Q&A: Mindscape Talk Neuro, Sub Bass and Marrying His Love of Sci-Fi With Eatbrain’s Zombie Vibes in His ‘Reanimator’ EP Series

The Hungarian producer known as Mindscape formed in 2002 when neurofunk was just getting its own identity separate from darkstep and techstep. This would likely explain the group’s jumpy beat style married with heavy sub bass. Ramping up this combination in recent years with new sound design techniques and an audience clamoring for more and more technical drum and bass, it makes sense that Mindscape, now largely down to one producer Gergely Sasvári, would land with Eatbrain as his home label.

Mindscape has released a number of tracks on Eatbrain in the last year or two, including the Mirror Universe EPs but he’s also been heavily involved with Blackout releases. It seems the series EP format is something that works well for Mindscape, because in December they began another series with Eatbrain called The Reanimator. The first EP sees a lot of classic style and heavy sub bass as can be expected from Mindscape, but it also folds in interesting syncopation, MCs Coppa and Hijack and, most importantly, a fun sci-fi theme which seems to complement Eatbrain’s zombie lust: obviously it had to be The Reanimator. When Your EDM sat down with Sasvári, he gave a clear, concise take on how he produces and what kinds of music he enjoys, and he also has some insights into new releases both for himself and Eatbrain.

How did you come to work with Eatbrain?

We have been friends with Jade for a long time. So I was there close to the fire since the launch of the label. I saw how he started it from scratch and built it up to the current level. I’m also trying to help him as much as I can, he’s the father of the label, I’m the old grumpy uncle I guess. I’ve made a few tracks and releases for Eatbrain already, so the idea for a bigger project came naturally. He asked if I would make an album for his label and I said yes without hesitation.

What was the reasoning behind this concept series of the three Reanimator EPs?

Nowadays there’s a huge amount of releases every week, and lots of albums are coming consecutively made by better and better artists, but the shelf life became really short. If you are working on an album for months or years, you would like it to have its own limelight. We are trying to adapt and overcome the current situation with this idea of splitting the project into parts and releasing them separately, then making promotion rounds for every chapter to keep it interesting for both fans and DJs. Then we will summarize the whole project with a final full album release.

Is there a more specific theme for each of the three EPs within the Reanimator theme?

As these three EPs are the parts of a the album, there’s one global theme for the project. Imagine a mad psycho scientist’s secret experiments, trying to reanimate specimens in his musty lab in the basement of an abandoned asylum. In my opinion it’s very inspiring and fun to have a special theme for a big project like this. It’s another layer on top of the music and together with the artwork it can give the listener a deeper and more complex experience too. This time I really wanted to find a good balance with Eatbrain’s zombie and undead vibes and my own sci-fi addiction.

Coppa has become one of EB’s go-to MCs now, but the way you utilize his vocals in “Shut Down” is quite unique. How did you wind that crazy screeching synth wave around the vocals and bass synth?

When he sent me those vocals i was like, “wow man that’s something really interesting.” I love that hook he did, so I tried to use it as much as it was possible in the tune in different ways. That synth wave thing is the vocal as well actually, a loop with heavy automation and LFOs on it.

“Manbearpig” seems to be all about that great two-step beat and sub bass synth. How did you work to keep this track interesting while keeping the beat and bass in the focus?

I tried to keep the tune as simple as possible, so there’s space for some mad distortion and automation and work with fewer elements but with lots of variations of them and only add a new channel if it’s necessary.

“Friend or Foe” has a great vocal sample. Did it inspire the work you did on this track in terms of the feel you wanted to create with the drums, bass and ambient noise?

It was the other way around. I had the main elements of the tune already with the  mad scientist vibe and I felt it would be great to strengthen this vibe with a proper classic sci-fi vocal sample, which fits this mood. I’ve watched tons of classic film trailers until I found the perfect one.  After I found it I gave the track some more treatment to enhance the mood further.

How did you come to work with Hijak on “Deep Void”? Did you start with the vocals and build the track around them, or was Hijak inspired by the track to create his lyrics?

He’s a sick MC and we’ve been talking about a possible collab for a while already when he hit me up with these vocals. He sent them over and I started to build the tune around them right away.

When can we expect the next installment of Reanimator to release (if you can tell us)?

You can expect the next chapter around late spring, with a tune featured by the talented Miss Trouble. The next chapter will be just as diverse as the first one, trying to catch the essence of neurofunk drum and bass throughout various moods, from the aggressive dancefloor rollers to the more melancholic elements. You’ll see some more of the mad scientist too!

Any other projects you’re working on at the moment? 

We have just finished a collab with Jade which will be coming between the first two chapters on the next various artists LP, on the 12th of March. The album project needs to be finalized too. In the meantime I keep playing on shows around Europe, testing out all the new ideas and versions in action.

Part I of Mindscape’s Reanimator EP series is out now on Eatbrain and it can be purchased on Beatport. He’s also featured on EB’s 2017 compilation. See below for his EB Podcast mix. Stay tuned to Eatbrain for Mindscape’s upcoming collab with Jade and the next installments of The Reanimator series.