Making music together

FROM the moment the band hit the music charts in 2012 with its first single, Feel the Love (featuring John Newman), British drum-and-bass band Rudimental has moved on by leaps and bounds.
The song was also featured in the documentary, Spark: A Burning Man Story.
Rudimental, which consists of Piers Agget, Amir Amor, Kesi Dryden, and DJ Locksmith, has collaborated with many artistes, and been nominated for many prestigious awards along the way.
Dryden, in a recent telephone interview, said: "From the beginning, there were four key members. We are the core of the group, and have been together before we had any success.
"Eventually, the band members started inviting friends to sing or play music with (us). It is always changing with us, and it is always a fresh sound."
The band has released two albums to date, Home (2013) and We the Generation (2015), which featured the hit tracks Not Giving in (featuring John Newman and Alex Clare), Waiting All Night (featuring Ella Eyre), Free (featuring Emeli Sandé), and Lay It All on Me (Ed Sheeran).
Most recently, the band released the single Sun Comes Up (featuring James Arthur), signalling the start of a new chapter.
Dryden explained that it is one thing to create music as a group, and another to collaborate with a well-known solo artiste.
"With each artiste, there is a different story. With Sun Comes Up, it is a song we wrote ourselves. We were searching for the right vocals [for] the song, and we found that in James Arthur's voice. He came down to the studio and really brought the song to life."
In this case, it was Arthur slipping into Rudimental's world.
"There were other songs that were collaborations, such as with Emil Sandé who came to our studio and we tried different sounds. We came up with a riff, she sang the melodies and we came up with a song."
Dryden said all their songs have a different story. That is how they keep things fresh and constantly evolving.
"Everyone that we'd worked with seems so comfortable that the (collaborations) turned out to be Rudimental pieces.
"There have been times when we gave them the song for their own musical project because it did not fit with what we were working at that time, or the album we were working on at that time."
Dryden, however, said the band members try not to repeat themselves. "It is a natural journey for us".

Their We the Generation album was influenced by their time on tour, and the many different influences that they picked up along the way.
Collaborations seem to be the key in the music world these days.
Dryden said: "Through such collaborations, you get the best music (and) best sounds".
As for the pressure to live up to the success of their two albums, he added: "The way we work, we don't think of (it as) pressure. We like writing music and we like performing live".

Calling it excitement to get back to recording music rather than pressure, Dryden said: "I think the main thing for us (is) to be happy and proud of it ourselves and hope the audience enjoy it too".