Beyond 140: Rotate’s Vision for Leftfield Electronic

Words by Halogenix

I was first introduced to Ryan, the producer behind Rotate, via George GLM. We were backstage at a show and George was singing his praises. After diving into his catalogue, it was easy to see why.

Rotate’s music is hard to pin down, and that’s by design. Spanning everything from refined, soulful rhythms to heavy, dystopian soundscapes, he is building a catalogue that feels both wise and refreshingly experimental. Currently living in Sri Lanka working as a surf coach, he took some time to chat with me about his new Ace Of Hate EP, his unique relationship with graphic design, and why he calls his sound "eclectic dark bass."

You’ve been making music for a while, but for anyone out there who isn’t familiar with you, do you want to introduce yourself?

My name’s Ryan, I produce under Rotate. I make left-field focused electronic music. I’ve started calling it "eclectic dark bass music" as I’m making anything with an undercurrent of heavy bass through all BPMs and just trying to mess with the templates of those “genres”.

As mentioned, I was introduced to you via George GLM. What's your connection to George?

I met George whilst in Bristol. After a while, I think we realised we have similar taste and vision for the music we make so we became good mates. We have loads of unfinished tunes together despite us both being on Logic, we never finish em haha.

"I think being a diverse producer just means that you like to explore... I prefer to keep messing with stuff til I hear something that I haven’t necessarily heard in the context of darker music."

I was really impressed by the breadth of your tunes. There was stuff in there that fits with the current landscape but there was also a bunch that seemed really personal and individual. How important is it to you to be a diverse producer and what kind of influence do you look for when writing music?

I think being a diverse producer just means that you like to explore as a producer. A lot of people love to slap a drum beat down with some presets and vibe it out, I prefer to keep messing with stuff til I hear something that I haven’t necessarily heard in the context of darker music.

I listen to a lot of R&B & Neo-soul, so the drum percussion elements I use are usually inspired by that. As far as techniques go, I reach for Soundtoys a lot. I love the creative process but also the warm analogue sound that they emulate in their plug-ins.

What excited you about the Gemini EP?

I’m just super excited to get my music out to a wider audience as "Natural Combination," for example, is 3 years old. Obviously, it’s had a retouch but yeah, super happy to be finally getting that out.

You also dabble in graphic design—I took a lot of cues from your work to get the artwork for your EP right. Your style is really interesting and quite dark and dystopian. Do you want to say something about your art?

So I started making art bits on my old old laptop. It was jankey, but I enjoyed just being able to download weird visuals or edit stuff that I’ve taken photos of in ways that could be used as SoundCloud pictures whenever I upload a new dub. I think art is as important as the music so it helps capture the essence as a whole instead of the tune just being a name without a face.

You mentioned that your Dad is a musician too and laid down some chords on a DNB track that you sent me. How big an influence is he on your music?

Yeah, my dad's amazing at the keys. We’ve written a lot together but usually, it never blossoms the way that "Organica" did. It was just before he was going out to work his evening gig and I asked him to lay some chords over a lofi soulful DNB tune I was making at the time. It came together in a couple of minutes. I worked on it all evening whilst he was out, and we finished it early in the morning when he got home. We both knew we’d finally made a tune together that had legs.

For a relative newcomer, your music seems quite refined and has an air of wisdom to it. What does your music mean to you and what are your ambitions for the future?

Yeah, I've been making tunes for around 7 years now. A lot of the inspiration and drive comes when I'm in busy settings, and I've usually been listening to a lot of music the prior days which has my mind wanting to create. I find it tough to make music with no intention; the tunes that fall into place are the ones that have a place to be heard. For example, when I have an upcoming gig, that will inspire me to make music for that moment in time!

You’ve got quite a catalog of self-released music on your Bandcamp. Do you prefer being fully independent or is working with labels something you’re actively pursuing more?

The Bandcamp stuff really is tunes that I either want to get out for the heads that follow me, or stuff I’ve been asked about, but I’m trying to work with more labels from now as I think it’s a great way to grow and integrate with like-minded producers.

How do you view the wider bass music community in the UK?

I have hope for sure. I’m always sending ideas back n forth with friends and others in the scene, and I think we’re starting to really breakout from the templates of what’s known in the 130/140 range.

Also, being able to slowly integrate with artists that I’ve looked up to since the start is also very cool, but super natural too. My hope for the future is to release the long catalogue of unreleased music I've built up with labels I’ve seen as tastemakers, whilst making music that is pushing the scene's sound forward, and hopefully that’s going to connect with the people.

You’re in Sri Lanka at the moment for quite a while, what are you doing out there?

I’ve made the move out here to enjoy my other career as a surf coach, but also as a time to travel and meet new people before I get back to the UK and really focus down on music. I’m hoping I’m at the stage now where I have the right people around me and I can start to share and elevate my music with wider audiences. I’m seeing it as a chance to enjoy something else before the potential life-long career of music takes over completely.

Follow Rotate: Bandcamp | Instagram | Soundcloud

Buy/Stream the Ace Of Hate EP here: https://rwbmusicuk.bandcamp.com/album/ace-of-hate-ep