Listen and watch The Night Bazaar Music Show Live with Jim Rivers, recorded on 08/03/24 The man like Copy Paste Soul joined us and delivered a spell binding set for The Night Bazaar Music Show Live on Mixcloud

Maidstone in Kent, UK was once an incubator and hot bed of electronic music talent.

The county town in the garden of England spawned two global superstar DJs, Mark Knight and Nic Fanciulli who were buoyed by a community of superb local talent, inspired by their success and the growing legacy of the town and a scene which thrived for over two decades with an incredible, loyal community of ravers and amazing parties like Saved, Toolroom and Off Key to name a few. These parties rose from the the ashes of the infamous Club Class parties and legendary club Atomics which put the unlikely town on the map of top UK rave destinations for the very best dance music.

While Maidstone is now a shadow of its former self as a party destination and its glory days well behind it, the town still harbours some brilliant talent and it’s where The Night Bazaar calls home, streaming The Night Bazaar Music Show Live regularly on Mixcloud from our secret speak easy venue, Pomp, in the centre of town. The spirit of the golden era is embodied in what we do and we were very pleased for our third edition of the The Night Bazaar Music Show Live to have welcomed this Friday 8th March one of the best dance music talents Maidstone has ever produced, Jim Rivers.

While Jim may have been a bit of an unsung hero in his home town over the years, his talent globally was recognised early on in his long career, both under his own name with a Global Underground mix album and artist album on Carl Cox’s Intec label, but also under his alias Copy Paste Soul which followed his early success as his sound matured, never afraid to try something new and exploring a diverse range of styles in his productions.

Jim has also toured the world sharing stages at clubs and festivals with everyone from Coxy to John Digweed to Laurent Garnier, who he’s played epic back to back sets with on his home turf after the French legend became a big fan of his work and the pair became friends.

Thankfully Jim has recently returned to producing and performing after a hiatus from dance music for a number of years and is releasing music under his own name again signing tracks to Traum, Laurent Garnier and Scan X’s label and Steve Bug’s revered Poker Flat Recordings imprint to name a few. The music as you will hear this Friday in his 2 hour set, is first class. Jim has also started a monthly radio show, The Audite Music Podcast on Soundcloud which allows him to stretch his musical legs and share his rich electronic palette of tastes.

We caught up with Jim for a chat, which you can read below, ahead of the live stream on The Night Bazaar Music Show. Listen again below and watch again above. 

After taking a break, your Pyracantha EP has been described as a comeback. Can you share what inspired this return and the creative process behind the EP?

I hadn’t really made any music for I think nearly 7 years. I ruptured my Achilles tendon playing football and was faced with a long time off work. I decided that I couldn’t just sit there for months so I dusted off the studio stuff and just started making some beats again. It was great because there was no pressure, I just did it to make good use of the time and was really conscious to keep my head in a good place while recovering. That’s where all the music that has been coming out started. There were no real goals or rules so the music flowed. The only thing I had decided was that all the tracks would have latin plant names.

The Pyracantha EP has 3 quite different tracks on it, but all have some similarities with big bass sounds. The records kind of fuse some different vibes and I was happy that people were feeling it after such a long time out of the scene.

Your music has evolved significantly since your debut. How do you balance staying true to your roots while exploring new directions in your sound?

I’ve never really been one to just rinse and repeat. There are threads through all of my music but there is quite a lot of different vibes too. That’s just where I am as a producer. I’ve always loved deep stuff, melodic stuff and the fundamental timeless sounds of house and techno. I had quite a few years of just producing as Copy Paste Soul which had a lot more garage and drum and bass influences at first but that also evolved into more techier sounds. To be honest I don’t think about it too much. Now more than ever I’m just trying to enjoy the process first and then see what happens.

 

Tracks like ‘Dahlia (Sweet Nathalie)’ are noted for blending old school vibes with modern melodies. What are your major influences when creating music?

I loved making that record. I had the really UK sounding bass and then I made this really emotive string part to go with it. I loved the way they worked together as you would not automatically connect those sounds. I like anything that stops me for a second to properly listen. It can be a whole track or one part in a loop that interests me. I’m always getting ideas like that that I take into the writing process. There are too many artists to mention really but I was very happy to sign to Laurent Garnier and Scan X’s label as Laurent embodies quality and diversity in what he makes and plays and this is something that is important to me as well.

Your approach to building a track, especially with the hypnotic evolution of sound in Pyracantha, is fascinating. Could you delve into your production techniques and how you achieve this sound?

That track started with the bass sound. It was as much about the timing of the pattern that really got me going when I’d played it in. Once I had that I knew I had something that maybe sounded a bit more interesting and edgy. I then tried to have that warm and heavy sound throughout and just used the filters and FX on that one sound to evolve with the highs and lows of the track. It’s actually quite simple when you break it down, but I think I managed to get some good arrangement ideas to work and that was that!

With a history of over 40 releases on labels like Bedrock and Global Underground, what’s next for Jim Rivers? Are there any upcoming projects or collaborations you’re excited about?

Yeah I feel like I’m back in it now so want to keep making good music. I’m doing this around family and work so I have to be a lot more focused but that’s been good. I have an EP coming on Steve Bug’s Pokerflat which I’m really excited about. I’ve got some other things bubbling away too and more will be revealed soon. I’ve made three tracks with a friend and talented new producer called Sam T Richardson that I’m excited about. I’m hoping to get out playing some gigs again at some point too. It’s all been quite fun so far on this second season of making and releasing music properly. I’m just excited to see where it goes this time!

The plan is to start my label Audite Music maybe later this year, but I’m in no rush. It needs to be right and I think getting my name and music back out there on other peoples labels at the moment is the main priority.

You’ve been known as Copy Paste Soul for a significant part of your career. What prompted the decision to drop this moniker, and how has it influenced your music and identity as an artist?

CPS was a perfect outlet for me once I’d finished my album for Carl Cox’s label Intec. I needed something new to excite me and having the moniker that no one new was me was so refreshing and exciting. I loved making music like that. I’ve definitely not finished with that project either. I’m stockpiling some tracks for that project and will see where that goes when I let some people hear them!

It’s definitely allowed me to be a bit more creative and not restrict my ideas too much while making music again.

Can you tell us about your Audite Music Podcast? You cover a real diverse range of music in the show.

Yeah I’m buzzing about this. I love doing it. It’s a proper labour of love. I’m playing quite a lot of different stuff on there and that’s something im really passionate about. I think I manage to fuse most of it together. It’s more of a radio show vibe and I’m hoping to get some more exposure on it this year as the shows develop. It gives a great insight into what inspires me, what I play and my passion about the music. Listen to the latest episode of The Audite Music Podcast with Jim Rivers HERE.