BLUCK & BLINKIE
Rising star of dance, producer James Bluck, has teamed up with hitmaker Blinkie to make one of the tracks of 2021, On Your Mind (featuring vocals by Taet). And between them, they not only have a ton of software, but advice too…
Photo: Fabula Images
> James Bluck has been producing music and DJing at some of the biggest venues including Ministry of Sound, XOYO and Fabric, while Blinkie has millions of streams for his tracks including over six million alone for the track Don’t Give Up (On Love). And as well as producing their own music, both Bluck and Blinkie have remixed a huge number of acts between them, including Fleur East, Disciples, Varski, Mabel, Craig David, KSI and Sam Smith. The two producers have even remixed each other’s tracks so it was really only a matter of time before their production worlds collided and they ended up in the studio together, producing one of the house tracks of 2021 , On Your Mind, featuring vocalist Taet. Here they reveal more about their studio setups, give song-starting – and finishing – tips, and some of the best advice we’ve ever featured in these 15 Questions interviews. Well, two heads are always better than one…
1
Tell us how you got into music
James Bluck: “I’m a DJ and producer who specialises in electronic dance music. I got into music at the age of 5. I was really interested in DJs and I’ve always wanted to become one. Throughout my school life I was in various bands and started to make my own music later in college when I learned how to make music in Logic Pro.”
Blinkie: “I’m a music producer, DJ and founder/ co-owner of PXL Records. I first got into music in my early teens, started off MCing to garage and grime because I wanted to be like Heartless Crew, Pay As You Go, Roll Deep, Nasty Crew, Ruff Squad and all of the other crews around at that time. I remember when I fell in love with the feeling of getting a reaction from my friends from dropping my favourite 8-bar or 16-bar. However, then I got introduced to Steinberg Cubase and Reason and that changed my whole life. I carried on MCing and rapping into my late teens but eventually dropped the mic for a MIDI keyboard and laptop and started to explore all genres through music production and now we are here!”