Because Of Art is the moniker of London-based producer Alex Grover, who has very quickly established himself as one of dance music’s hottest new talents, hailing attention from ravers, DJs, and tastemakers alike.
Alex’s success comes from his breaks influenced track ‘Elevate’ released on tastemaker Danny Howard’s Nothing Else Matters label. The ‘Generation Z EP’ highlighted three new producers tipped as the next generation of dance music.
Elevate went on to spend over 6 weeks on top of the Beatport Leftfield House & Techno chart whilst receiving strong DJ and BBC Radio 1 support, most notably from dance music legend Sasha. The past 12 months have also seen strong releases on key record labels such as Stress Records and Gruuv Recordings.
Below, he takes us through the process of his latest hi Circle of Light, an ethereal breaks track perfect for those spring and summer days.
Words and photos by Because of Art
DRUM SPLICING
Generally, I start making all my dance records with drums. “Circle of Light” started with a few break loops that I liked the sound of. If there are particular parts of the loop I like, I will chop them out and add them to a new track in Logic so I can sort the levels and EQ them individually. I do this with a few different loops to create a groove.
Then, I bounce the tracks together to make one loop and add swing to taste. I added a shaker loop to give it that classic breaks feel. The drum group is then sent out through my Thermionic Kite and back into the UAD SSL bus compressor and Sound Toys Decapitator.
PIANO
The drums had a 90s vibe, so I wanted to go with a classic house piano and reached for the Kong M1 plug-in. This has a few different piano presets that all have slightly different tones but can be picked out in most 90s records. This is my go-to plug-in for house pianos. I did not do too much to this processing-wise, just some light compression with the FabFilter Pro C2 and then some EQ with the BX SSL 4000 E.
KORG PROLOGUE
I used this for the backing pads in the record. This synth is class and can create a huge amount of different sounds – it has become one of the most used pieces of gear in my studio. I love how smooth the low end is and the natural depth and width are very nice to work with. I opened up the attack a bit and made the release a bit longer for a really floaty feel. Again, a little bit of processing. I love using the Millennia NSEQ2 on my synths.
BASS
For the bass, I used a patch on Serum, made a few tweaks on the envelope and filter cut off, and it sounded great. I used the Better Maker EQ to fatten it up and added the Wavestation track spacer, and side-chained it to the kick. I like using the track spacer over an LFO plug-in for a bit more control over the timing and frequency bands it affects.
VOCAL PROCESSING
The vocals were recorded by unreal talent and now good friend, Antony Szmierek, who is a spoken-word artist. I loved the vibe he created and his amazing ability to tell the story. I had never worked with a spoken-word artist before, so when I got the vocals from Antony, I initially found it hard to place them in the track. This is because I was trying to move them into perfect timing. I learned quickly that this doesn’t work with spoken word, and at this point, it all came together. For the vocal processing, I used the UAD 88RS channel strip, the UAD Lexicon 224 reverb, and a small amount of delay from the Waves H Delay.
ARRANGEMENT
Then, I added a load of FX to make the transitions smoother and played around with the structure until I was happy with the record. I like to mix my own records so I can get the exact vibe I am after for the record. Some tracks I like to be really precise with the processing, but for “Circle of Light,” I wanted to give it an older “raw” feel. I did some work with the FabFilter and some of my favorite UAD plugins before running out through the Thermionic Kite and my Dangerous compressor.
THE KITE
The Thermionic Kite is a stereo tube EQ that provides a warm and smooth low end, while the top end adds crispness and air to the mix. It also features an attitude control that drives the tubes and adds some character to the sound. I ran the entire mix through the Kite to give the track a more analog and rave-inspired feel.
DANGEROUS COMPRESSOR
The Dangerous Compressor is a transparent and clean compressor that makes it easy to control the dynamics without any noticeable ducking effects. I love using this compressor, which is the last in my master chain, to add the final touch to the mix.
