Synkro should need no introduction. Long hailed as the top producer in a Manchester scene rich with talent, his deep beats and haunting vocals have propelled him to releases on Z-Audio,Mindset and Medschool and seen him become notorious for his tight sets, getting crowds dancing from Portsmouth to Gothenburg via the O2 Arena. Example got five minutes with him to see what gwan.

EXAMPLE: Ez

SYNKRO: Ez.

For those who dont know, describe your sound a bit.

Deep,Emotional, ambient, 2 Steppy, garage influenced bass driven music

How did you get into making music?

Basically, played drums since I was about 7 and everything sort of stemmed from there. I've only been making beats on a computer for about 4 years though. I started out making drum and bass, trying to sound like all the hospital stuff at the time, then i just kind of got caught up in dubstep. The autonomic podcasts made me interested in drum and bass again though and now I've actually got a tune coming out on Med School (Hospital records offshoot label).

Describe your tune building process a bit.

I always start with a raw beat and layer on top of that.

Sometimes I can make a tune in a night, other times it can take up to a month, I always get an idea I have down straight away though, whether its a synth idea or a good sample.

What's your personal favourite tune you've made?

Probably 'my own world', there's just something about it. It took two computers to make it, I created the vocals on one computer, which died as soon as i finished them,so it was a memorable tune which was definitely worth all the hassle.

Who would you most like to build a tune with?

Instra:mental or Sven weissman, both amazing producers doing big things.

You make a lot of tunes with Indigo, and your quite involved with his label Mindset, how did you two meet?

He sent me a message on myspace arranging to meet with me, i think he'd heard some of my beats. I thought I was gonna get raped, he looked like a german techno producer. He's all right though.

Who's your biggest non electronic influence?

Tool, definitely. The emotional content and the overall mood in Tool songs is something I definitely try to include when I'm making beats.

What so you were fully into the metal vibe?

Yeah, but influence wise specifically Tool, and a few Pantera songs.

What's going on for you in 2010?

More drum and bass, loads more gigs, and I'm just about to play in Poland and then start my US tour, flying out to San Francisco on the 20th January. Look out for more Mindset stuff as well, it's going to be a big year.

Your making a lot of autonomic drum and bass at the moment, do you see yourself moving more in that direction permanently or are you not keen on putting yourself in one box ?

I'm not sure, I'm not really sure what autonomic is yet. I'm just feeling everything that happening at the moment, especially with ASC,D-Bridge,Consequence,Instra:mental,Abstract elements, Blue Mar Ten,Unquote,Stray, Rockwell .. Its a sound, and I fit in with that sound at the moment. The influences are amazing as well, its definitely what draws me to it. Im always looking to do new stuff, and i don't really ever want to to just label myself with one sound.

Has anything particular about the Manchester scene influenced you?

Xela's from Manchester and he's a massive influence, and I met Skittles and Chunky at city college when I was doing music tech there, and they're both a big part of the scene here now. Chunky is definitely the best Dubstep host i've ever seen and I'm actually remixing a track from Skittles' forthcoming album, which is gonna be sick.

Any tips for anyone making beats?

Keep making them, send them to the people who you think would want to hear them. I took a demo to a night on NYE two years ago and handed it to Rusko, and he played in on Rinse the next day.

What tune was that?

It was Jah Love.

What are your three most played tunes of the moment?

Sven Weissman-Xine Zero.
Xela- Under The Glow Of Streetlights.
Consequence ft D-Bridge-Life is Timing.

Finally, how many spliffs a day actually keeps the demons away?

Seven, roughly.

Synkro
Sven Weisemann
Xela
Consequence
Skittles
Chunky
Autonomic