STRAIGHT UP WITH BIG BUD

Big Bud. Do we need to say much? This guy was puttin out records while most of us were learning how to write in cursive.

Heres his interview.

1) Bud, long time, how you been?

ez Westbay , yea im good thanks , busy , happy , life is sweet !

2) So you've just wrapped a new album, tell us
about the project?

Well it's my 5th album , 3rd on my own label , SOUNdTRAX .. I'm real happy with it, feel like i've moved on with what i'm doing , but still with the same vibes ..

3) What seperates this from previous albums you've
produced?

I think it's the most dancefloor freindly album so far , no real concept or anything behind this one , just a taste of where i am in 2009..
Been working on stripping down my sound too , using fewer elements but trying to create a bigger sound . .

4) Your last album had a wealth of guest featurings,
did you take the same route with this or keep it solo?

Not as many guests as the Fear of Flying project , but saying that i am very proud to have a Utah Jazz remix on there as well as a colab with FURNEY..
The album ends with a song i wrote with my MC , Mike Romeo on vocals.

5) Is the album purely d&b?

Its an 11 track CD and 3 x 12" vinyl , of the 11 , 8 are straight up dNb , one jazzy , afro kinda 6/8 thing and a dUb track and a reggae song .

6) How long did it take you to write?

Round about 3months in total i think .. Hard to say , had to write it inbetween tours and weekends away etc. It wasn't one long studio session , find that hard to do these days . Always so much keeping me busy . Label , tours , kids eTc...

7) Whats your favorite track off the album?

Hmm , i'm happy with all of it but if i had to choose i think it would be GUIDING STAR , the song.. I wrote the lyrics while i was staying at Mike Romeo's place in Frankfurt..We were just jamming some ideas for a dNb track , he sang some phrase that sparked an idea ... I grabbed a pen + paper , rolld a fat1 , sat on the balcony for a bit and had this image of a group of Rastas up in the hills of Jamaica , sat smoking sum shit and their Nyabinghi drums .. So that was the idea behind it and i asked Mike to sing it with that image in his head.. It was originally gonna be @ dNb tempo but i halved it and kept it all acoustic , there's nothing electronic in there at all.. So , yea , thats my fave . and of course watch out for the dNb re-rUb ...soon come !

8) When's the album tour kick off?

Started already 2bh , off to Bucharest this weekend , with Mike , first of many launch parties.. Back for a few days then another launch party in Belgrade, Serbia.. My g/friend over there gona have our baby in the next few weeks too so that's gona be an even biggger launch party !
London launch party is on 26th...

9) What do you want people to know about Soundtrax ?

SOUNdTRAX , for those that don't know , UK based dNb label 5yrs in the game , maybe longer , hard to remember.. Releasing a steady stream of quality , musical dNb , from some well established names on the scene as well as bringin thru some of the new blood which i believe is vital to keep the scene alive . for more info peep the website :

www.soundtraxrecords.com

10) Current top 10?

01 : ELECTROSOUL SYSTEM - ASTEROIDS (SOUNdTRAX dUb)
02 : DERRICK + TONIKA - HUMANA ( SOUNdTRAX dUb)
03 : BIG BUD - SOUL ON FIRE (SOUNdTRAX dUb)
04 : MIKAL - MISSION (SOUNdTRAX dUb)
05 : BIG BUD+GREG PACKER - RISE (SOUNdTRAX dUb)
06 : BIG BUD+GREG PACKER - RAINING DUB (SOUNdTRAX dUb)
07 : ED OBERON - FATAL HOUR (SOUNdTRAX)
08 : FURNEY - PLAY SOMETHING FOR ME (SOUNdTRAX dUb)
09 : FURNEY - SENSIBELIA (SOUNdTRAX dUb)
10 : BIG BUD - WANT YOU SO BAD (SOUNdTRAX)

11) Any last words or shout-outs?

Don't forget to show some love for the label and the scene and if you wana buy the CD or the vinyl , the cheapest place to grab a copy is from the label's website store !! Peaz'n'Luv 2 all SOUNdTRAX SOLDIERS !!