Mood Sync Radio: Reedale Rise

THAT Friday feeling just got a whole lot more exciting. Well, at least once a month it has. Because the folks behind the excellent Inner Shift label and bright newcomer Common Dreams went and launched a monthly broadcast.

Featuring a mix of records, live performance and visuals, Mood Sync Radio goes out the second Friday of each month via online broadcaster Timeline Music. Archived shows are handily available for your listening pleasure here. So far it’s been an eclectic selection of deep house, ambient and electronica chosen or performed by Brad Peterson (Moods & Grooves/Minuendo) and Rai Scott (Batti Batti/Ornate) who, amongst their many other projects, run the aforementioned Inner Shift.

But for their next show this coming Friday [September 11^th], the duo welcome the first of many planned guests, Reedale Rise, who will be performing live. So we caught up with the producer (aka Simon Keat) to chat about his ear-catching Common Dreams 10” debut, future projects and the forthcoming Mood Sync performance.

How did the Common Dreams record come about?

Brad got in touch after seeing some videos of me frolicking in the studio on my YouTube channel to enquire if I’d like to send him some music. I sent him a few bits and bobs and fortunately he liked what I sent. I've often lacked a bit of confidence about the quality of my music, so it was great to have the backing of Brad and Common Dreams to give me a boost.

So it was your first release then?

The Common Dreams record is my first physical release. I do also have an album on Bandcamp that is a compilation of stuff I've done over the previous few years.

Is there more to come?

I have an electro track coming out on the lovely Boe Recordings some time in the next few months. I'm trying to rapidly churn out some new tracks at the moment with an eye on future releases and also to generate some decent quality material for my live show. My first live show in a club is happening on October 24th in Peckham for a night called Friends of Ours and it is safe to say I am already bricking it! I'm not really one for pursuing labels and gigs, so I'm pretty happy to sit back and see what comes to me for now.

Tell us a little about your musical background then Simon.

I've been tinkering with music production since I was about 16 and my mum got me a midi keyboard for my birthday. Apparently I'm a slow learner as it’s taken me another 16 years to get my first record out!

I spent quite a few years aimlessly messing with software and not really having a clue what I was doing. I have some quite cringe-worthy cassette recordings of those early productions that should probably be hermetically sealed and safely disposed of so they can never be heard again by human ears.

I then bought a few basic bits of kit like a Boss DR-550 drum machine and Yamaha sampler but again didn't really know what I was doing. I spent a lot of time wondering why it was so difficult to make drum and bass with a cheesy drum machine before I learned that you were supposed to sample breakbeats. I guess I've only really knuckled down and got a bit more serious about production in the last three or four years, which was when I got an MPC and started doing my YouTube videos.

So what can we expect from the Mood Sync show?

Again, this is all new to me; Mood Sync will be my first-ever live show outside the confines of my studio. I'm going to be on for about an hour. It'll be mostly new material with the Common Dreams tracks making an appearance I'm sure. I'm hoping to play some varied styles but it'll be the deeper forms of house, techno, bassy stuff and electro.

In terms of the set up, what will you be working with on the night?

Though I love my hardware, synths, mixer and effects, I'm using Ableton Live and a midi controller for the live set at the moment. It makes me feel a bit of a techno charlatan to not be banging away at synths and drum machines but I'm hoping that the quality of the music will speak for itself. 

And have you had any hand in the visuals for the night?

I'll leave that in the capable hands of Mr Peterson and Rai.

Mood Sync Radio is the second Friday of each month at Timeline Music. Check it here.