Jan 16 2012

Interview: Xilent

by Westhead • Dubstep, Interviews • Tags: Audioporn Records, Beatport, Drum & Bass, Drum n Bass, Dubstep, filestube, hulkshare, Interview, mediafire, soundcloud, Westhead, Xilent, zippy 0

Eryk Kowalczyk a.k.a. Xilent (Pronounced ‘Zilent’) hails from his studio compound in Warsaw, Poland where, as a young kid, he experimented with the art of production. Craving to expand upon the EDM world he’d youthfully plunged into, Eryk’s (Xilent) hobby became an occupation. Since then he has formulated a regalia of sharp drum & bass tracks, and more recently, a fitting addition of trance influenced dubstep. We got a chance to take him away from that life for a few minutes to ask about a career that has extended more then two decades, the path ahead, and everything else we’re itching to know. Enjoy the interview, and the tunes.

What was the music scene like in Poland growing up? How does that influence your musical career today?

(Xt:) Growing up in Poland, there were vast amounts of different genres like electronic and rock music, which obtained many influences from America and the west in general. The national networks show mostly Polish disco & pop charts with bits of rock music. Tracks that feature females singing about how sad they are, along with greasy muscle-heads pretending to be Tarzan. That combination realistically had no influence on me whatsoever, especially since I discovered trance music as a kid. I jumped from the stuff that my parents fed me from my early days – which was also completely different and more avant-garde when you compare it to the commercial stuff on the radio at the time – straight into the world of psychedelic twitches and rock hard kick drums. Drum n’ bass showed its proper form to me when I was about 14, as I discovered Black Sun Empire and/or Calyx. THAT is what influenced my musical career the most.

Skyward EP – Xilent

“Skyward,” an EP focused primarily on dubstep comes off as a significant adjustment from your past work. Is that a sign of things to come or will you remain a heavily drum & bass producer?

(Xt:) Good question. I honestly have no idea. I’m definitely going to do a bit of both, however pressure from outside might cause things to go otherwise. Such was the case with my ‘Choose Me’ release – once I finished ‘Choose Me I’ and showed a snippet of it to the world, it was people on the web who convinced me to try a dubstep version. The chain reaction following the fruition of that idea made me enjoy producing dubstep music much more than drum n’ bass, for a while at least. Then came the hate. I realised I could never satisfy anyone… unless I do a dubstep AND a drum n’ bass version of EACH track from now on, haha… That wouldn’t make sense though.

Did the wild success you had with the dubstep mix of “Choose Me” affect the sound of your EP? In the tracks it sounds like you’ve really captured and improved on something similar.

(Xt:) I’ve got to admit, it has. I noticed how much people love those trance vibes and synths. In fact I’ve received hundreds of messages about that aspect alone. What I tended to do, until I tried making ‘Choose Me,’ was just harder drum n’ bass with highly energetic, pumping melodic parts. I guess now that I think of it, at first my dubstep sounded anthem-ish rather than glitchy or pumping. What I’ll try to do, in due time, is take that early Xilent style and implement it to dubstep on a bigger scale.

Choose Me I

Choose Me II – Xilent

As a renowned drum & bass artist, what do you think about the rapid rise of bass music popularity in the US?

(Xt:) Renowned? Pleasure to hear that, thanks :) From what I’ve heard, dubstep  is nearly the biggest genre in the US. Just goes to show how people like to switch their tastes. The internet and especially Beatport made that so much easier too. I wish I had experienced that rise on my own, but I guess I’ll have the chance to experience it for myself in February 2012. So far, when I take a look at what people really tend to heavily jump to, I think at some point the sine wave of bass music enthusiasts will take a down slope again. It’ll happen once producers start implementing more and more orchestral elements & instruments into the electronic music itself, transforming it to classical music again or something. Who knows!

I know that you started making house and trance music at the beginning of your career, but do you see yourself dabbling in those genres again, further down the line?

(Xt:) My house and trance music phase never really started professionally, it ended when I turned 10. Trance was simply the spark that made me notice that it actually is possible to make really deep and melodic music on your own. I doubt the phase would have lasted if I hadn’t noticed drum n’ bass first and then dubstep second, though. If at some point in my life I feel like I’ve exhausted all ideas into the genres I’m doing so far, I will start another project and produce complicated, funky electro house or something. I’ve even thought about that already, but there’s just not enough hours in a day…

What’s next for Xilent?

(Xt:) The next things coming will be releases on AudioPorn and Mainframe, diverting from dubstep a little bit. Instead, showcasing some more of the new funny ‘ultrafunk’ subgenre I mentioned here and there – just a little experiment to see if the name catches :). It’s supposed to be filled with plenty of energy and melody, as usual. In the meantime, I’ll be playing every weekend, travelling around the world to the UK, France, Belgium, Israel, Russia and, obviously as previously mentioned, the USA! That’s only in the next 2 months! Those wanting to know details – keep your eyes peeled on my Facebook page, where I list  each event I’ll be playing. I’ve also got some more remixes to do, so my dubstep fans should prepare themselves well for those. I’m also part of the Neurosphere Show, a new neurofunk podcast series I started with a good friend, Chris a.k.a. Wreckage Machinery from Austria, so we’ll be doing brand new sounding episodes this year as well.

When can our US readers expect to see you touring here?

(Xt:) In the second half of February this year. It will be my very first visit to the US and I will be touring with Shimon, along with some other big names. Gigs in LA and San Francisco have been confirmed, but keep checking back as more dates are added.

Bombstep – Xilent [Free Download]

Lastly, if you were stranded on a desert island where you could only listen to one song on repeat for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?

(Xt:) This would be Telomere – Idiochrome. It might shock you, but it’s neither drum’n'bass, nor dubstep! Why? I think it’s beautiful, lasts for almost 8 minutes and sounds like it was made by something more than human.

Thank you for the interview, myself as well as our readers appreciate it!

(Xt:) Thank you for having me too and see you soon in the USA!

Xilent on

Facebook | Twitter | SoundCloud | Beatport | Official

-Westhead (@RDWesthead)