While many current artists outside the direct circles of grime might cite the genre as a prime influence, not a lot of them manage to embody the heart of its icy emotions in their music quite like London-based producer Logos. Though he’s been producing for about eight years, there haven’t been a lot of releases to his name so far, with the exceptions being a rework of his own unreleased track “Frontier Dub” by Narcossist (nowadays known as Kowton) on Mindset Records and a 12″ on Radial Productions, his self-made currently inactive label created solely to as a means to release “Medicate”. With a lot of his sounds garnering much of its deserved attention through Dusk & Blackdown, it’s only a fittingly natural and logical step to see his upcoming release join the Keysound Recordings family with a four-track EP on the agenda. Our thirty-ninth installment of the Truancy Volumes has been gracefully provided by Logos in the form of fifty minutes of dubstep and grime pre-dating 2004 resulting in a mix that simply cannot be missed for its pure memories, dedication and vibes that shine through. We also spoke to James about his upcoming release, the mix itself and a tiny bit of Wiley.

Logos kowloon 1 (Devil Mix) by Logos

You have a four track EP coming up on Keysound Recordings and are also collaborating on a video for “Atlanta ‘96” with Joss Horne. Tell us a little bit about this video you’re working towards; what triggered you to work on one? “It was more just the chance of knowing someone with a HD camera and talent and experience at video work – we just took advantage of the light and the vibe of the buildings at night in the E5 area and wider. Really looking forward to the finished product.” You’ve mentioned being a fan of Actress’ visual side that supports his music, are there any other musicians whose visual output you admire? “I like labels who think about their house design – Night Slugs do that well, but a particular favourite of mine are the Jon Black designed Metalheadz sleeves from the late 90s.”

What was the inspiration behind the track selection on your Truancy volume? What’s the perfect setting to blast this mixtape to? “It’s all vinyl and the tunes are all from the early grime/dubstep era including what I think is Hatcha’s first tune on wax. Lots of stuff on that Soulja side of the equation, who put out Mark One and Darqwan and had that slightly ruffer sound to Ghost or Horsepower, along with some classic grime from Dizzee and Danny Weed and others. At the time there seemed to me to be a little bit of a divide between the sort of tunes grime DJs played on pirates and had MCs over, and the early dubstep tunes but in retrospect I think the distinction is minimal. Also a brilliant tune from DJ Hype who is a bit forgotten now in terms of his contribution to dubstep. As for a setting I think this is probably a driving round town tape…” You were initially planning on making us a jungle mix, but opted to go for a grime & dubstep themed one instead, what motivated your move? “Honestly – because it was easier to make a decision about what to play… he rack with my grime was closer to hand!”

The tunes you’ve selected for this mix all date from 2004 or earlier. If seven or eight years from now you’d have to make a mixtape reminiscing on the years surrounding 2012, what would the vibe be like? “Ha, I don’t know. Although those were all notable tunes at the time a few years distance gives you the opportunity to appreciate the under-appreciated, but there is also the risk of rewriting history. For the jungle fans out there, you get this a bit with Source Direct, who have had a huge influence in subsequent years (rightly so) but whose tunes were never really that big in the clubs at the time. So a 2012 set from 2020 will be different from what you would hear in a club this weekend I think.”

Your current productions take more to the grime/dubstep sound, but you’ve mentioned being heavily rooted in jungle and D&B. What sound do you prefer to play out whilst DJing yourself? “I generally prefer to play upfront stuff so I guess that means the 130bpm style I’m working in – upfront tunes tend to be what I want to hear from a DJ when I go out and the sort of thing you would expect from people when you caught them at FWD. The clue is in the name.”

Can you name some DJs in recent times that you’ve enjoyed seeing play in particular and why? “I’d travel pretty much anywhere to see Actress do a live set because of the vibe he brings. It’s hard to narrow it down further but in the last month I saw DJ Qu from the US who I thought was really good on that ruff basement house and techno tip.”

Do you actively seek out new grime and if so, who’s on your radar at the moment? “I’m really stuck in a 2003 time warp so apart from paying attention to what Butterz are up to I don’t follow grime as keenly as I used to (and probably I should)…”

Finally, please share your favourite Wiley Ustream/home video with us. “Not an Ustream thing as such, but one of my favourite bits of the Wiley internet ephemera is a clip from the Movement DVD where him and Skepta trade their ’27 big achiever/E2 weaver/had the first sega’ bars… Huge.”

VOLUME 39: LOGOS

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Tracklisting:
DJ Hatcha – Bashment [White]
DJ Shorty – Lawn Mowa [Road]
Artwork – Round Sound [Big Apple]
El-B & Nude – Southwest [Shelflife]
Naughty (DJ Hype) – Shots [Naughty]
Musical Mob – Pulse X [Inspired Sounds]
Sirus – Tornado [Runnin]
Mark One – Tribesman [Soulja]
Benga – Skank [Big Apple]
Mark One – Hear This [Rephlex]
Wiley – Igloo Devil Mix [White]
Dizzee Rascal – Ho [Dirtee Stank]
Danny Weed – Creeper [White]
DJ Hatcha – Dub Express [Tempa]
Mark One – Raindance [Soulja]
Darqwan — Friday at the Limit [Soulja]
Dizzee Rascal – I Luv U remix [XL]