Attention all producers and artists! We are giving a sample pack away to all top tier Patreon supporters courtesy of ZeroZero, Trex, Teej, Dunk, Acuna, Dizrupt, Brain & MAE917.
We can thank OneZero Samples for the pack. An emergent sample pack brand specializing in the darker, heavyweight club sound, OneZero is founded and run by ZeroZero member Sam Barnes AKA Serpnt, an artist active on the likes of CIA, Sofa Sound, Love For Low Frequencies and Dispatch.
So far the brand has been responsible for packs from Brain, Trex & Teej, Dunk & Acuna, Sl8r, Yamatai Records and a variety of editions from Sam himself. Pretty impressive considering OneZero only launched in November 2023!
We called up Sam to find out how Covid essentially forced him to launching a sample pack brand, how it works behind the scenes and why it’s important to use samples creatively and not just jump on the most popular suggestions on major sample libraries when digging. Check out a little demo taster below.
To download a Lite taster version you can cop it here.
Or sign up and support us on the Warm Hug tier of our Patreon for the full sample pack.
PLUS we’re offering a OneZero Bandcamp discount code to all supporter tiers. The full pack features 110mb of samples including; Drums, Bass, FX & Synths.
Whatever level you produce at, this is a unique collection, it’s highly recommended and the full pack will only ever be available to the higher tier Patreon supporters.
Big respect to Sam and all producers involved in the project for contributing to this, and to everyone who supports us. Please read on and get to know Sam’s story and why OneZero are an impressive sample brand to pay attention to…
What was your first ever sample pack?
Wow that’s going back a bit. I was working for Jungle Drummer, engineering for his live project, probably around eight or nine years ago. I can’t remember exactly what year it was, but I was working a lot with him and he had done packs for Loopmasters already, he really liked my engineering work so we did a collaboration pack.
That’s how I linked with Loopmasters, so I have him to thank for that. Then I did one or two other packs after that before Corona hit. That was a challenging time as I went from playing gigs every weekend to not having any work because, at the time, I was mainly living off DJing. Luckily Loopmasters liked my sound and I went from being a full time DJ to being a full time sound designer.
Wow. That’s how vital sample packs are for producers as a revenue source. I actually wanted to know the first ever sample pack you used as a producer!
Good question. It’s been a long time! One I really remember from back in the day was a Loopmasters pack from Lynx, that was great. There were a few jungle packs from Zero-G which were classic ’90s CDs that I got through my friends who got me into producing. There was also a Loxy & Resound pack I used a lot and a load of free packs from Computer Music Magazine which I always collected. They were a godsend when I started.
I remember talking to TC about sample packs years ago when he gave away all of the stems to one of his albums. Something he said at the time stuck with me, and I think it applies to all sample packs; he said if you get to cook with the best ingredients, you’ll understand how that meal should taste. I liked it. Essentially if you’re an aspiring producer, and you’ve got good quality samples, you understand the level that you need to be reaching as.
Definitely yeah, he’s spot on. Listening to a high-end producer and using samples of theirs is definitely a good way to get into making tracks. You know how stuff should be sounding, and then you have to get your sounds up to that level as well.
Was this a side to the industry you imagined yourself getting into and working in?
When I did the Jungle Drummer pack I thought I could do it occasionally. I never thought I’d be doing it full-time. Then Corona pushed me into doing it full time and it was a blessing as I was living in Austria with no real work options. Without that, I don’t know what I would have done. I think it was the same for a lot of people in that time who went from being full time producer DJs to struggling because there was no shows. I think a lot of people turned to doing Patreon, sample packs and other online work when that happened because it was either do that or stop doing music (full time at least), and find another form of income.
Of course. I think the decreasing value of music is a tragedy but probably suited to another conversation. In terms of your sample packs, it’s a very busy market so was there a specific sound or vibe you wanted for the OneZero packs?
I guess it’s my taste in artists and sounds. The more underground artists that are in this sort of deeper spectrum of drum and bass you know. I’m really into the music of all the artists on the label and it was a good reason to reach out to a lot of my favourite artists for this project. It’s the sound that I want to hear, the kind of packs that I would want to buy and the type of artists I think deserve more recognition and deserve to get paid basically!
Amen to that! Have there been any challenges that you hadn’t foreseen when you started to kind of develop OneZero?
I have to say I feel pretty lucky to not have really had any big challenges so far. I think one of the biggest challenges has been organising artists and keeping the schedule consistent. Artists sometimes have to push things back because they’re busy with other projects and more important stuff comes up, so the schedule is always changing and moving around. Another factor is seasonal; in the summer no one’s producing so sales are obviously lower, July has been the slowest month so far even though we have the most products out now. I’ve been looking into marketing to more countries in the southern hemisphere such as New Zealand and Australia while they’re in their winter and potentially more in the studio.
Or linking with us and giving away a sample pack!
Yeah, just trying new things and letting people know we’re here. I think doing something like this gives people a chance to see what we’re doing and have a little taste of what we’re about, the vibe we’re into and some of the artists we’re working with. They’re all working on exclusive samples for this right now.
Oh wow, sick. So how is it for you in the face of much bigger sample libraries that everyone seems to be rinsing now. Splice vocals, I feel, are becoming far too over-used!
Yeah they definitely have a huge influence on the industry in general. If you want to be more of a unique producer, you do need to dig a bit deeper than just what’s easy. With platforms like Splice it’s so easy to go, ‘I want this key’ and ‘I want this tempo’ and then pick something from the top 10 samples it gives you, which 100 other producers have done the same thing. With vocals, I think they’re a lot easier to spot because there’s less you can do with a vocal in terms of processing. But yeah I do always advise any producers to dig much deeper if they want to make sure their sound is truly unique.
Have you heard OneZero samples in tracks?
We’re quite a young label, we’re only eight months, so I haven’t noticed anything used from the OneZero sample packs yet. But I have heard my own sounds in tracks from other packs and stuff that I’ve done in the past.
Is that a buzz?
Yeah it’s nice to hear people using something I’ve made for sure. Loopmasters have a VIP section and I’ve had people like S.P.Y and Nymfo reviewing my packs, which is always pretty cool to see. I’ve never heard any of my samples in their music so they’ve obviously used them well.
I guess the biggest take-home of this is how you use samples isn’t it? How creative you are with them and how you manipulate them to make them sound your own, right?
Yeah 100%. I would never say, ‘Oh buy our loops, put a few of the same key together and then release that as a track.’ That’s lazy. And where’s the fun in that? That’s not what samples are meant to be for. We got a good quote from Submotive recently about our packs which said “I love how they’re all track ready but not so cooked that you can’t squeeze them some more and really make them your own.” Which is exactly what we aim for.
Totally. Who would be a dream artist for you to work with on a sample pack?
DLR, Break, Total Science, Dub Phizix or Skeptical would all be amazing. I could list many more but they’d be some of the top ones. For vocals, Fox, Riya, Charli Brix, Jenna G (imagine!) would all be great to work with.
Yeah that would be sick! So you’ve just dropped Sl8rs Serum Pack. What else do you have planned for 2024?
I’m actually only a couple of packs ahead right now, so we’ve just dropped another pack from Brain who always smashes it. Then there’s a Roller Bass pack coming next month, made by myself, and another ZeroZero artist pack in a couple of months. I cant really give away much more info than that at the moment but what I can say is that I’m in talks with lots of nice artists and there’s no sign of slowing down!
That’s amazing. So, wrapping up now, do you have any advice for fellow artists or anybody who’s thinking they might have the right chops to sell their own samples or work with a company like yours?
I mean, if anyone wants to do that, they can 100% get in touch with me, I’m always looking for sound designers to join the team, whether you are an established producer or just good at making sounds/music, I’m open to hearing what you can do. Also I would suggest using Bandcamp for self releasing, it’s a great way to start selling your own samples and establishing a reputation for samples. Not just sample packs either but merch or tracks, I just think you need to have a bit of a following first to be able to do that, otherwise it’s hard to reach a lot of people. I’m really lucky to have actually Loopmasters behind me because I think without them, it wouldn’t be doable. Especially in terms of inviting other artists on board.
They are the original sample pack daddys! So wrapping up properly now, what’s coming up from you personally, as Serpnt and ZeroZero?
So as Serpnt I’ve just signed my second CIA EP which is out in August, I also have a Dispatch EP which is coming end of August, 2 EPs on Nymfo’s Love For Low Frequencies, one of which is out in September, and an EP on a new label called Mustard Music, which should be coming in October. Then as ZeroZero we’ve got a big Flexout EP, which is going to be a vinyl release featuring Riya and a Teej remix, plus some other bits later in the year. And we’ve also just started writing our album! So yeah, nice and busy.
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