Few electronic music artists can say they’ve had their music played by Trance legend Paul Van Dyk and Drum & Bass god Andy C. Cutline can.

Cutline are making big room tunes that slot neatly between the pigeon holes of electro, dubstep and drum & bass, drawing influences from house, trance and just about everything else.With plans for an EP on Excision’s Rottun Recordings and a deluge of offers for singles and remixes, Cutline are set to be one of the busiest production outfits around in the coming year.

MistaJam.com’s Sam Moir caught up with the duo.

How did you get into making music?

Jeryl: We met each other when we were seven. Danny was already singing in choirs and playing violin in orchestras. Over the years he played various other instruments, guitar and piano etc.

Dan moved away from Swindon to Abingdon to go to a new secondary school but we kept in touch. I didn’t have much interest in learning instruments, I flirted with the drums briefly until my parents actually bought me my own sticks and then I lost interest (a recurring theme with Judo, Tai Kwon Do and other teenage pursuits).

Somehow we both ended up independently getting into collecting records and DJing, and when we were about 16 I visited Dan in Abingdon and he had his own decks and we spent hours mixing and talking about dance music.

Dan: I’ve been writing music in one form or another for as long as I can remember. I didn’t properly get into music production until my GCSEs where I submitted a rather dodgy 4/4 dance tune written on the school’s Power Macs.

After that I was hooked, I bought a PC with Cubase Audio (yes I’m that old!) and started writing happy hardcore.

Following this I went on to study Commercial Music at Westminster, where I got to work with much better equipment and learnt how to use logic. I also ditched the happy hardcore thing pretty quick smart. 8 years later (I tend to procrastinate and I’m intrinsically a very lazy person) and here I am finally getting my music out there.

What were your early influences?

Jeryl: I’ve always been into ‘rave’. My brother is a lot older than me so my first forays into music were through The Prodigy, Sasha & Digweed and Orbital. I also had a healthy interest in grunge, Nirvana and so on, as well as hip hop. Come to think of it I remember going to the local youth club with my brother when he was a teenager (making me about 4 or 5) and watching him and his mates breakdancing to electro!

Dan: My earliest influence was Michael Jackson. Alleged kiddy fiddling aside, he was it for me musically. I actually played my Thriller tape so much I wore it out. The only other artists I really cared about in the ‘80s were Bob Marley, Jimi Hendrix and various Motown artists. I didn’t really listen to anything else until the early ‘90s and the emergence of gangster rap and rave. Then it was all about NWA, Snoop, Wu-Tang, The Prodigy etc. I also started listening to bands like Metallica, RATM, Nirvana etc. I’ve always been very eclectic in the music I like to listen to.

Let You Go has been well supported on the radio, what do you make of it?

Jeryl: We’ve had a great response on this track in particular from Annie Nightingale, DJ Mash at Galaxy FM and, of course, MistaJam. His support really means a lot to us. Right now he’s the bridge between what’s happening in the underground and what’s breaking through to more mainstream audiences. He’s one of the DJs who really knows what’s going on and has a great platform to showcase it.

Alright, enough flirting. Sorry Jam, I know you’re already married.

How has working with such a diverse range of artists helped your music?

Dan: It’s been really helpful. We always wanted to be a multi-genre act, so having the opportunity to do remixes for artists like Nick Thayer, J Majik & Wickaman and Mindflow in varying genres has been fantastic for us. It’s allowed us to be a lot more creative.

When we did the ‘Renegade’ remix for Ninja Tune we started out writing a dubstep version, but The Qemists had already started their own VIP dubstep mix. So I went back in on it and changed the whole thing into an electro version in six hours! Since then I’ve been making tunes a lot faster (I seem to work better with a deadline!)

The ‘Cascade’ remix we did for The Prototypes was the first D&B/drumstep track we finished so it’s great that it’s been so well received. Being able to try all these styles and use different elements from each means we don’t get bored or pigeon holed, which is exactly what we wanted.

Who else would you like to work with?

Dan: There are tonnes of artists that I would love to write something with. Off the top of my head Imogen Heap, Method Man, Liam Howlett, P Money, Plan B, Skrillex, Busta Rhymes, Collie Buddz basically far too many to mention. I really just appreciate good music and I relish a challenge.

Jeryl: For some reason I can’t get the idea of Skin from Skunk Anansie on a dubstep track out of my head.

Why are you giving the track away?

Giving away tracks is an integral part of building a name and a fanbase these days. As we’re planning to release the tune on our own Not Safe For Work label it was a nice opportunity to kill two birds with one stone and get Cutline and NSFW out there a bit more.

What are your future plans?

Dan: We’re currently working on an EP for Excision’s Rottun imprint, which has been a big challenge for us as it’s so different from what we’re used to writing.

Jeryl: Our electro house remix of J Majik & Wickaman’s ‘Save You’ should see the light of day in the not too distant future, as well as the ‘Cascade’ remix. We’ve also remixed the new Danny Byrd & Netsky single ‘Tonight’ for Hospital Records which is coming out in January.

We recently launched our own label, Not Safe For Work with a massive EP from 501. Following that is the Various Artists EP featuring ‘Let Me Go’ as well as a High Rankin remix of 501’s ‘Somewhere In Time’ and tracks from new artists Millions Like Us and Cubs.

But basically we just want to get rich and play Xbox all day in our pants, and occasionally write some music.

Let Me Go is the title track taken from NSFW’s new release, the Lemon Party EP, featuring High Rankin’s remix of the 501 track “Somewhere In Time”, and newcomers Millions Like Us and Cubs. For more information, check out: www.wellnsfw.com.

Download it now

Let Me Go (Free Download!) by Cutline