Ploy Took an Unexpected Left Turn into House Music
An interview with the UK producer, who explains his shift away from boundary-busting bass music—and his embrace of one of dance music's most storied genres.
Dozens of house records are released every day. Maybe hundreds. The arrival of any one of them is not usually a remarkable event, but when Ploy (a.k.a. London-based artist Sam Smith) released the tech house-oriented They Don’t Love It Like We Do last year, it felt like a genuine WTF moment.
It wasn’t a bad moment, as the EP was greeted quite enthusiastically, particular among dance music’s tastemaker set. Here at First Floor, the record even landed on the “Favorite Releases of 2024” list, where its “deliciously unpolished sonics” and “crazed energy” were praised, despite the fact that they “unfold over the same sort of rubbery grooves one might hear at a Mediterranean pool party.”
Yet They Don’t Love It Like We Do was a surprise, as the UK producer had previously been a key member of what might be called the Bristol bass universe. Coming up alongside artists like Bruce and Batu, he’d spent the latter half of the 2010s releasing records on vaunted labels like Hessle Audio, Timedance and Hemlock, and was most memorably responsible for “Ramos,” a world-beating, drum-heavy rollercoaster that became one of 2018’s most celebrated bangers.
He’d continued evolving in the years since, dropping the moody Unlit Signals album on L.I.E.S. in 2020 before launching his own label, Deaf Test, as an outlet for his consistently morphing—and decidedly low end-centric—dancefloor excursions. Even as the boundaries of bass music became increasingly fluid, Ploy continued to be held up as one of the circuit’s most creative and consistent talents, the kind of producer who always seemed to be one step ahead of everyone else.
However, as They Don’t Love It Like We Do made clear, Ploy eventually reached a point where his next step was a step into house music. Early next month, he’ll be doubling down on that decision with It’s Later Than You Think, his highly anticipated debut for the Dekmantel label. Big, bouncy and decidedly less weird than They Don’t Love It Like We Do, the new record is an exercise in groove, one that takes inspiration from several eras of tribal and tech house and also features a whole lot of bongos. And while the official promo text bills It’s Later Than You Think as a return to Ploy’s house music roots—roots that, it should be said, have rarely been mentioned previously—that text doesn’t include an explanation of what prompted his latest stylistic shift. How is it that one of dance music’s most inventive producers has landed in a zone where he’s now dedicating himself to what’s arguably one of the genre’s most established and conventional sounds?
Curious to find out, I inquired if Ploy would be up for an interview, and he agreed to shed some light on the situation. Our conversation last week wasn’t a career-spanning talk—anyone interested in how he got started and his rapid rise through the bass music ranks should seek out any one of the numerous interviews he’s granted over the years. We primarily talked about house music, delving not just into those aforementioned roots, but what prompted his recent return to the genre and how the change has gone down with folks who still remember his “Ramos” era. Along the way, Ploy also nodded to some of his own house music favorites, shared some future plans and explained how he differentiates between “good” tech house and “bad” tech house.
If other artists follow his lead—and given Ploy’s influence, that’s certainly possible—making that sort of distinction might just become an essential skill in the months and years ahead.