Niko Maxen “The Ol’ Boy” (Dexter Kane Remix)

When Dexter Kane is not busy lighting up faces and floors with his acid-flecked tech house, he’s spearheading a label that gives back way more than just felicitous underground vibes. His Shadow Sanctuary imprint prides itself on its charitable efforts, donating all of its proceeds to humanitarian groups of his liking. It’s also prepping for its 10th release at the end of the month, from Leeds’ own techno upstart Niko Maxen.

Maxen’s Risk Taker EP may be his second release to date, but you wouldn’t detect this notion after listening to the three originals he offers up here—one of which has been ramped up by the label boss himself. It’s sneaky and sophisticated and rubs all the right frequencies in all the right ways. A playful bassline cruises through bouncy percussion, as the whole piece slowly unfolds into an unexpected turn. It gets me every time.

Available May 25 via Shadow Sanctuary.

Did you discuss or exchange ideas with other producers while creating this track?
I’m a bit of a lone wolf when it comes to production, so no. That said, I’m thinking of moving my studio out of my house to somewhere a bit more social for this very reason.

Were you impulsive on this track, or did you have a sketch in mind before you started?
This one was totally impulsive. I tend to be more impulsive with remixes, as you always have some kind of starting point. With original tracks, I always tend to have more of an idea of where I want to go with it. Half the time, it will end up as something different, though. I think it’s better to go with the flow when writing a track, rather than force something that’s not coming naturally.

Was there one particular moment in the recording or mixing process of this track that made you feel as though you were creating something pretty damn special?
No, not at all. In fact, I got really sick of it and put it down for a few weeks at one point. I’m not one of those people who can just knock out a great track in two days all the time. It often takes a lot of time and craft for me to be happy with something. This was actually my second attempt at this remix. I think I even spent a good couple of weeks getting this one right. So by the end of the whole process, I had heard it way too much. I had to see the positive response on SoundCloud to gauge how good it was.

Do you think advances in computer technology and gear have affected your creativity?
I really think music software hasn’t advanced in any alarming way in the last five or even 10 years. It’s nice to have a bit more power and be able to run more plugins at once, but if anything, I get a lot more inspiration from hardware these days.

Describe the best setting/activity to hear this track.
4am on the Martin Audio system in Fabric room 1 would do it.

Niko Maxen “The Ol’ Boy” (Dexter Kane Remix)

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