tend to work better like that as I find it hard to hear the final product with just single hits….probably just impatience!

DD: The titles seem quite reflective, even introspective. Can you tell us a bit about the inspiration behind the tunes?

P: It definitely encapsulated what was going on at the time the tracks were being made. I tend to make tracks without much of a thought process, I usually just go into the studio and work on sounds I’ve accumulated over the past few weeks, then after making them I realise what they meant to me. Its a funny one for sure.

DD: Last but not least, any releases or gigs you wanna tell people about?

P: Release wise its looking to be a busy year, with the Tempo one, then an EP on Integral. After that there are a few more which hopefully I can talk about sooner rather than later. Also watch out for the Set Theory remix! Thanks for the interview guys, really appreciated! 🙂


You can check out clips of Pennygiles new release for Tempo below – head over to their website to pre-order a copy and watch out for it dropping early June.

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