DJs Mark Mackenzie and Liam Macleod who go under the name of Them & Us will release a digital version of their track The Bomb on 4th December following a launch at Ironworks in Inverness.
The pair got together after Liam uploaded his bedroom DJ mixes online grabbing the attention DJ/Producer Mark Mackenzie (19) a quick collaboration resulted in their debut track, The Bomb.
Netsounds Unsigned’s producers and presenters Jamie Macdonald and Murray Cameron who produce weekly music podcasts showcasing new and emerging acts have established their own label to release the track.
“We are delighted to be able to offer a platform for Them & Us to release the track. We always thought about a label as being a next step for us and to have two young enthusiastic producers involved in our first release makes this a very exciting project for us,” said Jamie Macdonald.
We caught up with Jamie on the day of the launch at the Ironworks…
Given that Netsounds has been around in one form or another for so long why have Netsounds Unsigned picked now to release a single?
Jamie – Netsounds Unsigned as you know and love has only been around for the past 2 years, but I think even a few years before that we always thought it might be interesting to set ourselves up as a label. I don’t think we are actually a label as such yet, we just have one release that we are experimenting with so to speak. A label sounds a bit grand for us right now. We didn’t really pick the time to release it, I think the situation came about and we were happy to be part of it. I think we thought we might be able to actually help an act by getting our hands dirty with them.
Were you ever tempted to do this before, if so what happened?
Jamie – I personally thought about it before, but it was just pipe dreams. It’s a challenge and to do it right takes a lot of time and commitment. So yes, always tempted but the knowledge or confidence maybe wasn’t there before.
‘The Bomb’ is such a departure from “typical” Netsounds sound, what was it that drew you to the track?
The Bomb (Original Mix) [Released 4th December] by TH?M & US
Jamie – I am not sure what our typical sound is seeing as how we don’t make music, but I know what you mean! I think to be honest The Bomb is just a great track. It’s a fresh sounding electro track by two really young Inverness guys (Them & Us who are Liam Macleod and Mark Mackenzie). I was really blown away by the fact these two young guys produced this track themselves over a very short time. The track kind of found us I guess! Steve Robertson (Inverness Music Promoter) and I talked about the song having potential and it was actually Steve that said, “Why don’t you release it”. Steve has done a lot of work pimping the track through his contacts too. Murray who does the podcast with me has a very high quality control level so it must be a good track if it got approval from Murray!
How is the feedback for the track going?
It’s been really very positive so far. We didn’t know what to expect but we’ve had positive responses back from seasoned DJs such as Funk D’Void and Lottie as well as Pete Tong’s management company. To get that kind of feedback is very exciting and I know for a fact that kind of praise really means a lot to Mark and Liam so early in their game.
As you said it is a departure for us musically in some ways but I think that itself has generated a fair bit of interest as well as the fact that these guys are so young. So much talent and so young, it’s disgusting!
Now that Netsounds Unsigned has started to release music what’s next?
I don’t know to be honest. I’d like to think we could do more of this and help promote local acts but it would need to be with the right artist. couple of years and we feel we could offer a good platform to help take an act forward. Them & Us is a pilot for us in many ways. We will take stock of it all and look at our options for possibly repeating this with other acts in the future.
The podcast is still at the heart of it all for now. We have on a good month 1,500 people downloading or streaming our podcasts plus the people who visit our website. We champion new music from here in Inverness, the Highlands, Scotland and beyond and I think the geographical diversity is part of the success. We will always feature an act form the Highlands on every podcast alongside acts from artists from other countries get to hear the talent emerging from right here in the Highlands!
We have a few ideas that we want to explore in the New Year, so watch this space!
Them & Us have an official launch at Ironworks on December 3rd when they support hot urban popstar Devlin. The Bomb will be available to download from iTunes and other online digital music stores from Sunday 4th December.
Questions by Chris Lemon
Answers by Jamie MacDonald
