Artist Profile – Handsprime (Australia)
Sydney, Australia based Handsprime dropped a huge four tracker on Zombie at the start of the year that immediately made our ears wobble. As is normal here at INSIDE DNB HQ, when that happens, it often prompts us to dig deeper and when time allows, make inroads into tracking down the culprit and suggest connecting.
We’ve only ever done one interview with anybody involved with the Australian DNB scene, so that was one of the reasons we contacted Handsprime. The other is because his music is totally kick ass. On top of all of that, Global connection through drum and bass is at the core of what we do, and talking to this dude through the fog of international time zones was a real treat, so here he is, talking about drum and bass in Australia, how his autism has influenced his music making (and his ability to break through on the Australian DJ circuit) and a whole heap more.
Handsprime! Welcome in!
Nice to meet you!
Before we start talking about DNB, tell us a bit about who you are and what you do?
Well, I have a temp job in an accounting firm, but I’ve just finished my Diploma in Business, so I’m hoping to get some more work in accounting soon. Officially my name is Lindsay, but through some weird admin error I’m also known as Lesley, so I kind of answer to both! My artist name is a blend of one of my loves which is Transformers (Optimus Prime!) and my surname.
You’re 27 now, so when did you first discover DNB?
I think I probably first came across it in 2009, but started to really get into it in 2011. I discovered it mostly through gaming. Where a lot of my friends were going down the dubstep route, I thought ‘I’m gonna be a little bit different!’ and I went down the drum and bass route!
We have a few friends on Twitch from Australia, but we know nothing about DNB is Sydney per se or Australia in general, so tell us a bit more about the scene where you are?
Well, as you say, I’m based in Sydney but drum and bass is much deeper in Perth. There are little pockets of drum and bass in most of the larger cities like Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide and also Canberra, but where I am in we have a pretty strong scene with the likes of Royalston, Blaine Stranger and of course myself, so we do have a couple of guys here in Sydney here at the moment doing drum and bass.
Do you get many British DJs coming across to perform then?
Yeah, we have a few coming over to Perth and some do tours of Australia, for example Sub Focus has just been over.
Oh wow, so how far are you from Perth?
Well Sydney is on the east coast and Perth is on the West coast
That would involve a plane journey to get there?
Yeah, it would mean jumping on a plane. I think I’m nearer to New Zealand than I am to Perth!
Woah. That’s a long way!
Looking back through your SoundCloud, we noticed that you are a huge lover of the Amen (and so are we, because we’re junglists!), but lately you’ve moved away from using breaks?
Yeah, I guess it’s because for quite a while I was trying to produce Amen jungle tracks, but more lately I’ve been more into rollers type tracks and jump up, but if you listen to ‘waiting on you’ for example you can still here the jungle influence. It may be more in the background, but you definitely notice them. I love chopping up Amens because, I guess with my autism, I just love making crazy sounds.
Well, it’s funny you should mention that, because we’re on the waiting list for an assessment for autism too! Welcome to the club!
How do you find having autism influences the way you make your music, in the way that you create?
Well one aspect of autism, in this case Asperger’s, is that when you get a fixation on things, you start to get a deep knowledge of it. So, with drum and bass and the stuff I like about drum and bass, I kind of fixate on those things I love, so with chopping up the Amens, I absolutely love that, and also big basslines, so it’s about learning about the things you love and trying to recreate that.
So we’re guessing you have a pretty large collection of music?
Oh yeah, not just drum and bass though. All styles of music, I like a lot of rock music. The track on my Zombie EP for example ‘Incubus’ is a subtle nod their track ‘wish you were here’. It’s a very subtle influence, but it’s in there.
Let’s talk equipment, what does your set up look like?
Well, I pretty much mostly produce using Ableton as my DAW of choice, and there are some other VST plug ins, like some Roland emulators and Korg bass among other things that I have.
So what’s your take on sound design and manipulating sounds to create your own identity?
Well, I think the thing with sound design is it kind of depends on what type of person you are. Like, some people want to really create their own style and sounds that are exclusive only to them, but it really depends on what you’re trying to make. I definitely do spend time trying to create my own sounds but it all comes down to how you do it, I mean, do you just grab a synth and and recreate the waves or do you take a sample and re-sample it into something completely different? I’m more the type of guy who will take a sample of an existing sound and do weird stuff to it, like amplify it, or add some reverb or stuff like that.
As previously mentioned, you’re a Sydney native. How does somebody like yourself manage to get exposure in the Global drum and bass scene?
Well that’s a very good question because it’s very hard to expose yourself as a producer Globally. I mean, I’ve tried to make a bit of a name for myself as a DJ in Sydney, but at the same time what I try to do is make my music available to DJs and labels because the idea is that I want to make contact. To be honest, if it wasn’t for people like Royalston, I probably wouldn’t have had the chance to make a name for myself, because you don’t really have the chance to make contact with people who have worked with bigger artists. Once you have these connections, you get the chance to get your tunes out to these bigger DJs.
Your first full release was on Locked Up then?
Yeah, Larry was the first actual proper tune that got signed to a label and shortly after Larry I also signed a tune called Warpath to Zombie Records. This was just before the Pandemic hit and to be honest, I wasn’t really inspired to make drum and bass during lockdown.
So, what’s it like seeing your product out there in the World after so much hard work?
Well, it’s kind of interesting. I mean, the DNB scene in Sydney is good, but it’s nowhere near comparable to Perth and Melbourne, but I imagine Sydney will get there soon. I’m actually hoping to have some tracks released on a Sydney based label this year.
How long do you spend making your tracks?
To be honest, it all depends on how I’m feeling the tune. I can spend all day writing a tune because I’m feeling it.
So you kind of inspire yourself?
Yeah! Sometimes in the first few minutes I’ll be like, ‘nah’, and then other times I’ll be at it all day and I’ll be like, ‘this is a bop’, and then at other times I’ll kind of go with it and think to myself ‘let’s see if this is going somewhere’. I don’t think I’ve released any tunes that I have felt have been half assed, though there was a time I got a bit upset because a label ‘signed’ a tune of mine (even though I didn’t actually sign anything!) and ended up releasing the demo version rather than the final version. That was the only time I really disapproved of anything of mine being released. They didn’t even have the finished version.
That’s bollox. It’s shocking that this still goes on with peoples art.
Yeah!
So, what’s in the pipeline then?
Well, there’s the tune ‘Icebreaker’ that I mentioned might be getting released by a local label. That track has been going off here in Sydney, and then I’m also working on creating the next EP for Grid. I’m also hoping to send out some more music to other labels, and have tracks that other DJs in Sydney seem to be responding too positively.
You also DJ though?
Yeah, but it’s been hard to get DJ bookings here in Sydney. There’s been a bit of internal drama and I seem to have been forgotten a bit, which is strange considering the EP has been released on Grid and is doing well. You’d think that some DJ gigs would be coming in.
We’re working on an article regarding autism for the site and you have been quite open about your condition. How do you think it’s affected your place in the world of DNB?
To be honest, I definitely feel like being an autistic man in the drum and bass community has been challenging, and when I mentioned earlier about not getting many gigs, I do feel like there is a correlation between my autism and getting gigs, because I think some people have found me a bit challenging because of my condition.
Well, we feel you on that one. This is a video call interview were doing here and we’re getting Goosebumps saying this right now, because one of the reasons we generally don’t do interviews in this way is because we get both anxious and nervous. When you know you stick out, you really know it! We’re finding that there are many people within DNB who are neurodiverse, and when you listen to the chaos inside some of the music, you can kind of see the attraction!
There’s a tune I had which unfortunately didn’t make it onto the Incubus EP which basically describes what you’re saying, because when you kind of understand that I have autism, you can understand that it was made by a person with autism!
This sounds interesting. We look forward to hearing it!
Well it’s definitely a tune I want to get signed, because it’s a very chaotic track that kind of shows my condition!
Wikked. You gotta own who you are and live your life and if the world can’t handle it, fuck ’em!
It’s been an absolute pleasure talking to you man, and we feel that HUGE things are coming for man like Handsprime.
So, as a parting shot, what do you want to say to the world?
Well firstly, Sydney drum and bass is definitely not dead, so keep us in mind, and also if you’re a producer, just keep pumping out tunes!
FIND OUT MORE HERE:
https://www.instagram.com/handsprime
DON’T FORGET TO CHECK OUT THE HANDSPRIME GUEST MIX – 60 MINUTES OF BAD ASSED DRUM AND BASS FOR YOUR FACE:
Guest Mixes – WWW.INSIDEDNB.NET
