Five Things with Hamilton

My dad plays the piano to a high level and my brother played guitar, so I guess I was around music from an early age. I went on to learn guitar too, which I’m OK at, and can play some keyboards too, but only just about! There was always music playing in my house.

2. Inspirations

The album that really helped to cement my love for electronic music was The Prodigy’s Experience, released in 1992. A friend of mine knew the Prodigy guys and got an advance copy on a cassette, and this was on repeat for a long time, believe me!

3. Your Crew

I’ve never had a job as I went straight into music from school and knowing all the hours I work, I’m amazed any artists manage to fit a full-time job in too, so respect to them! I was fortunate to know a couple of crews that helped along the way. Firstly the Pulse FM crew, which was a massive pirate station in London in the ’90s, and a bit later on the Kniteforce crew, which went on to be the first label I was signed to in 1994. I’m still friends with them all 20-plus years later.

4. The Music You Make And Play

I love all the styles of drum and bass, so I tend to play [that] most in my sets and make a few different styles in the studio too. When playing out I like to try and use two or three tracks at a time that work very well together to try and create something a little different. I’ve been asked quite a few times, “What was the remix of xxx track you played?” and I’m like, “It’s not a remix, just a double drop!”

5. Music, Right Here, Right Now

I guess the main obstacle any musician faces right now is the lack of an ability to earn a fair living from music alone, having to rely on live performance with the net result being a fairly crowded marketplace. However, if everybody supports their favourite artists’ releases by buying their music, this would be less of a problem. But it’s hard to compete with free. I really hope things improve in the future.