Hello Ashley, thank you for taking some time to chat. Can you give our readers some background about yourself. What other music do you enjoy besides dnb/jungle, and how young were you when you first got into electronic music or even production/djing?

Yeah, so as cheesy as it sounds - growing up I loved all music. But I actually did. From Hip-hop to Post Punk and Metal. It was around 1998/1999 when I first heard drum and bass though. I was a ten year old kid sitting in my room listening to music. I had a little tape deck radio & recorded a few sets from Kool FM that I'd take to school to share with my friends. Something about the tempo/energy of DnB stuck with me. Until I was 15 when I started looking in to how it was produced and started dabbling in production.

How are things in London at this point regarding events and music? Do you ever feel pressure or anxiety from living in a bigger city being surrounded by a large number of drum & bass artists and events?

To be honest, I'm not really keeping up with the scene. The few artists I do follow and talk to I'll travel to go and see if they're not playing locally. So, there's no real pressure or anxiety really. I've not been to a local event in the last 2 years #ThanksRona

It looks like you will be making a return on Smooth N Groove Records with a new EP out soon. Any more info on that or other upcoming projects that you want to mention?

Yes yes, I've got four new tracks coming on Smooth n Groove in the next month. Really enjoyed making these four tracks, hopefully that comes across when you hear them.

For a number of years now, you have had music come out on a nice selection of labels such as Smooth N Groove, Soul Deep, Flight Pattern, Fokuz and Celsius. Also the list of other artists you have collaborated with continues to grow. Who are a few artists that you would like to collaborate with at some point if the opportunity came? How about labels, any in particular that you would like to reach out to at some point?

I'd love to collab with the Jazzsticks guys more. Soulstructure the brothers from Bolton (specifically John) has been listening to a few beats I've been making in recent weeks. Making more music for Fokuz & Flight Pattern would also be up there for me.

Do you use any hardware for your productions, or is it mainly software and plugins? What are a few things you might recommend for younger artists that are looking for ways to improve their productions?

Mainly software. I managed to get some experience as a production assistant in a studio some years ago, working primarily on film scores. I quickly learned how far software has come. All of the composing and production was dialed in pretty much entirely on software, until the film Director had signed off on the music. Then we'd take the scores into a big studio like Abbey Road or AIR and record them live for the final mix. But it was always so surprising how close the mixes sounded.

A tip for younger artists would be don't compare your productions to other artists and try not to pay too much attention to what others are doing. If you just make music you want to hear, that'll come across to the listener.

You like to do a bit of photography and the photos I've seen you post online are nice. Do you try to spend as much time on your photo work as you do the music? Where is the best place online for people to view your photos?

Yeah, i'm primarily a photographer! It's my day job. I've probably spent an equal time on photography and music and I share most of my photography work on Instagram (@mystic_trip).

Any closing thoughts or shout outs?

Big up everyone that made it this far into the interview and all the DJs and labels that have played/supported my tracks!

Keep tabs on Mystic Trip at the following links