‘War on Silence’ was the album from Crissy Criss which stood as one of his biggest career highlights to date. After spending decades behind the decks and starting his journey at the renowned pirate radio stations which engineered the foundations of drum & bass, he’s since gone on to pave his own path, one which has seen him jump out into the mainstream through his own streamlined productions. Released in 2019 and through its own self-titled imprint, 'War on Silence' continued to set standards for the producer, something which has since gone on to write his name in the genre’s annals. Whether that was started through hosting his own BBC Radio 1 show or his skills behind the decks, it was through his own records he's been doing damage across the world.
What followed in the LP's wake was a phenomenal remixes project. Bringing on board a variety of names from across the drum & bass genre, as well as even further afield, they had their take on an already incredible selection of tracks. This is something which has continued into 2021 with the launch of new reworks which will take the album through into the New Year. Stepping up to the plate first is duo S9 for ‘Need You Now’. Whilst the original featured an emotional underpinning but more rambunctious sub bass, S9 takes it even deeper through their expert sonics. Frequent faces on labels such as Titan and Device Records, they’re a welcome addition to the War on Silence family.
Following suit is Defectiøn, who pushes ‘Need You Now’ into a totally different dimension. Slowing down the tempo and giving it a 2-step beat, Defectiøn provides the perfect flipside to S9’s offering. It highlights how Crissy has his eyes and ears across a variety of sounds, which has helped him create his own eclectic style. And this will be demonstrated again and again as the ‘War on Silence’ remixes continue their course into 2022.
We caught up with Lewis from S9 for a breif chat about all things S9!
Tell us about the name S9! Whats the meaning behind it?
Unfortunately for those expecting a deeper meaning, behind the name, it comes
from my birth month - September, which is ofcourse the 9th month of the year. I was unsure on the name until I was gifted a personal car reg plate which read S9 LCN. LCN being my initials. Obviously I had to keep the name S9 as it was included on the plate, which I took it as I sign or good omen.
Let's take it back to the start, how and when did you discover D&B?
Dnb first entered our lives via Andy C, aswell as AMC, having lived in the same area and gone to the same school as him. We have been good friends for many years now, especially as his younger brother who is the same age as us is also a close friend to us. The step from a music lover / raver / DJ to being the producer is massive and requires a lot of trial and error, how did you get in to production, who were your inspirations to get into production? My first experience with making music on computers was via Magix Music Maker, back when I was in primary school. Through high school I messed with garageband and FL studio, before eventually buying Logic Pro 9 back when it came in a box with about 10 installation cd's! The first tracks I ever finished were instrumental beats for my friends in school who would record raps to them. From there I started making all kinds of genre's, R&B, Hiphop, Grime, House, Dubstep, although I took a particular interest in Trance - I loved the euphoric chord progressions and epic buildups. In my college years I first spoke with AMC who liked what I was making, but ofcourse he was looking for some drum & bass tracks. My first demo for him was called 'Underworld' - lost forever now, but it lead me to producing No More Games which was actually signed to Drum & Bass Arena, and then Push It & Retrospect which were my first ever releases on his label Titan Records. No judgement Quick fire!, you get 3 life lines to use on 3 questions that are impossible to answer, ready? Go!
Day | OR | Night | ​ |
CDJ's | OR | Technic 1210's | ​ |
Fabio | OR | Grooverider | ​ |
Serum | OR | Massive | ​ |
Wilkinson | OR | Sub Focus | Worship? |
Ram Records | OR | Hospital Records | ​ |
OR | TikTok | ​ | |
OR | Neither | ||
Critical Music | OR | Shogun Audio | ​ |
Pizza | OR | Pasta | ​ |
Tea | OR | Coffee | Sami is deffo Tea |
Crissy Criss | OR | Kenny Ken | ​ |
Chinese Takeaway | OR | Indian Takeaway | Love a ruby! |
Sweet | OR | Sour | ​ |
Game Of Thrones | OR | Breaking Bad | Watched neither really but G.O.T |
174 | OR | 175 | 180 |
V Recordings | OR | Full Cycle | ​ |
Rum | OR | Vodka | ​ |
Nandos | OR | KFC | ​ |
Ferrari | OR | Lamborghini | In red only! |
Playstation | OR | XBox | But got love for the XBox 360 |
Plane | OR | Train | Unless its 1st class on a plane (legroom) |
Cats | OR | Dogs | ​ |
Thanks S9! (Lewis)
'Need You Now' Remixes are available to stream and download exclusive to Spotify & Beatport until 6th May: https://wos.ffm.to/needyounowremixes
Comments