Bristol duo Ill Truth will launch their own label Truth Hertz on April 20. It kicks off with a four track EP featuring collaborations with long-time friends Bluejay and Creatures. Their first full release as Ill Truth since October 2022, THZ001 showcases the pair’s broadest sonic range with in D&B.
With four releases planned for 2023, and only one of them from Ill Truth themselves, exciting plans are on the agenda for Jay and Haden as they recalibrate as a unit following a string a solo releases under their solo aliases Myth and Revan. We spoke to Revan earlier this year following his mini album Imaginary Work on Flexout Audio.
An inspiring conversation about lesser-spotted industry realness and the endless pursuit of authenticity, details about Truth Hertz are hinted at towards the very end of the conversation. Now we know even more. Read on to find out where Jay Myth and Haden Revan are at right now…
Congratulations on launching Truth Hertz! How long has this been in the pipeline / in creative incubation?
Jay: The thought has been in our mind for a few years but it only really became viable in the last year or so.
Haden: It’s been something we were thinking of before the lockdown to be honest, then we went in the direction of expanding more on our own self released projects on our Bandcamp, and I guess from there we thought ‘we can actually do this now’ and naturally progressed into Truth Hertz.
Tell us everything about the launch release…
Haden: I think the plan was to showcase everything ‘Ill Truth’ and what we are about today. People know us for various styles through the years but we wanted this to be a statement release.
Jay: To me it was the flagship release and so we needed to have some variation and some friends on board. We tried to tick a few different angles of the sound we represent.
Shouts to Bluejay and Creatures – knowing a little bit about you guys, I feel this was an important thing for you; to have close friends on this pivotal release…
Jay: It’s essential that. D&B has a big family vibe and we want to promote that moving forward with the label.
Haden: We had to get some of the close crew on this one to be honest, we want the label to have that feel, like a family, but a family that pushes each other also.
The track Ocular is the illest I’ve ever heard you guys. What’s the story behind that optical illusion?
Jay: It started when a friend of mine somehow obtained the stems of Alien Girl. I really wanted to have a play with them and make a remix or an edit or something to play out. His computer then died and all his stuff was lost. The stems included. So then I decided to make a tune from scratch following the formula and style of Alien Girl. That’s why I called it ocular. Ocular optical… It’s all eye stuff haha. It’s kind of a homage to the classic tune.
Haden: Yeah Ocular has been one we’ve been smashing for a while now, once Jay took that initial idea we expanded on it adding the spice and all things nice to wrap it up but it’s definitely one for the old heads and hopefully will convert a few of the new ones too.
Love that. Snatched Up, too… The deeper side of Ill Truth. This EP does paint a very full spectrum picture of you both and what you stand for, doesn’t it?
Haden: Similar to the Ocular story above. I started sketching some ideas with atmosphere and tight funky drums. I wanted to make something that dipped its toes in the deeper styles of D&B but also to make something that I hoped would go off in the dance.
The balance was key with this one, me and Jay have always focused on that push and pull sound and I think this shows a cool development of our typical sound.
Jay: This track kind of expanded the range of the EP. Adding a deeper vibe to the other more dancefloor banger styles. In a way it reflects our attitude to the label. We want to put out all sorts of styles. If we are feeling it. It’s going on the label.
How frequent will releases be on Truth Hertz and will you be opening your arms to new talent and other artists?
Jay: So we have four releases planned until the end of the year, only one of which is by us.
Haden: We’ve got some stupidly talented friends. At first the plan was to keep the label to just our releases for the first 12 months, but we kept receiving music from people that was too good not to grab for THZ. So the label plans changed pretty quickly…
You’re a big part of label families like Sofa Sound, Overview and Dispatch… They’ve set pretty high benchmarks for label standards and operations. What inspiration have you taken from any labels you work with for Truth Hertz?
Jay: We have definitely taken inspiration and business ideas from all the labels we have worked with. We also hope to do a few things our way and change a few standard practices to make life smoother for both the artists and the label. We want to create a good atmosphere and family vibe. Hopefully we will be a label that artists strive to be on.
Haden: The beautiful thing about working with a range of labels over the years is that we know the things that make us feel good about working with a label, and the things that don’t. We want to be that label that creates a good atmosphere, believes in good music and progression for the artists.
Putting everything into every release has to be the biggest thing for us. We want the artists to feel like they are getting the absolute best promotion, love and time put into us releasing their music – That’s the biggest take home I’d say.
What else does the world need to know about Truth Hertz right about now?
Haden: Right now I’d say just keep your ears to the ground and see what’s coming. We’re excited to show you what THZ is about.
Jay: Tunes, mixes, events, merch and fun stuff incoming. Keep your eyes and ears peeled.