Listen to the Lead Track from Pedestrian’s New EP, ‘Drop Bear’

From the stable of scorching British label Born Electric comes new kid on the block, Pedestrian, whose new single ‘Drop Bear’ is all kinds of nasty. ‘Drop Bear’ is a skillfully mounted, gradually intensified hydra of a track. On the one hand, its streamlined bed rhythms have you hurtling on silver rails like a 4-kick bullet train, on the other hand, the growl and smash of abrasive acoustics – listen to that kick sound – and regular crowd-rousing eruptions are putting you in the mood for a good rumble. Together, the effect is screwface-inducing. The release also features two remixes from acid house don Tin Man, and the old school jungle-influenced ‘Ultra Marine Express’. To mark the occasion, you can stream ‘Drop Bear’ below, and read some thoughts from Pedestrian himself.

THUMP: Could you explain a little about the process of making this track, and what statement you feel you are making with it? 

Pedestrian: With this release, I wanted to represent the heavier dancefloor end of my musical taste. The story of how ‘Drop Bear’ came about and the process of making it is definitely a little anomalous for me in terms of my usual writing process. Basically, I wrote it on a Born Electric tour of Australia in January of this year. James Zabiela, Drew Hill and myself stayed in Melbourne for 5 nights in between weekends, and fortunately we had Aussie legend Phil K showing us about every day. I began writing ‘Drop Bear’ in a hotel room (Room 303, believe it or not), and I thought, “If I’m making a tune in Room 303, there has to be an acid line in it, right?”

Now, Phil K is your go-to acid line man, so I called him up and said, “Phil, I need an express acid line for this tune I want to play tonight”, so we headed down to the DJ store he works at, recorded in a bunch of acid lines from a Korg Volca he had there and then I took it back to the hotel. I put a rough structure together, went to sound check at the club, mixed it down on the system, and that was that.

What is it that drew you to Born Electric, and how do you feel the label speaks to your sound?

Pedestrian: I think it is a great home for me because they allow me such creative freedom and control over every aspect of my releases. The guys are also willing to let me write pretty much whatever I like for them, which is a great position to be in for any artist.

You have the wonderful Tin Man on the remix for this one. What about his work do you feel suits – or flips – your own?

Pedestrian: The guy is a boss at making that peak time, drug-fuelled, hypnotic acid techno. On top of that, he’s a lovely chap. 

You’ve released tracks on a fairly lengthy list of labels in recent years. Is this because opportunities have presented themselves in the moment, because you’re trying to find the right home for your sound, or, even, that your sound doesn’t need to have one home?

Pedestrian: I’ve been lucky to have the opportunity to work with some fantastic labels in the time I’ve been making music. When you first start out, you have to go with who shows interest and perhaps a label that you think would benefit your career. Because (stylistically speaking) my music is quite varied, I feel certain tracks suit certain labels. I am really happy with the two labels I am working with mainly at the moment, though, Born Electric and 2nd Drop Records.

How has 2014 been for you so far – for DJ gigs, production and touring?

Pedestrian: It’s definitely been the best year to date in all respects. I’ve made so much music now that I almost don’t know what to do with it all: a lot of collaborations, solo productions, and a lot of tracks that cover new, sonic ground. It will probably be quite a while until most of it sees the light of day. And what with gigs and touring, it’s also been the busiest year of my life. I’ve played some amazing parties, seen some incredible places, and met some awesome people. I really can’t complain.

Since names are out first introduction, I find the choice of Pedestrian perhaps a bit tongue in cheek. Was this deliberate? 

Pedestrian: There are a few reasons that made the alias feel right. Firstly, I got introduced properly to house music whilst living with Guy from Commix – now techno beast Shifted – in Cambridge. I like to make each track I write end up somewhere different to where it started; almost like walking somewhere, seeing different things along the way instead of walking round and round in circles. I also like to sonically wander around different styles and sounds, in both my productions and my DJ sets. I also like the challenge of not making anything “pedestrian”. Hopefully, I’ve achieved it.

What are you listening to right now that you’re really feeling – and particularly, has influenced this EP?

Pedestrian: What I’m listening to varies dramatically from day to day, depending on my mood, situation, the time of day, weather etc etc. But for this release the artists that have influenced me are people like Mark Henning, Tom Demac, Daphni, Justin Martin, A Made Up Sound, the darker side of Owiny Sigoma Band, and a lot of old drum ‘n’ bass records.

Pedestrian – ‘Drop Bear’ is released as a vinyl and digital EP via Born Electric on July 21st.

He also plays this years Zoo Project Festival, more information here.

You can follow Pedestrian on Twitter here: @PedestrianUK and Lauren Martin here: @codeinedrums

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