BEHIND THE SOUND: QUIET DAWN
With roots firmly in the Broken Beat scene, Quiet Dawn has become a reference point; your favourite artist’s, favourite artist,
His extensive discography on the mighty First Word Records spans a diverse catalogue that highlights his love for intricate percussion, groove-filled basslines, and lush harmonies and melodies.
We were honoured to have Quiet Dawn feature as the lead single on ‘We Move as One’, and now we shine a light on his inspirations and his track ‘Let’s Dance People’.
Tell us about your song, ‘Let’s Dance People’, on the compilation.
The song is about sharing our love with people we don't often tell. Sometimes out of modesty, sometimes because of the way we were raised by our parents. And I thought it was a nod to the label's name, The People, The Place. But I wanted to approach this idea with a cool and danceable vibe. You can convey a lot of things like that.
What sounds, genres, and artists do you draw inspiration from normally in your creative process?
Overall, jazz, house, bruk, disco, funk, boogie, bossa nova and samba, soul. I’m passionate about samba percussion. My biggest inspirations are Domu, Kaidi Tatham, Dego, Moodymann, Theo Parrish, Jay Dee, Osunlade, Atjazz, Kerri Chandler, Jon Dixon, DJ Spinna and Stevie Wonder, every day. The current UK scene, whether it's bruk, house or jazz, is incredible; my brothers Oliver Night, Divorce From New York and many others… are also big sources of inspiration.
Do you have a fixed way of creating music? Where do you normally start an idea form?
Sometimes I’m starting with a chord idea, sometimes with a drum pattern idea and bass line.
I record a lot of ideas, melodies and drum patterns on my dictaphone, my phone is full, i’ve no more space. Then, I focus on percs, arrangements and I quickly know if it’ll be a track with vocals or not.
Any words of wisdom for anyone wanting to realise a creative project?
Do what you want, without restrictions. It has to be fun. You have to have fun making music, otherwise it will be complicated. Don't force yourself to make a track just because you have to make a track. Talk and share with people who share your emotions; you can share your tracks with those you feel good with. They'll be able to tell you if it's cool, what you can improve, if you have any doubts. But in the end, you have the final cut, and you have to like it.
Do you have any upcoming projects we should keep an eye out for?
At the moment I’m working on a house music EP for the serbian label Soul Print Recordings. I’m making several remixes and some hiphop beats I did for a french emcee. I work in parallel on the beat tape ‘Simple Vol. 2’ the continuation of ‘Simple’ which is out on First Word Records in 2023. I was invited by my brother Divorce From New York on his next EP, so I'm excited by this one.
What album or EP will you likely have on repeat for the rest of the summer?
Definitely, Sault's latest album! I received the next LP from one of my music brothers and the album is crazy! Alexander Flood's album ‘Artifactual Rhythm’ on Atjazz Record Company is really cool too. Tom Esselle on Rhythm Section and of course The People, The Place compilation.
Any books, movies, or series you’re currently watching and would recommend, why?
At the moment I’m reading the manga ‘20th Century Boys’ by Naoki Urasawa which is exciting. There’s 11 volumes + 1 volume under the name ‘21th Century Boys’, The Lewis Hamilton’s Biographie . For the series, I was looking forward to season 4 of ‘The Bear’, I'll look at this one during vacation. Season 2 of ‘Severance’ is on my list for vacation. I really liked the last season of ‘Andor’.
Any live performances/radio shows you’ve done and want to share with us?
You can check my latest radio show on d59b and several guest mix + some episodes of my radio show on Le Mellotron on Mixcloud
Follow Quiet Dawn on Instagram.
