‘I Need’ is Maru‘s slick, sampled contribution to the introducing series. He hails from Leeds and reps an exciting project called the Transmission Collective. The blog-turned-label’s reputation is starting to creep out of Leeds across the country, and the releases and events lined up can only serve to push it further afield. Check out the label first release, the collaborative Lex EP, and check the interview and grab ‘I need’ below.

- Hi Maru, please tell us a bit about yourself outside of music firstly.

Well I’m 20 years old and have been living in Leeds for the past 2 years, but originally I’m from Sheffield. At the minute I live with producers Medla / Kahwe and Wolf Cub. I’m studying music technology at Leeds Met. There’s really not that much to say out of music!

Why the name Maru?

Well i used to be known as Lohko, but i got kind of sick of it and there was a bit of confusion with another artist so I changed it to Maru. This doesnt really have any meaning at all, just a name. I find it pretty difficult thinking of names,  I’m pretty crap at those sort of things!

- Have you always made the kind of music you’re making now or has there been a progression? If there has, can you describe it for us.

I started playing in bands about 5 years ago playing indie-ish music and slowly progressed to where i am now. I’ve only really settled on a sound in the last 3-6 months, before that i would just produce anything i was listening to.

- Why do you think so many artists have turned focus towards slower genres.. ie. Pinch, Loefah, Marytn, 2562, Mickey Pearce etc..

I guess its pretty easy to get bored when you’ve been producing the same thing for a while. its sort of a trend with producers to make whats big at the minute in there own style, and at the minute things are going a little slower. Im pretty sure things will start getting faster before long. With me its kind of the other way round, I’ve been making tunes lately that are a lot faster than what I used to make.

- How do you see the strentgh of the UK house and techno scenes compared to the dubstep scene?

I don’t really know about anywhere else, but in Leeds its certainly gotten bigger. I’d say there’s a lot more good nights for house and techno now than there is for dubstep, but I’ve never really been into dubstep so im not the right person to ask.  When I moved to Leeds 2 years ago, Im pretty sure there wasn’t as many good nights as there are now.

- Which artists and labels are you really feeling at the moment?

Well definitely Kahwe and Wolf Cub are one’s to watch, they both have pretty big stuff happening in the near future. Also Outboxx are killing it at the minute. Then there’s people like Nick Beringer and Jordan Peak who are making some really good house at the minute. As for labels Traxx Underground have been releasing some nice stuff at the minute. Oh and of course Bicep, They recently started up a label.

- Favourite releases of the year?

Either Will Madam‘s ‘Ramshackle EP on Traxx Underground or Mic Newman‘s latest release on Tsuba. Both are solid smoothish house vibes.

- Can you tell us a bit about the Transmission collective.

Transmission was basically a blog we started over a year ago to show the best new tunes and art about. Its now becoming a label, and will see monthly releases, the first being next month. We’re also going to be putting on regular nights in leeds.

- What can we hope to see from you in terms of releases of the next 12 months?

Well the first transmission release is going to be a joint release from me, Kahwe and Wolf Cub. It will be under the name Transmission Collective as well. We’ll also all be releasing separately on the label from now until Christmas, so there’s going to be plenty of tunes coming from us!

- And finally, please complete the following sentence: Get Some…

Episodes of the Sopranos watched!