Metrik
He may have been a “schoolboy delinquent”, but Tom Mundell’s formative years provided him with great impetus to succeed. Drawn to the euphoric precision of drum & bass from an early age, he started a radio station from his bedroom and took a course at ACM Music College in Guildford to further his interest in production and engineering.
Headhunted by a London-based record label, Mundell seized his chance and travelled to the big smoke to work as an office junior, applying his computer graphics skills to design record sleeves and microsites while gigging and producing on the side. His big break came in 2008 with the instant success of the DnB anthem, Your World, under the name Metrik.
Snapped up by Tony Colman’s Hospital Records in 2012, while remaining strongly focused on sound design, Mundell began integrating influences from film and his love of ’80s music. A prolific remixer and torchbearer for DnB globally, his latest Metrik release Hackers utilises his experience to adopt a less is more approach to production.
You had a rough time at school by all accounts. Was a career in music a motivational force to prove your doubters wrong?
“I guess so. They said I wouldn’t amount to anything and things were looking pretty bleak. I’d been expelled from two schools so my prospects weren’t looking too bright, but thanks to the support of my parents I went to the ACM in Guildford, which was the turning point. Instead of being a juvenile delinquent I found music, which, without wanting to sound too clichéd, was my saviour. Going to university was really a two fingers up to all of my teachers back in the day. Everyone said I wouldn’t go, and I didn’t have to, but I did.”
You took a production course?
“The course I studied was a little confusing. I thought I was going to be learning how to produce and engineer contemporary music, but it ended up being a
