Please adjust your calendars, timetables and schedules! 5 O Clock is officially Plasmator time.
It was at 5am, it will be at 5pm and if you’re reading this at some point in the future please let it be known that 5 O Clock on Friday April 26 2024 was, and forever will be, Plasmator time.
Why? Because…
A shimmering slice of deep atmospheric jungle from the Plymouth artist, 5 O Clock was inspired by the likes of Nine Windows and the whole atmospheric jungle movement that’s been happening in recent years. It follows two previous cameos on the label side of our platform.
In 2022 we dropped the cool and smooth footwork inspired cut Act Natural on our 1 More Tune Vol 1 free download VA. Then last October he dropped the stunning Second Hand Rave on the annual Grand Theft Audio collab EP. A regular on Sola’s label, it’s very much is still very much doing the business now.
Also a regular on the likes of GZ Audio – where he recently appeared on Beskar’s debut album Liquid With Friends – and about to drop some more deep jungle inspired music on Section 63, Plasmator took the time out to tell us more about his release, his life and his relationship with the particular hour of 5 O Clock. You can guess what time we called him…
It’s 5pm – what would we normally be interrupting?
So I’m having a really nice day off actually. I’ve been out and about in the sun, having a few pints, which has been lovely. But usually, you’d either interrupt me working or interrupt me making music. That’s usually the case!
Standard! What’s your favourite 5 O’Clock? 5am or 5pm?
Well I’ve definitely seen 5pm more than 5am so based on weightage I’d have to say 5pm.
I love 5am because of that. You’re either still awake and feeling all sparkly and raveish. OR you’re up nice and early and about to do something sick like training or travelling or cracking on with something.
Yeah that’s true. The 5ams you do witness are for good reason. Back in the day it was common for nights to run until 6 but most finish at 4am now and I’m not much of an afterparty goer these days! I don’t want to sound too old but I’m definitely more sensible.
Haha. That’s standard too! So are you ready to do a test?
Erm… Maybe?
I found an article saying ‘9 things hyper successful people NEVER do after 5pm’ so I thought it would be cool to see how you fare in this…
Go on then!
So… Hyper successful people will never waste their time. Do you ever waste your time before or after 5 O’Clock?
Oh all the time! Sorry!
Haha. Okay. So item number two… They never neglect self care.
For me, getting lost here at my screen inside a track is the ultimate self care. Whenever I’m feeling stressed or particularly anxious then making music has had a very positive effect.
That’s definitely a point! Okay so how about this one… Hyper successful people never lose touch with their loved ones.
Yeah I think so. I chat with my mum regularly. I see my girlfriend every night. I keep in touch with my friends. Yes, I definitely keep in touch with people.
Another point! Great. So… Apparently hyper successful never skip planning for the next day. Are you a planner?
I’ve lived a lot of my life being the most unorganized person in the world. Never managed to keep anything together. All over the shop! But having more success with music has helped me be so much more organized. And the company you keep, right? So James from Sola for example.
Oh I know how meticulous he is!
Exactly. Lists and lists and mindblowing spreadsheets. It’s inspiring! So I do keep a lot more organized and planned now.
That’s a point! You’re well on your way to being hyper successful! How about this… Hyper successful people never compromise on sleep. Ha!
Hahah. Yeah no point there. I’m terrible for losing sleep. I start work at 8am and I’m regularly working on things until the middle of the night. Only the other day my girlfriend fell asleep on the sofa and I worked on an orchestral section of a track until 2am!
I know that feeling! I regularly see 3am and have to be up early too. Not good for one’s health but sometimes feels unavoidable.
Yeah it does. I’m supporting DJ Rap next week and I was trying out new mixes and sorting out bits and bobs and suddenly realized it was 3am. Too easy to do.
Innit! Okay so you’ve scored three out of five so far. Four to go… Hyper successful people never underestimate the power of quiet reflection.
I’m at the stage where I’m really interested in this matter. I had a conversation with my manager last week and it made me realise I am at a point where I need to pay more attention to this. I do need to get away from everything. My annual leave is all booked off for gigs and music related and I haven’t given myself any time at all since I went to Thailand eight years ago! So I don’t think I can score a point on this but it is something I am definitely working towards.
You’re not underestimating it so I’m going to give you that point! Next up… Hyper successful people never neglect their passions. No brainer!
Ha! Yeah well that definitely something I can happily admit to. I’m too passionate about my passions.
Haha. This one is relevant too… Hyper successful people never ignore ongoing learning. As an artist you never rest on your laurels do you?
No you’re right. You can never have all the knowledge. There’s always something to learn, a technique to polish or a new bit of kit to explore. Anyone who feels they’ve learnt everything most definitely hasn’t. Yeah I’d say I’m always open to learning and hope I learn something new every day!
Me too! Okay final one… Hyper successful people never forget to celebrate their accomplishments. How are you with that?
Not terrible. I give myself a moment to celebrate any wins or accomplishments. The thing in music is just how fleeting those accomplishments can feel sometimes. You might sign some music to an amazing label or hit a certain amount of streams on a track or achieved something that is definitely successful but the moment has passed so quickly. Or you find yourself chasing and chasing and chasing for so long that it’s taken any type of the positive out of the victory.
Yeah everything moves so quickly that an accomplishment doesn’t feel like an accomplishement for too long.
That’s right. I do enjoy the end of year recaps people often do at the end of a year. Reflecting back and looking back at things you’ve done over a certain amount of itme can be very satisfying and put things in perspective. Like at the end of last year it was like ‘I’ve had my first play on Vision Radio, I’ve had my first booking in London or I’ve released on particular labels’. And I’ve always enjoyed doing those type of recaps. So yeah I do celebrate my accomplishments and I think it’s important for mental health.
Definitely. So I believe that’s 7 out of 9 points. Congratulations, you are a hyper successful person. How do you feel?
I’m going to take some quiet time to reflect on this!
Haha. Tell us about the tune. For me it’s got a lovely Chicane vibe. Feels quite triumphant. Maybe something on Hooj Tunes from late 90s. Where does it come from for you?
I do take a lot of influence from late 90s trance and dance and genres such as big beat. I saw Chicane in St Ives when I was really young. It was one of my first ever gigs I went to actually. Chicane, Lucid, Carl Cox, Judge Jules and a few other 90s legends. Weirdly there’s a track I’ve got which is heavily inspired by Chicane and I was going to send it to you.
Really?
Yeah. It’s like 50% Chicane inspired and 50% Bad Company inspired. But this track, 5 O Clock, and another track I’m about to drop on Section 63 is inspired by Nine Windows.
Oh nice! My interview with them was one of the most popular articles on the site last year
I was blown away by their album and also the work of Wardown. Beautifully musical, atmospheric jungle drum & bass which is just pure bliss. I have to say, a lot of what people used to call ‘intelligent D&B’ and deep atmospheric jungle went totally over my head back then or any time before. It’s only with those new albums that I really truly got it and felt how affecting it can be. I wanted to try my hand at it and 5 O Clock is one of the results… And it’s followed by another kinda similar track which was made from the same inspirations on Section 63.
Talk about hyper successful. I was just about to ask you what’s coming next and you’re already telling me!
Straight after the release on Section 63 I’ve got two remixes coming out on GZ Audio then I’ve got some tracks coming with Sub-liminal and Boomslang. Following that there are some big projects I can’t quite mention yet but stay tuned as I’m very excited about it all.
Sounds like another hyper successful thing to me.
Ha. I’ll let you quietly reflect on that… Keep in touch!
