Back with another Epic set from John B - this time he had the honour of playing the final set on the final night of Let It Roll, on the Main Stage as the sun came up - a truly special moment at the biggest Drum & Bass festival in the world, held in the heart of the Czech Republic.
The audio comes from the livestream broadcast so is lower resolution than normal, and mono, so apologies for that, but we thought it would be nice to share the set so you can share the moment!
If you like the set please 'like' and share on your social media channels to help get the word out and get more people to hear the music :-)
It's finally here! The first of my new 'Evolve' series. I'll write more soon but the press release below spells it out pretty clearly. Hope you like the new direction - and the video!
Beta Recordings’ 50th release and the beginning of a new chapter for Label owner John B.
Evolve is an exciting new project, musically & conceptually, from John B. A consistent series of new releases, reliably out every month, a new musical direction, the rebranding of the John B Podcast to ‘Evolve Radio’, and a futuristic touring concept & a compilation mix series to come.
Moving away from the traditional cycle of artist albums - long periods of quiet, then sudden push to promote one album, followed by silence again, this will mean a faster cycle from track completion to release, and steadier stream of adventurous, new music, continuously and regularly released – the vibe, awareness & promotion will develop organically as the project progresses.
Fusing the influence of mature, uplifting, progressive electronic music with the power, energy & surgical production values of Neurofunk & big-room Epic Drum & Bass, but still looking back and referencing his roots, John B’s sound is Evolving once more. Think Pryda vs Noisia, Jean Michelle Jarre vs DLR, Vangelis vs Hybris. Huge evolving arpeggios & uplifting yet restrained soundscapes contrasting with the tight drums & unstoppable force of modern electronic Drum & Bass. This is the mission statement.
The first track in this continuing series itself is entitled ‘Evolve’ and features speech & vocals contributed by fans from all over the world. A long, unfolding epic, morphing intro slowly builds into a tight, simple drop cutting straight through to the dancefloor, twists & develops further into a second drop where mangled reece basslines emerge from the depths and take things to the next level. A perfect release to set the bar high & begin an exciting new journey…
Hello everyone - doing my best to update this blog page a bit more regularly, although not entirely sure it's particularly necessary seeing as anything new I put online always gets mentioned on my Facebook and twitter accounts - but I guess it's nice to have them all here whatever. Here's another podcast for you anyway!
Just when you've been waiting for a new podcast for months TWO pop up in the same week! Lucky you!
In contrast to last week's Spring Studio Mix in partnership with Serato, we now have a LIVE set for you, recorded on the last night of John B's most recent mini-tour of the USA (he's back out there twice again in July - check out the Live Dates listings for details!) in LA for the fabulous Timeless DNB party for a special event, their 100th party!
Always a pleasure, the LA crowd never disappoints! Get ready for a fun, varied set & a bit of celebratory slightly drunky John B on the mic!
There's a few little glitches in the audio from the radio mics the MCs were using - hopefully they're not too much of a pain - would have been a shame to not share the set just because of a few crackles :-)
If you like the set please 'like' and share on your social media channels to help get the word out and get more people to hear the music :-)
I recently did a special podcast for Serato and their 'SeratoCast' series. Here's my Spring 2016 Studio mix! Also available at The John B Podcast
SeratoCast / Music From Our Extended Family of DJs Worldwide
For SeratoCast 55 we profile another of our favourite drum n bass artists and long time friend John B.
Check it out for some new John B goodness.
"I thought it was about time I did another studio mix since I’ve been so busy working on new music lately I haven’t put a new podcast out since February! With this mix I took the opportunity to go a bit deeper than I sometimes do when playing out. This set is loosely based on how I played at Soul in Motion in London a few weeks back, opening with a new remix I just did for Dusky, including a couple of the new tracks on my recent Metalheadz EP & generally keeping the vibe darker & more underground Drum & Bass than usual - was a lot of fun! Hope you like!"
This was seriously a labour of love! A LOT of time and effort went into this remix but it was well worth it! I think it turned out to be possibly the best remix I've ever done!
My EP on Headz is out now - buy links are below, along with audio previews and the official Video for LAVA which I'm proud to say I edited myself! I've been slowly learning a few new tricks in Final Cut X - (a far cry from the random tour videos I used to just edit on iMovie back in the day) I think this came out pretty well! Anyway - here's the PR blurb and a couple of reviews we got, including a 10/10 in Mixmag and 'Single Of The Month'! Not bad! "It’s been a while since John B graced the skull with the headphones. Across his career he has released genre defining music. His tracks on Prototype are revered and we don’t even need to comment on his contributions to the Headz catalogue, but that’s all in the past- its 2016 and he has a new agenda to set. These tracks are exactly what you would want from John B on Metalheadz. One side has drama, one side has soul. It’s a welcome return for a missed team member."
Juno review (Click here to read in full): "It's been years since John B last fronted a Headz release - 15 to be precise - but there is no other label these three tracks would be more at home on. Techstepping back to his earliest visions, "Lava" is a straight up spring back to 1998 in new trainers. Stark, grimy and heads-down, it pays homage to one of drum & bass's most innovative eras. "Lie To Me" reminds us of John's inability to sit still creatively with the jazzy, almost "Brand New Funk" style dynamics of "Lie To Me". Finally we hit "The Colossus". One of John's secret weapons since Sun & Bass 2015, it's an ugly piece of uncompromised machine funk with all the bass groans and cymbal splashing you could ever ask for. Arguably John's best release this decade."
If you like the set please 'like' and share on your social media channels to help get the word out and get more people to hear the music :-)
