Metronome #076: Curbi

Insomniac’s Metronome series features mixes from some of today’s fastest-rising electronic stars, as well as championed legends. It takes listeners deep across a wide range of genres, movements, cultures, producers, artists and sounds that make up the diverse world of electronic music.

While it’s becoming more and more common to hear stories about young prodigies invading the dance music space, it’s still pretty shocking to see teenagers who have the smarts to commit to a career choice early on. Curbi happens to be one of the few with his head on straight, a British boy genius who has been floating out the kind of future house bits some seasoned veterans are getting sharp headaches from trying to emulate. But he’s got them down pat, and everyone is breaking a sweat trying to figure him out.

Since we’re all about putting our readers up on names changing the landscape of electronic music, we hit up Curbi to find out what the hype is all about. He has no trouble at all living up to appraisals we’ve heard of him thus far, and you’ll notice it in a flash after his mix gets underway. In it, he takes us through a fat chunk of his own original content and a couple of remixes to round things out. There’s no question the kid has what it takes to make it out in the long game.

The last 12 months have been extremely eventful for you. What’s one moment you still have trouble believing has happened?
Everything has been crazy. I would have to say when I was still in college on one day of the week, then the next day I went to Ibiza to play at Pacha with the likes of Don Diablo and Martin Solveig. That was interesting, haha!

Signing with Spinnin’ was a goal you’ve had in mind since your days of bedroom producing. Why was this label at the top of your wish list, and how has it lived up to your expectations thus far?
Spinnin’ was always a big goal for me because of the big names that were involved and the quality releases. I always wanted to be a part of that. They looked like a really friendly label to work with, too.

You’ve spent considerable time on the road lately, with more and more gigs coming your way. Is there any aspect of being a traveling DJ that you may not have anticipated before it became a reality?
Everything is what I expected, to be honest, and I love it!

Do people in your hometown of Halstead recognize you on the streets yet?
Hahaha, no, not really.

Has your age forced you to turn down any bookings—say, at a 21+ club?
Not yet. Most of the 21+ shows are in places like America, and I have not done any shows there yet.

In a previous interview, you mentioned school isn’t really your thing, and you’ve decided on skipping university to focus entirely on your music. Was it a hard sell to get your parents to agree with this plan?
My parents have always wanted me to try as hard as I can with school no matter what, but all they really want is for me to be happy, so it wasn’t that difficult, haha.

Have you taken them to any of your shows yet? Do they have any reservations on the lifestyle you’re adopting?
Yesss, my very first shows. Last year, for example, at Pacha in Ibiza, they were there! They are always coming to shows, though. It’s really nice to see the family support, as well as fan support.

You’ve expressed a keen interest in learning new languages. How many do you speak yourself? What’s one language you wish you were fluent in, and why?
Well, I can only speak one language fluently, and that is of course my own language, English. But I’m currently trying to pick up on more Dutch; that would be really cool to become fluent in. I also used to teach myself Japanese, which was fun. Hopefully in the future, I will have time to teach myself more languages and possibly become fluent.

It’s been a couple of months since you’ve put out a new vlog. Do you intend to make this a regular occurrence, and what do you enjoy most about creating them?
Yes, I will be doing more vlogs in the future. Will just keep recording wherever I go and see what I can put together. A lot of people want to see what I do in the studio, so I might get ‘round to doing a video on that. Would be cool!

Do you have any favorite vloggers you follow religiously?
I used to watch Casey Neistat frequently, but not anymore.

Please share a few words on the mix you’ve created for us.
The mix I put together for you guys consists of all my own music that I have released so far. Hope you like it!

Track List:: Curbi “Selection A”
Showtek ft. Ambush “90s by Nature” (Curbi Remix)
Curbi “Circus”
Curbi “Discharge”
Galantis “No Money”
Curbi “100 Percent”
Curbi “Rubber”
Pep & Rash “Rumors” (Curbi Remix)
Fox Stevenson & Curbi “Hoohah”
Curbi “Triple Six”
Curbi “51”
Curbi & Bougenvilla “Butterfly Effect”