Clyde, a.k.a Clive Astin’s distinctive sound first gained him attention over a decade ago, resulting in notable remixes on Mantis Recordings and Bob Sinclair’s Yellow Productions. Hailing from Derby, a small, unassuming city in England’s Midlands, it’s perhaps not exactly where one might push their pin into the map to place Clyde’s music. Weaned on punk rock and hip hop, as a teen, Clyde broke many a guitar string playing in bands (The Underdogs supported Doctor and the Medics) and many a set of headphones writing beats after acquiring his first Akai sampler in 1993.
Having further developed his sound through nocturnal writing sessions where he was sometimes observed eating entire boxes of Coco Pops, following some ‘stick prodding’ from Mantis Recordings, Clyde finally set to work on his debut album, Hyper Reality, a showcase of his unusual take on music, rhythm and depraved humour (see Lady Cadava, a love-corpse rom-vom-com).
In addition to music and instrumentation, Clyde has been opening up more and more as a vocalist and may sound familiar to those who’ve heard Atjazz and Brooks, as Clyde co-wrote and sung tracks on both of their latest albums. He is also writing and singing with Atjazz and Rhythm Plate for forthcoming releases.
The making of Hyper Reality saw Clyde work with some prolific talent that included San Francisco’s Capitol A (The Roots, King Britt, Jazzanova, Mark de Clive-Lowe), MOBO award winner Phoebe One, Jane Hamilton (Sonar Kollektiv, Mantis Recordings) and Omaha’s Juse, with the help of Atjazz’s bat-like ears on the final mix downs.
The first single from this project, “Serve it up”, dropped some time ago, generating a new-found interest in the pursuit of the ultimate hip house sound. With a further two singles to be lifted from Hyper Reality this year, featuring remixes from top-drawer producers Atjazz and Charles Webster, Clyde is now working on his second album which promises to follow on from where Hyper Reality left off and be harder, sicker and slicker.
M8MC Music (Official Artist Website)
Clyde MySpace
