Posted by Bristol producer Gallegos lives for the rave.
It’s where his music is meant to be heard – through colossal speakers, with a sweat-soaked crowd absorbing it through their pores.
Returning to vital imprint Banoffee Pies Records for a new EP, he digs deeper into those rave roots, while broadening his sound still further.
The four-tracker is out now, a quadruple pack of system shellers, all crunchy breaks, Day-Glo synths, and the odd Amy Winehouse sample.
Clash invited Gallegos to break down the influences behind his sound.
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The Prodigy – ‘Funky Shit’
The Prodigy was my introduction into dance music aged six. I’ve been fortunate enough to see them live many times at Glastonbury festival.
Hearing this type of music so early on had a big impact on me and this tune still churns up a frenzy when I drop it in my DJ sets. These sort of breakbeats seem to have come back around full cycle at the moment. The Prodigy always seemed to have the ability to make tunes sound faster then they actually are.
The whole ‘Fat Of The Land’ album still stands up today.
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Commix – ‘Be True’
This album was a game changer for drum ‘n’ bass. D&B was going through a stale period at the time and this gave it a much needed freshening up.
I have fond memories of seeing them in the early days play at a tiny club on Park Street, Bristol called The Tube. One half of the duo, George, also makes techno and you can really hear those techno elements shine through in their work. The expertly crafted reverbs and delays, gorgeous glassy pads and precisely chopped breaks make this a winner for me.
For me personally, DnB never got better than this and I moved onto house and techno shortly after.
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Chemical Brothers – ‘Under The Influence’
The gods of electronic music for me. Again I’ve had the opportunity to see them many times at Glastonbury where they always play The Other Stage.
The long droning bass note before the drop is a particular sound that stuck with me and one I have imitated in my own productions. I always have at least one of their tunes packed in my bag.
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Metro – ‘Brownstone Express’
This record led me down a rabbit hole that I’m still exploring today: HOUSE MUSIC. This tune also spurred me on to get my first synth the Juno 106 to try and recreate those lush pads with it’s infamous chorus feature. It’s not over complicated or too intense and made me focus on using less sounds executed properly, with a solid arrangement than just pack out a tune full of faff. I like to DJ a lot of these early deep house tracks in the morning after a big rave.
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Nightmares On Wax – ‘Damn’
One of my favourite tracks on what is one of my most listened to albums.
N.O.W always has superb drum breaks. He brings lots of different styles of music from all over the world and never boxes himself in with fixed tempos. It was only later in life I realised he also made techno and breaks and plays marathon long sets in Ibiza.
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‘Sentiment Of Love’ EP is out now on Banoffee Pies Records.
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