Red Eye Hifi is more productive than ever

In these crazy times, when almost the whole world is in lockdown, music has been a shining light throughout, giving people something to focus on. With this in mind, Nice Up! Records have proceeded to release the new album from Manchester’s Red Eye Hifi. 25ThC found out more:

Congratulations on the release of your brand new album ‘Overproof’. I’m particularly feeling “Serous”, “Weak Bones”, and closing track “Storm”. How long has it been in the making?

Nice one! Glad you are feeling the tracks – I’m sick of them! 😂 It’s been a long time in the making to be honest. I made most of the instrumentals way back in 2018 and over the next year I slowly recorded with each of the vocalists. It was important to me to get exactly who I wanted for each track, so finding the time to record with everyone’s busy schedule took a little while. I was also away for a long time and juggling working on other projects. It was worth the wait in the end though!

In terms of the MC’s on the album, how did you go about choosing who to work with and why?

Most of the features come from people I have been working with for years. Me and Fox have been making music together pretty much since the start of Red Eye Hifi – he’s had a massive impact on everything we’ve done and pretty much brought us in to the Manchester scene so I’m really glad he features on tracks across the album. Chunky & DRS are Manchester royalty and bring something special to each of their tracks. Berry Blacc, Lady Ice, Kiva & XL Mad are all leaders in the next generation and absolutely smash each of their contributions. In Manchester I feel like we are surrounded by so much talent sometimes we are spoiled for choice!

Can you tell us about how the collaborative process works between you and the MC’s. Did you meet up in the studio to collaborate or was it done remotely?

Most of the time we meet in the studio. Its important to have that instant back and forth and feel a vibe with someone in the studio – I think that’s the way to get the best results. In some cases, if you are working with someone internationally like in the case of XL Mad on this record – it’s done remotely. But sometimes you just know that someone has the same vision or the exact right style and you just know its gonna work.

The feel of the album is a result of a summer of backpacking, working and DJ’ing, soaking up different cultures and sounds. Can you tell us some of the countries you visited and how they influenced the album?

I spent 4 months in Trinidad and then a bit of time in New York whilst I was writing stuff. I was right out in the sticks but it was carnival time in Trinidad so Soca was everywhere. It doesn’t really show up too much on this record – its probably influenced the music I’ve made since a bit more! The thing about being in Trinidad was the pace of life and the opportunity to be out in the country with time to write – but everyone was partying every day in the run up to carnival so it was a good time to be writing dance music! They hadn’t heard much UK music where I was, but I gave a load of my stuff to a guy I met out there and the next day everyone was jamming to tunes from Overproof – shouts to the La Lune crew! Then when I was in New York it was a completely different world but I managed to reach a couple of parties whilst I was there including a Mixpak event with Bobby Konders, which was mad and deffo had an impact on what I was writing at the time.

The album is being released on Nice Up! Records. How did you get involved with the label and what does it mean to be involved with such a forward looking label?

After I self-released my first record ‘Chips & Gravy’ a few years ago, I had planned to get in touch with Nice Up! to see if they wanted to put out the next record – turns out he was about to ask me the same thing! Its been top working with Nice Up!, they have been mega patient and supported me through the process the whole way. Plus I’m sending this interview to them before it goes to you so I have to be nice. In all seriousness it’s great to be with this label and looking forward to doing more (quicker next time).

Can you tell us about your current setup in terms of software and hardware and how this helps you sculpt your sound?

I keep things quite simple, to be honest! I use logic and produce in the box mainly. I use a couple of old synths (Roland d-50 and Yamaha Sy55) on this album and I also try to use musicians where I can so, even though it’s a club record, you will hear sax, guitars and bass guitar.

At the time of writing (April 2020) most of the world is in lockdown. How have you personally dealt with the lockdown and has this helped or hampered your creativity?

It’s been proper good for writing new music! I’m more productive than ever. Not so good for playing shows and my bank balance but you can all buy my album instead.

Once we are all out of lockdown do you have plans for promoting the album with live and/or DJ shows?

Yep – promoters take note! I’ve got a live show with some of the MCs from the album – we toured a few years ago with the show and it was mad from start to finish – when the lockdown is lifted we’ll see what we can do! We run parties too and will deffo be putting on something big as soon as we can.

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Overproof is out on Friday 10 April on Nice Up! records. Stream or buy your copy here: https://fanlink.to/overproof

Interview by 25ThC.