Hello : Narna

One of your high fives a day

Twas the day before the day before MIXMAS and all through the house, not a single soul was sleeping… Because everyone was rinsing this Narna mix to absolute pieces mate.

Ssssheeeh.

If there’s one mix that really capture the energy and excitement you used to feel two days before Christmas when the big day seemed so close yet so far away – and you’re full of chocolate and junk food and fizzed up on the prospect of presents – it’s definitely this beastly edition. No words, just press play…

 

 

Pure, high grade, uncut ravey lunacy from Narna; a west midlands grafitti artist-turned Leeds-based rave merchant who’s released on the likes of Deep In The Jungle and Militant Music and has a penchant for the turbo vibes in his selections. We actually came across him via random Soundcloud scrolls and the mix he had on his page was so full strength we got in touch with him that minute.

Fresh from dropping his 24 EP, he whipped up a mix made purely of his own productions, remixes, edits and bootlegs and gosh does it thump. Find something sturdy and hold on to it tightly.

Happy MIXMAS you filthy animals!

It’s very rare that I’ll randomly stumble on a mix from an artist that’s totally new to my radar and decide it’s of SUCH high quality, and it’s distracting me from my work SO MUCH that I’ll instantly contact the DJ with a demand for a mix and an interview. That’s a pretty cool thing really isn’t it? You don’t expect shit like that when you a put a mix on your soundcloud do you? 

First of all thanks so much! Super gassed you enjoyed the mix, I don’t put them out that often and when I do it takes so much planning and getting it right to cover all the bases I want to, so yeah it’s super rewarding to hear! Definitely was not expecting the message off you haha 

Were you aware of 1 More Thing at all when I got in touch? We are still young and small so I never assume people do know about us. Was it like ‘who’s this over-enthusiastic weirdo in my inbox?’ 

I actually did know about you and 1 More Thing and it got me super hyped seeing your email, I think I first came across it through the mix series on Soundcloud, so sick to be part of it now 

I’ll be honest, I hadn’t actually heard of you until that day (excuse my ignorance) then realised you’d been on loads of really dope labels we’ve supported like Militant and Deep In The Jungle. Proof that even when you’re living this music 24/7, there’s always new stuff to find and get really excited by, right?

There is indeed! I feel like I come across new people all the time, too many sick artists about not enough time to listen to all of it haha

 

 

Innit! When was the last time you stumbled on a new soundcloud or new artist somehow and went ‘WOAH FUCK THIS PERSON IS SICK! How have I not heard of these yet?!’ Who were they?

I think the last person I did a proper deep dive on and found every tune of theirs sick, is Lakeway. He was doing the whole grime/jungle/dnb hybrid thing years ago and I had no idea, so many bangers! The other one that comes to mind, have known of him for a while, but only looked through all his tunes recently; Origin, bouncey 160 bassline/footwork stuff and it’s all super fun to listen to and to DJ, soo underrated

Oh sick! We’re releasing his album next year! So tell us about your musical journey – how did you end up in this life, give us some early influences and key moments which brought you here…

So I always used to be more into art and graffiti and stuff rather than music, started DJing while at Uni doing Art, but I didn’t start producing until first Lockdown.

Had been into a lot of bassline and grime growing up when I was like 16 and slowly got more onto DnB when I could start going out, and being mid the era of foghorns it’s definitely left a taste for it still now, I think stuff like Kings of the Rollers and that were slowly pushing me in the direction of jungle. The taste for jungle definitely cemented while at Uni because there’s a night at the Old Red Bus Station in Leeds called License to Jungle which we used to go down to every Friday, and it was definitely Jungle and not DnB. When I finally started getting the hang of production I realised that making jungle was always the most fun and I kinda just carried that on. As I got more into DJing I also realised I was more into mixed genre sets than just solid DnB etc, so slowly started producing other bits of every other genre under the sun, loads of dubstep, footwork, grimey stuff. Thats sortof all how I got to where I am now, big shout outs to DJ Hybrid who’s been a big support for a long time now and has definitely helped along the way. 

 

 

I’m gonna bet in that answer above that you’ve mentioned grime. You must have done. It’s a very strong influence in your palette. Discuss! 

Haha yes of course! I’m not gonna pretend I’m the first person to do it, anyone who’s anyone knows about Napes and Samurai Breaks and the rest, but already being into both grime and jungle it just makes sense. I think my favourite part about grime has always been the instrumental side as there’s not reaally anything like it, it’s kinda hard to even define but you know when something sounds grimey haha. The origins of grime and jungle have so much similarity and crossover with people like Wiley, Riko Dan etc all spitting on Jungle back in the day anyway; making stuff that sounds of that pirate radio/soundclash era while giving it a modern spin is what I love. It always goes off and I wish more people did it so I had more tunes to play haha 

Haha. MCs in general are a biggie for the Narna vibe aren’t they? 

Absolutely, having a good MC improves the vibe so much whether it’s live or on a track. Loads of my tunes sample bits out of old soundclashes, pirate radio recordings and all that. It’s a hard thing to replicate that energy and crunchy recording quality that MCs used to have in all the old school recordings you find dotted about online, so it definitely helps the vibe I’m going for most of the time. Saying that, one of my goals for 2025 is actively work with more MCs to get more tunes out, I’ve got a tune with Killa P coming out in the next few months which I’m suuper gassed about, but definitely need to get some more in the works 

 

 

I gotta ask about Shots on your new EP… Who’s that MC? What’s that from? Nutty tune btw.

Thanks man! It’s actually Stormin, him and Trim were clashing on radio back in the day and a gun got pulled out apparently, hence ‘Shots’ 

Woah. What else is in the Narna melting pot? It’s clear you love all UK soundsystem / bass / Black origin styles!

I do indeeed, there’s not much in the soundsystem music spectrum that I don’t get and I have a lot of love for the scene and how everything is intertwined, so many rabbit holes to go down. My actual normal listening habits tend to be dubstep and 140, I obviously am all about jungle and the rest but the resurgence of it all over the last year or two has been sick! Definitely re-sparked my love for producing that sorta thing too 

I just mentioned your 24 EP – tell us all about that. Sick EP

‘24 came out because I wanted to drop an EP to sum up the music I’d been making for the last few months. I’d not released an EP in a long time and this year is when I feel like my production reached the point I’m actually happy with, all of my older EPs are a bit rough around the edges now so wanted to do something fresh! I’m also big on self releasing, I like being in full control of artwork, schedule and everything, it feels like more of a full personal project that I’m presenting that way. Each track is a slightly different vibe, starting off moody and dark and slowly getting a bit more energetic as each track plays through, each all heavy on the drums as per! 

Tell us about your productions full stop! You’re getting into your stride now! This 100% productions mix is proof!!

As I mentioned before, I love the golden era of grime and like the origins of soundsystem culture and am always trying to recreate that sound and pay homage to it, while giving it a modern twist. Amongst that though, I love infusing all the different modern genres into the same sounds, be it heavy halftime, elements of jump up, rollers, footwork, dubstep. I think through the mix you definitely get the grasp of all of the mixed genre hybrid stuff I go for anyway. I’ve been making some tunes with changing BPMs and that recently to sorta facilitate the mixed genre DJing more easily.  

Sick mix of course too! Any forthcoming exclusives we should be listening out for?

Haha LOADS! Got that tune with Killa P in there, 160 vibes on that one. Then got some tunes that I’ve had locked away for Deep In The Jungle for ages too, for an EP which is still in the works. Next up I’ve got a 3 track EP coming out on Exodus records which I’m super gassed to get out, 3 of my favourite tunes I’ve ever made, super grimey ravey stuff! First track ‘Komodo’ is coming out first just before the end of the year, then the other two tracks ‘Eskimo Dred’ and ‘Selecta’ dropping in January. This EP works through a few different styles too, bits of halftime and footwork blended with jungle. All 3 tracks have been set staples for me for aaages now so I can’t wait for them to be out

Sick! What are the most important things a mix has to do to keep your attention and keep you locked?

I’m a big fan of real blends in DJing, quality double drops and layered vocals and stuff like that, none of the chopped up quad drop nonsense. Also changes in BPM, changes in drums and stuff like that when you’re not expecting it, that kinda thing through a mix definitely keeps me intrigued! One thing that always gets me hyped is cutting to halftime, it was a bit of a trend a few years ago but you don’t hear it so much now but it still always hits

Yes!! I love it when tunes do that. So this mix is part of our MIXMAS campaign – daily mixes throughout xmas until we all get back to work in jan. What do you love most about dj culture and the artform of djing?   

Everything about the culture is great, I’ve made some great friends through the scene and love for the music. I love doing b2bs too, it makes it feel like a challenge to one up each other and push each other harder, doing that with someone you have musical chemistry is always fun. I also love the constant changes in the scene, changes in what’s in and how stuff comes back around, dubstep had a resurgence, we’re in the middle of a grime resurgence, foghorns are coming back and all the rest, love to see it man

 Finally, soz to end with a cliché but I’ve gotta ask about your name. What does Narna mean/where did it come from? My brother couldn’t say banana when he was little so my family have always called bananas narnas. And your music is pretty bananas, so I wondered if maybe it was that. Give me closure! Big up!

Haha so it’s kinda local lingo where I’m from in the West Mids, kinda like being called silly or a fool or something haha ‘you look like a right narna’ but anyway it was my tag when I used to do graffiti stuff and it’s kinda just always been it since then!

Follow Narna: Instagram > Soundcloud

 

 

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