Making his way to our shores for the longstanding Boxing Day event, Breakfest, happening at Belvoir Amphitheatre on Thursday, December 26, Southampton producer Featurecast took a moment to chat with TOM KITSON about his big, fat, party beats.
Discovered through online media since uploading his first mixes and now on the cusp of his first official Australian tour, Featurecast aka Lee Mintram brings a producer’s skills and creativity to the DJ set format.
Committing to a mix in the same way many artists would only approach their own tracks, gives Mintram’s sets a certain quality – designed to be listened to more than just the once.
“I don’t really plan my sets,” he states. “I’ll sort of chuck everything into one folder and see what it’s like on the day. What I do work on is my own production and remixes, which I can throw in the mix so I’ve got a more exclusive set.”
Benefiting from the tight knit family of breaks artists worldwide, Mintram has made a name for himself and been able to give back to other aspiring producers and DJs.
“There is a strong community feeling among breakbeat artists, like in most genres,” he says. “We’re all willing to help each other out and give support. There’s no negativity, especially in places like Canada where everyone knows everyone.”
The genres he focuses on vary from breakbeat to drum’n’bass to hip hop, stemming from his keen interest in creating sets and tracks that offer something extra. “Hopefully that focus on putting my own edits, tracks and various genres into my mixes sets me apart from other DJs,” he says. “If other DJs are playing a track for example, I might put the tune into Logic on my computer and mess around with it to make something new and different for my set.”
After stumbling across the world of dance music, he’s never looked back, maintaining a stubborn determination to stick at it.
“I got into making music through my neighbour who was a DJ,” he says. “He showed me a few things in the hip hop and dance music areas and I went out and bought a cheap pair of decks to get started with.
“Once I discovered my love for it, I refused to do anything else and I’ve been really fortunate that people have listened to my music.”
As music technology and production methods continue to evolve, Mintram says he is always keen to try something new and learn from other producers, all to achieve one important goal.
“My studio set up is really simple now, I used to have a lot of analogue equipment but currently just have a Mac, speakers, Logic and Ableton software and a number of plug-ins,” he explains. “Some people like the idea behind using analogue equipment to get that warmer sound, but I think as long as the music is making people dance it doesn’t matter so much how the sound was created.”
Featurecast plays Breakfest, happening at Belvoir Amphitheatre on Thursday, December 26.
Get your tickets here.
