Get to know Bruce, the producer making techno with hints of hardcore

Larry McCarthy was in his final year at university when he came to a realisation: if he wanted to pursue music and release on the labels he dreamed about, he needed to start making “bangers”. Hessle Audio was one outlet he’d set his sights on, and now the 26-year-old is stepping out as the first non-founding member to release an LP on the revered imprint. “It’s a dream come true,” he says.

His entry-point into dance music came via attending underage dubstep nights headlined by Caspa and Rusko in big London clubs like Matter. He admits to being a “little bit bitter” about missing out on the height of “proper dubstep”, but this sense of loss inspired him to forge his own path through music without relying on the reference points of the FWD>> generation. “I like to think that means I’ve been able to make a singular sound,” he says.

University was key. Studying creative music technology at Bath Spa (Addison Groove, Vessel and Asusu are among its alumni) taught him production skills, while moving to Bristol after graduating and soaking up the city’s rich dub and bass scenes also led him to realise the importance of UK hardcore heritage. “All my production qualities have come from refractions of that original hardcore style,” he says.

In 2014 his debut 12” ‘Just Getting Started’ arrived via Peverelist’s Livity Sound, and an impressive run of EPs across Hessle Audio, Timedance and Idle Hands followed, showcasing unravelling, introspective ambient to stuttering techno that collapses into cataclysmic breakdowns.

On Hessle Audio, ‘Sonder Somatic’ is Bruce’s first album. The title refers to the clash between mind and body on the dancefloor, and a DJ’s role in helping clubbers lose themselves. “A club is a room full of people that all have their own stories,” he says. “It’s a DJ’s job to try and unify those distractions and create moments that bring everyone together.” The record is tailor-made for the floor. The shift in focus from a 4/4 beat to triplets in the 160 BPM ‘Torn’ is inspired by Objekt’s use of triplets to mix disparate tempos together. “It’s like an Objekt mix guide for dummies.” Other tracks are less cerebral. “The main thing I was thinking was, does the bassline bang enough? There’s enough of this arty-farty stuff going on, but is it actually going to tear up a system?

‘Sonder Somatic’ looks set to cement Bruce’s position among the UK’s most electrifying artists, but he hasn’t forgotten his roots. As well as playing the headsy, invite-only Freerotation this summer, he also took a booking at Reading and Leeds. “My most special moments have come at times when I had no fucking idea what this stuff was,” he says. “The idea that I could give someone that kind of experience is really exciting.”

‘Sonder Somatic’ is out now

Patrick Hinton is Mixmag's Digital Staff Writer, follow him on Twitter