Last Week Liquid is a relatively new drum and bass podcast. While most D&B podcasts, including our own LoveThatBass Radio, focus on playing music, Last Week Liquid has embraced the long form conversation format to speak with artists from within the scene.
Before we get into the podcast tell us about your introduction to drum & bass. What was it that hooked you enough to talk about it every week?
Hi! First off a big thank you for reaching out and giving me a chance to talk about the podcast. I’m pretty sure my earliest memory of drum & bass was hearing and seeing the music video for Witchcraft by Pendulum. Rob’s voice, the power in the drums, the melodies and the aesthetics of the music video had me hooked straight away.
About the same time I started listening to Netsky, first his singles on UKF’s YouTube channel, and then his first album dropped and was massive here in Belgium (my home country) and had a huge impact on me. I remember having the album on constant repeat while I was studying for my exams at Uni. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what I enjoy so much about drum & bass.
There have been periods of time when I stopped listening to the genre completely, but eventually at some point I always came back to it. I guess for me it’s the fact that the drums are so in-your-face and syncopated, it really draws you into the music and it’s hard to listen to it passively. There’s just a certain energy behind it, even in the more liquid tunes, that I’ve never really found in any other electronic genre.
What was your motivation to start recording Last Week Liquid? Is this one of the many creative positives to come from this depressing year of lockdowns?
Early 2020 was when I decided to take music production a lot more seriously. I was always dabbling with it in the past, but I made a conscious decision, coincidentally right before COVID hit, to push myself and make more music. I created the Millstreet alias a few months later and slowly started meeting people within the scene.
At the same time, I’ve always been a huge fan of long-form discussion podcasts. I’ve always had an itch to do something creative in that vein; I actually started a news-based Youtube channel (totally unrelated to music) a few years back but it never went anywhere.
Around July 2020, as I was getting more and more into production, the idea came to basically mix my passion for Drum & Bass and for podcast into a new creative adventure. While brainstorming ideas for the format of the podcast, I saw an opportunity in the fact that there weren’t that many interview-based podcasts at that time in drum & bass, and none that were around the producers that I enjoyed listening to. Around the same time, I also quit my job which I wasn’t enjoying, and instead of jumping straight into the next job, took the opportunity to take a few months off and properly dedicate myself to launching the podcast.
Coupled with the fact that everything was shut down, and I guess that looking back the circumstances were perfect to launch it at that time!
Liquid Drum & Bass
Having listened to most of the episodes I think the Last Week Liquid name is a little deceiving as it’s not strictly limited to the liquid D&B sub genre. I’m guessing liquid is your main passion?
Yeah the name can be a bit deceiving indeed. I chose it mostly because it has a nice ring to it, but you’re right the podcast is not strictly limited to liquid. Although if you scroll through the 40 odd episodes that I’ve already published, there’s a heavy bias toward liquid. And that just comes from the fact that it’s the genre a enjoy the most listening to and producing, so naturally I gravitate toward liquid producers when I’m looking for guests to come on the show. But I actively try to bring in people from different sub-genres of DnB, as well as people who might not be producers but are involved in the scene, like label managers or event organizers.
I envision my podcast to cover the entire DnB scene, from the people who make it, to people promoting it, writing about it, putting up shows etc.
Which artists are you watching for right now in the liquid D&B scene?
Let me check my playlist because there are so many! Right now I love pretty much everything Henry is putting out, he’s been a big inspiration in terms of how I write my music. Echo Motion, Colossus, CPH, Ben Rolo, Echo Brown are a few other names that come to mind that are at various stages in their “career” but from whom I love the music. Other more established producers that I will always follow include Telomic, In:Most, Mitekiss and SiLi. I’m sure when I’ll read back this interview I’ll realize I forgot to mention so many, but that’s what I got for now!
How do you go about selecting your guests? Are they all people you know?
Well if you check the artists I mentioned previously, you’ll see I’ve had most of them on the show already. So usually I just reach out to people I’m a fan of, or maybe somebody who I wasn’t aware of but who just dropped some great music. That’s usually the starting point. I also often chat with my community to see who they want to see on the show. 99% of the time though, I’m reaching out to guests out of the blue.
Being relatively new to the scene, I don’t have such an extensive network, so it’s more just a question of sending a DM or an email, introducing myself and the podcast, and then taking it from there. Luckily for me the DnB scene has some of the nicest people I have ever met, so more often than not they are happy to come on the show!
Learning About Being Creative
I really enjoyed your chats with Villem, Zero T & Stranjah. All were very insightful. Have you learned much from speaking to your guests?
I’ve learned so many things from the guests I’ve spoken to, both from a production point-of-view, but also from a mindset aspect, dealing with setbacks, mental health and just the human side of being a creative person. But I would say the podcast adventure as a whole has thought me so much, from how to be a good host and interviewer (I hope!) to marketing to self-confidence and a ton of other things. It’s honestly something I would recommend anybody to give a shot.
Who’s been your favorite person to speak to so far?
I feel like I’m choosing my favorite child here, so I hope I won’t make any enemies, but that’s a really hard one. Guests come in so many different “varieties” that it’s sometimes hard to compare them. I’d have to say getting Telomic on the show (episode 12) was a proper pinch-myself-is-this-actually-happening moment, because I was (and still am) a huge fan of his and wasn’t actually expecting he would agree to come on.
In terms of vibes, having Josh and Bailey from In:Most on was probably the most fun I had while recording. I still vividly remember thinking: “This is why I do this podcast” when we finished the interview and hung up.
How do you see the podcast evolving going forward? Or how has it evolved since you started?
The podcast has definitely grown way beyond what I imagined when I started. Seeing the community grow, people listening religiously every Monday morning when a new episode comes out, and then commenting or sharing the episode has been immensely rewarding.
I try to take things step by step and not rush everything at once. As the podcast has grown, I’ve created a dedicated Instagram page, a Last Week Liquid Podcast Community Facebook group, the lastweekliquid.com website etc.
Each week I sit down and try to see in what new ways I can bring the podcast to people who haven’t heard it, and how I can make it better. I guess in the long run I would like my podcast to become something anybody who enjoys DnB has heard of, a show that artists would naturally come to when they have music to promote, a bit like the equivalent of having your UKF interview today before your album comes out. But those are things that are beyond my control really, so all I can focus on is keeping on working, putting out my weekly episodes and becoming a better host! Whatever happens after that will happen.
Millstreet Music
Am I right in saying you’ve got a production collaboration coming with one of your previous guests? Is this something that’s come ad a result of doing the podcast?
Yeah absolutely, and it’s the favorite track I have ever written. I’ll keep it under wraps for now as to who it is, the track should come out later on this year, but yeah you’re absolutely right, it’s a direct consequence of having him on as a guest. We kept in contact after he came on the show, I would ask for him for feedback on demos of mine, and at some point he suggested we jump on a track together. He’ll hate me for saying this because he’s super modest, but it was a bit of a dream-come-true for me. It harks back to what I was saying earlier, in terms of what the podcast has brought me, this is the perfect example.
Any other projects in the pipeline?
Podcast-wise I have so many ideas on things I want to do, different types of episodes, new ways to interact with the community, new types of guests… At this point it’s just a question of prioritizing things and not overwhelming myself with stuff to do. I’d love to launch a second weekly or bi-weekly episode which wouldn’t be interview-based, just need to think a bit more about it and see how I would fit it in in terms of time.
Music-wise, as Millstreet, I have a few bits coming out in the coming months so keep your eyes peeled my Spotify and Soundcloud pages. I love hearing from people about ideas they have for the podcast, so feel free to get in touch at anytime on my socials, the easiest is just to check out my website, everything should be there. And thanks again for this interview, really appreciate the opportunity!
Listen To Last Week Liquid
Listen the the Last Week Liquid podcast, hosted by Millstreet, each Monday. Visit the website for links to your preferred podcast streaming service lastweekliquid.com/podcast
Want Drum & Bass Podcasts?
Want to hear more drum and bass podcasts? Why not start with our own LoveThatBass Radio show, featuring the latest upfront D&B music, news from the scene & all the goings on here at LoveThatBass. Available exclusively on Mixcloud
