The Prototypes: Finding Their Sound And Rolling With The Times

Since storming onto the drum and bass scene in 2010 with their debut single ‘Cascade’ on Infrared in 2010, The Prototypes have gone from strength to strength. Now, with their own label Get Hype Records and more creative control than ever before, the dynamic duo of Nick White and Chris Garvey prepare to push their larger-than-life sound to even bigger extremes. We sat down with Nick to chat about the duo’s developing sound, all things Get Hype and what to expect from both this year.
Nick and Chris both broke into the music scene from an early age through promoting events around their home city of Brighton. After joining forces some years later, the pair brought out dance-floor ragers such as ‘Cascade’ and ‘Work It’, the latter earning them early support from the legendary Roni Size. With both Nick and Chris bringing an array of influences to the table, the pair’s individual productions initially differed in style. Nick explains: “Chris was making hard, techy, Renegade Hardware sounding drum and bass, and I was more into dancefloor, like Sub Focus and TC, that kind of style.”
Today, the pair are renowned for seismic synths and pulse-raising basslines. The impact of the music is intentional: “We go in with the approach that we want our tunes to be tracks we can send to Andy C and he’ll intro his sets with it immediately. That’s always been our ethos.”
“It takes a while to find your sound but I think we’ve got it now.” Nick continues. “If you listen to ‘Electric’, ‘Levels’ or ‘Pop It Off’, that’s us. That’s our sound.”
Having played floor-shaking sets all over the world throughout the year, picking a 2017 highlight could understandably prove a challenge. However, Nick settles on Get Hype’s debut Fabric event: “It’s like a dream come true for us really,” He explains. “Especially as our label has only been around for a year.”

Despite being a relatively new label, Get Hype has already released a slew of successful tracks including Blade Runner’s massive dance-floor hit ‘Jungle Jungle’. The label shows no sign of slowing down in 2018, with more and artists eager to join the burgeoning roster: “Fitting everyone in is difficult at the moment because they’re sending us so much good music,” Says Nick. “But it’s a good headache to have.”
With the pair set to share the Drum&Bass Arena stage at Shockout Festival’s debut event in Feburary with some of the biggest names in the scene, Nick shares his excitement: “It’s gonna be sick!” he exclaims. “I know Skibba, Harry Shotta and that really well – we’ve worked together a lot. One thing for sure is that it’ll be packed because every time we’ve done a gig together it’s just rammed. It’s going to be crazy; Drum&Bass Arena stuff always smashes it.”
Despite their busy schedule, the pair won’t be taking a break any time soon. “I’d like to have the album done by the end of next year,” Nick shares. “I think that’s the main goal for us really. We’ve got a couple of singles lined up, but we’re good, we’re not really in a rush – we’re just letting things happen. We have a lot of gigs going on and there’s a lot of good music around so we’re just like rolling with it.”
 
For more info about Shockout Festival visit http://www.hospitalitydnb.com/2018/02/shockout-2018/