Upcoming producer ESPR talks about his new project, his recent singles and loads more.
T.H.E – Hey! Welcome to T.H.E – Music Essentials. How has 2020 kicked off for you?
ESPR – It’s been good. I’ve quietly been locked away trying to finish more material. I had gotten to the point late last year where I had many works in progress but now I’m slowly getting some of these finished and it feels good to finally get some of them closer to the point I want them to be at.
T.H.E – Could you tell us a bit about the ESPR project, what kind of sounds does it stand for?
ESPR – I guess the idea behind it is that it’s an outlet for the dance and ravier side of things! I used to listen to some UK Hardcore from the 90s and wanted to borrow some of that style for this sound but take it further and develop a new style. It started as a few ideas over the years but I kept working on them and it got to the point where there were more tracks in this ESPR style and I wanted to make more. It’s different from my usual work and I don’t really want a profile behind it, I just want to get the project out there.
T.H.E – Tell us a bit about your releases, especially “TERMINATAH”. How did it come about?
ESPR – This is the first release of the project and pretty much the first I completed in this style. A few years back the idea came to me – the bassline, the drums and synth stab. I got that down as a loop but I left it because at the time I felt I couldn’t quite get the sound I wanted from it. I kept going back to it and reworking it until I was satisfied (I’m never 100% satisfied but as close as I could be!) I then decided that I would try and put some more releases like this together and just get them out there and see how it goes.
T.H.E – How long was the track in the works, and what inspired it?
ESPR – It was in the works quite a few years ago, just as a loop like I mentioned before. Again it was inspired by some of the UK sounds but I wanted to put my own spin on it. One inspiration found its way into the track as a vocal sample – I used to love watching some of the African budget movie remakes of American action films, especially for the humour. If I had the time and offers I would have loved to have made a TERMINATAH! music video in this style. I heard the “terminator” voice-over one day in one of the films and recorded it. Maybe a year later I came back to the track and tried to find a vocal to fit the track. I put this vocal sample in, added the stutter at the start and a preverb at the end. It fitted so well with what I wanted; it’s tense and it’s action-packed!
T.H.E – How did you go about creating “I FLY”? Do you consciously try and ensure that each track is a bit different or do you try and stick to the same sounds?
ESPR – I FLY was started not long after TERMINATAH! but this time I wanted something that had a nice feel to it, maybe a summertime song but still energetic. Starting this track, I had the idea for the chords so I got those down on a piano then came back to it sometime later. It felt like I was working backwards in a way because I ended up working on a lot more sounds before the piano even comes in later in the track.
For ESPR I try to make something a little different for each track but consciously I try not to stray too far from the core sound as I don’t want it to cross over with my other work! The lines get blurred sometimes though so ESPR remixes of other songs aren’t out of the question, I guess.
T.H.E – What can you tell us your plans for the future?
ESPR – I have the next few ESPR releases ready. If I had no other distractions, I would probably have an album’s worth of material. I also really want to get vocalists/singers in for this and my other work too! I have more ideas for the songs with vocals and would be able to finish the ESPR project if I had some vocals ready so if anyone does catch this, hit me up! Or anyone who wants to do a TERMINATAH video haha.
