Merikan has long operated in drum and bass’ tougher, more exacting corners, where detail matters and weight is everything. His debut on Evolution Chamber with Face Off / Hades feels like a natural alignment. We caught up with him to talk process, pressure, and how these tracks found their shape.

Thanks for taking the time to talk to us. You’ve been around that darker, more surgical end of drum and bass for a while now, but this is your first release on Evolution Chamber. What made this the right moment to connect with them?
Thanks so much for having me. Well, I’ve been a big fan of the Evolution Chamber team for a while now, and all the artists there are genuinely lovely people. So it just felt natural to create a single for them.

There’s a certain discipline to Evolution Chamber releases, quite lean but still heavy. Did that shape how you approached Face Off at all, or was it already pointing in that direction?
Kind of. I mean, I’m a big fan of heavy music, so I usually work in that direction. But over the last three years, I’ve been working on an album, and “Face Off” was one of the early ideas for it. Unfortunately, the concept of the album changed many times throughout the process, so “Face Off” didn’t end up making the final cut. Still, I felt it had great potential, and I’m very happy it found a home with Evolution Chamber.

Face Off has that straight, driving feel to it, very no-nonsense. Did it come together quickly, or was it one you kept refining over time?
Both. Usually, it takes me about a week to come up with a solid idea, but from there, I try to explore different directions the track could take, so the main concept gradually gets refined over time. In general, I find this way of working very useful, as it allows me to experiment and see where the tune can go and what it wants to become, rather than rushing an arrangement just for the sake of finishing it. Sometimes it can be quite tedious, especially when changing the key of a track, but the results can be very surprising.

The drums on that one are pretty unforgiving, really tight. How deep are you going on the drum processing before the rest of the track even starts to take shape?
Very deep! I mean, drums are like the spinal cord of a track, so they’re extremely important for making it shine. The interplay between drums and bass is what really creates the groove, so it’s important to have the right hits and the right overtones from the start. The tonal aspect of drums is something I focus on a lot, as having a kind of question-and-answer interplay between your riff and your drum hits really glues everything together.

Hades opens things out a bit more rhythmically, especially early on. Was that about trying something different, or just following where the idea went?
I remember the whole idea for “Hades” actually started with the intro. I was trying to write a theme that felt heavy and dark, and initially it was a lot longer than it is now. But after writing the drop and following the rhythmic pattern of the intro, I decided to make the intro section shorter and more straight to the point.

There’s a point in Hades where everything snaps into a straighter groove and it properly locks in. Are you thinking about those moments in terms of how DJs might use it, or is it more of a gut decision?
It was more of a gut decision, as it felt refreshing for that part to come in after such a busy section, but on other tunes, I do consider how it might end up being played.

You’ve released on Blackout, Eatbrain, PRSPCT, all quite distinct spaces. Where do you feel Evolution Chamber sits alongside those from your perspective?
I believe it’s a great addition to the ones you mentioned. In the end, it’s always handy to have another platform where you can showcase other kinds of music.

Thinking back to your early releases around 2012, do you ever revisit them, or do you prefer to keep moving forward without looking back too much?
To be honest, I just move forward without looking back, but I still do have old projects laying around on my hard drive which I do go back to sometimes.

Outside of drum and bass, what’s feeding your ideas at the moment, still mostly rooted in music, or are you pulling from other places a bit more?
At the moment, I’m really enjoying listening to Norse music, which I find very inspiring, but I also draw inspiration from videos. Sometimes I’ll put on a YouTube trailer and try to write a dark theme for it, as having something visual really helps set the mood.

When you’re in the studio now, does it feel like you’re refining what you already do, or are you still finding moments where things surprise you a bit?
I guess it’s a bit of both. In terms of sound, it feels like I’m refining things, but when it comes to arrangements, I still manage to surprise myself, especially when I try to take a track in a different direction or key. It really helps to think of a track as a whole story rather than just a loop that changes over time.

You’re stranded on a desert island with one turntable, a generator and one record. What’s it going to be?
That’s a tough one, but probably Enigma Part 2 - Deeper Cello Investigations by Gothic Storm (Andrii Yefymov)

With Face Off / Hades, Merikan adds another precise, heavy-edged release to his catalogue, this time via Evolution Chamber. It is a partnership that makes sense, both sonically and instinctively. There is a clarity to how he approaches his craft now, still evolving, still testing ideas, but always anchored in that weight and control.