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You are browsing the 60 second interviews.  Short sharp questions and answers with anyone we think is worth a squirt of HTML. Oh baby give me your URL.
Damian Lazarus' Guide to the Galaxy
Damian Lazarus' Guide to the Galaxy
25/06/2009
tags: | damian lazarus | damian lazarus music | damian lazarus news | damian lazarus interview | more...

Copyright: Ibiza '09 Interview
Copyright: Ibiza '09 Interview
21/05/2009
Gavin Mills and Sam Holt are better known as Copyright, an international DJ duo signed to Defected, who have been rocking beats on dance floors for over 10 years. With a solid reputation as hot producers and skilful DJs, they come to us with news of their residency at Pacha, explain why they do not have a normal life and why their new Ibiza 09 mix is the first of its kind. You’ve been playing together for a long time now, would you actually consider yourselves veterans of the scene? Sam: It’s been 10 years now - I feel like a veteran (laughs). I was chatting to Axwell the other week and he said ‘we are all now veterans of the scene’, so maybe we are. Gav is a veteran. Gav: I’m feeling like a veteran because you see all these kids out on the dancefloor and think, ‘wait a minute, this is a whole new generation now’, so yeah, I feel like a veteran of the scene. When you’re making records, what’s Copyrights musical philosophy; what elements should the songs you produce always have? Sam: I think you start from the beats up, get rocking beats; that’s always our foundation. Gav: The rhythm is always the starting foundation and then, when we’re working with singers, we try not to write throwaway songs. When we’re thinking of a song we try to think of a subject and write a song with a bit of a story, quite often if you listen to our lyrics, there is a deeper meaning in there. You’ve been in Ibiza constantly for the last 6/7 years, what do you think it has in store for you this year? Sam: Well, first of all, this year it’s Saturdays at Pacha for Defected, which is a massive step up. To have an Ibiza residency at Pacha for us is a massive thing and something we’re really, really excited about. For all the aspiring DJs out there, can you try and explain as best you can what it feels like to be in front of that crowd at peak time on a Saturday night at Pacha? Gav: There’s something special about getting behind the decks at Pacha; it’s got an amazing sound system and it’s got one of the best crowds, who are there purely because they love the music. Sam: When we’re making records we try and imagine playing it at Pacha, that shows how we value it, that is almost as good as it gets. Can you explain what it’s like not having a normal life like other people, where you can do normal things on a Friday or Saturday; how does that feel for you? Gav: Well, you have to have a very understanding Wife or Girlfriend, that goes without saying. Sam: Our weekend nights are Wednesday and Thursday. It’s very important to go out and have some fun, if it’s all in the studio or all travelling it’s too much. So I’ve found I’ve got quite a few hangovers on Friday mornings going to Heathrow (laughs). What are the differences between the two mixes you’ve done for your new album? Sam: Well we wanted to try and replicate the Ibizan experience and so one of the CD’s kind of reflects the day - and maybe the beach vibe - and the second CD is a bit more about the club experience. hopefully people can put this CD on and get a taste of Ibiza. What is special about this mix? What’s the thing that’s hasn’t been performed on any other mix? Gav: We bought Shovell into the studio. Sam: We’ve all been contributing the ‘Drum Warrior’ experience and we’ve brought that into the compilation. There are little interludes of Shovell throughout the album and as far as we know it has never been done before. Gav: We try to catch little flavours of what it’s like when Shovell’s actually playing in the club. You’ve gone to even further lengths than just having Shovell put percussion over your tracks. You’ve actually put together a special intro track. What was your inspiration behind that? Gav: We had this picture of Benirras Beach with all the drummers playing at sunset and I had this vision in my head of Shovell leading all the drummers down there and everybody joining in. So the whole track is just made up of the drums and with Shovell doing a little bit of chanting over it. Sam: We’ve also re-edited Harry Choo Choo’s ‘Cumbria’, which is a massive record for us and there’s a bit of Shovell on that. Throughout the album we’ve used acapellas, it’s gone through two stages this mix; we developed the mix, then we did some trickery and then we put Shovell on top. So it’s not been just a standard sort of compilation process. How do you feel about your own tracks on the album, including your new track ‘Ready or Not’ with Yasmeen? Sam: Yasmeen was over for the Defected 10th anniversary party and we managed to get four or five days in the studio; ‘Ready Or Not’ is the result of that. So far the reaction to it has been great and it seems to be really working. What about Roots? Gav: We made this Afro beat tune and we needed a vocal that summed up the feeling of Africa and that original house feeling, so we came up with the idea of getting Jazzy B to do a vocal; in just one take he dropped this thing about roots and the tribal expression and we said, ‘that will do mate, that’s the vibe’. So how many exclusives do you think there are on this album? Sam: I’d say that about 70% of the album is exclusive, and that is amazing for a compilation and that’s what made it so exciting to put together, that fact that it’s all new. Can you pick out a few of the standout tracks on the album that are not your own? Sam: The first track on CD1, Dennis Ferrer ‘Symphonia Della Notte’, which is coming out on Strictly Rhythm. Again, it’s a total exclusive and a record we’re really excited about. Gav: I’m loving the Brian Cox track ‘The Wizard’. I’m definitely going to be looking out for some more stuff by him. Sam: P’taah ‘Dance Until We Die’, the Kenny Dope mix is something we’ve been playing in our set, so those three on a sort of more groovy tip. Also a track that has been smashing it out there is Gilbert Le Funk ‘African tastic’ the David Tort mix. Gigwise what have you got coming up? Sam: We’ve got four Defected dates this summer at Pacha Ibiza and we’ll be on our usual crazy European tour around most of Europe. We’ll be at all the key Defected festivals this summer like Tomorrowland. We’ve also got a big party in Japan coming up on the 28th April. Gav : It’s at a club called Agahar and apparently this place is huge, holds about 2000 people; we always love going to Japan. Words: Toni Tambourine / www.defected.com
tags: | copyright | copyright djs | copyright interview | copyright defected in the house | more...
Martijn Ten Velden in the House!
Martijn Ten Velden in the House!
11/05/2009
V elden has carved a successful international career as an innovative house producer and DJ. With a reputation for killer club records, he constantly pushes for fresh sounds to include in his productions. His remix talents have already been picked up by Ms Dynamite, The Shapeshifters, Sugababes, Tom Novy, Bodyrox and The Rock Steady Crew! Although Dutch, he has spent the last 18 years in the UK working with various producers including Mark Knight and Mark Yardley from Stanton Warriors. A long time fan of Defected Records, he was invited to create a mix for the label that was different and inimitable. The result is a mix jam-packed with original mash-ups and exclusive edits, together with a little bit of added 3 deck wizardry. So how come you followed a House path when the Dutch are so well known for their Trance? I moved to London 18 years ago and, at that time in Holland, house music wasn’t that big. It was never my vibe in Holland musically, even though there are some really good artists coming from Holland at the moment like Sander Kleinenburg, Fedde Le Grande and Roog ( the Hardsoul guys ). I really like what those guys do, so there is some good music out there now but at the time I was more drawn to London, so my whole musical background when it comes to house is totally UK based. So is that why you moved, were you more inspired by the sound in London rather than in Holland? Yeah, totally; also in London there has always been more innovation, you can try out more things because there’s a bigger market for things and there is more openness to new styles of music. I mean so many styles of music come from the UK so it’s a really good place to try and find your own style because you have more freedom. How would you say you’ve evolved since you started; how would you describe your personal DJ-ing style and what is your sound? I like the mixture between Tech and House, when it’s not too techy, when it’s still got funk; as long as it’s got funk and a good groove to it, I like it. Basically it’s a very broad spectrum. So I would say I play House, but it’s anywhere from normal house, tech house, even some progressive house - some deep house - it’s a mixture of everything. And what about your productions, what kind of sound have you aimed for with them? Again, it’s House but a little bit more techy. I really like some of the new sounds, when a new kind of production style comes out, that’s what really interests me. So I always try to come up with fresh sounds that are really now. Like the Chime remix I did for Defected last year; the intro is quite techy - its got all glitchy sounds, but then it goes big house anthem and then it goes techy again. That’s a kind of good example between styles really. So what have been your biggest tracks and remixes? My biggest track was two years ago and was ‘I Wish You Would’. We licensed the record to nearly every country in the world and it became a huge crossover record in Brazil, Australia, Spain, Netherlands et cetera. In the UK we shot a promo for it at a crazy old theatre down in South London and Luciana (the singer on the track) features in the video too. It was regularly played out on UK TV music stations. Another really big one was a project under the name Splittr which I recorded with Mark Yardley from Stanton Warriors. You‘ve gone on to do a few more, tell us about them? My all time favourite remix that me and Mark did on Defected was ‘Sandcastles’. I can still play it now, just sit in the cellar and play it; it’s wicked still. And then we did another one on Defected when we remixed Kings of Tomorrow ‘6pm’. Let’s talk about your new mix for Defected because it quite a special mix, it’s not just a straightforward DJ mix, what’s so unique about it? As its Defected’s 10th Anniversary I really tried to put a bit of that in there, I tried to mix some of my personal old favourites and mix it in with the new ones to make the mix. That was the initial thought behind it. But then I ended up practically re-editing every single track, putting extra drums over the top, putting acapellas over the top, I just couldn’t stop because there are so many great acapellas on Defected, so I ended up putting a lot of work into it to keep it really interesting, putting lots of little snippets of old tracks in there from 5, 6, even 8 years ago to make it all sound modern and make it sound now. That was the aim of the mix. Is it true that you’ve done a whole heap of mash-ups in there that are going to be available to buy? Yeah, I would say almost every track is a re-edit apart from maybe two or three. On almost every track I changed the arrangement to make them shorter, more concise, added extra little drum sound effects, extra acapellas or mixed the beats of another track underneath it, like a one bar loop of drums from another record by Defected. So you would say this mix represents what you play out? Yeah the kind of mixing style for sure but I think the first half of the mix is more warm up. It’s more cool, calm; it’s almost like before you go out, so it would be early evening for me. But the mix obviously progresses from quite deep and nice and musical, to a bit tougher. Musically it definitely represents me, yes, so that’s quite a broad taste. Words: Toni Tambourine
tags: | defected in the house | defected in the house news | defected in the house interview | more...
B*STARDC*NT
B*STARDC*NT
28/04/2009
Dance music: it ’ s like doing a really good shit after a heavy weekend and a dodgy curry; the parting of butt-cheeks and a 100mph blast of brown-shrapnel, ‘ SMACK-BANG ’ at the porcelain. That moment can bring either an overwhelming sense of, ‘ OHHH FUCK, YEAH ’ euphoria or ‘ GOOD GOD, NO,’ sickness. Thing is, I love the relief of a splattered pan, and, to a large extent, I wouldn’t give dance music a second looking… Which I guess pisses all over my introductory analogy. Que, sera, sera. But having ventured upon Bastardcunt ’ s self-professed ‘ UNINTELLIGIBLE DANCE MUSIC’ I was moved to rethink my perspective. See, as the kinda guy who fits music into varying degrees of the high-night/low-night category, I usually forget about the period where I ’ m dancing around like a paraplegic being buggered with a pitch-fork. All one remembers are those closing moments, early next day; when Aphex Twin’s ‘Come To Daddy’ is ricocheting from one side of your frazzled consciousness to the other. That’s when you’re really slipping Over The Edge and the realisation dawnsthat sleep will be a praying mantis wearing a bowler hat; trying to gouge your eyes out with a chop-stick and a knitting-needle. That’s the end of the end of the night… And probably the night after the night you think it is. That’s precisely the kind of schizoid-sound offered by 27-year-old Bastardcunt. ‘I started making music as a soundtrack to what me and my mates were getting up to,’ the Merseyside DJ/Producer told Notion. ‘[We were] doing our ‘Crack Zombie’ night. We'd have 3-day after parties called 'Smack-Witch,' where we'd get completely twisted and play all kinds of loud, horrible music.’ These mixes are the perfect soundtrack to the middle-ground; somewhere between pure euphoria and pure paranoia. Bastardcunt soundtracks the teetering on the edge of the abyss… that moment when you’re having a real good time but the realisation that something’s seriously wrong is tapping on your shoulder like a 16-stone queen in a prison shower block. ‘I make music that’s really dirty and scummy, that all the wrong kinds of people will like,’ Bastardcunt continues. ‘These are mainly recordings of people who may have lost the plot in some way, who are trying to communicate something.’ A ‘James Blunt Rough Mix’ sounds like the dead and the damned, screaming to break free as Satan cuts them a new arsehole: ‘DO YOU REMEMBER ME!? JESUS FROM MOTHER’S CUNT!’ Then it launches into this sick brain-raping beat. ‘The Speed Train’ is similarly haunting; a twisted, cackling sample, opening into a kinda funk, female vocal on a rough, consistent beat. Bastardcunt: ‘In the case of ‘James Blunt’ it's just utter despondency and nihilism; some sound - frightened or in pain, and many samples, manipulated to increase the effect… but it's more of a sick joke than an expression of anguish. It's all done with a sense of humour and the people who like it seem to get that. I rarely see trendy people dancing to my sets… I enjoy playing to all the scruffs and misfits.’ Alas, Bastardcunt is planning to release his 'Bastardcunt's Arse-Soul' vinyl this June. ‘It’ll be a mini album of my best stuff which I'm in the process of re-rendering, polishing and remixing at the moment.’ Until then, why not rupture your pre-frontal cortex and pay Bastardcunt’s MySpace a visit: MySpace.Com/djBastardcunt Words: Dangerous Dave Extracted from Notion Magazine 38. To subscribe to Notion Magazine CLICK HERE !
tags: | bastardcunt | bastardcunt music | bastardcunt news | bastardcunt latest | more...
Red Bull Music Academy: Tony Allen Interview
Red Bull Music Academy: Tony Allen Interview
28/01/2009
“I don’t want to see electronic music taking over drums, but in ten, twenty years, who knows… who knows. But I think that electronic music is taking over the drummer. Who’s going to care about the drummer in the future?” So says Tony Allen, a man described by Brian Eno as “[possibly] the best drummer in the world”. Quite an accolade, PN’s sure you’ll agree; kind of like Tommy Lee telling Rosie O’Donnell she’s the worlds finest f*ck. PN had been knocking the drinks back prior to our interview with Allen, the legendary drummer collaborating with Chicago horn band the ‘Hypnotic Brass Ensemble’ at a gig for the Red Bull Music Academy. “They create a sound, a vast sound,” Allen would tell PN. “They create bass, beat, rhythm with the horns. I played with them on their album, but Red Bull will be the first time since that we’ve played together. They’re amazing musicians.” 3 pints, 2 double whiskey and cokes and a whiskey on the rocks, might seem NAUGHTY or BAD or a SACKABLE OFFENCE half-hour before an interview. But, like Tony Allen, we all have our methods - whether good, bad or mad. Difference is that Allen’s methods have revolutionised modern drumming. Our methods have gained us 3 formal warnings and a string of complaints. Both Allen and the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble are signed to Damon Albarn’s Honest Jon’s label, but Allen’s career began a long time before that. Like PN, the Nigerian-born musician, alongside the revered Fela Tuki in the band Africa 70, was sticking two fingers up to authority. That said, whereas PN is against regulations surrounding WORK, Africa 70 were against what Allen describes as a “militant regime” and an oppression of the people by the powers that be. By challenging dictatorship, Africa 70 showed African people that they do have a voice, and, by doing so, became one of the most important bands in history to emerge from the African scene. “Music is powerful,” Allen told us. “Music will always be powerful. But it isn’t dangerous, it doesn’t kill – it’s not like a NUCLEAR BOMB! Music inspires people. That’s the message me and Fela were sending. It was very important. Music is important.” It was more recently that Allen’s ability - his mastery of the infamous 4-LIMB DRUM TECHNIQUE - caught the attention of a younger audience. As drummer for the Albarn fronted anglo-centric rock band, The Good, The Bad and The Queen , Tony and his band mates would “play music like no other band out there was doing at that time.” As one of the primary instigators of both the Afro-Beat and Afro-Funk sound, Tony brought a new dimension to the band. And despite Afro-Beat having a direct influence on electronic-beats, the role of the drummer in modern music is a major concern for Tony. Tony: “How many good drummers are there now? Where are they? People can still get a sound electronically but they can’t achieve the same effect as drums. It isn’t possible.” And does that sadden the wizened drummer? “Yes, it saddens me.” Hence why having The Good, The Bad and The Queen’s album produced by Gnarls Barkley’s Dangermouse, a producer in a love affair with electronic music, was a bitter pill (at times) to swallow. “Dangermouse and me are different,” Tony revealed. “He has his methods and I have mine. We’re from different backgrounds. He’s electronic so he couldn’t produce what I was doing…” So what we hear on record and what we hear live are completely different? “Yes, there was a big difference between the record and the live experience. Live and on record are very, very different.” Despite his disdain as electronic music gains a strangle-hold on traditional drumming methods, Allen still has the greatest respect for Dangermouse as a producer. But to see the man and his method, LIVE and in action, head to Cargo, Shoreditch on Thursday 29th for the Red Bull Music Academy and Broad Casting presents: Tony Allen and the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble. To read the full line-up CLICK HERE . Catch the whole night on Red Bull Music Academy Radio, tune in at RBMAradio.com .
tags: | tony allen news | tony allen interview | tony allen feature | tony allen latest | more...
Street-art exhibition explores history of dance
Street-art exhibition explores history of dance
23/01/2009
Once upon a time, in fields the country wide, people descended en masse to unite under the influence of Class A drugs and Acid House. The people were happy and the country was, um, reasonably happy, but the government was pretty pissed off. So they brought a halt to the raves and everything went mainstream and crime figures rocketed and the world ended in 2020. Probably. Anyway, February marks the launch of three special art exhibitions at the Ultralounge in Selfridges, London. Based on the art-scene that emerged from and was influenced by Britain’s dance movement, the works on display will be auctioned following the exhibitions closure. The first of the exhibitions, Artcore, will be a visual representation of 21 years of rave culture. Work on display will feature flyers and posters from some of the most iconic clubs and raves of the last two decades. These include The End Club, Hacienda, Spectrum, Queer Nation, Beyond Therapy, Raindance, Tribal Gathering, Warp, Trade, Circus, DIY, Back To Basics, Sign Of The Times and many more. The second of the exhibitions, Urban Art, will feature the works of street-artists, many of whom were influenced by the visual techniques used to promote raves and parties of the early period. International street-artists contributing to the exhibition include Banksy, Antony Micallef, Guy Denning, Jeff Aerosol, Mimi the Clown and D*Face. In addition, a host of artists, including Goldie, Inkie, Pinky and Silent Hobo, will be creating works especially for the exhibition. The rave movement, largely based around Acid House, evolved from a society of youngsters repressed and depressed by the Thatcher government. Basically, they were bored sh*tless and seeked unity with others who felt the same way; so an underground party scene was created that would unite them as one. The government’s disdain for the illegal raves eventually led to the Criminal Justice Bill, after the infamous stand-off of Castlemorton between 30,000 followers and the police. Course, the government may have won the battle but they didn’t win the war. The dance-scene is as strong now as it ever was; despite the underground scene diminishing greatly, dance has become the main staple of the revelers diet – thanks largely to the emergence of the infamous Hacienda. In addition to the Artcore and Urban Art exhibitions, the Success Exhibition will also take place to raise money for the Prince’s Trust. The auction will contain works by leading figures on the British street-art scene. The exhibition opens on February 14th, followed by an invite only Old Skool celebration rave featuring DJs, figures and artists related to the exhibition. The auction will take place February 26th. HOME PAGE IMAGE Ryca (British, b.1981) Acid Head, 2008 Oil, 24 carat gold leaf, resin and tulip wood Signed and numbered in pen 3/3 on reverese 80cm x 80cm Estimate: 400-600 Provenance: S-Editions MAIN FEATURE IMAGE Martyn Passey (British, b.1956) Sign of the Times Poem, 1989 Giclee print 1/1 Signed lower right and lower left 59cm x 42.5cm Provenance: Sign of the Times
tags: | ultralounge | ultralounge news | ultralounge exhibition | artcore exhibition | more...
January Download Watch: Part 1
January Download Watch: Part 1
06/01/2009
Turkey may have been chewed, crackers pulled (not just on Christmas day) and a trillion squids worth of wrapping paper disposed of, but the season of good-will is far from over. See, bands from far and wide have been releasing FREE downloads. Course, listening to FREE downloads is a good way to waste 60 Seconds, which is why we’ve posted it on this part of the website. Anyway, here are PlanetNotion’s top three free downloads: Foals: The Oxford band previewed some etchings of work from their forthcoming album. Frontman, Yannis Philippakis, wrote on the band’s MySpace: “ Work is continuing on writing the next record. Which is sounding less and less surf the colder it gets. surprisingly.” He then added: “ Most of this stuff is me messing round late at night lonely on a loop pedal. It's for the most part formless and semi-instrumental. Figures i guess.....” Um, yes Yannis, it does. Although it’s still pretty god-darn special. CLICK HERE to check it out! The Black Lips: Gearing up for the release of their new album, 200 Million Thousand, The Black Lips have celebrated by releasing a free download of new single Starting Over. PlanetNotion reckons they called their album 200 Million Thousand to f*ck with our imbecile brains and make us pull out a calculator. We did, and 200 Million Thousand is exactly the same as 200 Thousand Million. Anyways, we gave the single a brief listen and we like what we hear. It’s nice and twee and sounds like a 60s love-in moving through to the 90s or something. Only, where the music is surprisingly sweet, the vocals are kinda trademark, garage rough. So, I guess you could call it brutal but fantastic sex. CLICK HERE to check it out! The Beatles: Okay, so what’s new? We all know The Beatles music and practically all of their songs. Well, the ones released on albums anyway. Abbey Road and Revolver are personal favourites; especially when you're smoking an 8-ball in a joint the size of a party hat. Anyways, The Beatles back-catalogue has finally been made available to download. For FREE! Furthermore, it’s perfectly legal. Double exclamation mark!! The catch? It’s courtesy of a Norwegian broadcasting station, taken from a long-running show dedicated to the band. Hence the weird Norwegian bloke talking at the beginning of each song… Still, CLICK HERE to check it out!
tags: | foals news | foals download | foals album news | the black lips news | more...
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