London producer, DJ, and synthesizer engineer Hugo Massien today joins the roster of artists on Dirtybird’s White Label with the release of his new EP, ‘Fast Forward’.
The 5th release on the series following recent EPs including Nikki Nair’s ‘More Is Different’, to Ivy Lab’s ‘Press Play’, the Dirtybird White Label continues to venture into more left of center/underground sounds. Launched in 2021, the label set out a simple mission with their new arm: to defy expectations of the current sound and continue its ethos as a formidable tastemaker, now with a new release from deep tech producer Hugo Massien.
In similar fashion with previous releases on the White Label, Hugo delivers four gems across a myriad of genres throughout the four track EP. From the melodic break of “Fast Forward” to the dream state mood of “Dynamic Symmetry”, the lo-fi bass of “Quantum Mechanics”, and sublime “Astral State”, the EP shows versatility and the undeniable talent across his productions.
The ‘Fast Forward’ EP marks Hugo’s debut on Dirtybird, which happened organically through label boss Claude VonStroke following the producer’s sound throughout the pandemic, particularly his stellar debut album Metamorphosis. It comes as no surprise that Hugo is a synthesizer engineer at equipment manufacturer Novation, having a deep and impressive knowledge of their pdirtroducts and incorporating them into the EP.
“I made all of the tracks in my home studio throughout 2021 during various periods of that very unique year. The tracks are all sequenced in Ableton Live, using a combination of Novation Peak, Novation Bass Station, Xfer Serum and Spectrasonics Omnisphere”, said Hugo in regards to the EP. “The most interesting synth element on the EP is the bassline in Quantum Mechanics. It’s made by cranking the resonance of a low pass filter up super high and then modulating the cutoff in all kinds of crazy ways. It makes me visualize a dancing flubber-like jelly”, he added.
Having first released in 2014, Hugo quickly built a legion of fans who absolutely loved his bass heavy breaks, drawing on influences from his early rave days where dubstep reigned supreme in the UK’s nightclubs. By 2018 he had released a winning string of EPs on various imprints including XL Recordings, Keysound, 17 Steps, Unknown to the Unknown and E-Beamz (home to DJ Seinfeld, DJ Boring, & more). Hugo’s tracks are a fixture in the sets of highly respected tastemakers including Roman Flugel, TEED, and Ben UFO to name a few.
The release of the new EP, ‘Fast Forward’’ will be available on March 4th via Dirtybird’s White Label Series as well as the signature white vinyl with original Dirtybird logo that Claude VonStroke drew by hand many decades ago.
