Sean & Soph Catchup Podcast - Wilkinson Joins The Show

Episode Date: March 1, 2023

UK DJ Wilkinson joins me to review my backstreet boys remix...

This is a podcast from Rover. It is the Edge Knights. Join right now from the other side of the world by the one and only Wilkins. First off, congratulations, man. Since last time we talked, Cognition has become the highest selling drum and bass record for 2022. Huge news. Yeah, I mean, it's been crazy the response. Yeah, I can't believe it's a year since I put it out.

It's mad. I can't believe I haven't been into New Zealand since it's come out either. So super excited to be coming back out. Yeah, that's a crazy thing because you are coming here with your cognition tour, obviously this May. And it does feel like it's time to get Wilkinson back in New Zealand. Yeah, yeah. You know, you're selling out shows before you had this massive album.

Yeah, I mean, it's just been so long. I think the last time I was there was New Year's 2021. So, yeah, I mean, it's mad. I'm super excited. I've got new music as well that I've been working on to test. out. Oh, I love this. New Zealand's become a bit of a testing ground for new drum and bass, right? Like I know Dimension played as new single in New Zealand at a New Year's festival, eight months before that single came out. Is that what you're doing? You're going to test it

on the New Zealand drum and bass audience. If they love it, it's a hat man. It's going out. If not, you go back to the drawing board. Yeah, man. I mean, the last time I did a tour, like an arena tour out in New Zealand, it was locked down. I tested out so much music there. like New Zealand is the only place that I could test my like Cognition album really. You heard it first. You had brand new Wilkinson at his shows in New Zealand. I love that we've become a good focus group for you. Obviously work with Cognition.

It's going to work with a new album as well, man. Since, you know, you haven't been here in a long time, we'll be hearing some big heads from this record, of course, one that's gone number one here on the edge in the Edge 20. This song here for you with Becky Hill. Just a quick question about this and how this song kind of came about. When you're writing with someone like Becky Hill, who's quite a prolific dance music vocalist and definitely knows what she's doing, do you guys in the same place at the same time, or do you kind of fire her the instrumental you let her write the song?

Or do you have songwriters that you work with and you go, Becky would be great singing this? Well, this was, yeah, this was sort of, this is a funny one because it was in lockdown. And I wrote this song with another writer called Toby Scott. So we sort of got the instrumental together and we're working on that. And then I could just like, I really thought that it would be nice to have Becky on another tracks. It had been, at the time, it had been about, well, it's coming up to nearly 10 years since. I think it has been 10 years since after. Or this year is 10 years since afterglow.

So it felt like a really nice time to sort of do something else. And I had this idea. I sort of chatted to her, I was like, Jack, and you'd be out for doing something. And then I whistled this little riff down the phone. I think it was the verse. And it's like a terrible voice note of me whistling. It's quite funny. But yeah, and then she came up with like this amazing chorus.

And then the lyrics just kept. She wrote all the lyrics and just came, you know, it was a real emotional one. And like, it was just perfect. So I remember when she sent it back, I was just like, wow, this is exactly what this tune needed. And, you know, in her voice. being so soft as well. Like I really wanted that to come through in the record because afterglows,

you know, quite a belter and a lot of her music is, you know, quite, she sings it really powerfully. This, I wanted it to be softer and more personal, which she came, you know, she delivered on that and it's, and yeah, it's really special record for me. And whenever I play it here in the UK, it's, it goes down really well. So I'm looking forward to seeing the reaction in New Zealand after it's sort of blown up so massively over there. you guys have a pretty good track record a we're in you and becky hill team up together on a song that's a that's that's a recipe for success

I'm excited for the for the next one yeah it's amazing to see her you know her success as well over the years is it's amazing so it was really nice to do that together and then yeah and she's smashing it yeah dance artists of the year at the Britta Awards right yeah big big now since you've been using our country as a

focus group Wilkinson it's only fear that I use you as a focus group I feel like that's a fear exchange of services I do a little bit of DJ here on the station I don't make too much music I'm kind of you know just playing the bangers our edge breakfast show want to do something around the backstreet boys coming to New Zealand and we know the backstreet boys haven't been popular arguably ever but definitely since the 90s and they have this great idea Obviously, you're familiar with the DJ Lude, right? You know, it makes a lot of drum and bass edits of other songs. Yeah.

You've done a Backstreet Boys, that it? Yeah. Yeah. They commissioned me for it, and I've done a, you know, I want to know. Wait, wait, he's saying, hang on, he's done it. They've commissioned him to be a version. No, they've commissioned me to do it. They tried to get lued.

Oh, right, you to do it. And failing getting lewd, uh, they tried probably, 12 other DJs and failing that they've come to me. And I was wondering, I'm going to play it for you just from the start. And I'm going to play this to them so we can get Wilkinson's thoughts, you know, arguably the biggest drummer bass DJ in the world right now. But hang on. So Backstreet Boys are coming to New Zealand.

Yeah, man. And they want to, one of the guys from the show is a massive fan of the Backstreet Boys. And basically the way it's come about is everyone else is going, man, we're not doing anything around the Backstreet Boys coming to New Zealand. No one cares unless you're over the age of 40. to which he said, let's lude this up. Let's get a remix. Let's get a drum and bass remix to bring it back into 2023.

And this is what I've come up with. Feedback is encouraged. Wilkinson, are you playing this in your cognition world? Are you requesting the VAT file? I mean, look, so that's this one, that's one those ones where you kind of, if you drop that, you know, it's either going to go down very well or you're going to get booed off stage. So it's a risky one, you know what I mean? It's a good effort though. I like it.

You know, the whole, the, the, the, the, the, the, the productions on point. It's, you know, but playing that after like, you know, Mr. Happy or rock it. It's going to be, that's going to be an interesting one. I'm going to leave that one to you. It's high risk, high reward. But you should definitely play, I mean, I reckon that, you know, if they're going on tour and you're going to start playing that, I reckon you could have a world hit on your hands.

You never know. Yeah, look, I know you've got DJ's opening for you. Feel free after that. Obviously, you're blown away. Another spot might magically open up for me to play my one song. Man, I'd love to witness that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Maybe it's too big.

Go on for that one track. Yeah, if you want me to close the show out, man, that's fine. Like, you know, just be the crescendo of the night. Yeah, I'll just, like, I won't play Afterglow and you can just play that instead. You can come on and do that. You go, hey, instead of Afterglow, we're doing this. And you'll love it. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Hey, thanks so much for being a good sport with him, man. Thanks for catching up with me, too. I can't wait to see you in New Zealand. I'll be there front left. Make sure you go and get tickets right now to see Wilkinson on his cognition tour. as I said, the first time coming here in over a year. I can't wait to have you, man. Yeah, thanks for having me, man.

Looking forward to being back.