Responsible for one of Exit Records’ most impressive debuts in the past year, Fixate returns once again with his bad-ass blend of “non-conformist” bass music on the recently released four-track March On EP.
Having also been outed as a member of the eclectic super-group known as Richie Brains alongside heavy-hitters lke Om Unit, Alix Perez, Fracture, Chimpo, Stray and Sam Binga, there’s no doubt that Fixate continues to take the scene by storm with his unique genre-blurring vision and creative flair.
With that in mind, we couldn’t wait to lock down a “Five Tunes” piece with the man to get a sense of the dark and twisted seeds that have given rise to his inimitable sound. From hip-hop to dubstep to jungle and back, this is Five Tunes That Changed My Life with Fixate.
I was way too young when jungle came around, but when I did discover it there wasn’t any turning back.
The Prodigy “Diesel Power” (XL Recordings, 1997)
I was probably around six or seven years old when this came about, but it was my first proper interaction with electronic music. My Dad had bought [the album] Fat of the Land and obviously I’d never heard anything like this before so was rinsing it on repeat. This really got me interested in music and this tune in particular was my favorite.
Get it at Spotify | iTunes | Beatport
Royal Flush “Worldwide” (Blunt, 1996)
I started skating when I was about 10 or 11 years old and in turn watched a lot of skate videos. It was probably one of the main ways I discovered music back then and I was obsessed with this tune. The instrumental was used in the Yeah Right! skate video for Keenan Miltons tribute section. Skating really got me in to a love affair with hip-hop and started it all off, really. I remember thinking, “I wanna make beats like that” but found out people mostly used MPCs, which I couldn’t afford. A few years later someone showed me FL Studio and that was that! But yeah, this tune is sick—all about that whiny high-pitched sample.
Skream “Stagger” (Tempa, 2006)
Somewhere around 2005 or 2006 I discovered dubstep. I didn’t really get it at first, but this was the first tune I heard when it clicked. Skream is a big influence of mine and inspired me to produce 140 [bpm music] for a long time. It’s definitely still part of my sound now.
Get it at Spotify | iTunes | Beatport
Origin Unknown “Valley of the Shadows” (Ram Records, 1993)
I was way too young when jungle came around, but when I did discover it there wasn’t any turning back. This tune is a standout one for me and I love everything about it, especially that arpy/pad thing. Actually, I remember being in Religious Studies class and we had to watch the documentary that the “long dark tunnel” bit was sampled from. It was some old BBC thing about life after death—made that lesson slightly more interesting! I still play this tune in pretty much every set; it’s a huge influence on my own music today.
Get it at Spotify | iTunes | Discogs
Mos Def “Umi Says” (Rawkus, 1999)
Black On Both Sides is probably one of my favorite albums ever. It’s hard to choose a favorite but I fucking love this song. It’s one of those ones that makes you feel better if you’re having a shit day!