Label Music Editor, James Hullait, caught up with Cameron Edwards from Sigma, ahead of their set at the LSU Freshers’ Ball, this Saturday 3rd October.
Hey Cameron, so you’re playing at the LSU Freshers’ Ball tomorrow, what can we expect from you guys?
Well, our summer’s been nuts! We basically will be doing a similar set to the festivals this summer, which is all of our tunes and stuff and just mixing it up so all the freshers have a mental time, so it should be a lot of fun.
Sigma plummeted into commercial success recently and with the use of big name vocals like Paloma Faith, Ella Henderson and Labyrinth to name a few, Sigma are no ordinary Drum and Bass duo.
You have a lot of meaningful, powerful lyrics with soulful voices like Paloma Faith on ‘Changing’ for example, can we expect a lot of powerhouse vocals again on your upcoming album?
Yeah, we’re just kind of finalising it now, we’ve just got our next guest, {not referring to their new track Redemption out today, as Cam wanted to clear up} which could be pretty big. It’s another big vocal track so if that happens, I think people will be very happy with it, well hopefully anyway!
So It’s been over a decade since you both met at Leeds University, how do you think the drum and bass scene has changed and evolved within the last decade?
Well, I think the scene is growing pretty strong, it’s hard for us to actually comment on the actual scene because the sort of gigs we do at the moment are normally university ones, we don’t really do many drum and bass shows anymore, but not because we don’t want to. It seems like a lot of talented people are coming through and I think it’s very healthy, I mean just having two number one drum and bass tracks in the charts makes the whole genre bigger whether people in the underground like it or not. It gets people more involved in it, I think it’s in a very healthy place but I would say that, because I write it!
So you’ve played at quite a few other universities then, where was your favourite and why?
We did quite a lot last year, we were pretty much on the whole freshers run last year so I think we did, I can’t really remember but, Manchester which was great and Leeds which was amazing, they’ve all been a lot of fun really. I mean, I remember when I was a fresher, I would go out all the time and obviously I was a lot younger then and I could actually handle my hangover- instead of waking up every morning without a terrible headache, it is like they are up and ready to go again!
You created a storm at Glastonbury, Hideout and EDC to name a few. What are the differences between a public set and a university gig, do you still enjoy the contrast?
Definitely. Especially for us coming from a DJ background. I mean doing stuff like Glastonbury with the live bands is great, and with the Djing too, they’re very different but all good in their own way. I think the thing with the DJ sets is that you can kind of go down whichever route you want with it because you’re in control but with the live shows, you’ve got your set and you hope everyone just enjoys it. It’s all good, the shows we’ve done, we’ve been very lucky, the crowd have been very responsive so that’s what we want. We want people singing along.
Any advice for any Loughborough students considering a career in the industry, what would be your top tip… that you’ve learnt since meeting at Leeds perhaps?
If music is something you’re into, which a lot of people are these days and if it’s something you’re producing, the most important thing is you’re waking up every morning doing something you enjoy doing because it’s not really a job then. I think when you’re doing something you love, then success and money come second. I think the main thing across the board in life is to make sure you do something you love doing!
Thank you for chatting with Label Music, Cam.
No worries man, come and say hello and have a beer tomorrow or something!
Sigma will be playing at LSU Freshers Ball, tomorrow. Working with some huge names in music, their rapid climb to the pop world is by no means peaking yet. They go on tour this autumn in the UK and their new track, Redemption is out today, the first track to open the show with…a night for freshers to remember for sure!
-Interview conducted by James A. Hullait
