Larry Tee’s musical world is a fabulously twisted place. He’s the man credited with coining the phrase ‘Electroclash’ and playing a pivotal role in the growth of the tough, sexually charged sounds that followed. Read the rest of this entry »
Author :admin
On Saturday night, Danny Howells brings his Dig Deeper club concept to Ministry of Sound for the start of a brand new residency after successfully touring the marathon-set concept around the world.
The Hastings-born music obsessive is without question one of the most loved DJs on the circuit, in equal parts due to his amazing talents to rock a party and his infectious personality.
We can’t wait to have him play for 7-hours in The Box, but while we count down the hours, Danny himself was nice enough to answer today’s 5 probing questions at 5pm… Read the rest of this entry »
Author :admin
Techno stalwarts Christian Smith and John Selway are holders of the increasingly rare accolade of scoring a genuine ‘Tune of Miami’ with their forthcoming release Total Departure (check it out in John’s ‘lift off’ YouTube video for the tune below).
We spoke to Christian about the long-running production duo’s knack for making accessible techno, and exciting plans for a party in Chrstian’s adoptive city of Barcelona for the Sonar festival… Read the rest of this entry »
Author :admin
Shonky upped sticks from his native France to move to Berlin, the epicentre for the sort of stripped back electronic music he makes so well. But still, as his debut LP drops, influences from his homeland are vital to his sound. He’s previously worked closely in the studio with other French dance stars like Jennifer Cardini and still plays regularly in France’s coolest parties, when he’s not on a hectic schedule of global dates.
We were supposed to catch up with him at the Freak n Chic label party in Miami, but by the time we got there the police had paid them a visit. Luckily we grabbed him by email for today’s big 5 questions…
What was the best thing, and the worst thing about Miami?
“I enjoyed Miami so much. It was the time to see all the people I cannot see during the year. To see all my mates from Freak n Chic because now I’m living in Berlin and this is more complicated. I also saw producers whose work I really appreciate. The freak n chic rooftop party was really good. So many good people – friends, all the people that I met during my US tour were at this party but the party was stopped by the police unfortunately. Still one of the best memories of this conference.
The worse thing was that it was too short for me. I was supposed to play in China so I had to move to early, unfortunately.”
Tell us about the experience of making your debut artist LP, and how was it different to making singles?
“I was working on the album a bit less than one year. For me, I saw the album like a project in which each track will bring something interesting. It’s hard to have an exact vision and it’s always interesting to improvise but I knew in which direction I wanted to drive the album.
For me, it was important to build it in the same mood as the EPs I did before. To try to be hypnotic, deep and groovy. I didn’t want to do another EP so it was more interesting to go deeper into my musical roots and all the music I had listened in the past 4 years.
Many tracks have been done in the Freak n Chic studio. It was nice for me to work in a professional way – better than in my living room. I had finished most of them before I moved to Berlin but for me it was important to stay in the mood. I didn’t want to be influenced by something new at this time, which I was sure would happen in Berlin. The only work that I did there was to retouch the edit.”
Which is your personal favourite track on the album and why?
To be honest, I really appreciated all of them but if I have to choose one I will say Nebula or Magma because they remind me so much of what I was playing when I started to be a DJ in 1998. All this music from San Francisco and Chicago, I used these roots, plus a bit of Kraftwerk and a bit of myself. I play them in many of my DJ sets.”
Where is the best place in the world to enjoy the kind of music you make?
“I think the best place is the Berlin nightlife, even if Paris was really cool. The good thing with Berlin is that you always have good parties with good DJs and an amazing sound system. The crowd is nice and really pay attention to the music. You meet a lot of producers you like everywhere and anywhere and the best thing is that you really feel free and secure at the same time.”
What inspires you?
“A lot of things, from the roots of my musical background like the fun, soul, punk to what I listen everyday in everything. But most important I have been inspired by my gigs all around Europe and abroad, afterhours too…
There are so many artists I love; Villalobos, Hawtin, Baby Ford, Gemini… but to choose one is impossible. For example I really like Mathias Kaden that’s why I asked him to make a remix for my single, Time Zero, the title track of the new album.”
Shonky Top 5 Chart
Author :admin
Today sees the launch of the exceedingly eclectic ‘Haphazard’, by the legendary Global Underground’s latest artist, Rogue Audio. Solo project of Deadset’s Cass, this album effortlessly moves between the ethereal, cinematic soundscapes of ‘Can I Get A Reboot?’ to the glitch laden, tech frenzy of ‘The Only Winning Move’, while riding along the futuristic breaks of ‘Warrior’, the frantic Drum n Bass of ‘Security For All’, and everything else in between.
As an album that quite literally cannot be categorised, it seemed like a great talking point, so Gavin Leversuch caught up with the man himself for today’s 5pm Interview…
So, what was the reasoning behind the return of Rogue Audio? Did you just need a break from Deadset?
There was no grand plan behind finally getting the Rogue Audio album finished, it just seemed to work out time-wise with the scheduling of all the other stuff that was going on. As for needing a break from Deadset, I consider myself exceptionally lucky to do a job that I’m really into, with a guy [Mr. Mangan aka Deadset1]
You move around the genres on Haphazard a lot, from ambient, to hip-hop, to drum n bass, and so on. Was this an intentional forethought in the making of the album, or just the way it turned out?
It’s something I’ve wanted to do for ages, but due to a combination of other musical commitments and general procrastination, it’s taken a little longer than it probably should have. It’s really come together over a long gestation period, with me intentionally absorbing as many influences over time as possible. I constantly saved little sounds, samples, noises, cinematic references, anything I thought was interesting, and then used them as a palette for the tracks on the album whenever I had the chance to work on it. I’ve been lucky that Andy from GU believed in what I was doing and gave me the forum to put it together. I’ve got a lot of respect for that because when I pitched him the idea, the art wasn’t even started and I’d only completed four tracks.
Bearing this great eclecticism in mind, which track are you most pleased with overall on the album?
Some One. It’s the one that meant the most and I felt like for the first time I’d perhaps been able to reach inside and really get out the emotion that I felt whilst we were writing it. Plus it makes my wife cry when she hears it whilst she’s jogging using her Nike+ pod gubbins. Although that could just be my voice that’s stimulating the salt water…
You brought in a decent number of collaborative assistants for this project. Who would you say made the greatest contribution to the final result?
To be honest, I’ve just been very lucky to work with a whole load of artists I’ve been into. Most of the album was written with Sam Evans, who understands really intuitively what I’ve got in my mind and is then able to translate that in the studio very quickly. That makes working a real pleasure. As for the other combinations, they were a lot of fortunate engineered serendipitous happenings, as it were. I either found myself in another country on tour and had some spare time to get into a studio, or was able to get somebody into my studio when they were here in the UK. I’d love to spin you a yarn about a grand master plan, but it would be a lie.
Similarly, who’s been your favourite musician or producer that you have worked with over the years? It’s gotta be Jason Donovan, right?
Mr. Donovan definitely told the absolutely very, very best tales of debauchery and nefarious happenings. He’s a legend, and just a very cool guy. As for favourite producers, Mango, Mr. Evans, the guys from Infusion, it goes on. Too many nice bods to single one out, actually.
You helped design the artwork, and have created a character that has travelled all over the world. What has been your favourite Choowie sighting, and what’s next on the agenda for him?
He’s going to be appearing exclusively on a range of delicious treats at the superior on-line emporium Oki-Ni (www.oki-ni.com). You can go there now and register your interest for goodies.
(Interview: Gavin Leversuch)
Cass’ Current Top 5:
Author :admin
When Roni Size and Reprazent dropped New Forms in 1997 it turned the music world on its head. Not only was it almost immediately regarded as one of the most seminal albums from within its own genre, it also opened Drum n Bass up to an entirely new audience, winning the coveted Mercury Music Prize that same year. This was something of a shock when standing against the likes of the more established Prodigy and Chemical Brothers, as well as the usual glut of guitar led bands like Radiohead and Primal Scream, but for the first time Drum n Bass was truly being taken seriously by the entire industry.
With the 10 year anniversary of New Forms just passed, Roni has taken the original masters into the studio for a serious reworking, as he attempts to update the sound and bring undeniable classics such as the era-defining Brown Paper Bag to a whole new generation of listeners. It seemed like a good time to speak to the man himself, so Gavin Leversuch had a quick chat with him for today’s 5pm Interview…
What do you think it was about the original 1997 New Forms that caused such a stir, not just in Drum n Bass, but in dance music overall?
“The main boost the campaign had was being nominated for the Mercury. Before that we created a stir, tried to kick down doors, and tried to convince people that it wasn’t just bedroom music, but people found it hard to see it as a live element. It wasn’t until they saw the drummer drumming, the bass player playing and all that alongside the technology that people were finally convinced it was real. All of this gained the respect of the Mercury judging panel.”
When you were making it, did you have any feeling that you were part of something that would turn out to be truly groundbreaking, or did its runaway success take you by surprise?
“Absolutely not, when making the record I was still making music for the jungle scene alongside the album. We were all in a bubble due to the success of Goldie’s ‘Timeless’ and the progression of where the music was going. There were key figures making long players at that time, including Photek, DJ Rap, Adam F, Boymerang, and Peshay. We were all on the verge of something happening.”
What kind of work have you done with the anniversary edition to bring the sound up to date?
“I gave the record a 2008 coat of armour so hopefully it sounds like a record which could have been made today. I’ve also added 4 new tracks and added some of the original 12’s that never made the original album. It was great to go back into the archives and use the original recordings to the best of their ability.”
“The 4 new tracks then joined all the dots between the old and new and gave the album some movement through the different tempos. They came quite naturally once I started listening to the original album again.”
Check out the video to Roni’s New Forms classic ‘Brown Paper Bag’:
Do you think more classic dance albums would benefit from a modern reworking by the original producers? If so, which other album do you think really deserves freshening up?
“Not really, I always said that New Forms was a skeleton of ideas. So first and foremost I did this for me. The record company came to me and said they were going to release a deluxe edition of the album to celebrate the ten year anniversary so I decided that I wanted to finish the project the way it was originally intended.”
Overall, do you think drum n bass is in a better or worse place than when you released the original album?
“D&B is in a much better place for the simple reason that it has now spread to the four corners of the globe. A generation of worldwide DJs and producers; Brazilian, European, Southern Hemisphere etc, have all developed their sound and it’s all identifiable. The genre is definitely more mature with people having distinctive tastes.”
Roni’s Current Top 5:
Click here for your chance to win a copy of the awesome New Forms 2!
Author :admin
The Grid are arguably best known for their 1994 banjo-laden classic ‘Swamp Thing’, which absolutely consumed dancefloors in the early 90s, eventually breaking into the UK charts at number 3, and shifting over a million copies in the process. Leading the way in the electronic music scene, Richard Norris and Dave Ball (the latter also one half of Soft Cell, interestingly enough) released an epic 3 albums and 10 singles between ‘88 and ‘95 until they eventually completely disappeared off the map for quite some time.
With the Grid making their big return in the form of ‘Doppelganger’, their first album in well over ten years, it seemed like a good time for Gavin Leversuch to catch up with Mr Norris for a quick chat about what it all means…
It’s been quite some time since you were putting records out as ‘The Grid’. What do you think has been the biggest change to the scene since you were last active? Do you think things are better or worse now?
“It all goes in cycles. I think it’s pretty good right now. The internet has brought a lot more variety of music to people, so more specialist, crate digging areas are getting a much wider audience. You’ve got to remember we haven’t put out a record since before the internet arrived! I think that’s the biggest change, availability. I don’t think dance music is particularly better or worse; a good party is still a good party, and a good tune still works.”
What have you been up to for all these years?
“Dave worked with Kylie and reformed Soft Cell with Marc Almond; I worked with Joe Strummer, formed the Droyds, then Beyond The Wizard’s Sleeve with Erol Alkan and wrote Paul Oakenfold’s biography.”
Check out The Grid’s classic top 5 hit, ‘Swamp Thing’:
Was writing an album always part of the plan, or was it a spontaneous reaction to the success of ‘Put Your Hands Together’?
“Yes, all part of the plan. We started working on some electronic soundtrack music a couple of years ago but it sounded so good we thought we had to make a new Grid album.”
How do you think your styles complement each other?
Dave has a great feel for synthesizers; a hands on, old school analogue approach, whereas I am more a programming fiend.
Does ‘Doppelganger’ symbolize that you are now back for good, is it a trip down memory lane, or are you just taking it as it comes?
I’m sure we’ll be making electronic music for ever. Together or apart!
What’s the biggest thing you have learnt over the last 10 years as solo artists that you are now bringing to the Grid table?
Technical stuff, I’m a far better studio musician than I was, in many areas. Other than that, it’s the same when we get together; much laughter, a couple of synthesizers, a pint of cider and a tune!
The Grid’s Current Top 5:
Author :admin
We’re going all AV on yo ass for today’s 5pm’er. Not only are we speaking to turntablist turned DVJ extrodinaire DJ Yoda about his forthcoming movie ‘n music mash-up tour, but we thought we’d do so in video form.
Check the player below where Yoda speaks about his all new gig experience that’s part club event, part night at cinema. He’ll be rocking the innovative new Pioneer SVM-1000 DVD mixer, a piece of kit he working closely with the boffins to help develop, that promises to allow him to pull off performance trickery never witnessed before…
If you’re partial to a spot of Star Wars or YouTube mixed in with thumping hip hop, Yoda is yer man at venues across the UK throughout May. (Keep an eye out at the gigs for some firmly tongue-in-cheek scratching of the Ministry of Sound Pump It Up workout DVD which he grabbed when he dropped by the office today too!)
Magical Cinema Tour Dates:
Ticket Information: http://www.ticketline.co.uk/djyoda
Author :admin
Big Dada are getting ready to drop their next bomb on the planet in the form of the incredibly versatile, not to mention, errr, ludicrously modest, Kail (real name William Thedford). Hailing from Compton, an area synonymous with producing groundbreaking hip-hop, this South Central MC attempts to take us on a lyrical journey through LA, or ‘Tinseltown’ as he prefers, introducing us to his numerous personas along the way, as both contestants on the gameshow ‘Hollywood Squares’ and the characters residing in his quirky LA caricature.
Despite Kail’s apparent ’shyness’, Gavin Leversuch managed to speak to this talented young wordsmith to find out the deal on his new album, ‘True Hollywood Squares’, before it hits the shelves on 21st April.
On your new LP ‘True Hollywood Squares’, you adopt the concept album approach of an imaginary game show, what was the thinking behind this?
“I wanted to give light to the real characters that compose the glam and grime that is Hollywood. These are the ‘stars’ prevalent in every corner of Tinseltown culture. The idea to incorporate the show ‘Hollywood Squares’ into the concept of this project just came to me in a moment of alcoholic clarity. Every album should be a concept album. Without a concept your shit is inherently lacking.”
Do you think the art of crafting an album is dying in light of the increasing disposability of music in the digital age? Is ‘True Hollywood Squares’ an attempt to counter this?
“The art is dying, but that’s the beauty part. This makes the true craftsmen a lot more distinct. I can do any of that shit. True Hollywood Squares isn’t even the best example of how seasoned I am as an artist, but I still managed to up the stakes. I didn’t intentionally intend to counter the digital age of music; I support it. The point is that I can gear up a project meant to cater to either side just based on how I’m feeling that week. I should be doing what I do. I’m great at this.”
You play a variety of characters throughout the album with completely different personas. Which was your favourite role to play?
“It was all fun to do, but I’m a big fan of Billy Balcone, like “They may talk a lot of shit, but they’ll do not a thing, now the Goomba’s the King-badda boom badda bing.” I love that ignorant ass Guido shit. I’m such a Valentino Assassin.”
Is role-playing something of a trademark in your music, or was it just something you adopted for this album?
“I’m just into role-playing, in general. That didn’t stem from this project. Women got me into role-playing. I like being the hostage. There ain’t no safety word.”
Author :admin
With the Spooky guys hard at work in the studio, Gavin Leversuch managed to drag Duncan to one side and get his thoughts on the past, present and future, as well as getting the low-down on Involver.
Having started your production careers in the early 90s, you have seen nearly 2 decades in the music industry. Which millennium was most exciting for you as producers, the 90s or the 00s?
“It’s hard to believe that it’s been that long already. In the early 90’s everything was very new, we were making records for the first time and were just so excited to be doing just that. When we started putting music out on Guerilla there was such as buzz around us all. We had Lisa [Horan] who managed Leftfield working out of the same office, and there was Dean and Lisa loud running Loud n Clear doing club promotion on most of the best music around. We also had Maz [Sparks] doing the PR; everyone was doing what they loved most and everything really was about the music. We were getting to remix some great music and everything felt very fresh.
At the beginning the scene was a bit like our little secret. We were making this music and there was this underground network of those in the know. As the 90’s progressed it morphed into this huge industry and everyone wanted a piece of the pie, clubbing got more and more corporate and the clubs that we knew and loved started to be swallowed by the big business that was responsible for the Mecca style clubs; the places we played were started as a reaction to these clubs.
The industry in the noughties has changed so much from when we started doing it, it has in some way gone full circle with the scene becoming more underground again. However, this time there is a large global network and it’s become really exciting for us again as we get to play all over the world. Live gigs have always been a major part of our thing and it’s been great over the last 2 years or so getting out and about and playing sets in some amazing places. Making music has become much more portable so we can pretty much get ideas down anywhere, enabling us to work abroad, which is always inspiring. In many ways, now is as exciting for us as it was back in 92, and I hope we can say that in another 10 years.”
Tell us about the Involver2 project you are working on with Sasha. What exactly is your role with the album?
“With the Involver 2 project we are basically working as part of a team on the remixes; there are 5 of us in the studio. Sasha, Charlie, Barry, Leo and me. Charlie and I really create the tracks, play a lot of the parts and put together the arrangement. With the current record this was the way 90 percent of the tracks came out.
The way things normally work is firstly deciding what parts of the original we are going to use as the core of our remix. Next we decide on a tempo and start to work on the groove and rhythm and then build up the rest of track from there. It’s not really a formula that works every time but it happened a lot on this record.
With Involver it’s not just as easy as remixing the tracks as we need to make sure that they are in the right key and are at roughly the correct tempo to fit into a certain place on the album. This is normally pre-determined by Sasha vibing with the tunes and finding stuff that works well together. He has an amazing ear for this and will hear a vocal or riff in one tune and say ‘oh that will work with such and such a tune’ and he’ll put them together and create some real magic.
Once we have done the basic vibe the tracks will go to the main room where Sasha and Barry will do some work on them and we will move on to something else. Leo will be working on something else which he will pass on to us to do something on for a bit. The tracks get bounced backwards and forwards with each person doing their little bit. We have 4 computer set-ups in 3 rooms in the studio. It’s great working this way as you can get a level of detail within the productions that you otherwise would not get. It’s also great if someone has got stuck on a particular bit or has become a little stale with a particular tune as you can just give it to someone else in the team to breath fresh life into it. It’s a great way to work and keeps everything flowing.”
Do you have plans to get started on another studio album any time soon? Or are you looking at other projects like touring, singles or just resting in the immediate future?
“Right now it’s time for a rest. We have been in the studio in New York solidly for 3 months and only took a couple of days off in the last 2 months. We do have a few gigs in the Spring though, and will be touring Europe throughout the summer.
This summer is going to be designated for Spooky. We spent the last year writing all the Emfire tracks and doing Involver 2 so it’s time to get a whole bunch of new Spooky stuff together. We’re both really excited about doing this and we have quite a few ideas already on their way.
I don’t know if we will sit down and do another album straight off, I imagine we will just do a load of tracks and maybe compile them later in the year, or at the beginning of next year. It’s nice just to write without thinking what you are doing it for, we’ve been so involved, no pun intended, with Involver 2 it’s just going to be great to do 1 track at a time and put it out.
We will release a single called Candy during the summer but we are just waiting for James (Zabiela) to finish his remix. We gave him the parts before Christmas, he likes to take his time!”
What has been your favorite release in all this time and why?
“That’s a hard one. ‘Gargantuan’ kicked it all off for us and we wouldn’t still be doing it were it not for that album. So it obviously has a special place for me in my heart. Things were very different and we were so excited just to be making music.
I’m also very fond of ‘Found Sound’ as it still sounds fresh when I listen to it now. It’s something we are both very proud of. At the time it raised a lot of eyebrows from those who wanted us to make ‘Gargantuan’ part 2. In fact, we seemed to change a large part of our audience over night, but for us it was just a natural progression based on everything we were listening to at the time. We were really enjoying ourselves and got to make lots of films to go with the music. The 30 minute film of ‘Found Sound’ we made with Grant Gee is probably one of the things I am most proud of. We were lucky at the time that we had a record company who were prepared to foot the bill.
‘Open’ was the first time we had actually written full blown songs with lyrics. This was a big task for us and it wasn’t as easy as just making records with the two of us. The whole process became a lot slower and as we were funding it ourselves took a while to complete. A year on I’m still very happy with the result. Through that record we definitely reached a much wider audience, Julie and Celestine both put a lot of soul into their performances and it is evident that this has really touched a lot of people around the world.
I’m very glad we put together the second disc with all the dub and ambient mixes even if it did nearly kill us going back to the tracks again and again and again. Remixing has always been a large part of our lives so it was nice to be able to do those mixes without having to even think about the dance-floor.”
What would you say is the most difficult aspect of music production?
“I think keeping perspective on your original idea. This comes through experience but it’s always hard to not get bored of the musical parts on constant repetition while you are working on them.
It’s very easy to lose sight of what it was and what it felt like when you had that original idea. The first ideas that come are normally the best ones and it can be a battle to keep them feeling fresh.
When were just starting out tracks would morph from one thing into another and then another and then you get this kind of track soup that’s not one thing or another. Nowadays we are a little more brutal with things and if something is sticking we bin it or come back to it much later. For this reason I like to work fast and try and get the bulk of the tune and arrangement done within a day.”
Do you have any shameless self-promotion you would like to do while you are here?
www.spooky.uk.com Keep in touch and look out for ‘Candy’. It will come out at some point in June through our own label spooky.uk.com. All our catalogue is available as downloads from all usual places.
Spooky’s Current Top 5:
1. Basic Channel – Phylyps track – Basic Channel
2. The Black Dog - Radio Scarecrow – Soma
3. Beanfield - Tides (Ripperton Mix) – Compakt
4. Emmanuel – a Step From You – Be As One
5. Beroshima – Horizon (Funk Da Void Mix) - Soma
Author :admin
