Soundscaping exclusive: An interview with ICR
First and foremost, the personal details. Who is the guy behind ICR and what’s his background?
The guy behind ICR is Zoltan Gal, a 23 year-old single lad who lives with his parents and younger brother in a small town in Hungary. He studied information technology but works in the local community center. If you want to find out more about him, listen and read his Diary. (ICR’s seminal Public Diary album
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...and how did you get your artist name "ICR"?
After I got my first PC around 1997 my friend gave me a floppy with a program on it called Impulse Tracker. I started making rave and hardcore stuff and it was very obvious to use The ImpulseCreator as a producer name. One year later I stucked into jungle and drum & bass and started a website also known as The ImpulseCreator on my own but later as more and more people joined to the magazine I felt it was necessary to separate these two things so I just cut my name to ICR. I also made a couple early tracks as Filled Vapidity (a bit more harder dnb than my usual), Zahadum (experimental) and Ill Kid (hip hop) but was all in the tracker era so it’s not important. By the way my AIM is eatsayair which is how you would pronounce ICR if you were hungarian. :)
What are your music influences and how did you get into music-making?
I grew up on music television with all kind of pop music, then I focused on electronic dance music watching Maydays and Love Parades. My alternatives to get to know about the basics of the underground electronic scene were very limited so I havent really heard any drum & bass until I caught a german satellite radio station called Evo-Sonic. That was around 1997-98. I still have some tapes recorded, mixes from Bassface Sascha and others. I really enjoyed this new music so I started to dig deeper and a few months later I decided to start a webzine focusing on jungle. It was a long-term learning curve which led to the development of the country’s most respected dnb website and to the birth of an up and coming producer.
What are your creative influences, your music is innovative, energetic, dancefloor-oriented but also great for home listening. How do you set about writing your tunes?
Firstly I’m really happy you said its dancefloor-oriented, ‘cause usually I get criticism about it which I can accept as I’m not a party-goer. Writing tunes comes from a personal motivation for me. I never thought I want to make a big tune to smash the dancefloor or to sign it to a big label. I just try to express my feelings and drum & bass has such a wide choice of sounds to show happiness, sadness and every other emotion. So I wouldn’t say I have a certain influence or muse, I just want to make sincere music whether it is good or bad.
Your music spans several styles but often include an element of drum & bass as the main theme. Any thoughts on the drum & bass genre of today and where you see it going?
Referring to my previous answer… The best thing I like in drum & bass is variety. You can hear many kinds of music – like jazz, soul, funk, techno, dub, reggae, electronica, hip hop – specially filtered thru a common denominator that you can never get bored with. It’s almost fiteen years old and the subgenres are cycling every year so everybody can find his taste. But at the same time these styles are getting segregated and separated from each other – in terms of labels, producers, djs, and audience too – which I dont like. I think there should be room for everyone, ‘cause I think there are good and bad tunes in every subgenres. As for the distribution, I’m really curious to see how the new formats – digital downloads and cd’s – can get a bigger piece of the cake. Some labels and producers have to be on the peripheria without vinyl distribution so that could change the situation (but I doubt it would happen sooner than later).
Music aside, what else does Zoltan get up to in his busy life? (share some of your interests with us, please :))
Besides producing I spend a lot of my free time with music anyway – running our website, drumandbass.hu for the sixth year, sometimes also writing for printed magazines. So its natural that I’m a bit addicted to the Internet too. But as for interests besides music, I would say I like movies a lot, also comic books, sci-fi stories, and basketball. But my life isn’t busy at all so maybe I should do more freetime activities and producing less, haha.
Back in early 2005, you’d so far had only a few releases on Orgone, Basswerk, GLO, an ASC remix of your tune on Offshore and your free album "The Public Diary" released. Less than a year later, you’ve appeared in numbers on several prolific labels such as Covert Operations, Nerve, Fokuz, Nookie’s Strictly Digital, Exegene and many more plus you’ve got lots slated for release in the time to come. How do you feel about your change in "stature" and your rise on the scene?
I wish I could see this change but it’s not how it goes I think. I can’t see that logical progression which you can expect to have after you released on such labels as Breakbeat Science, Good Looking or Offshore. It’s really hard to find labels (and distributors!) these days to release drum & bass music with no bassline and no DJ-friendly buildup (irony). So I’m happy I got the chance to release limited vinyls and digital downloads, but without properly distributed 12"s how could I rise on the scene? Maybe with some of my forthcoming stuff I will do that next year!
"Daytrip", your first album release on cd/vinyl format, and Covert Operations’ debut album. How did the album come about and how do you feel about producing the first album for yourself and at the same time making Cov Ops’ debut on the LP format?
When I finished The Public Diary free album I sent it to a couple guys I know and James (ASC) was one of them. He really loved it but at that time he couldn’t put it out. Two months later he came up with the idea of a Covert Operations album with new material but the same way I did with Diary. It was only 2 months after I made my album so first I was a bit sceptic if I can make a new one so soon but since I had a bunch of tracks (3 of them already signed to the label) it was easy to put these together creating a nice story inserting some interludes. It’s not as personal and deep like I did with Diary but I’m very happy for it and that I made the first full length d&b album at Covert Operations. Also its the first d&b LP ever released by a hungarian producer so I guess I should be in the Guiness now. I only wish there would be a lot more people to buy it unless Cov Ops seem to be unable to put out more artist albums which would be a shame.
You run a community website for the Hungarian drum & bass scene. How has running the website helped your own career?
It definitely helps. During the years I’ve learned a lot about drum & bass and writing articles and doing interviews helps you to get in touch with labels and producers too. If you can see things not just from the producer point of view that makes you much more capable.
Do you play at events and what’s your best/strangest memory? Hungary is a bit peripheral to the major countries for DJ work (UK, US, Germany, France, Japan, etc). Depending on where you’ve played, how do you feel it’s affected your career?
Hehe, my favourite question. No I’m not DJing at all, never tried it. But it seems every producer has to be a DJ as well to promote his own stuff properly. I know that would help a lot to open some doors – also I already got some booking enquires – but I don’t think I will ever step behind the decks.
What is moving in Hungary at the moment? What do you think of the scene and how it’s evolved?
It’s getting bigger and better every year. We have internationally acclaimed producers, not just SKC, Chris Su, Tactile or Mindscape, but relatively new guys like Soulproof, Jade & Matt-U and Spinline also recently got big label signings. I think it has great potential, for example I’ve just discovered a new talent I?ve never heard of. Look out for the man Snaper, he makes the craziest, twisted beats in Hungary.
(btw, you can listen to the forthcoming hungarian tracks here)
The party life is also very intense and I would say busy. I’ve just counted it and this year has been about 100 internationally big name DJs played at Budapest (and in a few regional cities) so that makes about 2 big d&b parties every week. Our website is also promoting events and we’ve hosted Influx UK, Seba, Zero Tolerance, Big Bud, Macc, Kasra, TC1, Craggz & Parallel Forces, Equinox and 0=0 only this year.
)The party life is also very intense and I would say busy. I’ve just counted it and this year has been about 100 internationally big name DJs played at Budapest (and in a few regional cities) so that makes about 2 big d&b parties every week. Our website is also promoting events and we’ve hosted Influx UK, Seba, Zero Tolerance, Big Bud, Macc, Kasra, TC1, Craggz & Parallel Forces, Equinox and 0=0 only this year.
What does the future hold for ICR? Any more collaborations, a second album in the works already (second in terms of releases on cd or vinyl format)?
As for collaborations maybe me and Matt-U of Soulproof put something together but we haven?t made anything since the stuff from our free album Soulshine. Currently there’s a soulful liquid tune in the works with hungarian DJ called Mentalien. But personally I would like to slow down a bit as I produced almost 40 tracks this year and fortunately I managed to sign a few of them. I have three singles coming out within weeks on Nerve (Fill The Sky/Skanner), Fokuz (My Love with Soulproof) and Fokuz Limited (It Could Have Been Me with Soulproof). I’ll kick off the next year with two heavier tracks on new US label Flatline Audio ‘Back 2 Front/Razor Blade Runner’ as cat no 003 (distributed by the good people of Nu Urban). I have forthcoming bits on Strictly Digital, Flatline, Thermal, Vibez, Synaptic Plastic and Red Mist – to be announced. I’m planning a new album as a follow up to The Public Diary with unreleased older music from me totally twisted out. It’s just an idea yet but look out for this non drum & bass journey next year. And maybe you’ll dont have to buy a ticket ;)
Any current or all-time top ten listings you’d share with us?
I never thought how hard this question can be when I asked it…
My all-time drum & bass top ten
- Journey Into Drum & Bass Vol 2 CD
One of the first d&b CDs I have with so many seminal moments. - Goldie – Mother
I know its not an easy piece of music but one of the greatest for me musically. - Klute – Lie, Cheat & Steal CD
Everything from Klute is emotionally top class, one of my ideal of producers - Pieter K – Everything All The Time
Probably the most underrated artist around, love his album. - Adam F feat. Tracy Horn – The Tree Knows Everything
One of the deepest vocal tracks I know. Also need to mention Circles. - Sci-Clone – Everywhere I Go (remix)
The best thing that happened with jazz and drum & bass. - 4 Hero – Two Pages
Soul in every sound. - Ed Rush & Optical – Wormhole
Some new neurofunk heads should listen to it again and again carefully. - Dom & Roland (featuring Shanie) – Chained On Two Sides
The master of darkness and deepness - Polar – Inside The Plot
Hard to pick only one Polar as I love all his music. He’s very wise. And the list could go on…
Any last words to our readers? :)
Just want to thank you for the opportunity and for your interest! If you want to learn more check out my website ICR’s artist website
We cannot recommend ICR’s albums highly enough, both the free Public Diary album (which you’ll find the URL to further up in the interview) as well as his debut album on Covert Operations.
That and other ICR tunes may be purchased from Technological Groove online record shop .
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Look out for more tunes by this talented producer in 2006 and also featuring on the forthcoming subscription series from Covert Operations and Testflight Recordings.
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