Belgian underground label Abyssal Music is turning four years old this month. They have much to celebrate, from a label showcase at Rampage to heading to Tomorrowland later this year and expanding their team significantly. Blanko, label head of Abyssal Music, recently welcomed Chompz, Fiishy, Milda, David, Drumslave and Grintax to the team.
With this expansion, they are making a statement. The only way for this Antwerp-based label is up. Want to discover what this label is all about? Fiishy, one of the team’s newest members, made an exclusive 100% Abyssal Music mix for 1 More Thing.
Listen, read, and discover.
Hi Fiishy, what a mix! Where did you start?
Really, I wanted to make this mix because I just joined the Abyssal team recently. I felt like I needed to familiarise myself with Abyssal’s discography. I’ve always enjoyed putting together set lists from a limited selection of tunes and seeing what I could do with them and what order they fit the best. It’s a great way to get familiar with tracks.
You’ve recently joined the Abyssal team. What’s your role?
I officially joined just before our Skinzano – Whiskey Hours EP release party and helped set that up as much as possible. I didn’t even consider joining the team a possibility initially. I’ve been friends with Blanko for a few years and have been attending many of his Abyssal showcases. I always supported him, repping the Abyssal shirt as much as possible. However, after Chompz officially started helping Bram out with the label, it was only a matter of time before I joined as well since he’s my closest friend. We once said that we bring each other along wherever we can go. Like this, we’re staying true to that promise.
Other than that, my official role has yet to be established. So far, I’m changing up the Abyssal Discord along with Grintax, not just for the community but to improve communication between ourselves as well. I connected Abyssal with my close friend Milda, who is now our video editor and has been doing amazing work so far (@mimo.chromatik). I’ve also been taking some pictures for Abyssal, such as the one you see of the Antwerp cathedral on the cover of our upcoming VA.
You also have a track on the upcoming EP called Anxiety. Can you tell us more about your journey in producing music?
I’ve been producing for a couple of years now, since 2018. I always struggled to find my sound. I was really good at studying music production but not so much at practising. I’ve only really fully gotten to the practising part now, but I’m finding that the loudness war is hard to compete in. On top of that, my taste in music is super eclectic, so it has also been hard to draw a combination of everything I like to develop a sound. I’m having a lot of fun with it now, though, just making whatever I’m feeling now. It could be some heavy riddim, rolling DnB, or weird 4-to-the-floor stuff. Switching from FL Studio to Ableton has been a big help as well. It’s not that FL isn’t amazing already, but Ableton just works better for my ADHD brain.
The track Anxiety was also played out at Rampage Open Air. How did you react, and how did you feel when you discovered this?
Actually, I was showing Blanko my FL projects for the first time a few months before the festival, and one of those tracks was a very early version of the project for ‘Anxiety’. He told me to finish it immediately and how he would sign it for Abyssal and play it at his set at Rampage. As someone who has been to every Rampage since 2014, I said ‘OK!’ and got to work. The initial project was a test project to see how much I could crush up a simple sin-wave sub patch, which is what that growl on that track is really. The name for the track ‘Anxiety’ came later, about a month before the festival, when the actual anxiety of hearing my first track on such a huge system started to settle in and the anxiety of getting it ready. I also remember a friend of mine who isn’t into bass music, hearing a song I was playing during a set once saying, “This is anxiety music,” and I felt that this tune was of the same calibre.
Hearing it on that system was definitely a confidence boost. It sounded exactly like I hoped it would. Milda (@mimo.chromatik), whom I mentioned before, and who has been pushing me to continue to produce the entire time, had come all the way from Lithuania to the festival, so it was sick to surprise her by telling her it was my track. It was a self-master at the time. Now that the track is finally finished and mastered by Haden from Height Sonics, it sounds a lot more polished. I’m really happy with how it turned out.
Lots of exciting stuff is happening for Abyssal this year. How are you involved in all of this?
As said, my role is yet to be properly established. However, you might see me on a few Abyssal showcases from here on out. You’ll see my pictures on Abyssal covers, posters, etc., and you will definitely hear an EP from me on the label, maybe this year or next. These boys are providing me with the most motivation and ambition for the music industry that I’ve felt in years, and I’m also here to support them in every way I can.