London based producer, DJ & label boss Papa Nugs has a serious obsession with late 90s/early 2000s tech & electro house, all the way to modern day bass driven & progressive. He oscillates between all these, whilst still managing to stay true to UK scene and sound from which he came.
First and foremost thank you so much for taking the time to put this mix together, can you tell us a little bit about the energy behind this mix, is there anything you would prescribe doing while listening?
Thanks so much for having me on! I love the series so great to whip up an edition of it. I wanted this mix to be an ode to the breaks/electro/electrohouse records from the late 90s/early noughties that i’ve been obsessed with recently, as well as throwing in a couple of tracks that have been staples in my sets this past year. Lots of fun, high energy bizniss. I would say try whacking it on while on a journey to somewhere fun, or while banging out some work. Listen to it anywhere really, just maybe not while trying to meditate or go to sleep (but hey whatever floats your boat)
With beginnings garage and bassline, your sound has shifted quite significantly in your latest releases, brimming with high NRG vocals and samples with a focus on 90s progressive and house that you fuse effortlessely with breaks, trance and electro - who are some of your biggest influences to lead to where you are today you think?
These days I’m mostly influenced by artists from the 90s/00s whose records I discover whilst digging and try and assimilate/pay homage to in my tracks. The more obscure the better. But at the same time I always try to incorporate my favourite elements from the garage/bassline stuff which I still have a massive love for. That’s where my love for high energy vocals and snappy drums comes from and I find that they mix real nice with the trance/house elements.
I’d also say i’m hugely influenced by artists that i have the pleasure of collabing with, recently being artists like The Trip, DJ ADHD, IN2STELLAR, Joe Koshin & Confidence Man. You learn so much from being in the studio with people, and it always fascinates me seeing other people’s processes.
I also get so much inspiration from my pals within the bass music world who are some of the maddest technical producers going, especially when it comes to programming drums & Basslines. Bakey, Oldboy, Main Phase, Frazer Ray & Interplanetary Criminal being the first that come to mind. I’m always trying to figure out new ways to incorporate some UK sounds in my work.
And i’m also hugely influenced by all the artists we have on Suckerpunch; some of the most underrated producers in the game in my opinion. Mixolydian, Body Clinic, Just Blakey & Joe Koshin to name a few! Everything we release on the label is something I hear and think ‘fuck I wish I made that’.
How did Suckerpunch come about and what/who are some other releases we can look forward to hearing in the not too distant future? And what is your favourite release on it so far?
Myself and my good friend/label partner Oisin met back in 2021 at a party in a forest towards the end of covid and quickly became pals as fellow music dweebs tend to. We had been speaking about starting up a label for a long time, focusing on our love for tech house/electro house/trancey focused sounds, & paying homage to the 90s/00s tackle that made up most of our collections. We got the cogs turning around this time last year and thankfully I had a giant backlog of tunes ready to release, as well as a bunch of crazy talented pals who were keen to release some bits with us - and voila - Suckerpunch entered the ring. It’s been pretty game changing for me being able to release tunes as often as I like, but we’re also really looking forward to releasing loads of stuff from other artists next year.
So difficult to pick the favourite out of your children but I’m gunna do it anyway. In April we have a VA coming out with tracks from Joe Koshin & Chez, Mixolydian, Body Clinic, Jimmy Rouge & myself as edition 2 of the main Suckerpunch series and it’s an absolute belter, can’t wait for people to hear it!
Do you have a specific process or ritual before going into production?
Light an incense, make a cup of coffee with lactose free milk, listen to a couple reference tracks & get cracking. The creative process for me is about trial, error & experimentation rather than waiting for a particular idea to present itself to me. The more time I spend experimenting/fucking around the better the track tends to turn out!
“I’ve also been finding loads of bangers on my instagram explore page recently, which is ideal for digging on the toilet. No days off.”
Your residency on Rinse boasts a spectacular catalogue, how do you find your tracks and how long do you take prepping for a show?
Ah big ups! I usually just dig on youtube or discogs, the secret sauce for me is filtering people’s discogs collections to ‘1996-2006’ & ‘Tech House’. For some reason that usually filters 90% of the crap out & gives you all types of interesting stuff that’s not just limited to tech-house even though everything’s tagged as such. I’ve also been finding loads of bangers on my instagram explore page recently, which is ideal for digging on the toilet. No days off.
Last and not least, what’s next for Papa Nugs?
Two super super exciting releases coming out in Q1 of next year! One is a collab EP with The Trip as a joint venture by our labels Tesselate & Suckerpunch. Super fun grooving housey business. And the next one is sure to be a Chunker 👀
On top of that loads of really exciting gigs around Europe, Australia and even Central/South America next year, plus what’s already looking like a stacked summer of festivals. Thanks again for having me on team and I hope you enjoy the mix!