The remix of Radio Company’s ‘Quarter To’ drops July 19th, and we’re ready for it! ‘Quarter To’ has long been an RC fan favorite, so this remix is exciting news. Daybreakers, a highly successful record producing duo, are set to release the much-anticipated track and fans on both sides of this collaboration are eager to hear it. You can be sure that a link to the track will be added to the bottom of the article, as soon as it’s available.
By Way of Introduction
To their own established fan base these talented artists need no introduction, but to Radio Company fans who may not be familiar, lets lay down a little Daybreakers history.
Daybreakers are a UK/Canada based record producing team composed of Ric Scott and Alex Hush.
Ric Scott started at an early age and after 11 years of music school, he left to write and produce his own style of music. He has worked with various other producers on some of the best dance and trance tunes, including Joshua Ryan, Warp Brothers, Ian Van Dahl, Paul Van Dyk, Neo & Farina, Mogwai, Watergate and more recently; Lady Gaga, Lionel Richie, Paul Hardcastle and Hemstock & Jennings.
Alex Hush, originating from one half of the production duo Koishii & Hush, who have released their own tracks including collaborations with New Order’s Gillian Gilbert and Duran Duran’s John Taylor, have their own remixes for Mick Jagger, INXS, Erasure, Dannii Minogue, Yazoo and several others.
Ric and Alex first collaborated on a remix for Erasure. They followed up with remixing a Pet Shop Boys track before deciding to make Daybreakers an ongoing project. Their first remix as Daybreakers was for the U2 single ‘Love Is Bigger Than Anything in Its Way,’ which helped propel the song to take the coveted top spot on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart. With the success of the U2 remix, they were asked to remix Madonna’s single ‘I Rise,’ which also took the Number One spot, giving Madonna her 48th Number One on the Billboard Dance Club Songs Chart and was released as part of the limited-edition Record Store Day vinyl.
Daybreakers’ output is prolific. To share a subset of their successes, easily found on music streaming outlets for any would-be fan, their work includes remixes of; Mike Koglin, ‘The Silence,’ Gladiator, ‘Now We Are Free,’ Erasure, ‘Hey Now (Think I Got a Feeling),’ and Lustral & DT8 Project, ‘Sunshine in Human Form.’ Their own singles include ‘Run’ featuring Jess Greenfield of Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, ‘Love U More’ featuring Sunscreem, ‘Every time I See Your Picture’ and ‘The Darkness,’ both featuring Christina Nicola and three singles with Roberta Harrison, ‘Five Miles High,’ ‘Great Escape’ and ‘Lose You.’
Having asked Daybreakers about the following two samples of their work, they had this to share; “Erasure’s ‘Hey Now (Think I Got a Feeling)’ is a production with an enhanced electro/pop feel, while keeping the whole remix pop-friendly and Madonna, well she’s an icon. The ‘I Rise’ remix helped her to nab her 48th Billboard Number 1, which was a big honor for us.”
The Remix Culture
The remix of Radio Company’s ‘Quarter To’ presented a perfect opportunity for me to do a deeper dive into the remix culture. Having heard trance and electronic dance music in the past, the research for this article has been a satisfying trip into an unexplored world. Evolving from the experimentation of dub-artists back in the 60’s and 70’s who focused on the simple reworking and manipulation of existing recordings, remix has graduated from those early days to be the unique art form and powerhouse genre it is today. The 70’s and 80’s saw a meteoric rise in electronic dance music (EDM) giving way to producers and DJs (famous in their own right) extending and reworking tracks for the dance floor. The 90’s remix albums became a popular way for record labels to capitalize on the success of popular songs, but the benefit to both the music industry and fans has blossomed into much more.
The rise of remix offers the ability to extend the lifespan of a track, helping artists to reach new audiences, extend the chart-topping success of songs/artists, drive collaboration and launch career growth for established and emerging artists alike. The expansion of remix as a distinct musical art form, especially with the advancements in digital technology and online platforms, has yielded much. It has rendered new waves of creative expression and the ability for artists and producers from diverse musical backgrounds, to carve out new music in fresh and unexpected ways.
The Interview
In anticipation of the remix of Radio Company’s ‘Quarter To’ release, we couldn’t wait to chat with the very talented Daybreakers artists to learn more about their process and collaboration with Steve Carlson and Jensen Ackles. Without further ado, lets jump right in with the Q & A.
1. We’re thrilled to get to know you both better, as we’re sure our readers will be too. In the research we discovered that some of your early loves in music were Erasure, New Order, Depeche Mode, Pet Shop Boys, The Cult, The Cure, Duran Duran, and Dead or Alive. Like any music lover, our music tastes are ever evolving, is there any artist you’d like to add to this list now?
Ric: I would love to work with Jean Michel Jarre & The Weeknd. Both for very different reasons, JMJ because he is an idol of mine and is one of the reasons I love electronic music so much. The Weeknd; for his vocal range.
Alex: I would second The Weeknd and would add Robyn, Steve Perry, Chris Stapleton and Shania Twain.
2. Is there any specific quality that an existing song must have in order to make it a good candidate for a remix?
Ric: We will listen to the track and on first listen, will know straight away if we can add any value to the release. We will get some ideas and then it’s a go.
3. Outside of the qualities that a song must have (above) is there anything else that draws you to a particular piece of music?
Ric: If it’s a vocal track, the vocals must be well recorded and clean. Other than that, I will replay most of the instrumental pieces regardless.
Alex: I am drawn to a hook or the challenge of putting a square peg into a round hole. Sometimes it’s the songs you least expect that lend themselves to a great remix. It sounds cliché, but thinking outside of the box is a big motivator.
4. How does work come to you? Do you primarily seek out new material on your own, or do artists’ commission you to remix their work? Or both?
Ric: I will leave this one to Alex.
Alex: A bit of both really. There are some we will pursue via our own channels, and we have been very lucky to have been asked to work on remixes for some great artists like U2, Madonna, Erasure to name just a few.
5. To elaborate on how work comes to you, if an artist approaches you for a remix, does that mean the collaboration is more involved?
Alex: Not usually, no. You could be given a brief of their vision of what direction they would like the remix to take, but to be honest, no one has ever given us one. If anything, before we start working on it, we may let them know ‘we are feeling a progressive house vibe on this’, just to see if they have any strong feelings about it one way or another, but we are normally just left to do our thing.
6. The birds-eye view of a collaboration project – what does that process look like?
Ric: A collaboration project adds extra levels of ideas. Sometimes the original artists want more of their performances in the finished recording. On occasions, this can be easily accommodated, but sometimes the original performances will not fit the new layout of the remix and/or style/genre. We did a remix a couple of years back for our friends Blitz Vega that featured Johnny Marr (The Smiths) playing guitar and we were sure to use the guitar parts somewhere in the mix because it was Johnny. But mainly…we will produce an idea (rough mix) of a remix and present it to the artist just to make sure we are on the same page in genre and layout etc. 75% of the time this can ignite a spark in the artist who probably didn’t think their song could sound any different to what the original recording is.
7. Typically, from picking a project to launching a remix into the marketplace, how long does that take?
Ric: It can vary from record label to record label. Some labels will approach with a short deadline (under one month) to turn around a remix ready for release & others are working 3-4 months in the future. The Madonna ‘I Rise’ remix started with a phone call from Alex saying ‘Fancy doing a remix for Madonna? – We have a week’. So, the variation keeps us on our toes. We do like to have a schedule rather than shoehorning a remix in. So, a rough estimate would be 4 weeks – 6 months.
Alex: Unless Madonna calls! (laughs)
8. The remix genre seems to be primarily entrenched in streaming platforms for its consumption and circulation. Impressions are that it all seems much more fluid and quick moving then ‘in the good ‘ol days’ when vinyl reigned supreme. Does that effect who you work with or your artistic choices in building a remix track?
Ric: For me, not at all…It’s all about adding value to the original release. The release of the remix is a lot quicker these days due to the digital format. Back in the days of full physical releases, we could have potentially completed 4 or 5 other remixes before the first one was released.
Alex: Agreed. A good track is a good track regardless. The main challenge now is because it is so fast moving, there is just that much more music out there for the audience to try and discover.
9. What was it specifically about ‘Quarter To’ that drew your ardor to remix it?
Alex: The spirit and delivery of the song. It just struck us both as being quite deep, and you can hear the passion in both Steve and Jensen’s vocals. I like a lot of Radio Company songs and that one really hit us as having fantastic potential for a remix. It has all the elements that make for a great mix and although it may be considered a radical reworking, it is also quite faithful to the original in many respects.
10. In your collaboration with Radio Company, how was working with Steve Carlson and Jensen Ackles?
Ric: Steve & Jensen were great. Very easy going and were keen to see what spin we would put on their song. We kept them in the loop as things progressed and were eager to offer feedback when asked.
Alex: I have known Steve for a while so as far the overall project, we were on the same page from the outset. Even though they are both entrenched in the rock and country scene, neither of them had any reservations about letting us do our thing and giving their song a unique slant.
11. If you could work with any artist that you haven’t collaborated with in the past, who would that be and why?
Ric: Not an artist, but I would love to work with Max Martin. I’ve always been a fan of his and his production techniques.
Alex: Shania Twain or Morten Harket. Both are such great talents and I know we could do something very unique and unexpected.
12. For any fan that is new to the remix genre, besides yourselves, are there any other remix artists you would recommend?
Ric: There’s so many, Tiesto is still a massive pull for the artists, Armand Van Helden is a great remixer too, I could go on and on, the list could be endless….
Alex: Very much so. Just so many great artists and producers – it really boils down to finding a sound you like and then expanding outwards from that. Stuart Price (Jacques Lu Cont/Thin White Duke), Ferry Corsten and Eric Prydz spring to mind for me.
13. What is next for Daybreakers?
Ric: Since Quarter To, we have completed another remix, taken a short break and currently, we are working on some original material with various vocalists. It’s good to take a break, usually unscheduled, to refresh the brain and to help stop the stagnation setting in.
Alex: Unless Madonna calls!
In Closing
In closing, we’d like to extend our sincere and grateful thanks to both Ric Scott and Alex Hush for agreeing to this interview. Their generous gift in granting their time and attention, is what has made this article possible. We truly cannot wait to hear the remix.
The Link
The moment the track drops the YouTube link will be embedded in the image below.
Original source article published on TWE Daily.
