lee foss - interview... 11:10 AM

once again this teshno interview comes to you accompanied by a louche podcast (bundled content is all the range now don't you know) so why not stick it on before we delve into a session with one of 2009's underground stars.

you'd normally get a potted history of the interviewee now but, as his liquid, libidinous house and techno should already be playing in your ears, and as he has so kindly gone in to as much details as he has below, i shall cut the preamble short this time: introducing mr lee foss...



tell us...who is lee foss? where have you come from and where are you going?

hmm, i’m from dekalb illinois originally, lived in chicago for 10 years, except for a few seasons when i was in ibiza/london, then moved to los angeles a little less than 2 years ago. i’m probably going to be moving to london primarily but still spending a lot of time in la and ny in the new year, just had a difficult breakup from a long time girlfriend and need a change, and as jamie jones and i are starting a label and focusing on more hot natured stuff it makes sense.

if the aim of this interview is to introduce people to you, what should i be asking? what do people need to know about you? what makes you, you?

hmm i couldn’t say what people need to know about me, but i guess what makes me me is loving music and having a sense of urgency about doing something about it.
also, i love the wire.

what music did you grow up around and does that influence you now?

my parents listened to pretty standard white 60’s stuff mostly around the house. beatles, momma’s and the papas, jim croce, beach boys, stuff like that. as a child that is what i grew up around, i do remember really liking michael jackson songs that i heard. as soon as i was old enough to buy my own tapes and cds it was hip hop and r +b and new jack swing, and that was pretty much the only music i was into throughout the 90’s, daft punk and stardust and going to a few raves started getting me into house towards the end of the decade just before i moved to chicago. the house stuff got me into disco when record shopping as chicago is a great city for that.

i would say that my love of 90’s r&b and hip hop and new jack swing influences me more than anything else and is tied in closer to my ethos, though obviously 80’s funk and disco are a huge interest and influence as well.

you've done some edits and stuff for w&l's black label... what makes you want to play around with old stuff/samples?

i think there are a variety of factors, but i would say it’s largely because i was making music for years on my own in chicago in logic and not really getting very far, except for when i would do edits which i would send to my friends who were bigger djs and they would love. my experience and interest in 80’s funk and disco and 90’s r&b and hip hop were probably my strongest asset till i moved to la, started working on music full time and switched to ableton live which improved my workflow enough to become a competent producer quickly.

to tell you the truth it takes a long time to get the notes right as a producer. it’s trial and error for a long time and gradually you just start to do everything better, so for a long time samples were the best and only way for me to really start a track and not get bogged down. they sort of worked like sculpting around a mould, forcing me into a key, then from there the sample might not even end up in the track in the end but it would have helped shape the creative process, that happened in almost every song on my album.

you're close to jamie jones and work as hot natured together but individually your sounds are quite different i’d say... how does it work?

i think with the hot natured releases, they sound different from our individual tracks because we are sort of meeting in the middle of what we do. and also sometimes they are mini experiments, like let’s do a song like ‘a’. i can tell you this much, i’m really excited about some of our upcoming releases this winter.

it’s a cool working process, it’s nice because we respect one another’s opinions and always listen to what the other person has to say, and i have a very specific skill set that actually brings something to the table, because obviously jamie doesn’t need any help to write great records.

how does it work? we just sit down in long sessions and make music. sometimes we take breaks.

you also work with lee curtiss as freelance lovers. that’s a lovely name...tell us about that partnership? how is it different to your solo work and work with jamie?

we’ve finished a couple of really cool tracks but haven’t been around each other
enough to work in a long time, which is a shame as lee is a really good friend of mine and we work together really well. but we should have plenty of opportunity really soon and i’m excited about that, should be really fruitful.

how do you prioritise with all these different projects?

well the hot natured original productions only happen when jamie and i are in the same place, so until recently, only if he was visiting l.a. as i spend more and more time in london, the priority will increase. i would like to work with lee curtiss more but we just haven’t been in the same place at the same time enough, but again i think that will change in the new year. to answer the question the collaborations take priority when i’m with my friends but aren’t touched otherwise although i have worked on a few hot natured tracks on my own if the project was started but not finished.

you used to play r&b and hip hop i think... why the change of track? what do you make of the state of those genres in 2009? are there any lingering references in your work at the moment?

i was initially a house/techno/electro dj in chicago and was opening for big djs pretty quickly in that scene, but obviously there isn’t a ton of money in that, so as i transitioned to a full time dj, i started working w venues in other scenes playing old school hip hop and 80’s funk and disco, new wave etc. i went through a phase where i was getting back in to 90’s hip hop again 3-4 years ago and the parties were really fun. it was a skill set i already had, and i knew the music, it’s what i grew up on. i can tell you that a few years in chicago playing 3-4 nights a week, sometimes 20 hours a week will really make you a good dj. it also forced me to find a ton of music again and to learn more about those genres. specifically w r+b and hip hop, i didn’t purposefully stop playing them, they were making me a lot of money in chicago, i just never went out and made the connections in la to start playing them or working in those genres. i threw myself into building what we were building and those other genres were still influencing and informing my production so i didn’t feel like i was losing anything.

the state of hip hop in 2009 is a joke. yeah 90’s hip hop and r&b is in everything i do.

what's an average day/party with the wolf + lamb family like? they said on one of their podcasts they are 'obsessed' with you! sounds a lot of fun...

i couldn’t begin to explain the average marcy party here, but i love being in ny with those guys. gadi, zev, denise, greg, i consider them all really good friends even though i’ve only known them since march. it’s edifying that they are into what i do, because i’m definitely into what they do.

the average day usually involves biali’s at atlas in the morning, eating something else that is really ill, working on music, ordering rueben’s late night. walking around williamsburg. the average party is the best party in the world, can’t be described.

how does that help you musically or personally?

musically gadi has had really good feedback that has helped me, and playing the parties is definitely a great experience as a dj, i would say it has raised my profile in nyc. personally it’s helped me to have some great friends who are looking out for me in a really amazing city.

what rules/processes do you impose on yourself before, during and after writing music... what do you aim to achieve?

i wouldn’t say i impose any rules or processes on myself but i can tell you that there was a point this summer when i was writing the bulk of my album that i was obsessed with it and the work and it’s release to the point that it was instrumental in some irrevocable damage to my personal life.

i would say i have enough drive to do the work, and i don’t really need any processes, i generally have ideas. in my day to day life, or at parties, when i get new ideas i text them to myself and they usually work out. i work as much as i can but there are various factors that usually keep me from working excessively or even as much as i’d like. it’s one of those things the more you work/play keyboards, build/use your sample libraries the easier it gets to make music you are excited about.

i hope that music reaches people and that they enjoy it, my goal is just to continue to improve as a musician and to make music that i am proud of that others enjoy, for the first time in my life i can honestly say i consider myself a musician first, instead of a dj.

and how do you hope people will react to your music and is that important or do you have different goals?

i suppose the most important thing for me is that i’m happy with it, but yeah i care if people enjoy or react to it. i don’t really think of the music i make as club music though i’m sure some djs will play it, so i’m always immediately thinking of my music from a album/afterparty/car/home listening situation, and i want people to enjoy it and for it to affect them. that was what was so important to me when i was doing my album was creating a cohesive and emotive statement. i find it hard to believe anyone makes music only for themselves.

you started culprit records this year i think... what's the label's outlook, how is it going?

i would have to say it is droog’s label, though i do have quite a bit of input and influence on the direction, and a lot of the early output has/will centre around me/hot natured. i think the emphasis/outlook is on what has been going on in la and how the scene grew there and artists started to work in my/droog’s studio and the great music that was coming out of that and influenced by what was going on there.

i think it has been very successful for a new label, and i think it will really turn the corner w the release of hot natured equilibrium/wintertime a forthcoming ep that is garnering a lot of attention.

what brought about the move from chicago to la? you moved your whole studio didn't you? you must really have wanted to go - artists i’ve spoken to before from chicago says it's player hater central was that anything to do with it?

i think it can be hater central, but it wasn’t for me, i actually had tremendous success there and was making a ton of money djing locally and my ex girlfriend was making a ton of money as well, so we gave up a sure thing and it was hard to do. i basically saw an opportunity to build something in la with my friends that would be really special and it has been. they were bringing me out frequently to dj, and i saw the opportunity we had to throw some incredible parties and start a brand. i think had i stayed in chicago my career definitely wouldn’t have progressed the way it did, but i can say that giving up my life there was the hardest choice i ever made, and the struggle of being in la with virtually no income the last few years was more pressure than i would wish on anyone, but i’m proud of the results.

i can tell you for a fact i didn’t really want to leave chicago and i had as good a local career as you can probably have there, the problem is there is no real local scene or community to inspire you, build your profile, or help you connect to other artists. it will always be my home though and i love
to go back and play for spybar.

you've built your own scene in la with droog and the rest of your crew - what has it taught you, how does it influence you? was it very important to bring the party to you instead of go to the party in i.e. berlin or wherever?

that is actually a really good question and something that conflicts me heavily about my possible move to london. i have been proud of working with growing u.s. labels like culprit and wolf + lamb, and the idea of building something ourselves. it was very important to me that that was my path rather than going and riding coat tails in europe. for me i saw no point in sending my music to big labels and hoping to be a cog in a wheel on a machine where i have no say in the direction. my friends and i have enough good ideas to do things the right way from the ground up.

the scene in la influenced my life in more ways that i could begin to explain and definitely influenced my music.

can you tell us about your love of vests?!

ha i like tank tops. l.a. is hot.

tell us a bit about what people can expect from you at louche?

they can expect me to play songs beatmatched into each other and ‘mixed’ with eqs. probably about half of them will be songs i made. then get really off my head.

and finally can you leave me with a question for the next person i interview please?

what is the meaning of life?

simon baker ~ life on tour... 9:54 PM

simon baker has risen through the ranks over the last few years. as resident at asylum & technique in his hometown of leeds, and at ddd in the country’s capital, he has warmed up thousands and thousands of clubbers for the big names djs who followed. putting to use his understanding of the dancefloor, he released a track in 2004 called ‘the liptrick’ originally as a white label, only for fellow leeds star ralph lawson to snap it up on his 2020 vision label.

a year later in 2005 baker decided to set up his own imprint to give total control of his output and, although that is now on the backburner, his productions and dj reputation have earned him gigs across the globe from the us to asia, south america to aus.

whilst anyone with more than a passing interest in electronic music would no doubt sell their mother to become a world touring dj, it must have its downsides. imagine always living out of a bag, spending long periods alone travelling or killing time waiting for your slot, spending time away from partners and family, your nice x-box set-up and tv....to that end, i found out from simon about life as a touring dj..


after a gig the night before – where do you normally stay, with who?

after a gig, back to the hotel usually. depending who am with, i might head to an afterparty. ok, i often head to the afterparty!

before a gig i usually hang out in the hotel and sort my music out, chill out. sometimes i will go for dinner with the promoters. all depends how i am feeling.

what time do you get up? what/where/when do you eat?

sleeping as a dj (if you get to bed) is usually hindered by a hotel check out or an early flight. my sleeps often are cut in half for this reason. i eat a loada crap when on the road. any sort of healthy diet goes right down the pan.

is it then off for a plane or train to get to the next gig?

yeh that’s it, planes trains and automobiles, off we go…

what do you do during any journeys... ??

if i haven’t slept, i will often just relax as much as i can and keep my head together in various situations you have to deal with. ie airport queues, security and so on. i actually have a category on my ipod purely called “airport queues” it helps me a lot!!!

i am shit at sleeping on moving things, so rarely catch up on sleep in between (which isn’t ideal in this job. i really envy those fuckers who sleep on planes as soon as they sit in their seat) but when i am feeling ok, i will do music stuff, go through tracks, make some new ideas/loops, or just watch a film on my laptop or read something. it’s all utilising the time when you’re on the road. you have lots of it if touring, so just have to make the most of it.

what do you do when you arrive in the city you’re playing in?

get picked up, go to hotel. sleep, eat. if it's early in the day i will go for a walk around and try and see some of the place i am in. i like to do the tourist thing as much as i can, after all i go to some amazing places in the world, but its not always possible. i usually only get to see the airport, motorway and club.

what do you do in the hours leading up to the gig... just hang around in hotels?!

yeh, chill , watch films, make music, go through tracks for the gig. drink the mini bar dry etc etc.

are you alone a lot of the time?

yup sure am. it’s actually great when you know someone in a city to hang out with. means so much more to share experiences i think. the job is definitely a solitary one, so you need to be happy with yourself and comfortable travelling around on your own most of the time. even though i am cool with it, i will always jump at the chance of a gig with someone i know.

what are the best/worst things about it?

the worst – well, as above. it can be lonely at times. it can also be fucking gruelling doing gig after gig, night after night on a tour, and getting on planes in between. i can hear people maybe saying…ohhhh diddums, what a hardship etc etc, but until you’ve experienced it…..it can be tough going believe you me!

the best - having stupious amounts of fun doing what i love, partying round the world, playing and making music , and getting paid for it. if i am ever pissed off sat in an airport waiting for a delayed flight on a cold sunday night, after 2 nights of no sleep and just wishing i could be home in bed, i just remind myself….i used to work for a corporate load of shite 9 to 5, sat behind a desk pen pushing, getting told what to do by kids younger than myself. it really helps the situation believe me !

myspace/simonbakerinfantrecords

Simon tours North America in December and has the following releases out now:

'Magicbag Sampler 2' feat Simon Baker, DOTB, Patrick Graeser & Josh Tweek * Magicbag

Simon Baker 'Moonblock / Dragsnap' * murmur

detroit house and techno ~ the interviews 11:21 AM

something i wrote for idj mag in the uk - thought it worth sharing...

the intro...

the re-release of robert hood’s ‘minimal nation,’ and carl craig’s re-instatement as musical director of the demf, are momentous events, not far behind us. shadows of the first and second wave detroit forefathers, then, perennially loom large over the shoulders of any new motor city blood. whether that pressure is why techno headlines have come mainly from berlin in the last couple of years or not, is now irrelevant: detroit’s where it’s at in 2009.

few artists ever claimed to be minimal, the pre – sometimes mis – conceptions that went before it put many off, but now even less people are doing so. it seems that with the world’s economy as bleak as it is, austere soundscapes have become less inviting. people stopped having fun, forgot why we played this game, were taking it too seriously, and so there was bound to be a reaction as there was from hood in ‘93. the current crop of artists coming from d town (what? they actually call it that!) are that reaction. they represent a new, spirited digression from the underground’s previous position. the microscopic, cold, hollowed out backdrops of berlin are gone, and the rich, sexy, depths of detroit have arrived. house and techno got fun again.

these new sounds are coming from labels, as well as producers: as per the movements in the 80s and 90s, this third wave after atkins, may, saunderson, then mills, hawtin, craig (yikes), of motor city producers are being given a solid platform by a collection of concentrated detroit labels. and that’s all the more impressive in 2009 when many imprints are being consumed in the face of raging piracy, depleting vinyl sales and struggling distribution companies. but, in adverse times, techno fans are finding relief in the fresh, charismatic sounds and new thinking offered by the labels profiled here. there’s an endearing charm in the new wave and, as you’ll read, they range from well schooled heads that have gradually come to the fore, to breezy upstarts joining right atop the pile. it’s arguably that balance of old and new, seriousness and playfulness, which bring us back to techno’s homeland.

the advantages of living in detroit, and so of being submerged in its culture, its history, are obvious. but with ranks of dreamers and a quagmire of precedent to tread through, the city has its drawbacks, too. having struggled amongst what kris wadsworth calls “a city of haters,” the current few representing detroit are wrestling free from the shackles of history and having a little fun...

the artists...

seth troxler

the most celebrated of the new wave is not a geeky bedroom dj turned pro as are many, but is primarily a party animal and music lover. “when i moved to the detroit area, i started raving and never stopped. i still am a raver; i just do it professionally now” boasts troxler, and he’s not wrong. his ‘love never sleeps’ track was one of the most celebrated at this year’s wmc in miami, whilst his ability to string together a mix of rich house and techno has earned him sets everywhere from fabric in london, to movement festival in detroit: not bad for a 23 year old.

ironically, he now resides in berlin after having lived in detroit between the ages of 14 and 21, a period in which he believes, “you really figure out who you are.” so, why move? well, because of the opportunities it presents. “this is berlin” he says “everyone’s around exchanging ideas. in detroit, conversations are based around history and ideas. everyone wants to change the world, but no one has the channels to do so - so they leave or just get stuck in life shit.”

he decided to leave, and in doing so left behind the close wolf + lamb community with which he had become synonymous. it’s a label which “is close to my heart: [label co-founders] zev and gadi really are family” says seth. that family, and the laid back ethos of the w+l hq where they smoke pot and watch tv, as well as make records and throw parties, is what has given troxler a confidence to always do his own thing, a place where fun has always been more important than anything else. “my music,” he affirms, “is me, my life, my experiences, my feeling, my thought of how i think people would like to experience music.” the result of that assured sense of self, reckons seth, is that “people think i’m an arrogant prick. i mean, i’m a prick, but i’m not arrogant.”

if you had tiefschwartz and matthew dear queuing up for collabs, fever ray allowing you to remix her (the results of which will rule floors for months to come, such is it diverse crossover appeal) and promoters like the warehouse project snapping up your services, though, you’d probably be a little cock sure, too, right? but what makes troxler according to troxler? “good parents, great friends, woman, acid, and just life yo” whilst he describes his sounds as coming from “listening to lots of indie rock, some jazz and soul, and the perverse sexuality and feminine touch i try to hide inside myself.”

if it weren’t for this artist pouring as much of his charismatic self into his music, we’d still be being presented with the ever more reductionist and sparse digital sounds of the naughties thus far. instead, heartless blips and drips void of personality have been replaced by the poetic beauty likes of ‘aphrika’ (with words from maya angelou's ‘phenomenal woman,’) the slightly unnerving, tumultuous world of ‘hurt’ and the hypnotic, trance-y grooves of productions like ‘doctor of romance.‘ and for that, seth troxler and his formative detroit years are at least in part to thank.

listen to: ‘aphrika’ [wolf + lamb]
find at: myspace.com/sethtroxler

lee curtiss

after a decade in the game, lee curtiss attributes his success to “having surrounded [myself] with good people, who make good music, and run good labels.” people like those in the wolf + lamb stable, without whom curtiss adds, “i don't know where i’d be... probably curing cancer or something.” but instead, after being prompted into a move from west michigan to detroit by matthew dear in 2000, he’s making music with funk, soul and an ability to get you shifting. “house is more fun, techno is more mental” says curtiss, “i don't think they could exist without one another, and i keep that in mind when producing.”

also in mind when producing, is the music curtiss is listening to when in the studio: “i’ve been drawing inspiration from 80’s and 90’s music again, like inxs, hall and oates and the cure.” wherever his ideas come from, they are unpredictable, be they on w+l, esperanza, leftroom or om. they move forward always, implode or explode unexpectedly and, in their diversity, are microcosms of the one of his sets: “sometimes i’ll play disco, house, 80's pop and techno in one set. it's all about waiting for the right moment and building up to dropping the right tracks at the right time” states curtiss, rather belying most electronic musicians from detroit, whose sounds are normally from more complimentary sonic pools.

so, what role does the city in question have? curtiss explains, “living in detroit gave me a rich background of electronic music. carl craig, zip, villalobos, moodyman, and magda were playing regularly, but those days are over... most of the clubs and parties in detroit have shut down, changed their programming to commercial music or just plain vanished.” if that’s true, it makes it all the more impressive that curtiss has persisted, risen through the ranks and is now a shining light in what he claims is a fading city.

listen to: the mantra [cityfox]
find at: myspace.com/leecurtiss2

omar s

omar 'alex omar smith' s, is a law unto himself. as purely detroitian as the ford motor company he works for, his bravado and introspection make him an interesting, if not controversial, character. he recently mixed a fabric cd composed entirely of his own tracks, and told idj, he "did it for promotion, because i knew it would reach a lot of different people" and reach it did…

in 2009 the fxhe boss has stormed into the conscious of many house and techno fans, not least in part because of ‘pyscotic photosynthesis,’ a track on that mix which smith reckons is one of the best of the last ten years, and he’s not far wrong. rising bass line leads off, then, during the ten beautiful minutes that follow, you are taken on a trip through the highs and lows of its intertwined rhythms. there are no brash breakdowns just shifting timbres, subtle undulations, and a reserved excellence from a man who cares little for anything outside his hometown.

smith’s raw, mechanical music with its old school synths and heady funk tease body and mind, and represent the past, present and future of detroit music.

listen to: psychotic photosynthesis [fxhe]
find at: omarsdetroit.us

luke hess

at the polar opposite end of the techno spectrum to the clunky machine music of, say, jeff mills, is next new wave proponent, 29 year old luke hess. notoriously a man of more considered religious belief than most, he tells idj that his smoky dub atmospheres come “from a combination of analogue machines and god’s creation.”

from heads-down, pure detroit minimalism, to drifting synths and rippling chords, there’s a lot of thought goes into hess’ work to reach the emotional depths and heady intensities it does. hess offers that “the theme of the record [light in the dark] is the ultimate battle that every thinking person has to face at some point in his/her life. what is my purpose here on earth? the album is meant to shed some light on the subject. popular culture and science suggests that we are matter and that we have a consciousness, but when we die we rot and cease to exist. i believe there is much more to life.”

having released on detroit labels fxhe, d records and berretta music, what influence has his hometown had on him? “detroit was founded on sweat, blood, and tears” offers hess. “where there is spirit - there is liberty. and where there is liberty - there is no limit to what can be achieved...” apparently not.

listen to: ‘self control’ [echochord]
find at: myspace.com/hesslabs

kris wadsworth

whilst part of the new crop of detroit producers, you’d be excused thinking kris wadsworth had been around a lot longer. well he has, sort of, as he started producing at just 14 years old, but it’s the breadth of organic instrumentation he employs which hints at talent to belie a man of 24 years.

from intricate percussive foregrounds, to the more consuming kicks and toms which roll in from below, wadsworth is confidently restrained in his approach. keys, sax, horns whatever... he’s happy for his productions to undulate and evolve naturally, weaving funky lines or stomping a heavy groove as they go, without pushing too hard.
each have a timeless quality in their referencing - from motown and james brown snippets, to motor city shuffle and jazzy undercurrents, it’s all in there. if garnier’s happy to put his name on the growing list of wadsworth fans, so should we be.

listen to: ‘mainline’ [hypercolour]
find at: myspace.com/thedepthsof

kyle hall

bizarrely, the youngest artist turning attention upon himself and his hometown is the one who draws most from what’s gone before, and who hints at the musical maturity of someone much older. cutting up soul, motown and rare funk with fxhe records and his own richly musical productions is what 18 year old kyle hall does when mixing, and is why his fans include omar s and patrice scott.

when it comes to his productions, hall’s sounds are informed by - but not restricted to- the moods of forerunners like theo parrish and carl craig, but also draw on the raw, slumped hip-hop of dilla, and crackling jack of chicago house. the results of which are genuinely learned productions from someone, in the us at least, who’s not yet old enough to booze.

hall stands out in his disregard of the rules. whilst others use soul or funk inflections from a spread of genres in their productions, the framework often remains sternly house, or staunchly techno. this guy, though, imposes no such restraints on himself, and is as freeform as he likes, going where ever his preference takes him. and idj, for one, are happy to go with him.

listen to: the water is fine ep [moods & grooves]
find at: myspace.com/kylehalldetroit

patrice scott

patrice scott is by no means new to this. “i was drawn to electronic music back in the early eighties when i attended a party by a local detroit group called sharivari. another local dj group, direct drive, also played - from that point on i was hooked.” shortly after, he was brushing shoulders with artists from detroit’s first wave when the likes of troxler and hall were just knee high to a grasshopper.

despite such early exposure to the detroit sound, this artist, unlike many of his peers, hasn’t restricted his a&r - curtailed his own influences - to the city’s outer walls. instead, both scott and sistrum draw on a world of sounds, past and present. they nod to many but bow to none, giving scott every chance of succeeding in his aim to “make timeless music that people can play years from now and that will still sound good.” lose yourself in one of his soul drenched, micro-evolving house textures, and we doubt you’ll disagree.

listen to: the evolution [sistrum]
find at: myspace.com/patricescott

intrusion

even if you’ve only tentatively peeked into one of techno’s dubbier pockets, you’re likely to have caught a glimpse of intrusion, for the busy man behind the moniker is stephen hitchell. one-half of echospace with rod modell and empathybox with josh werner, he’s also known as soultek for jazzier, faster techno, and runs a dub label, echospace [detroit], with modell. between deciding which of his productions will be attributed to which of his aliases, as intrusion, hitchell managed to create what was an early contender for ‘2009’s best album’ way back in january.

his ‘seduction of silence’ effort is a dreamy, pulse slowing but trend setting offering as essential as was his last lp, echospace's 2007 oeuvre ‘the coldest season.’ ‘seduction of silence’ defies the usual techno blueprint by spurning crescendos, breakdowns and kicks, and instead spreading horizontally out wards, surreptitiously absorbing you from below. his tracks are surrounded by salt shaker hazes which soften the already round edged dub bumps below, all the while, sounds are melting together and minimal mutations are moving things on as your mind and body sink into the lush electronic depths.

comparisons to dub techno pioneers moritz von oswald and mark ernestus and their 90s basic channel work are unavoidable. but hitchell is enriching the arctic soundscapes of his forefathers with a calypso warmth, rhythmic playfulness and spiritual being. in doing so, he’s carving detroit its own special place in the hearts of many a dub techno fan.

listen to: ‘seduction of silence’ [echospace [detroit]]
find at: echospacedetroit.com

the labels...

wolf & lamb

set up “mostly out of necessity: we like to do what we want, when we want it” according to co-founder zev eisenberg, w+l’s playful music is unsurprising given their bachelor pad-like label hq. it’s home to detroit newbies lee curtiss, shaun reeves and ryan crosson who zev says are “an integral part of our family” and who have helped make w+l the hottest label of 2009.
find at: wolflambmusic.com

sistrum

detroit’s sistrum signs people from all over the world which “was not done intentionally,” says owner patrice scott, “it’s just the way things turned out. “ since 2006, the label has become synonymous with evocative deep house courtesy of releases from the likes of manuel tur, efdemin and giles smith, as well as the boss himself.
find at: sistrummusic.com

fxhe

run by omar s since 2003 and the home to releases from ryan elliot, seth troxler, redshape and more detroitians, fxhe was initially a very personal project. its independence has since waned due to - unsurprisingly for omar - frosty relations with distributors, and since the boss realised working with outlets like fabric and beatport has its merits. the quality remains, though.
find at: omarsdetroit.us

echospace

detroit’s answer to berlin’s lauded basic channel, releases from deep dons fit nicely into the echospace ethos. almost spiritual dub techno comes from rod modell (aka deepchord) and steve hitchell’s label which, they claim, is run ”for the love of it all.”
find at: echospacedetroit.com

spectral sound

spectral is the dance arm of ghostly international. “it is” says ryan elliot, “the dark horse younger brother who dates fast women and stays out too late.” the spectral sound is aimed squarely at the floor and comes from the likes of bodycode, audion and troxler.
find at: spectralsound.com

alex niggemann ~ interview 10:12 AM

hit play on that video and let me introduce you to someone who's been pricking my ears... at 25 years old, düsseldorf born alex niggemann is a pretty young man in the generally mature world of electronic music. unlike pop or indie, where you have teenage upstarts like arctic monkeys [literally] topping the cool list, dance culture seems to prefer its artists to really earn their stripes. there's none more canonized than old masters like the belleville three, whereas the same certainly isn't true in other genres: would anyone really protest if i said that no one gives a fuck about paul mccartney or u2 nowadays? i doubt it.

so, for alex to have fans like thomas schumacher (who he'll remix next year) ralph lawson (on whose label he'll release next year) and get physical/supernature/8bit (for whom he has already produced) he's done pretty well. his early productions - like assign me - exuded a confidence to belie a man of his age - there was no big hook or catchy riff to steal floors, just subtle, mature grooves. it's now 18 months on, and the 8bit release embeded atop this post has been everywhere this summer - its warm, spare keys add depth to a pure house track with groove to spare - so i thought it time to chat...

how are you?

thanks, i'm fine...

how was sonar for you?

pretty nice...but was really experience. i got to know so many new people and met all those i just know from emails or skype as ‘the guys from 8bit and supernature’ or ‘the oslo guys... federico, christian or nekes’ who you had in your last interview...but it was also very exhausting...running from one gig or party to the other and all that in three days...next year i'll take a few more days to relax and chill on the beach.

you're soon to release on 2020 - have you finished the track? what's it like?

well...no i haven't... i will start with it after finishing the remix for freerange i'm working on at the moment....but the release will be next year...ralph from 2020 just asked me for a release and i told him i'll do it for next year because there's a lot coming up at the moment.

how did you come to link up with nick and 8bit?

puhh...more or less it was a coincidence... gorge charted the ‘burka’ remix i did for supernature recently, and i just had finished the makayuni song..and i was trying to find a label for it...so i sent it to 8bit and they first signed it for their va [8bit reasons part one – a label comp mixed by boss nick curly]...but he told me, if i got 2 more songs they like, they were up to do a ep...a month later i had them and nick and gorge liked them!

what kit do you use when djing and in the studio?

i just changed from vinyl to traktor scratch because i get so many digital promos at the moment, and i really want to play them but i'm not a cd-dj...and i never was...i still like playing vinyl.

in the studio i use logic 8, a lot of plugins and some hardware such as a midi controllers and a korg synthie to produce my tracks...nothing very special...

tell me about the artist/party/album/drug which got you into electronic music

haha...well...it was from all a young age...i've always been listening to electronic music, but the time i got really into it was when i listened to nas, talib kwali or dr. dre...i was a real hip-hop teen...my brother was a techno dj at the time...once he brought me to a club and i was just flashed...since that day, i had my first pill and i listened to ken ishii set in a club called ‘tor 3’ in düsseldorf and after i started my dj career.

how does your music reflect you?

a lot...it's just the mood you are in....it manipulates you even though you don’t really recognize...

does living in berlin help or hinder you? there's a lot of famed competition...

no.. it helped me a lot...all that i am now was influenced by the city and its people...i got to know all the contacts i have now...and which are still really important for me...see, if i didnt move to berlin, i wouldn’t have done a remix for booka shade, without their label get physical, i wouldn’t know audiofly, without audiofly i wouldn’t know the 8bit guys and so on! but yes, there's a lot of competition, but competition stimulates the business...the only thing i real hate is enviousness and there's a lot..this is not good for berlin..when did the last electronic wave really came from berlin....long time ago...just frankfurt, mannheim, hamburg, cologne...because they have less competitors and supporting each other...berlin should do the same...

you're a relatively young man in the generally aged world of house and techno. how does that help or hinder you?

well..ask the new pop artists if the beatles hinder them in getting famous...i grew up with the techno and house of the late 90ies...it just influenced me in the same way as artist like dj-t were influenced by frankie knuckes or dj pierre. i'm just a new era.

if i gave you ten euros, which album would you buy and why?

tell me where do you get a album for ten euros today...lol...well, i would buy an album from an artist like martin buttrich if he had done one... he's one of the best producers..maybe the best in the scene!

does a good quality release or an equally good quality headline slot interest you more and why?

a quality release...man, there's so much bullshit out these days since the digital era...labels should more focus on quality than on quantity or artist name.

where would you like to be in 5 years time?

well...i hope i can live from doin what i love...electronic music!

[question from nekes] how do you feel about the electronic scene and about its evolution in the last years?

i feel a bit upset and sad about what happens...as i said...there's more quantity then quality in music at the moment...digital era won’t be stopped..music pirates won’t leave...but we have to take it as it's...life changes every day and we need to handle and deal with it!

please leave me with a question for the next person i interview...

the scene’s running through a crisis at the moment..what do you think what are the reasons and how could we handle the problem?

nekes ~ interview 11:29 AM

before you start reading this, why not compliment nekes' words with some of his sounds, and download yourself the podcast he's just done for louche (after all, it's the man's music, not words, which i imagine you're most interested in). if you like what you hear in that mix, (which takes in myriad house styles from tumbling, deep 4/4 to funkier fare littered with warm analogue rushes and thudding, looped bass) then check him out live at louche on october 9th, alongside ray okpara, for an oslo records showcase.

incidentally, louche are worth checking out any month of the year: their house and tech bookings are always on the pulse, their attitude is spot on, and their home - mint club - has the best funktion one i've heard, plus a cool watergate style disco panel above the dancefloor. plugging the gap left at the club after the halycon days of asylum & technique, the 5 strong louche cartel started the night because they loved mint and nothing decent ever happened there. which i think is pretty cool. fast forward to now and the club's re-invigorated in this, its 12th year, and is once again leeds' nocturnal doyen. anyway, i digress...

as for oslo, well, lots of ink has been spilt on them, not least in part because of johnny d's ubiquitous 'orbitalife' smash last year, but also because of their place amongst the deep house resurgence. 18 months or so on, though, and they are still fairing well having diversified with techier artists like christian burkhardt who keep feathering away at the divisive line between house and techno and, for that reason, they interest me enough to have done this interview...

[some of these answers may seem a little court, but could you answer questions like these in a foreign tongue? (don't answer that - i don't care, but you get the point)]

how are you?

thanks, i´m fine.

tell us a little about the podcast - what were you aiming for?

the podcast reflected back the music i like to listen to and to play. it has a little touch of summer - like a warm breeze in the evening.

where and how did you record it?

i maded it at home in my studio, in mannheim.

what's been the highlight of your year so far?

there was a lot of highlights for me in this year. it was the first time i played at the winter conference in miami, and i was impressed by the perfect feeling we had at our oslo vs cecille showcase party at the victor hotel. also one of my favourite parties was the oslo vs. remote area showcase in barcelona at sonar festival.

in just two years you've become a top label with consistently good output. what's the secret?!

there is no secret. we only release what we can stand behind and what we like!

how important is the family ethos at the label? you all know each other well, right?

i think sometimes it can help. most of us have known each other since many years - we used to share an apartment, and we made parties together - like the zoo club. there are many many more memories of friends which go round my head at the moment, too.... but this doesn´t mean that we don´t want to have new artists on board. i think you have to be open to new people: if the personal relationship is harmonious, then it ´s perfect. but also you shouldn´t forget your family and friends.

was oslo a purposeful backlash to minimal?

no. we started with oslo only because we wanted to release our understanding of sound.

how is it doing in the current climate? are you mainly vinyl or digital?

of course, i stand behind vinyl. i think the last few years there have always been up and downs on the market, so we aren’t too worried.

how do you feel about having spearheaded the rise of the mannheim sound, and now being synonymous with it?

i´m very proud that people talk about „mannheim sound", and we are really glad to send something special from this city, with a special sound, around the world.

did you know johnny d's 'orbitalife' would be such a hit and such a turning point at that time? did you expect it to cause the stir it did?

no, none of us thought it would be as big as it was.

how do you go about getting people on the label, who does a&r?

federico [molinari, oslo co-founder]

anyone you'd really like to sign?

uuh, there are a lot. that´s a hard question - if i think about my personal development since i was fifteen there are a lot of artists who inspired me and who i respect, so i couldn’t name one single person i’d like to sign.

what lengths do you go to to stop piracy?

that´s really difficult to say. always there will be people who share tracks... on one side i understand that because young people without money in their pockets wouldn’t hear the same music as the others, so if there is an option to download then everyone gets to hear the same stuff. but for the industry, and the people who have to live from that, is it really hard without a payment barrier.... so perhaps we should appeal to people to think about this because nobody wants to work for nothing...

please leave me with a question for the next person i interview...

how do you feel about the electronic scene and about its evolution in the last years?

stacey pullen - 2020vision [2020 vision] lp review 9:39 PM

if detroit's stacey pullen seems an odd choice to have mixed this 2020vision, you obviously didn't hear the one about him being one of the first djs to support the label via fax (text, on paper, down a phone line, apparently) 15 years ago, back when it still wore nappies. the fact that pullen is low-key, though, nicely complements the ethos of 2020 and its boss, ralph lawson—a man so uninterested in leaving the comfort of his back to basics residency until fairly recently that bill brewster dubbed him "britain's best kept secret." not bad for someone who runs one of the uk's foremost house labels and holds a residency at one of the country's longest running club nights.

it's worth mentioning that there are very few imprints whose artists and releases traverse as many niches as 2020. what other labels could boast the unadulterated manheim sound of johnny d, the housey disco of crazy p, the deep and sensuous 4/4 of ekkohaus and the old school stylings of greg wilson? most would have a splintered into a network of sub/sister labels to do so but lawson trusts his judgement and isn't afraid of simply putting out good music, rather than honing any sort of image for his label, or pushing any one sound—a brave choice in a world so concerned with branding and lifestyle choices.

bearing that diversity in mind, it seems even more apt that pullen was selected to mix this one, then. being informed rather than formed by his detroit schooling alongside the first wave pioneers is what makes him flexible, and suitable for the mix. he is someone who claims never to plan a set, never to know where he's going, and instead "play(ing) from the heart," be it with house, techno, soul or whatever.

pullen takes in everything here, starting with the early percolating house of lawson's wolf-n-bear alias (a project he undertook with former fellow b2b resident huggy and carl finlow) and moving into the genuine, early house party vibes of inland knights' "after me." the tech gradually edges in with the upright shuffle and glide of julien chaptal's take on simon baker's "way out of my head," before peaking with the bouncing mannheim cycles of johnny d's ubiquitous remix of 2020soundsystem's "sliding away." from there, the journey through the back catalogue is less smooth (roberto rodriguez's forced crazy p remix a considerable sticking point) than was the imprint's rise to prominence, but as a showcase, it documents an accomplished label in 2020, a man with many strings to his bow in lawson and a dj it would be nice to hear more from in pullen.

jay haze vs me 8:51 AM

so, i wrote this review of anthea & alex celler's 'playmaker' 12" and, as you can see if you read the comments, jay haze took a dislike to it. i never got involved. unlike anthea, who, under a pseudonym, made the first post in response to my words, pointing people towards positive reviews. if you look at all her pseudonym's comments it seems it's something she does a lot.

anyway, on friday, i tweeted this. jay then saw that, and contacted me through my blog. here's the short exchanged which ensued...

hey man [jay to me],

saw you tweeted about me railing you?

i wouldnt take it soo seriously, and anyway what i was railing on was the writing. shall i break it down for you?

the reason why i made that comment is because in the first paragraph you go out of way to make points about the fact that anthea works at phonica, which is where hector works...

then you go out of your way to point out anthea charted her own record 3 times... which is what everyone does as she is excited about her new record.

also you make it sound strange when you add this is how she probably got into production scene etc..

if you cant see that the way you write that comes off jealous, then you are not looking at it closely enough.

i dont claim to be perfect, and i never meant to insult you personally, as of course i dont know you.

also contrary to anything you might have ever read about me, im much more a lover than a fighter.

u just happened to write that review about my friends, and i did anything a friend would do..

ez?

thanks bro
h a z e

--
love is the answer
--

hey dude,

how are you?

like i said in my tweet, good work on the fabric mix and, despite what everyone else thought, i actually pretty enjoyed 'love and beyond,' too.

so, you been searching for yourself on twitter, hey? nice.

if anyone's taking it too seriously, surely it's you - i wrote the review, stand by it, and moved on without getting involved on the message board. you and the others over at ra are entitled to their opinion, so am i, and that's why ra gave me the voice to do so. incidentally, they score releases in house, so someone there agreed with me, too.

i was actually excited about hearing anthea's tune, i've heard a lot about her so wanted to see what the fuss was about. it's just a shame i was disappointed. as for being jealous - i still don't see where that comes from. i'm happy to get behind artists i enjoy: just read the interviews on my blog, or my recent review of stacey pullen's 2020 - i'm not jealous of talent. that would be silly. but i won't get behind something just because everyone else has, which is surely fair enough?

re anthea charting her record 3 times - once cool, twice maybe, thrice not cool.

re mentioning phonica - dude, i was framing the review, adding a little back story, that's how it works. and, if you read it again, you'll see i attribute her getting into production not through working at phonica, but rather offer it as a reason for why her name is popping up all over the place.

i'd love for you to review the release so i can post it on my blog - a right to reply if you like ;)

i'm glad you're a lover not a fighter. wanna hug?

take it easy.

kc

hi kristan.

everyone has a right to their opinion...

i cant force you to see the way you wrote the review has a facetious tone.

why? because thats my opinion.

thanks for your kind words on the love and beyond album.

happy you enjoy the fabric mix.

have a splendid weekend...

j