Skinned #4: Herron [meandyou.]

Co-founder of the meandyou. brood, Sam Lewis has been responsible for delivering gritty, leftfield techno to grotty basements around Manchester and beyond for a good six years now. During that time, Lewis – alongside brothers in arms Alexander Taber and Andrew Lyster – has seen the night evolve into a trusted facet of Mancunian nightlife, as well as an acclaimed radio show and fledgling label.

He's also gathering his own momentum in the studio, producing atmospheric, ear-burrowing grooves under the moniker Herron – a reference to an ever-present bird that hangs around the local pond out on the common near Lewis's house. He has a slot on the second meandyou. EP, which landed a few weeks ago, and there's also talk of a future release on Lowtec's Workshop imprint.

Before feasting on this one-hour serving of aural pleasure, let's just take a moment to doff our hats to the sheer amount of talent that meandyou. has shipped in over the years: PIGON, Luke Hess, Move D, Kassem Mosse, Baby Ford, XDB, Lawrence, Will Bankhead... the list goes on, and continues to grow.

This mix was recorded at the Lewis household, which has recently been graced with the pitter patter of tiny feet, and includes a large helping of recent meandyou. spins and some tracks sourced especially for this occasion. We must point out that the second half was mixed with one hand due to the untimely awakening and subsequent arm-cradling of little baby Lewis, which may account for a change in pace at the halfway stage and proves once and for all that men really can multitask.

The Skinny: Tell us a little bit about the ethos behind meandyou.

Sam Lewis: I met Alexander Taber in '06, Andrew Lyster in '07 and introduced them to each other. There was a great dynamic between us and we quickly decided that we wanted to run a party together, which focused on bringing artists to Manchester that were really pushing dance music forward. By summer '08 we’d decided on the name meandyou., designed ourselves a logo, some flyers, posters and curated a season of monthly parties. In that first season we brought in PIGON, Luke Hess, Marko Fürstenberg, Move D, MLZ, Norman Nodge. Things have changed a lot now but that's pretty much how it began.

You’ve shipped in more than a few quality artists (and Manchester debuts) over the years – which nights stick out in the memory?

Our workshop party in '09 with Even Tuell, Lowtec and a live debut for Kassem Mosse was amazing. We still have the recording archived, which we may be able to do something with one day. We’ve developed such great relationships with the Workshop guys now, that party has to be up there. More recently, Rezzett and Will Bankhead was great. Rezzett's live show is the best live club/gig I’ve heard in a long time! 2562 and Norman Nodge was a great party, Move D and MLZ at Bookbinders was killer… to be honest, it’s tough not to look back at each event without fondness.

Any future guests we should keep an eye out for?

We have a party at a new venue, Rozafa's Greek Restaurant on 65 Princess St., on 22 November with SVN (sued), myself and Juniper. There's our annual residents' Xmas bash at Soup Kitchen in December and then, next year, our plan is to develop our label so we’ll probably be doing parties with artists we’re working with as well as bringing over fresh acts.

You’ve had a few promising releases so far – notably on last year’s The Palace EP. How would you describe your sound, and what makes your music different?

I want to concentrate on producing lots of different kinds of sounds really, my first two releases are pretty different from each other. I like that variety. I don’t want to just be a house producer or an electronic producer as I enjoy writing all sorts of music. At the moment I’m using my laptop, Ableton and a lot of plug-ins, I’m sampling from hardware and making field recordings so adding it all together is fun at the moment. I enjoy working with software or hardware, I’m definitely not a purist of either.

What’s the story behind the name Herron?

There’s a heron (the bird) that lives by the pond at the common where I live, I see it all the time when I’m walking my dog. I named myself Herron, added the second 'r', because of that bird.

What's next in the pipeline?

I’m working on a solo EP for the label, I’ve been asked by Workshop to submit a track, and Aatropa and I have been discussing working together, we’ll see.

You’re also involved with running Soup Kitchen – what’s your role there?

I’m one of three directors at Soup Kitchen and my role would be musical and creative direction although I work shifts too, we all do! It’s a great business, I’m very lucky.

Tell us a bit about your mix and what kind of vibe you’ve gone for…

My girlfriend and I have just had a baby, he’s eight months old now. I recorded the mix at home while he was asleep so had trouble with my levels, so there's a little bit of distortion in parts, apologies. The first 30 mins he was sleeping but I think I went a little too tough or loud and he woke up so the second 30 mins I had hold of him the entire time, hence the change in pace. Musically I’ve selected tracks I’ve been playing out the past few months and some I just bought especially for the mix.

Skinned #4: Herron [meandyou.] by Theskinny on Mixcloud

TRACKLIST

Artist – Track [Label]

Dirty Beaches – Elli [Zoo Music]
Discoverer – Blood Lab [Digitalis]
Damu the Fudgemunk – Meadows [Redef Concept]
Pedro Vian – News from Near Future (Madteo remix) [Modern Obscure Music]
DSCRD – Watch and Punish [Dement3d]
Eomac – Moon Obelisk [Stroboscopic Artefacts]
Blue Hour – Axis Motive [Blue Hour]
Chevel – One Month Off [Stroboscopic Artefacts]
Gigi Masin – Little Faith [Music from Memory]
Metropolis – The Great Lake [meandyou.]
Fis – Knecht [Loopy]
Sky Walking – Paradise [Sky Walking]
ø – Viimeinen Manni [Sähkö]
Peder Mannerfelt – Nihilist [Digitalis]
IVVO – Future [Public Information]
Nico Motte – Inaccessible Island [Antinote]