Niteplan

Niteplan emerged in recent years with a string of diverse releases ranging in sound from deep tech to jungle-inspired melodic breaks. The British producer quickly turned the heads of industry luminaries like Jamie Jones, Detlef, A-Trak, The Martinez Brothers, Waff, and Anja Schneider. It’s quite unheard of for someone to receive such widespread support so early on in a career. However, with releases on Solardo’s Sola imprint and a personal nod from industry icon Skream after releasing “Waiting For You” on Of Unsound Mind, it’s evident that Niteplan isn’t your average artist.

Raised in London, his parents imbued him with a wide range of music to draw inspiration from. This may offer some insight into why his output is so varied.

“You know, my mum was mainly sort of like hip hop and R&B. Quite a lot of Brown Sugar, Missy Elliott. And my dad was a lot of classical. So, doesn't really match up. But there's a mixture of influences in there for sure.”

He says, “A lot of my music is focused around taking samples from sort of certain popular genres currently in mainstream music and then I started pressing it into my own sort of vibe.”

He didn’t come from a family that pushed him to learn an instrument, but he tried his hand at drums, guitar, and piano in his youth. He drifted from hard rock to hip hop, finally landing on dance and electronic at university.

“I used to listen to Rage Against The Machine when I was younger. And then it sort of turned into more drum and bass and then grime and sort of entered into house when I was early university.”

And while he can trace his journey through styles, it’s harder to pinpoint when he truly decided he wanted to pursue music as a career.

“I've been thinking back, and I think it was always there. But I just didn't really realize how to approach it. Because even when I was sort of like 17, 18 I used to listen to grime. And I'd be searching for YouTube and taking instrumentals and taking samples and finding little audio clips of lyrics, and then just save them and putting them together in GarageBand at the time. Not really thinking anything of it. And then later down the line, I still had all these files saved, and I was like, ah, these could be these perfect for what I want to do now.”

He’s been a passionate fan and producer for years, but it wasn’t until 2020 that he found the time to give it is his all.

“I think my problem used to be just having enough time to do it. And I feel like the whole thing has happened in the last year of you know, lockdowns, and not being able to go out… Although it was terrible, it's quite positive situation where I was given all this time. In that space of a year, I've just managed to sort of hone my craft and I'm in a position that I wanted to be in. It was just a matter of having the amount of time to do it. So, I've just I feel like I've just shot myself a couple of years, because I've been able to focus on it a lot more.”

One of his biggest wins was getting signed by Skream. If anyone could inspire to Nite Plan it would be Skream. They are both artists who reject strict genre classifications and instead simply create what makes them happy.

“Waiting For You” and “Hold On” are deep ravey breaks at their melodic peak. Crispy drums, lilting pads, and a mild trace of that 90s jungle sound. He couldn’t imagine a better place to sign such unique records.

“It's quite difficult where I'd say I want to get a release that would do [them] justice. And Of Unsound Mind was a target I wanted to hit with that. So, I sent some music through to him. And in the same day, he said he wanted to sign it.”

The same diversity of sound that has put him on the mark with so many big artists, can sometimes be a double-edged sword. But Niteplan feels at home in his style.

“Sometimes if people are going through my catalog, they might not be sure what they're gonna’ get, or what sort of vibe I'm gonna’ put up…So, I've got to take a step back when I actually go into the studio. Think, right? Don't get too wild. But I've got my sound. Now, my main sound is like the deepest sort of stripped-back tech house. But I always want to have that ability to sort of go a bit wider if I want, because as an artist, I'm producing stuff I like. And if people receive it, well, then you know, so it goes, but I don't want to be sort of pigeonholed into just doing one thing.”