Yes yes crew! I've been working with fellow Hive creator @raj808 on something special to bring you a mixed media blend of drum & bass and poetry!
Raj808 who goes by the name "Mainly Poetry" has been a Hive stalwart for a few years now, and over that time, we've become good friends, enjoying each others creations and sharing our works here.
Now we teamed up to combine the best of both worlds with his thought provoking poem called "Engulfed in Sonder" and my drum & bass style to make something we dub as the scouse version of the Streets lol!
After a lot of hours going back and forth with tweaks to the final composition, we couldn't be happier with the way this has turned out and Mainly Poetry has featured this track at some of his big poetry nights, showing what can be done when you put your mind to it and go outside the box!
Without further ado, here is the video with the words of the poem added in as subtitles, out today:
Production Journey
If you have been following me for a while, you'll have known that, like many creatives, there are so many unfinished works, or at least "concepts" that are simply sitting around, waiting for the right moment to shine.
That was the case with this collaboration as I had a few tunes I'd started but there was always something missing from it - who knew that all it needed was a poet to ask for a collaboration!
I fired up the music software and started making edits to the foundations I had created before, raj808 sent his recording over and I added some reverb to it to give that depth. I found his voice worked really well during the breakdowns and when it could float over the drum beat half way through the track.
The main synth melody was inspired by the meaning of "sonder" which Raj808 described in his original video as:
The realization that each random passer-by is living a life as vivid and complex as your own populated with their own ambitions, friends, routines, worries and inherited craziness
That happy melody reflecting the dancing thoughts and vivid lives that every random passer-by is experiencing.
And finally, we wanted to make the second breakdown a little different by adding a half time element to it, with the ever changing rhythms of the bassline adding to the fluidity of being engulfed in sonder 😃
Follow Mainly Poetry on YouTube here