Virus Syndicate on DIY music, politics & B.A.D.

“We all listened to jungle initially, we weren’t hip-hop heads,” explains founding member JSD as The Skinny catches up with him and fellow frontman Nika D over Skype. “We got into MCing listening to MC Trigga and Baseman and that kinda shit, and a lot of stuff that was coming out at the time was UK garage. What made dubstep was the fusion of garage and that darker sound. So when we came out around the mid-2000s it was a fusion of grime and dubstep with storytelling lyrics, and as time progressed we took a more dubstep route.”

Their latest track B.A.D., featuring their regular live guest Dyno, was conceived on tour last year while they were touring their fourth album Symptomatic. “I whipped this beat up on the plane and we ended up playing it at a festival in Spain,” says JSD. “After two, three reloads we thought, 'It’s alright, this one.'”

“And Dyno is pretty much part of the team,” Nika D explains. “He started DJing for us and coming on stage; we made this song with that in mind.”

The band’s wildcard experimental streak has led them into some difficulties over the years, most significantly the video for their 2015 track Psychopath, which coincided with the Paris terrorist attacks and was banned in France for its inclusion of ISIS-produced content. “We didn’t do it to be politically provocative, but we did want to make people think,” Nika D explains. “The metaphor behind that song was that society is being run by psychopaths, that what we’re being fed in the news isn’t right. But we weren’t particularly trying to offend anybody.”

In light of recent political events, we ask the duo if they’re keen to make more music that takes a specific stance, especially as Psychopath's KC Locke-directed video included footage of George W. Bush and Vladimir Putin. “I’m not a supporter of Donald Trump but I’m not a supporter of Hillary Clinton either,” JSD says. “Clinton is undercover nuts, Trump... what you see is what you get.”

“I think the world now is in the most fucked and dangerous position, certainly since we’ve been alive,” Nika D continues, “so for us to make more content like that, it would depend if it felt right for our music. Would we change what we did though? Not a chance, not a fucking bunch of dicks.”

Continuing with the DIY aesthetic is still very much the band’s priority. “We started by signing all our music to different labels, and we always had different people doing that for us until the last couple of years,” JSD says. “We decided it’s just not worth it, not in the age when the internet promotes your music. And when it comes to the videos, to the planning of things, no one understands that creative process like you. Wanting to be so self-sufficient actually led us to setting up a visual media company. And that’s evolved too, the team’s gone onto filming documentaries about football scholarships in Africa.”

The video for B.A.D. aims to show their new fans exactly what they’re about as a band. “It’s like a mush-up of our summer tour,” Nika D explains. “Different countries, airports, it’s a bit of a fun insight into us behind the scenes.”

“It’s imperative because touring is not only important to us financially, but it’s what we love to do the most. If you’ve ever seen a Virus Syndicate live show, it’s crazy, it’s brutal, we have a party,” says JSD.

And their craziest time on tour yet? “The North Pole,” JSD laughs. “Well, not quite, but it was the Arctic Circle so I’m calling it the North Pole.”

“We had to fly to Oslo and then Tromsø and then take a two-hour coach ride to the coast and then a boat to this little island,” Nika D remembers. “The was sun beaming down even though it was 3am. It was crazy.”

“But ’cause there were no hotels on the island the residents had to put the bands up,” JSD continues. “The place they put us in was shit though so we said to the promoters, 'We’re not staying here.' So they put us on a coach and drove us up this fucking mountain and then we thought, 'We’re being taken up here to be shot.' I really thought we were going to die, like, 'We complained too hard here, lads.'”

“But then they put us in this nice little cabin so it was alright,” Nika D happily concludes.

With so many developments within the band, from the line-up to the sound, we wonder if they’ve ever considered changing their name. “The thing about Virus is that in Manchester people have known us for ten years, but in lots of other territories we’re a new act,” JSD explains. “Our biggest fanbase is 18-22 year olds and they’re all new listeners. And we feel like as long as Virus is going, we still haven’t achieved the potential. Obviously we’ll go out with dignity, we won’t cling onto it until we’re old and grey, but we’ve got some really special music and I just want it to be heard. I mean, we’re not ready to put some fucking sandals on.”