Pulse Radio - Latest Interviews

Pulse Loves... Alix Alvarez

http://pulseradio.net — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 19:55:23 +1000

Pulse loves: roots. How did coming up in the Bronx shape you as a musician and performer/dj? The Bronx is the birthplace of hip hop so that whole culture runs in my blood. People listened to everything growing up from latin to freestyle to house and even rock but the underlying theme was hip hop. All of my friends were listening to EPMD, ATCQ, Gangstarr etc. so that music is embedded in my music dna. The BX was just a real raw environment to grow up in so my music definetly tends to lean toward sounds that are dirty, raw and hip hop influenced because of it.

Pulse loves: musical influences. We've read that your musical journey was shaped early on by your parents and the music they used to play at home. What sort of stuff would they listen to that really influenced you? My parents played everything at the crib from Fania All stars to music on West End and Prelude. They played music 24/7. They loved to dance. So anything that was danceable and made them move they played in the house. They still have a crazy huge collection of records. But it wasn’t just my parents. My brother was a dj and he’d be playing Planet Rock and Run DMC at the crib. My cousin was a dj also and he put me on to Todd Terry and Joey Beltram. I was a big fan of both growing up. He was the one who got me into Djing. But my sister was the first one who put me on to house music. She was going to all the clubs in NYC and Jersey. She would hit up Zanzibar to go check Tony Humphries and come back with stories about the club and tell me about all of this music that was being played. One day she came home with a copy of A guy called Gerald “Voodoo Ray” Once I heard that it was a wrap. I was hooked on house music. I was about 10. So growing up in my family you could never escape music. And we had all types of it.

Pulse loves: Masters At Work. What was it like to work in the MAW studios in the late 90s/early 00s alongside house music legends Little Louie Vega and Kenny “Dope” Gonzales? Most house lovers would trade a limb for that sort opportunity. Amazing. Intimidating. Mindblowing. I mean really these were dudes who records I had been collecting since the age of 12 and after graduating an audio engineering course just 8 years later Im getting the opportunity to intern at their studio?? That’s pretty crazy. They were legends so I had to make sure I didn’t fuck up and learn to make a good cup of coffee real quick. I just wanted to learn. Be a student and soak it up. I came toward the end of the studio run they had at Bass Hit. (MAW studios) I was there about 1 year in 1999 starting off as an intern and at times was lucky enough to get thrown in on sessions as an assistant so I learned a lot and met a lot of amazing artists that came through that door. Everybody that worked out of there was real cool. When Kenny & Louie came in they came to work. They had a crazy work ethic. Time was money and the studio didn’t pay for it self. Music was made around the clock. You’d have different 2 sessions going on in 2 different rooms. Then sessions after those sessions. The musicians that came by were on another level. The studio was top notch. The most amazing pieces of analog gear you could imagine. All those vintage plug ins you probably stare at on your screen they had the actual hardware of. Nowadays you don’t get that experience especially in house music. But I was lucky enough and blessed to have that experience from two legendary artists man. I heard a lot of great music come out of Bass Hit. It was an exciting time for me as a young dude.

Pulse loves: a good record label. Your label, Sole Channel Music, which you ran with Mr V. has been around since 2005 put out over 30 releases. However I've read that you are no longer involved in the label or running the 5 Beats parties with Mr V anymore? Why is this? I just felt I wanted to tell a new story for myself as an artist. Start a new chapter I guess. At a certain point the label started becoming something different than what I had envisioned. It didn’t feel like home for me anymore. I thought about leaving a few years before I actually left but you know when you start something with someone its like a relationship. You gotta share ideas and try and come to compromises to try and make it work. We had our differences of course. Youre not gonna have it your way all the time and that’s ok. But I just felt like myself and V were going in different directions and I felt it was time for me to start out on something else. He kept the label & I kept the masters to my music so that’s the way we worked it out in the end.

Pulse loves: opinions. As some one who has grown up and spent your career playing with hip hop and house music, how does the current pop market make you feel? The likes of “house” producers David Guetta making tracks with “hip hop/rap” artists like pit pull. What's your opinion on this sort of music? You know your hitting the hot topic button here don’t you? Haha. I don’t dig it man. People need to stop mistaking that EDM stuff with house music. They are two totally different things. EDM is pop dance music. Now Im a fan of GOOD pop music but the current state of it is pretty sad. It’s an oversaturated market full of hype with no real content at all. People just want their fix until they move on to the next big thing. But something else will come along to replace it. I look at it like a bad hangover where people are gonna take a look back a few years from now and be like what the fuck was I thinking? If you enjoy it and its your thing then cool whatever. Personally I don’t care for it. I just get irritated when uneducated people call it house music cause it aint.

With the tragic loss of talented musician/producer Romanthony earlier this week there has been a lot of talk about his music and the mark he made on music. What would you like your musical legacy to be? How would you like to be remembered? Man I cant call it. People are going to perceive and remember my music the way they want to. I can only do what I know and feel is good as an artist. The thing I look at is an artists overall body of work. Not how much they released but more about the quality of the releases. I feel too many producers burn themselves out during their carreer by releasing more material than they should. Some of them release material just to try and get exposure to get gigs which to me isn’t cool. I feel people need to trust you as an artist in order for them to really be behind you and follow you. I think the quality of your music always speaks for itself. Quality is the underlying factor for me when I create or do something. So hopefully people will actually see that I took the time and went the the extra mile and try and do something that was good and worth while whether in the studio or during a set.

Listen to Alix Alvarez on Pulse Radio.

Frankie Knuckles: "The Things That Educate You Along The Way"

http://pulseradio.net — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 00:03:32 +1000

Frankie Knuckles is as House Music as an 808 drum machine - and boy, does the New York native know a thing or two about house music. You all know the score - responsible for irreplacable cuts such as 'Can U Feel It?', 'Your Love' and tonnes more, Frankie has remained one of the true godfathers of the scene. Never one to stop championing his love for 4-4 - be it through classic tracks to newcoming artists - Frankie is consistently rolling with the times, be it through his Def Mix label with Davoid Morales or playoing new world Festivals such as Electric Elephant in Croatia, the irreplacable producer and DJ offers us an exclusive, summer tinged mix for this week's podcast, and reveals more aboiut feuds with Trax Records, acquiring his first drum machine and the cultural relevance of house music in 2013. Enjoy...

[Read on for Download]

You're a native New Yorker who played a pivotal role in the birth of the Chicago house movement, which has left a unmistakable mark on music. Considering you have lived in two of America's great music cities -where would you say your musical home is? Well, my musical home, I wouldn't say that New York was my musical home but I wouldn't say that Chicago is either. I travel the globe constantly and continually so I guess I don't have one particular home musically, but I live in Chicago and I'm from New York City and my business is in New York City.

Tell us about the now famous Loft parties held by David Mancuso that you used to go to in New York in the 70s. What did those parties mean to you and the other patrons back then? Well it was a very special place, you know when you're that young, when you're a teenager and you're moving into young adulthood, everyone is looking for a place to belong, somewhere special, and David's loft was really special. It was a private club, it wasn't open to the general public, you couldn't just walk in off the street you know. This was his home and to be invited meant that David liked you or that you'd become a friend with him. Once you were in, you were in. More than anything it gave you a sense of belonging, to somewhere and to someone or a group of people. I'd never had anything like that before so for me it was incredible.

How did you get invited into the group in the first place? Larry [Levan] new him first. I think they were dating at the time and Larry had brought me in to the club one night. One Saturday night me and Larry were hanging and we ended up going over there because he was having a party and I was immediately adopted into the fold.

I've read that you supposedly bought your first drum machine from a young Derrick May who used to come and see you play in the Warehouse in Chicago... That goes to show that you can't believe everything that you read. I didn't buy my first drum machine from Derrick May, Derrick may gave me my first drum machine.

When Derrick was coming to see you all those years ago did either of you guys have any clue how important an impact on the music world you would have? Both of you have gone on to become flag bearers for your cities (Chicago and Detroit) worldwide. Well let me ask you a question, did you know when you were twelve years old what you would be doing right now? Ha! We were kids back then, we had no idea what kind of impact we were going to have on anything. Kids don't think about those kind of things, they're too busy having fun. I was busy having fun and having a good time and so was he. We formed a friendship – how that formed, I don't know. He used to come to the Powerplant and one particular time he was like “I've got something really special for you”. I thought this was kind of odd, but then again not really as people who used to hang out at the Powerplant were always giving each other gifts and doing things for each other and stuff like that. He ran to his car and he came back in with this box and I looked at it like it was something from another planet till he told me what it was. He said “I'm gonnna show you how to work it” and this was in the morning after the party was over so this had to be about 11 or 12 o'clock in the morning. So he gave me a small tutorial, we hooked it up to the soundsystem and showed me how to work with it and stuff like that but he never told me how to, you know, play with it at home until I got really familiar with it. That's how it all happened.

Using the drum machine became quite important to you when you were playing in the clubs didn't it... Yeah, I wasn't travelling around back then, I had my own club, I had Powerplant so I attached the drum machine to the soundsystem and would play with it throughout the course of my sets. When I'd get home in the morning when the club was closed, I'd take the drum machine home with me and throughout the course of the week I''d play around with it.

'Your Love' – which is one of the most instantly recognisable house tunes of all time, has been covered by countless people and emulated by even more. Is it true that you recorded it in the DJ booth at the power plant? What do you think it is that is so powerful and important about that song to so many people that has allowed it to last the test of time? Yes that's correct. The original concept behind that song was that it was originally a poem written by Jamie [Principle] to his then girl friend and then decided to put it to music. Where I came in at it was the production end of it, turning it into what it is musically, but none of us expected it to become what it has. You know, you don't even think about stuff like that and as I said it was a personal thing that he had did for his girlfriend. Did it take off as much here in the United States? No it didn't....but Chicago, absolutely. You guys got a hold of it over there [UK] and it blew up and took on a life of its own, almost to cult status to a degree, and it's survived and inspired different tunes by other people, you know it's lived this long.We couldn't have known that that song would do what it has done, but you know, it's great! It's fantastic, if a banner has to be held up to represent this genre of music, thank god it's that song. I think the message in it and the mere fact that the title of it is Your Love – people gravitate towards that immediately and think that that's the kindred thing that really pulls folk into it and makes them love it as much as they have.

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What can you tell us about your dealings with Trax records in the past? I had no relationship with Trax records, they released my music without my permission, but then again they didn't need my permission to do it. I mean, I was in the studio learning a lot back then and I was helping out all these different friends of mine with their music, which ended up in Trax hands and then because my name being what it is, they made my name more prominent that the artists themselves. Take Your Love for example, that's Jamie's song by all intensive purposes, Jamie's the artist, but I guess because of my name being what it is they felt that it will sell more if we attach Frankie 's name to it. In my opinion they could have done that just by saying “produced by” But it just goes to show you what kind of scoundrels they were and instead of giving Jamie the credit, they gave me the credit. You can imagine what kind of hell that created, but then again thank god me and Jamie are close friends. We've known each other for a very long time. I mean it was quite problematic at that for a moment, but at least the both of us are adult enough to know how to get around stuff like that and get over stuff like that, but I owe no allegiance to that label at all...let the record be set straight!

You became the music director at the the Warehouse in Chicago back in 77- a place that has gone on to be considered the birth place of house music. What was it like at that time? I know you used to play long sets, usually 12 hours... It was a lot of fun to do it. The club was only open one day a week, on Saturday nights, and we were in an abandoned industrial area, so there were no neighbours so you know I could go as long as I wanted. The club could stay open for as long as we wanted to do it and therefore I had the freedom to really stretch out and show everybody the entire music thing.

Do you think that that style of DJing is more representative of what a DJ truly is musically, compared to the shorter sets that most DJs typically play nowadays? It's more representative of where I come from as a DJ. I mean today the average DJ plays two hours. You can't learn much about a DJ in two hours, I mean when you go to a lot of these festivals and these big superclubs, basically there may be five or six DJs playing throughout the course of the night, you know and they may have all made names for themselves but how much can you learn about them musically? When I started in this business you had to develop a musical personality. People understood exactly who you were musically after they'd been in a club with you for eight hours every week. They pretty much had an idea exactly what kind of a person you were, what kind of musician you were and stuff like that because you had to concentrate so much on what you did. It wasn't about being perfect when it came to putting two songs together, but if you played all the right music that had the greatest impact. Right now, so much emphasis is put on the technical end of everything and trying to be the next big thing. So they're busy trying to make themselves more important than the music. To me that's sad, because its turned it into....I guess business. It's changed the whole scope of what it's about. I guess there has to be your David Guettas and Tiestos and all those other guys filling arenas, but then there's us in the trenches, doing the real work, the hard work. That's not to say that they're not doing real work, but we're in that small DJ booth in the back of the dark, dive of a club you know, putting our records on one at a time. First it was pre recording everything and then taking it and just putting it in a CDJ at a venue and stuff like that and your on stage so far away from everyone that they can't see what you're doing anyway so you can fake it.

Well you could argue that that's one of the reasons your musical impact has lasted the test of time, while it has still to be seen whether those guys will... I mean what they're doing I don't take it personally let me clear that up. I mean, it's the way of the world and the way things are working. That's a European thing...that's not an American thing. It's very easy for guys like that coming up in the business to look at what was going on here with guys like myself and Levan and Vega and Morales who all worked, we all grew up and worked the same way. We followed David Mancuso's thing, we played proper music and we played it. We weren't trying to create a reaction in a room, like all these guys play and have guys clutching the air and jumping up and down. We were playing music because people were listening and because they were listening and they liked what they heard they were dancing to it. That's the reality of it. But when you have big business guys coming into it and saying “I can put this guy in a big arena” and then you put five or six different guys on...they're putting on a big concert, but guys like me who put our records on one at a time and are actually putting them together, I think it's a big difference.

Tell us a bit about Def Mix with David Morales. Why has that had such a lasting legacy on music? Well you know, it's 25 years later and we've consistently over the past 25 years put out a quality product. You know, we've put hard work into every project that we've worked on and we've worked with some really great people. I mean we've worked with some global superstars; Michael Jackson, Janet [Jackson] Chaka [Khan] I mean all these people we've worked with and when you have artists that big put there faith in you to do the right thing with their songs and their productions then I think you have pretty much arrived. I mean, because I didn't ever have to win a Grammy, or to ever rise to the particular point where I am in my career right now, but if I still continue to have the relationship with the people and to still be able to work with them, that's a gift in itself. Those are professionals, at least all the ones I have worked with have come into the studio on their own – they didn't come in dragging an entourage behind them and a bunch of yes people that have to be catered to. No, they came to work , they came by themselves. They were willing to give you everything that you need, that you want to make their production a hit. So I think it was a combination of all those things that have helped make Def Mix what it is. The other thing is the catalogue that was built over the past 25 years. My god it's a lot of music.

It's very impressive... Yeah believe me anytime I look back, I mean I rarely look back, but when I do I'm very impressed by it.

When I think back to the early days of disco and house music one of the most profound impacts of it were the democratising effects they had, opening up and offering a musical safe haven to people of all genders, races and sexualities. Do you think that electronic music today still has as important a role to play? Is it as culturally important as it was? I think every form of music is important. Music is important, period. There is a song or a track that speaks to everyone, it may not speak to everyone collectively, but everyone's got a song in their heart, and something that they wake up singing or something they may think over the course of the day that they hear. That brings importance that sort of keeps you balanced and keeps you connected. However when the DJs are concerned there are two different kinds of DJ, there are some of us that are in this because we have to be...and it's an extension of who we are musically and that's the thing that ties us all together. We live it, drink it, eat it, sleep it, twenty four seven, three sixty-five. But then there are the other guys who are trying to be superstars, and that's their main focus. Technology has made it easy for anybody to do this now, you've got kids who want to be DJs because they want to be the next Guetta or the next Tiesto, they don't want to do it because they have to do it.

So would you say then that the sense of purpose and belonging that you spoke about earlier has gone from electronic music, replaced by a new generation who are in it for the wrong reasons ie to be famous? That's the world we live in now. If there's a DJ who can make 65 million annually then why would anyone want to be a DJ like me who is not making that kind of money. That's the way kids are being raised now, with that train of thinking. If a kid wants to play music because he has fun doing it, it becomes more and more part of him every-day and the money is not what he's thinking about, not only is he a player and he plays it well, he's got the mentality to make it as well. If he's studying music left, right and centre, and he's listened to every records and every kind of music, not because he wants to listen to it but because he has to listen to it...these are the things that educate you along the way.

Download Pulse.130 - Frankie Knuckles here.

Listen to Frankie Knuckles on Pulse Radio.

Jagwar Ma

http://pulseradio.net — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 19:29:57 +1000

Jon Hopkins: Embracing The Rhythm

http://pulseradio.net — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 14:45:20 +1000

Despite his strong connections to electronic music, its always seemed like Jon Hopkins exists in his own sonic world, unaffected by the fickle trends of dance music. Perhaps that's because much of the British producer's oeuvre lies in other areas - you're just as likely to find him working on a film score with Peter Jackson, playing live keyboards for pop singer Imogen Heap, or even helping legendary producer Brian Eno produce a Coldplay album as you are performing his own music at Mutek alongside the likes of Four Tet or Monolake.

Hopkins' fourth studio album, 'Immunity,' sees him embracing more functional dance rhythms for the first time in his career, whilst still exhibiting the sound of beautifully fragile melodies underpinned by machine beats found on his previous works. It's already receiving rave reviews, and rightly so, as it's one of the most exhilirating full lengths you're likely to hear all year. We spoke with Hopkins a week or so back, just days before 'Immunity' was set to drop, to discover more about the album, what he's learnt from Brian Eno and more.
Pulse: There’s not long to go until your new album is released. Do you get nervous when you know people are finally getting to hear your work? Jon Hopkins: Yeah, I think so. It’s quite a surreal situation because it’s such an internal process the whole way through and then suddenly it becomes the most external thing and everyone is talking about it together and discovering it. So far the reactions seem to be OK, so fingers crossed it’ll be alright.

You spent 8 months recording this one as opposed to ‘Insides,’ which was over several years. How has this affected the outcome? Well ‘Insides’ actually took less time to record, but it was just very spread out because I was doing lots of other projects. The reason why I wanted to carve out a particular period of time with this one was to try and get a slightly more coherent sound. So although I’m happy with ‘Insides’ it does sound like something that was done over several periods of someone’s life, with lots of different tempos and styles. Whereas this one to me sounds like more of a solid and coherent statement of one particular time in my life. Hopefully that comes across.

This album definitely feels like it has much more of a pulse running through it, more rhythms. You could even dance to ‘Open Eye Signal’ – there’s an American DJ called Jimmy Edgar who just used it in a recent mix for us. Oh cool, I know Jimmy. I didn’t know that he liked it. That’s cool.

Did you know from the outset that you wanted to create more rhythm based music on this album? Yeah, well with each record I try and do something I haven’t done before. With ‘Insides’ and the film scores I’ve done it tends to be more focused on arrangement, melody and constructing atmosphere. I really felt like the last thing that I haven’t tried to approach is danceable rhythms that sound simple to listen to but are actually complex to make. I discovered whilst trying to do it that you can’t just stick down a kick drum and just hope for the best. You really have to work within these parameters and explore what it is that makes a rhythm addictive to listen to and justify the length of some of the tracks. There are some really long tracks on there and I’m keen to make them not sound like they’re long. Really focusing on trying to humanize this kind of machine rhythm.

Were there any particular artists you were listening to at the time? Well really it was people who I’d end up on the same lineup as, so with ‘Insides’ I was touring all over the world in little bits, and even though it wasn’t a particularly club-friendly album, my show kind of evolved into a slightly more club friendly thing, so I’d find myself on the same bill with lots of other electronic musicians and exposed to all kinds of different things. I don’t make a habit of listening to that much of it at home, but a lot of stuff I just picked up on the road really.

You used some new equipment on this album, some hardware synths. How was it working with them? It was amazing. When I started working on this album towards the end of 2011, I wanted to start it not from the exact same point at which I finished the previous record. I didn’t want to be sitting in the same room with the same equipment, so I got some crazy old synths and…I don’t know, they just sound alive. They sound real, that they’re actually there. They don’t have that two dimensional flatness that a lot of virtual instruments have. I don’t use any virtual instruments so I’m really focusing on trying to make something that sounds physical.

I think you can definitely hear that in the beats, in the kick drums – they sound very full. Great, that’s good.

Your music - at least the last two albums - has very distinct sound juxtapositions. There’s the beautiful and immersive melodies and then these hard-hitting, raw, often very machine-like beats. Are you always looking for that kind of contrast? I find it interesting that if you don’t try and adapt either of those styles to each other but just force them next to each other, you do get a distinct juxtaposition. It’s funny, however much space one fills, they never infringe on each other, so they mix really easily together. I still like that result. It’s a kind of expression of all the different music that I’m into – from the very quietest piano music like Harold Budd, to very aggressive Autechre or something like that. It’s the distillation of all those things that I love.

A lot of your music sounds very melancholic. Do you agree, or do you not really interpret it that way? It’s funny, I hear that on this new album definitely. It isn’t really that conscious though, I don’t really know what I’m doing when I’m doing it, but looking back on it I can kind of interpret it as an expression of something that’s going on inside me, but I don’t really know what that is. I’m not a particularly melancholic person, I’m quite a cheerful person normally. People often say that they find my music very sad.

It depends on the person really, some people find melancholic music enjoyable and not melancholic at all. You hear people talking about Radiohead as depressing and I find it incredibly uplifting. There’s a sort of beauty in the sadness. I find that a little bit more interesting than just out and out happiness in music. I love a good pop song, but the stuff that I listen to regularly tends to have melancholic element to it I guess.

Nosaj Thing has remixed ‘Open Eye Signal’ from the LP. Are you a big fan of his work? I’m a friend of his actually, we met maybe three years ago. We ended up on the same lineup at a Bassnectar show of all things, I think it was in Philadelphia. We became friends, I played at Low End Theory a few times and I’d always see him when I was there. I actually did a remix for him on his ‘Drift Remixed’ album and he said when the time came he’d do one in return.

What’s Low End Theory like? You hear so many stories about that place. It’s amazing, you can play whatever you like. There’s total freedom there and it’s such a non-judgemental environment - a brilliant place to play new stuff. Very young kids but they’re totally into it and going nuts. I’ve played the San Francisco one too, which is a bigger, more club-like setting. It’s crazy, too.

You played at Micro-Mutek in Barcelona earlier this year. How was it? Very good, yeah. It’s the third Mutek show I’ve done. There’s the Montreal one and the Mexico one, and I’ve got the Montreal one coming up again soon. The Barcelona one was great, I was on the bill with Vessel and Monolake.

Can you explain how it is you’re playing live when you perform? There’s really no excuse for not doing much these days - there’s such an amazing array of instruments and controllers out there. You can play chords as you go, you can completely guide the structure of your set depending on what’s right for the evening. I’ve kind of evolved the set I’ve been playing the past few years. I’ve only been playing live since 2008, so…I guess that’s a while now, but it still feels fairly new to me. I’m still excited by what you can do. I mean everyone uses Ableton now, but it was quite a breakthrough really. You can choose which parts of the set as you’re doing it. I also use a lot of Kaos pads, sometimes three or four in a row, which are kind of like touch screen surface switches that allow you to really dive in on the controlling side of things and create effects live. It makes it a lot of fun to perform. I think when you’re in front of a crowd, if they can see the movement of your hand and then hear a sound when they see that movement, it becomes more real and makes more sense.

You’ve worked with Brian Eno quite a lot. Are you two planning on working on more things together in the future? He kind of disappears and then re-appears, I quite often will go a year without meeting or talking to him, and then he’ll appear at some project. We tend to stay in touch a bit. There’s nothing specific on the horizon but there’s always something new to do.

What would you say you’ve learned from working with him? He really busted me out of my quite rigid ideas about production. Really taught me to embrace the idea of almost causing accidents within music. Doing things like loading the wrong sounds up for a song just to see what happens – if a certain midi part is played by the wrong sound quite often it will come up with something amazing that you would never have thought of, because its wrong. So just being open to things like that, forcing wrong things to happen and bringing an element of randomness into your music. He’s also very against the idea of sitting there and tweaking away on the tiniest details for days and days. A little bit of that went on in the last few weeks of my record, but these days I really do try and spend time on getting the broad strokes right and capturing the initial energy of the idea before descending into that kind of extra detailed world.

That whole idea of forcing accidents reminds me of James Holden and how he’s made his new album with modular synths. Yeah, I know James a bit and I think it’s going to be an incredible record. I can’t wait to hear it. It’s got this folky craziness to it, apparently. I’m pretty excited about that.

Me too. So you’ve done some film scoring throughout your career. How much freedom do you get when scoring a film? Is the director or producer involved heavily in the process, or do you just show them what you’ve got once you’ve finished? Well each of them have been different, I’ve done four so far, three solo and one with Brian. I did ‘The Lovely Bones’ with Brian and that was with Peter Jackson directing. He had a lot of input but it was all remote, so we had a Skype meeting every few days and they’d tell us what they were liking or not liking. But mostly because it was Brian’s job he gets to dictate how to do it, that’s kind of how it is with him. I hope to get to that point one day! So he would say to Peter that we’re not going to write to the picture but to our experience of the story and what we know about the book and you can match it up to the picture. So that was a cool experience and a slightly unusual introduction to it.

Then there are two that I worked on by myself which haven’t come out yet, and ‘Monsters’ which came out two or three years ago. With that one I was sitting in the room with the director quite a lot towards the latter stages and we’d be going over certain things that do or don’t work. But generally the time scale is crazy, for example I’d get maybe six weeks that I might spend on a solo track, whereas for an entire score you might get five weeks, and that’s like 25 or 30 pieces. So you can’t spend the time in the same way and you have to keep writing at an incredible rate. It’s very exciting but pretty crazy and exhausting. With that kind of time scale the director has to be very precise about changes he wants because there’s not time to faff about.

Can you tell us about those two films that are coming out? The first one, which is coming out soon, is called ‘How I Live Now’ directed by Kevin McDonald, who did ‘The Last King Of Scotland’ and ‘Touching The Void’ and great films like that. It’s got Saoirse Ronan in it – it’s an amazingly dark, apocalyptic WW3 film. It’s coming out sometime later this year.

It’s exciting that there’s so many electronic film scores coming out at the moment. Atticus Ross and Trent Reznor’s score for ‘The Social Network’ was a good one. I love that score because it’s got really identifiable and memorable musical moments. So many scores recently have almost been like part of the set design and are just rhythms in the background that are supposed to make you tense. That was a really bold score with simple, brilliant melodies. I really love that one.

Which band, producer or album have you been enjoying the most at the moment? It sounds ridiculous but I really haven’t been listening to anything because I’m in the middle of building my live set. I’ve got a load of shows coming up and I’m really quite behind on it. After 12 hours in the studio the last thing I want to do when I get home is actually listen to anything! But, the Atoms For Peace record is amazing, the two tracks I’ve heard from James Holden’s record. I’m always interested in things that people like Four Tet are doing, but there’s not been a whole lot of new stuff coming my way to be honest!

'Immunity' is out now on Domino Records. We have 3 copies to giveaway to Pulse Australia readers. To be in the running, simply email us here and tell us the name of the festival Jon Hopkins was last in Australia for back in 2009.

Listen to Jon Hopkins on Pulse Radio

Fresh Blood: Alison Marks

http://pulseradio.net — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 22:31:04 +1000

Without a doubt, Alison Marks is a fascinating person with a lot to talk about. The multi faceted musician and DJ has literally done it all (playing everywhere from Plastic People to the Arctic Circle), and seen even more over the years. Her unique and extensive list of places she has played through the years reads more like a David Attenborough documentary than a DJs tour schedule.

Despite having years of experience under her belt and an insatiable hunger that drives her to consume and create music, she has an exremely low profile, (her online presence consists of a few youtube videos and a solitary soundcloud) so she seemed like the perfect person to feature in our Fresh Blood series.

She's put together an exclusive mix for us which we're thrilled to feature accompanied by a rather in depth and revealing interview, in which she talks about her life, her love affair with music and her youth spent in the infamous Hacienda club.

Pulse loves: a good back story. We hear that you came to University in Manchester because of Eastern Bloc Records and the Hacienda. How did your time in the city shape you musically?

It was my first introduction into the realms of deep house and soulful house. I collected some great records that I still play today. The production values have lasted the test of time. I think it cemented my appreciation of dance music with a certain level of musicality, and a love of vocals and songs in house music and also of house music for many different occasions, not just the peak time moments.

The reality is I was 18 and the stuff I was into wasn’t always that credible, I wasn’t particularly sophisticated, I was just really into music and dancing and going out in a little dress. When I went to the Hacienda in 1991, (when I was 16) they were playing stuff that was in the mainstream, I remember hearing a version of Lisa Lisa And The Cult Jam ‘Let The Beat Him ‘Em’ and Urban Soul ‘Alright’, which I was also hearing in my small town nightclub. I was recently listening to an old mix from the Hacienda in 1993 and there was quite a lot of music on there that people in certain scenes now would say is total cheese but it was incredibly exciting and perfect for that moment and I still love it when I hear it. It took me quite a few years to come to terms with my love of cheese but how can you deny something that feels so good?

Believe it or not the Hacienda finished at 2am, but of course there were the afterhours. I made some good friends with some older Hacienda regulars and they used to spend hours playing us classic tracks and educating us in the roots of the music. I was always very keen to hear the stories of the motorway days and felt great regret that I’d been too young to join in the acid house scene. I did make it to a few iconic free parties though like Castle Morton which was a serious eye opener for a small town girl.

I loved the attitude of the clubbers, so down to earth and friendly, no airs or ‘cool’ and a lot of piss taking. It was a very free and unpretentious time and of course it was when I got my first set of decks (with twisty knobs for pitch control, ouch!)

We used to travel for miles to go to a good party; Hard Times in Huddersfield, Back to Basics in Leeds, Liverpool, Sheffield, a field in the middle of nowhere. It’s really strange for me that people nowadays can’t even be bothered to travel outside East London to go to a decent party. Bah humbug, the youth of today etc etc

It was at the beginnings of a long journey through music and life (I was a teenager then) that’s seen me explore many avenues. I have always found that I like music not scenes, and each place I’ve been at each time in my life has given me different music to enjoy as I have developed my ears and understanding, or as the mood in my life changed.

I have always been pretty pluralistic in my enjoyment of things, I move between ideas as I feel myself drawn, which can be confusing and isolating sometimes but actually I think I’m just very curious and open-minded and also I deeply dislike all forms of elitism and snobbery especially in the name of 'cool/fashion'

Pulse loves: the world. You seem to have been lucky enough to see quite a bit of the world through your DJing – from Israel to the Arctic Circle. What crazy stories can you tell us from your travels to these unusual places?

Ah well, I think that the stories I’ve collected are not so much crazy as bizarre and amusing and sometimes alarming really. Arriving in Mexico and being driven around followed by armed cars, -25 in Siberia where you couldn’t breath it was so cold and if you stayed out too long your eyes would freeze, Murmansk where the sun never sets in summer or rises in winter, getting put on a train in Russia after a gig and finding my compartment was a 4 person bunk full of 3 sleeping random old men (like you’d imagine in a Chekhov play), one of whom smelt like he was rotting and was staring at me from across the beds all night. Then there were bombs going off in Israel the night before I was due to play and then being given a prayer book just before I went on, spending the whole gig staring at the people with rucksacks on. Signing autographs for a clambering crowd of little children in the main square of some small town in Russia where they seemed to think I was famous. Flying in planes that were clearly older than me, interiors covered entirely in carpet and toilets you can’t even describe. Playing in Twilo in New York with decks suspended from the ceiling by wires, they moved every time you touched them, nightmare! there were rows of blokes ten deep just staring at me and not dancing, I played Maniax Traxxx (Orlando Voorn) - Lost on R&S and I couldn’t understand what they were all standing there for. Playing up a mountain in Oregon for the Gaia Tribe crew, they’d made a huge replica of Stonehenge out of papier mache, and in some amazing spaces in Los Angeles for Ben Annand and his Tropical House parties..…a lot of good memories ..

Pulse loves: passion. You seem to live and breath music, constantly pushing yourself to learn new things and sounds. How does this passion fit in with the rest of your life? Have you had to make sacrifices to continue on this path?

Music has always been something of an obsession with me. I made a lot of sacrifices for my love of music. It took up all my time and all my money went on equipment or records. I’ve worked very hard to learn the sound engineering skills I needed to complete my tracks, constantly reading manuals and books. I'm still learning, of course.

At points it was pure addiction - it’s a long road and I did get a little lost down it. It created imbalance in my life and ultimately I found I wasn’t very happy. I continued to love music but fell out of love with the lifestyle and the ‘business of music’, it was a very difficult time for me. I decided to create some space around it all, I got a job and put some energy into my real life and over time the pure love and creativity I had for it all when I started returned. I love it more than ever now and I’m so glad to have it in my life. Essential tools to survive the daily grind!

Nowadays it has to fit round my life, I have a family and that is my main inspiration. That’s not to say I don’t still creep off when I can to play some records or retreat to the studio to make music and my husband will definitely have something to say about it being challenging having a partner who has such an obsession but he is into music and production too so we tolerate each others needs and it works well most of the time

Pulse loves: clubbing.You've played in clubs all over the world from Plastic People in London to Pervert in Mexico. Where is your favorite place to play in the world and why?

At the moment it’s probably my lounge, Friday night, baby asleep, have a bit of dance about, no queue for the toilet, listen to some great tunes and be in bed by 12 – bloody brilliant!

But in times gone by Plastic people in Oxford Street was amazing ‘Fridays R Firin’ with Kenny Hawkes and Harri and that incredible sound system. Propaganda Moscow was always outstanding, initially the Thursday with Sanchez and then my residency was such a fantastic honour as it was always my favourite club (it was the same night that Nina Kravitz has now), amazing sound system and crowd who would stick with you through whatever you gave them and really good food before you went on.

A lot of the gigs in Russia were incredibly good, I’d highly recommend a visit - it’s a wonderful exotic and vibrant place. The Exit festival in 2002 was one of my favourite gigs of all time; 25,000 people in an old fort. I used to love going to Spain, The Room in Valencia was ace and I played Moog once, such an atmospheric club and Weekend in Madrid was great. I went to Eastern Europe a fair amount; Hungary, Serbia, Macedonia, the parties were always excellent and I made some good friends too. Personally I have always enjoyed going to unusual unglamorous places, so most of these party’s people haven’t heard of but these were often the places I had the best times.

The ingredients for a great party for me are an equal balance of girls and boys, a quality sound system, unpretentious people who dance to the music and appreciate the art of DJing allowing you the build your atmosphere and move between moods, people who don’t demand big tune after big tune or have limiting views such as ‘I don’t like vocals’, people who listen with their bodies not their minds. I’m not adverse to a bit of strobe action too, seems the strobe light has gone out of fashion somewhat, which is a shame. I love those moments when you’re on the dancefloor and the strobe goes off and it’s totally disorientating!

Pulse loves: a winner. You got your first break by winning Musik Magazines mixtape competition. What advice would you give to anyone out there who is hoping to start a career as a DJ/producer?

God, I don’t know, I don’t think I ever managed to have a ‘career’ in music myself, I think I was very naive about that and would have done better to be more strategic and business minded. I was always in it for the experience with regard to my creativity and my life’s journey and I have definitely had a lot of amazing experiences in life, but I don’t think I’ve had a particularly successful career, so I’m probably not the best person to ask.

I would say that it can be an incredibly creative and enjoyable thing to do but you need to be honest about what it’s really like. It’s not an easy job. You need a lot of stamina and the ability to turn it on as and when it’s needed is quite hard night after night. Mixing business and music is a dangerous game and it can seriously damage the enjoyment of it if you’re not careful. Pace your self, getting smashed definitely makes it easier and more fun but in the long term what’s the plan? I’ve known quite a few people suffer the ultimate consequence from a lifetime of partying, don’t be junkie, it’s lazy, if you can’t do what you do without being high all the time you haven’t really mastered your shit. It can be quite lonely and you are away from home a lot make sure you don’t mind spending time alone or work as part of a team if you can.

In many ways the advice I would give to an aspiring DJ would be the same advice regarding anything, know who you are and what you are trying to do. Strive for excellence (not perfection though). Oh actually my main advice would be get some top quality earplugs and protect your ears!

Pulse loves: a scoop. Is there anything exciting on the cards for you that you can exclusively reveal to us?

I have another release coming on Rebirth under my Wallflower guise with Leah Floyeurs on piano and me on vocals called ‘Say You Won’t Ever’ which has remixes by Archie Pelago and Larry Heard, which is an amazing thing for me as Larry is an absolute hero, I would advise anyone to download all of his Mr Fingers Music Mixes from the Deep House Page as they are the most amazing resource for quality house music.

I have a Halcyon (myself and Helen Copnall) release on Dogmatik which is coming in October with remixes from Dial Records’ RNDM and Wallshaker Music’s Jimmy Clanfield.

There’s another release on Jenifa Mayanja’s Bu-Mako Recordings, which I’m working on at the moment and hopefully a live show too featuring Jenifa, myself on vocals and some other instrumentalists as well.

I’m also starting a weekly Internet radio show with Jimmy Clanfield called The Descendance Mixshow. It’s on DHP Radio which is an offshoot of the Deep House Page, which if you haven’t come across it is an online archive of classic house music DJ mixes often recorded from the radio dating right back to the early ‘80s that has been going for about 15 years I think. It’s like an online tape-swap and it now has an Internet radio station as well. We’ll be alternating the shows, me one week, him the next, sometimes together. The show aims to celebrate the music we love and showcase the music we produce, as well as presenting occasional guests and live performers. I’m really excited to have a platform to share music on again as nothing beats the fun of a good session on the decks
And they’ll be a remix for Murge Recordings which I haven’t even started yet so don’t hold your breath for that one ..

Listen to Alison Marks on Pulse Radio.

DJ MAD HATTER – A SOUTH AFRICAN PSYTRANCE LEGEND

http://pulseradio.net — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 19:29:02 +1000

At the heart of the Psytrance scene in Cape Town there are a few institutions, and a few individuals who are their own institutions. DJ Mad Hatter aka Ricky Sidelsky, is one of them. A veteran in the Psytrance scene, Ricky also co-owns Call-a-Pizza, a unique Psytrance themed pizza joint in Sea Point, Cape Town.

The names of the pizzas will immediately catch your eye. If you are familiar with the South African Psytrance scene, you will recognize the majority of the pizza names on the menu, dedicated to South African Psytrance producers and DJs. To get a taste, check their menu here: www.callapizza.co.za

I caught up with Ricky and picked his brain a bit about his involvement in the South African Psytrance scene:

When and how did you get involved in the psytrance scene? I started DJing in 1979 on good old-fashioned vinyl records. I discovered Psytrance in 1998 and went to every Psytrance party after that. From 2007 Yolanda* and I have been attending over 100 Psytrance parties a year. I started DJing Psytrance in 2003 once I had enough albums to choose from, while also setting up our own party organizing label, MINDMELT.

People view you as a bit of a legend in the psytrance scene. Why do you think this is? I always find it a tremendous compliment and I think the "legend" status is because of the time I've been in the Psytrance scene. I'm also a very friendly bloke with a cheerful and positive outlook on life, so I think people remember me for that too.

What is your preferred style of music to play? My music style made a dramatic change in 2008 when I realized that I preferred the harder, darker, faster "Dark Psy" style. Now I play at around 160bpm.

Call-A-Pizza is a little Psytrance "sanctuary" - how did it come about? It developed over the years and we realize we are the world's only Psytrance-dedicated pizza shop. We started naming newly-created pizzas after Psytrance party organizers and DJs (I think the first were Vortex and Skazi pizzas). We then started to sell tickets for various Psytrance parties and we currently have the biggest selection of South African released Psytrance CDs for sale under one roof.

How do you create a psy-trance themed pizza? Do the organisers/DJs choose their own toppings or do you? The Psytrance-named pizzas started when we found that not only was it an honour for the organizer or DJ to have a pizza named after them, but also prevented other pizza places from copying our original ideas. We always consult with the relevant people in terms of the toppings they like before naming a pizza after them, but make changes when we find that their choices are too similar to existing pizzas on our menu. Our general rule is that an organizer needs to have been throwing outdoor parties for at least three years before we name a pizza after them (to weed out fly-by-nights), and nowadays we choose DJs who play Dark-Psy.

What is the most outrageous thing you have seen at a Psytrance party? We're all a little different to regular people who don't party, so I guess we're all a little outrageous. I wear an interesting hat (usual with built-in flashy lights) to most Psytrance parties, to promote the Mad Hatter branding and also to ensure Yolanda can always find me in the dark. But I also think it’s nice to be different.

* Ricky co-owns Call-A-Pizza with his life partner Yolanda Chambers. His MINDMELT parties are free to the public (no en-Trance fee), organized for the love of Psytrance music and Psytrance décor. What a legend!

Luciano: All Heart

http://pulseradio.net — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 18:36:59 +1000

2013 has been a big year for Luciano. His highly respected imprint, Cadenza celebrates a decade of operation with a series of events all over Europe. Then there’s his wildly successful Vagabundos nights which launch a fresh season in Ibiza at Bomba this year. Famous for magical, mind-altering sets that combine sun-drenched Latino rhythms, forward-thinking techno and raw house grooves, Luciano is one of the world’s most revered DJs and for all of the above reasons he holds a coveted position in dance music.

In spite of his punishing DJ schedule he managed to find the time to visit South Africa earlier this year to present a series of workshops as ambassador for Bridges for Music – an NGO founded by industry veteran Valentino Barrioseta which aims to uplift underprivileged communities through music. This month Luciano will join other ambassadors Richie Hawtin and Skrillex at Sonar in Barcelona to discuss his involvement.
Heather Mennell stole some time from Luciano to talk about his own tough background, “the magnitude of music” and his impressions of South African music.

Luciano is a self-made man. Born to a Chilean mother and Swiss father he spent part of his childhood in Europe before moving to Chile when his parents split up.

Tell me about growing up in Santiago... “I grew up in a tough neighbourhood and they were very tough times. But at the same time – it was such a good time. Of course there was a big culture shock – because there is a big difference between Europe and South America. But that background gave me everything. All the tools that I needed to go through life and to stay focussed. I learned how to fight for I wanted in life.”

Would you say that music helped you find a better life? “Music always protected me. Music was always something that helped me out in my life – in every moment. From the very beginning I had one guitar and I was going on the buses, asking for money. I was playing an instrument then. Music always protected me and brought me to the right harbour in my life. There’s a form of intelligence in music which is related to emotions. It touches every human. You don’t need any background influences. Any person who has emotion is able to express something – through poetry, or painting, music or photography. This is one of the messages I want to share – music is not necessarily something that could cure you or save your life – but it will always give you the ability to express yourself.”

In the workshops you urged people to be true to themselves and play from their hearts – be honest and brave. Would you say this is your philosophy as a DJ and artist? “This is always something that I try to do. Over the years I felt as though I was doing something truthful and music gave me a way to express myself. But over time I realised that music also makes other people happy – and this is very important. Music is quite unique in this way so this has become one of my missions - it’s very important to remember that making people happy is part of what you do as a musician.”

How did you become involved with Bridges for Music? “I have known Valentino for a really long time – we’ve worked together and become close friends. Of course I was really interested because I’ve always been interested in bringing light to people – not helping people – more helping people realise things. You might think that being in South Africa is so far away and everything is so difficult to access – that it’s almost impossible. This is the magnitude of music - if you’re talented, then frontiers are small and everything is accessible - and that’s why Bridges For Music was important to show that it’s accessible to everybody. If you’re be focussed and concentrate and work at it with all your heart – you can to make it happen. There are no rules for that.”

I think that idea really came through in the workshop – the idea that hard work and passion surmount barriers.. “I agree. When I was back in Chile everything was so hard - even to get one record to play it was almost impossible. We’d see these DJs come and play in Chile – a country that was so far away. I used to think becoming involved was almost impossible because their world didn’t seem accessible. But if I think about it, it was only about making the right thing at the right moment and sharing as much as you could. If someone was coming I would bring my CDs – I was making music with almost nothing but I would share it and create my own little network – and it just happened! Don’t forget that if you make a good track.. music travels. Music travels alone and it goes all over the world - and the fact is that you can do it from anywhere."

Technology has enabled us to share music and access music on a whole level and lot of your lecture was focussed on harnessing the power of technology and use it to your advantage. “Yes. Back in the day none of this technology existed –but we were still making it travel. Now it’s so easy – but at the same time it’s not easy at all. There are many more people doing it and the possibilities are infinite. Technology has made it more confusing because there is so much more choice and competition. Buts there’s always a way if you believe strongly enough in what you’re doing - you can make music travel anywhere and get heard in the right way.”

What was your impression of South Africa? “It was a very powerful experience to come and truly communicate with people. I always feel that the best way for me to do this is through music. I have to say that I was extremely surprised and overwhelmed by the quality of South African music – usually the music you’ll hear on the radio is just noise - but your pop stars are deep house artists! I’ve never seen this anywhere else in the world! When I heard Black Coffee play in Soweto – he was incredible. Beautiful music - the depth, soul and rhythmical structure is all related to African music – and it’s great.”
“I left extremely surprised in a good way and I’m looking forward to doing something more – I would love to bring Zakes Bantwini and Vinni da Vinci to come and play in Ibiza. I loved their music.”

What’s next? “I have been rebuilding the studio this year so I am really looking forward to a fresh start.”

Join Luciano and other Bridges For Music ambassadors this year at Sonar Friday 14 June 4pm for a special presentation about the project so far and the future plans.

Listen to Luciano on Pulse Radio

P.Lopez on his new EP "Shame" on Silence in Metropolis

http://pulseradio.net — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 04:12:20 +1000

DJ/producer P.Lopez from Paraguay just released his new EP "Shame" on Silence In Metropolis. "Shame" is a upbeat, sexy, deep house groove that lays the bass on thick in the second half of the track. With support from Kerri Chandler, wAFF and others, it is sure to be a dance floor success. The EP release also contains remixes by Matthew Fear and Matches, making it a great addition to his already growing repertoire. His previous releases have been housed on Dogmatik, and featured on the December 2011 Mixmag CD. We sat down with P.Lopez to get a quick insight as to how this EP came about as well as how the electronic music scene is in Paraguay.

What was your thought process behind this mix? These are tracks that are rocking our party in Asuncion at the moment.

You're from Paraguay, do you still live there and if so, what's the scene like? Yes I still live here, and we are helping make the scene a little bit better than before by running a club with good sound system and a lovely crew. The music helped us get a really good place.

What type of music did you listen to when growing up? I was a lucky boy, my dad is drummer so I grew up listening to a lot of Jazz, Hip Hop and 90's House which I automatically fell in love with.

Who was your musical influence that still has an impact today? Herbie Hancock and Bruce Haack... these guys are the masters!

You produce various genres such as drum n' bass, urban, as well as house. Is there one that is more fun or intriguing for you to create than others?
For me, beat making is therapy...I never know what's gonna happen, it just happens. I love making beats.

How did you come across the label Silence in Metropolis? It was all thanks to my track "About You" on Dogmatik Records, they really dig that track and so they sent me a message on Soundcloud asking for demos and now we got a nice E.P. on wax.

How did the Matt Fear and Matches Remixes on your Shame EP come about? Good label work by the Silence In Metropolis crew!

Are you currently a full time producer? If you weren't making house music, what would you be doing? I'm trying to, but with running the club, working in the studio, and playing gigs takes a lot of time. I always want to be in music full time.

What are three pieces of equipment or gear that are on top of your wish list? The Prophet 5, Jupiter 8, and the Pultec EQs.

What are some of your favorite spots to play around the world? I went to Berlin last year and fell in love with Watergate…D Edge in Sao Paolo is sick, I hope to play there soon and I've played a few times at Bahrein in Buenos Aires, some really good vibes there.

Purchase the EP on Beatport here.

Listen to P.Lopez on Pulse Radio

Luciano: All Heart

http://pulseradio.net — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 23:46:17 +1000

Pulse Loves: Scrimshire

http://pulseradio.net — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 22:07:39 +1000

Adam Scrimshire is a singer – songwriter, producer, multi instrumentalist, DJ and record label boss based in London. Having his finger in so many pies has led the music fiend to a place where his music, both production and DJ sets, are unpredictable and inimitable; he's just as comfortable blending boogie and funk with house and D&B. It's also no doubt left him with sticky fingers. He's just done an exclusive mix for us and we asked him a few questions about his music, living in London and his one true love...the sea.

Pulse Loves... albums. Tell us about your third LP 'Bight' - is there a predominant theme or musical direction? The theme is the sea. I've had a love affair with the sea since I was a kid and would happily live by, in or on it. Though I come from the incredibly landlocked midlands we spent all my childhood holidays on the Welsh coast, specifically Pembrokeshire. Not sure I could manage living quite that far from London right now but if it's only as ashes I hope to end up there permanently at some point.

Pulse Loves... London. Talk to us about your relationship with the city and its effect on your music. I moved here at 18 and fell in love with it. I've lived North, East and South and love them all. I've discovered so much music here through meeting people, who lead to other relationships that lead to others... People are a massive part of what is special here. But I love the river, I love the green spaces, each one unique and each one alongside another sprawling mass of oddly grouped buildings alongside uniform ones, alongside towers. I think the my albums reflect this quite a lot - you can find a driving brass and drum breaks driven track alongside a 5 minute harp piece.

Pulse Loves... Your mix. Could you tell us more about your choices as it's quite a unique selection. There's quite a mixed set of sounds on my albums and this is usually caught in my DJ sets too, which bend from jazz and classic soul to electronica, house and even drum and bass on occasions - all in the best possible taste of course(?). I wanted to reflect that here a bit. There is stuff from my label Wah Wah 45s, some of my remixes, some of my own re-edits too alongside some of my favourite tracks from the last month or so and some classic sample fodder. This is admittedly a bit more laid back than when I'm playing out but it's a mixtape so that's allowed right? Essentially this is all the records that are lying about on my floor or in my "recently played" playlist - stuff that I've been marinating in since finishing the album. Oh, and some unmissable words of wisdom from the amazing Bobby Womack. Stunning

Pulse Loves...free music. Tell us about your decision to give out a recent free track. I love free music too. I think the biggest problem an artist like me faces is obscurity or people not discovering my music. People talk a lot about free music, blogs do too. It gives you a lot of reach and a chance to start a conversation with new listeners that hopefully leads to a longer relationship. Doing free EPs has started a lot of those relationships for me. I get emails from people who downloaded stuff and fell in love and bought some of the albums, we have nice discussions.

Pulse Loves... the future. what's next? I definitely love the future. I feel like I'm finally getting a grip on what I'm doing. So want to start a new album soonish. In the meantime I'm rehearsing my live band which has me on guitar, vocals, keys, ableton, MPC etc. my friends Dave Koor on keys/synths, Paul Hodson on Bass, guitar, electronics and my drummer Max Lauder plus vocals from Faye Houston (Resonators). I'm writing for some other people at the moment too. But for now I just need to spread as much love for the new album as possible. Thanks for helping.

'Bight' is out now on Wah Wah 45s.

01. Paper Tiger - The Sting feat. Homeboy Sandman (...and then I bounced remix) (Wah Wah 45s)
02. Bjork - Moon (Kensaye Remix) (Unreleased)
03. Colman Brothers - She Who Dares (Scrimshire Remix) (Wah Wah 45s)
04. Homeboy Sandman - Dag Philly Too (Stones Throw)
05. Lee Michaels - Tell Me How Do You Feel (A&M Records)
06. Merry Clayton - Southern Man (Scrimshire Gets Merry Edit)
07. Bobby Womack - Medley: Monologue/Close To You (Unlimited Artists)
08. Gwen Guthrie - (They Long To Be) Close To You (Polydor)
09. Lapalux - Flower (Brainfeeder)
10. Bonobo - Know You (NinjaTune)
11 .Scrimshire - Turn It Round (Wah Wah 45s)
12. Suitdancer - Wireworld (Mr. Beatnick Dub) (Tone Control Music)
13. Chrome Canyon - Car Fire On The Highway (Tomas Barfod Remix) (Stones Throw)
14. LV feat. Okmalumkoolkat - Spitting Cobra (Hyperdub)
15. Lea Lea - Black Or White (DJ iZem Remix) (Wah Wah 45s)
16. Danyel Waro - La Mauvaise Reputation (Fanon Records)
17. Joy Orbison - Donell (DL)
18. Kelpe - Haunt (DRUT)
19. Scrimshire - Drift (Part Two) (Strings Edit) (Unreleased/Wah Wah 45s)
20. Romare - Jimi & Faye (Part One) (Black Acre)
21. Roger - So Ruff, So Tuff (Warner Bros)
22. Roger - Blue (A Tribute To The Blues) (Warner Bros)
23. The Greg Foat Group - Cast Adrift (Jazzman Records)
24. Batteaux - Living's Worth loving (Columbia)

Listen to Scrimshire on Pulse Radio.

Pulse chats with Triplefire Music

http://pulseradio.net — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 20:47:03 +1000

Independent record company based in Cape Town – Triplefire Music is earning its credibility through representing artists on local and international dancefloors, true as that may be, that’s something that you would expect to hear in the opening lines of a label review. Triplefire have a slightly different background and being an artist owned label their objectives differ somewhat.

Their online presence is holding it down, a platform that they have developed for their artists to use to make waves, which they are and its rippling out into the scene locally and internationally. What makes Triplefire Music special, are the individuals at the helm of this label. All captains involved here I have watched, listened and danced to on several occasions and the common denominator between the lot you would be hard pressed to argue, is pure magic, utter confidence in what they are doing and what they are doing it for. Music industry aside, these human beings are good people and artists respect the fact that we have them in our space offering what they have to offer.

You would like to know who’s who in the realm of Electronic Dance Music in South Africa, not just artists but labels included. Pulse will be bringing that to you on a monthly basis, this month we decided for good reason to get together with Ryan Sullivan and the guys from Triplefire Music and ask them a few questions:

How long did it take to put out a release under Triplefire Music from the day it was just an idea, and how old is Triplefire Music now?

I had been involved in Glo-Tech Africa Records and had also run Gut Feel Records for about 6 years before starting Triplefire Music, so the infrastructure was all in place already. In general a release is quick to put out once everything is up and running, the release process can be just a few weeks. Triplefire’s first release went out in May 2010 so the label has been running for 3 years now and we have the 36th release scheduled in June.

Who was the mastermind behind Triplefire Music and who are the names involved keeping things together?

Initially I worked on my own (Ryan Sullivan) for the first few years and also started out by releasing my own records on the label. Over time, a team has developed and this year Margaret (Lady M) has come on board and assists with A&R and events, whilst Helmut J and Matthew Loots also share a lending hand, all being artists signed to the label too.

Your three year anniversary just passed having released some of South Africa’s leading artists in the Tech/House scene at the moment- Any exciting new releases coming out soon that we should be aware of from Triplefire Music?

We like to think they’re all exciting, that’s why we choose the music we love. The Black Series coming out soon is a slightly more experimental series but we always have something fresh on the go, from local artists and from around the world. We’re putting much more focus on the local music though with an EP release scheduled for June from Matthew Loots, a single from myself in July and another single from Lady M in August.

Who are the artists on Triplefire - locally and internationally and how do you tie it in to Triplefire Radio, what should we expect from it?

Locally we represent Helmut J, Matthew Loots, Ryan Sullivan and Lady M. Together we put on the live shows and steer the label. Other local artists who have released with us include Steve Clarke, Emoutikon, Audiophile 021, The Beat Prophet, Leigh Deep and Dakin Auret among others. Overseas we’ve worked with Pozitive, Kramnik, Soundmodul & Moffous, Dmtriy Toks, Tom Deibel, Maxplay, Smart Wave, DaSmokin’Frogz, Ewan Rill, Cristian Paduraru and more. The radio show is a platform for the label’s artists to share the music they create and the music that they are inspired by, as well as to share recorded sets from our events and live shows for the people that miss out on them. We also invite guest artists from around the world to share their sounds too.

We currently broadcast online in the UK and in Johannesburg and are slowly looking at new territories. The streaming details can be found on our website http://www.triplefiremusic.com/

How important is the artist’s creativity process for Triplefire with regard to Triplefire artist releases and features on Triplefire Music Radio/ do you expect anything in particular or do artists have ‘free reign’ with their mixes?

We simply aim to deliver top quality, so the creative process is certainly very important. Artists do have free reign as we are not about holding anybody back but the output must reach a high standard of quality. In terms of the style of music though, we are very open to anything within the genres of deep house, tech house, progressive house and techno.

Where does Triplefire Music stand with regard to the commercialization or [Un]-commercialization of dance music, is the commercialization of dance music is a good thing?

In order to survive, we need to earn something from our work but Triplefire puts creativity and quality first. What ruins music is when it’s purely designed to earn and that is something we disagree with. Goes on to say: It just sometimes feels like things get stale from time to time with all the bandwagon jumping. When a particular sound does well for one artist, loads of other producers copy that sound. It used to drive me mad when I was younger but I’ve realized that it’s not such a bad thing. Firstly it separates the heartfelt art from the mass produced rubbish and more importantly, it means that to stand out, you need to do something different and unique, which to me means there is potential for growth and progression.

At the moment the label is essentially supporting Electronic Dance Music, do you think Triplefire Music will ever extend their artist platform further to other genres or sub-genres?

The label will continue supporting electronic music and the genres within with regards to house and techno. We’re currently working on a down-tempo brand and managing operations for some other labels. But the other styles and genres operate under different brands though so it’s not something that is associated with Triplefire Music.

So open-mindedly with the 36^th release on the way, focusing on the local scene, pushing out quality tunes through Triplefire Music Radio to the UK and Johannesburg from the Mother City and having their ambassadors push out tunes regularly turning up the heat on dancefloors, Triplefire Music is on a steady, exciting run. Fire never started itself. Ever. Link to the page and have a listen to the artists that got that fire going on Triplefire Music.

www.triplefiremusic.com

www.twitter.com/TriplefireMusic

www.facebook.com/TriplefireMusic

and a store link to beatport: http://www.beatport.com/label/triplefire-music/20398

Kaiserdisco: Meet Them On The Floor

http://pulseradio.net — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 21:38:55 +1000

Kaiserdisco have followed a long path through DJ culture - but it seems they're really hitting their stride in recent times. After releases on 100% Pure, Drumcode and more, the German duo are gearing up to release their latest album 'Meet Me On The Floor this coming July and through their own KD Music imprint. Seeing them break out of the tough, pusling techno sound they've become known (blending it with more introverse and songwritten elements), the duo talk to us about the liberation of full creative control and their musical development as they mix our latest, exclusive Pulse Podcast.

[Read on for tracklisting & download]

You've had a pretty busy career.... What do you feel you have contributed to electronic music's development? We have been part of the electronic music scene for years now. We produce music, we DJ and now we sign and release music on our own label. So lets say we are yelling out our view of music to the world. We don't know if the music scene would sound different without us, cause we are just a tiny little piece in a huge machine, but we are making music and maybe there is someone out there who is inspired or influenced by that. So maybe that’s our contribution to electronic music's development. To be honest, we never thought about that. We just concentrate on the music.

For the forthcoming album, your sound has changed and become somewhat cleaner... Is this a conscious decision? Usually we just sit down in the studio and start to produce. Of course we do know before if the next track is going to be techno, tech house or deep house; it all just happens during the studio process.

Tell us more about the themes and feeling of the album and how it differs from In No Ones Shadow. The first thing we have to say about the album, which is also a very big difference for us is that we did everything on our own. The first album was released on MBF and so we just gave all our songs to them and they more or less did the rest. "Meet Me On The Floor" will be released on our own label KD Music and so we have had everything in our own hands. That means a lot more work of course, but at the end it feels even more like our baby. Music wise we think the album is maybe a bit more grown up and mature. Especially the first few tracks of the album which kick things off with a kind of melancholy feeling and atmosphere. After that it gets a little more "floor orientated." What's equal to "In No One's Shadow" is that we wanted to show our wide range of music genres and we think that is has perfectly succeeded in that.

You've mixed the latest pulse podcast for us.. It's looking quite current and there's a few of your own exclusives too? Yes, we added some exclusive tracks for your listeners to let them know what we are talking about here (laughs).

I've also seen that you're considering starting your own series soon... What are the benefits of this? We have mixed a lot of podcasts in the past and always had the idea to do our own podcast. After 5 years we thought it is time and so we recorded our first last week. It’s a mixed Podcast but we are also talking about the records we have chosen to give a more personal note into it.

You've released on some of the coolest labels in the world but what's been your most memorable release to date? What's the benefit for you to release on different imprints? Each label has a personal style, something that makes that label unique. Drumcode for example is one of them which stands out for us. Adam has a great taste of music and all the EPs are so on point. We have been fans from the very first release and for us it’s a great way to present our more techno sounding side. We are already working on a new EP for them. Now we have our own label but its still interesting for us to release on other labels because we are able to show you all the different sides of Kaiserdisco.

As we approach the peak summer months, what's your agenda looking like in terms of festivals and other commitments? It's already looking quite good. Next weekend we are going to St. Petersburg and playing at big event, after that we will go directly to Barcelona to play at and attend Sonar. Other stops this summer will be in Italy, Croatia, The Netherlands, Indonesia and many more. For details please check our website.

Who in term of new artists, are currently interesting you at present? All the artists we are featuring on our KD Music label are interesting for us. We select them very carefully. Artists like Ramiro López, F.Sonik and Collective Machine are very talented producers and we are always surprised and happy when we get their latest productions. At the end of the day we would love to sign them all.

Meet Me On the Floor is available through KD Music on July 1st

Tracklisting

Kaiserdisco - Meet Me On The Floor - KD Music
Climbers, Silky, Barber - Frozen - Off
Pete Oak, Natalie Conway - Come In - Stil Vor Talent
Foremost Poets - Rasons To Be Dismal? (Dixon Update) - Poker Flat
Kaiserdisco, Cari Golden - It´s Like That - KD Music
Darlyn Vlys - Soho Nights - Terminal M
Mathias Kaden - Propeller - Desolat
Darlyn Vlys & Ramiro Lopez - Django - KD Music
Paolo Rocco - People Say (Nic Fanciulli Remix) - Saved
Ramiro Lopez & Affkt - Sorgat - Material
Kaiserdisco - Dimension - KD Music
Darius Syrossian - The Crew - ViVa Music
Kaiserdisco - Get On Down - KD Music

Download Pulse.129 - Kaiserdisco here.

Listen to Kaiserdisco on Pulse Radio.

The Presets: Dark Mofos

http://pulseradio.net — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 12:20:25 +1000

Ahead of their performance at the inaugural Dark Mofo festival at Hobart's prestigious Museum of Old and New Art (MONA), Pulse's Georgia Hitch caught up with Kim Moyes of celebrated Australian outfit The Presets to talk skydiving, festival crowds, writing new music, skinny dipping and more.

Pulse: I wanted to ask you about the video for 'Fall' that was released at the end of May. I was really interested - who’s idea was it to have the skydivers? Was it a creative decision on your part, or was there someone else who kind of spearheaded that one? Kim Moyes: Normally with videos we approach a bunch of different directors and ask them to pitch an idea and then we usually get four or five ideas back for every song, then you go through and hope that there’s one in the bunch that you like. This particular idea was from Clemens [Clemens Habicht], who was the director. He’s an old friend of ours actually and he’d been talking to us about doing a skydiving video for a long time. He was really into this thing, which isn’t really skydiving, it’s people who have these jumpsuits on which have a kind of wings attached, like a flying fox, and they actually fly down these steep hills and valleys or whatever and he just thought that looked really amazing and the suits looked really cool. Anyway it turned out that getting those particular suits means you have to get them custom made and it’s incredibly expensive, so I think he just dialed it back to a skydiving video. And it seems to work really well with the song. Of course the song’s called 'Fall' so it’s a natural fit, but yeah, we’re all really happy with the fit, especially with the creepy masks. It’s a really elegant kind of ballet in the sky but with these dudes with these creepy versions of our faces on [laughs].

It’s definitely something unique! Have you ever skydived? Or were you and Julian tempted to have a go and throw in some self-footage, or was that something that you weren’t even going to approach? I’ve never skydived. I actually have a major fear of heights! But after seeing the video I’m definitely curious to try it, but then again I can always just watch it on YouTube.

The song has just been re-released by Modular as part of a remixes EP and it’s got people like Ta-Ku and Hook N Sling remixing it. Each of the artists on it are pretty unique and individual, but I was wondering, do you guys have a favourite remix on there? We actually did a remixed version ourselves which is something that we’ve been playing live which we’re really fond of, but aside from the things we’ve done ourselves I really like the Tomas Barford remix. He’s the drummer from Who Made Who, a producer and he did a remix for my solo project in about 2008. It was a really great remix so that’s why we kind of asked him to do this one. It's just really nice and blissful, sort of afternoon drive home stuff. But yeah like you said they’re all really good and really unique in their own way, so we’re just happy to get a collection that cover all the bases.

You have just come off the back of your North American tour in May and I saw a couple of photos of you playing at the Sasquatch Festival, plus you’ve played at Coachella and you’re about to head down to play at the Dark Mofo Festival Do you find that there’s a difference between Australian festival crowds and American ones? Are there different receptions? Well I guess for us we kind of make a show that demands a certain reaction and when we don’t get that we kind of know that something’s up. So luckily we seem to get a pretty good response most times we play at a festival. Recently we played a festival in New Zealand that was kind of a bad experience, like you could tell that the majority of the crowd didn’t want us there, but that was one gig in a whole career of festivals where we felt we weren’t getting any love. The difference between the American and the Australian crowds, there really isn’t that much. In America at the moment electronic and dance music is really blowing up in a big way so everyone’s really embracing it and we’re finding that when we’re club shows or festivals the reaction is just really super positive, and kind of has been steadily growing since we started playing there around 2009. It’s pretty fun.

That idea about American crowds just being more rowdy, any truth to that? Not really actually. I would have to say the rowdiest crowds that we’ve ever played for are definitely Australian, Scottish and Irish. They’ve all got that same kind of insane gene pool. If can be kind of threatening at times, kind of scary, but you know that if you can get off the stage alive then you’ve had a really good time [laughs].

Sounds like a bit of an adrenaline rush. Yeah, definitely!

As well as playing at all these different kinds of festivals around the world, the actual size of the crowds that you’ve played to has been really different as well. Just earlier this year you played at the Australian National University’s O-Week in Canberra, then a couple of months later you’re jet-setting off to North America. Have you found that there’s a crowd size that suits you best and that you like to play to? Do you like the smaller more intimate gigs or is it more of a buzz playing to the crowds at festivals like Coachella? I guess there’s no real preference but there’s kind of a comfortable amount. I mean we’ve played in basements of restaurants in places like Cleveland early on in our career where there was maybe 80 or 100 people standing right over us. We weren’t on a stage, we were just on the ground and ended up being effectively lower than most people and we had a really amazing time. And then we’ve played at stadiums and stuff like that where there’s been 7000 people, 10,000 people, and it’s been just as amazing and the energy almost bowls you over. Sometimes it almost feels like it’s too much energy. But I guess the optimum crowd for us is anywhere between 500 and 2,500. I think what we’ve sort of realised is that if you’re in a venue that fits a couple of thousand people and you’ve only got say 300, the amount of people can’t really fill out the amount of energy that the room needs. So it can be really hard work for the band to get the most out of the room. But if it’s a venue that fits 300 people and you’ve got 300 people in there then it’s amazing. So I think it’s more to do with getting the right ratio of people to room capacity.

You're playing the Dark Mofo festival in Hobart and it’s the first time that the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) has put on this kind of winter festival. Are you guys excited to be playing there? Oh yeah absolutely!

There’s no trepidation about it being the debut of a new festival? Yeah well we’ve actually never been there before but my brother’s been to MONA and we have friends who have been, and everyone comes back from MONA just raving about it. So just to go down to see the gallery is kind of a special thing, but actually to be part of the festival which you know it’s very credible, it’s always doing something interesting, it’s in a beautiful part of Tasmania, I just think it’s a very exciting prospect for us. We kind of went into it thinking that’s a cool little nichey thing to do, but we’re starting to realise that it’s actually something a lot more than that.

It looks like it’s going to be absolutely amazing! I don’t know if you’ve had a comprehensive look at the line up but it is enormous. As well as some of the great Aussie acts like Hermitude and DZ Deathrays, plus some of the international acts like Martha Wainwright, there is just hundreds of really great regional acts. Do you think you’ll get a chance to catch any of those or is there anyone else on the lineup that you’re really keen on seeing play? I think we’ll get a chance to see Hermitude because we’re playing with them, which will be great, and the same with DZ Deathrays. I think we’re kind of coming down and then coming back up though so I don’t think we’re going to get enough time to see much of the other stuff, but certainly while we’re down there we’ll have a wander around. I think there are light exhibitions and and installations and stuff so we’ll definitely check out some of the art, but I don’t think I’m going to get any time to see any of the other acts unfortunately.

So can I take it that means you won’t be participating in the nude solstice swim? [Laughs] I’ll be participating in my own nude solstice swim in my own time!

Because it is the solstice the festival it’s right smack bang in the middle of winter, so it’s meant to be absolutely freezing down there. I know that for Dark Mofo they’ve advised everyone to wear thermals, beanies, gloves, the whole works! Yeah I know that in my mind I’m probably imagining that it won’t be as cold as it’s going to be and then when I get down there I’m going to be like holy shit this is really cold!

So you dropped 'Pacifica' towards the end of last year, much to everyone’s delight, but can festival goers expect to hear some of your older tunes? Oh absolutely! We’ve got a pretty comprehensive set at the moment that we’ve been sort of developing since last September. It definitely spans the whole catalogue and even some of the older songs we’ve taken the time to go and rework and remix so they’re a little different and that there’s a little more of a surprise. You know in the set people don’t really know what they’re in for and then when the vocal comes in they’re like "oh this one". And we’ve also got some custom designed video screens and there’s also heaps of custom made video content which sort of works with each individual song. So yeah, I think people will be in for a pretty good night.

Sounds like you’ll have a good mix of new and old then! Yeah you’ve got to give the people what they want! Like let’s face it, everyone just wants to hear 'My People' [laughs].

It is an age old question, but have you guys been able to get some writing done while you’ve been touring? I know that some bands find it easy to write while they’re on the road and others find that it’s just too busy and that in their downtime they just want to escape it. Do you guys fall into either of those categories? It’s pretty hectic on the road and it’s pretty hard to find the time to actually do anything productive, but we have started writing some new material just in the breaks we have between touring. We were in the studio for a couple of weeks and we’ve got a couple more weeks coming up. Plus we have other things on. Julian’s been co-writing with a bunch of people, I’ve been producing albums; at the moment I’m doing Jack Ladder’s next record and I’ve just finished Kirin J Callinan’s album and I'm producing Beni's next record, so there’s heaps on and of course in between all of that we’re focusing on Presets material.

Sounds like there really is no rest for the wicked then! So is there anything left on the bucket list for The Presets? Anything you’ve still got your eye on doing? I guess we just really like doing what we do, so I think until we completely run out of steam we’ll just keep making music. We really love the joyful challenge of starting a project and then seeing it get finished, seeing an album through. Certainly there are ideas on the table and ideas about branching out and doing things outside of the normal album and touring circuit. So yeah, I think in the future we might branch out and do some more interesting and artistic collaborations with other people, but we’ll just have to see where it takes us really. We really are quite happy doing what we do and as long as people are still interested in listening and enjoying it we’ll keep doing it.

[The Presets play Dark Mofo on Saturday 15th June at Hobart's Macquarie Wharf Shed No.2 (MAC2), Hunter St, Hobart. Tix here]

Listen to Pulse Radio

DRW Soundsystem: Form & Funktion

http://pulseradio.net — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 23:01:24 +1000

UK based DJ and producer Dan Williams - AKA D.R.W - knows all about straddling the lin between the underground and the mainstream. The London based figurefirst earned his stripes as a resident for Jezebel, eventually taking ti across the globe. He then moved to main room sets at Ibiza super clubs including Amnesia and even remixed the likes of pop princess Cheryl Cole. He now returns to head up the DRW Soundsystem, a touring, custom built soundsystem that utilizes the power of a FunktionOne rig into a compact, mobile van. Dan caught up with Martin Moffat to discuss more about the concept and delivered an exclusive mix in the process.

So Dan, tell us a bit about yourself – you started your career as a singer songwriter. How did you get into making/Djing electronic music? I've always involved myself in Electronic Music - i started out working at Trevor Horn's Sarm West Studios when i was 19 but never really goth the bug until i moved to Ibiza. I got myself an Akai MPC 2000 that was my first sampler i couldn't put it down..

You've played alongside some of the biggest name DJs on the planet; Jazzy Jeff, Mark Ronson and David Guetta to name a few. What was it like playing alongside guys as big as that? It's exciting to watch these people work whether or not you like their music their ability to rock a dance floor is real - I lways get inspired

In 2008 you stepped your Ibiza residencies up a gear – moving into the main rooms and teaming up with Manumission. How did that change compare to what you were doing before – playing to bigger crowds in bigger venues? when i debuted in the main room at Amnesia my first impression was the power behind the system and coming to terms with that - once I got that under control the buzz was amazing - you always get a loving crowd in Ibiza so that part was easy - if had to choose i would say that the terrace in Amnesia is the best place i've played

With this years season in Ibiza rapidly approaching – what are you most looking forward to? The small parties in Ibiza are the best for me at the moment places like Sankeys or cave raves and after parties that you don't expect to kick it that do.

You've produced tracks for Cheryl Cole and worked with chart topping artists such as Eliza Doolittle and Mark Ronson – what's it like having your productions getting noticed on a global scale? Producing Cheryl Cole's Brit Performance was a lot of fun if not a little surreal but they were looking for someone to create a dj style mash up for her show and it came my way - i helped Eliza out with her demos at the beginning of her career before her record deal now she works in America with the big boys… i'm super proud of her success; she is an amazing talent although I don't know if people really see that.

On the more underground side of things, your recent releases on Jamie Jones' Hot Creations label with Maxxi Soundsystem and the release on Faze Action under your The Shack moniker have been big hits. Does this type of production feel closer to home or more personal because they're closer to your Ibiza roots? I was lucky to work with Maxxi just as he started smashing it with his productions he is a good friend and i love what he's doing now.. The Shack was a little trip into Disco style House which is a lot of fun for me as i get to play bass and guitar and have fun all the time whilst doing it.

We see you've teamed up with Funktion One and built a custom Mercedes DJ mobile. How did that come about? i had my own set of FunktionOne speakers at home that i fitted into the back of my Merecedes Van when i was Djing on the gumball rally. Our initial idea was to host the gum ball radio show on route but that didn't work out… when we got back my friend drove me down to the Funktion 1 workshop where i met the team .. they loved what i had done and said they were happy to help me customise the van - they have been amazing from day one and are the most committed and talented people i know in the music industry

You played at Snowbombing festival a few years ago. How does playing at the top of an Austrian mountain compare with the parties in Ibiza that you are used to? Can you see yourself ever making the change from shorts and sunglasses to hats and mittens? Snowbombing is a good laugh. I didn't ski once. No hats, no mittens but plenty of sunglasses.

What does the future hold for you? World domination? World Domination for me would be… some greens, some good speakers, some money, children and friends for life.

Listen to DRW Soundsystem on Pulse Radio.

Sleepy & Boo: Bringing the Underground to Marquee

http://pulseradio.net — Sat, 08 Jun 2013 07:25:18 +1000

Sleepy & Boo are no strangers to the New York City nightlife scene, in fact, they have had a steady hand at cultivating it. Married team Mike and Begona make up Sleepy & Boo and it's been nine years since they first started their Basic parties at Sullivan Room. Since that time they've held a residency at Cielo and have thrown parties at District 36 and loft spaces around Brooklyn.

It's a new chapter for the duo, as they spearhead Marquee New York's exploration of underground electronic music for their musical program on Fridays. The club that reopened in January, with a new Funktion One sound system and a redesigned two-floor space, debuted with Dubfire and has been graced by acts such as Richie Hawtin, Claptone, Lee Burridge, and will see the likes of Damian Lazarus and Slam in the upcoming months. This Friday, however, is a special event as Mike and Begona present their Sleepy & Boo and Friends night with Vanjee for the first time at Marquee. It's a night where the tables are turned, and they headline the night with good music and good vibes. The tradition carries on and we can't wait for it to take hold at Marquee.

We had a chat with the couple last week, ahead of their gig in Montreal during the Grand Prix, to find out how they got the ball rolling for Marquee's exciting new musical selections and what to expect for this weekend's return of their headlining night.

How did you get involved working with Marquee when it reopened? We had had discussions with Marquee going back to the end of the summer. Essentially, they came and looked for us. They basically told us, ‘Listen we’re doing something different. We’re going to change the club. We’re going to renovate the club. We would like to start doing more underground music,’ and they were familiar with us and what we did and they wanted to get a different perspective in programming. So we started talking and we all got along really well and we liked what they were going to do with the club and what their perspective was on it and it just kind of went from there.

What was their perspective initially for underground music? When Marquee in Las Vegas opened it was really the first club that was kind of custom built for electronic music so that was kind of a new thing for them and they really enjoyed the experience and they liked working with the DJs and the artists and the agencies and everything. They got very good at it in Las Vegas so I think they realized that New York is different than Las Vegas. The club itself is different and they felt that now is a good time to try to incorporate this kind of music into their programming because these guys travel a lot. They go to Ibiza and they can see how successful nights like Luciano and Marco Carola are over there and that really kind of opened their eyes to the idea that music didn’t necessarily need to be kind of commercial to be successful and to make sense for their club.

You guys run Fridays at Marquee and you feature a range of talent that is a little different from your previous bookings at Sullivan Room for example. Has working closely with Marquee allowed you to access talent that you didn’t have the ability to work with before? The parties that we’ve done have always been kind of venue-specific. When we were at smaller places, there was only so much we could do with those rooms. Being a part of Marquee, I don’t know if it’s given us access really but it’s a name that people know about and they’re intrigued by it and what’s great about Marquee is that the sound system and the lights and the whole feel of the room is really unparalleled so a lot of DJs see that and they want to be a part of that and they see what they’re doing with the programming and they say ‘this is something that I would feel comfortable doing. So I think what we’re trying to do musically is open it up a little bit more to a whole range of sounds because we want to get all these different DJs and their fans feeling comfortable about playing at Marquee and coming to check it out.

A lot of times when even big clubs want to book forward-thinking artists they often end up not. When you first began those talks, even though Marquee travels a lot, did they have jitters or doubts about going this path? I think anytime there’s a new club opening people are definitely a little hesitant but one thing in the industry is that Marquee is known for being a super professional organization. What they’ve done in Vegas and here in New York with their venues, there’s no doubt that they’re nothing but top notch, professional people with a sterling reputation so I think there’s always a little hesitation because people see a club that’s not known for a certain kind of music and they say, ‘Well, is this gonna be the right place for me? Is the crowd that’s going to be there going to appreciate what I do?’ and we’ve definitely had to do a lot of kind of being ambassadors for the club and saying ‘Listen, this is a great space. The room is great. You’re going to have a great time playing there” and ultimately the proof is in the pudding. Everybody who’s played there has had a great time. They’ve loved the club. They loved playing there. They’ve had a fantastic experience. So it’s really just about getting people to come and do it and try something that might be a little bit off from what they’re used to and I think that’s what we’re trying to do with Marquee, is show people that underground music and really cutting edge music can be heard in all different kinds of environments, especially nowadays, and it should be heard in all kinds of different environments because they artists are so talented and there’s so much great music and such a variety of music. It’s not one size fits all and it’s not black or white. Artists will perform different types of sets in different environments and we think that Marquee is a really nice showcase for this kind of music.

I’ve noticed that you have different themes at some of your parties. Who comes up with those themes and do you guys work closely with the dancers as well? Yeah, the whole staff at Marquee are very creative people. We have a lot of resources as far as production and there’s dancers, there’s costumes for that, there’s visuals, there’s lights, so oftentimes we’ll say, ‘Listen, we want to try this for this night because this artist is known for something.’ Like for example, we had Claptone perform, he wears a gold metal mask when he plays, so we thought it would be cool to kind of have the dancers wear a costume that reflects that and we told our friends to wear gold and black to match the look of the room and we had visuals that matched so it’s really about taking a look at the whole environment and saying what can we do with this space. We have this great space. It’s like a big open canvas. What can we do that will make it resonate a little more and make something that the artist will remember and take home. Also, I wanted to go back to your point earlier. Dubfire played our opening party and he understood that Marquee is trying to do something different than they’re known before. I wouldn’t say that he took a chance because a lot of these guys have known us and worked with us for many years so if we said to them, ‘This is gonna be a great space. You’re going to like it,’ they trust us but it was something that he wanted to do and he put himself out there as the first kind of underground DJ to play at the new Marquee. But that night was amazing so it shows that certain artists are definitely willing to put themselves in an environment that’s maybe a little outside of their comfort zone and I think it’s a rewarding experience for everybody.

What can we look forward to on June 14 for your first Sleepy & Boo and friends party at Marquee? Well, I mean this is a party that we’ve done ourselves. We started it at Cielo and we did it there for two and a half years and what we had at Cielo was great because we had the opportunity to do headlining sets once a month. In New York, we play a lot of different places. A lot of times we’ll be opening and that’s what we’ve done at Marquee so far. We’ll play like a warm up set for DJs because they either specifically want us to be DJing with them or know that we’re going to do a great job getting the room ready for them but we enjoy playing headlining sets as well. It allows us to really choose different music and really get a good groove going so basically for the fourteenth, that’s kind of what we’re looking forward to doing, is taking over the decks and playing more of a peak time set. I think we spend more time in Marquee than almost anybody else because we’re there almost every week and sometimes a few times a week. We know the room really well, the sounds, the flow of the crowd. We’re just looking forward to having that opportunity.

Can we hope to see more of these parties in the future at Marquee? Yeah, I think the idea is that we’re always gonna have a mix of kind of the world’s best out of town DJs and then mix that up with more of the of great locals that we have in New York. On the fourteenth, we’re also playing with Vanjee, who’s a great DJ. He’s travels a lot. He plays out of town. And he’s someone that we started working with here at Marquee. He’s a great DJ and we’re looking forward to having him on our night as well. So really just kind of showcasing the room for the right DJs whether they’re from out of town or locals. Our Basic nights are really kind of built around great out of town DJs and international DJs and that’s kind of been our mission since we’ve started this almost nine years ago.

You’re playing this weekend though at Velvet Montreal. It’s a super sexy venue. Are you excited to play the Grand Prix in Montreal? Yeah, that’s going to be great actually. We played at Velvet once last year and unfortunately it was in March and Montreal winters can be pretty rough and the weekend we were there was like freezing cold and it had just snowed but amazingly enough when we played at Velvet, the place was packed and it was a great crowd and a great party so I can only imagine how fired up everyone’s going to be with the F1 weekend and summertime in full swing in Montreal. So yeah, we’re definitely looking forward to being there and we’re starting the weekend on Friday with opening for Nick Warren, who’s making his Marquee debut. Nick is an amazing DJ, who we’ve had the honor of working with a few times before and kind of the DJs like Nick are when we first got into the room at Marquee we looked at it and saw the sound and everything and we said, ‘It would be great to have someone like Nick come and play here because his sound is just so suited to that kind of dramatic style of room,’ and he used to play a lot at Twilo, which used to be around the corner from Marquee, so it’s kind of like spiritual stomping grounds for a lot of these guys.

We’ve seen you play Ibiza before. Do you have any plans for returning there this summer? We’re definitely coming back to Ibiza this summer. We go there almost every year. We haven’t’ set any plans yet but we’re definitely going to be coming. You know, we’ve been really busy with Marquee. It’s like our baby so we spend a lot of time focusing on that and making sure everything is up and running properly with it. We’re also going to be heading out to Vegas for EDC. Marquee does a lot of stuff with Insomniac and they're putting on a bunch of cool afterparties at Lavo with Carl Cox, Claude Von Stroke and Dirtybird, Sasha and Dubfire, and John Digweed. We're going to be playing with Carl, and Sasha and Dubfire, so we're really excited to be a part of this - you don't get to hear this kind of music in Las Vegas too often, its a big honor for us to be a part of these events.

Listen to Sleepy & Boo on Pulse Radio

Pulse Radio & Point Blank Present: An Interview With... Mr.G

http://pulseradio.net — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 20:26:40 +1000

Pulse Radio recently joined forces with Point Blank, London's fore-running production and music technology college to deliver a short series of intimate, upfront and excluisve interviews with some of the UK's coolest names. In our third filmed piece, we're treated to some quality time with house legend Mr. G and chatted analogue equipment, playing live, house music's development and visiting London every Thursday for 20 years. Check out the video underneath...

Listen to Mr.G on Pulse Radio

KRL: Exploring His Lineage

http://pulseradio.net — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 18:53:04 +1000

To UK producer KRL, his connection to music stretches back to his days at the forefront of hip hop music, holding the title of DMC champion and making moves through boom-bap circles. These days, he's rubbing shoulders alongside Greymatter, WOLF Musc, Medlar and Cottam. Rooted in the underground, one particular asset links his love for breakbeats and 4-4 structure - his unrivaled knowledge around a set of turntables and an equally unrivaled musical appreciation that stretches beyond the dancefloor. Ahead of Gottwood Festival, KRL spoke to us about his continuing lineage and his desire to see the underground succeed in mainstream circles.

KRL - obvious question to start but why are you called KRL? Is it short for something? A few helpful suggestions have been; Kenny Rhubarb Loggins, Karl, Kangaroo Resources Limited, Curly Sue; take your pick. I have had many bad pseudonyms in the past and wanted something as simple as possible.

You've been involved in DJ culture for some time... I also hear you were involved heavily as a DMC champion? I began experimenting with Djing at age 13/14 when my older bro (Greymatter) got some turntables. I used to listen to Time Westwood (before the show got really shit) religiously every Friday night and so started buying hiphop records and learning to scratch. I soon got involved in the local hip hop scene in Maidstone, which was actually pretty healthy for a small town. There were a couple of good turntablists and enthusiasts that became close friends & DJing partners. We used to practice for days on end & entered the UK DMC championships a few times. I never won it, but came 3rd one year. It was a great competition. The amount of practice and focus you have to put in for a single attempt at a 6 minute routine is mad. But as the hip hop music I was into dwindled, I got more into the roots of the music – soul, disco, jazz and eventually got into dance music and production become more interesting to me.

I still keep my hand in on the turntablist skills though, its great fun and definitely influences my style when I perform. My Djing is definitely more choppy and a bit rougher than other house DJs, but this really comes into play when throwing disco and soul into sets. I love DJing like this, as I get a lot of enjoyment & energy from the technical side of Djing.

Coming from a hip hop background, how do you feel hip hop and house music combine? The obvious crossover is in the roots of the music, primarily disco and soul. My productions are heavily influenced by these, and we are seeing more and more ex-hip hop heads breaking into dance music produc-tion. I think the appeal is the greater energy in dance music. These oriducers are bringing a fresh edge to house (or whatever you want to call it) music, with a rougher, sample based vibe. The fact that a lot of these producers, myself included, maybe don't know the legacy & history of house music is resulting in some interesting music. Obviously playing hip hop in a house club can be tough, but there are occasions where it can just about work.

Are you keen to explore the lineage of the 2 genres? Of course. Because I was into hip hop for so long, I know a lot more about its origins than house. I am a little rusty on the house lineage, but am learning. Matt & Stu (WOLF) know all there is to know, so I learn a lot from them.

Has it been difficult as an artist to be recognised? what's been your way of maining your difference from the rest of the Djs? I tried for so many years to be 'make it' as a turntablist or hip hop DJ but never quite got there. I always thought I was a few years too late to it! When it came to producing dance music it was purely about making music for own enjoyment, with no other agenda. It was amazing to get good feedback on the first few WOLF releases, as it was a new world for me and I felt like an imposter really. It snuck up me really.

Everyone at WOLF has stuck to their guns. Our main agenda is to enjoy what we do, the gigs we play and the people we meet. It is about fun, good music and being honest. We are very lucky that people enjoy the music and allows us to keep doing what we do. I think this may be our inherent difference.

You'll be playing at Gottwood Festival... the event have a real core focus on rising, underground talent from across the board. In this day and age of stadium electronica, how important is a festival such as Gottwood for championing music? Gottwood is a great little festival. Its intimate, friendly with a great vibe. It will always be the smaller independent festivals, venues, promoters that provide new artists with the platform to grow, so it is critical that these events exist. The lineup is great for 2013, with some of my favorite electronic producers playing.

Speaking of gigs and festivals, what else have you played in terms of large crowds and high profile venues? I have played Fabric a few of times now, which I love. I did Secret Garden Party with the WOLF crew last year, and return this year to the Pagoda which is a superb stage. Wilde Renate in Berlin, Garden Festival boat parties. We also play Glastonbury this year (in the Igloo) and are tying to secure an Ibiza date for Sep-tember. Still no Panorama Bar yet, and there are many bigger / higher profile venues to play (fingers crossed).

You've been releasing music on your core label of wolf music (since the beginning in fact) - what is it about these guys that drew you to them? And do they give you the artistic freedom to express yourself how you want? They are mates. Matt shared an office with my Greymatter in Brighton. Matt called me up to say he was starting a label and to ask if I had anything suitable. I sent over Remember Donny, which was somewhere in between hip hop and house and didn't quite work as it was, so Greymatter remixed it and it got the A&R thumbs up. I also had Recession Beat ready, which they like so these two tracks went to WOLFEP001.

Artistically, we can do whatever we want (though I am still trying to get a Michael McDonald edit released). Matt and Stu have experienced ears for dance music and know what works on the floor, and fits the label. They feedback on demos, and help me to improve them, so it's a two way process. We are all open to criti-cism & give feedback on each others tracks to make them the best they can be. Essentially, we are all mates and love working, Djing, traveling (and sometimes sleeping) together.

Finally, what would you like to see develop in dance/ house music for the rest of the year? I'm enjoying seeing the WOLF sound develop, and the artists on it styles and careers progress. Medlar is smashing it at the moment - his album comes out in the summer and it is awesome. I'd love to see some more underground artists break through to the mainstream & see quality house music become more popular. A few have done this recently (Disclosure, Duke Dumont) and it would be wicked to see some peers achieve popular success.

Catch KRL playing at Gottwood Festival Thursday, 20 - Sunday, 23 June in Anglesey, Wales. 3 day tickets are sold out. but day tickets are still available. Be quick!

Listen to Gottwood Festival on Pulse Radio

Astral People: Bringing Flavour To Sydney

http://pulseradio.net — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 12:53:37 +1000

Pulse's Henry Johnstone chats to Vic Edirisinghe, one third of promoter and artist management collective Astral People, to discover a little bit more about the up-and-coming Sydney crew. Vivid LIVE, Thom Yorke, Outsidein Festival and his side-project label with ex-Future Classic man James McInnes all get a rinse.

Pulse: You had your Astral People party at the Opera House over the weekend. How did it go? Vic (Astral People): Yeah, really great. It ended up selling out and from all reports it was a success on Vivid’s front and on our front. All our locals probably played the best sets that I think we’ve ever heard from them and the internationals – Omar S, Africa Hitech, Jon Convex – also delivered. A big success all round!

Do you have to take in any special considerations when doing a gig at the Opera House compared to a normal club? Not really. We just wanted to bring Astral People to the Opera House, we didn’t really let the venue influence a lot of what we wanted to do – we just wanted to bring our own flavour to the programming. The one thing that you do have to note, especially on the headliners front, is that Vivid has always been about the characters involved, whether it be like guys from last year like Egyptian Lover and Nicky Da B or this year guys like Riff Raff and Omar S, you want people who stand out not just for their music but their personalities too. Omar S is someone we had been looking to bring out for a long time, so when Vivid LIVE asked us to be involved we knew this was the time to do it. He played a great set.

He’s definitely a personality. Yeah, as soon we saw the cover of his album we knew he was our man.

When did you guys start out and why? Just under two years ago now, so we haven’t been around a long time. The main reason why we started out is because all three of us were managing our own local acts, and we knew that there were some parties out there pushing their sound, but there wasn’t really a home for them. So we wanted to bring all of them together and just create a little family. Everything we’ve done in terms of touring and throwing events has mainly been to support them. We felt that here in Australia these guys wouldn’t really cause many waves on their own despite some of them being signed to really credible labels overseas, so we wanted them to mix it up with acts of international standards, hence why entered into the international touring game as well.

Australia always seems to take a little while to catch up with what’s going on in the underground overseas. We’ve definitely found that, though over the last couple of years we’ve noticed it really catching up. When I was throwing parties as a hobby back in uni, bringing out guys like Mosca, Deadboy and Cooly G, we were bringing maybe 100 to 150 people through the doors. Nowadays, as was seen with the latest Mosca tour, 400 to 500 people are coming through. So that’s a real testament to how far Australia, and especially Sydney, has come in the last couple of years and we’re stoked to be a part of it.

You’ve got the second edition of Outsidein festival coming up. What can you tell us, if anything, about it? We can say that it’s going to be a lot bigger than last year’s and we’ve definitely got some surprises up our sleeve. We’re also a lot more prepared, everything’s running better. Word has got around internationally and now for the first time we’ve been approached by agents asking to have their artists come play the festival. We think we’ve really got the right lineup that we were looking for. At the end of the day people have to remember that it’s only a 1,100 capacity type event. But yeah, we think were going to deliver a quality product this year.

What did lessons did you learn from the first event last year? Budgeting is the main one. We pretty much doubled the initial budget we set out for ourselves, so this year we’re far more prepared financially. Also logistics; flow of traffic through the rooms, making sure the rights artists are playing at the right time, no overcrowding, little things like extra toilets, food options, that sort of stuff.

And you’re going to have to decide on who’s going to be your big superstar to rock up this time. Yeah, exactly! [laughs] I got on the phone to Thom Yorke the other day and asked him if he could make it down again and he kind gave me a big, “No.”

You’ve started up a label recently, right? Yeah it’s a little side project of mine that I’ve started up with a good friend of mine James McInnes who worked at Future Classic since their beginning for quite a few years. We wanted to start up a dance label – we saw a massive gap in the market for a quality dance label in Australia. There are a few out there, but it’s generally a pretty inconsistent output. So we want to use the international contacts that we’ve made over the years to hopefully better these releases. Not in terms of music quality, but in terms of their reach in the international market. A perfect example would be someone like Alba, who are known around Sydney, and Australia a little bit, but don’t really have a huge international profile. But when we reached out to a few of our friends like Jimmy Edgar and Rick Wade – they loved the tunes and were more than happy to get on the remixes. So hopefully with having names like those on our releases we’ll be able to push them to the international audiences that we’re looking for.

What’s the name of the label? Plastic World. The releases won’t be focused just on Astral People acts. I think the first couple of acts are from guys not actually on our roster. We’re interested in pushing out stuff that we’re really feeling at the time.

Will the releases be vinyl or digital? It’s vinyl only focus at the moment. Digital will follow later down the track.

Who’s the first release from? From Sydney duo Alba, and the follow up release is going to be from a Perth act called SAVOIR that we’re very excited about – they’ll be doing a 12’’ for us with a very special remix.

Are you planning on running a side event for Strawberry Fields again this year? Yes, there’s going to be another Land Of The Giants in Sydney. It’s going to be curated a little bit differently to last year, just in keeping up with the Sydney market. We’re also going to be presenting a stage at the Strawberry Fields festival too.

Nice one. So you’re playing in support of Jimmy Edgar and Sepalcure at Terminal Projekt this weekend. Have you thought about what you might play? Ah, it’s not me actually. I can’t DJ for shit! Our two residents Ben Fester and Thomas Million will be repping us as Astral DJs. They’re both really looking forward to checking out Jimmy Edgar and Sepalcure. Jimmy’s a good friend of ours, so we’re looking forward to the hang.

[Astral DJs play the Saturday night of Terminal Projekt alongside Jimmy Edgar, Sepalcure and dOP. Tickets below]

Terminal Projekt @ Vivid Music, Overseas Passenger Terminal, Customs Hall:
08.06.13 - dOP (live), Jimmy Edgar, Sepalcure (live), Astral DJs, Morgan, Simon, Caldwell, Start:Cue, Morgan [BUY TIX]

Listen to Astral People on Pulse Radio

Pulse Loves... Sante

http://pulseradio.net — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 19:59:19 +1000

Avotre! Raise a toast to Berlin based producer Santé. The German artist and all round rising analogue nut has released tracks across labels such as Desolat. Cocoon, Kling Klong and more, besides his very own Avotre imprint, a home for varying, boundary less music ranging from house to disco, techno and R'n'b influences. Sante is due to play FOUND Festival at East London's Haggerston Park, so us lot thought it'd be a good idea to check out his mixing credentials for this week's Pulse Loves. Read on.

Pulse Loves... getting to know people. Tell us a bit about yourself. How/why did you get into making music? I started making music 15 years ago when I bought my first Akai MPC 2000 and a guitar. This was also the point that I decided I wanted to make music for a living.

Pulse Loves... eclecticism. Your label Avotre is 3 releases in and seems be a melting pot of different musical styles, with no specific genre being favoured. If there's no obvious music policy for releases on the label, what do you look for in a release/artist to make them Avotre material? It has to catch me, it does not matter what kind of style it is: House, Techno or even Hip Hop. The reason I started the label was because I wanted to have an independent platform for me and my friends, which means everything is possible on Avotre - Art meets music, meets fashion, meets party, meets skateboard… All the things that I love!

Pulse Loves... standing out from the crowd. As a Berlin resident, how have you managed to get noticed as a DJ/producer in a city that has such a strong creative community? These days it seems to be more important ‘who’ you are than ‘where’ you are. Which means that ultimately, you have to stand for something. I personally think it’s very important to be unique within the creative world, but how can you be unique? I think people feel the need to understand and be a part of you and what you do.

Pulse Loves... Desolat. How does it feel having released tracks on Loco Dice's imprint Desolat? How did that come about? First of all, I am really happy about the release. It was just a normal situation really, the same as everyone else I guess. I just sent demos to Vladi the label manager, and after a while he got back to me, saying yes!

Pulse loves... London. You've got a handful of gigs coming up in London over the next few months. What's your favourite thing about playing in the city? I really felt in love with London, it’s really one of the most inspiring cities in the world for me at the moment! I am really looking forward to playing at FOUND Festival, I played London for the first time on NYE and it was amazing, the production, the crowd, everything. I am really excited to be part of such a huge festival.

Pulse Loves... a scoop. Is there anything exciting coming up in the future that you can reveal to us? Release wise there are releases on SCI + TEC and Objektivity coming up. I have also started to work on my debut album, which will hopefully show my diversity as a producer and songwriter.

Found at Haggerston Park
Saturday, 15 June 2013
11:00pm - 9am
Haggerston Park, London

Tickets

Listen to Sante on Pulse Radio.

Quick Fire: HNQO

http://pulseradio.net — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 16:01:41 +1000

Up-and-coming Brazilian house producer and DJ Henrique Oliveira, better known to dancefloors as HNQO, is on his way to Australia to play a series of gigs across the country including Vivid Sydney's Terminal Projekt. Ahead of his tour we fired some questions his way about his the scene in Brazil, his fledgling Playperview label and visiting Australia.

Pulse: You were studying World Business at university last year. Are you still doing that, or is DJing now your full time job? HNQO: Yes, was on college and studying world business but as soon as the gigs schedule got tight i had to quit it and now music is my full time job.

What’s the scene like in your hometown in Brazil? Brazil's south is now on fire regarding the house music scene, we have super great clubs such as Warung, D-Edge and my beloved Club Vibe, which is located in Curitiba, my city. Club Vibe is a magical place to me, we have the main acts going from 3am till the sun comes up and some great after parties upstairs, facing the sky and breathing fresh air while enjoying good music. I haven't heard any DJ say less than "amazing" when i ask about how fun it was to DJ there.

You’ve recently wrapped up a tour of the UK – how did it go? Where did you play? In the UK I've been playing the Magna Carta, Kumasic, MINT and FreQklash parties. It's one of the places i like most and i always have a great time when I'm DJ'ing in England.

Your track ‘Don’t Stop’ has just been released on Jackmode Records, but that took 2 years to happen. Why is that? I was planning to release this track on my label Playperview, but since i've joined the Jackmode agency and became friends with the crew I decided to sign it on their label and get it released on their 5th anniversary compilation. I don't have a steady reason for making it so late, but anyways, the track got great feedbacks and i'm happy that it's now officially released!

What’s new with your label Playperview? What have you got coming up in terms of new releases? We're working out a great 2013 for the label and so far we have names like Pillowtalk, Giom, MK, Fabø, Funky Fat and more, upcoming on the next releases.

How do you go about writing a track? Do you start with an idea, a sample, inspiration from your country? I'm normally inspired by the drums on the hip hop tracks i use to listen to. The write down comes naturally as I feel inspired and comfortable with what i'm creating. Being from Brazil, i think that it adds some latin grooves to my music and even my sets, which I really like and I'm really proud of.

Last time we spoke you were making music off an old notebook and an M-Audio sound card. Have you been able to upgrade anything? Any new toys? I've got new sound card and a new iMac, but after that I went touring and i'm still working to set up a new and proper studio. I'm excited to be back at home and work on it as well as on some new tracks.

Who are some DJs or producers who are inspiring you at the moment? I really like Green Velvet (Cajmere), Kink, Trentemoller, Stimming and somer other acts out there, but regarding inspiration, I love to get it from everywhere, like the music some of the drivers use to listen while driving me to hotels or parties. It can be really inspiring or sometimes really funny.

What are you looking forward to about your first trip to Australia? Will you get much time off to relax and do some touristy stuff? I'm excited about the whole thing; the gigs, the places i'm gonna visit within the two weeks of stay, the food I'll be getting and to learn a little bit of the culture out there. It's gonna be an amazing time, I'm pretty sure!

Name five tracks that you’re likely to drop whilst here in Oz.

Dake - 'With All'

Dimitri Nakov - 'Fire in My Heart feat. Cari Golden (HNQO Remix)'

Funky Fat - 'Why Go Home (HNQO & Fabø Remix)', The Great Next Thing - 'Around (Pillowtalk Remix)', Spettro and Josh Dupont - 'Broken Mirrors'.

All of them upcoming on Playperview!

Listen to HNQO on Pulse Radio

Interviewed: Digweed On Playing First Movement Festival

http://pulseradio.net — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 05:56:51 +1000

Initially I was only able to chat with John Digweed before his gig at Movement Festival for a few minutes in the Beatport Lounge as the rain began to steadily increase outside. As we walked together on stage, and John began to prepare his set up, I was surprised to see the crowd held steadfast. The rain was coming in sideways, stage roof above doing very little to protect us all. Blue tarp had been set up to cover the equipment, but inspite of that, extra towels were needed to wipe down the CDJs. A few photographers were scurrying around me, managing to cover their cameras with plastic bags, as I stood in amazement. No rain jacket of my own, I stood in a simple sweater still swaying to the beat as Digweed dropped his intro track. Within minutes, I was two-stepping to the beat in a puddle of water right behind him.

I was wowed by his performance amidst the trying conditions, and likewise taken aback by the festival goers who refused to leave. John shared my sentiments, because he too whipped out his own personal digital camera to capture the craziness of it all. I couldn't help but follow up with him after his gig with a few questions (after the video) about playing in such an amazing situation.

You're closing Beatport stage tonight at Movement, what's your history with Movement? Well I've never played the Movement Festival in Detroit, so I'm a little bit nervous but excited as well. First time here, but I played the one in Italy, which is really good.

Whats your impression of Detroit? I've always had a good time. I used to play at Cargo and Clutch, the two clubs here. I've played here about 3 or 4 times, but this is the first time doing a sort of big festival.

What are the rumors you've heard about this festival? I know that it's definitely, in terms of festivals, a pure music crowd that wants to hear good electronic music without all the gimmicks. I think America needs festivals like that, you can't just have everything the same. I'm doing Electric Daisy Carnival in Vegas next month and in that same world, that's an amazing festival as well, but it's completely different than what today is. I think that this is a festival from the heart of music lovers, promoters, and like-minded DJs.

Do you find it surprising that a festival like Movement brings in more people than some more commercial festivals? Well, I think that it shows the strength of DJs when they're united together playing and a city where, when that amount of people turn up, is so good for the economy. I mean the hotels and restaurants, the whole infrastructure benefits from a festival like this. So its not only a fantastic thing musically, but I think economically as well, it's great for the city. One of the best festivals in the world is happening in Detroit, that can only be a good thing as well.

What was your first (rainy) impression of playing the festival? I had a great time at the festival! It was such a shame that the weather turned for the worse on the last day of the festival. The crowd was there and in the mood to party, but when you are soaked through to your bones, it can take the edge off your enjoyment a little.

Was this the biggest storm or most difficult circumstances you've played in? I played the Main Stage at Ultra back in 2007 and the rain poured down then, which was a pretty tough environment to play in but this was by far the most difficult gig due to weather that I have ever played.

How do you approach a set like that, when it's difficult to see what you're doing as well reading the crowd? I wanted to play the best I could under the circumstances. The crowd could have easily just left when the bad weather came, but the majority of them stayed and made the best of it. The dance area in front of me started to develop a hole in the middle of the dance floor. It was not until I saw a video from the crowd did I realize that there was a pool of water over a foot deep with people dancing into it. It was a Woodstock moment for many that night and I am glad that my set kept the crowd rocking until the end.

Do you take into consideration your own well being? When playing in cold or wet situations like that, where do you draw the line? There were several things going through my mind - getting electrocuted for one!!! Also, it would not be a good start to my tour getting sick from the cold and wet. Luckily, none of the above happened and my set has been a positive talking point since the event.

Listen to John Digweed on Pulse Radio

No Requests: A Quick Chat With Brooklyn's Max Pask

http://pulseradio.net — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 00:45:11 +1000

Ahead of playing the Throne of Blood Party by Sheik'N'Beik this Saturday in New York City, we chatted with Max Pask, also one half of Populette, about the New York electronic music scene, being a part of the Throne of Blood family, his thoughts on DJ requests and more. Max also put together an exclusive mix for Pulse Radio, that we're rocking out to here in the Pulse US headquarters. It's a diverse hour full of 80's influenced freestyle house, tinged with delightful acid notes making it a groovy mix to get your freak on.

What was your thought process behind this mix? It's just a collection of tracks I've enjoyed hearing and playing in recent times. As always, I try and showcase stuff from the Throne of Blood / Let's Play House catalogues. For example the Red Axes remix of Split Secs, which comes out on TOB in a few weeks, and the latest LPH by Tippy Toes.

How would you characterize the difference between your alias Populette and Max Pask? Max Pask & Maxime is me on my own, while Populette is a collaboration with my good friend Andrew Potter, who is also Throne of Blood's art director.

What's the history between you and Throne of Blood? The label was founded by The Rapture guys and James Friedman, who are all very close friends. James, Andrew Potter and I were roommates about ten years ago. TOB is a family affair...

Photo by Sean Dack

As a local New Yorker on a label that's based here, what do you think are some of the parts of the scene and what still has room for improvement? The New York dance music scene is a lot better and varied today than it was when I arrived thirteen years ago. There are many great events going on any given week end now because everyone tours the US these days, there are more venues and more people getting involved in promoting and putting parties on. I guess there's always room for improvement, but we're in a good place at the moment.

If you weren't making house music, what would you be doing? Are you currently a full time producer? I really don't know. It would have to be something related to music. I used to work as a sound engineer in the ad business and I learned a lot about production and studio stuff in those days. But, I was not made to record and mix jingles for twelve hours a day, so I quit doing that at the end of 2004. I've been working in the studio during the week and DJing on the weekends since then.

Photo by Sean Dack

Have you played Sheik'N'Beik parties before? I played their 5th anniversary party in February and it was really great. That's why I wanted to partner with them on a Throne of Blood event, since they do it right and they're super nice.

What are three pieces of equipment or gear that are on top of your wish list? I'd like to get a second Oberheim SEM, they're really great paired up. I dream of having the ARP Sequencer to pair up with my 2600. I'd love a really nice analog board too. Analog gear is a bit of an addiction.

Oberheim SEM

Who was your musical influence that still has an impact today? Tough question…Chicken Lips and their multiple aliases and side projects come to mind.

What's the worst request you've gotten as a DJ? They all pretty much suck.The act itself is lame in the first place. Bottom line is, people who make requests are wankers.

What are some of your favorite spots to play around the world? I really like playing in Paris when all my old friends show up, it's always special.

To see Max Pask play this Saturday, click here to purchase tickets.

Listen to Max Pask on Pulse Radio

Inside Info with Martin Stimming

http://pulseradio.net — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 00:05:34 +1000

In the December of 2011 new year of 2012 I found myself in the heart of Hamburg, I was visiting my long-time friend and musical hero and collaborator Martin Stimming. The idea was to chill touch base and maybe work on new tracks. Martin whispered new of a third album but when Martin whispers he smiles and all you hear are hisses and what not. Well know Martin is being very vocal and clear about his newest project. I sat down with the squire and minced a few words with him regarding the new album which is out on June 3 at all good music stores.

The sound of Martin Stimming has been absent for a few months now, what has changed and how is this album a reflection of who you are now compared to your last albums? Hey Laz, nice to talk to you! Well, I was working hard during my absence, there was this album which I finished around February this year, and I also made three remixes, one for Aufgang, another one for Yoko Duo and the last one for Ian Pooley. This pretty much answers your question - I work harder and more focussed now?

From having listened to the new album extensively I found to be more musical, there is a symphonic orchestral feel to the album, talk us through what were your influences and inspirations for this album and what about the Baltic Sea inspired you so much? Thanks my man, the Baltic Sea inspired me a lot, but not musically. The main influence was the confrontation with myself - I´ve been there for 5 weeks, alone, my girlfriend visited me during weekends. So I had enough time to think about myself, but strangely enough I didn’t come to any point. Therefore I needed another couple of months. But one thing I realized was that I wasn´t really able to be alone completely. And this was a big step forward. The story I tell on my new album is about fighting with myself, learning to handle me and my demons. This track: “Die Taube auf dem Dach” is about a pigeon on the roof, which feels like freedom in my hand - it’s very difficult to catch a pigeon ;)

From a technical perspective what has changed in equipment and techniques in the making of this album and maybe your live sets? Basically nothing changed that much, but I summed everything on an analogue mixer (ssl xdesk) which makes a difference in sound instead of mixing all in the box. I still use Cubase5 for making music and Ableton for playing live. So, when I finished the album and remixes I focussed completely on my live-set. I added an analogue synth (arturia minibrute). This goes through an eventide space which enables me to play things live on top of my set - a lot of fun!

You have played in south Africa twice now, what do you think of the South African crowds in comparison to other places you have played, are we different or just the same? Oh yes, I enjoyed it a lot - especially the second time was huge for me. The reactions were very enthusiastic - more than in Europe. Maybe it’s because people in South Africa aren´t this filled up with music as we are in Northern Hemisphere.

I find it interesting that you are using your own vocals in some of your songs, what is your impression of vocals in electronic music and how do you approach a vocal? Vocals always carry a specific message - that’s why I hesitate a lot about vocals. You made some very beautiful lyrics on “the song” and “change” which worked very well with the story-telling formula (a formula which always has been a part of techno) but for my album I was more interested in combining song-structures with an underground sound. “Die Taube auf dem Dach” was my first real song text so it was a very obvious decision to sing by my own.

Finally what is Martin Stimming’s CD player at the moment and what you are playing on your Xbox, the last time we met you were very much into Batman Arkham Asylum in fact you claimed to be Batman at some stage ha! (Laughs) I discovered Ryūichi Sakamoto recently - he´s a Japanese Composer and his solopiano album “playing the piano” is a very, very beautiful piece of work. And I´m not playing Xbox anymore - it kinda bores me. Apart from that: I AM Batman!

Track Listing - STIMMING

01 the origin    7:21
02 Ferdinand    6:57
03 Uberblick    5:40
04 cherry bud    1:13
05 Strassenszene    5:46
06 fromonecell    6:58
07 Die Taube auf dem Dach    7:15
08 die wahren mächtigen    8:13
09 dylans theme    7:28
10 cherry blossom    7:01
11 feeding seagulls    2:47

Sascha Dive: Into The Magic

http://pulseradio.net — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 23:59:46 +1000

Another summer, another season on the Balearic island of Ibiza is about to kick off. As local and familiar to the clubbers and residents as a bottle of Heribas, Sven Vaeth's Cocoon brand have landed on the island ready for a brand new season at Club Amnesia. Year after year the brand bring their on flavours of house, techno and minimal to the island as they book the biggest DJs on the planet to play the season long residency. As their opening party edges closer on June 10th - featuring Guy Gerber, Ricardo Villalobos and Julien Bracht - Pulse have an exclusive mix from long-standing resident, Frankfurt producer and Ibiza 2013 mainstay Sascha Dive to share with you. Listen to the mix, get your bags packed and prepare for another summer at the forefront of clubbing in 2013 as he talks the changing face of clubbing, the island and Germany's GEMA plague besides more.

Pulse: Sascha, we’re about to begin another season in Ibiza. As a regular to the island, are you excited about 2013? Sascha Dive: Ah yes, of course! I’m always excited and really looking forward to it. Particularly I’m looking forward to another Cocoon season at Amnesia of course and Im really looking forward to the opening party. This year the island is going to be great – at Cocoon the parties are going to be wilder and crazier than the last years.

How do you feel about the changing vibe on the island? It seems that the general feeling is bringing in more diverse and experimental music… even you guys have booked some surprising additions… I feel the island is changing for the better for more underground electronic music parties. The year before (and even the year before) there seemed to be lots of very cheap, not very good quality music around. But more quality DJs are coming to the island and it’s balancing out. There are great clubs there.

And the issue of Cocoon’s flagship club in Frankfurt closing… this came as a surprise to many dance music fans around the globe. This with the closure of clubs seems to be happening everywhere. It seems that these days I play most of my dates and DJ bookings outside of Germany. It’s partly because of the GEMA thing but also because people don’t really go out in clubs in Germany at the moment. It’s a difficult situation. Also – in terms of Cocoon – the club was far too big for a small town such as Frankfurt. It was a big concept so it’s a shame it had to shut down.

It’s happening all round the world that the bigger clubs are shutting – here in London there aren’t many big clubs left. But is this a good thing in the long run, to let the underground come through a little bit more and, essentially, take it back to where it came from? I think a lot of parties are coming through and it’s always a good thing to see. In London you seem to have lots more of these warehouse parties and things seem to be moving to that underground, even illegal. It’s not bad at all, but it shall help the scene to get a little bit smaller & help more quality control. Every ten years these things seem to change though.

Tell us about the mix you’ve given us, caught live… is it a typical set of yours or archetypal to your usual sets? It is actually, it’s a typical Sascha Dive set. The mix is particularly groovy and full of big club tracks. A live recording, 2 turn-tables and one mixer. The way it should be – and people can get here exactly what they’d expect from me in the club.

I read a quote from you gave from a couple of years ago, here you state. 'It's not good to stay in one place... not in business, not in life' - where to next in terms of aesthetics and more? Have you got some big plans to go in a fresh direction? My idea is to be putting more into my label, Deep Vibes. I’ve got a big release coming from Reboot and a gorgeous house track coming from Marco Styx, really nice and long. And then I’ll be releasing my album but that’s going to have more vocal stuff in it, more instrumental work used. Every time I get in the studio, I learn more about the processes and learn new things as I go. I’ve also got this latest track out on Rekids too – I’m very, very busy [laughs].

Outside of Ibiza, do you have many big commitments for the summer in terms of touring and DJ dates? Yeah I have lots. I’ll be playing South America again, and I think I’ll be touring a lot. And FINALLY, I have got some bookings in Germany too.

Sascha plays for Cocoon Ibiza all season long, kicking off on June 10th for the brand's opening party. See underneath for a link to tickets.

Opening Party Line-up:
Main Room:
Sven Väth
Sascha Dive
Guy Gerber live

Terrace
Ricardo Villalobos
Dorian Paic
Julien Bracht live

Tickets

Download Pulse.128 - Sascha Dive here.

Listen to Sascha Dive on Pulse Radio.

6th Borough Project: Brothers Of Groove

http://pulseradio.net — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 14:30:29 +1000

Seeing as Graeme Clark was already heading down under to play at Vivid Sydney's Terminal Projekt as The Revenge, he thought why not bring along his 6th Borough Project partner-in-crime Craig Smith? Makes sense to us - now Australia gets double the dose of goodness, with the pair playing a selecton of DJ dates in Adelaide, Melbourne, Wollongong and Sydney. We catch up with 6th Borough Project whilst in the country to talk their new album, studio dynamics and crate digging. You can also listen to their tour mix they recorded for Sydney's Picnic.
Pulse: You’ve got a new 6th Borough Project release on the way. Tell us about it! Graeme: It's our second album, it's been a big work in progress so we should have it finished in the next couple of months with a view to getting it out by the end of the year. It'll be on the Delusions Of Grandeur label.

Graeme, you also have a new release coming up as The Revenge too, right? Can you tell us about that? Graeme: I'm starting my new label Roar Groove in July with a 12" single and mix CD featuring all new stuff based on live jams I've been working on in the studio.

You guys released your debut album ‘One Night In The Borough’ in 2011. How do you feel about the LP now that a bit of time has passed? Graeme: I've hardly listened to it actually. It was pulled together based on lots of ideas we'd worked on over a ten year period so it's gonna take a while before I can really sit down and get perspective on it. But I think it was a good representation of where we were at.

Craig: Like any creative process a bit of distance gives you perspective. So in that respect I can judge it better now and yeah I like it! When you work the close to something you some time can't see the wood from the trees.

How does the dynamic between you two work in the studio? Is one of you the ideas guy, and the other more technical, or…? Graeme: We both do the ideas and I do the engineering. Craig generally supplies the vinyl inspiration for the tracks. We'll start with a tone or a sample from a record and then build from there.

Craig: Gareme's one the smartest guys I've worked with in a studio so there is a lot of things he can do a lot better than me, so it is defined. I'll come with samples and ideas and he'll start editing them up and I'll start knocking some beats out. He'll start playing a melody or bassline on the keyboard then maybe I'll find a little riff; very comfortable really. With things like the final mix and mastering he's had proper sound engineering training so it makes sense for him to do that. I can do it, but as I said before he's much better!

The whole ‘disco revival’ that happened a few years ago (which can somewhat be attributed to both of you!), do you find that it’s still vibing now? It feels to me like it was more than just a phase. Graeme: Disco has been around for a long time, and never really went away. It morphed into house and techno and still included lots of references to disco records over the years. The hedonism and optimism of Disco has always been present in our records, it's never been about fashion, just passion.

Craig: House is disco, disco is house so it never changes for me.

I’ve asked a few artists this recently and I think it’s fitting to get your opinion too! What do you make of the new Daft Punk album? Graeme: It's not my bag. I was obsessed with their records when the whole Roule and Crydamoure thing was kicking off, but they went somewhere else which I have no problem with but it's not for me. I like their ethos though, as they have always maintained control over their output.

Craig: Absolutely no interest in it so not heard one thing off it. I'm not hating on them, I think they're a super talented and obviously very savvy, but after their 1st LP their music didn't interest me so never bought into the hype. What I don't understand is the amount of vitriol posting on sites regarding the new LP. I think that people should maybe try and focus their energy on something more positive. If it bothers you that much, do something creative. Too many keyboard warriors these days.

How do you guys go about DJing together? Do you get together beforehand and work out a little bit how or what you’re going to play? Graeme: Nope, we just turn up and feed off each other. I believe in being prepared to DJ in terms of taking a selection of stuff, but it's all about the moment and that makes me excited which hopefully translates to the audience. We all experience the same moment for the first time together. Playing live as a band is a different story, but I think it's important to be spontaneous as a DJ.

Craig: I always think planning a DJ set, whether playing together or on your own is a recipe for disaster. We just vibe off each other, much more spontaneous and enjoyable for us and the crowd.

You’re both obviously big vinyl collectors. Where is your favourite store in the world to go digging and why? Graeme: Craig is a much more obsessive collector than me. I buy very sporadically when I've got some time or when I'm looking for something particular. I had fun in New York recently and remembered how much fun it is to have a dig.

Craig: 21s Century Soul in New Jersey, Rootdown in Osaka, Amoeba in LA/San Fran, too many to name. I can find good records anywhere. Sometimes my best finds have been in the most unlikely places. Graeme can probably tell you I'm a wee bit obsessive about it, always have been.

What’s one your most treasured records in your collection? Graeme: Captain Zoom's 'Graeme (It's Your Birthday)'.

Craig: Again far too many to pick a favourite, but the most treasured is 'Turnbull's Tornados' by Hiberian Football Club as it was the first record I was given.

What’s coming up for 6th Borough Project for the rest of this year? Craig: The album will take up most of the time. I've just started a new vinyl only label called 'Fifty Fathoms Deep' with my friend Peter Oakden, so will be putting a lot of time into that. Also look out for some solo stuff after the year.

Graeme: Finish the album, finish the album, finish the album!

What’s coming up for The Revenge for the rest of this year? Graeme: More output for the new label and working on a live show for next year.

If you could have a dinner with anyone living or dead, who would it be and why? Craig: My Grandfather on my dads side. He died before I was born so I never meet him. Would love to heard his stories

Graeme: Jerry Garcia. The Grateful Dead were pretty influential for lots of reasons and he seems like a cool cat.

6th Borough Project tour dates:
31.05.13 - Sugar, Adelaide
01.06.13 - New Guernica, Melbourne
02.06.13 - Parkside Warehouse party, Wollongong [BUY]
07.06.13 - Picnic @ The Burdekin, Sydney [BUY]

The Revenge tour dates:
08.06.13 - Liberty Social Club, Melbourne
09.06.13 - Terminal Projekt, Sydney [BUY]

Listen to 6th Borough Project on Pulse Radio

Ion Ludwig - Feeding The Inner Drive

http://pulseradio.net — Fri, 31 May 2013 20:22:23 +1000

With Echo Festival in Croatia only a week away, we thought it would be as good an opportunity as ever to try to uncloak perhaps the most unassuming of the festival’s headliners – Dutch producer/live artist, Ion Ludwig.

This self-professed studio obsessive has maintained a low-key profile throughout the years, something that does not do his 30-something EPs and two albums-strong discography justice. His intricate vision of minimal, jazz, house and techno has seen releases on weighty underground labels ranging from Butane’s Alphahouse, to Baby Ford’s Trelik, Stock 5, Resopal and Tenth Circle, with constant support from the leading innovators of house and techno. Ion – real name Koos – got candid when speaking about his meticulous approach to producing and performing live, Berlin, his recent hook up with the Toi.Toi. agency, and his expectations of the Echo Festival. Admittedly, we were less successful in extracting any more info about his new, much talked about vinyl-only imprint, UGold Series…

Firstly, there doesn’t appear to be that many interviews with you... Now, this can seem somewhat misleading, if considering the generous body of work on reputable labels that is attached to your name. Would you say that keeping a low profile has been somewhat of a conscious decision? Indeed, interviews I have done are rare. Being a low profile character has not been an intentional choice, however since I have been making music, the content has been most important. Of course I have made choices that led me in a more business-driven direction, but in the end I always follow my feeling of truth and honesty. Truth and honesty are keeping you low profile in our world full of screaming, lying and shouting artists, promoters, labels and clubs.

Born in the Dutch town of Kring van Dorth, via student life in Leeuwarden, you started making music at the age of 17, and by 21 you’d already released your first record. Would you like to tell us a bit more about those early years, what got you into music in the first place and, maybe more specifically, what tuned your ears towards electronic music? Well, I was born in Zwolle, a little provincial town 40 km north of Deventer, where I live these days. Growing up in an isolated place like Kring van Dorth kept me away from worldly influences. As I have two older sisters they where the first to influence my musical taste, as well as my mom and dad, of course. My oldest sister was quite early into techno music, so when I was around 14 or 15 I got to know her CDs with techno. Quite fast I got sucked into electronic music, and felt that I could make electronic music.

When did you initially introduce your live performance? Does it differ much now from the set-up then? Would you care to talk us through it? My first live performance was during ADE in 2005 at Club 11, Amsterdam. At that time it was very basic. I used Ableton 3, which was not capable of looping sound clips, so I cut up my tracks in about eight layers and played that back, mixing the layers in my computer with a MIDI controller, sending out through one stereo line channel on a mixer. This slowly developed towards a point where I started to use shorter loops instead of arrangements, where I kept the themes of tracks in a full arrangement. My interest in hardware got bigger, and as soon as I had a couple of instruments I felt that I wanted to try to play with them on stage. At some point I returned to Club 11 on a night with Len Faki back in 2008, and played a full hardware-set with Korg Electribes, looper and Vermona DRM MKIII. I found out that it was way too early to take that step: The skills you develop in a studio-environment are not directly usable in a club setting, this I had to learn.

And nowadays..? Nowadays I am 10 times ahead of structuring a live-performance. Most important is to be able to re-create my studio-setup on stage in a compact way. I use about five stereo line channels on a mixer, where I use effects that are on the send/return channels, just like in a studio environment. Spreading the signals out of my soundcard and always bringing a drum computer or synth, beside the enormous Ableton sets I carry with me. When I start playing I focus on the words: ‘play live as if you where in the studio’. When I get to that mind state I start to re-create new mixes, arrangements and even sounds. With all that material and technical possibilities, the flow of my sets got what I want them to have.

What motivates you on the night in the club, dictating in which direction you are taking your performance? Is there something in particular that triggers your creativity and flow? That inner drive can be fed by many things. Most important to me, is that the situation 'around' creativity and flow is right. That means that my mind needs to be to be free of other occupations. When there are things that need my attention, being creative and getting into a flow is very hard, maybe impossible. So the stronger my focus gets on creation, the better I come into this flow. Focus is my first trigger.

You moved to Berlin in 2005 for a four-year long stunt, where you were also able to develop your live in the settings of beloved landmark clubs like Club der Visionaere and Weekend, alongside familiar faces such as Villalobos and Zip. How did this impact your sound? That period in Berlin made a huge impact on my musical taste and production work. Club der Visionaere was the embodiment of that sound from Berlin, which influenced me so much. The artists who played CDV at that time where big names, and they still are today. I saw CDV as an intimate and ultimate club to express my musical language. In fact, it took quite some time before I got the opportunity to play. The closed culture that CDV had at that time made it an institution for me, which was not easy to be part of. Looking back, I was looking for a place to connect to and feel part of. The people at Weekend Club gave me similar opportunities to play at their club, especially when I did a few Quagmire label nights, where I was able to invite other artists that I felt connected to.

You closed the Berlin chapter with the album ‘Free K. Loudwiggle’, released on your own imprint Quagmire LTD in 2010, before returning to your home turf of Netherlands. What was the main motivation behind that album? Can you tell us a bit about its concept and musical narrative? You only pressed 200 copies, which all came with hand-made artwork and covers? I actually finished ‘F.K.L’ when I was back in Holland, January 2010. By that time I had a whole back catalogue of tracks, sketches and songs created in Berlin. Quagmire had gained some weight over the years in Berlin, and I felt ready to show some of the work I had done in Berlin, on Quagmire LTD in album form. A wide variety of tracks had to be pinpointed towards some kind of homogeneous sound. I took around two weeks to mixdown all the tracks in a more balanced way, where the mixes spoke with the same colour, loudness and depth. There was not a real concept behind that album, it was more an accumulation of sounds and styles I had been developing in Berlin over the years. The title suggests a release of a new moniker, closer to my personal identity. Indeed, it had a lot to do with closing a chapter, and presenting the ideas I had worked on Berlin. The limitedness of the album was the outcome of a strong wish to make this available to just a handful of people, due to the fact that I wanted it to be as personal as possible. Because of that, I chose to let every single copy slide through my hands to make them unique.

Your output showcases an expansive musical palette and an array of influences, suggestively drawing on different encounters – African percussion being just one example. What is your greatest source of inspiration when it comes to production – how do you reinvigorate your musical self? The greatest source of inspiration is my inner drive to express myself in the ‘musical language’. To be able to speak that language in an inspirational way, you need to find the right words to say what you want. In order to do that, you need to expand your vocabulary, find words and make them yours so that you can be clear on what to say. So in the end you need new 'books' with new words and sentences that expand your language. This you can compare to new instruments and new skills that are needed to play these instruments.

In an increasingly saturated electronic market, where the supply is overtaking demand and many producers – in feeling the competitive heat – seemingly opt for putting out filler tracks, the thought-provoking intricacy and sheer density of your tracks are conspicuous. Where do you start when making a track? Switching on two main power switches that lights up all the machinery. From there it’s pressing play on the master machine and everything starts running. What happens then is subject to my focus. This can be anything – it’s hard to describe. After a couple of minutes the energy is there and I route my studio sound into the rest of my house, letting it ripe. Then I wait for the moment when the music really grasps me and I record the whole thing at once, shape it, re-record it and so on. I don’t do much in the studio; the ensemble of machinery makes music by itself.

Last year, online underground circuits were abuzz following the inception of your brand new vinyl only label Ugold Series – the first release ‘SOS Tribute’ (signed yourself) spread like wildfire, accompanied by a clip of Ricardo Villalobos dropping it in fabric’s room 1. This year, stepping up for the second offering, was none other than revered UK producer and techno vanguard Baby Ford with his ‘Curfew / Snakes & Ladders’ – presenting a stripped back, yet hypnotic lesson in minimalism. Consequently, you have a whole lot of people on their toes in anticipation for the next release…! Would you like to tell us a bit more about the concept of the label – and, if you can, disclose anything of what is in store? Ugold Series, as the name suggests, is a label that I have started in series, in co-operation with DD distribution (say: Double Dee). As the question suggests, it’s pure conceptual. What’s in store is U.S I and II, III coming soon...

How and when did the hook up with the Toi.Toi. Agency happen? In November 2012 I got invited to play at a Toi.Toi. night through David Koch, AKA Dewalta. I had heard of them before, as the line-ups of the parties stood out, and brought so many of the DJs and artists I had known for quite some time. The night in East London was a hot and sweaty one, with a crowd that is incredibly eager to show what they have got. What happened afterwards is that my flight got rebooked in the blink of an eye, and the Toi.Toi. crew brought me to the darkest club I had yet to experience. Fabric. That’s when the big R played SOS and stirred up the whole weekend, well into the week. Fruitful, thank you.

You are joining the Toi.Toi. crew to Echo Festival in Croatia in June, where they are hosting a stage with Audio Werner, Voigtmann, Lamache and more to be announced – and you are set to play the Main Stage, alongside artists such as Pedro, MCDE, Andres, John Roberts Live and more. The Toi.Toi. family is pulling a host of dedicated supporters from London and the rest of Europe for the occasion – no doubt it will be a massive fiesta.;) What are your expectations of the festival? Four days and nights of Eastern European heat, with many people I love around me. Sunshine, sunburn, beaches, live-jams, girlfriends, boyfriends. Bliss.

Lastly, would you name the 3 most influential records that have played a part in shaping Ion Ludwig, today?

Franz Liszt – Hungarian Rhapsody

Ravi Shankar – Raga Rasia

Ion Ludwig – SOS Tribute

You can catch Ion Ludwig at the Echo Festival, set on the beach of Kanegra with the azure waters of the Adriatic sea as backdrop, alongside Pedro, Audio Werner, Anthea and Toi.Toi. residents Lamache and Voigtmann on Saturday June 8.

Echo Festival 2013 at Kanegra Beach

Thursday, 6 - 9 June 2013
Kanegra Beach, Umag, Croatia

Listen to Pulse Radio.

Fresh Blood: Scrimshire

http://pulseradio.net — Fri, 31 May 2013 18:20:10 +1000

'Bight' is out now on Wah Wah 45s.

Listen to Scrimshire on Pulse Radio.

Will Saul: Come a Little Closer

http://pulseradio.net — Fri, 31 May 2013 00:41:54 +1000

Will Saul has become one of the UK's hottest underground producer and DJ exports. Long established for his defying DJ skills and his labels Simple Records and - in more recent times - Aus Music, Will has remained a beacon for the underground side of electronic music, mixing elements of dub, house, techno and sharply cut melodies. Recently the producer released under the moniker Close, sporting a brand new album under a fresh alias. After teasing us through some elusive singles, Will eventually revealed himself to be the creator of a more poppy, song written direction. Joe Gamp caught up with him one blustery afternoon in Shoreditch and got a little closer.

Your new project, can you give us a brief synopsis of it? It's been about three years in the writing. In terms of it becoming Close, that happened pretty organically. I just started writing a new album and about half way through it, wanted to do an album in the album sense of the word, lots of different styles that I'm into and wanted to work with vocalists but didn't think much more about it than that. Then about halfway through I realised I was working with a lot of different people and there was a lot of layers to the writing process, I was starting writing on a lot of tracks down in Brighton with Fink… he's one of my best mates, so we were recording his drummer and bass player and sending those loops out to people and once we got the vocals back I was going in with Tam (again my old cohort) and working on it in a more electronic sense with a lot of outboard synths and stuff like that. The process became a lot of collaborations so I didn't really feel completely comfortable calling it a Will Saul album as it wasn't just me. By then I started thinking about not wanting to release it myself and to maybe send it out to a few other labels because it was also a little bit poppier and a different project. I wanted to send it out completely anonymously so that people listen to it with no preconceptions; I then started thinking it would be nice to sort of maybe create a different alias around it and actually give it a bit of an identity.

How difficult was it to get people like Little Dragon stuff like that onto the record, was it again working with old affiliations and relationships that helped that along? In terms of the remixes obviously Scuba was an old friend so I asked if I could remix one of his tracks, and then for Little Dragon we were working with Charlene Soraia who's signed to Peacefrog Records. I contacted her and said can I remix something for you so it was through manufacturing the remixes that enabled me to crete my identity in the wider world.

So how about when were looking for people to remix your tunes, were you approaching those guys or did you find that people were approaching you to do a remix, I notice you've got Hercules and Love Affair...? That came about through K7, they manage Hercules and Love affair, Scuba and George Fitzgerald obviously both friends of mine through working with me through AUS same as with Midland and Dusky for the second single, so those guys are very much my crew, but Hercules was K7's doing...

You released some records anonymously didn't you... Well we released a few remixes anonymously and a few promos anonymously and then we built a little website with three tracks from the album and that was enough really to get it out there and get it signed. That's all it was really designed to do With the anonymity sort of thing the name fitted with that too – Close in terms of wanting to keep it close to my chest. Being close to the chest also represents the sort of sound I wanted to achieve with the album in terms of being soulful. It wasn't a masterplan that was set out from the beginning, it just sort of organically fell into place along the way...

It's quite nice to hear that considering a lot of people seem to peruse other monikers a lot recently, giving you lots of alter egos and different sounds and sometimes in my opinion it can seem a little contrived. There is a little bit more of a marketing mechanic behind it, so it's really nice to hear someone doing it naturally. It didn't happen deliberately, it happened mostly due to the way the project developed, in terms of layers of collaborations and where the name came from and not wanting it to be listened to with any preconceived ideas of people we were sending it to. Beyond that there isn't really much more, it's sort of developed into what I would call my album project. I'm still going to keep releasing Will Saul stuff and probably going to spend the next six months writing really hard as nails club music, because I've written this stuff for the past 3 years and that will come out on its own name.

How did everyone start to realise that it was you? I told people (laughs). The record label were like once I got it signed were kind of we want to make use of whatever little fan base you do have and let people know that it is you because we think it will help the record. I think, because we did have some major label interest, I think if I'd ended up signing to a major record label then I think they would have had the marketing budget for it not to matter in terms of they would have had the money to pump in.

How difficult has it been to manage your labels... It's not actually difficult to do it, but, because the record labels have been there longer and the catalogue has grown and the amount of accounting I have to do for all the artists every year, over a hundred releases down the line, it's quite a big job, so that definitely takes up more and more time, so the album sort of happened as It happened. I've not been able to do it any quicker than that. But hopefully next year I will be able to spend a lot more time writing music. We've got Leon Vynehall, then an EP in July from Common, which is Common as Muck, then in the Autumn will have a Dusky EP, a Krystal Klear EP and another one from Midland and George (Fitzgerald) but that's probably gonna be the beginning of next year.

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You've got such a tight-knit crew it's kind of like your sound can really be defined as an AUS track. You're forming a really solid crew with Midland, George Fitzgerald and more. How did you come to choose these guys to work with? It was really just right place right time I think that initially reaching out to Appleblim all those years ago when he'd just done his Tempa mix, at that time when the sound was sort of dubstep was becoming more than just wobbly basslines. I was really excited by that and reached out to him and he then started sending me out records he was working on for AUS and I guess through him, he has always had a really eclectic taste and he was always into house and techno so he was like I love AUS, I'd love to release on AUS because of his love of other things other than dubstep. I met Ramadanman through him and he started sending me stuff, and Midland through him and slowly it started to develop. The Joy Orbison thing happened entirely though me just hearing his first record and not even getting halfway through it and going right, find this guy. It was back in the Myspace days so I was able to talk to him within a couple of hours, and it was just one of those lucky scenarios where I was listening to the promo about two minutes after it was sent out

Talk to us about the live show for Close – you rehearsed it at Fabric didn't you... Yeah we rehearsed and then performed it in Fabric in February and it went really well, but only because me and Al (Al Tourettes who plays drums for it) had rehearsed the shit out of it for a long while, we got it really tight and that paid off as we were both absolutely terrified before doing it, him because he's drumming in it and hasn't really done any performance drumming for a long while since his early days of being in a band, and me because I don't perform live, I DJ, but yeah it was amazing. It went really well, it's now figuring out recorded it properly. Because it's an audio/visual show it's quite difficult to pitch to promoters how, we've just done a little video for it, we went back into Fabric a couple of weeks ago and so that they can see it, so we've now done a little video of it that captures the show. We're behind a really thin large screen and there’s lighting in front of it and behind and a lighting engineer and there’s an hour of exclusively shot footage from the show and the lighting behind and in front means you can either see us or not at all, the backlight means that you don't see through the screen, there’s a projection with a lot of cinematic stuff so the lighting in-front and behind almost takes it to a kind of holographic feel.

Is it going to be logistically quite difficult to get out there? We've literally just had a meeting about it and the difficulty starts when you start to put it in the day, or when you start to put it on really big stages like festivals you need to think about the size of the screen, and suddenly, with a really big screen, you become to small in terms of the rest. It is a logistical nightmare. Also a lot of the lighting levels its been developed around have only just been released..they've just been made so the backlighting isn't available in every country so...

You're not going to be able to just pop down to the shop to get a couple of light bulbs I guess.... No, it's very expensive to do it out because a lot of the stuff is very expensive to hire. We're going to do a show over the summer with Red Bull and we'll do select festival appearances over the autumn then we'll really start to get it going as project once the album has hopefully developed a bit of momentum.

Finally, what would you say to electronic music fans or anyone who is looking for something a bit different; what would you say to them about the Close album? My final thought of the day; well it was written as an album, trying to do something that you could listen to in the car from start to finish, so I hope people actually try and consume it in that way. It was probably a little foolhardy, as it's not how many people consume music anymore, but I tried to write something that will hopefully take you away for an hour and take you different places, tempo wise. I just hope people listen to it as an album, as that's how it's intended to be listened to. None of the tracks are written with the dance floor in mind at all, some of them might translate because I like stuff that comes from that place...but at the same time listen to it with headphones. We took a lot of time and made a lot of effort writing it, and put in a lot of detail so hopefully you will discover a little bits in there that you don't hear the first time you listen to it. Fingers crossed.

Listen to Will Saul on Pulse Radio.

DVS1: "Where I Thrive"

http://pulseradio.net — Thu, 30 May 2013 20:02:00 +1000

Hailing from Minneapolis Minnesota, DJ/Producer Zak Khutoretsky, better known as DVS1 (devious one) took the time to chat with Pulse before his set at Circo Loco Munich. Check out what the expert artist and promoter has to say about the changing scene back home, his collaborations with Ben Klock and his unique appreciation for Berghain in Berlin.

Zak, as a prominent local figure back home in the Mid West since the mid nineties, your respect and soul for producing quality crafted techno has allowed you to deeply influence how the US regards electronic music. What ultimately inspired you to bring something new to the scene back then? I’m not so sure that it was something new so much as it was my take on what I was experiencing at the time. I was really lucky to be brought up in the Midwest, in the 90’s listening to this music. From the sound systems, to the vibe, to the struggles to do this music in general... I was taken to the right places and saw things I wanted to emulate. We are all influenced by the things we see and hear and ultimately I was the guy in the crowd paying attention who ended up finding my own voice.

Through your experiences, what kind of shift have you experienced in the scene back home in Minneapolis since then and where do you see it going from here? The '90s were the hay day for the underground scene, in terms of spaces, opportunity etc. It became much harder for the Scene to survive as laws changed and the city started cracking down on illegal parties. Once things moved into the clubs for a number of years, the underground lost its mass following. But with bad laws and early closing times in clubs, the underground came back. It’s still there, its smaller, it’s tougher, its tighter. But even recently we had to deal with some city and local press trying to expose our community. The reality is when a city tries to stifle a community by not allowing it to work within the law (I.E. closing times etc.) that community will find a way around it and do things on their own terms. That’s what the Minneapolis scene does.

Sounds like my next vacation might be in Minneapolis! So how has first and foremost being a DJ in the scene influenced the style and sound of the music you’re producing to date? Being a DJ has allowed me to see things from a different perspective. In Dj’ing I look for tools, parts, colors etc. I don’t necessarily want songs...I’m looking for tracks. In that sense, my tracks are simple tools made for the style and way I DJ. Sometimes they may not sound like much on their own, but in the mix, they come alive!

Being a passionate promoter in the Mid West, you’ve been gracing the US with numerous successful events and sensational techno lineups for a couple decades now. What kind of audiences have you found being drawn to the sounds of your promotion company, HUSH? I’ve tried to create a reputation for HUSH where people trust the name - where of course the name or the DJ matters, but not as much as the fact that HUSH is putting on the event. People in Minneapolis have supported me and trusted me and I’ve tried to return that trust with good sound, proper venues and experiences for my supporters.

Wise words from an experienced promoter. As an expert with the knowledge and mastery of audio engineering, DVS1’s sound is known for its captivating electronic structures and perfectly controlled chords. How would you describe your unique sound in the sets you play, which so effortlessly captures the honest soul of techno? I keep saying it over and over, but its about how it physically feels as much or more then how it sounds. If you put me on a system where I can feel all the textures and tones, I really am able to be more thoughtful with the music and the vibe. Some performers are intimidated by larger sound, but that’s where I thrive.

So, you’ve said in previous interviews that every set you play is crafted on the spot, drawing influences from your previously selected bag of wax and the emotional expression of the crowd. How do you allow your sounds to manifest themselves through the mood and energy of the specific crowd in front of you? I feed off the people. When I start I have about 30min to 1 hour of my own energy to give, the rest is what I get from the people and then it becomes a cyclical process moving forward.

As a fan, I believe that’s how it should be. It’s great to see artists capture the emotions of their crowds, it brings the two closer together. Since DVS1’s first release on Ben Klock’s label Klockworks in August 2009 (kw05), you and Klock have been closely collaborating sounds ever since then, both on and off the dance floor. What can fans expect to hear from you both in the future? More nights together playing for Klockworks showcases. Possibly some collaborations in the studio. We are both struggling with time for our own productions, but we have talked about trying some things together when the time is right!

We’re looking forward to it! More on the Klock/DVS1 sound; as most techno enthusiasts do, it seems like you have fallen in love with the techno temple that is Berghain. What about spinning in Berghain offers you the platform to express yourself in the most raw and honest way possible? It almost sounds cliché these days to mention Berghain constantly, but the reality is that as a Dj who has been given the opportunity to be myself in there, it has lived up to all the hype. I just feel completely comfortable to be myself, to stop thinking and just play music. If I didn’t have the opportunities I have there, I don’t know if I would be as fulfilled as an artist.

Very respectable. It’s true, the vibe in Berghain can’t be beat, or artists and go-ers alike. So what can we expect from you this weekend at Circo Loco Munich? Or is it up to us? Something appropriate for the moment…As I said, I give what I get..so if the sound is good and the people are into the music..I’ll give them what they need!

Listen to DVS1 and Ben Klock on Pulse Radio.

Getting Weird With dOP

http://pulseradio.net — Thu, 30 May 2013 15:24:56 +1000

Look out, the crazy Frenchmen are coming to Australia. Called by their family and friends as Damian Van de Sande, Clement Zemstov, Jonathan Illel, they are known to the electronic music world as dOP. Voted as one of the top 10 live electronic acts in the world three years in a row, the fellas are on their way down under for the first time to headline the Saturday night of Terminal Projekt with their raucous live show. Kristen Marconi got in touch with the trio recently, covering their musical instrument collections, dance moves and painting hotel rooms.
Pulse: You guys have known each other for most of your lives, do you always get along? Clement: Yes of course! But things are different now, we have girlfriends so I don’t need to sleep at Jo' s or Dam's place every night.

Jonathan: No we don’t, but we always make up in the end

What is one of your funniest memories partying together? Clement: Man I’ve a lot of them from almost every weekend. Our first time in Georgia was epic, last time too though! I remember another time when we repainted my hotel room (I can’t say where it was!). So many nights, and having fun is what we do this best so this question is very difficult to answer.

Jonathan: Too many and the best are really too hard to tell.

Damian: Hard to say, we try to have fun every weekend and even sometimes in the week. We 've been in many funny situations together.

Who are some of your favourite artists of the moment that you’re working with or want to? C: Karl Lagerfeld.

J: James Blake , Christian Löffler, Kenny G.

D: I listen to this Georgian musician Giya Kancheli at the moment. I’d love to make a song with Russian disco diva, Alla Pugacheva.

What's your favourite party to play? C: The Renate parties in general.

J: Hard to say.

D: La Boum in Renate, the first Wednesday of every month.

You’re set to play Guy Gerber's new night at Pacha, Wisdom Of The Glove. Will you wear gloves? What kind? C: Of course I’ll wear gloves - white finger cut ones with silver points on the top somewhere between tom Selles and Michael Jackson. Top shop, pal.

D: Not easy for me as I play the keyboards. I'm already not very precise.

J: I won’t wear gloves, sorry.

How would you describe Ibiza to someone who's never been? C: The most beautiful island in Europe with a strong, old culture and party culture. And of course some excess of vulgarity due to the success of Ibiza itself, but you can always skip those less cool parts and have a beautiful time, partying or not.

D: A hedonistic island.

J: It’s nice in the north.

What was the first instrument you each played? C: Piano, then drums.

D: I start with piano, but my main focus for many years was the saxophone, tenor and soprano.

J: I tried to play many, but I’m not good at learning things. Memory of a fish.

Most random instrument you've ever seen played, what was it? C: The Grin Grin - two pieces of metal with strips that you shake together. Sound is between the shaker, the hi-hat and a kind of metallic guiro. It was in West Africa.

D: Guitar.

It's said you guys collect instruments. At a guess how many instruments do you think you'd own collectively? C: Whoah, a lot man. I can’t count

D: I would say around 70.

Who's the best dancer out of the three of you? C: Depends, I am the best on the dancefloor. Jo is the best at couple dancing and Dam is the best at pool dancing.

D: Haha, not me.

J: Each one of us has his own style. We are killer, like our friend Vicky from India would say.

Favourite move? C: The washing machine of course.

D: The mop.

J: The moonwalk.

So other than the hot photo shoot on your Facebook page, can you please explain your new band/project, 'Les Fils du Cavilaire'? D: It's a pop band, only in French language. A new adventure together.

What's coming up for you that your most excited about? C: I might stop doing drugs.

J: The Australian Week End.

Have any of you been to Australia before? All: No.

What would you like to see the most when you're here? C: It’s more what I would not like to see: Spiders, bats, snakes (of the 15 most dangerous snakes in the world, 12 come from Australia), crocodiles, sharks, marine crocodiles (they are the crocodiles that eat sharks). Apart from this I am curious to meet and see all Australians, humans and animals.

D: Some crazy animals.

J: It’s a cliche but I would love to hang out with Kangaroos.

You’re in Sydney for Vivid which is, among other things. a festival of light. What's been the best visuals you've seen at an event? C: Sorry, I am blind amigo.

D: I love light creations. The best visuals I saw in the last years are made by a guy call Blake (I don't have any more information). It happened in Peru in the living room of Jay Haze. The guy gave us some glasses and showed us his creation. It was fabulous.

J: I remember a very good one in Tel Aviv, but I don’t know who it was.

Terminal Bar @ Vivid Music, Overseas Passenger Terminal, Cargo Hall:
8/9/10 June, 4pm -12am

Terminal Projekt @ Vivid Music, Overseas Passenger Terminal, Customs Hall:
08.06.13 - dOP (live), Jimmy Edgar, Sepalcure (live) [BUY TIX]
09.06.13 - Tensnake (live), HNQO, The Revenge [BUY TIX]

Listen to dOP on Pulse Radio

Pulse Loves... Iron Curtis

http://pulseradio.net — Wed, 29 May 2013 21:51:25 +1000

Making his return to Mirau Records, the artist formerly recognised as Johannes Paluka is gaining big props for his favoured alias - Iron Curtis. Ever since his debut under the Iron Curtis name, “Soft Wide Waist Band" - seeing him blend Detroit, Chicago and Hamburg into a profound dancefloor excursion - he returns with another single lifted from the LP, Horses, seeing the Berlin based artist further explore his darker, wintery side. Mr Iron stepped up for the latest Pulse Loves podcast and chatted to us further about his roots, his aims and his unwritten future.

Pulse loves... a good name. Tell us a bit about your Iron Curtis moniker? How did you get there from your given name; Johannes Paluka? To cut a long story short, I was always into finding names for my musical output (even way before the time I got the chance to release some of the music I was producing). And in that particular case it was all based on the mood I was in: It was winter, I was slightly depressed, struggling with my day-to-day life and I just came back from the movies (where I was watching Anton Corbijn's “Control” about Joy Division front man Ian Curtis). And the track I was working on that night felt different to the music I was doing before. And so I came up with “Iron Curtis” - not having in mind that this was going to be the alias I will be most recognized of.

Pulse loves... Detroit and Chicago. How have these cities had such an obvious impact on your sound considering your hometown is Nuremberg? It's the dance-music roots! I got heavily influenced by Soul and Funk (from the US, through my dad's record collection) when I was a kid, it was a sort of natural way. Of course it took me some years to dig into the house & techno music from Detroit as I started off by buying Westbam and Hardsequencer tracks when I was about 14 years old – heavily influenced by watching the Love Parade and Mayday broadcastings on Viva TV. Nürnberg was a cozy and safe place for me to grow up. Just a typical German medium-sized town, maybe the opposite to growing up in Detroit & Chicago.

Pulse loves... Berlin. You've had a steady list of shows in Berlin where you currently reside. What do you think makes the city such a creative hub that's so special to so many people? I think it's all about the people: Berlin became such a melting point of all kinds of nationalities and influences from all over the world which makes it an unique place in Germany. I really like it to play out here since there are so many different parties and clubs. Also I'm lucky to be close to people from favorite venues of mine here, for example About Blank,which always makes it fun to play there – especially since I share a common understanding of and attitude towards music with the place and the people behind it. Also I find it quite challenging to play out here: You have so many music heads and knowledge about dance music here in the city.

Pulse loves... a good tour. You've been a busy boy, having completed a host of dates in Germany, Moscow and Israel, you have a date in London and Ireland in June then off to South Africa and then the US later in the year. How do you find life on the road? How does it affect your creativity? I feel very lucky to get the chance of playing out world wide – especially since I never thought I might be able to do so when I started making music. And to be honest: whenever I hear DJs complaining about their life on the road I get pretty annoyed as I think you should always remember how lucky you are to be able to have a job that is your passion at the same time and to be able to tour because of your music or DJing. For me, touring has quite an impact on me. Coming back home from playing abroad is always intense and the total opposite of being on the road: No rush, no party, just a handful of good friends and my girlfriend around me. And after maybe a day and a few deep breaths I can focus on making music again. Of course all the impressions in my head from travelling are somehow being processed while I'm producing – but not in an obvious way.

Pulse loves... record labels. Since 2009 you've released a solid body of work on over a dozen record labels including your album last year Soft Wide Waist Band. What do you think it is about your music that everyone wants to get involved in? Well, same as having the chance to play out my music worldwide I feel honored that there are people who wanna release my tracks. I'm lucky to have a solid base with record labels like Mirau and Retreat with whom I've been working for many years now. Besides that I get requests or just meet up with people who are interested in collaborating. And if it feels right I'll do it.

Pulse loves... a man with a plan.What have you got planned for the future? Is there anything on the horizon we should be particularly excited about? Well, I would not consider myself as someone with a big master-plan. But currently I'm busy working on the Achterbahn D'Amour Album for Absurd/Acid Test - which I'm really excited about. Jool (Edit Piafra) and I recently set up a shared studio and are planning on getting the album done during the summer. Some solo stuff and remixes are also in the making as well as more stuff under Iron Curtis moniker and other aliases & collaborations (i.e. with my mate Leaves). Apart from that, I'm curious what the future has in store for me.

Horses is released through Mirau

Listen to Iron Curtis on Pulse Radio.

John Digweed: Old Guard, New Moves

http://pulseradio.net — Wed, 29 May 2013 15:55:58 +1000

After nearly 25 years in the game, infamous DJ icon John Digweed is just as busy today as he's ever been. In anticipation of his return to Australian shores for a series of gigs, we caught up with him to talk about his new live mix compilation, the dance explosion in America and what's happening with the Bedrock label - a labour of love he reveals he is still heavily involved in. We even touch on a little Daft Punk.

Pulse: Your newest mix compilation Live In Slovenia has just been released, the last of your “Live In” series. Why did you decide to release this series as commercial mix CDs? Well people these days think that music should be free, on soundcloud or in podcasts, and in some respects that’s fine – there’s a lot of great promotion you can do through those avenues. But as a record label owner and someone who’s been in the scene for many years, we thought we’d try and put out a live album series, and it worked – the reaction has been great. When I did the London one it was like a home crowd for me who loved the party and had then they had a physical memory of the night to keep forever. I don’t think soundcloud or an mp3 for that would’ve ticked the box, but something that’s packaged well with pictures from the night is really special. We’re not trying to change everyone’s mindset, but the fact that these albums do really well shows that there is a demand for it. We were blown away by the reaction to the first one in Cordoba, the London one was even better and I think this one is on target to do even better still.

I think the other thing that’s good is the tracks that we’ve used, the labels that have put them out get paid. With a podcast or soundcloud, no one gets any money, so at least this way the artists and labels are getting some revenue stream, which allows them to invest more into signing new talent and for the artists they can buy more sound equipment or whatever. It keeps things ticking along. I think it’s great that there are people still willing to pay for music. Artists work hard to create music, why shouldn’t they get some money for it?

Were any of the sets planned with the idea to release them as mix CDs? No, nothing has been pre-planned, they were all spontaneous. It’s all about how good the gig is then we start working backwards to see if we can get the tracks in it cleared. I think that’s why it sounds natural, not forced. It’s just me DJing in an environment that I’m really comfortable and the crowd are really enjoying it.

Would you say that the region of Central and Eastern Europe is where your sound is the most popular and well received at the moment? Not really. I’m very lucky in that I have a loyal fan base worldwide. It’s the second time that I’ve played in that club in Slovenia and there were a number of things that happened. There was a storm warning in the city that night and I think that everyone that was there had gone through a lot of bad weather and heavy traffic to get there. So the mood was just like everyone wanted to really cut loose and have a really good time and I think that energy from the room really translates into the mix.

You and Sasha have toured extensively in the USA in the past, the Delta Heavy tour being just one of them. Is it strange to finally see dance music blow up commercially over there now after all these years? When we first went out there we could always see that it had potential, but the one thing that never happened when we were over there is that MTV and daytime radio never got behind it the electronic sounds. It took someone like David Guetta to go over there and have commercial success with r’n’b artists and rappers and got it onto radio – then it went into overdrive. I think if you look at the way it crossed over David Guetta was the pinnacle point of getting it onto daytime radio and all of a sudden everyone took to it, when it had been on their doorstep for 25 years and they didn’t even know it was there. But you know, yes it’s huge in a commercial way but there’ll also be a trickle down effect.

I think the culture in America is different to the UK though – there they listen to the same thing all day everyday and then want to hear the same thing at a festival. In England when you went to a rave you didn’t want to hear anything you heard on the radio but the opposite - you wanted to be blown away by new music you’ve never heard before. So there’ll be a period in the USA where it’s blowing up in a certain way and then the kids will suddenly rebel against it and say it’s not cool to like this music and then they’ll find something that’s got a bit of an edge to it.

What’s happening in the mainstream between the USA and the UK at the moment is quite different – the UK has more 90s house sounds in the charts like Disclosure and Chris Malinchak. Yeah. Well at least in America they’re listening to something with a 4/4 beat that’s not grunge or hip-hop - they’re getting into electronic music in some shape or form.

Do ever envisage yourself touring or working with Sasha again in the future? Nothing’s planned at the moment – he’s been working on his Never Say Never residency and label stuff, and I’ve got my Bedrock nights and own touring schedule. I mean we did a hell of a lot of dates together for 18 years so it’s quite nice to have a bit of a break! But we’ll see what happens in the future.

You’ve moved from Space to Pacha in Ibiza this year. What prompted the move? I’ve played at Space a lot and I used to play at Pacha in the early 90s and early 00s. Last year I did a couple of parties for Elrow at Privilege and it’s a different kind of party so I played differently to how I did at Space, which I think pricked a lot of people’s ears – a lot of people on the island were talking about the sets I was playing there. The people at Pacha were going through a changeover at the end of last year and they got in contact and said they’d really like for me to be involved in their new lineup. I really jumped at the chance because I only get to play at Space maybe three times a year if I was lucky, maybe four, but Pacha offered me fourteen dates which really gives me a chance to stamp my name on the island and create records that will be signature tracks for me, as well as break a lot of new stuff. They’ve changed the format of the whole club throughout the week – there used to be quite a lot of commercial and similar sounding nights and now they’ve gone in the opposite direction, which is really good. I played there on Friday for a preview party called ‘The Locals and the Workers’ and it was great. The sound system is really great, they’ve updated the DJ booth and their production is first class. I’m very excited about the season ahead and I think it’s a good move for me.

Very often when a label has been running for a long time and builds to a certain point they take a step back. How involved are you still in the running of Bedrock? Pretty much all day, every day! It’s full on. Scott who’s become the label manager, we’re talking constantly about what’s coming up, what we’re doing, how we’re promoting it, A&R, everything. I’m very hands on still with the label.

Do you still listen to the mountain of promos you no doubt get? Yeah I do. But you know, when my name is attached to something I want to make sure that I’m putting out the right tracks. It’s only going to reflect on me in the end.

What’s in store for the label this year? We’ve got albums coming out in June one from Electric Rescue, a French producer who’s been putting out great stuff on Cocoon, Sci-Tec and Soma. The other is from the Japanese Popstars.

Can you fill us in on some music you’ve been enjoying lately that isn’t related to your DJing? The thing with my world is that I’m listening to demos or tracks for my set pretty much all the time, so if you said I should check out the new Daft Punk album, it’d be pretty hard to fit that in. The volume of music that I go through on a daily basis is very, very time consuming. It’s not the easiest thing to just switch off and go and listen to something else because I’m always feeling like there’s a new track that I want to sign is just around the corner.

So you haven’t heard the new Daft Punk album then. I haven’t no. Have you?

Yes. What do you think?

I’m still in two minds to be honest. I love some tracks, but I think there’s also some not so great stuff on it. There was a lot of pressure on them to deliver something mind blowing. When expectations are so high there’s always the reality that it's not going to meet some people’s. It will still probably be a huge record – they’re great producers and are good at what they do.

John Digweed 2013 Australian Tour Dates:
07.06.13 – Villa Nightclub , Perth
08.06.13 – Ivy Courtyard, Sydney
09.06.13 – The Prince, Melbourne

Listen to John Digweed on Pulse Radio

Ryan Elliott: From Belleville Three To Berghain

http://pulseradio.net — Tue, 28 May 2013 22:03:52 +1000

The musical journey from Detroit to Berlin is a trip that is usually well documented. For techno, this journey was simply a natural evolution, from its Motor City roots to its European counterpart. The journey was also the path chosen by Berghain resident and all round “DJ's DJ” Ryan Elliot. With over ten years experience behind the decks, (the last four of which he has been a Berlin resident) the Man from Michigan has proven himself time and time again as an intuitive selector with some serious technical skills to boot. With tracks and remix work on labels such as Ghostly International, Ostgut Ton and Spectral Sound it's a pretty safe bet that Elliot has the minerals when it comes to production. We spoke to Ryan ahead of his show for us and Funkyzeit on June 7 alongside Trus'me at Crucifix Lane. He talked to us about Berlin, the Prime Numbers boss and the importance of youth subcultures...

Ryan, how has 2013 kicked off for you so far? I can't believe we are almost halfway through 2013. It's been a very busy year already, but that's good! I've been playing every weekend as well as working on some remixes and original productions.

You've been a resident at Panorama Bar and Berghain for a number of years - how did you first hook up the slot there? And what brought you to Berlin in the first place? I played a few good sets there in the beginning, and seemed to get along very well with the people that run the club and also some of the residents. When I decided to move to Berlin to take the next step in my development as a DJ and producer, the residency seemed like a natural fit.

How did you first meet Trus'me? Any future collaborations on the cards between the two of you? David contacted me about doing a remix for his label Prime Numbers. I was very excited as I've always been a Trus'me fan and the song he asked me to remix (Nards) was one of my favourites by him. We will be collaborating again in Barcelona this year during Sonar, as he's asked me to play his Prime Numbers party there.

How do you find playing in London compared to other cities in Europe? I love playing in London, I think it has one of the healthiest scenes in the world. The crowds in London are always a good combination of "educated" and "up for it". You need both for a good party.

What can the FunkyZeit crowd expect to hear from you? Does your set vary a lot depending on where you're playing? I always play both house and techno in my sets, and that's what I plan on doing at FunkyZeit as well. I try to work with the crowd to see what the want more of and take it from there.

Recently you guested on RinseFM, a station that's been growing in its eclectic nature and output for years - are you a fan of pirate radio and the ethics of urban sub cultures? Yes, I think sub cultures are essential from the development and progress of any art from, especially music. New ideas and reinterpretations of old ideas always come from sub culture and youth. That's what moves everything forward.

In terms of productions and remixes, is there anything in the pipeline that you can reveal to us? My next Ostgut EP will be released on June 17th. After that I have remixes coming out across the summer and autumn on Deep Moves, Ear 2 Ground, Work Them Records, Sushitech, and and EDEC.

FunkyZeit present: Ryan Elliott & Trus'me
Friday, 7 June 2013
11pm - 6am
Crucifix Lane

Line Up
Ryan Elliott (Ostgut Ton, Spectral Sound)
Trus'me (Prime Numbers)
Oli Low

Listen to Trus'me on Pulse Radio.

Yousef, the Ringleader!

http://pulseradio.net — Tue, 28 May 2013 21:35:37 +1000

The new decade sees Yousef consolidating his status as an international DJ, Producer, Club Promoter and Music aficionado with ever-greater impact. Running one of Europe’s premier club nights co-exists alongside manning a record label of the same name, whilst his reputation as a DJ grows with increasing stature and a constantly escalating global calendar.

One thing’s for sure; Yousef will continue to leave a huge personal footprint upon electronic music both behind the scenes and behind the decks of the world’s finest clubs, whilst creating the musical soundtracks that pulsate through their clubber’s ears. He simply knows no other way.

Signed to Cocoon Recordings and Carl Cox Management company Safehouse, this is one artist you don't want to miss...

You arrive in SA in s week, what are you most excited for? Just venturing to a new part of the world. SA is one of the last places on my "have to see" map so I feel so grateful its about to be ticked off. Of course the beautiful place itself, its history and it culture...

What is your expectation of the South African music scene? I hear its very authentic, a really understanding of serious music and lust for the party. I am excited to meet the SA Djs and artists.

Playing all around the world to large crowds and from doing your own nights, do you prefer to play to larger audiences or more intimate crowds? I like both, if anything, medium sized is more suitable for me, I like to play underground but also give the crowd energy.

You run a label called CIRCUS RECORDINGS, any new artists we should be looking out for this season? Yes, its coming up to 5 years old now. We recently released Circus X, a compilation to mark 10 years of Circus events. I asked some of the friends of Circus to provide an unreleased track to show the relationship we have built up. Tracks from Carl Cox, Davide Squillace, Guti, Nick Curly, Tim Green, Nic Fanciulli, DJ Sneak, Derrick Carter and myself and of course Green Velvet, which is the next single on Circus Recordings with "Bigger Than Prince" which comes with HotSince 82 and The Martinez Brothers remixes.

While traveling, do you scout new talent for your label? What do you think is the best way to find the diamonds in the ruff? Haha Always! I always support new talent as well as the above names, its important to find the freshness. People like David Glass, Tom Flynn and Acid Mondays are all building a huge following of their own now.

Tell us a bit about CIRCUS at BOMBA this season in Ibiza? Teaming up with Danny Whittle and Mark Netto, who are of course responsible for the runaway success of Pacha Ibiza in the last decade, my Circus and Circus Recordings events we felt its the right time to bring our positive party electronic to music's epicenter, at the islands newest and most talked about venue, Bomba Ibiza.

Circus and I have brought together an array of electronic music finest assets and friends of Circus alike, mixing a blend of the hottest fresh faced rave with seasoned ambassadors of House, to all tackle the incredibly, well appointed one main room at Bomba.

The venue itself houses a bespoke handmade sounds system from Pioneer, built by the team that brought the legendary Phazon System. Each DJ playing at Bomba will have centre stage...

Circus weekly Thursdays at Bomba features a weekly residency from myself, I have been a part of the Ibiza landscape for 15 years. Playing at every major club, Amnesia, Pacha, DC10 and of course, a 4 year residency for Carl Cox at Space, which I am eternally grateful for... but now its Circus at Bomba...

Do you have any new EP's coming out? I have new music coming on Defected, Ovum and Terminal M and I can announce that I've signed a track to a bigger label so I'm excited to see what happens.

You've worked with a number of amazing producers, are you planning anything new with anyone in particular and if you could work with anyone you haven't worked with already who would it be? Certainly, the releases coming up on a big label are a step up musically and working with an incredibly talented and unknown singer is really interesting. I would love to work with Bjork though!

You've had a very impressive career so far, what has been your biggest achievement? Just sustaining a career I would say, and remaining creative and keep myself as current as possible. I am alway striving to develop new ideas, I never sit on my ass waiting for things to happen, nothing ever happens that way.

Your online radio show just turned one, Congratulations! I have friends in the industry who have just started an underground radio show called Sound Sensible Radio. Why did you initially start the show or what was your inspiration? I just wanted to spread some noise about the full spectrum of quality electronic music in the 21st century, to show there is such a wide range of quality out there, its over a year old now and I have it syndicated to around 15 stations across the Globe. I am enjoying but its hard to fit it in at the moment

What are your future plans for your radio show? Where do you see it in 5 years time? Who knows... I would like to have more global listenership!

Words by Hayley Illing

Listen to Yousef on Pulse Radio

Rapid Fire with Marc Romboy

http://pulseradio.net — Tue, 28 May 2013 12:28:21 +1000

Marc Romboy has been a presence in the house/ techno scene for close to two decades, and in that time has launched two record labels; Le Petit Prince with Klaus Derichs and Systematic Records which continues to go from strength to strength, producing countless seminal tracks that continue to keep dancefloors pumping - not to mention his radio show too. We catch up with the globe trotting producer ahead of his Australian tour to talk touring places like Nairobi, music in 2013 and calling a banana a banana...

Where in the world are you today? Tell us what the day has in store for you. Well, I´m on the plane on my way from Paris to Manchester and I thought, well, this is a good occasion to do the interview with you. Last night I played at Showcase, an amazing new club under the bridge of the Seine River and tonight I´m going to spin at a warehouse party Manchester. Good times…

I noticed that you have a show on in Nairobi in August – that seems like a really interesting location to be playing, what are you looking forward to most about this show? Oh, you are pretty well-informed, chapeau! Yes, this request just entered the inbox of my agent and now the date as been fixed, August 10th. It´s always exciting to plan a show in a country which is not the typical party spot for House and Techno -like Germany, UK, France or Australia- but I have already played in other African places like Angola, South Africa and Tunisia and all of them were really good fun, I must say.

You have been a part of the house/ techno scene for close to 20 years, what have been the most significant changes in the scene in that have impacted you personally? Generally, not so many things have really changed. People go to a club and want to have fun and listen to cool music. Okay, the way of producing music has changed of course, due to the digital options there are more ways to find music and of course it has become cheaper. The only real difference is the fact that there are many different genres in electronic music nowadays. In the past, we called everything techno if it weren’t jungle, house, ambient or hardcore. A banana was simply just a banana!

What still excites you about music today? It´s incredibly impressive how much great music this movement is still providing. I´m constantly astonished when someone recommends me an artist I do not know or a name I’ve heard once or twice. And when I check the tracks of this “new” person on Beatport or in my record store it happens many times that my reaction is: “Wow, this is amazing! Why do I get to know this shit only now?” In other words, what fascinates me is the fact that there are an infinite amount of great producers out there.

Your all time favourite club or festival you have played in the world and why? Oh man, there are too many to mention and I personally don´t know what the ultimate party experience is. Somehow every show is a special one because I always see people with closed eyes, dreaming, enjoying the night, flowing away. It makes me happy!

What’s news with your label, Systematic Recordings? Have you signed anybody recently? Oh, yes, a lot! We are just about to release the new album of my dear fellow Robert Babicz! The long player is called “The Owl and the Butterfly” and it is a really touching masterpiece, which you should not miss. Believe me, all fans of Robert will love love love it. And in autumn, I have the great pleasure to release the first studio album from Dave Pezzner from Seattle. He is awesome and this is another mind blowing album. No joke…

What prompted you to start your radio show? Have you had a favourite mix from the show? I think it´s a wonderful platform to spread good music and nowadays you don´t need a major radio station anymore... how great is that? There have been many DJs who have contributed really good mixes of the highest quality for the show. Just a little hint for people out there that all the episodes are still available, but not for a long time so go and check them out while you can. Mixes by the likes of Stacey Pullen, Gerd, KiNK, Technasia and Chris Liebing have definitely blown my mind, yes!

You most recently collaborated with Ken Ishii for the album ‘Taiyo’. What was that collaboration process like? What did you learn from working with him? Yeah, this is a crazy and exotic story because we produced the entire album project from a distance, meaning that we did not spend even one minute in the studio room together. We just played ping-pong between Germany and Japan and exchanged the files via the internet. At the end all tracks were finalized in my studio in Germany and the project was ready to go! Really weird story, I know.

Is there anyone you are keen to collaborate with next? Sure, there are always interesting and exciting people I´d like to work with. I have just released a new single with my friend Blake Baxter called “The Art of Sound”, and I´m currently busy in the studio with Kris Wadsworth - you are the first person I´ve told about this! Such a crazy and talented producer, wow!

Your current favourite tracks in your record bag at the moment? In my record bag? There is no record bag anymore. Do you mean USB stick? Haha! Well, probably too many to mention but as I’ve said a couple of times during the last months, KiNK is the man. I´m always playing out three, four, maybe five tracks of him. He is a killer!

What would be your best piece of advice for aspiring producers in 2013? Be yourself, work hard, never give up if you really, really, REALLY love it!

Other than touring Australia in the coming weeks, what else is going to be happening for Marc Romboy this year? After Australia I will proceed to Bali and afterwards to Japan! Once I´m back home I will play a couple of shows in Europe, then New York, Mexico, some Dutch festivals, this crazy Ukrainian festival Kazantip, Brazil and… I don´t know, somewhere in the globe! Ah, yes, and in between all this crazy shows I´ll try to finalize my third solo album, which hopefully comes out in Spring 2014, but who knows when exactly that will happen.

Tour Dates:
31.05.13 - Brown Alley, Melbourne
1.06.13 - Mv James Cavill (Boat Party day), Brisbane
1.06.12 - Chinese Laundry (night), Sydney

Listen to Pulse Radio

Yolanda Be Cool: Mental Men

http://pulseradio.net — Mon, 27 May 2013 14:25:25 +1000

You could say that Yolanda Be Cool are blowing up at the moment, but in reality, they've already blown. Their #1 worldwide dance smash 'We No Speak Americano' saw to that, which since its release in 2010 has almost amassed a staggering 37 million plays on Youtube. The globe-trotting Australian duo - known by their wacky pseudonyms as Sylvester Martinez and Johnson "Durango Slim" Peterson - released their sophomore LP 'Ladies & Mentalmen' late last year to much acclaim, and here the boys chat to Pulse's Marissa Demetriou about recently releasing the album on Steve Aoki's Dim Mak imprint in the USA, working with notoriously elusive Aboriginal musician Gurrumul and bringing back Biggie as a hologram. Oh, and they've also recorded the latest Pulse podcast, which is rather epic.

[Read on to download Pulse.127 - Yolanda Be Cool]

Pulse: Can you tell us a little bit about the podcast you've mixed for us? How did you decide to approach it? Sylvester Martinez: We’re really excited about our album being signed to Dim Mak in the US, we've made this podcast an introduction to Dim Mak, to showcase some of our singles that are coming out on Dim Mak exclusively.

How did the Dim Mak signing come about? Johnson Peterson: Our album is coming out with Universal in Europe, so we decided that for America we maybe we wanted to go down more of the club route and Steve Aoki’s label Dim Mak- I mean you look at his Facebook and he’s got like 6 million fans or something, so we sent it (the album) to him, we met him on tour a couple of times and he wrote straight back saying he loved it, lets get it happening, I guess it was one of those things that just happened quite quickly and quite easily.

Tell us a bit more about your experience at Ultra Music Festival and Winter Music Conference in Miami. JP: Well we played at Ultra just as Yolanda Be Cool, and we played at the Dim Mak Pool Party as part of the WMC – Ultra is all of the biggest DJ’s in the world, I think it’s like 80,000 people, I guess on the one hand, you could say this is pretty hectic, on the other hand, if I was 18, it would be amazing, I guess that’s two ways of looking at it, from an artists perspective you get to play in front of these huge crowds and from a punter perspective you get to see all the biggest acts – it’s actually quite a beautiful location, it’s right down on the water in Miami, the city skyline in the background, they’ve got this huge boat that they put all the artists on which is pretty cool, you can arrive from South Beach via the boat, which is pretty cool way to enter a festival.

How did your Gurrumul collaboration ‘A Baru in New York’ happen? He is renowned for being picky with who he chooses to work with. SM: The short story is that my next door neighbour has been in the music industry for quite a long time, it’s basically through a mutual friend of my neighbour who basically just tee’d it up, did some negotiations, it took about 18 months to sort of come to fruition , since we first thought about the actual idea to completion, and it took there were several studio sessions, we’re actually still working on different versions of the track.

JP: We had quite delicate instructions on how to liaise with him which is why I think some people in the past have fallen over (laughs)…we just kept the Aussie vibes!

You’ve had it remixed by Flume - what did you think of the remix? SM: Well I guess we all sort of thought, it’s pretty good, probably brilliant, we weren’t sure what we really thought the first 30 seconds but then we were just like water, and it just built and built and built – but I think after listening to it 20 or 30 times it is probably brilliant.

JP: We were stoked because he had been touring so much we were worried he wouldn’t have time to devote to it, but when we got it back we were pretty sure that he put some time into it.

SM: We were also stoked that he seems to be really, really supporting it, he’s opening his Infinity Prism tour with that track, he’s using that track as a soundtrack to his promo tour. The opening and closing of any concert is one of the best indications of your biggest tracks, so for him to chose our track is sort of like an honour.

Is Flume the kind of producer you’d like to collaborate with in the future? JP: We’re definitely big fans of his.

SM: We’ll just jump in line behind Skrillex and Boys Noize and Mark Ronson, we’ll just jump in the queue with them! (laughs)

Is there anyone on radar that you really want to collaborate with? SM: I think in terms of producers, we’re really loving Duke Dumont at the moment and Oliver, Oliver is blowing us away with their productions. I guess a long term person we’ve always dreamed of being in the studio with is Justin Martin. I guess we were talking about that ‘unique’ thing earlier and he’s completely got that nailed – he’s signed to Dirtybird, he makes like, hip hop beats for house music.

A: I guess that’s sort of what attracted us to Flume as well, they’re just unconventional.

It’s been three years since 'We No Speak Americano' was released and you since decided to recall the song – tell us a bit more about the reasoning behind the recall. JP: Well we got some legal advice, and the legal advice suggested it was past its use-by date, so yeah we thought it best to you know, take it off the market.

SM: It was an occupational health and safety issue.

JP: It’s for the people.

If you had a chance to recall any other track for good, what would it be and why? SM: We’ve been tweeted a lot that Psy needs to recall ‘Gangnam Style’, Baauer needs to recall ‘Harlem Shake’, I guess anything that’s sort of over exposed and a creative occupational health and safety issue like those two tracks they can definitely be considered to be recalled

JP: I think for a while I would have said ‘Show Me Love’, because there was a time that so many DJs would just play it and it got to point that it was offensive and it’s such a great song. If you have to recall a song it's probably because its been completely over played.

I read that you were interested in doing some 'Ladies and Mentalmen' theme parties – are these still going to happen? JP: They certainly are; I guess we’ve done our ‘Ladies and Mentalmen” tour around Australia and the next stage is America and America obviously loves a theme, they love spending money on themes. I think our agent is in the process of booking in some places that really get involved, like Vegas and LA.

Describe to us what a Ladies and Mentalmen party would entail. SM: I guess we would do two sets, the main set and then the after party, bring back Biggie as a hologram.

JP: Ladies would be dressed like mental men, and mental men would just be us two behind the desk. We’re selfish.

Favourite mixes at the moment? JP: I really love the Flight Facilities mix they did for 2002-2012 that was dedicated to Ajax, which I thought was pretty special. All the music just brought back amazing memories of that period.

SM: Also Justin Martin Flash Mix summer 2012, that was pretty awesome. Fools Gold Radio is pretty good as well, Episode 18. I like to download podcasts and exercise to them, so I listen to a lot of them! And the What So Not ‘The Ripe House Party Mix’ is pretty sick too.

Favourite tracks on high rotation at the moment? JP: Oliver just did an EP for Fools Gold, and there’s one track on there that’s like 100 BPM which we’ve probably listened to 1,000 times called ‘Night Is On My Mind’. Everything Oliver do, we lose it when we hear it.

SM: Their stuff is always well written and unique. We’ve also listened to ‘Reverse Skydiving’ the new Hot Natured track about a million times already. The lyrics are amazing as well, the whole thing is just… do you want to hear it?! (starts playing the tune).

What’s on the agenda for Yolanda Be Cool in 2013? JP: We’ve got a couple of remixes to finish and then we’re going to start working on some ideas for a new EP. I think we want to go as crazy as possible with the ideas, our goal is to do ten different ideas a week and then pick 100 minute loops and figure out what’s good instead of making one track at a time. Bit of a plan we got told to use for the album but we didn’t do it, so I think we’re going to try and use it this time. We probably focussed on making one track at a time which is one way of doing it, we’ve just been thinking about tracks that are game changers, that’s the term we’ve come up with. They’re all pretty unique and interesting, so we’re working on game changers.

[Download Pulse.127 - Yolanda Be Cool here]

Listen to Yolanda Be Cool on Pulse Radio

Yolanda Be Cool: Mental Men

http://pulseradio.net — Mon, 27 May 2013 11:15:04 +1000

[Read on to download Pulse.127 - Yolanda Be Cool]

JP: We had quite delicate instructions on how to liaise with him which is why I think some people in the past have fallen over (laughs)…we just kept the Aussie vibes!

Is Flume the kind of producer you’d like to collaborate with in the future? JP: We’re definitely big fans of his.

SM: We’ll just jump in line behind Skrillex and Boys Noize and Mark Ronson, we’ll just jump in the queue with them! (laughs)

A: I guess that’s sort of what attracted us to Flume as well, they’re just unconventional.

[Download Pulse.127 - Yolanda Be Cool here]

Listen to Yolanda Be Cool on Pulse Radio

Getting To Know Bas Amro

http://pulseradio.net — Fri, 24 May 2013 22:05:28 +1000

Pulse caught up with Freerange artist, Bas Amro ahead of his South African tour.

Originally from Haarlem in Holland, Bas Amro has been producing music since the age of 12, his style varies through his productions, but they all have that gold thread through them bringing them together and making him recognizable. He plays deep house that will get any dance floor moving. He has had club support from: Justin Martin, Osunlade, Pezzner, Seth Troxler, Tom Middleton, Ben Watt, Steve Bug, and Dairmount. As well as being signed to Freerange records, he is also signed to labels like Audio Tonic Records, Nightbird music, Bla Bla, i! Records and Wolfskuil Records.

Whether he is playing deep house, house, techhouse or techno, be sure to know that Bas Amro will be one special artist to see.

What's up Bas, hope you are super excited for your South African tour. What's going on in Holland, your home country, at the moment in terms of electronic music? The scene is definitely growing, and new concepts are born on a high pace. There really is a lot to do in the Netherlands, I know a lot of people here don't agree, but I think we are underestimating what we have here. Amsterdam has a lot going on, and certainly more than the other big cities. However I wouldn't particularly call it the "best" scene in NL. Other cities like Rotterdam, Nijmegen and Groningen have a lot to offer, too. The smaller festivals are gaining popularity very fast and it seems to me like the events are finally becoming more important than the lineups, slowly but surely. I think this is very important if people want to discover new music.

We've had a few artists from Freerange records grace us recently in SA. Have you heard anything about the South African music scene and what do you have planned for us? Anything new and experimental? Well not too much! I know a lot of electronic music from SA and I spoke a lot with people living over there, but I still feel like I'm going to be very surprised once I get there. But yeah I have prepared some stuff. In the past few weeks I collected a lot of new stuff from my producer friends and from my own unfinished projects, which I will use in my SA sets the next weeks. I'm really hoping to get to play something the people over there have never heard before, that's the thing I love to do the most.

With Ibiza 2013 coming up, do you have any plans to touch down there? No I don't. There's not a lot of room there for young dj's like me, I believe.

Who has been a constant guide throughout your musical career? I can't really tell whether it's a good thing or a bad thing, but I haven't really had a constant guide throughout. Although Benny Rodrigues, Darko Esser and Jimpster have been really good mentors for me, for which I'm very grateful, definitely. They all gave me the confidence I needed to get to where I am now. All three of them have a different and very inspiring view on electronic music and music in general.

If you could produce with any artist, who would it be? I find it very inspiring to find out about other people's methods in the studio. However I would prefer just watching over one's shoulder instead of interfering. Seeing Mr. G at work would surely be amazing, his tracks have inspired me a lot. I also really enjoy producing music with Ivano Tetelepta. If I have the feeling that one of us is slowing the other one down, it doesn't work for me. With Ivano I feel like we push each other in new directions.

You started producing at the age of 12, thats hectic, did you have any people influencing you at the time in terms of music production/trained musicians? Unfortunately not. Back then I did not know anybody who produced music. I had no other way than to search the internet like the nerd I was (am) and find out how the stuff works. In the beginning it was very difficult and frustrating, but looking back I feel like this phase really is responsible for the musical identity I have today. When I started getting in touch with other producers there were a lot of funny situations in which I found out that I had very primitive but effective methods.

How are you constantly evolving your sets as an artist/producer? I still feel like I'm just discovering this whole thing, so as I learn every day I evolve my sets automatically, I guess.

Listen to Bas Amro on Pulse Radio.

Ryan Elliott

http://pulseradio.net — Fri, 24 May 2013 19:27:41 +1000

Wolf Music: "Promoter! Promoter! More Champagne.."

http://pulseradio.net — Fri, 24 May 2013 16:51:52 +1000

Wolf Music is all about house music. They love the stuff, and thankfully, so does everyone else at the moment. As a result, the lovely guys behind the label are travelling the world playing shows to house and disco lovers from sunny Anglesey to sunnier Croatia, spreading their love with everyone they meet. We chatted to guys to find out what really makes them howl (sorry) ahead of thier gig at Gottwood Festival in Wales in June.

You guys have been holding it down at Wolf Music for a while now – releasing some great EPs over the last couple of years. How did you guys start out? We started about 4 years ago now, when Matt was given the opportunity to work with Atmosfear ‘Dancing In Outer Space’. What he had in mind didn’t fit with his current record label and we had been speaking about working together at some point and this seemed the perfect opportunity. From the very beginning we have been working with KRL & Greymatter with Medlar coming on board on WOLFEP008. KRL & Greymatter are brothers and Medlar was working as an intern at the same company as Matt and Greymatter. It’s a close knit thing with us hanging out a lot (when we get time), which I think makes the whole thing even more enjoyable for everyone involved. People often ask us where the name comes from. It originates from a nickname Matt gave me the first time we met a few years earlier.

You guys are self proclaimed house lovers. How do you feel about the deep/90s house revival we've been experiencing over the last few years? Where will you guys be after the bubble bursts? What’s quite nice is at the minute you can play a wide spectrum of house in a set, going back a few years ago anything slightly different to what was in vogue and people would immediately be turned off. We aren’t quite old enough to remember the early to mid 90’s records the first time around but I do remember record shopping in the early 00’s and you would see all these records in the bargain bins because that sound wasn’t ‘in’. When you see how much some of those records are going for now, it is quite amazing really.

We’ve never really seen ourselves as a straight up house label but obviously you become influenced by trends around you, this is only natural. Also as artists develop there is a progression to their sound and these are drawn from different influences. We have always taken each track on its own merit regardless of what type of sound it is; this is an important part of A&R process when signing music to release on the label.

As house and disco lovers where do you stand on the digital vs analogue debate? Are you vinyl purists or is it just about the music for you regardless of the format? We’re certainly not vinyl purists but we still play it out as much as possible. The problem is, the majority of clubs aren’t setup for vinyl and even if they are it’s an afterthought. We’re not going to spend 2 hours trying to play vinyl if the records are skipping, feeding back or the turntable isn’t working. That’s not enjoyable to the people who are in the crowd, especially when 90% of them don’t care what format is being played. I could talk about this subject all day but no one needs to read another vinyl vs digital debate.

You're playing at Gottwood Festival in Wales in June. It's got a strong lineup – you must be looking forward to playing at it? Having heard some great things about the festival from not only people who have attended, but also DJ’s that have played previously we are really looking forward to experiencing the festival first hand. We are playing on the Sunday as part of Tief presents WOLF Music. The stage will run throughout the day with Tief residents Thick As Thieves and John Malcolm Moore as well as Bicep, KRL, Matt & I coming along for the ride. We also have the honour of closing the festival on the Sunday night. Everyone should well and truly be in the festival spirit by then!

You're also booked for a handful of other festivals over the summer in the UK and in Croatia. How do you think your sound will work on the festival circuit? The response when we have played festivals in the past has been pretty positive. Matt & I’s style of DJ’ing isn’t straight up house and I believe this puts us in good stead when playing to a crowd that might not all be ‘heads’. A DJ set is all about entertaining the crowd that you have in front of you and if that means catering for them, then so be it. That doesn’t mean you have to cheese it up…

In the last few years Croatia appears to be rapidly becoming the go to destination for certain strains of electronic music. Do you think it will continue to grow and potentially challenge Ibiza as the European clubbing capital or do you think it's a case of too many eggs in one basket? Croatia is an interesting topic of conversation at the minute. It’s definitely growing in terms of attendance and the number of festivals, I can’t really comment on the comparisons between Croatia and Ibiza as for my sins I have never been to the White Isle! I have read that DJ Mag is preparing a Croatian edition of the magazine that will be distributed in cities and festival sites throughout the summer. I think that speaks volumes to how the industry is viewing Croatia at the minute.

There are loads of attributes that work in Croatia’s favour, it’s still relatively cheap for example. I’m not sure if that will change when it joins the EU this year. I don’t believe they plan to adopt the Euro as there currency though. The food is fantastic, weather is faultless and the Adriatic Sea is beautiful. Watch out for those sea urchins though!

The events surrounding last years shut down of Bloc festival on the first night have been well documented, but what are your thoughts on the current state of the UK festival scene? Is there any festival you would particularly like to be booked for? Every summer new festivals seem to pop up. I’m not sure how far away we are from saturation point in terms of the number of attendees, but it certainly means there is a lot of choice and the festival really have to make sure the paying punter is getting a good experience. Not only in terms of the acts that are playing but also in terms of the food and drink on offer as well as non-musical entertainment. There seems to be a lot more festivals that are incorporating art into the programming. When I think back to those day ‘super’ festivals that were popular 10 years ago, all that was on offer was a greasy burger washed down with a warm can of Carling while you queued to go on some dodgy fairground ride. The attention to detail is a lot more important these days, which can only be a good thing. Our major problem in this country is the weather!

We are very fortunate this year to playing at some great festivals, Gottwood, Glastonbury, Secret Garden Party & Zoo Project. For me these are the festivals that I have wanted to be booked for in the last few years.

In a past you talked about DJ riders – the absurdity of some, and the stupidity of promoters on others. How much more difficult is playing festivals with multiple artists (and therefore multiple riders) compared to playing smaller events? Have you had any rider horror stories? I think apart from a few exceptions, the concept of a rider at a festival is pretty much non-existent. At one of festival we played last year the stage manager was really apologetic because the entire rider had been drunk, we started playing and next thing I know he is thrusting a bottle of red wine under our noses. Not your standard rider tipple, especially at a festival. Not even sure where he found it. Was a nice drop if I remember correctly.

My favourite rider story was when I was promoting parties around 8 years ago, a DJ who will remain nameless got on the mic and starting shouting ‘promoter, promoter, more champagne to the DJ booth’. What was even more bizarre was the fact we hadn’t given him any in the first place.

You said in the same interview that you were introduced to Buckie (Buckfast Tonic Wine to the uneducated) at a gig in Glasgow. Will you be packing some when you hit the festivals this year? We did joke that we would add ‘x 2 bottle of Buckie’ to the rider but I have never seen a bottle since. I think next time we go to Scotland we will request some. If anyone has a hook up with the Monks at the Abbey, let us know.

What does the future hold for Wolf Music? Can you give us any scoops on what you have coming up? Release wise, WOLFEP018 has just hit the shops featuring music from Session Victim, Medlar, Squarehead and Ishmael. Our next release will contain three tracks from Dutch wonder kid Frits Wentink. He is definitely someone to watch out for this year. After that we have a special collaboration EP from Greymatter & KRL, celebrating our 20th release on the label. We will also be releasing a full album from Medlar later in the year as well.

Catch the guys playing at Gottwood Festival Thurssday, 20 - Sunday, 23 June in Anglesey, Wales.

Listen to Medlar on Pulse Radio.

Djebali's Music Motion & Movement

http://pulseradio.net — Thu, 23 May 2013 18:36:00 +1000

MMM are bringing underground French mainstay Djebali to London for an exclusive bash this weekend at Nomad London. The French club kid runs his Djebali imprint (specially for his analogue productions) after debuting for DC10 in 2011. Plying the deeper and groovier side of 4-4 music, the name is gearing up for a busy Summer alongside friends Dan Ghenacia and the Apollonia gang. Read on for a catch up as Mehdi talks vinyl, analogue, playing London and his deep love for Ibiza.

Djebali your name is interesting.. Is this a cultural signifier? What does it mean? It’s actually just my surname ! Funny thing it starts with "DJ" and a lot of people at the beginning called me Ebali, but in full it’s Mehdi Djebali!

As we speak to you you're replying from Ibiza... Do you have a busy summer there this year? Yes I will spend all the summer here in the Apollonia villa, like last year … I love the island, there’s a lot of different parties and so many artists in the same place it’s amazing ! For me, the first gigs here will be a boat party end of may with Ibiza Sonica, and Circoloco the 3rd June.

What's the best place that you've played in your career this far and for what reason? There are several actually, but i’ll say DC10 for the vibe and its legendary status, and also the Lottus afterhours in Porto - the people over there are so nice, i loved the energy there. And last but not least, Womb club in Japan : it truly was a dream come true playing there!

When playing in London specifically, what do you like about the crowds here? How does the city seem unique to you? I’m always impressed by the number of parties in London… This city is unique cause you can find a party everywhere : under a bridge, in a public toilet, in big warehouse…. It s crazy !! And there is a true culture of electronic music : the crowd is really involved in the music.

What's coming up on the release schedule? Are you looking like a busy man? Yes! Just finished ( djebali 07 ), gonna be out begining of june… and starting to work on ( djebali 08 ). Also got a remix coming on Turquoise Blue and another one for Jef K’s label, Silver Network.

The French scene seems to morph and change shape as time goes on - what are your thoughts about the Parisian scene in general? I’m proud of Paris ! A lot of things happened in the last few years. I remember 5 years ago, the nightlife was dying in Paris and it was hard to find good parties, except in big clubs. Now a lot of new promoters are making amazing parties and pushing the Parisian scene forward. There’s also a lot of great djs of differrent styles… I guess paris is back worldwide.

You were a key figure on the Freak n chic label... Are there any plans to get involved with Apollonia in the future as yet? Nothing planned yet but be sure there will be! We are really close so we just wait for the right project, as i spend a lot of time on my own imprint these days…

What can we expect from you when you play for MMM? What do your current dj sets sound like? It depends on a lot of things, like the location, the capacity, the vibe and the time when you play ! but it will be house, warm, with a lot of groove and maybe a little bit wild!

Give us three tracks that have been a permanent fixture in your record bag...

Romanthony – Let me show your love (RIP)

Chez Damier – KMS49

DJ Assassin – A Face in The Crowd – Intellidread mix

Finally are you still pursuing your (djebali) run of analogue, vinyl only productions? What is it about this idea that warranted its own series? It allows me to release exactly what i want, when i want – this is the real luxury I think, that is not possible when releasing on someone else’s label. And it’s important i get music out to people quickly while it’s still fresh ! So I’ll continue the series as long as i can… check the new release 07 coming in June.

www.facebook.com/djebalidj
https://soundcloud.com/djebali
http://djebali.com

Listen to MMM on Pulse Radio.

Right Before Boarding: Paco Osuna on Chicago & House

http://pulseradio.net — Wed, 22 May 2013 23:50:19 +1000

The Mindshake Records label boss is heading this moment to Chicago to play one of his favorite spots, SpyBar on Friday, May 23rd. Right before he boarded the plane from Colombia to the ORD, we managed to catch him for a quick moment and ask him what he looks forward to in Chicago, the birthplace of House music.

What are some of the sites you look forward to visiting while you're in the Windy city? I love to visit the city centre to go shopping, it's a cool place for that. Also just being here and walking around on the streets, I'm totally in love with this city!

House music runs deep in this city, with a street honorarily named after Frankie Knuckles "The Godfather of House Music." Does Chicago's house music history have a special meaning for you? House music in general has a special meaning for me! I have to say though, that I have never been a massive fan of vocal house. I have a big love for other DJs that live in Chicago though, Kerri Chandler for example has had a big influence more on me.

Is this your first time playing at Spybar? If not, how many times have you played here before/? What draws you back? I don't know exactly how many times I have played at Spy Bar, but I know it is a lot! It is my favourite club in town and I feel very at home here, Dino always treats me really well and for me, this is the most important thing. Plus the club has something new every time I come! It's constantly evolving and I always love to see the new changes.

With the ensuing popularity of electronic music, do you find yourself touring the States more and more? Is this difference between Europe and US subsiding? Honestly, my career hasn't change that much in terms of touring, I'm pretty much doing the same shows every year. But of course my popularity is way bigger then it was 6-7 years ago. In the past we were invited to events for 500/600 people, now I'm playing huge events, but I will always love playing the small and familiar clubs like Spy Bar.

This summer, what are you most looking forward to? Perhaps an album, festival, or gig… I have a lot of shows and festivals I can't really mention them all, but if I have to name a few that I'm most excited about, I have to say closing for Monegros Festival and also my residency at ENTER (Richie Hawtin's party) at Space in Ibiza and of course tons of other gigs!

What is your favorite Chicago house artist or track?
Joe smooth and Kerry Chandler ;)

Listen to Paco Osuna on Pulse Radio

wolf music

http://pulseradio.net — Wed, 22 May 2013 22:33:49 +1000

You guys have been holding it down at Wolf Music for a while now – releasing some great EPs over the last couple of years. How did you guys start out? We started about 4 years ago now, when Matt was given the opportunity to work with Atmosfear ‘Dancing In Outer Space’. What he had in mind didn’t fit with his current record label and we had been speaking about working together at some point and this seemed the perfect opportunity.

From the very beginning we have been working with KRL & Greymatter with Medlar coming on board on WOLFEP008. KRL & Greymatter are brothers and Medlar was working as an intern at the same company as Matt and Greymatter. It’s a close knit thing with us hanging out a lot (when we get time), which I think makes the whole thing even more enjoyable for everyone involved. People often ask us where the name comes from. It originates from a nickname Matt gave me the first time we met a few years earlier.

You guys are self proclaimed house lovers. How do you feel about the deep/90s house revival we've been experiencing over the last few years? Where will you guys be after the bubble bursts? What’s quite nice is at the minute you can play a wide spectrum of house in a set, going back a few years ago anything slightly different to what was in vogue and people would immediately be turned off. We aren’t quite old enough to remember the early to mid 90’s records the first time around but I do remember record shopping in the early 00’s and you would see all these records in the bargain bins because that sound wasn’t ‘in’. When you see how much some of those records are going for now, it is quite amazing really. We’ve never really seen ourselves as a straight up house label but obviously you become influenced by trends around you, this is only natural. Also as artists develop there is a progression to their sound and these are drawn from different influences. We have always taken each track on its own merit regardless of what type of sound it is; this is an important part of A&R process when signing music to release on the label.

As house and disco lovers - where do you stand on the digital vs analogue debate? Are you vinyl purists or is it just about the music for you regardless of the format? We’re certainly not vinyl purists but we still play it out as much as possible. The problem is, the majority of clubs aren’t setup for vinyl and even if they are it’s an afterthought. We’re not going to spend 2 hours trying to play vinyl if the records are skipping, feeding back or the turntable isn’t working. That’s not enjoyable to the people who are in the crowd, especially when 90% of them don’t care what format is being played. I could talk about this subject all day but no one needs to read another vinyl vs digital debate.

You're playing at Gottwood Festival in Wales in June. It's got a strong lineup – you must be looking forward to playing at it? Having heard some great things about the festival from not only people who have attended, but also DJ’s that have played previously we are really looking forward to experiencing the festival first hand. We are playing on the Sunday as part of Tief presents WOLF Music. The stage will run throughout the day with Tief residents Thick As Thieves and John Malcolm Moore as well Bicep, KRL, Matt & I coming along for the ride. We also have the honour of closing the festival on the Sunday night. Everyone should well and truly be in the festival spirit by then!

You're also booked for a handful of other festivals over the summer in the UK and in Croatia. How do you think your sound will work on the festival circuit? The response when we have played festivals in the past has been pretty positive. Matt & I’s style of DJ’ing isn’t straight up house and I believe this puts us in good stead when playing to a crowd that might not all be ‘heads’. A DJ set is all about entertaining the crowd that you have in front of you and if that means catering for them, then so be it. That doesn’t mean you have to cheese it up…

You said in the same interview that you were introduced to Buckie (Buckfast Tonic Wine to the uneducated) at a gig in Glasgow. Will you be packing some when you hit the festivals this year? We did joke that we would add ‘x 2 bottle of Buckie’ to the rider but I have never seen a bottle since. I think next time we go to Scotland we will request some. If anyone has a hook up with the Monks at the Abbey, let us know.

What does the future hold for Wolf Music? Can you give us any scoops on what you have coming up?

Release wise, WOLFEP018 has just hit the shops featuring music from Session Victim, Medlar, Squarehead and Ishmael. Our next release will contain three tracks from Dutch wonder kid Frits Wentink. He is definitely someone to watch out for this year. After that we have a special collaboration EP from Greymatter & KRL, celebrating our 20th release on the label. We will also be releasing a full album from Medlar later in the year as well.

Kit Webster: Catering To The Senses

http://pulseradio.net — Wed, 22 May 2013 21:06:26 +1000

Australian artist Kit Webster is fast becoming one of the most respected emerging talents in cutting-edge technological art and design, gaining wide attention for his audiovisual installations. In anticipation of the upcoming Terminal Projekt events as part of Vivid Sydney - where he will be providing an exciting array of 3D video mapping projections presented in association with Kopparberg Cider - Joe Crossley of Astral Projekt got on the blower with Webster for us to find out a little bit about his work and what he has in store for Terminal Projekt. It's design geek meeting design geek, in a good way.

Pulse Radio: How would you describe yourself and what it is you do? Kit Webster: I’m an artist/designer. I work a lot in combining technology with art and design, both inside and outside of the computer, trying to merge physical and digital worlds and dimensions. In terms of inside the computer we’re talking creating models of sculptures and then having them built and fabricated, then illuminating and texturizing them with animation.

And how did you get into this line of work? I started off in electronic music actually. I started experimenting back in the 90s with Logic Pro, plugins and software synthesis.

So you were making your own music? Yeah I was working on my own music, a lot of soundscape type stuff, IDM, electronica. Really experimental based stuff working with side-chaining and creating organic soundscapes and textures. A friend of mine told me about a course at RMIT called Sound Art which opened me up to all these different areas; quadrophonic soundscapes, creating immersive sound fields. Through that I also got the opportunity to do some video art electives and through that discovered new media art and all the cool stuff that’s happening around the world, like mapping, installations and immersive environments.

So very much the leading edge of this trend that was starting to emerge seven or eight years ago? Yeah, well I was checking it all out online, the things going on in Germany, the UK and France – these amazing installations that people were building and I just go hooked.

Were there any guys in particular who were really blowing your mind? Yeah, Anti-VJ. One of those guys, Lego Man, made the ‘3Destruct’ installation. I thought that was amazing.

What have been some of the most recent projects you’ve been working on? I saw that installation you did with the tiles on the wall, which I thought was really interesting. What was that called? It’s got a terrible name actually. ‘Porcelana Innovadora’.

How did you come up with that name? It’s kind of Spanish for “innovate porcelain”. The tiles I used are Spanish.

It’s quite beautiful. Thanks. I really want to keep developing it, because it was really just a huge experiment.

PORCELANA INNOVADORA from Kit Webster on Vimeo.

Was that all done with the Mad Mapper program? Yeah. Well not all of it. It was done in Flash and After Effects and then to get the precision on the sculpture right we used Mad Mapper.

You worked on a project recently with Calvin Harris. Can you tell us about that? I actually haven’t put up on my website all the VJ gigs that I’ve done - I’ve done heaps. The Calvin Harris one was at the Prince Of Wales for Superdisco where they had a huge LED screen and they wanted some audio-reactive waveforms. I’ve got a collection of audio-reactive software that I can run through their system so I just went in, plugged in, and away it went.

Just going back to your previous question though about other projects, I just got back from Thailand and Shanghai where I did this thing for Vice; using lasers for a car installation.

Cool, what was that all about? Basically Ford are bringing out the new Fiesta and they wanted to team up with Vice to create a thing called ‘The 24-hour Fiesta Project’ where the idea is that the Ford Fiesta is marketed to young people who stay up for 24-hours. So they selected my work because it’s got that luminescent thing going on. So I travelled around Shanghai for a week garnering inspiration. I went to Bangkok as well where they took me out to all these different parties and a few other places to get inspiration. Through all that I built this installation that was made up of all these different coloured lasers, which were hitting off these little surgical mirrors placed on C-stands and also on little telescopic arms which were magnetised to the car. So it was this kind of a geometric web around the car. It was a little bit like the English collective that did ‘Speed Of Light’.

What I really like about your work is you have a very fresh approach. Very simple, but very effective. Do you find it hard to pen things back when you get big, elaborate ideas? It’s interesting that you ask that. I was VJing at a big psychedelic trance party a couple of months ago. The interesting thing with that genre is you can go crazy with the video and visuals and really push the colours and the psychedelic complexity. But I think with Terminal Projekt it’s a bit more minimalistic in terms of the music, so I’ll have to be quite cautious in how trippy and abstract I go with it.

But yeah I think about that a lot – how far can you take it whilst still conforming within the boundaries. It’s connected to that whole world of being technically proficient but also crazy enough to live in an abstract sphere. That’s the problem with a lot of artists – they live in such an abstract world that when it comes to executing technical projects they’re unable to pull it off, unless they’ve got a producer on board. Even then it can be hard for them to get their ideas across.

sugar mountain festival 2011 - visual production reel from Kit Webster on Vimeo.

I think that’s where your experience in mapping and music crosses over to your benefit. People can have the craziest ideas, for example Aphex Twin, who walks a very thin line as far as getting his point across and blowing people’s heads off. I’m sure some of his first drafts have been completely mental and he’s had to pen it back a bit. Yeah and apparently he’s not very socially proficient either.

Well I dunno, I had a few beers with him once at a pub called Jacob’s Ladder in Cornwall. If you ever go there that’s where he’ll be on a Friday night…if he’s in the country! I mean I’ve heard people ask him some questions and some of them are just like, “What? Are you serious?” And I love the fact that he’s open-minded and can give back answers that are really non-conventional. They’re not usually very stock-standard responses. Which is the same with his work as well – he’s always thinking outside the square.

What do you think of his project with the piano on the pendulum? I think it’s fucking awesome really, to have that level of leverage suspended in the air. It speaks a lot about the strength of what he does – really trying to push these different types of factors. He does it virtually within his music and now he’s doing it physically.

Do you think that’s the future of the music and the art worlds? The colliding of visual and virtual spaces? I think with all this innovation and these collectives like Anti-VJ and all the innovative mapping in Europe, it’s pricking a lot of promoter’s ears and they’re realising that if you want to provide a cutting-edge experience then you’ve got to cater to the eyes as well. Once we start to witness the possibilities it’s really then just about taking it a step further each time and integrating new technologies. I think right now we’re on a bit of a threshold with technology and art.

Yeah it does definitely feel like there’s an explosion about to happen. If you could collaborate with any musical artist, who would it be? Oh, man. Ummm, it would have to be some kind of freak who locks himself in a basement.

Prince? [Laughs] Nah, probably not!

Ok, we’ll leave that one. We touched on a it a little bit before, but can you fill us in on what you’ve got in store for the Terminal Projekt? I’m going to take my existing that I’ve developed over the past coupe of years – which is a mix of organic textures, geometric animations…I mix them in a particular way which creates these compositions. I also integrate a bit of colour theory into that too. For Terminal Projekt I’m going to evolve that whole set by integrating some fresh content which is specifically for the stage sculpture [DJ booth]. It’s really important for me to keep my own flavour – I don’t want to replicate the standard video mapping kind of show, because it’s not interesting. There’s no abstraction of complexity to that, it’s just like, “OK I’m going to illuminate the border of a triangle” or whatever, like, congratulations. That doesn’t really pull my strings.

There’ll also be another layer which is audio-reactive, which will take a feed directly from the sound desk. They will be generative animations which will be running out of open frameworks, which is all custom stuff that nobody else has access to. Then it’s just a matter of working out an interesting way of blending all these layers.

Sounds like it’s going to be pretty darn exciting. Yeah, it should be a lot of fun.

Terminal Projekt @ Vivid Music, Overseas Passenger Terminal, Customs Hall:
08.06.13 - dOP (live), Jimmy Edgar, Sepalcure (live), Kit Webster [BUY TIX]
09.06.13 - Tensnake (live), HNQO, The Revenge, Kit Webster [BUY TIX]

Terminal Bar @ Vivid Music, Overseas Passenger Terminal, Cargo Hall:
8/9/10 June, 4pm-12am

Listen to Pulse Radio

Pulse Loves... Ranacat

http://pulseradio.net — Wed, 22 May 2013 18:55:20 +1000

A person's musical path can change thanks to your surroundings. Just ask London based, Argentinian born Pablo Ranacat. The house and techno Dj and producer moved to London ten years ago and in the process found himself falling in love with house music after helming a funk/hip hop band at home. Combining this eclectic and musical background and combining with touches of disco, deep house and more, the producer and DJ (resident for Select*Elect) is dropping his latest EP on Anja Schneider's Mobilee Records. Pulse thought it high time to give props to this fun loving figure as he mixed our latest Pulse Loves. Read on...

Pulse Loves.. Other music aside from electronica and dance. You were part of a band in your native Argentina but what prompted you to fiver into the DJ/party scene? I was living in Buenos Aires and when my band split up I found myself in the clubs a lot more. It was a shame because our second album was near completion and then sadly we went the way a lot of bands go with disagreements and stress that led to breaking up. Luckily I found solace in my clubbing friends and it all started from there really. I guess I needed to replace the musical fun I was having in my band with something else and going to clubs and meeting cool people really did the job. I found straight away that the connection between the people at clubs was much ‘higher’ than at concerts, and I obviously loved it. But that was back in 2002 and then I started DJing a couple of years later when I arrived in London.

Pulse loves... Bespoke mixes. Tell us about the one you've created especially for Pulse? Actually I love the story behind this mix. Basically my good friend Lester and I recently exchanged our whole digital music collection. So much music! Big up to all my DJ mates who are always up for this sort of swap! It took me a good full on two days to go through it all. I found some amazing old school deep house tracks from some of my favorite ever producers and they obviously ended up in this mix along with some great tracks from my own collection. I think some of the older deep house has that specific feel good touch that you can rarely get on stuff that’s being released nowadays. So yeah, it’s quite housey, deep and hypnotic for moments, but ready to rock the dance floor sort of feel. And that intro, omg, I can’t even believe I used it but it rocks!

Pulse loves...Mobilee. Tell us about the release that's just come out on the label… how did this come about? I met Anja and And.ID in Turin, Italy, at a Select Elect party. They were the main guests of the night. I was at that point starting to send out my demos and she wanted to have a listen to them. The following night Mobilee had a showcase in London so I went down there and gave her a CD. Pretty much a super fun and productive night all round! I was a bit surprised at the beginning when they wanted to release an EP because my music is quite eclectic; I tend to do different styles. But I’m very happy they are really open-minded and went with the flow. In my opinion, the 4 tracks they chose are a good selection to make a strong EP.

Pulse loves... The London clubbing scene. How do you feel about it? How has it changed since your relocation to the city? I think it’s really amazing. It keeps changing, evolving, having highs and lows, but it’s always super exciting. All the best DJs in the world come to play in London and I think that will never change. Together with Berlin, they are the cities to be at if you want great quality nights to go to every week. The underground scene here is innovative with some of the best possible talent being introduced to the crowds, with the smaller venues hosting some of the greatest nights. It really is a shame though that many great clubs were shut down and that’s very sad. But at the end of the day, a door closes and another opens.

Pulse loves... Festivals. You're playing at Vertigo Italy this year; do you get to play many European festivals as a rule? Yes, I am going with Select Elect to Vertigo Festival. This is actually the first festival I’m going to play at so naturally I’m excited about it. Looking forward to many more!

Pulse loves .. The future. After this release what will we see in terms of more productions? And rumor says you are starting a record label? I’m really happy that I’m releasing my debut EP on Mobilee. It’s an amazing label and it looks like we are building a nice friendship. I’m continuously working hard on a lot more tracks so let’s see where that takes me but this definitely is the greatest starting point that I could dream of. I also have another song being released on a compilation on Holic Trax coming out more or less at the same time at the beginning of June.

And yes, a great project that’s coming up nicely is the start up of a record label. I’ve teamed up with Andy Bird from Love Fever and we are launching ‘Sneaky Music’, which will also see some nice parties showcasing the artists on the label. Don’t want to talk about names yet but there are some really cool recruits already and we have big plans for it. We are doing Oval Terrace as label launch on the 21st of July. So yeah, looking as busy as ever at Ranacat HQ, and I’m loving every minute of it.

Pulse Loves - Ranacat
1 – Boney M - Nightflight To UR Anus - Todd Terje Tynneterje Edit
2 – Pete Namlook - Subharmonic Atoms - Pepe Bradock Remix
3 – Detroit Swindle - That Freak Stuff - Original Mix
4 – Move D - Stray
5 – Boo Williams - Further Tek - Original Mix / FCL - Its You - San Sodas Panorama Bar Acca Version
6 – Kahil El'Zabar - Running In The Streets - Charles Webster Remix Number 1
7 – Kerri Chandler - Vector Graphics – Long edit
8 – Naomi Daniel - Feel The Fire - Chez n Trent Mix
9 – DJ Q – Fila – Original Mix
10 – Delano Smith - Feel This Odyssey Version - Original Mix
11 – Photon Inc. - Generate Power feat. Paula Brion - Jimpster Dub
12 – B6 - Sweet Light - Eric Ericksson Remix
13 – Chic Miniature - Escandalo - Original Mix
14 – Kings Of Tomorrow feat April - Fall For You - Sandy Riveras Classic Mix

Listen to Ranacat on Pulse Radio.

Spotlight on Detroit: Derrick May

http://pulseradio.net — Wed, 22 May 2013 13:55:01 +1000

Kevin Saunderson. Carl Craig. Matthew Dear. Moodymann. These are just some of the artists who have carved the musical landscapes of Detroit, past and present. Constantly innovating their sound and pushing the boundaries of expectations are just a few things these artists have in common, but more importantly, they’re all inextricably linked with the city of Detroit.

While its undeniable that the city itself influenced these musicians during the nascent stages of their careers, it’s also clear that without the hard work they and other like minded artists have put in over the last 25+ years Detroit wouldn’t be the beneficiary of a large scale electronic music festival that’s now known the world over as Movement.

But there’s much more to the musical story that’s constantly being told in Wayne County and it’s one that thrives even in the 362 days after the festival stages have been taken down. In Pulse Radio’s "Spotlight on Detroit" series we've handpicked some amazing talent from this fair city. Whether their name is already written in the books of history or their careers are being forged as we speak, everyone within the series has their own perspective on how the city has shaped them as artists and who they are as people. Find out from these guys who are in the know, about the hidden gems of Detroit. Also, they each select a few of their favorite places to take friends from out of town, hang out, and grab a bite to eat in the D.
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How would you characterize your musical upbringing? What about this do you think led to where you find yourself these days?

Who did you look up to either within music or in another area of life while you were growing up, that still have an impact on you today?

As an artist hailing from the undisputed birthplace of techno, do you feel this limits your ability to explore work in other genres?

Tell us something about the D our readers might not already know.

Being from Detroit also brings on a sense of pride, which has sprouted sayings like “Detroit hustles harder” and so on. What does being from this city evoke from you personally?

While every scene has its pros and cons, what do you see as the obstacles and advantages that come along with making a living in music in the D?

What are some of your favorite memories of Movement/DEMF in years past?

What's your favorite place to:
A: Show out of towners
B: Check out local artists (of any genre or art medium)
C: Get some good grub

If you could do one thing to enhance the state of Detroit’s electronic scene, what would it be?

Listen to Derrick May on Pulse Radio

Catching up with Manuel Tur

http://pulseradio.net — Wed, 22 May 2013 00:13:15 +1000

For those that aren't already familiar with your stuff can you briefly introduce yourself and the style of music you are best known for? My name is Manuel Tur and I’m a producer, engineer and DJ from Essen, Germany. As for the solo productions released under my own name, I’m probably best known for a sort of deeper house sound with a hypnotic twist.

What is your idea of South Africa? My idea of South Africa is that of an aspiring nation with an impressive love for house music among the younger generation. I’m very much looking forward to finally be able to absorb some of the country’s vibe first-hand.

How did u get into producing and DJ'ing? Are you a trained musician? I’m not really a classically trained musician but rather self-taught about all aspects of my work. I started collecting records as a young kid at school and quickly fell in love with putting together beats, loops and samples on the computer with my school-mates. I then knew very soon that what I wanted to do in life is making records.

Does DJ'ing affect your flow of production? It sometimes does, especially when I’m working on a track’s arrangement. But it probably happens more often that – vice versa – my production affects my DJing. I’m very sensitive about certain aspects of music production such as specific sound aesthetics or the overall mix quality, and this definitely influences the choice of tracks I play out in my DJ sets.

What is your expectation of the music scene in South Africa? I’ve heard nothing but good things about the South African music scene. However, I always try not to have too many expectations or preconceptions about the places I’m going for the first time, but rather go and check them out myself. I’m really glad I finally get the chance to do so in the case of South Africa. The amount of love and constant support I’ve been receiving from South African fans and followers over the last couple of years is just incredible and really unique, even though I’ve never been there before.

What do you have planned musically for South Africa, are you bringing anything that is still experimental or will you be sticking to your usual stuff? To be honest, I haven’t thought about it yet. I hardly ever plan my sets and I suppose most people are surprised to hear what I play when they actually come to see me for the first time. I have a very broad taste in music and try not to stick to just one sound or formula. However, knowing that some of my older tracks and remixes have been really popular in South Africa, unlike the rest of the world, I will probably take some of these older tracks with me.

You are signed to a few different labels including Freerange records. How has being with Freerange records helped you as an artist and your career? Signing with Freerange in 2007 definitely changed a lot for me. It was the decisive step that allowed me to do what I love on a professional basis, finally being able to make a living from producing music. Jamie and Tom, who run the label, have always been incredibly supportive and it’s impressive how they have managed to keep a very warm a familial relation to their artists even after more than 15 years in the business. I’m very thankful for the opportunity they have given me when I was a completely unknown artist.

How do you feel about social media and using this as a tool to get yourself out there? Social media has undoubtly become the most important key to market music these days. This applies even more to dance music since the role of the DJ as the actual artist has overgrown the music itself a bit, and decreasing record sales force producers to leave the studio and tour the clubs to make a living. Personally, I find it difficult to find the right balance for myself. I’m more of a low-key person and often don’t feel comfortable giving away too much of myself. The way the role and perception of the DJ has changed over the last couple of years actually alienates me a bit. As much as I enjoy DJing and playing out the music I love, I’m not particularly interested in the current DJ culture, I have to admit.

What hardware/software are you using? At the moment I’m using a hybrid set-up with Logic being my main DAW software on the computer. I then mix everything on an analogue console with outboard gear and record back to the computer.

What is your creative process? Is there a particular routine/schedule you stick too? I don’t have much of a routine really, at least I try not to. With club tracks, I might start with the beats most of the times. Sometimes a sample or a synthesizer sequence can be a good starting point, too. Now and then I’d arrange the whole track on the computer and sometimes I’d do it all live on the mixing console and then cut the best parts together. It’s never 100% the same.

What are you listening to at the moment and is there anyone inspiring you? Again, this changes on an almost daily basis. From abstract Jazz to cheesy Pop, I try to listen to as much different music as possible. Over the last couple of months though, I’ve been studying a lot of productions by Dan Carey in particular. He’s one of these people you will only find on the back of a record sleeve but I absolutely admire his work.

Any new EP's coming out soon? Yes, I have a new one for Freerange almost finished and it will feature vocals by Larissa Kapp who already sang on my first album.

What is your preferred method of DJing? CDs/Vinyl/Laptop? Where do you see the future of DJing? I’m now playing from a USB stick when I travel far. To me, it’s just the consequent next step of the digital development. In my home area, I still like to pull out the vinyls from time to time.

If you could collaborate with anyone in the industry, who would it be and why? I can’t think of anyone I would like to collaborate with in particular right now, but there are dozens of people I would love to just sit next to for a day and watch them work and learn from. Producers, engineers, musicians… too many to mention!

Where has been your favorite country to play in and why? I think it’s not fair to mention just one country. Every country has its own intrinsic club scene and culture. Diversion is part of the magic.

What are your plans for the summer? Setting up my new studio in Essen and work on a couple of new projects. Besides my solo work, I’m also doing production and engineering work for other artists from different genres. It’s definitely going to be a busy summer.

Listen to Pulse Radio.

Isaac Tichauer: Life in Mono

http://pulseradio.net — Tue, 21 May 2013 20:06:31 +1000

French Express signing and Sydney resident Isaac Tichauer is a fan of blurring the lines. Melding music of the mind and dancefloor aesthetics, jazz experimentation and electronic rigdiness and techno meeting UK bass culture, the young producer came to prominence through his recent Devotion album. Ahead of Cue Love's opening party featuring Isaac perfroming alongside Copy Paste Soul and Panda, the young pretender talks to us about debut albums, losing the hearing in his right ear and hearing everything in mono...

Tell us a bit about yourself. How did you get into producing music? I started playing piano from the age of 4 due to my parents wanting me to have a strong musical side. I received lessons in the Conservatorium of Music in Sydney learning mainly classical music and some jazz. Later in my teens I went to a rave, fell in love with electronic music and bought my first Roland synth. The rest is a very slow climb to where I am know, and hoping to slowly climb for a little while yet.

For those that don't know, you were born with a condition that has left you without hearing in your right ear. How has that effected your approach to making music? I hear everything in mono, so I think it’s the perfect condition for producing club ready house music.

You hail from Sydney, Australia. What was it like growing up there – how has it affected you musically? I find most of my music online so my influences tend to come from all over the world in addition to Sydney. The main impact of living in Bondi was the temptation to walk out of the studio and head to be beach. Its been the most challenging part of my career.

Your debut album Devotion came out last year on French Express. Tell us a bit about that – what made you give it away for free? I wanted to make a statement, and share the music with as many people as possible. Giving fans the freedom to download and share was more important to me then charging for my music. From my experience, people really appreciate it and feel invested in you personally.

How did you get involved with American label French Express? I’ve known Leon (Perseus) for a few years, and did some work with him in the past under a different project. We’ve been on Skype talking music for a long time. We’re really great friends.

Your recent 'Take Over You' EP has come out to critical acclaim. Have you been pleased with the response? Very, the EP has had a bunch of plays on Soundcloud, and just last night was played on the Annie Mac show. Ive always felt my music lived exclusively online so its great to get some radio coverage outside of Australia.

You're playing in London at the end of the month alongside Copy Paste Soul, Panda and Just Kiddin for the launch of new night Cue Love. What are your thoughts on playing in the city? I love London, my last show with House of Disco was incredible fun and it was the first show I played in Europe where I really felt like I was looking at room full of fans of my music, people that had come to see me and had listened to the album regularly, so I’m hoping to see those people again. I’m also keen to see Copy Paste Soul play who are making some great music.

You have been rapidly building a name for yourself since Devotion came out less than a year ago. What can we expect to see from you in the future? This year is about regular original releases on French Express with a focus on classic styles of house music, maintaining the regular mixtapes, and also some debut tours in Asia and the USA.

Grab tickets exclusively on Pulse and head down to give them all a warm welcome.

Listen to Isaac Tichauer on Pulse Radio.

Quick Fire: Casino Times

http://pulseradio.net — Tue, 21 May 2013 17:56:50 +1000

The future for underground electronic music looks bright, thanks to talented newcomers such as Casino Times. Nick Church & Joe Spencer have found success after a strong succession of EPs - notably That's The Truth and their latest Needwant cut I wanna Know - inspiring people through their electric influences and razor sharp productions that aim straight for the deep end. Playing for Low Slung this weekend, Nick & Joe sat in the hot seat for a Quick Fire grilling and talked vinyl, sounds and collaborators.

Please introduce yourselves... Hi we are Nick Church and Joseph Spencer of Casino Times. We’ve no other AKAs at the moment.

Describe your sound in 5 words? We’re not sure, you decide..

What was the first piece of vinyl you brought? Joe: I think it was a Chaka Khan 12”.. But I’ve inherited all my dad’s old 80’s synth pop and reggae vinyl to add to the mix.
Nick: I can’t remember the first bit of vinyl but the first album I bought (on CD), was Rage Against The Machine – Evil Empire.

Who are your influences, musically speaking? At the moment we’re taking influence from labels like Uncanny Valley, Full Pupp, Burek, Box Aus Holz and Studio Barnhus. We’re also big disco heads and can’t resist a huge diva vocal.
Joe: In respects to our history we both come from fairly different backgrounds; Nick used to go see the likes of Erol Alkan & James Murphy at venues like ‘The End’ whereas I grew up on punk and metal bands – quite different perspectives and it definitely shapes our sound.

If you could co-produce with anyone dead or alive – who would it be? Joe : I would have said Giorgio Moroder but it looks like Daft Punk got there first
Nick: I’ve always wondered what’s going through DJ Koze head when he puts something out, really interesting and fresh. We are as much as fan of his solo work as of the material he releases on Pampa.

How did the foals remx come about? Nick: We both studied in Oxford and I was DJing around the city a lot at the time and I met Edwin (from the band), through that.
Joe: We were really happy we got asked to do the remix and we as much fans of the band stuff as we are of the Deep Shit label and night that Edwin runs with Jack (Friendly Fires) and Adam Parylak

What’s next for Casino Times for the rest of the year? Joe: We started a project that involved cutting up disco breaks and extending them into dance floor friendly DJ tools and it just evolved into fully fledged productions. We’ve decided to put these out with a series of white label 12” under ‘Casino Edits’ which we’re really excited about. The first in the series has a couple of tracks from us and later cuts will feature some of our favorite artists. Keep an eye out.
Nick: We’ve also got a couple of other remixes coming out for the summer. Firstly Christophe’s new single Futureboogie featuring Danielle Moore and another for Jay Shepheard’s & Martin Dawsons’s Retrofit hit last summer ‘Cut A Hole’, which we was a real honor to be asked to do.

Finally, name your dream lineup for a party? Joe: Prince B2B Kraftwerk featuring Boyz ll Men (LIVE PA).
Nick: With Hesseltime on warm up, playing some solid roof slappers.

You can bag yourself a pair of tickets to the event and 2 x Casino Times vinyl copies, simply by emailing the subject line 'Casino' to contact@pulseradio.net. A successful candidate shall be picked at random on Thursday 23rd May.

Catch Casino Times at Low Slung on Saturday. Tickets underneath the flyer.

Tickets

LIsten to Casino Times on Pulse Radio.

Around the World with Loco Dice: From Chicago to Ibiza

http://pulseradio.net — Tue, 21 May 2013 02:43:49 +1000

A wave of nostalgia hit me as I sat down to interview Loco Dice right before his show in Detroit on last Friday, May 17th. Following him across the country from his gig on Thursday in Chicago at Spybar to The Works the following night, felt all too familiar to me. It reminded me how I similarly interviewed him on the CNTRL tour after running from city to city with the entire crew. Time however, had not stood still since the November excursion, as Loco Dice has played countless times in the US since then, constantly flying back and forth across continents. All of that is happening while he is in the midst of preparing for his new residency in Ibiza, Used+Abused. We sat down for an extensive chat to catch up not just on recent times playing in the midwest, but also past experiences on Ibiza that have culminated in his residency at Ushuaia this summer.

After playing a series of larger shows, are there any challenges to playing a smaller shows like at Spybar? I mean the good thing is the main clubs that I'm playing worldwide, I know them because I'm always playing with the same people and promoters. For me, I'm just doing it freestyle. I hear the sound, I see the people, I feel the vibe and it gets me to a certain place. I walk in and I see what's happening, you catch the vibe and you try to adapt. Then you try to walk with them.

You say you always play with the same people, do you ever wish to make it different? No, that was my intention from day one. I become friends with the promoters, I became familiar with the location. It's very rare that we change promoters or locations. Of course, there are some cities you try new things out, like New York. But even in New York, I'm not trying things out to be honest. When I lived there I knew more or less the locations, the situations, and I knew how it is. I play the three same clubs and Output now, or if they book me for something special in Brooklyn, of course I go and do those shows. I don't like to switch locations that much or go to off-locations, because I think people are expecting an experience in a familiar environment,. That's why I don't like to do club hopping or promoter hopping. If the crowd comes to the club and it's totally weird, then it's weird.

When you say you scout locations to learn about the place, what kind of research do you do and does that affect your set a lot? In general, I don't scout locations. I just did it in New York when I lived there. The most important thing is of course, the people. Luckily I have a good crowd coming to my gigs. I have a very mixed crowd which I am very happy and proud of to be honest. The sound is the first thing and we make sure it's the right sound system for the crowd and for me, if I play longer sets. If everything is perfect, why would you change?

How did you meet Dino who runs Spybar? Dino was one of those guys who booked me in the early days. Actually, the first person who booked me was John Curley. Then John ran into some difficulties and I was kind of lost. I remember I played with Carl Cox somewhere, and even before John Curley - wow brings back some memories - I played at Crowbar for Kenny Keith and the Miami guys…so I have history in Chicago. Then somehow Dino booked me. Dino is a Greek guy, funny guy, and I really like how he works and how he is as a person. Spybar is just small and intimate and great. It has again, that mixed crowd there. You have a lot of Europeans, a lot of Americans. It's great, I like the people who work there from the bouncers to Johnny at the bar, to everybody.

Have you been in their studio? Oh yea we did some "smoke sessions" there. I've never been able to produce or do something, because it was right after the gig, having some drinks. It's great, it's nice what Dino is building up there now. He's doing the festival now, it's great for the city. Chicago needs something like this. Chicago is like the clean version of New York. I think it is great to live out there. People are great and it's still not messed up with promoters and weird people and all that stuff. So it's good that they have someone like Dino who's creating an institution.

Loco Dice playing Spybar this past Thursday, May 16th.

You have a lot of history with Chicago musically, who would you say influenced you the most? From the production side, influenced I would say every one of them. From Curtis (Green Velvet/Cajmere), Derrick Carter, Sneak back in the day. All of them. Chicago is Chicago. I realized later what an impact Chicago had on me.

You're playing tonight in Detroit, how come you're not playing Movement this year? I'm not playing Movement this year because I had an amazing slot last year. I mean I played before Public Enemy, being introduced by Iced T. What more do you want? As a hip-hop kid that was the biggest highlight ever. It brought me back to the days when I was hip-hop, you know. I was nervous and it was Detroit and this big stage and all that stuff. I was shaky, I was really nervous. I wasn't nervous because of Ice or Chuck or the boys, I was nervous because my history came back to me in such an important place. I mean it's not a secret, I'm not from techno. I knew about Detroit late, but I learned a lot then and I'm down with the boys here [in Detroit]. I think it was so special and that's what made me completely nervous performing next to Ice T and Public Enemy. I remember not even opening up for Public Enemy but being on the same line up when I was a hip-hop DJ. Those were cool days. So I thought, what you want to do? You want to come back to Detroit and play again somewhere? I don't know. I thought ok, this year I'm also opening up my new residency in Ibiza, Used + Abused. I said I'm going to put 100% attention on that. I'm going to pss this time on Detroit, still thinking about the beautiful memories I have from last year. But then I thought hey, I cannot do this. I played already in Detroit with the CNTRL tour but like I said, I have so many friends here and it's such an important city for me. I take back so much inspiration from this city back to Germany in the studio. It was my free day and I gotta do something!

Loco Dice playing at The Works in Detroit on Friday, May 17th.

What aspect of your Used+Abused residency are you most looking forward to? I mean first of all, having my own residency! I never thought about this. And everybody knows I was never a fan of having my own party in Ibiza.

Why weren't you a fan? It's a lot of stress, it's a lot of work, it's a lot of politics, it's a lot of stuff. You have to take care of so much and I just didn't feel ready for it. I'm a leader, I love to lead, but not in this instance. For me, I was happy. I was playing at the coolest parties with the coolest DJs for the coolest people. It was great… The time came though, and I needed to go back to where I started in Ibiza and that was playing the day-time party. Ushuaia came up and it was the only place where there are no sound restrictions. You could create something, dive into something completely new. We had this opportunity and we took it. I'm really happy and proud and excited for this project. I think we are all gonna have so much fun. The line up is just friends and I'm really, really, excited. Especially now these days, people are saying commercial clubs, commercial DJs - that's not true. I mean Ibiza, if you see it from the outside, real hardcore techno people say that it's all sellouts there. But if you come and experience places like Cocoon or Carl Cox…I mean I take Richie out because he's a rookie now with last year's launch of ENTER. But if you experience all these cats like DC-10 who've been running the show there for ten years or longer, you know, wow techno is in Ibiza and Ibiza has got it’s place. It's about time to take over some other locations, like we did in Miami.

Why is it called Used+Abused? You're the first one to ask. Used+Abused is when you go to the party, and then during the party, then after the party, on the way to the party. Then you start this shit all over again, so it's twenty four hours you are used and abused by the bass.

How did you come up with it? Like how we came up with Desolat, boom! It's an expression we used, it came from the small after parties in Barcelona, and then we liked the name so much for Ibiza because over there we could do something nice. We had this name the whole time.

You mentioned in your Used+Abused video trailer that Ibiza changed you, how so? Hey I was a hip-hop kid. My friends started to go to techno parties early on. House, techno. At that time I was super into hip-hop. I was more open-minded compared to my other hip-hop colleagues. My friends said, hey you got to come to Ibiza and check it out. I'm like okay, why not let's go on a holiday to Ibiza, not even thinking about partying. So I came and it was a bad-ass experience to see what a community there is, how people are together. But the most exciting thing that I experienced was all these nationalities from all over the world coming together under one roof. In hip-hop, you are hip-hop. Hip-hop is hip-hop. And Hip-hop club was always a mix of different nationalities. But there [in Ibiza] you really have people coming from Norway to Australia to Argentina, everywhere. And everyone is communicating somehow, the vibe was just amazing. The music, the DJs, it all came together and clicked in my head. I said, wow this is great I want to come back, and look at me now with a residency.

Which Ibiza experience taught you the most? There was no challenges at all. It was just the flow. From one year to the other, after partying there and experiencing the island, it went so fast. I became a house DJ, electronic DJ, then I had my first gig in Ibiza and then boom, I showed up at DC-10. I was always a guest at DC-10. Then I showed up one day at DC-10 and I was invited by them to play. Then they said what are you doing next week and it just so happened I stayed the whole season there. I just threw away my flight ticket, it made no sense to change it all the time for thirty euros. The island just got me. There is no challenge, just a constant flow, a wave that takes you.

Do you have any exciting new talent on your label? There will be a guy called Jean Pierre from New York. We have Nathan Barato dropping some tunes finally on the label. We have Butch coming out. We have Ali Barem coming again, the whole gang. All these young kids who have been producing like crazy. If you send me a beat, I don't even look at the name could be Richie Hawtin and I wouldn't know, my judgement is about the music. Does it hit me? Does it catch me? Then I'll play it. Some guys I just go and ask them, like Benny Rodriguez or Mathias Kaden.

Listen to Loco Dice on Pulse Radio