LCY

Born and raised in Bristol, LCY discovered her passion for raving in the city’s famed drum and bass scene, but soon started exploring the grimier end of the dance floor with her early DJ sets and productions. Since moving to London she’s made her mark as part of 6 Figure Gang, the all-female DJ crew that includes Sherelle and Yazzus among its members, and has been busy expanding her production repertoire into left-field jungle and classic rave. Her latest release, a self-titled EP of intricate and explosive club rhythms, appeared on her own label SZNS7N this spring and marked the official transition from her former, mask-wearing persona to one of the most promising new talents in UK club music.

LCY’s sketch rumbles into life with all the dark menace of a dungeon techno track, but as the rhythm evolves she introduces a contrasting array of sharp, metallic highs and subtle syncopation. By adding snatches of distant echoed vocals and growling bass tones, she builds the sketch into a brutal roller that feels untethered to any specific genre.

Download the stems

NI products used: RISE & HIT, KONTAKT 6, BATTERY 4, MASCHINE, SYMPHONY SERIES – PERCUSSION, REAKTOR PRISM, MOLEKULAR, REVERB CLASSICS 

First of all, can you tell us how you made your sketch – where did you source the drum sounds?

I started my sketch by using Rise & Hit in the Kontakt library and cutting off the slow attack to make it a hard hit. I then used the Blitch and Metallite kits to lay the foundation for the drums on Battery and MASCHINE, and went to Symphony Series – Percussion to layer up the drums more. I resampled my drums from MIDI and used the transient master to get them to hit as hard as possible.

After that I built up the textured layers with synths from Reaktor’s PRISM and used Molekular to give them movement, then used the same program to chop up some breaks and blended the two.

I recorded some vocal percussion and used the RC24 and RC48 on sends in combination to give them interest. The sub bass was made on Symphony Series – Percussion and heavily edited. To add more detail to the percussion through the progression, I used Logic’s Phat FX and added extra rhythms using MASCHINE’s library. To finish off the sketch I ran the main mix channel through Molekular.

Does sketching play a role in your usual creative process?

Sketching to me means capturing an idea in the moment and making something out of It before it escapes.

How do you typically move from a sketch or idea to a finished track?

I finish the track by trying to find moments of tension and release, then building around and between those moments.

What’s the best production advice anyone’s ever given you?

Playing around with musical ideas is like throwing paint at a wall.

And lastly, could you share some of your favorite online production resources?

My guilty pleasure used to be Pensado’s Place, the YouTube channel of mixing engineer Dave Pensado, but nowadays I listen to design, art or business interviews for guidance as I feel like everything is synonymous. Saying that, though, RBMA interviews will always have a special place in my heart and I revisit them frequently.

You can hear more of LCY’s work over on BandCamp. And until the next installment, check out a full playlist of all the sketches so far over on our SoundCloud.

Words: Chal Ravens