Zero FG Livestream & Interview

A man who needs little introduction, especially if you're into the 2-step flavours Zero FG has been releasing over the past 10 years. 

He is known for his bass lead productions on ec2a, Dr.Banana Records, Gather records and self releasing on his label TXTBCK. 

'TXT-BCK' landed on the scene back in 2017 releasing digitally until LTD001. A hard hitting 2-step EP, 'Badman Flexi' littered with an instantly recognisable Giggs vocal taken from 'Baby'. On the flip side 'The Reason" takes a more smooth & soulful approach with a vocal by Da Ranjahz riding a suitably silky bass line.

Sticking with the latest garage trend of nostalgic cartoons from the late 90's, the centre label pictures Dragonball-Z character Baby Goko in a tasteful black & silver co-ordination. 
Since then, the label has gone from strength to strength, building a reputation of "buy on sight". 

Recently Zero FG has branched off to experiment with the popular Speed Garage revival - creating sister label RUFF STYLE RECORDS, gaining a lot traction inside & outside the clubs.

We had the pleasure of hosting Zero and caught up with him after the set, delving into his background as a young producer growing up in London during the boom of pirate radio, mobile wheel ups and bargin bin belters.

Enjoy as Zero FG takes you through a soundscape of light bubblers to the darker depths of UK flavours. It's 2 hours you most definitely won't regret.

In Conversation with Zero FG

Firstly, do any of your selections from that mix hold a special place in your record bag?
Ah yeah Sticky and Social Circles in general were always a go-to, absolutely weighty basslines! There's bunch of bits I played in the stream that hold a special place to be fair, they were some of the earliest records I ever bought. I was a broke school kid at the time so I'd save my lunch money to afford to pick up one or two records at the weekend. The collection built very slowly!
Off the back of that did you have any local record shops that you used to be a regular in?
So on those weekends back then a few of us would usually hit up Independance Records in Lewisham. Regular trips into town for our typical circuit round the West End and Soho shops. For new releases Uptown Records and Black Market were standard procedure. Would pick up RWD magazines and rave flyers (for events we were too young to get into, but they looked sick on the bedroom wall!) too. Plus we always checked in on a bunch of the second hand places to try and find bits missed from years previous. Luckily then, they didnt have discogs as a reference for the mental shark prices!
How has the scene changed in your opinion since starting out, and does this affect how you go about producing/releasing music now? 
I feel like in general the underground electronic music scene is ever evolving, there's so many sub-scenes it's tough to keep track of all the trends people move in and out of. I just keep it moving with the underground House & Garage flavor. Itself a multitude of sub styles has plenty to keep things feeling fresh for me. In terms of releasing records, the way the vinyl market for new Garage has grown over the last several years is a blessing. Up to that point, from when UK Garage had its initial drop-off in popularity in the early-mid 2000s, outside of a few dedicated heads putting out a handful of releases in those lost years, there just wasn't much available. Things have really picked up since though, both in the vinyl and digital markets are super strong now and long may it continue!
Did the nokia brick era influence your TXTBK imprint?
You're right, the whole TXTBK concept is basically derived from that old skool Nokia era to be honest. Things like having to drop call pirate radio stations to reach the amount of missed calls the DJs asked for to get the reload, super influential! I was always recording pirate shows on tapes and mini discs to listen on the sly in school with the old headphones up the sleeve technique! I'd never not have music on me even back then. Much more convenient now with music on your phone though, rather than pockets stuffed full of mini discs.
From then to now, what's it like seeing your music get such huge support from the likes of Skream, Pete Tong & other household names?
Getting support from those big name DJs is always a massive deal. I'm blessed to have had a lot of specialist Radio 1 plays over the years throughout the different projects I've done. It really keeps you going honestly, when you consider the sheer amount of music released in the world every week, these DJs are choosing to rep my stuff, it let's me know I must be doing something right!
Do you have any tips for overcoming writers block?
Always an interesting topic, it always comes and goes, and you just have to roll with it. I'll try to step away from trying to force it when I feel it's not working, and do some other tasks that relate, but aren't so critical. Stuff like organizing your sounds, sampling, digging through older unfinished projects for that spark of an idea that you could flip into something fresh. Take a walk, fresh air is good!
Is there any other genre of music that you could see yourself exploring that you haven't already?
I guess i'm mostly known for my darkside 2 Step material with the occasional chilled vocal stepper thrown in. I can turn my hand to most styles after doing music for so long, but like I mentioned before, Garage has such a wide gamut of styles I never get tired of it. Currently I have my Ruff Style alias for the speed garage flex which is gaining some traction now, plenty more to come there! Outside of strictly Garage, I've had projects in the past more rooted in a Deep House sound on labels including Nervous Records, always with a garage influence though it's in my DNA. If we go really far back I made a lot of grime back in the day too. I was in a crew at school with a bunch MCs, like a wannabe Roll Deep or NASTY crew! They weren't having none of the bubbly garage stuff so had to spin strictly Eski, Sublow, 8Bar Grime sounds.