Boston has been on somewhat of a hiatus from drum & bass but he’s back with a new release called ‘After Dark EP’ on Dispatch Limited.
Having released quality music (Panoramic EP, Go With Me ft Solis, For Grace) on drum & bass heavy weight Symmetry and a collaboration with label boss’s Break & Kyo for the ’10 Years of Symmetry’ LP, Boston is renowned for quality drum & bass with a musical edge. With support from LTJ Bukem, Ant TC1, Lenzman and Friction to name a few, Boston was becoming a big player in the scene but then it all went a bit quiet for almost a year in terms of new material.
We managed to get some time with him and find out what he has been up to until now.
A run down ow his new ‘After Dark’EP on Dispatch LTD will be up on In-Reach Soon.
Hello Jack, how’s things?
Yes Strobe! All good man, yourself?
I’m all good, just been a real busy few weeks, but thanks for taking time out to talk to us at In-Reach, we have been looking forward to this for sometime!
So its been a little time since your last release, what have you been up to?
Yeah it really has! A lot has happened since last Summer. I was completing my masters up until the end of the year, which really took up all my time, and straight off the back of that I headed out to New Zealand to do a cycle tour of the country for 3 months. Also since I’ve been back I’ve started training to work in-house at Rockfield Recording studio. Right now I am more heavily invested in music that ever, but unfortunately drum & bass has definitely taken a back seat.
You have been very very busy, I’m not surprised that drum & bass took a back seat. Seems that you have had a jam-packed year!
How did the final part of your Masters in Music Engineering and Production go? Many sleepless nights I should imagine?
Yeah for sure! Feels good to be moving forward to where I want to be in this industry. The degree was intense as I chose to record an album of various artists and genres. A lot of people management and many many hours of recording and mixing. Invaluable experience though and made some great friends along the way.
How was the cycle tour of New Zealand? That must have been an amazing experience, I myself love getting away from the hustle and bustle of the city, so can only imagine how that was.
Couldn’t recommend that country enough!! The people, the scenery, the vibe
Seeing it all on a bike and living in a tent for 3 months was a great way to get back to basics.
We covered about 2,500 Km and climbed over 17Km over the whole trip! I got so fit but i’ve since lost it all to beer.
It must have felt to get away from the intensity of studying and city life, I guess it felt like a big reset for your mind.
I think you have deserved a bit of beer after that.
Absolutely, it was hard being away from music for so long, but I felt genuinely inspired every day by what I was seeing and achieving. I came back refreshed and wrote a lot of new music. The new EP is a small part of that collection.
Yes, your new EP, but before we get onto that lets have a quick refresher on your past releases if you don’t mind? Your breakthrough track on Symmetry with Solis was a strong release and I for one played it constantly on my radio show. ‘Go With Me’ just fitted in with anything that was playing, be it dance floor, tech, a roller and stuff on a liquid vibe, it just had that certain something about it.
Must have been a proud moment to have got it signed on Symmetry?
Yeah it really was. Back then I was really in to anything by Charlie (Break) and still am for that matter. For me, he’s the best in the business on so many levels. I met him at a Digital Labz seminar and was really stoked to just get some tips off him. Getting an email from Isha (Kyo) a few weeks later about signing my music was something else.
I think I was 20 and I just couldn’t believe what I was reading, to be signed by someone I look up to was insane.
I share your sentiment regarding Break; for me he’s one of the best out there. It must have been so surreal to get one of the producers you looked up to, to sign one of your first tracks. Must have been one of those moments where you were slapping yourself wondering if it was real or not?
Yeah It really was, even better was getting to know him and seeing that this guy I’d always looked up to was a super chilled and a really amazing person.
Charlie and Isha are two of the most welcoming and giving people I know, aside from the fact that they’re both insanely talented
Yes the chats over email with Isha have been more than welcoming (Big shout out to you!)
So let’s fast forward to the here and now and talk about your return: you now have your ‘comeback’ EP signed to Dispatch. How did that one come about and how long was it in the works?
I had a few harder tracks that seemed to sit well together and I was thinking where to send them. I’ve got big respect for the Dispatch family and sound, so thought I’d give it a go and send it over to them.
To my surprise, Ant got back pretty quickly and suggested an EP for Dispatch LTD.
Ant and Alex definitely have a good ear for quality, hehe, so not a bad label to send your harder stuff too. Did you enjoy making something a tad different to what you were used too?
It was about a year of finishing, mixing, artwork and mastering.
The EP was great fun to make! There’s a lot of scope for experimentation and cool sound design with the techy stuff, although I must say I prefer making the musical side of dnb.
Have you got more planned with the Dispatch camp?
Nothing right now, I want to keep releases as relaxed as possible because a lot of my time is spent at the recording studio making other people’s records!
Is there anywhere people can see you djing out and about?
I’ll be playing at a warehouse rave, an EP launch in Cardiff, Undertone on the 24th…and a Boat party next year…but generally No! One for the promoters, hit me up! I’ll bring all the vibes and I’m very low maintenance, haha!
Need to get you to play down in London! Promoters if you are reading this… book this guy!
Haha Bigups Strobe! You tell them!!
Well thanks for your time today, was a pleasure to catch up with you, and we are all looking forward to hearing more new material from you!
Real pleasure too man, just want to say Bigups to everyone feeling the music and supporting. I’ve got a lot of new music and some exciting projects with some great names! Back to my old musical self!
You can grab a copy of Boston’s ‘After Dark’ EP on Dispatch from here!
