Inside Five: Tobtok (Perfect Havoc)

Tobtok has always worked in his own lane, from his early nu disco signings to highly respected French label Kitsuné – who released his only EP to date, ‘Savanna’ – to his more dancefloor-geared signings to Selected, as heard on ‘My Carousel’. There have been plenty of nods to the Swede’s talents, from specialist spins from Pete Tong and Zane Lowe to being asked to curate Toolroom’s Miami Poolside compilation. 

What started as a drum and bass record and ended up packing in disco, stutter and piano-rave house, Tobtok’s latest work alongside fellow countryman farfetch’d ‘I Like When You’ is a journey of a track. Remove all preconceptions of what these artists have done prior, and forget platinum records, streaming counts and radio plays, ‘I Like When You’ is refreshingly experimental and the result of simply producing for the bloody fun of it. It’s arguably their most accomplished work to date. You can buy/stream it here: https://perfecthavoc.lnk.to/ilikewhenyou.

Over six tracks, their forthcoming ‘My Friends’ EP – due for release on London-based indie Perfect Havoc in September – is a diverse and exciting body of work that spans drum and bass, filter house, stutter house, disco and French house. Heavily inspired by the new era of glitch house, Tobtok and farfetch’d go all out with technique, playing around with sampling, microsampling live sounds, and manipulating and pitching vocals. 

Hot off the release of ‘I Like When You’, we caught up with Perfect Havoc’s Tobtok as he becomes the next artist to join us for an Inside Five feature: 

Hey Tobtok, thanks for joining us at Mr. Afterparty. Your latest release is undeniably unique; can you tell us how ‘I Like When You’ came to be?

“I Like When You” is probably the wildest track I’ve ever been involved in. It’s very genre-bending and full-on creative mode. It’s part of a 6 track EP that I’ve made with Farfetch’d, and we just tried to completely forget about the “rules” when it comes to house and production to create something fun and interesting. I guess it was an attempt to do a DnB/Jungle kind of track that kinda failed, but doing so ended up being something unique. 

Your latest work is an evolution from what we are used to hearing from you. Is this a new direction you’re heading in, or are you just experimenting?

I guess it’s kind of both. I don’t know if this is the sound I’m continuing with, as I don’t really like to stick to 1 sound. With that being said, it’s probably the most fun I’ve ever had making music, so I will definitely try and be more playful and broad-minded going forward!

You’ve been working with the guys at Perfect Havoc for a while now. How has your career developed since signing with them?

It’s been quite a journey. I think we are celebrating ten years in 2023, actually. We’ve been through everything together, all the highs and lows. I started out with nothing, just a few bootlegs and wacky originals on Soundcloud, basically, and I had just made my first paid remix that paid out like 100 dollars. Fast forward a few years, and I’m working with music full time, and Perfect Havoc is on track to be the big name in the music industry that it is today. I’m super grateful to have these guys in my life, both professionally and as close friends.

If you could meet your younger self right at the start of your music career, what would you tell him and why?

Don’t get into the music industry, haha. Jokes aside, I would definitely tell him to stop overthinking everything and not get stuck with productions because you are gonna get sick of it in a few months’ time anyway after it’s released. Music is always moving forward, and there’s always going to be new things that inspire.

Lastly, what can fans expect from you for the rest of 2023?

There’s gonna be a big campaign around the EP, and fans can expect a journey through different genres and fun productions!

Tobtok
https://www.instagram.com/tobtokmusic
https://twitter.com/tobtok
http://www.facebook.com/tobtok

Perfect Havoc
https://www.facebook.com/perfecthavocmusic
https://www.twitter.com/perfecthavoc
https://www.instagram.com/perfecthavoc
https://open.spotify.com/user/perfecthavoc