RL Grime – real name Henry Steinway – grew up soaking in the musical scene in Los Angeles and this inherent understanding and love of his craft is evident in his progressive production style. Having released three EP’s, numerous critically acclaimed singles and remixes as well as worldwide tour and festival appearances, the musician is now finally set to release his new album VOID on November 14th via WeDidIt Records.

Ahead of the release we interviewed RL Grime to find out more about his upbringing, working within the WeDidIt collective and what the most important thing is to have on your tour bus…

 

You were born and raised in Los Angeles, how did that shape you in terms of music and as a person?

I don’t think I understood how important it was growing up in LA until I moved away. Musically, I think what was best about it was that even at a young age I was exposed to a lot of great music, especially electronic music. Growing up I was able to go to all these fairly new festivals and raves, and any DJ / producer I liked at the time was touring through LA at some point, which was such a luxury now looking back.

Eventually you became part of the WeDidIt collective, what did that do for your career?

To be honest it was much less a “career move” and more just something that felt right. At the time, I was already super close with Shlohmo and Nick Melons – who run the label – as we were all living in New York together. Hanging around the WeDidIt guys, they were hearing all of this new music I was making, and eventually thought it would be right for the label, so it really was something that came together naturally. More than anything else, I feel WeDidIt is just a collective of friends who share similar interests and tastes. It has never been a business thing, which I think is why I gravitated toward them.



 

You’re touring pretty much continually to the end of the year, is that something that you enjoy? What are the ups and downs?

Touring is amazing, but it definitely has its ups and downs. On one hand, I really enjoy it because I get to see new cities I’ve never even knew existed and play my music to people around the world. On the other hand though, touring consecutively means lack of sleep and never really having a set place to work on music besides hotel rooms and airplanes.

What’s the most important thing to have with you on a tour bus?

WIFI.

Your new single has guest vocals from Tom Krell of How To Dress Well, how important is it to have vocals in a dance track? What do they give to the song?

To be honest, it all depends on the vibe of the track, as it all has to make sense with each other. Personally, I think vocals are used best in tracks when they become almost like another instrument on the song. Tom and I linked up about two years ago, and after meeting we continued to send ideas back and forth from time to time. I sent him the instrumental and overall idea for “Reminder” a few months back, and it was finally something we both connected on. After that, the song came together pretty organically.



 

You are finally releasing your debut album in November. Why do you think it’s been such a long time coming? What was the process like putting it together?

I think it’s taken this long for me to make an album because I never really felt ready to do so. Early in my career I was content with putting out EP’s, singles, and remixes – as it felt right to sort of “feed the beast” in that way. But towards the end of last year, I started to get an itch to make something that was more of a complete project, something that had a cohesive sound and identity and told a story. So an album in 2014 felt like the natural next step.

The process of piecing VOID together was something that after the initial framework / ideas for it were locked in – it became a really seamless process. I met up with David Rudnick in late January – who has been helping with the art direction of the VOID album – and we started discussing ideas and concepts that I wanted to get across not only visually but musically, as our whole perception from the start was to create an album that had a storyline you can hear and see. The visual concepts of the album really helped guide how I approached the musical side of it, and vice versa. Overall it was a really amazing process and I couldn’t be more proud with how it turned out.

How would you describe the sound of  ‘Void’?

As I kind of just touched on, the way I crafted the album musically had a lot to do with the visual identities I set out to communicate on VOID. One of the main tropes is this sort of fascination/intrigue with the mystery and mystic of the deep sea. The unknown nature of the underwater world that surrounds us, and the dark and obscure connotations that can come from it. Additionally so, we wanted the album to feel like everything on it comes from the deepest and darkest place on earth, beyond any human or life form existence. The majority of VOID is my interpretation of these different themes.



 

What’s the most important thing you’ve learnt from DJing all over the world?

I’d say the most important thing I’ve learned from DJing around the world is how to adapt to different crowds. Prior to touring internationally or even much in the states, I had only really DJ’ed consistently in LA. I had a pretty good idea of what and how to play, but traveling the world and playing in different countries, you really start to gain a sense for how to read into a crowd, making you more aware of how to adapt to situations.

Find out more about RL Grime on his website: www.rlgri.me