INTERVIEW: Jody Shires of Hellfire Machina
Hellfire Machina is a dubstep duo comprised of Jody Shires and Tom Williams, both of whom had much experience in the scene prior to the birth of the project such as many of their own releases and production work on many award-winning tracks. Since 2008, Hellfire Machina have released much of their own music as well as collaborative efforts such as their work on Brand Nubian’s ‘Enter the Dubstep Vol.2′. These days with Jody based in the Bay area and Tom based in NYC, their reach spans all over the country. Recent performances include the UKF Third Birthday Party in the UK, the DMA’s (North America), and many shows all over the US. Make sure to check out their Soundcloud for all their latest mixes, remixes, and original tracks!
Over the years, Jody and Tom have also developed their promotion company Bass Fueled Mischief which has hosted an incredible roster of artists including Distance & Cluekid (upcoming May 17), J:Kenzo, Truth, Moldy, Skream, Benga, Plastician, Mord Fustang, Excision, MartyParty, Funtcase, Flux Pavilion, Doctor P, Zeds Dead, and more. Check out the BFM Facebook page for all upcoming events!
King Yoof – Warrior Charge ft. Jah Mirikle (Hellfire Machina Remix)
Check out the full interview after the jump!
How long have you been producing and how did you get into producing?
My musical career started in a band in the mid 90′s (with Alex ‘KING YOOF’ Orton-Green). We were signed to East West (Warners) in 1994-97. In the early days it was all about sampling for me, we would create these tracks almost completely out of samples and then turn them into songs. The look on the producers faces when we walked in for our first ‘proper session’ was priceless, I had three taxi’s outside full of vinyl and asked them to hire more samplers for the session as four wasn’t going to be enough, all AKAI in those days.
I was lucky enough to spend a fair bit of time with Neil McLellan in the 90′s, I soaked up everything he shared with me and I would have to say he’s one of my biggest influences as a producer/programmer, Nicky Noize from Lawgiverz is another studio genius I had the fortune of working with back then that has most definitely been a huge influence as well. Massive love and respect to both of them and everyone else I’ve had the pleasure to create with and learn from!
What was it like working on the Wu-Tang Enter the Dubstep album?
When the project was put on the table Tom and I were lost for words, we are both huge Wu fans and I don’t mind saying it was a bit of a dream come true. We didn’t get to work with any of the artists directly and to be honest if we could turn back time we would have done it very differently BUT at the end of the day there’s a Wu Tang album out there with our names on and I’ll be proudly telling my grandchildren about that!
Are there any specific tracks you’re most proud or fond of?
We’re both emotionally attached to everything we create, it’s a part of us translated through 1′s and 0′s so I’m proud of all of it. Some tracks have been pure experimentation others are finely tuned displays of where we’re at musically and others are grooves you can loop for eternity. I’m proud of the project as a whole, we’ve come a long way in 3 years and I think Tom would agree with me when I say we both still feel like we’re just getting started with Hellfire Machina, I guess the warm up is over though.
Any upcoming projects?
The next Hellfire ep ‘Aperture’ is in the final stages, we’ve kept it tightly under wraps but will be letting off some sneaky previews soon.
Our remix of WarriorCharge by King Yoof has just dropped on Sub Slayers. The response from dj’s has been incredible on this one.
We’ve got collabs in the works with Heartbreak, Roommate, Bakir, Vibeizm.
Remixes underway for Statix/Imaginary Cities/Roommate and a few more I can’t mention at the minute ;)
With you and Tom on opposite sides of the country, is it difficult to work on new projects?
It’s going very well actually, we’ve always done things in our own way albeit unorthodox to most, working to a long term plan and this is just part of it. With the way technology is these days there are very few limitations any more.
Personally speaking I love living here in California, embracing the great outdoors and responding to the seductive call of the ocean. I’m feeling so inspired right now not just musically but in general, as a person I feel like I’ve grown in the short time I’ve been here and I’m excited to see where the journey goes.
What’s the next event for BFM?
The next Bass Fueled Mischief show in NYC is with Distance, Cluekid, Hellfire Machina, Bakir, and Max Mischief on May 17th @ DROM.
If you’ve never been to a BFM party before then this is all you, a dubstep masterclass from two UK legends accompanied by the finest low frequency soldiers NYC has to offer..
Be sure to check out Hellfire Machina’s Monday Mix!
Become a fan of Hellfire Machina on Facebook
Follow Hellfire Machina
Become a fan of Bass fueled Mischief on Facebook
Follow Bass Fueled Mischief
Bookings: Jesse Roman jro@stepupworld