«Metal Bones» is a track composed with a more 4×4 mentality than what Downrocks typically does. We’ve always tried to distance ourselves from that kind of rhythmic signature because for many years, there was a tendency to confuse «real» Electro with what some countries labeled as Electro as a musical genre when, in reality, it was a disco variant of Techno or even Dance music. What set our genre apart from the rest was precisely the rhythmic beat, the characteristic syncopation that originates from the funk rhythms of the 1970s. This syncopation, from which Kraftwerk drew inspiration for a significant portion of the rhythms on their 1981 album «Computer World,» undoubtedly marked a starting point in this genre, solidified later by Afrika Bambaataa and Arthur Baker’s «Planet Rock».
We’ve used this pattern as our identity, but music must evolve if it’s to continue being created generation after generation, and fortunately, that boundary is no longer as clear. Electro producers no longer have such a distinct limitation. We’ll consider the song Electro if that’s what we decide as producers of this genre we belong to, regardless of the rhythmic pattern.
I find this attitude to be a step forward and a good reason for many to experiment in their creations with things that were once considered taboo.
22 Recordings contacted me last year (2022) to participate in their project, where, from their perspective of electronic music, everything could coexist on the same album: our Electro, the Belgian New Beat, and other niche genres of electronic music composed nowadays in Barcelona. The vinyl they released this July in 2023 is already sold out, as is often the case with limited editions these days, but I’ve already made my song available on streaming platforms.