review

Drum & Bass Pep Talk!

20th November 2016 by Nicky Havey 2 Comments

I’ve been in a good place with all the developments that have been going on recently! So much has happened that I haven’t had time to get through the “Moving On” EP that was released at the end of September with Allowance Records. Until now that is…. 😉

Moving On

I wrote this track when I was escaping from a dark period in my life and contemplating moving on to bigger and better things (around January 2015). I finally had the courage to stand up and say I had had enough of the environment that brought me isolation, depression and a total disregard for my well-being. This was one of the most satisfying things I have done and I strongly encourage anyone who is feeling down about their current situation to be pro-active and improve your life.

“Moving On” captures the moment when I decided to go travelling and the overwhelming positive feeling it gave me in doing so. Instead of just talking about it, I actually did it and it gave me a sense self-confidence, even though I’m still low in that personality trait these days. It taught me that it’s better to just take the plunge than to live in something that you’re familiar with, even when the familiar ‘thing’ is really damaging to you!

With that in mind, this song is one of my personal favourites I’ve made as it reminds me to keep challenging myself and push towards those new horizons. I hope that you feel inspired to drive yourself to do things outside of your comfort zone after reading or listening to the track. Don’t let fear stop you from doing the things you want to do 🙂

Shout Outs

I was over the moon when Louise Carron Harris told me she was playing “Moving On” on her New Music Discovery Show on Marlow FM 97.5 so a big thanks to her. One day we’ll get that interview sorted out (3 years in the making now haha)!

Also thanks to my friends Laura, Andy and Lucian who were always there for a supportive push.

Finally, of course all my music friends and fans who chipped in with the positive comments along the way. It really does make a difference!

Where can we get this song?

So to get a cleaner, full version of the song, you can click here and enjoy the EP. I look forward to telling you about the final track, Playtime, in due course 🙂

In the meantime, subscribe to these blogs (at the bottom of the post) and you will get updated on new, exciting developments, including free downloads, podcasts and more!

Take it easy

Nicky

Free Drum & Bass track voted for by you!

29th October 2016 by Nicky Havey Leave a Comment

Ladies and gentlemen, how are you?! What a busy week this has been in my music circle with the wonderful Maya Stone hooking me up with DJ D-Vox who played out a couple of tracks that were on this month’s free download poll on her show last night! That prompted a big response and for the first time, we had a dead heat!

Ooooo exciting!

The two tracks that were involved were actually not the ones played out on D-Vox’s show, instead they were:

Jx – Son of a Gun (Nicky Havey remix), a blast from the past that has been re-engineered more times than the High Wycombe buses!
True Illusion feat Jenny Jones – Killing Me, another remix of True Illusion by me, am I sponsored by him or something?!

Which free download do we get?!

As this was a dead heat, I used the very high tech solution of putting these songs in to a hat and randomly picked out Jx – Son of a Gun (Nicky Havey remix)! Wooohoooo!! There’s a link at the bottom of this article which will take you to your free download!

Is there a story behind this one then?

Well, it’s not as extravagant as some of my previous stories but there’s still something 😛

The remix itself came from one of those afternoons back in March 2012, when I definitely should have been spending time slightly more productively on my PhD! That’s right, this remix is actually 4 and a half years old! I was sat at my desk in my room, snooping around my music software and just started playing around with sounds, hitting my keyboard randomly until suddenly, I heard something that seemed very familiar.

It reminded me of Son of a Gun by Jx as it popped up randomly on my mp3 player during one of my many walks in to Uni. A quick online search to see if anyone had done a Drum & Bass remix of it yielded no results so I thought, let’s just go for it! I found the vocal and the song basically came together almost too perfectly! It was one of my earliest songs I uploaded to SoundCloud and quickly became very popular.

So why is it in this download poll?

Put simply, my production skills back then were terrible, the balance of the sounds was awful and I took it down for a few years, until I started getting better at balancing my tracks (the purchase of proper studio speakers helped with that conquest). That’s when I started sending my songs to be professionally finished by the guys at the Audio Animals studio and, once completed, I put this in the poll and as you voted for it, you can now blast it out of your car speakers!

In fact, there is a funny story behind this, which starts off with my friend, Photo Addict (who helped me set up this website) downloading the first version of this remix 4 years ago. He went to his friend’s place as his mate was showing off about how he had these brand new speakers fitted in to his car. Now, remember how I said my production skills were a little bit loose back then? It turns out the bass was a little bit too strong and I received a message later that day from Photo Addict saying that the track blew his mate’s car speakers 😛 Whoops!

Anyway, click here to get the final remix, car speaker friendly (although I make no guarantees that it won’t cause damage – disclaimer 😀 )

Thanks for the support and getting involved! More free downloads to come, make sure you subscribe to the blog so you don’t miss a trick!

Nicky

Reflections – Rounding off the Drum & Bass EP

17th September 2016 by Nicky Havey Leave a Comment

Ah, Reflections, I have finally got round to writing about you and telling the wonderful people all about your deep meaning. Join me in this blog and find out about the Reflections song and EP, some 9 months after it was released with Allowance Records. Let’s get to it!

Reflections – The Song

There are some things that just stick in your mind and I remember the reason behind the creation of this song well. Reflections came about after a conversation with a good friend of mine who goes by the name of Wordy (around December 2014). The topic moved to the big transition I was going through in my life at the time. I had decided to leave Birmingham after 9 and a half years and was in to my final month, tying up all the loose ends and such. It was in that phone call we both started going in to a deep reflective mode and looked back at all we had achieved. I do love a good reflection (that’s why I don’t look in the mirror heyooooo)!

After the phone call, I went straight to my music studio to harness this powerful emotion as I began working on the song. The deep chords emphasised the nostalgic feeling that the 9 and a half years were drawing to an end and the chirpy ‘piano’ melody representing my happiness with what I achieved at University. I worked quite hard on the second breakdown half way through the song to really get that “distant” sound as if to say, “cheerio” before bringing the main beat back one more time for that final “hurrah”!

Having said that, it’s also a future thinking track where I look back on these times (and look forward to the big travelling adventure I had already planned) to help drive inspiration for other dreams later down the line.

Reflections – The EP

Honestly, the whole EP is a bit of a mish-mash of introspective songs I made in 2015 but they all came together to tell a story!

2015 – Looking forward to the year ahead (when I wrote the track at the beginning of 2015!)

Dreaming – Thinking about the epic journey.

Black Hole – Feeling a deep sadness after coming back from travelling.

Skyway Meadows – A song for one of the highlights of the travels.

Reflections – Looking back at all that I have done and using it to fuel future inspirations.

Finally!

So there we have it, the Reflections EP, another mini-loop of my life in 2015 presented to you in 5 Drum & Bass tracks and released by the wonderful team at Allowance Records back in January 2016!

You can get the full EP by clicking here.

Thanks to all who have supported my music and got involved so far. What was your favourite track of the EP? Do you feel inspired by any of the stories from the blogs? Let me know in the comments below!

Take it easy

Nicky

Who wants a free Drum & Bass track then?

24th August 2016 by Nicky Havey Leave a Comment

Phew, it’s hot here in the UK this week boys and girls! OK, not as hot as Monument Valley but still…! Speaking of hotting up, it’s time to warm up those voting fingers of yours as this month’s free download poll gets underway!

If you haven’t been involved with these before, then this is what you need to do:

From the list below, select as many of the tracks you would like (they are all remixes I’ve made and mastered professionally by the Audio Animals)
Click “Submit Your Choices”
The track with the most votes at the end of the week will be a free download (if there’s a tie, then it will be decided by a high tech “names out of the hat” approach)!

What are you waiting for?? Happy voting ?

Nicky

Nostalgia – Meadows In The Sky Parkway

20th August 2016 by Nicky Havey Leave a Comment

Greetings everyone, I hope you’re well!

It’s been a while since I checked in to my backlog of tracks and as I am feeling nostalgic today, it seemed quite fitting to share “Skyway Meadows” with you. I could just simply say, “This is the 4th track of my Reflections EP, I hope you enjoy” but you know that’s not my style! Each song I produce generally has a story behind it but this has something special at the end 🙂

Inception

No, not the movie (although it is one my favourites) but rather how this track was born. I did a spot of travelling last year and one of the last places I visited in Canada was Meadows in the Sky Parkway. At this point in my adventure, I had been travelling through USA & Canada for nearly 50 days and I was getting that feeling of “I’m going to miss this” (as I’m sure everyone does when they are coming to the end of a holiday)! Anyway, I digress….

Pop My Mind

When I came back from this epic adventure, I received an e-mail from Pop My Mind creator Oliver Squirrel, asking me if I had created anything new recently. Pop My Mind is a creative platform where anyone can create anything in response to a theme or from other artists in the community. Click here to check out the website and get creative!

As I was feeling sad and reflective, the song was born and without any real interruption to the creative flow, I submitted a clip to the Pop My Mind website, where, to my amazement, it got featured in their first exhibition back in 2015! I also found out that the track got Oliver’s Auntie in to Drum & Bass which is pretty cool too 😀

It’s definitely a platform I will try to get more involved with (sorry Oliver for not being a frequent creator on the platform). Those who have been following me for a while will remember my 5th Highlights podcast, which featured creations from artists in the Pop My Mind community but I will return with another special in the future I’m sure 🙂

Skyway Meadows

If you have worked out how the name of the song came about, give yourself a pat on the back! I rather cleverly just swapped some words around from “Meadows in the Sky Parkway” and made a new word up in the process (Skyway?!) to end up with the track name – Skyway Meadows, which you can buy here.

Listening to it now takes me back to this wonderful place I was lucky enough to visit last year. Thanks to Jacob for being an awesome tour guide in Canada when we were out there. I couldn’t have asked for a better birthday trip and I particularly enjoyed our deep conversations on the long drives between destinations.

Fate or coincidence?

As I was writing this blog, I had a flashback to something surreal that happened on the Canada trip. As we were making our way to a campsite at Wells Gray National Park, Jacob told me that another tour group were going to be joining us. Deep down, I was hoping it would be a previous tour guide, Jay Burleson (hilarious man), from a trip I did in USA the year before but the chances of that were nigh on impossible, what with the hundreds of different tour guides doing hundreds of different tours in various countries at hundreds of different dates…

Anyway, we were making our way over to the next campsite and needed to stop off in some remote supermarket in the middle of nowhere to get supplies. I was on fruit purchasing duties and as I was picking the juiciest oranges money can buy, I heard this man shout out “NICKY!!!! IS THAT YOU???”. I naturally sh*t myself. Who expects that in a supermarket?!

So I look up and I can’t believe my eyes as it’s Jay!! That unmistakable beard with one of the most epic bison hats you’ll ever see left me stunned and, with juicy oranges rolling all over the floor, the smiles rained down on both of our faces. As if that wasn’t crazy enough, it was on my birthday as well so in true Walt Disney style, my wish came true. We stayed up late in to the night, chatting and chilling around the camp fire, remaining in astonishment as we did so. I mean, that’s just incredible how that happened and I had to share the story with you!

I hope you enjoyed this blog entry, leave a comment if you have an amazing story or trip that you’d like to share in the comments below!

Take it easy

Nicky

In the Summertime

7th August 2016 by Nicky Havey Leave a Comment

August has arrived (frighteningly quick by the way) and to follow on from the Spring Breaks album, the artists of Allowance Records have pulled together and created a bonanza of tracks for you to make sure that you get the most out of Summer 2016! I feel very lucky to be part of a label with a talented group of artists bringing you a variety of different styles and I managed to hear from some of them about their tracks on this compilation. Here’s more from the artists involved with the Summer Bangers compilation (released August 5th 2016):

Nicky Havey – Far Away

You might have heard this one on my latest Havey’s Highlights podcast if you tuned in (click here to listen to it). I made this one to reflect the feeling that finding a special someone appears to be so far away at the moment and I’m almost frantically drifting along (represented by the trance elements of the song). It will sort itself out in the end I’m sure. I had a recent conversation with a work colleague who gave me some hope that it will happen. “You’ve both been waiting for each other your entire lives but your paths haven’t crossed yet”.

Nicky Havey – Smash & Grab

If you have been following me since the beginning, you might have heard an older version of this track. I decided to give it a re-work and gave it a diet (it was around 7 minutes 30 seconds when I first made it). I think the main melody of the drop is based around a memory I had of some background music that was playing during the interim on some talent show, possibly on Pop Idol, way back when. I was trying to emulate its fairly simple melody on my keyboard and wondered how I could turn it in to a hard hitting Drum & Bass track. Lo and behold, Smash & Grab was born with it’s fast, driven beats for you to power your way through to the beaches this summer!

K@oSinFusion – Inner Peace

“Smooth liquid vibes to calm the soul” – K@oSin Fusion

Nicky’s comments

This is one of the more liquid drum & bass style tracks on the compilation and a nice way to open up the proceedings. A chilled track that will take you to calmer waters.

K@oSinFusion Ft. Baby Gee – Addicted

“Epic cinematic vocally driven track with a slightly dark twist” – K@oSin Fusion

Nicky’s comments

So from the liquid vibe of the opening track, to a more darker sound with some haunting vocals from Baby Gee, this can turn the mood around in an instant. Great drum beat used in this with a hypnotic vibe to the over all track, for those who enjoy their summers a little on the darker side!

Carbone – Angle of Trajectory

“Rough & Raw piece of DnB Tune, Spectral Bassline & Cutting Neuro’Bass with Dirty Breaks & Wiked Synths Vibez” – Carbone

Nicky’s comments

Instantly from the intro, you can tell something big is brewing here as the sounds grow and build before giving you a heavy, gnarly drop. Not for the lighthearted this one!

MisterB – L.E.O.

“Spacey minimal chlled vibez” – MisterB

Nicky’s comments

This one definitely has that minimal feel to it with the reversed chord sounds, almost like “Mad World” by Tears For Fears. A chilled out, eerie vibe going for it, this is for those who want to use their summer holiday for introspection.

Opius – Dub Power

“One for the carnival!!! The summer hasn’t shown but the carnival is in the bible!!! Big bouncy Ragga jungle ShIZz that you can actually dance too.” – Opius

Nicky’s comments

Opius brings the old school dub sounds to the fray as he delivers a high energy drum beat from the off, leading to a great energy on the drop for all generations.

FiendReflex – Anything You Want

“Vocal, tech, roller, giving everything you want with a side of future sounds and revved up bass lines.” – FiendReflex

Nicky’s comments

The intro in this one is what we’ve come to love about FiendReflex, a slightly trance feel to it filled up with great female samples before delivering his trademark neurofunk bassline style to drive that energy through.

Dj Relitivity & FiendReflex – Electrick Beauty

“The beauty of a collab, that brings the euphoric sounds and lush pianos from Relitivity and the dirty, pumping bass lines and tech roller drums from FiendReflex. A collab that just keeps giving with every minute.” – FiendReflex

“The original track was experimental and didn’t fall in very well with the album so Fiendreflex offered to do a collab and I happier than larry with the out come” – Dj Relitivity

Nicky’s comments

The piano opening sets the tone for a light, melodic intro that you think will keep a liquid vibe throughout… but wait for that drop, you will be surprised and delighted I’m sure! You can definitely hear the two different styles of the artists come together in eclectic harmony with this one.

Lost in the Wreckage ft. Jacoby Riot & C4Z – On The Beach Tonight

“Vocal DnB with a big crossover feel thanks to the snarling live guitar riffs, which captures the vibe of freedom and elation just as a spontaneous beach party hits it’s peak” – Lost in the Wreckage, Jacoby Riot & C4Z

Nicky’s comments

The tranquil spacey opening chords with the vocals are perfect for getting your hands up in the air as the build comes to deliver a big drop. A great feeling for this song, which combines sounds from all sorts of genres, from trance, to a bit of rock and then drum & bass. Really nicely done!

Szero – Metadata

“Straight hard hitting neurofunk roller to start the day.” – Szero

Nicky’s comments

There’s no messing around with this track, the dark atmosphere should be no surprise as the intro hits you straight away with an intensity that grows into the drop. One for the heavy hitting drum & bass fans here!

G&J – Vision

“Bringing you some nice electric summervibes with this one.” – G&J

Nicky’s comments

Definitely gone for the electric sounds with this track with a nice chord progression that maintains and develops after the drop for a futuristic sounding summer!

G&J – Raw

“Neurofunk roller with a deep bassline and hard hitting drums.” – G&J

Nicky’s comments

I would use the name of the track to describe it, no pleasantries, it is just raw. With a different feel to G&J’s other track in this compilation, it just goes to show the range of styles on offer. Another one for the hard hitting fans here!

Final Comments

So there you have a brief insight in to this compilation. Plenty of different styles from a variety of different artists, touching the huge spectrum that is the Drum & Bass genre. I’ve included some links below to buy the songs and show your support to the underground artists:

Click HERE to buy the release

Szero Facebook Link – http://www.facebook.com/szerodnb

Matty Bdnb Facebook Link – https://www.facebook.com/matty.bdnb.9

K@oSinFusion Facebook Link – https://www.facebook.com/kaosinfusion/

FiendReflex Facebook Link – https://www.facebook.com/fiendreflex/

Nicky Havey – https://www.facebook.com/nickyhaveyofficial/

Thanks for your support and enjoy the release!

Nicky

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