Artist Interview – Soul Concept (UK)

I first touched base with Soul Concept well over two years ago, having met on Twitch initially, and then again via a video call one rainy November morning not long after.

I was captivated at the time by a remix of Raf Saperra’s Snake Charmer, which is just awesome.

Fast forward to March 2025, and while thinking of suitable artists for the new label project (INSIDE DNB MUSIC), Ajay instantly popped back into my consciousness as a solid contender, and after a bit of discussion and a gentleman’s agreement, we managed to secure the first free download for the RED label and the first official release for the BLUE label.

It is not only fitting then, but also right and honourable that we complete a proper interview with our very first artist and family member.

Read on to get to know!

Ajay! Welcome in!

We already have a small detail in common, because you live in Northampton and I was born there! The whole of the Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire area was a hotspot for raving and rave culture during the 90s, so does your history with the music go back that far?

Well, I’m originally from Hounslow in West London where there is a large Indian community. That’s where I started DJing around 1996, using the CD player and turntable from our home hi-fi system to play at small parties for family and friends with my brother. We loved music in our household and had a pretty decent setup at home, and we’d regularly pick up all sorts of vinyl and CDs from car-boot sales, so we had a good mix of music to experiment with.

The Snake Charmer remix you did was our first introduction to your output and the blend of traditional Desi music and drum and bass is just awesome. How did that come about?

That idea came about after hearing another DJ mix the original track with some DNB in a live set. I thought it had the potential to be a decent bootleg remix. I experimented with some A.I. stem splitting tools to separate the vocals and instruments then the rest sort of fell together.

I sent the track to Raf-Saperra (the original artist) before putting it on Souncloud and he gave it the thumbs-up which was nice. It’s had a lot of love since.

Music has always been a big part of your life, as you studied it at school, and have been producing on and off for 20 years. Tell us a bit about your early production experiences?

I chose music as one of my GCSE options, and part of the course was to learn an instrument (I chose Piano) and compose and record an original song using Cubase. This was my first real experience with production, arrangement, VSTs and sampling. I ended up writing the cheesiest pop ballad ever, full of piano and strings, with a sampled drum break. It was pretty terrible, but I passed! Soon after that I bought a copy of Logic Studio 7 and was hooked. Today I’m using Logic Pro X on a M4 MacBook Pro.

There is a wonderful wave of traditional, or you could say ethnic drum and bass that is circulating at the moment. The likes of Ukraine’s Amorius, who has been incorporating traditional European folk sounds into his music, and Spanish producer Lunatronic who has been doing similar. There’s a lot of scope, particularly in liquid DNB. This is also something you like to do now and then?

Absolutely. I grew up listening to artists who blend their Indian roots with electronic music such as Osmani Soundz, Nitin Sawhney, Karsh Kale, Talvin Singh, and Shiva Soundsystem. These are the guys who inspired my track, Maya.

You’re a software engineer by day. Do you find that this occupation helps with making music at all?

As a software engineer, you’re constantly learning new tools and solving problems. This helps with learning production techniques and generally finding your way around the production software, but making music doesn’t come from the tools you use.. it’s gotta come from within. The laptop is just an output.

FREE DOWNLOAD LINK!!

I’m so pleased that you’ve very kindly offered up ‘Let It Ride’ as a free download to help us kickstart the label. Tell us a bit about the track itself. It’s a wonderful blend of dark and light liquid, and that bass!!!!!!!!!

It all started with the piano sample. I saw a video on Instagram of someone playing some beautiful moody chords which I chopped up and rearranged. It gave the track its dark and understated feel and served as a foundation for all the other elements to work around. 

This project also gave you the opportunity to work directly with James from Sola, who helped with the mixing down and mastering of the track ready for release. This is a great service in my honest opinion, and really insightful. How did you find it?

This was one of the most useful experiences I’ve had. I’ve always tried my best to master my own tracks but having a professional like James work his magic, while also explaining to me what he’s doing and why, taught me so much. I’m really thankful to James for his time.

In years gone by you used to DJ at Indian weddings. I’ve never been to one but wow, they look like SO MUCH FUN!

Indians know how to party, that’s for sure!

This probably also means you have quite an extensive knowledge of both traditional and contemporary Indian music, something which I have always enjoyed listening to. Do you make a conscious effort to include elements of this in your sound?

I wouldn’t say it’s a conscious effort. It all depends on the vibe of the moment. Most of the music I produce has more of a jazz/soul influence. I love pianos and strings and we studied a lot of jazz during GCSE music lessons.

You cite philosophy and stoicism as key areas of interest outside of music. I too do my best to live a spiritual lifestyle. Please expand on what exactly it is about these two fascinating topics that interest you, and how they influence your life?

There’s so much negativity and distraction in the world so having something which keeps you grounded and helps you focus is great. I love learning about how to be a better person and find good in the things around me.

You’re also a family man. Making music can be time consuming, so how do you manage to work around your commitments to your loved ones?

We do loads as a family, whether its movie nights at home, eating out, or spending time outdoors. My wife is great at planning things for us to do. I just squeeze a bit of time in for music whenever I can. My family know I love music and they’re very supportive.

What do your wife and children make of drum and bass music?

They love it. Its great when I hear my kids humming along to tunes – especially tunes that I’ve produced. Their favourites are “City Heat” and “I Cant Deny It” from my album, Revelations.

I was very interested to read that it was Warhead by DJ Krust that first piqued your interest in DNB, after hearing it at a school disco. That was some school disco mate!

That bass in the intro is enough to get anyone hooked. DJ Krust is one of the best in the scene!

And you were also a regular at Swerve at The End nightclub in London. These nights have become legendary within the historic framework of liquid drum and bass, but liquid was a very different beast back then. How would you describe being there, and what are some of the most memorable tracks from that period?

It was like a pilgrimage! So many iconic moments were had there. The venue was small and intimate with a low ceiling and the DJ booth was right in the mix of the crowd. It’s where I first heard tunes like “Artificial Intelligence – Bloodlines”, “Calibre – Why Time”, “Commix – Be True”, “High Contrast – Racing Green”

Finally then, thank you for offering up your music and opting to become a part of the INSIDE DNB MUSIC family. It’s a great honour to be given someone’s art to use, and to be given the chance to foster what I hope will become a long and fruitful partnership. At the end of the day, if you don’t at least try and realise your dreams, then you’ll never know what chances you might have created, so thank you!

Thank you for providing the platform for me to share my art. Lets do this!

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