Masking both his voice and face, TUNTUN is the faceless alter ego of artist Nathan Jamal (also known for his work under his own name and as Roseland En Why Cee), a creative outlet where freedom, play, and movement take center stage.
TUNTUN recently dropped his debut EP, ‘TEXTURES’, a raw, energetic, and introspective collection of dancefloor-ready tracks that pay homage to UK Bass while pushing it through a distinct, left-field lens.
‘TEXTURES’ draws from the rich sonic history of London, blending Jungle, Drum & Bass, Garage, and 2-step into a playful, lo-fi tapestry. The EP’s layered studio sounds, clipped audio commentary, mic’d-up instruments, and crisp drum samples create vibrant sonic quilts, noisy, chaotic, and alive, capturing the city itself in musical form. Recently, I had a chat with him to delve into the creative process and inspiration behind the project.
1. TUNTUN is deliberately faceless and voice-masked, while you’re very visible as Nathan Jamal and Roseland En Why Cee. What specific freedoms does the TUNTUN mask give you that your other aliases don’t?
The mask and more importantly the voice help me break the patterns that I’m used to working in. It turns off the censor in my head and makes it easier to follow ideas that I don’t necessarily associate with my sound and see where they go.
2. ‘TEXTURES’ is being framed as a love letter to UK bass culture, but through a very left-field, almost punk-lo-fi lens. Where exactly do you feel the current UK bass scene is too polite or too polished, and how is TUNTUN trying to disrupt that?
I think every genre under the ‘Bass’ umbrella has its veterans and aficionados. There’s a lot of policing and rules as to what’s authentic and what’s not. I get the need for that, but I’m deliberately working outside of those rules.
3. You’ve said the music follows impulse over perfection. Can you walk us through a specific moment in the making of the EP where you almost “cleaned up” a track but decided to leave the mess in—and why was that mess essential?
Yeah, maybe the best example of that is the vocoder parts on by design. The first time I recorded them I wasn’t thinking at all. Really just going on impulse. The lyrics don’t make any sense and some of them aren’t actual words. I just liked the way it all sounded. When I came back to the track a month or so later I was like “What the f*ck is this!”. Like, it almost made me laugh. I loved that way it sounded but it also seems ridiculous and so far away from something I’d normally do. I tried to give it real lyrics and tame it in all these different ways, but it never sounded right. After weeks of trying to make it into something more polished, I just had to give in to the idea that I liked the way the original one sounded. It doesn’t have to make sense beyond that.
4. ‘I Wanna Do’ is the lead single and the mission statement. What was the very first element you made for that track (a drum break, a vocal chop, a field recording, etc.), and how did the rest of the tune explode out of it?
One of my good friends always sends me voice notes of parts of songs he’s written. I’ll be on my lunch break and get a clip of a piano ballad and then the next day a nu-metal riff he’s written. I love it. He sent me the recording you hear at the start of that track. I didn’t realise but i had it on x2 playback speed when I first heard it. It had such a vibe. I pretty much had the idea for the whole track as soon as I heard that clip.
5. The EP swings between absolute chaos and these surprisingly tender, almost euphoric pockets of space. Which track on ‘TEXTURES’ has the most extreme example of that swing, and what is the moment that makes you feel most exposed as a producer?
Haha, that’s a great question! But I’d put it back to you as the listener. I’m too close to judge. By Design is probably the one that I felt that swung the most while making. I really felt like I was wrestling with the chaos at the end of that track.
6. You’re only making 10 physical Texture Packs with Jaffar Aly, each one unique and vacuum-sealed with an NFC chip. Why strictly ten? Is the scarcity part of the statement, or is it simply because that’s all you two could be bothered to make?
Haha! Jaffar was actually keen to make more, but I stopped it at 10. I like the idea of limited runs. As a fan it makes things feel special and as an artist it helps you close the door on a project and move on. An attic full of years of unshifted records and merch scares the sh*t out of me.
7. A lot of artists claim to make “Dancefloor” music but end up with something too tasteful to actually rinse at 2 a.m. How confident are you that ‘TEXTURES’ will still sound completely unhinged when it’s getting battered on a proper dark system?
I’m pretty confident, but I guess there’s only one way to find out? I definitely went for fun over good taste in my mixes. My dad is also a musician and I trust his opinion a lot. The first thing he said when he heard the master for Doves Cry was “I would have turned the bass down 5db”. That let me know I made the right choice. I wanted it to be over the top.
8. The project feels very “now” but also like it could only have been made by someone who grew up on pirate radio and dusty jungle tapes. What is the oldest record or moment in your personal history that you can still hear echoing somewhere in ‘TEXTURES’?
My dad loves to tell the story that when I was a baby he’d get me to sleep by putting headphones on me and playing radio shows from Drum and Bass DJs like Brian Gee and Jumping Jack Frost. I like to think that is still echoing in me.
9. After this debut EP lands, what is the one reaction you’re most afraid of getting from listeners and, on the flip side, the one reaction that would make you feel like TUNTUN actually succeeded?
The most scary reaction has got to be indifference. To me this EP is full of energy and fun. If someone hated it it would hurt, but at least that energy caused a reaction. If someone got nothing from it that would be heartbreaking! I’ve not played these songs out yet. But when I get people dancing, that will be a success.
