Contributing WriterHaving recently joined forces as The Provincials duo for their new release on Stripped Down Records, G. Edd and 9vol have over a decade’s worth of influence in the music industry combined.
G. Edd has been living electronic music for 15 years through his productions, DJ performances and organisation of events and festivals including Garden of Dreams, Silver and Smoke. 9vol used to produce and play house music back in the 2000s as Albino on Nervous Records, Doppelgaenger and many more.
We caught up with The Provincials to hear about their exciting new release on Claudio Ricci’s Stripped Down imprint, the inspiration behind each track, their favourite albums of all time and future projects.
Hi guys, thanks for taking the time to talk to Music is 4 Lovers. Can you tell us where in the world you are based, and how you both are doing?
Hi everyone, we are glad to speak to Music is 4 Lovers. We are based in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and to be honest, we are struggling with this difficult year. But not everything is so black, we are looking forward to our new releases.
You are releasing together as The Provincials, with a single forthcoming on Stripped Down records. Can you tell us a little about the pair of you, your unusual names (G. Edd and 9vol), what you were doing before and how you came together for this project?
Yes, G. Edd and & 9vol are our aliases under which we present ourselves when we work individually, but our collaboration didn’t start with The Provincials. We collaborated back in 2011 as G. Edd & Albino (now known as 9vol). After a few releases, we took a little break from doing them and worked on our sound quality. The Provincials project was created two years ago, and the crowning moment of making music for all these years will be the release for Stripped Down Records. This would be a brief retrospective of our time together.
Stripped Down Records seem to be a label on a bit of a roll at the moment, with support on BBC Radio 1 and regular press, how did you get involved with the imprint?
Honestly, we searched for a label for the first edition of The Provincials for a long time, and then the opportunity opened up to send our promotional material to Claudio through our friend Daniel. Claudio was amazed with our sound, and we were amazed with the opportunity to have our EP signed on a label such as Stripped Down records. We are truly happy about that, because as you said, it’s a label supported by BBC Radio 1 and many more.
Can you tell us a little about the two originals tracks on the release, ‘Pandora’ and ‘Nuanda’, what were the inspirations and how was the writing and recording process?
Pandora is the track that best describes what the sound of The Provincials represents. The vocals for the track were borrowed from an interpreter of Sevdah, the traditional Bosnian music style. We always enjoyed combining traditional and organic sounds with new styles in electronic music. We found inspiration all around us, it’s simply the moment you happen to be in. Nuanda, with it’s originality, speaks best about that.
Things have obviously been tough for people over the past half a year, and the electronic music industry has certainly suffered. What has been your experience of the last 6 months and do you see light at the end of the tunnel?
As I said, it’s a difficult year for all of us, but somehow we try to work even if our possibilities are limited. Again on the other hand, as performances are kept to a minimum, there is plenty of time left for production. We are trying to find some balance in everything and we definitely believe that 2021 will be the year of new freedom.
What are your favourite 3 albums of all time?
That’s a tough question because there is too much good music, but let’s give it a try. We just love all the albums from The Prodigy, but if we have to choose one, let it be the 1992’s experience. It’s the same with Moby, but we definitely think his best album is 1996’s Play. Homework by Daft Punk in our opinion is definitely homework for all true lovers of electronic music. We are crazy about this album.
What’s next for The Provincials?
Plenty more new music. What I can announce now is a new release with Božo Vrećo for October 2020, it will be a special surprise for fans of the traditional and modern sound. We have been working on our label for a long time, so we can expect that soon too. We have just started, so there is a long and significant road ahead of us. Stay safe, stay positive!
The Provincials ‘Pandora’ EP on Stripped Down Records is out on the 23rd October 2020.