NPhonix

Having started writing drum and bass in 2000, by 2005 Fedor Stepanenko had signed his first track to the renowned Luxembourg label Full Force, causing a sensation on a global scale. This was followed by releases on such prominent labels as DSCI4 (England), Sinuous (England), Fokuz (the Netherlands), M-Atome (France). The peak of Fedor's career so far can be considered the track “Aegis”, made with Electrosoul System and signed by Teebee himself to the label Subtitles (Norway). NPhonix's tracks have been played by such stars of the drum and bass scene as Ed Rush, Dylan, Noisia, Phace, Spor, Chris Renegade, Calyx, Raiden and many others. Listeners of Drumandbass.ru surely know at least one of his tracks, “Transfix”—it was used for the station's jingle.

Hi, Fedor! To begin with, tell us how you got into making music and DJing. How did it all start?

Hi! I started experimenting about eight years ago, when I first installed Fruity Loops on my computer. I was simply fascinated by the idea that you could compose music on a PC. At the time I experimented in almost every possible electronic genre except, perhaps, house and trance. Eventually I settled on drum and bass, downtempo, IDM and techno. I started DJing in 2004, after I happened to buy a bunch of records at the well-known Black Market in London, purely out of curiosity. I've continued regularly adding to my collection ever since.

It is known that you lived in Japan for some time. Did that experience have a strong influence on you? What did you take from it, and how did it affect your work?

Many changes took place in my character while I was living in Japan. As for my creative work, that was a real breakthrough, because I had a huge amount of time to devote to my productions, and of course I made full use of it. As a result, I finished several tracks and sent them to a couple of labels, which eventually led to my first two releases on Full Force.

How did you manage to make such a bright and emphatic entrance right from the start? Before last year's release on Full Force, no one knew the name NPhonix.

I think what worked was that I started sending out tracks that were already fairly mature, both in terms of content and sound. In other words, I sent something out for the first time only after I already had a certain amount of experience behind me. Many people start sending demos as soon as they sit down to write. In my opinion, that isn't the right thing to do; it's better to hone your technique properly first and only then bother the labels.

What releases are currently planned? Presumably everyone has already heard that Teebee himself signed you to his label. What does it feel like to be part of the world's drum and bass canon?

A technoid track, “Piranha,” is about to come out on an EP on Sinuous Records, “Evolution of Mind EP.” A techno trance-and-bass track, “Zed,” is also due out by Christmas on M-Atome's new French sublabel, M-Atome ltd. Two more tracks will be released in 2008 on Fokuz ltd: my solo track “Ideogram” and “Transparent,” a collaboration with Enei. And of course, our collaboration with Electrosoul System and the collaboration with Logical will come out on Subtitles sometime in 2008! In general, the whole Teebee story made me happy, of course, but that passed quickly. I remember feeling euphoric when the first record with my track came into my hands too, but now it has become quite routine.

What are your creative plans for the near future? Who are you working with? What other collaborations will we be able to hear?

I'm currently working on a bunch of things for a number of labels, and we're preparing several works with Enei, Sunchase, Walder, Flame, Paperclip, Cynematic and others. There are also a whole bunch of unfinished works with other interesting producers, but it seems they will never see the light of day. Working with people over the internet isn't always that easy, after all.

What do you think of the development of the drum and bass scene in Russia? What do you think is lacking in our country?

It seems that drum and bass culture is currently on the rise in our country, which can only be welcomed. Many different interesting guests are being brought over, domestic producers are releasing on good foreign labels, a bunch of new talents have appeared, etc. But there is also a certain negative side: here, many people see drum and bass as music for raves, hence the ravers and the associated trappings. What is sorely lacking is a larger number of people who are more deeply versed in this culture; unfortunately, there are very few of them.

Which Russian musicians would you single out?

Quite a few interesting new names have appeared lately—Enei, Flame/Tenebra, Kubrak, Cynematic, Megadrummer, Paperclip and others. I think these guys will tear up the global scene in time. Just look at Enei and Cynematic, whom Teebee recently signed to Subtitles!

More and more people are now talking about the vinyl industry's struggles because of the development of digital technologies. How do you personally feel about music on the internet, and what is your forecast for the future of the vinyl record and MP3 markets?

I'm a vinyl fan myself; I don't like CDJing… Although I have to play CDs, since you need to put dubplates out there. I don't feel very positive about all of this—vinyl is somehow more aesthetic. I don't think it will die any time soon; there will always be aesthetes. In general, it drives me crazy when you see someone's dubplates lying around online! But you can't ban the internet or idiots, can you?

You tour quite a lot, but you still haven't visited the city that gave rise to Russia's drum and bass scene. How does it feel ahead of your arrival in Saint Petersburg? What are you expecting?

Yes, it turned out rather strangely that I still haven't played in Saint Petersburg. I've wanted to for a long time! I'm really looking forward to the trip and hoping for a sensible audience; in any case, I'm sure everything will be great!

Finally, a few words for the Saint Petersburg fans of your work.

Folks, preserve drum and bass culture!:)

P.S. Drugs are bad!

Friday Club, 18 January 2008.