Jon Gurd’s Birth Right EP is the first material from the Portsmouth based techno producer in more than two years, since his ventures on Octopus Recordings, 8 Sided Dice and Quartz. The EP therefore indicates an audible step change, not just in the approach to production but also in the mindset and emotive feeling behind each texture and layer. Having emerged unscathed from a traumatic family drama, Jon communicates a tortuous and re-evaluated life message across all three tracks of the EP, which is dedicated to his brother with a hidden meaning conveying: Tomorrow Is – Promised – To No One.

Dissecting the EP further, the educated are blessed with field recordings, analog rumbling and modular synthesis exiting from almost 24 months of lab-driven experimentation. No real process has been applied and the EP’s success is that it now exudes what Jon ‘feels’ innately rather than what the industry wants—therefore the journey, endless noise making and experimentation gives a balanced and exciting offering.

Ahead of its October 2 release, XLR8R spoke with Gurd to learn more about the EP, which is available exclusively to stream below.

What was the inspiration behind this EP—there seems to be a strong undertone or message?
The inspiration is pretty vague; it’s the culmination of lots of late nights and noise making in the studio. I had a couple of major incidents happen in my immediate family which has given me a new perspective on life and writing music, and I guess some of the way I was feeling over the past few years is expressed in the music somehow. I read a quote somewhere that said ‘Tomorrow Is Promised To No One,’ and it really stuck in my head—hence the name of the tracks within the EP.

What have you been doing production-wise in the last two years? 
It’s great to be writing original tracks again—but I’ve needed the break to realign myself with the reasons as to why I like writing music. I’ve been pretty busy in those two years. I studio engineer for people which takes up a lot of my time. I’ve also been pretty busy with a project called Mister Woo which involves Dave Robertson (who you may know as Reset Robot), Tom Powell and myself. We have a release coming out on Derelicht very soon, including an Alan Fitzpatrick remix, I’m very excited about that.

What’s next for Jon Gurd?
I’ll be fully concentrating on my own music for the main part from now on, so you will be seeing a lot more material from myself. There is a possibility of a solo album due to the sheer amount of music that I’ve been working on. That will become more clear in the coming months. I’m sure I’ll be rekindling my production partnership with Alan Fitzpatrick at some point in the future, to follow up our releases on Det Sync & ESD—and of course I’ll be working with Dave and Tom on new Mister Woo material.

Tracklisting:

A1. Tomorrow Is
A2. Promised
A3. Promised (Dave Clarke)
B1. To No One
B2. To No One (Ancestral Voices)