Dr Meaker are one band that know what they’re doing.
Uniquely blending Soul and Bass, throwing out a vibe that resonates from the stage to the crowds, every time. Dr Meaker are what weekends are made for. From Bristol and known world wide they’re having a huge impact in clubs / venues and Radio stations all over the world.
If you’ve ever dreamed of going outa space but know it’s just a dream, the other option is to Listen to Dr Meaker. They’ll take you there faster than the speed of sound.
What’s been the highlights of 2012? The whole year been one huge build, from where we were this time last year. On all angles the gigs have stepped up, the support we had on BBC radio 1 and 1xtra live lounge, labels we’ve looked up to for years. V Recording’s in particular have brought through the biggest drum and bass people over the years. Mainly festivals and outdoor gigs. Fabric London was awesome. For us to be able to rock it out like we did was awesome, it was packed out.
Tell me about Brisfest when you performed ‘Louder’ with ‘Sian Evans’ ? That was really cool. Clive had collaborated with her on a track called ‘Wake Up’ which isn’t out yet but it’s a blinder of a track, one of the best that we’ve done. It started with the Welsh connection, Sian was performing in ‘The Rare One’ festival and she came into our room and we just hit it off. We had met before in Glastonbury. It wasn’t till the end we realized we was camping next to each other and we was like oh you’re Sian Evans and she was you’re Dr Meaker I love you guys and it went from there. There is definitely more to come from us in the future.
Do you think your music is edging more towards Soul or Drum n Bass as you’re evolving? We call it Bass music. We want to incorporate the hardness with soul. It’s always been like this, it’s just about nailing it and getting it right. All bands draw on what they love and put it through in their own way, it’s like that. It’s evolved in the quality of the productions but the idea’s has always been quite similar. Actually we’ve been developing that sound and finding our own unique sound over the last year.
Tell me how you came to be with V Records? David Boomah a Reggae artist who works with Shy FX he’s been with them for many years. We followed each other on Myspace for a long time and supported eachother before either of us made a name for ourselves. All the time we exchanged music and he’s doing really well on V recordings. I asked Boomah to give a demo of ours to Brian V and straight away Brian was emailing us and we took it from there.
Can you remember your 1st ever gig? Yes it was at Shambala festival.
The BRITS snow festival in Laax Switzerland and FHM, tell me more? There was a film crew that went to the same event working for FHM and we just connected with them. We was all staying at the same complex. It’s a small resort so everybody seen each other all the time, it was an outdoor snowboard event with music being played in the club. We hit it off with them, they shot a video of us while we was there and a video for us back here and been to a couple of our gigs. They did our video ‘Music In The Night’ and featured our track ‘Fighter’ on their FHM video of the actual snowboarding event.
So what was it like to be performing in Swiss Alps? It was surreal. Absolutely amazing to be performing on top of a mountain and we was the 1st to do it there. They made a stage with pallets on top of snow and people with shovels to hold us all in place on the edge of a 50 ft drop.
How did you all get together as Dr Meaker? I was in a band before 10 years ago called Chemical Frequency signed to MCGQ Label. I orchestrated Dr Meaker, writing the tunes and wanted to get the right kind of people in for the job. I wanted to do a live electronic act. Ben lived with me at university so he came on board. I needed a drummer and loved female vocals as well. It was all organic and asked around for drummer, bass player etc I met up with everyone and that’s how it all came together. (Clive).
What do you focus on 1st in a track, the hook the beats or lyrics? The hook that rolls, the melody’s come 1st then the lyrics and the final putting together.
Why should people check out Dr Meaker? Whatever kind of week you had, by the time you see us you can take what it is to another level, it’s medicine. Drum and bass is the platform and the foundation and everything on top of that. Just dance your ass off and forget about the stresses of life. There’s always a good soulful vibe and the lyrics are always uplifting.
We give it 100% absolutely every time. It’s not about the ego for us it’s all about giving people a good time and giving someone that pleasure, the pleasure we’ve all experienced. We all love music, and if we give that to other people then it reciprocates. If we make people happy on a Friday night it makes us happy. We love the synergy when were locked in with the people it’s incredible.
Tom, you’re sponsored by Sonor tell me more? Sonor and Roland they took me on because of Dr Meaker and previous works. I’ve been making my way up in the dance scene. This is a massive platform as they see me doing Radio1 sessions. I had my own custom Sonor SQ2 drum kit made for me and a custom skin for Dr Meaker. It’s great I never thought I’d have it at my age. It’s because of this band that’s helped me to do it. I’m one of the youngest to be sponsored by Sonor in Europe, I’m really lucky.
If this was your last interview what would you say to your fans? We hope our music will live on, keep the music real, work hard, learn how to play instruments properly. Don’t rely on technology and find the melody and soul, don’t rely on Auto-Tune.
Words of encouragement for anyone in the music industry? Just believe in yourself. If you want to do it, just do it. Remember it’s about the people. Have your inner core belief in what your doing, that will drive you forward. It might not happen overnight, it might take a while but keep working at it.
Website :: http://www.drmeaker.co.uk/
Twitter ::https://twitter.com/DrMeaker
iTunes :: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/a-lesson-from-the-speaker/id295827644
FaceBook :: http://www.facebook.com/drmeaker
