We chat to Russian drum and bass producers Dmitry Goncharenko and Alexey Goncharenko aka Gancher & Ruin about their influences, attending club nights underage and what they think about the scenes current dirty word 'Crossbreed'.Tell us a bit about how the two of you became involved in electronic music and what were/are your main influences?
It's quite a long story. Firstly, we had been listening to The Prodigy and some breakbeat. Then in 2005 we heard about Pirate-Station here in Russia, this is 'the biggest drum and bass festival in the world' and by that time people were making hard drum and bass. I think we became involved in drum and bass with tracks like Pendulum's 'Another Planet' and The Panacea's 'Wrong Is Right'. Then it was Technical Itch's 'The Signal' and 'Decontrol'. These tracks led us towards more darker drum and bass.
The two of you have had a lot of success at such a young age, playing lots of big events and having associations with a lot of the big names and labels on the scene. Was their anybody in particular that you has helped you a lot or had 'taken you under their wing' in the beginning?
We are really grateful for how Cooh has helped us. He promoted us and helped us with our music as well.
What have you guys been up to recently? Had a busy summer?
To be honest, no! We had only a few events in Europe and some local parties in Saint-Petersburg, but in July we played back-to-back with The Panacea. You know what it feels like!? We were 14 or 15 when we heard him live at Therapy Sessions here in Saint-Petersburg. It was illegal to be there if you are not at least 16, but we had tried our best to get in. It was one of our dreams to play with him and it was fantastic.
Also, we had to refuse playing in the UK in May. It should've been our first party in the UK, but because of some problems with the UK embassy here we had to turn it down.
We had bad summer, a few hot days in July but that's it. The weather thinks that is enough for our place hahaha.
That's a shame! Do you have plans to come to the UK soon? Would be great to have you finally play here.
Unfortunately we haven't got any bookings for the UK yet.
(Promoters – you heard them! Somebody book them now!!!)
If you could choose five artists to collaborate with, who would you choose? And why?
If you had asked us this question five years ago then The Panacea and Ruffneck would be in this list , but we are already working with The Panacea and Ruffneck which is fantastic. We don't know any other people who are soooooo much into their music and always ready to help. They are top in the hardcore and drum and bass scenes so it makes sense.
For now, maybe Noisia, Current Value, Meccano Twins and Limewax. Each of them has their own unique style. It would be awesome to see what would happen if we do any collaborations together.
Our fifth choice is Hans Zimmer, for real.
What do you the two of you enjoy most about working together, and is there anything you dislike? We understand each other without words. We do almost everything in music together.
To be honest, there is nothing to dislike. If someone has an idea to put in a track or a mix, we do it. If the idea doesn't fit in the track we use it in another one.
There has been a lot of integration between the drum and bass and hardcore techno scenes in recent years, mostly revolving around the labels you guys are associated with (for example, PRSPCT Recordings and Yellow Stripe Recordings) and the term 'Crossbreed'. What are your feelings about this?
To be honest, we don't like that a lot of producers are doing the crossbreed thing now. It's making it go too mainstream, and when something goes mainstream it becomes nothing as it was with 'skullstep' (hard drum and bass with broken beats and amen breaks). It died after everybody started to do it. Hundreds of tracks per week and only ten of them would be any good! Yes, PRSPCT are doing a great job. Actually, we like the experiments a lot of producers are doing right now. For example, the style of The Outside Agency, Ruffneck, The Panacea and Cooh - each have their own style. But it sounds bad when producers are doing the same things as others or just copying someone else's unique style. We think these changes will create a big scene but we're not so happy with that. Some producers are just going into it to make a name for themselves, and money! Thank God that most of them are doing it because they love the music. Producers are trying to unite the drum and bass and hardcore crowds, but if those producers do it because of money it will fail, deffo.
Which up and coming producers would you say are people to look out for in the future?
The sounds of CA2K and Damage Inc will destroy the dancefloors, these guys are making fantastic tracks.
Thanks a lot for your time guys. We look forward to hearing what you bring to us next and hope to see you destroying our dancefloors soon. Any last comments?
We love our fans! Thank you that you are with us.
Maxumi Magazine - Gancher & Ruin interview
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