Brainrave have come flying out of the gates for 2026. Shrouded in a brand new look and aesthetic – one much darker than their original playful illustrated imagery – they’ve already dropped a whole album by mighty Serb Nemy, now they’re taking us even further across the dnb loving globe with some underground sounds from down under.
Melbourne to be precise: home to Esher and, sometimes, Nemean, a talent who has featured on the likes of Hanzom, Zombie Cats and recently reboosted foundation imprints such as DieselBoy‘s Human Imprint and the legendary Renegade Hardware.
Esher is a little fresher to the game but packs a powerful punch that has already been felt on labels such as Abyssal and Interstellar and now Brainrave with two absolutely walloping Nemean collaborations. The grizzled old school homage Juncture and the frazzled hyper neuro freak out Everything Black. Both cuts tremble with contemporary neuro weight and tension and are a great example of where Brainrave is at in 2026.
It’s worth noting that we first featured Brainrave on this site way back in November 2023. The writer who did the interview was a new mentorship student named Chiz… The same who now co-owns the label!
This is a full circle moment. Let’s give it a spin…
Easy guys! If my intel is correct then you Rory actually first made contact with Chiz through his involvement with our Freshest DnB list at the time? If so, this is a very cool full circle moment! Tell me everything!
Esher: No Dave! I think your Intel is a little off, back in 2019/2020 I found a post on a Facebook group called DnB Talk, it quickly became a staple playlist I’d frequently spin while going on my government allocated walk during lock down and during my workouts!
When I started releasing my earlier tunes I did a little snooping and found Chiz’s Instagram page, where I slid into his DMs and he was kind enough to listen and feature some of my tracks! Fast forward a couple years. He and I stayed in contact and when I told him I was working with Rory he demanded first dibs on the tunes!
Nemean: Yeah I’ve been listening to the playlist since 2020-2021 but I hadn’t made contact besides some small interactions on social media. It was definitely Darcy who made contact!
Ah damn my intel! Okay how about this intel? I hear you guys have been collaborating and creating together for a long time but this is the first time a release has come through your collaborative work. Is that, right? Tell me about how the pair of you have connected. I’m guessing it’s through the local dnb community in Melbourne?
Nemean: Yeah it was through the Melbourne DnB community. I was playing at small Monday locals night and Darcy was working at the bar, he came up to me and asked if he could request a song. I was like, ‘Oh here we go again.’ Pretty sure I declined and he said, ‘Oh what about Shark Attack?’ That was one of my old tunes and it made me laugh but I still declined because I didn’t have it. I think after that we started chatting and I ended up at his house for a kick-on one time, after which we started hanging out more, often trying to make tunes together.
Esher: That bar was a dive bar called Radio Bar and we hosted a weekly dnb night called Dnb Mondays. It’s a rowdy but friendly crowd. My partner showed me Rory’s music video for Shark Attack and I loved it so when I requested it he was so surprised I knew his music but unfortunately he didn’t have it on his USB!
We stayed in contact though, ended up on a few calls exchanging different production tips and then before we knew it, Rory, Alex (Extra Dollop / fka Tide) and I were at each other’s houses, spending time together in the studio writing tracks.
Nice. From what I know about both of your sounds, and listening to your releases, I wonder if you work well together as you both have a different musical motif? Darcy, it feel like you’re more rolling and groove based and more likely to strip things back (certainly going off previous releases like your Onset Audio and Abyssal Audio releases) while Rory your productions strike me with more of a maximal, full-impact dynamic (EG – your face melting remix of Pendulum recently!) Does this give you that balanced yin/yang like approach when writing together?
Nemean: Well we both have a similar workflow and chaotic creative writing style which works well as you don’t have another person going, ‘WTF are you doing right now?’ We’ve definitely struggled to finish tunes though because I tend to add stuff and Darcy tends to strip stuff out. What we figured out is that if we use a reference tune that we both like, we can aim to make something similar without creative clashes. We also differ as I have a more synthesis based approach and Darcy likes to use resampling more so that worked very well for the track Juncture as we had a core idea but then we started resampling a bunch of sounds out through multi effects and ended up using some of them for layers in the drop. Not something I would have personally done.
Esher: While writing these tracks together we started with two reference tunes, one being a Buunshin track and another a Burr Oak. It was great to start with a goal of trying to write something similar to what those guys had done. In past experience I have been the guy at the back of the room trying to filter out the main musical idea and strip it back while keeping the power of the track.
While writing Juncture and Everything Black I worked hard to balance the songs during the switches of the drops. Whether it went to a 4/4 heaving 808 driven baseline or a snappy jungle break and big atmospheres, inspired heavily by Sleepnet. My aim was to reinforce what Rory was achieving with the screaming Reece basses by creating contrast in sound while keeping the energy high.
I can feel a lot of really epic energy in this release either way. Both cuts hit hard in very different ways. For me Juncture has a very old school C4C vibe. The type of sound that really inspired Noisia. Did Cause 4 Concern or that era of early 2000s dnb play a role in the making or inspirations behind the track?
Esher: it’s funny you say that, I’ve been really inspired by that whole sound as of late. I think I’ve developed further from my love of minimal and gone back to what pulled me into DnB which is Noisia, Cause4Concern and that whole techstep era of sounds!
I think while arranging the sounds we kept it fairly simple and straightforward so each sound had its own space to breathe and allowed for maximum impact instead of using crazy layering to build up a dense soundscape.
Nemean: Well going back to Juncture it was actually inspired by some very modern dnb, we used a Buushin track as a reference, and when we added the resampled layer to the bass stab it became a very different song. I think we both really love the old school neuro sound so it just naturally went in that direction.
How about Everything Black?
Rory: Everything Black is us trying to do a Reese-driven tune. The original influence was Burr Oak but half way through I heard the Purge by BSE and Virus Syndicate and decided to redesign the Reese bass to go in that direction, and knowing Darcy would approve it because we’ve tried to write old school Neuro before.
Darcy: I was blown away by Rory’s work on it! The skeleton of the track came together really quick, Rory and I were in the studio exploring different ideas and mine was the thumping 808’s and Rory was the Reeses (of course). We were getting a bit silly with it and digging through different sound banks and found a synth patch reminiscent of 2010’s UK Dubstep. The vowel~y ‘yoi yoi’ sound.
We thought it was hilarious and I honestly think it lessens the stress and seriousness overall which I hope will allow people to enjoy it when they hear it out! I’m also a sucker for digging through old radio play archives, specifically sci-fi. That’s where I sampled the ‘everything black’ audio from. It was a sci-fi play about aliens invading and destroying the sun I believe.
Plenty of sun in Melbourne though eh? What is the dnb culture and community like there? I always hear such good things about places like QQQ and everything surrounding Safire’s Plasma operations. Sistym is an awesome DJ I know from your ends, too. Big up your city and give me lots of reason to start saving for a ticket to fly over!
Esher: The scene here in Melbourne is pretty incredible. I can best describe it as grass roots based. There is a big appreciation for the small, intimate parties, while there is space for the big festivals and the L.E.D walls, you’ll still catch artists like Kyrist and Buunshin laying it down in venues such as QQQ, a small 140 person cap room, perfectly tuned with an amazing sound system!
The people are super closely knit and everyone knows everyone so it creates a safe environment that’s very welcoming, the promoters are DJs and genuine fans of the music they’re putting on so you will sometimes end up with hand built sound systems being showcased in these tiny clubs with massive headliners.
I can talk endlessly about how good the local talent is here, it’s a real pressure cooker situation, due to the fact we don’t get many internationals heading out here we end up with a lot of local parties, I’ve seen some major internationals come play at festivals here and they were easily out played by the local support DJ, I think it goes to show how hard we work and the ambition that everyone who plays has! You can tell when it comes to technical ability and digging for new and unheard tunes, Melbourne dnb DJs are second to none!
Aside from having the best coffee in the world, I think Melbourne really distills down what Drum and Bass represents. To me it’s always been an underground genre and we celebrate that.
We have our big festivals but the community here is what makes it. One example is after Buunshin played his set here a month or two ago, the whole club filled out a Korean fried chicken spot down the road and we all had beers together. There’s no ego, only love for the art and love for the sound.
Nemean: People don’t always know this about me but I’ve been living in the country in a different state for the last two years so I can’t really comment. I still just say I’m from Melbourne as it feels like home and I’ll be back living there at some point. I’m also there fairly frequently for gigs and to catch up with mates. I can say that the Drum and Bass scene is thriving there but Neurofunk as a whole is pretty dead. QQQ is probably the one of the best sound systems I’ve heard, Safire has done a bang on job and keeps the quality high.
That’s wicked. And I love hearing that about the locals outshining the touring guests! I know now is the time of year a lot of peeps from the UK and EU head your way for a tour and to escape the SHITTTTTTY weather we have so what’s been your favourite touring artist experience?
Esher: For me there’s too many, funnily enough I’ll probably lean more towards my earlier experiences when I started going out to dnb shows.
One that comes to mind was State of Mind B2B Black Sun Empire. At the time I hadn’t really understood dnb all that much. I was inspired heavily by a set I saw at a festival played by a producer called Xsetrah. This show was the first one I had caught in Melbourne prior and all I remember was the whirlwind of energy and my bones rattling to the insane drums they were playing! It’s like trying to remember a core memory from your childhood, you only remember the feelings and vague imagery but the impact stays with you forever.
Nemean: Recently the show that really blew me away was seeing Phace at QQQ in Melbourne. Phace is one of my longtime favorites and most influential artists, and he really delivered, great mix with a fresh sound on a fantastic sound system at QQQ in Melbourne. Besides that it’s been a while since I was blown away, maybe that comes with exposure to shows but I remember an Upbeats set that was really influential to the way I mix. The Mefjus Manifest tour set was one of the best of all time that I’ve seen, I really liked the live aspect with Maxim and it felt almost more like seeing a band then a DJ.
Love that! Who never comes over? If you could pick 3 DJs to come over for an Aus tour, DJs you’ve wanted to see forever, who would it be and why?
Esher: Amoss, Ring Noord, DLR. These guys are masters of their crafts. I never got a chance to see Noisia play however I believe Ring Noord and Sleepnet distills down everything I love about their sound and I would love to hear them play a set on a huge hand built sound system!
Amoss and DLR are an obvious choice, their sound has inspired me in so many ways, I’ve heard their sets online and I could only imagine the intensity and the power they would command in a packed club here in Melbourne.
Nemean: Noisia, I don’t know why but they never come over anymore. They need to stop being so lazy.
Haha. I’ll have a word with them.
Nemean: Jokes aside, I’d love to see Audio, he came over once over 10 years ago and I’m still waiting to see him again! Honestly there’s so many incredible artists it’s hard to pick but I’d also love to see Vici and Redpill.
On the flip of this, who could we see touring UK/EU from Aus? Give us a three artist line-up that would slay floors over here on tour?
Nemean: Nemean, Esher, Extra Dollop. No besides us, definitely FractalOne, Esym and Shannon are all amazing DJs with top notch production.
Esher: Piggy backing off Rory’s answer, Xsetrah, Manekin and Safire. These guys are incredible producers and deserve to be highlighted. I’m so happy that Xsetrah is being supported now on Teej’s label and Manekin is doing amazing things on Delta9 and Yamatai! Safire is absolutely killing it too and has been for a long time.
He has! Back to the music… What comes next from both of you and will we be hearing any more collaborations from you both any time soon?
Nemean: We haven’t actually started anything due to life but I’ve been sending Darcy tunes for inspiration for our next collab. I’m thinking we going a bit more towards the Esher style and make some maximal minimal, or minimal neuro. The short answer though is definitely Yes.
Esher: Rory and I intend on writing almost a part two to our release with Brainrave. Something that throws back to a more old-school hard dnb sound. We both work quite long hours and physically intensive jobs so having energy and time is something that is hard to come by! As soon as we’re back in the studio together it will be coming together very fast, so I’m excited to see what we can do together!
Excited to hear what you come up with! Speaking of Brainrave, let’s sign out with something fun… What was the last fact you’ve learnt and stored in your brain?
Nemean: Orca whales have never killed a human in the wild.
Esher: The word minuti on a packet of pasta refers to how many minutes the pasta needs to be cooked!
Knowledge is power!
Nemean & Esher – Juncture / Everything Black is out now on Brainrave
