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Friday, 16 May, 2008

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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.

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Chris Lake

Tipped for great things, Chris Lake is about to drop his next Ibiza classic. Since his last hit 'Changes' was pumped out of big club soundsystems from here to Ibiza, he prepares to do the same with the release of his new single 'Carry Me Away'. Released later this month, he pairs sultry vocals with uplifting, blessed out electronica to create a piece of the soundtrack to summer 2007. He took a minute out of his packed schedule to chat to Planet Notion about the allure of the female voice, the bright future of his record label and 'the Chris Lake approach'... Your hit 'Changes' was massive last season in Ibiza. What have you got planned this summer? I have been very busy in the studio working on fresh material for 2007. At the moment I am promoting my new single featuring Emma Hewitt called 'Carry me Away', coming out on my own label Rising Music in May, then after that I am planning to release my new club single, 'To the Point'. DJing wise I have a lot of tour dates booked across Europe and the UK, and playing my first dates at Ibiza which is very exciting. You seem to be a fan of female vocals on your tracks. What do you think this brings to a song? I think it can be tough to put a good female vocal on a track. Ask many producers and they will tell you how hard it is to get it right. I just take a certain amount of satisfaction recording the vocals and making them work musically. There has been quite a few remixes done on your new track. Which is your favourite and why? Possibly the Micky Slim & Funkagenda remix. It is very different sound wise for both of them and it totally rips it up in the clubs for me. I'm very proud to have this mix on the package. Have you always been into dance music? What do you count as major inspirations? For as long as I can remember, I have loved dance music, yes. Earliest inspirations for me were the Prodigy... Brilliant music. Which artists and labels are you really loving right now? Rene Amesz and Sebastien Leger are bang on it for me. I am terrible with labels, sorry. How would you describe your music? House? Electro? Or something new and different? It's tough to describe any dance music as 'new and different', but I guess it is electro or house, with a Chris Lake approach? You got airplay on Radio One. How important is commercial success to you? It isn't a major priority for me, but I am not going to shy away from the opportunity of diverse exposure when the opportunity arises. The music I make is to be heard, and getting different ways to achieve this is important to me. It was great having my music on mainstream radio though. Through living in Scotland, have you found that the club scene there differs to the rest of the world? I don't get a chance to follow the local scene too closely unfortunately. The clubs I have played here though have been great and the crowds have a great energy to them that lacks in certain countries, so Scotland I would argue is a great place to play. You have been working in Australia. How is the dance scene over there? Great. They absolutely love their dance music out there and I found they have a great appreciation for the artists. Tell us about your new label Rising Trax. Have you already got some acts lined up that you'd like to get signed? Rising Trax is the sister label of Rising Music. I set it up to release tracks recorded by people other than myself, as I was finding a lot of great music I was wanting to put out. Forthcoming we have releases by Rene Amesz & Peter Gelderblom, Kingclip, and Micky Slim. The future looks bright for Trax! What is your ultimate goal? Can you see yourself DJing far into the future? Or is DJing a vehicle that allows you to work on other projects? My ultimate goal is to become an album artist and work on diverse projects, and even produce for other groups or bands. If it stimulates my mind and ears, I will be happy! Chris Lake's new single 'Carry Me Away' (featuring Emma Hewitt) is out on May 21 on his Rising Music label.

tags: | chris lake | changes | ibiza | carry me away | emma hewitt | electronica | planet notion | more...

The Noisettes

A quiet revolution by some rather pale young boys and girls threatened to cause some real damage to the British music scene. Thankfully The Noisettes are stampeding into view with the aim of righting this wrong, with their blistering debut album ‘What’s The Time Mr Wolf?’ We called them to find out more and lead singer Shingai Shoniwa picked up as their car sped towards Manchester… What is the Natural habitat of a Noisette? A Quality Street box. How do you imbibe a traditionally rock and roll sound with such freshness? I think it has a lot to do with location because we recorded the album in California, Cornwall and Croydon. The freshness probably comes from Croydon, and the rock tradition comes from California. We recorded a lot of the album in Sound City in L.A, where Nirvana recorded ‘Nevermind.’ Also, our producer being strict and reining in our idiosyncrasies in the studio gave things a more rock sound. But then when we got back to Croydon after touring with bands like Babyshambles, we were able to get a bit crazy again. You must be very proud of the album. How do you think it will be received? Well, our Mums and Grans like it! So far in America all the old school rockers like it, and previously over here we were accepted by the underground music community, so we hope that it’ll be a going out record for a Thursday or Friday night. We’re lucky to have had good reviews, but because we were touring we weren’t around to have a reaction or throw up, which was good in a way. It seemed we were doing more in The States, so I’m glad it’s being well received over here, because I’d prefer to make it in England. England still has eccentricities that I thought the 90s and people like Simon Cowell had taken out. It’s nice to know that. What secret alchemy happens in three-pieces that makes them more ass-shaking than the average band? Incest. Will 2007 be a good year for The Noisettes? Definitely! Hopefully we’ll cope and carry it through. We’ve set the bar for ourselves so high now that we just have to stay fit and work hard. Go out drinking four nights a week instead of seven! Where are you off to next? Dan, where are we off to next? We were doing a gig in Wrexham last night and we’re just coming into Manchester now. We’re off to do some TV and radio with Mark Whiley I think. I’m not too good with names. But they said they have food! 'WHAT’S THE TIME MISTER WOLF?' IS OUT NOW (UNIVERSAL) INTERVIEW BY KARL O'KEEFFE

tags: | the noisettes | british | 60 seconds | karl o'keeffe | universal | more...

Makoto

When Tokyo's drum n bass ambassador sent his first experiments to LTJ Bukem, the UK don advised Makoto to make his beats less hectic and shift some arrangements. Now Makoto is a favourite on the global circuit, with his second jazzed-up album about to drop. Looking good! How healthy is the drum n bass scene in Japan? Not healthy enough; there aren't many drum n bass producers or good DJs here and parties always rely on overseas DJs. But I’m positive, I hope everyone is making an effort to evolve! Sampling a celebrated tune like 'Feeling Good' on 'Spangle' was bold was it difficult to get clearance for this? No comment! Are there any other classic tunes you'd like to re-work? If I could, I wouldn't re-work, I'd make an entirely new version. Do drum n bass MCs annoy you or can they enhance a set? Not at all, I always work with Deeizm MC. We've worked together for ages now; we always know what each other's doing. I totally trust her. I also know that the MC is a crucial part of drum n bass culture. Do you prefer instrumental tracks - what does a vocal bring? I like both. It depends on how good the music is. Why is the new album called 'Believe In My Soul'? I had a really negative time over the last few years. I had to believe in what I was doing to deal with it. 'Believe In My Soul' just came into my head one day. How would you describe your brand of drum n bass? People say my music is soulful, but I’ve never tried to make it soulful on purpose! Which tune(s) are you feeling right now? Always Marky, Nu:tone, Mistical and Nookie…Tunes! Tell us about some of the more obscure samples you used on the album? The sample for me is like an instrument. I didn't use them like loops, just like tones from a keyboard. What do you listen to when you're relaxing? Nothing. Music gets me too excited! How different are London crowds? Obviously Japanese crowds are very quiet, but London and others are not. Do you listen to any bands? Sometimes old funk bands from the 70s. Do you think that dance music and drug culture will always be linked? I really don't know, as I didn't grow up taking drugs... Chill out mate, we're not the Old Bill! Do you still buy records? I DJ using Scratch Live with my laptop. Vinyl sounds warm, but there's no places to cut dubplates in Japan and I don’t like playing CDs, so I've got no choice! 'BELIEVE IN MY SOUL' IS OUT 2ND APRIL (GOOD LOOKING). CHECK OUT THE REVIEW HERE !

tags: | makoto | tokyo | drum n bass | ltj bukem | uk | japan | feeling good | dj | spangle | mc | more...

Field Music

When is a band not a band? When it's Field Music. Placing the focus on their music rather than themselves, the rule breaking Sunderland three gently ease us into 2007 with the release of their second album 'Tones of Town'. Surrounded by bands they hate and a scene they have no interest in, songwriting brothers Peter and David Brewis with keyboard maestro Andrew Moore have self-produced an indefinable collection of tunes to draw musical focus back to the north. Their rebelliousness captures a unique sound that marries orchestral strings with the voice of a dismissive generation. Why did you decide to call the band Field Music? We decided on Field Music because we didn't want it to sound like a band, it’s nothing to do with nature! We’re not really a band as such… The idea of Field Music was to try and make a real record, not to be in a band. It’s not that organised. Has anything changed since your debut album? The first album took a long time to do. We did lots of recordings, released a few records and we always got to the end of them thinking that it still didn't sound like a real record. When the second album came round, we’d become quite good as a live band so this album does have a performance element to it. We've got a lot more interesting guitar sounds going on and we used different places to record for different effects, like the ladies toilets in the studio! Why did you decide to produce everything yourselves? Well that goes back to us not really being a band. We've always recorded our own stuff, so we'd find it really difficult to have a producer. We're not that impressed with the sounds on other people's records these days. Records are made to be radio hits and there are certain techniques you have to use to make it sound good in nightclubs. That's not really a very interesting way of making a record. Which other bands on the scene are you interested in at the moment? We're bored by British music right now. It's not very creative, there's a real lack of imagination and people are only really concerned with being fashionable. Why should people buy your album? If you're going to buy music, buy something that has made an honest attempt at making something good, not the rubbish shit that we’re told to buy! FIELD MUSIC'S 'TONES OF TOWN' IS OUT NOW (MEMPHIS INDUSTRIES) TEXT: LAUREN TONES

tags: | field music | tones of town | memphis industries | british | lauren tones | sunderland | more...

Luke Slater

Luke Slater is a big name in techno, and he's the latest DJ to add weight to Fabric's compilation marathon. After two 'Fear and Loathing' collections, this finds him brewing a single, heady techno mix. With more aliases than an MI5 agent, he's a tricky man to pin down musically, but in the dead of Fabric nightclub on a cold afternoon there he was, nailed to a chair. Words: Natasha Siggers You were the first to do a Fabric mix in the club itself. Did you have a big audience? No, only one or two people! I was gonna do the mix on a night there but I thought one of the styluses would go, or there'd be some guy dropping beer on the records! What's special about the club? At Fabric I can get away with being diverse, people there are into that kind of thing. Has techno always been consistent in your view? No, it suffered in the mid 90s in the UK. There was a period of no diversity in the clubs. I’d be diverse in my sets, then some guy would come on and play the same type of stuff all the way through. I remember thinking, "note to self - don’t ever do that!" What's your aim when you play live? There's no way I’d go on stage with a laptop, so I wanted to introduce live drums, percussion and bass. We strip the tracks back and build them up with the live instruments, keeping the electronic track, but adding the human element to it. What's the reaction been? Happily the last date I did at Fabric was such a blinder! There were a few mistakes but that didn’t matter as it was such a release. We want to try and do that with the new album. How's that progressing? Well me and James (Ruskin) are working on it separately at the moment, then gathering our things and putting them together. Hopefully it’ll be done soon. Is it really true you've been to watch ballet? Well last year Bergheim in Berlin teamed up with a ballet company and put a show on in their club. They also put their feelers out for a fifteen minute piece, and I’d written a lot of plain stuff so I put it together, like a fifteen minute symphony, and it was sadly beautiful. I've never been interested in ballet, but I’d go and see something if it was a bit darker! LUKE SLATER'S FABRIC LIVE ALBUM IS OUT NOW (FABRIC) TEXT: BEN HOGWOOD

tags: | luke slater | techno | dj | fabric | compilation | fear and loathing | mix | diverse | more...

DJ HELL

Helmut Josef Geier is known for being many things. Fashion victim, scene builder and International Deejay Gigolo record label head honcho to name a few, but mainly as German techno house don DJ Hell. From punk and new wave to house and hip hop, his back catalogue is an impressive one with a smart production career to boot. Following in the footsteps of Tiefschwarz and Freeform Five, Hell has produced the latest in the Misch Masch compilation series which features a mix and a remix selection from the gigolo, where tracks from Laurent Garnier and Dave Clarke sit quite comfortably next to the likes of Grace Jones and P Diddy. Would you say your Misch Masch compilation is a representation of where you are right now musically? Correct. That’s the way I'm going right now…the road everything starts in is back in the 80's and comes around the corner again. I like to listen to all of this music from the past but playing it in the clubs is not my cup of tea. Name one track that inspired your career in music. 'I Feel Love' by Donna Summer. What does an International Deejay Gigolo do on their day off? Look for some quiet moments. Being alone is the highest form of this attraction. Where do you enjoy playing out most and why? I enjoy every night, every festival, every club, every private party, every fashion show, every studio action… all of them are special. There has been a real resurgence in new wave and punk bands over the past few years - do you feel that these acts merely copycats or are they as good as original bands like The Clash? Are you kidding me? The Clash were a once in a lifetime band. Just listen to Radio Clash or London Calling. The music industry killed them and as they said, don’t come between the chemistry of four great friends, like they were. But there are lots of great new bands like Muse, The Rapture and LCD Soundsystem who keep the fire burning. You've had a long and fruitful career as a producer, label boss and DJ - what more do you feel you would like to achieve? I feel like it all just started and now I am in the position the start the real deal. Finally, which do you love more - music or fashion? Music and fashion have always been the passions of my life! 'MISCH MASCH VOLUME 3' MIXED BY DJ HELL IS OUT NOW (FOUR MUSIC)

tags: | dj hell | helmut josef geier | international deejay gigolo | german | techno house | more...

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