TALKING SHOP
The London-based producer admits he’s not precious about gear, and tells us how his new studio keeps him inspired
Ryan Aitchison, better known as Mella Dee, is a bit of a rave chameleon. The Doncaster-born, London-based producer and DJ has explored almost every corner of the dancefloor over the decade-plus he’s been in the game; kicking off his career warping dubstep and grime into daring new forms while dishing up UKG as one half of Mista Men. He’s now settled into an acid-tinged style that deftly folds disparate elements – anything from sped-up disco samples to bitcrushed breakbeats – into a muscular techno framework.
Much of Aitchison’s music comes out on his own label, Warehouse Music, set up in 2017 as a nod to formative years spent raving in his Yorkshire stomping grounds. For his latest project, though, he’s absconded to Saoirse’s trUst Recordings and adopted a new alias: RYAN. The Connected Experiences EP is made up of four gritty, wigged-out analogue belters that showcase an experimental side to Aitchison’s expansive musical vision; for our money, these are some of the best tunes he’s ever put down on wax.
We caught up with Aitchison to hear more about the making of
Connected Experiences and he was kind enough to leave us with three production tips for good measure.
When did you start making music, and how?
“It’s the classic story of playing eJay and Music2000, but in reality I got a pair of cheap turntables as a christmas present when I was about 17 or 18 and learnt how to DJ. Then my friends gradually started learning and the ones who were a bit more computer-savvy and had time on their hands downloaded a copy of Reason, so I started to sit with them and work on music.
“It was very loose, but I was going to some of the early dubstep raves around then in 2005 or 2006, parties in Leeds like DMZ and Exodus at the West Indian centre, and then bassline was happening in a big way around South Yorkshire so that was also an influence. The big common thread was the bass and the low end.”
Tell us about your current studio set-up…
“It’s a small space that I’ve just moved into after a couple years of being in a bigger space in Shoreditch. I wanted to be more compact, save a bit of money and have a space that just feels more like somewhere I just go in and work in a very productive manner, not somewhere to get comfortable. It’s part of the FOLD nightclub in Canning Town on an industrial estate and it feels perfect. It feels like the right place for the type of music I want to make – deep, dark and heavy. Nothing glamorous, just raw and industrial.
“It’s been a productive couple of months. I use a lot of hardware and a few plugins that I’ve had for years, largely FabFilter stuff, I’ve never felt the need to have hundreds of different plugins as it would start to get in t
