Mark Wilkinson has spent the past seven years becoming one of the UK's biggest drum & bass artists. His phenomenal rise has seen him release on D&B titans RAM and Hospital, along with the more mainstream Virgin EMI. He's an artist that's equally at home playing to two-stepping bass heads as he is making radio dominating hits. It's this duality and love for the genre that has seen him shuttle to main stage status while still retaining his underground creds.

Having just released his second album, Hypnotic, and with first single "Wash Away" already dominating dancefloors, we sat down with Wilkinson for a quick chat about albums, producing and... his love of gardening.

MoS: Hey Mark, You’ve just released Hypnotic, your second album, how long have you been working on this for?

Wilkinson: I’ve been working on this album since finishing my first, so I’d say since 2013.

Talk us through the album, are there any themes or feelings you were trying to capture with it?

I’ve tried to capture every style of music that’s inspired me emotionally and creatively over the last four years. I wanted to take the listener on a journey through different sounds and energies.

How important is the album format to you?

Although a lot of people have told me that albums aren't important anymore I feel like they are, they’re a statement of where you are musically/creatively at that moment in time. I just don't think you can achieve that by only releasing singles.

You collaborated with vocalist Andreya Triana on "Take Us Home" how was that?

I’ve always wanted to work with Andreya Triana and finally managed to get in the studio with her. I feel like I succeeded in capturing her style and merging it with mine.