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Deepak Sharma
27 August 2009 00:37:47
Deepak Sharma has been pushing and playing the music he loves in New York for many years now, and is owner of label Hidden Recordings alongside Dieter Krause. Together they have built Hidden Recordings as a label to not only realease their own music on, but to also incorporate music from artists who inspire or move them in some way. Deepak has a stable vision of where he wants to take his productions and the label, and it is inspiring to speak with someone who is driven by passion and a love for all things techno and deep. Pulse: I read that you started in the music industry as a promoter and a Dj in NY at a venue called Boogaloo. You were asked to do a mix representing the Boogaloo vibe, can you tell us a little more about this story?
Deepak: I was hosting parties there, more low-key in nature as from the outside this looked like a very underground mellow spot. Funny enough, the later the night became, the more wild the party turned out. Sometimes, around 4am, we would tell those who we didn’t know well that it was closing time and turn off the music. After they left, we would pull down the shades, and start the music back up and sometimes go until 9am just for our friends. The music at the early hours of the morning always took on a deeper sound with more melody and slower bpm. I always loved this sound, imagine Funk D’Void, Terry Lee Brown Jr, Dial Rec style of music, track after track. Nothing sounded better to finish off a heavy night at Boogaloo. When the opportunity to make a CD was first introduced to me, I wanted it to be representative of those early mornings, the positive vibe, and the sense of camaraderie. We have all been there where we have cracked open a beer in the wee hours after a great night of partying, and this was the music to capture that feeling. It nearly took two years of my life to begin and complete this project, facing too many obstacles to mention here. I chose music from producers that weren’t well known at the time, and wanted to give them and myself a voice. The music not only reflects the vibe of the party but also the venue and us as people. It’s amazing to see the rise of techno and to think this was done in 2004, just before the craze began. You run Hidden Recordings with Dieter Krause, how did the label come into existence?
Dieter and I began to work on tracks about a year after our friendship developed. We met after I released the Boogaloo CD, where he was working with partner Frank Hellmond as Laplaceausoleil and I licensed their track, “Cherchez Moi” off the Cologne imprint, Plong. From there we found out we shared a lot in common regarding music and life and it was a natural progression into working on music together. After we completed our first few tracks, I began to reach out to labels for their feedback, and it was difficult to get feedback, or for a label to like all the tracks, and some asked for them to be altered slightly. I became a bit frustrated, so decided to start Hidden Recordings as a means for Dieter and I to take our music to a larger audience. After we released a few EP’s, it dawned on me to invite a few artists who I admire to join the family, and so we have grown nicely over the past year.
What is your vision for Hidden?
I really want people to look at Hidden Recordings as a consistent label that they can expect great music from, for all different occasions. Whether it is big club dance floor music, or for the morning sunrise parties on the terraces or for home listening, let the quality of the production connect you with the label. I’m looking to continually expand the label as well with like-minded artists and we will be featuring Brooklyn’s Gregory Shiff on our next release who owns his own label Vacationist and has released on well respected labels such as Stewart Walker’s Persona imprint in Berlin. There are some other artists who have expressed interest, but until I get a final confirmation, it’s best to keep that a secret. I see us continuing to grow and continuing to turn heads and please ears and dancefloors!  How does Hidden Recordings fit into the techno scene of NY? I think we are known by everyone in the NY techno scene, but it’s such a large and competitive market that staying on the radar is a true test, like in any genre, which I believe we are doing because of the label’s releases, and also my gigging there. In 2009, I have already played in NY eight times which is the most I’ve ever gigged here in a single year, and the right amount to keep your name out there, but not over-expose. Hidden Recordings fits into the scene with a quarterly residency at Bar 13, which is a smaller underground club that i invite guests to play at, usually from the label or someone I respect. It provides the label a chance to connect with people in person. The techno movement in NY is a bit fragmented with many different crews, I do know them, and have played for a few of them, and I think it’s best to be a ‘free agent’, where you don’t have to have ties to any single crew, but all of them.
Do you think techno in NY is different to techno in Europe? If so, what is it that makes it different?
In general, techno in NY is alive and well. If anything, I’m hearing of more and more people moving to NY from around the States and even Europe because it’s vibrant here. The underground warehouse parties are doing well, and there are smaller clubs and lounge bars that feature techno nights.  I’m pretty sure every weekend through the year will have some sort of techno nowadays, which was crazy to imagine 5-6 years ago. I think techno in NY has an image of being ultra underground, almost chic in a way, but in Europe, techno is accepted more in the mainstream as big clubs and festivals are dedicated to only techno. NY can be a bit fragmented with a few different crews pushing techno, which is good because there are so many parties on a weekly basis, but bad also because they are reaching out to the same crowds. Most European countries have a few solid techno promoters and with the close proximity of the countries, you can spread the wealth of talent throughout Europe more easily, so the exposure happens faster and becomes more main-stream.
Where do you think the techno scene is headed?
Music always evolves and techno is no different. I think the style has moved towards more of a bigger room sound, and I think the influence of the Latin techno producers is evident with more tribal and shaker sounds with vocals dispersed through the tracks. I’m not sure what the next wave will be, but I know there are many talented producers out there who are pushing themselves to make music that is great for the dance-floor but also not boring or too repetitive. Techno is moving towards having more soul in the tracks and not just a mechanical sound, or incorporating a more ‘human’ sound to contrast the percussion and glitchy-ness of a typical techno track.
Do you have a particular project you are proud of or that you favour?
The Boogaloo CD back in 2004 is something that I’m most proud of because of all the obstacles I overcame to release it. I wasn’t a well known Dj at the time, and I used slower, deeper, atmospheric minimal techno music that wasn’t popular or well known, and most importantly not very typical of dance music CDs that are released. The CD has often been called time-less, which is the highest compliment anybody can give. I stuck with my vision to make something representative of the club and my interpretation of after-hours and it worked well, no matter how much I battled with it in my head.
Of course the birth of Hidden Recordings with Dieter and I releasing our own tracks is right up there. I always enjoy seeing our names in the various distributor catalogs and seeing the label grow with each release. This is an on-going project and the growth of the label is something I’m very proud of because we are continually pushing and trying to get more people aware of the label.
What upcoming projects / gigs do you have?
It’s a really busy time, and that’s the way we love it! The big news is Dieter and I are beginning an artist album in the fall, which will have 12-14 unreleased tracks and a few remixes from invited producers. In addition we are completing a remix for a Jamie Kidd track on Toronto’s Thoughtless Music label, run by Noah Pred, which should be out in the fall. Also, we are working on a remix for Gregory Shiff and his Vacationist label, and he will have a feature release on Hidden Recordings in the fall as well, which will be available on both vinyl and digital.
I also have an upcoming date at Bar 13 for the Hidden Recordings Residency Night – we host four a year. I’m also headed to Washington DC to return to play the Clinic Party at Muse, I played the first party there back in January. Since then they have hosted many great techno DJs such as Steve Bug and Josh Wink. In the later part of the month, I’m hosting a rooftop party at Bar 13 on a Sunday – it’s a more informal gig and I’m playing alongside some other NY DJs whom I invited to play.  For me, it’s always about the people at the party, not the type of venue or number of people – I simply love to play. I remember one time playing in Vancouver, at the end of the night during the final track, the promoter of the club whispered in my ear that everyone loved the set and they wanted me to play for another half hour. The club locked the doors and didn’t allow anybody in, and I happily put my headphones back on and took the crowd into a deeper groove for another half hour. It felt like I had my own concert! The smiles on their faces stay with me to this day. But you know, that’s how any memorable gig feels, and it will sound cliché, but any DJ who has truly connected with a crowd in a night knows what I’m talking about: the feeling of looking into the eyes of the crowd, as if it was a respite or relief for the past two hours and that they needed this, just like you did. You feel that for the past two hours, the only thing that mattered was the party. I recently played in Pittsburgh at the Hijack party, and the vibe of the party was incredible, and people afterward were saying they haven’t heard music or danced like that since DEMF. A few other notable gigs were playing the Clinic party in Washington DC. I kicked off their party in January with a 5 hour set and they have since hosted some of the biggest names in techno. To this day, I get reminded that my set and night was one of the best they had. I’m looking forward to returning later in August. As for NY, I love playing on the Hidden Recordings Residency Nights – they are so much fun to prepare for and it’s great to see old friends and new faces as well. One NY gig that is memorable for this year was playing at Rebel for Save the Cannibals with Paco Osuna. The energy in the room was frenetic and I remember the crowd cheering Paco on with each track, except it wasn’t Paco who was playing at that moment, it was me! Then I passed the reigns over to Paco, who continued to kill it. A gig becomes special when you can see and feel the change in the crowd’s attention and energy; it’s when you have them, and you continually to push them and the party to the next frenzied level.
What artists have inspired you over the years?
I’ve always loved techno with a more musical element to it, with soft melodies or pads and stuff you don’t necessarily translate into dance club music. Everyone from Akufen, Funk D’void, Terry Lee Brown Jr, John Tejada, Swayzak, Mathew Jonson, Rene Breitbarth and Luciano have all produced memorable music to me. But there are so many fantastic labels pushing musical sounds that it’s easy to become inspired. What artists are you listening to at the moment?
I go back and forth to slower deeper music and also music I would play during peak hours. Nick Curley is doing a great job producing for Cecille right now with a more jackin’ style of techno. A good representation of what I’m talking about is in my August chart for Juno. Are there any artists out there you would like to collaborate with?
Yes, I really enjoy the production work of And ID, Ambivalent, Rene Breitbarth, Argenis Brito, Miguel Toro, and Butane to name a few. This is an open invite to all of them to join me on Hidden Recordings one day!
How did you come across the other artists on your label like Gustavo Lamas, Karri O, Lineas De Nazca and Monkey Brothers?
Either I was playing one of their tracks, or charted it, or was really moved by their production. I was hammering Karri O’s Dynamite EP a few years back and when we decided to expand, he was one of the first we reached out too. It’s similar to how I am inviting guests to release on Hidden Recordings, a very simple formula: music we would play, music we enjoy and would share with friends to dance too. Casey van Reyk 
DEEPAK PULSE STUDIO HIDDEN RECORDINGS PULSE STUDIO
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Perhaps this is just a numbers game, but Australian record sales actually managed to improve in 2009. According to figures shared by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), wholesale recording revenues gained 4.8 percent last year. That represents the first improvement since 2003, and offers a glimmer of hope for another troubled market.
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