Ebb | Te Ahi Top 10

Taking out the top spot on this week’s Te Ahi Top 10 is Christchurch local Producer and DJ Ebb, with his song ‘Alloy‘. Featuring rattling percussion and electric drums, the track has an industrial sound to it perfect for a late-night urban boogie.

We caught up with Ebb to chat about how the track came together, his influences and future plans.

Check out the interview below.

Congrats on taking out the top spot on this week’s Te Ahi Top 10 with your song ‘Alloy’! Can you tell us a little bit more about who you are and what you do?

Cheers! I’m a producer/DJ based in CHCH, currently studying IT and spending all of my spare time making horrible noises in my room.

Can you tell us a little bit more about how the track came together?

The tune is a couple of years old now – I think at the time I was wanting a drum-heavy DJ tool to act as a bridge between techno and more colourful UK Funky type tracks I was playing, so this track was a product of attempting to fuse together a couple of different sound palettes. It definitely came out with its own character which is always nice as well.

Can you talk to us about your production process as a whole? How do you go about making a song and what DAW do you use?

I produce entirely in the box – Ableton is my DAW of choice, paired up with a few 3rd party VST’s and lots and lots of field recordings. I love sampling so I tend to start tracks from a recording or sample I find interesting, chuck some drums in and just experiment. There’s no real recipe or method, I enjoy starting every track from a clean slate and seeing where things end up.

The track comes from an EP you were involved in ‘Cassius Select & EBB’, can you tell us a little bit more about the project as a whole?

This EP came completely out of the blue – Basic Rhythm (who runs the label) was shown a few of my tunes and reached out to me, I sent him what I’d been working on and he masterminded the whole operation. I’ve been a big fan of his work for a while, especially the East Man project and his releases with Walton, so it was great getting to talk and figure everything out. I’m really into Cassius’s tracks as well and I think there’s a nice symmetry to the release, it all felt super organic which is always a good sign. Shouts out to Ant!!!

What are some of the things that influence your music?

Aside from direct musical influence, my main inspiration is the landscape that I live in. I’m very lucky to live in Governors Bay and spend a lot of time outdoors and that’s definitely where I draw most of my inspiration from. 

Have you got any upcoming gigs we should know about?

I’m very lucky to be playing at 1985 X Keep Hush at the end of the month down at Flux, alongside the bossman Alix Perez and 3 of my favourite NZ producers – Headland, Paige Julia & Texture! 

What does the rest of 2021 have in store for you?

Staying focused on my studies and music, mainly. I have some releases lined up that I’m super excited about, and looking forward to spending winter locked away in the studio. 

You can check out ‘Alloy’ below.

As well as the ‘Cassius Select & EBB’ EP.

The Te Ahi Top 10 is our weekly chart as voted by YOU, our audience! Presented live every Thursday 3 – 4pm on RDU 98.5FM. 

To vote for the Te Ahi Top 10 simply download the RDUnited app and click the like icon for a track you love when it’s played on air. The tune with the most likes each week will be crowned the winner! Simple as that.