You might be ready to throw your head back and Although neither of the pair are missing the gloomy,
howl your ass off but the once prolific duo of Jasper wet weather of Manchester, there are certain things
Byrne and Dean Fletcher (AKA Sonic & Silver, AKA that L.A. and Japan can’t replace. “I miss my friends
the Accidental Heroes) might have a few words to the most,” admits Silver. “Shout to Tara (DJ T1), Pale,
say on this. Judging by the calibre of the work on Longman, Pat, Luke, Zorraya, and all my Manchester
offer on the first EP of the ‘Return of Sonic & Silver’ heads. Also the clubs and all the DJs there! Oh and I
series, it might just be worth listening to what they miss me yard food (Dougies)!”
have to say too.
In the time that has passed since leaving Manches-
Originally forming in Manchester in 1999 the duo ter, they have been kept busy by their respective
literally churned out releases across a mesmerising solo projects. Sonic has been busy with his Space
selection of labels, too wide to list here, that almost Recordings label, recording a lot of his recent
reads like an A-Z of d&b. Since then the pair have material in a studio he set up in Vietnam, and the
gone their separate ways, on respective global first ‘Return of Sonic & Silver EP’ in May marked the
quests to opposite sides of the world. Having previ- 16th release on the label in just three years. Silver
ously toured and fallen in love with the west coast meanwhile has been ever busy on the DJ front but
of America, Silver moved out to L.A. three years ago has also found time to launch his own Nemesis
and is now based near Venice Beach and Santa Recordings with releases from Xample & Sol and
Monica, in Marina Del Rey. In the meantime, Sonic’s DJ Andy to date.
love for travelling and his fascination with eastern
culture and philosophy have led him throughout the With both of the duo missing the other’s contribu-
far east into Tokyo where he has been based for the tions into their work, they decided it was time to
last five months. revive the Sonic & Silver partnership and began
penning new tunes whilst on tour together in the
With both of them about eight hours either side of U.S. “We wait until we’re on tour together,” explains
GMT and at the mercy of hectic schedules, getting Silver. “It makes more sense. We ain’t tried the net
them on the phone or even online at the same time, thing yet! I can be lazy sometimes and need Sonic
proved futile. We did eventually manage to track to kick me up the ass from time to time but we
them down on the electronic highway, through AIM always strive push ourselves with each new tune.”
and email respectively, to get the low down on the
return of Sonic and Silver. “We did the tour spread over two months,” explains
Sonic, “so were able to write the second EP
First, let’s separate fact from false! Contrary to pop- together. It had been a long time since we saw each
ular rumour, Sonic and Silver never split and there other and sparks just flew in the studio. It was good
was no handbags-at-dawn episode, resulting in two to be back! The tour was great ‘cause we got to test
separate mini-cab bookings to Manchester Airport. the work as we were doing it, in between hanging
“We needed to make a comeback,” explains Silver out in L.A.”
defiantly. “People talking shit, saying me and Sonic
split – that’s a bunch of crap. We’ll be friends for life By “testing” Sonic is referring to the four rewinds
and not just in music - no matter what! We fight and that new track ‘Chi Town’ commanded on its debut
fall out, we all do it sometimes, but we are definitely in Chicago – literally hours after being mixed down.
friends ‘til the end!” Sonic is in full agreement. Along with ‘Chi Town’ the EP will be completed by
‘Get Together’, ‘Beyond Sunset’ and ‘Inner Light’ and
It may have only been a matter of time (differences) is expected to hit the shelves in December.
before they got back in the studio together, but
none of the shine from their collaborative powers Sonic has also been busy collaborating with estab-
has faded over the years, as the first EP showed. lished Japanese drum & bass artists, including ES9
Sonic’s ‘House Is A Way of Life’ is a dancefloor and Makoto, for tracks that will form the ‘Made in
stormer laced with the house-y vibes that Sonic and Japan’ 12 inch series on Space Recordings. He’s
Silver first worked on as Accidental Heroes with J also teamed up with Matrix for ‘Flashlight’ / ‘The
Majik and his Infrared label back in 2001. Silver’s Prophet’ due out on Metro Recordings and has
offering ‘Tronik House’ is a dark, moody, nightmare releases coming up on Bingo in ‘Dreamscape’ /
in a Virus-vein. ‘Saigon Traffic’ and ‘Jigsaw’. Silver, meanwhile, is
working on some material for Digital Soundboy,
The EP is completed by Sonic’s ‘Freedom Dub’, a including ‘Real Bad Man’ with acclaimed Jamaican
blissed-out, hands in the air, type affair, and Silver’s dancehall artist Capleton, and possibly a solo LP for
dub stepper ‘Push De Pram’ which would be as at release next year.
home in a dancehall night as it would a d&b one.
Both of these tunes are indicative of the boys other Having toured extensively together already and now
trademark, dub-heavy sound that they splashed taking their combined skills back to the international
across Reinforced, Trouble on Vinyl and Metalheadz stage, we decided to scrape below the surface
in 2001. and get an insight into the highs and lows of their
travels. “Being in a car crash in Sweden with Sonic
In a previous interview with Knowledge, the pair and our friend Pat was the worst,” remembers Silver
fittingly labelled their sound “dubwise” and admitted painfully. “We crashed and the driver ran off down
loving to dip into old skool sounds, creating heavy the street and left us, the fucking cunt! It’s funny
tunes but keeping them melodic. This is hardly sur- when we look back but I have a scar on my head for
prising when Silver admits that the first records he life now! The best, however, is yet to come!”
ever owned were, “a bunch of dub and reggae stuff
that my Granddad gave me. I don’t remember the Check www.myspace.com/sonicspace and www.
names – sorry - but I had about 1000 seven inches myspace.com/silverdj for the latest news.
and 500 singles.”
37
K36-37_SonicSilver.indd 37 17/10/2006 16:57:11
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