INSTINCT

(INSTINCT – UK)
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The INSTINCT project was started by a young veteran to have a bit more fun and freedom in the studio. A few years later, however, and some off-the-cuff studio sessions became the spearhead for a new garage movement, with INSTINCT right at the forefront. A second full length within 12 months lands in September 2020 and is another widescreen showcase of the INSTINCT sound: from dark bangers to cheeky vocal cuts via deep down and dirty rollers, this is high grade club tackle that never fails to connect with the crowd.

This fulsome approach from James Burnham carries over into the DJ booth, and sees INSTINCT join the dots between the old and the new, with good time groovers and heads down material all woven together into a fresh take on garage that has given rise to a vibrant new scene. From Fabric Room 1 to sweaty basements in Sweden via iconic Ibizan club DC10, INSTINCT has taken his distinctive take on UKG all over Europe in a short space of time.

It has been a hugely prolific and consistent period for the artist, too, with plenty of quick-to-sell-out 12″s on his own INSTINCT label and a number of tracks like the explosive ‘Pistolwhip’ and old school ‘Someone’ breaking out to top Year End charts at Mixmag, RA, Ministry of Sound, NME and Phonica. As well as being tapped up to soundtrack an advert for European fashion house Diesel, INSTINCT has constantly found fresh new ground at the intersection between garage, dub, minimal, breakbeat and tech.

It’s the crispness of his drums, the punch of his kicks and deft deployment of futuristic synths that make INSTINCT tracks so compelling. When you add in a face melting bassline or sweet as honey vocal on top of that, the results are rude, charming, and irresistible. That’s true for DJs as well as dancers, with a diverse mix of names like Caribou, Barely legal and Enzo Siragusa dropping INSTINCT tunes in their Essential Mixes and Ben UFO, Moxie, Craig Richards, Riccardo Villalobos, Fourtet and Floating Points all reaching for INSTINCT heat in their club sets.

The INSTINCT label has, as a result, also become a bastion of vital new school garage. Next to his own tracks, it has signed up killer cuts from artists like Holloway, 0113, Pinder, Kelper and Jack Michael, with plenty more to come from all concerned. 10 years after being nominated as the Best Breakthrough DJ in DJ Mag, it feels like James Burham is breaking through and blowing up all over again, with even more energy and invention than ever.