On Thursday 11th July, pioneers of the new wave of British dance music, Rudimental, and their chosen emerging artist, Bipolar Sunshine, took on the entire A&R process in just 24 hours, before finally performing an electric, adrenaline-fuelled live show at The Vaults, in Waterloo, London as part of a unique series of BACARDÍ Beginnings creative projects.
Thursday saw Rudimental and Bipolar Sunshine write, record and release, rehearse AND perform their original track - “Distance (BACARDÍ Beginnings)” by Rudimental feat. Bipolar Sunshine – all within 24 hours.
Starting at a studio in London at 7am, Rudimental jammed on trumpets, drums, guitars, keyboard, organ, bass, horns, with Bipolar Sunshine layering in vocal ideas, building the chorus, and so creating their first track together. With a danceable and upbeat tempo inspired by disco and house, “Distance (BACARDÍ Beginnings)” is a melody-driven, funky, feel-good track.
With the track mastered and finished, the testing process ended with their energetic performance to a packed, rapturous crowd of adoring fans. Bipolar Sunshine kicked off the one-off gig with 'Trouble', before delivering a mixture of upbeat and sorrow-driven songs, invoking nostalgia and speaking to each and every one in the audience. He ended the set with 'Fire', the emotional track from his debut EP, to shouts of recognition from the fans.
Chart-toppers Rudimental then took to the stage bringing the crowd to a jumping throng with their opening track, 'Baby'. With their extended family of vocalists and musicians around them, the band thrived off each other’s and the audience’s energy, bringing their signature carnival-esque live shows to The Vaults. Unsurprisingly, as the first note dropped for 'Waiting All Night', the crowd erupted.
Rudimental and Bipolar Sunshine wrapped up the gig with a transfixing, debut live performance of “Distance (BACARDÍ Beginnings)”. The chemistry that had built up between the two artists over the past day in the studio was clear, with the two artists bouncing off each other harmoniously and energetically.
Reflecting on the project, Rudimental’s Amir Amor says: “We loved working with Bipolar Sunshine – he works quickly, like we do, so the process just flowed. He’s a wicked lyricist, his ideas for the topic of the song basically dictated and inspired the direction “Distance” went. We hope this BACARDÍ Beginnings project gives him the recognition he deserves and we hope that we can work together in the future.”
Manchester-born Bipolar Sunshine adds: “Rudimental are such talented musicians that the creative process was a breeze. Being part of the BACARDÍ Beginnings project has been incredible; I would never have thought that I would be creating music with Rudimental at this stage of my career. It’s also opened me up to another genre that I wouldn’t have considered before. This has taken me out of my comfort zone – which is a good thing.”
Created to provide a unique platform for some of the UK's best up-and-coming music talent to showcase their sound to a wider audience, BACARDÍ Beginnings 2013 pairs three established acts and three hot emerging artists to push the boundaries of music releases, while also releasing original tracks together. Each pairing will be given a unique brief around the creation, production and experience of music, while also releasing original tracks together. The first project was ‘24hr A&R’ with Rudimental and Bipolar Sunshine.
The details of the next artist pairings involved in the BACARDÍ Beginnings programme and their individual creative projects will be announced at the end of July, with the final pairing revealed in October.
Fans can watch the artists undertake their project and highlights from the gig as well as listening to the track below:
YouTube.com/BacardiSuperiorRum Soundcloud.com/BipolarSunshineTo follow the entire BACARDÍ Beginnings campaign, go to
www.bacardibeginnings.com