DJ Harp from SPECOPS Music has taken my tune Chronicles, and set the bar really high with a twisted techno remix.

I’ve never been remixed by anyone else before, so this was a pretty new experience for me to hear something of mine mashed up so deftly. My heart really was in my mouth just before I hit play for the first time, but this remix has been on repeat for the last few days now and I still can’t get over how much I love it!

Mahooooosive respect to DJ Harp for his banging tune, and I look forward to hearing the remixes from the other folks who have got in on this “part two” of my album.

There really isn’t long to go now! I’m very excited about it… are you!?

There’s also some exciting news about a second disc of remixes, which a few fellow dubstep heads are currently working on for me. I haven’t heard anything from any of them yet, but I absolutely can’t wait to hear what they’ve done to my tracks! Watch this space, and all will be revealed very soon!

Now, onto something a bit different for this blog. Those who know me in real life know that I have some pretty strong views on politics – however, I’ve so far avoided talking about it here. But the following issue is something which, if it comes to pass, will have far reaching effects on the activities of anyone using the Internet in the UK.

Which is pretty much everyone these days, isn’t it!?

If you haven’t heard of The Digital Economy Bill, it’s some new legislation which is being rushed through parliament at the moment with far less “debate” than usual, and which, if passed in it’s current form, will allow the British state to disconnect you from the Internet, secretly filter the web and block certain websites, and could well spell the death of open wifi connections. Basically, it’s nothing short of allowing the state to censor the Internet – which is hardly something you’d expect in a so-called “free” country. (Of course, if you think Britain is in any way “a free country”, you are sorely mistaken, but we’ll save that one for another day.)

It’s not often I’d advocate writing to your MP (I tend to regard all politicians in the same poor light), but in this instance, I really hope some of you might want to spend a couple of minutes sending an email via this link. The Guardian has a pretty good round-up of the Bill, and there’s also some more info at the Open Rights Group.

I was going to adjust the pre-written template letter for my own purposes, but actually ended up spending an hour and a bit writing the following email, and coming at the whole thing from perhaps somewhat of a different angle to the current opposition – thinking about the ramifications of this Bill from my own perspective as an independent musician.

I’m sure it’s perhaps a bit long and waffly, but do feel free to infringe my copyright and borrow anything you want from it in order to make your point. Here’s my email:

Dear Mark Williams MP,

I’m sure by now you’ve probably heard of the Digital Economy Bill – a controversial new Bill that is being rushed through without a full Parliamentary debate. I would hope that being a Lib Dem, you are probably already opposed to that kind of thing – both the undemocratic rushing, and much of the draconian contents of the Bill too.

Industry experts, internet service providers (like Talk Talk and BT) and huge internet companies like Google and Yahoo are all opposing the bill – yet the Government seems intent on forcing it through.

But just in case you haven’t already received a thousand emails about this, and need a little more convincing, I thought I would write.

My position is perhaps a somewhat interesting one in all of this: I am a web designer by trade, and I am also a semi-professional musician. This bill is likely to have far-reaching consequences for me, even if I don’t ever fall foul of anything it contains.

If I ever DID fall foul of it, the government could likely end both of my careers in one fell swoop. This is because the Bill will allow the government (or perhaps far more likely, “The Music Industry” via the government) to disconnect people it even SUSPECTS of copyright infringement.

According to a recent leaked memo, “The Music Industry” is reported to be fully behind this Bill, and very keen to see it rushed through.

I beg to differ! The so-called “Music Industry” is little more than a cartel of extremely powerful multinational marketing companies, who have had a stranglehold on the music we can and can’t hear for decades.

There are undoubtedly hundreds of thousands of small-time musicians such as myself – who have been playing in bands for years, writing and producing music and being actively involved in the cultural arts which still make the UK stand out at this moment in time – who never get so much as a look-in from “The Music Industry”. In fact, I know several hundred such people myself – maybe you even know a few? (We’re not very hard to find!)

Regardless of one’s taste in music, it is undeniable that “The Music Industry” is driven by marketing and profits alone. That is why, right now, thousands of talented, dedicated musicians and producers such as myself, are denied a living wage from our art.

Those of us who are making music which is not considered “mainstream marketable” have been unable to make a living from our music for decades already – precisely because “The Music Industry” has such a massive amount of control over everything, and is first and foremost in the business of making money for a handful of wealthy businessmen.

Unless you are in bed with them, it’s virtually impossible to make enough money doing this to put food on the table – however good you are, and however hard you work! Abuses of musicians by the powerful forces of “The Music Industry” have been occurring for decades, and are well documented. Deliberate creation of massive debts from musicians to record labels is just one of the many tactics that the big labels are only too happy to use to keep musicians as little more than wage slaves.

(Legendary rock producer Steve Albini wrote an article in the 90s called “The Problem With Music”, detailing exactly the level of exploitation which was routine at that point, and still goes on to this day. It can be found online, and is very enlightening reading if you happen to be interested!)

Luckily, thanks to the Internet, the tables are turning – unstoppably so, in fact!

It is now relatively easy for people like me to develop an online fanbase, and to get our music heard by a much wider audience, without having to bow down to the mobsters in control of the distribution channels, the marketing and the money.

In fact, my music career has never been better! In a month or so, I’m about to release my first solo album though a small independent record label – a democratically operated collective, as it happens – and it will almost certainly get picked up by a couple of thousand people in the UK, and perhaps a few more around the world.

If I am lucky, I may just about receive enough income from this to do something really exciting, like pay off a chunk of my (reasonably small, but crippling nonetheless) overdraft. If it goes exceptionally well and gets good reviews, the 20 or so of us in our collective may be one step closer to being able to support ourselves, doing what we do best: making original music!

If you will, just imagine for a moment the possibility of 20 young, creative people being able to support themselves doing something they love, operating a fully democratic company for the benefit of all involved. That sounds like the kind of thing my dreams are made of! That sounds like the kind of democratic digital economy we ought to be heading towards – and there’s no reason it couldn’t become a reality. We just need to create the circumstances for it to happen.

Whatever “The Music Industry” say, there is definitely a market for the work of people like myself – although those of us who write music do it out of love more than anything else, because it’s impossible for us to ignore such a primal urge to be creative. That is perhaps why we’re such easy targets for exploitation, and why those currently in control will do anything to stop us from being able to operate without them. (Never mind that the horse has already bolted – they’re still trying to close the stable door!)

Where am I heading with all this, you may be asking?

There are a multitude of reasons why “The Music Industry” have seen huge dents in their profits over the last decade or so. They are only too happy to blame “online piracy”, but in fact the reality of the situation is far more complicated than that.

Nowadays, it’s generally not possible for most musicians (even those on major record labels) to to make a living from selling albums. The way to making a living out of it is from touring, merchandise, and from developing a really good connection with your fans – directly, online, with no middle-men.

The major record labels are dinosaurs, whose outdated business model operates on the exploitative principles of scarcity and control. Neither of these ways of looking at things is applicable in the digital age.

Scarcity of product and the need for physical distribution is no longer very relevant. It costs peanuts for me to sell my MP3s online, and I can single-handedly achieve worldwide distribution in a matter of minutes.

Control of the distribution channels was blown open by the Internet, and yet “The Music Industry” refused to embrace it early while they had the chance.

Clearly, people will pay 99p to download a piece of music – hence the success of things like Apple iTunes – even when those same pieces of music can be found for free elsewhere. But it took Napster (an early file sharing system) and years of litigation nightmares before “The Music Industry” was forced to alter it’s business model.

They simply dug their heels in all the way, and used their massive amounts of clout to close down innovative competitors and scare consumers, in order to preserve the status quo.

“The Music Industry” do not have anybody’s best interests at heart – not least musicians or fans of music, certainly not British culture, and probably not even the British economy. They are simply interested in propping up their failed business model and ensuring their own control, for as long as it is possible to do so, using any means necessary, and with no regard for any of the cultural damage they will do in the process.

With this Digital Economy Bill, it will be considerably easier for them to do just that. If so inclined, they could disconnect (and thus disempower) someone like myself very easily – and there is every reason to suspect that this is exactly what will happen, if this bill is allowed to go through.

It is undemocratic, draconian and not in the best interests of the people of Britain.

Therefore, as a constituent, I would ask you to strongly oppose this bill, ensure proper debate over it, and do your part to help secure a real Digital Economy for Britain – one in which individuals and collectives may freely make a living for themselves, without having to succumb to the whims of an existing business cartel. Please don’t allow them to steamroller over our rights, in their battle against a truly democratic DIY music culture.

Some industries have just had their day, and either need to adapt, or be allowed to fail. “The Music Industry” as it currently stands is no exception – we musicians will be a lot better off without it, and will gladly create something far more exciting to replace it.

Many thanks for your time.

Yours sincerely,

David Silvester

So go on! Email your MP and let them know just how much you think this Digital Economy Bill stinks!

Update: My letter got quoted in full over at the Pirate Party UK blog. I’m not affiliated with them in any way, but I’m on one of the same discussion lists as Andy who founded the party, and he asked me if they could quote my letter. I’ve just read their manifesto though, and it all seems eminently sensible to me! So, hello to anybody who has found their way here via The Pirate Party website! Yarr!

Everything has gone a bit hectic here – we’re moving house in a few weeks, and our little one has just this week started crawling!

Anyway, here’s the first new tune in a few months. This one has been in the works for some time (delayed by house move stuff, mostly), and is intended to form part of my upcoming release on Echodub, due out sometime in the Autumn.

I guess “Laws Of Nature” is all about our own existence really – that many of us have come to see ourselves as somehow separate to “nature”, and that we think ideas like “conservation of nature” are the reserve of special interest groups, rather than about the preservation of that which literally allows us to live.

I’ve felt for a very long time now that we humans desperately need to recognise our place (and important role to play) within what we call “nature” and “ecosystems”. We are not outside of it – we belong to it as an integral part, and if we don’t take much better care of our home, we are basically finished.

I have a lot of faith that a radically different type of world is something we will, in time, manage to pull together and achieve – for the good of everybody. I hope I’ll be there to enjoy it, too!

Anyway, while watching a documentary about something-or-other, I found a great speech sample for this track, which happens to be bang in-line with my own philosophy on the matter – so that’s where the idea for this track came from.

As always, you can hear a full preview of it in the webplayer, on the Muteqx MySpace page, on Soundcloud, or you can download a medium quality MP3 for offline listening.

DJs, drop me an email if you’re interested in a 320 promo.

DubstepForum thread is here

Here’s some techy garage inspired dubstep tunes skillfully mixed by Arctic Balance, including my track “Snap In Time” out on Insectmind.

Download from Subnav.com here, and here’s the tracklist:

01. chas10 feat merijn – sundays
02. muteqx – snap in time
03. skream – one for the heads who remember
04. kuma – dawn stepped outside (horsepower mk7 mix)
05. uberdog & kyma – keyboard gum
06. jori hulkkonen – versus
07. sharamji feat maggie horn – break your heart
08. synkro – you don’t know
09. djg – apophenia
10. kode9 – 2 far gone
11. pangaea – mosaix
12. toasty – the knowledge (untold remix)
13. joker – digidesign
14. jus wan – affletic
15. shed – another wedged chicken (martyn remix)
16. jinx in dub – 10 tone riddim (phaeleh remix)

It’s good to appear alongside Phaeleh again (even if at opposite ends of the mix) – I’ve never heard anything from him that I didn’t like (a lot)!

Also loving the sounds from Pangaea as ever!

This is a really slick mix – big up Arctic Balance every time!

Track listing:

Intro
DFRNT – Raining In The Streets
Flying Lotus – Tea Leaf Dancers (Sines Remix)
Hackman – Rag
Hard Reset – Overstanding
Max Ulis – Malaise (Cure Remix)
Submerse – Smitten
Kwality – Bi Polar
Muteqx – Chronicles
Breakage – Dharma [Digital Soundboy]
TMSV -Sentinelese
Indigo – Matter [Echodub]
X-Zero – Fluteyfull
Coleco – Moonlight
Sines – Test Four [Echodub]
Frozenspace – Tree Hopper
Omyiga – Eftirsj
Outro

A new month, a new tune!

“My Psychosis” is another introspective deep roller, combining serious low end, synths on sedatives and a liberal smattering of dub tomfoolery. I think it sits alongside Chronicles pretty nicely.

As usual, you can hear a full preview of it in the webplayer, on the Muteqx MySpace page, or you can download a medium quality MP3 for offline listening.

Funny how things happen sometimes – I’ve been working on several other tunes for a few weeks, and then this one came along and was written from start to finish in just over a day. I guess I just can’t help myself when it comes to working on new ideas while they’re still fresh!

All that remains for me to say is a huge thanks to those who heard the preview mix and chipped in with their suggestions – big up Katy, Cogidubnus and DFRNT, all of you, for helping me polish this one off nicely.

DJs, drop me an email if you’re interested in a 320 promo.

DubstepForum thread is here

In fact, ironically, my favourite of his mixes so far doesn’t feature any of my tracks – check out the Voigt-Kampff mix here. No “aggro caveman step” for miles around – just deep tunes all the way through.

His latest “Wheels” mix features my “Chronicles” track. As I’ve come to expect by now from Cogidubnus, it’s a deep mix that takes you on a carefully planned journey through the mellower end of the dubstep spectrum. It’s well worth a download and listen from here.

Track listing:

Kaya Project – Hirajoshi
High Contrast – The Ghost of Jungle Past (Intro)
Subjazz – The Bigger the Woofer
16Bit – President of Europe
wAgAwAgA – Nagoya
FSTZ – Troostwood Blues
Orien – Broken Dreams
Joshua Black – Life
Silkie & Harry Craze – French Knickers
Mob Barley – Me I Am
Portishead – Western Eyes (The Widdler remix)
Tangka – Diamond Mine
Muteqx – Chronicles
Forensics – Exile (Phaeleh remix)
DLX – Matter of Fact (Breakage’s relatively speaking remix)
FSTZ – Tales of the I-Them
Synkro – Just to See Her
FBOM – Distance
Quantum Soul – Long Time (Ruckspin remix)
Liquid Stranger – Behind Your Ear
Boards of Canada – Constants are Changing
Future Sound of London – Newfoundland

I dunno… you wait two months for a new tune, and then two come at once!

“Chronicles” is my second tune finished this week. It’s a journey into the deeper side.

Updated Feb 3rd: You can now hear a full preview of it in the webplayer, on Soundcloud, on the Muteqx MySpace page, or you can download a medium quality MP3 for offline listening.

I hope you like it! Drop me an email if you are interested in a 320 promo.

DubstepForum thread is here

Update: The vocal sample in this track was sung by Katy Theodossiou, and is part of a sample pack by Digifish Music on The Freesound Project. Many thanks to them for the excellent vox!

Hey all, just a quick posting to say that my first track of 2009 is now finished!

“Dark Chocolate” is here to take you on a mellow 2-step tip, with tight drums interspersed between funky keys, soft pads and metallic technoid stabs.

Updated Feb 3rd: I decided I wasn’t totally happy with the mastering on this track, so re-did it today. You can now hear a full preview of it in the webplayer, on the Muteqx MySpace page, or you can download a medium quality MP3 for offline listening.

I think sometime soonish, this may well be part of my first release with the Echodub collective – who I’m just joining.

Maisy, our 20-week old daughter, sat on my lap for much of the writing and mixing of this track, so I thought it was time to introduce her! Ain’t she cute!

DubstepForum thread is here

With the upcoming December 21st release of my track “Snap In Time” on the next Insectmind compilation, entitled “Psychometry – Notes from Christmas Island”, I decided it was also time for a proper website!

So here it is! I hope you like it, and thanks for stopping by. It’ll be shaping up a bit more over the coming weeks.

Much appreciation to Alex (DFRNT) over at SittingOvation for his review of “Snap In Time” – nice one!

Don’t forget to check out the tunes while you’re here! There’ll be more tracks on the way very soon!