German/Australian duo Zombie Cats continue to evolve and mutate this month with their latest alias Tech Dreams. Tapping into some of their deepest musical roots, Tech Dreams launches with Voices, dropping on September 24 via their new label Wont Trend Music.
It sounds like this…
“We were trying to capture a mid to late 2000’s vibe but with today’s drums and production,” explains Ross Deschamp, the Aussie half of the pair. “It’s kind of a kiss to the 2008 vibe. Lots of ghost snares, not too busy, nice to mix with space for the blend. It actually wrote itself, as much of this style does with us.”
It’s a style that’s run deep in the Zombie Cats code since their earliest manoeuvres as Rregula & Dementia. Breaking through on Trace’s seminal tech funk imprint DSCi4 imprint almost 20 years ago, they came from an earlier chapter of D&B where the traditions and codes of conduct were a little more disciplined and old school.
“It was a different time,” Ross considers. “It wasn’t as sub-genre critical as things are today. You could mix all styles without hurting anyone’s identity. This era was also gatekept by ability and consistency. Vinyl mixing was terrifying, there was no sync and no Youtube tutorials or sample packs to make an entire track. This meant that only the dedicated could get into it as it took time and effort.”
Ross Rregula and long-term creative partner Rouven Fehr (Dementia) have remained dedicated ever since, but have always been fluid and open minded in their own evolution. From the gung-ho neuro of the 2010s Zombie Cats output to their hip-hop mutations earlier in the 2020s (which we reported on way back in the earliest days of this site), their presence has always been consistent but their identity has always kept us on our toes. For their latest chapter, Tech Dreams taps into both their earliest influences and a more recent dispatch. Literally.
“It’s named after our Tech Dreams album on Dispatch from 2023,” Ross explains. “On that album we went further and further into the deeper and techier realms of DnB and soon we found it was just too far from Zombie Cats vibe to make sense for our long term listeners. So if you booked us, some were expecting a grubby neruo set and some would ask us why we didn’t play this or that from our techy stuff. The divide was just getting too big and the possibility to go even further was not looking good. So we split the acts. The techy stuff actually fits quite well as a flow on for our older alias Rregula & Dementia and we thought it fitting to name it Tech Dreams to give it some correlation to the LP that kinda rebirthed that sound.”
That’s the premise, concept and inspiration behind Tech Dreams and it starts with Voices. Naturally they have plenty ready to flow afterwards as Ross confirms they have 10 finished tracks in the chamber and another 20 WIPs in the pipeline. U Were The Soul will be the next Tech Dreams release, landing in October. As with Voices, it’ll be coming our way on Won’t Trend Music. A label with a concept that resonates with 1 More Thing’s outlook heavily.
“We’re just playfully hating on the posting and social aspect of D&B,” says Ross. “Music should be something you listen to. If you like what you hear then that’s it – the deal is done, but today people even outsource the functional part of music – your own reaction to it – by watching someone else’s reaction to it. It’s like you just got rid of the part where music is music and that seems so lazy and cringe to me. We’re just poking fun at that and we feel there needs to be more of it. Most importantly it allows us to release music monthly without waiting 12 months for labels. It won’t just be Tech Dreams either. There’ll be other acts and collabs too…”
The evolution continues.
Tech Dreams – Voices is out now on Bandcamp
