MC JAKES
JAKES ON YOU
WORDS | John Murray Hill
PHOTOGRAPHY | Amber McCarthy
There’s a stereotype within dance music that if you’re an MC you
wouldn’t know your high-pass filter from your cut-off point. MC
Jakes, one of the best on the block, not only produces dubstep,
but is now making tracks for his debut album.
You might know MC Jakes from his anthem ‘Deep’, produced by TC, which “You can’t put a time period on it,” Jakes says in his deep, husky voice that
came out last year and took the electronic music world by storm. He’s also triggers images of hundreds of lost raves. “Some people immediately grasp it,
been touring heavily with TC and Pendulum. But the man survived becoming and some others take ages. I was trying to make hip hop originally, and people
pigeonholed as a vocalist by releasing some dubstep smashers. How did Jakes we’re like, ‘Nah – that’s dubstep’, and this was years ago. I just went from there
break the stereotype to become a producer? “The person I worked with for and didn’t look back. It’s indeterminate really. It’s down to the individual.”
years was Tech Itch,” says Jakes in a jovial tone, over Skype. “He was always on
the newest thing. He’s the most upfront. Anything new to be had, I would see it, Can Jakes give us any examples? “Take Limewax,” he responds. “He’d been
because I lived with him. This is his house here!” using Fruity Loops. He’d been sending Tech Itch, who I call ‘Wolfy’, beats for a
short while, and there was this one. I was like, ‘What’s that?’ and Wolfy was
Jakes currently lives with Technical Itch. “Let me clear this up – he’s Mark like, ‘That’s LIMEWAX!’ The kid is only 17! He hadn’t even been doing it for any
Caro,” Jakes explains. “Darren Beale separated off from the group and became time at all.”
Decoder. Occasionally they’ll come together on a rare reunion when the moons
are aligned! Otherwise they never see each other. Tech Itch is over in LA at the A lot of the top producers use Reason. Take your pick – Claude VonStroke, The
moment. I learnt a lot of stuff off him. He’d always give me tips. I do stuff in Prodigy, Commix. “I know a lot of the dubstep boys use Reason,” Jakes tells us. “A
Reason and clean it up in Logic. When I’m producing and putting stuff down, he’ll lot of the top boys use Logic, like Benga and Sweeney. The Reason boys should
teach me about certain frequencies, on the kick and snare, things like that. Not be happy with their product. I remember getting Reason 1. Looking back on it
that I pay attention to any of that! Now, it’s all about me sitting here until I get now – I looked at the screen and I was like, ‘Oh my God!’ – at some of my first
the warmth in the sound and good vibes ringing in my ears, otherwise I’ll just tunes. The first attempts at drum & bass.”
jump to the next thing. Dubstep tunes – I’ve written a good 90/100.”
Jakes saved all of his old work – a clever move. Listening to your old stuff,
You don’t say. “I’ve done one remix for Martin Buttrich on four:twenty,” Jakes made years ago, can show you where you were, where you are now and possibly
continues, referencing a big dubstep label, “which is called ‘Well Done’, where you’re going, and also be damned funny! “There was one computer I lost
‘Headhunter’ was on the other side of that, and I’ve produced H.E.N.C.H 001 everything on, which I’m gutted about,” Jakes says in a sombre tone. “Well there
and 002. The first was ‘3Kout’ / ‘2 Steps Back’ – a really big tune – and the were two actually. When I first started dubstep and the H.E.N.C.H label there
second was ‘Titan’ / ‘Warp 9’. Really, to tell you the truth, ‘Warp 9’ should have was a set of tracks that I lost. They were huge tunes back then, and people are
been on the other side because everyone was going mad about it. At the time I still asking about them. They’re lost forever.”
really wanted ‘Titan’...”
Shit happens. “Now I have many, many backups!” Jakes laughs.
If it makes Jakes feel any better, when ‘Valley of the Shadows’ came out, it was a
B-side to ‘The Touch’ on the ubiquitous Ram Records. What set-up does Jake HAVE? “I just use an Apple computer with Logic 8 and
Reason. I run everything through a mixing desk – a Behringer UB1204 Pro
Why does Jakes go into Logic to clean up his work? “Everyone is saying ‘You’ve – into some Yamaha SP5A monitors. I might string stuff through my Apogee for
got to do Logic’. I’m just starting to learn it and get my head round it.” a thicker sound. Before, I used to have one, crappy speaker! How times have
changed. Headphones-wise, I use the Ultrasones. They are the dog’s bollocks.
What does Jakes think of Apple’s flagship sequencer? “It’s alright, to tell you Tech Itch gave me some, and I love mixing down with them.”
the truth,” he says honestly. “I’ve had people like TC, Distorted Minds, Joker and
Roughcut give me advice on that program. Komonazmuk has been really helpful As an MC with an appreciation for music production, how important does
too. He’s given me loads of sheets with bits written on. Not that I pay attention to Jakes think microphone quality is? “It’s paramount, without a doubt,” Jakes
any of that! Whilst everyone’s still getting on at me to learn Logic, to tell you the thinks aloud. “If you have it sounding crap on the recording, it’s not going to
truth, I still love Reason. Non-Reason users are going to rue the day when it gets go anywhere. When you come to make a tune, you want the best pieces, the
to Reason 7. We’re only on 4, so all the things that you wanted addressed in this best samples, the best drums and the best bassline, so if you come with
version, will be by then, I reckon. It will blow everything else out of the water.” sloppy vocals, it’s just, ‘Nah’. What’s the point? It ruins it at the end. Instead
of having the icing on top of the cake with the cherry you’ve just got icing...
Such as? “A few bits, like better sampling features and a proper vocoder. It needs without the cherry.”
better mixing features too, which is why I still use Logic. It also needs a better
spectrum analyzer – a really pro one. More synths wouldn’t be bad either. A lot of What does Jakes think constitutes a bad vocal, technically? “One thing
people are asking me, ‘How the fuck do you get those basslines out of Reason?’ some people have a major issue with is timing,” Jakes reveals. “Which you
and I’m like, ‘Hah!’ The Subtractor is amazing. It’s the main one that I use, I’ve think is so simple, but it isn’t. Sometimes the vocals sound too thin and
hardly used the Malström.” there’s no midrange. A lot of people don’t put enough midrange in their
music, especially in drum & bass. You can tell when it lacks that quality
Jakes is all about the vibe. Creativity is more crucial to him than in depth because it just sounds wafer thin, and you’re not inspired by it. I hope
technical knowledge. In light of this, how long does Jakes think it will take the people are inspired by my vocals when they hear them, and that they go
rookie producer to get to a technical level whereby they won’t feel frustrated in on to write their own lyrics. But how can they if they can’t hear what I’m
the studio, and can splash their creative ideas? “In order to obey the rules you’ve saying properly?”
got to understand the rules,” says Jake. “You can read the book, but until you put
it into practice there’s no point in trying to get your ideas down on a technical How does Jakes choose the correct mic for the job? “Microphone-wise, it all
level. No one showed me how to use Reason. Until you’re comfortable actually depends,” he says. “When we produced ‘Deep’ we did it on... hold on, let me call
making a tune, don’t worry about the mix down and all of that.” TC and ask him.”
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