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Now,
with not only a
mixed CD due
out on TCR but
also an album
of his own due
out next year,
plus the
imminent launch
of his own
imprint Track
Records, the
boy is going
places and no
messin'. So I
thought it was
about time I
got deep down
and dirty with
the man
himself...
Q:
Hi BLIM. So
you've mixed
"Modernizm" for
TCR, the
label's first
mixed CD since
Rennie
Pilgrem's
"Explicit
Beats" - how
did that come
about?
A:
Having just
completed the
"Eskimo" single
with Rennie in
February,
Rennie asked me
if I'd be
interested in
doing a mix
and/or a solo
artist album
with TCR. I
thought about
it for about 5
secs and
thought it
would be great,
so we moved on
from
there.
Q:
It's a very
well put
together
mix,very
dancefloor
orientated. Are
you solely
responsible for
the choice of
tunes?
A:
No not at all.
You'll notice
the CD is
predominantly
TCR material.
One of the
reasons I was
so happy to
come to TCR is
that the music
is so
consistently
strong. Rennie
and I thrashed
out the track
list whilst
skimming stones
on a beach
during WMC in
Miami at 7am
one morning and
I honed it down
whilst actually
doing the mix.
In all honestly
it pretty much
picked itself.
All the
upcoming shit
is so hot and I
stuck "I
Robot"
and "Check It
Out"
on plus "Hype
It
Up"
which Ren
turned me on
to. The
Subphonic
and
Waveform
tracks are old
faves of mine
and fitted the
mood so they
went on
too.
Q:
The album
definitely
feels like it's
getting back to
what breaks
should be about
and not getting
caught up in
passing trends.
Do you feel
that this is
fair
comment?
A:
I wouldn't say
that exactly.
This mix
definitely
conforms to my
ethos of making
my sets fun and
party, and I
did try to make
it essentially
a dancefloor
style mix, but
one of the
things I'm
really enjoying
about this
scene at the
moment is that
it is remaining
diverse,
influencing and
being
influenced by
other genres. I
really love the
tech-housey
element that
people like
Meat
Katie
and
Lee
Coombes
are bringing to
the party for
instance. I
wouldn't say
they were
passing trends
more paths of a
healthy
evolution that
should keep our
scene going for
a long time,
ever broadening
its sphere of
recognition.
Q:
So is this
going to be the
first of many
outings on TCR
for
you?
A:
Definitely.
Expect a solo
single before
long and an
album early
next
year.
Q:
As a DJ and
also as a
producer, do
you think that
your style or
sound has
changed, or are
you just doing
what you've
always
done?
A:
There will
always be an
element of what
I've always
done in my
tunes but I am
always trying
to progress
too. I'm torn
between loving
the fact that
people will be
able to
recognise my
stuff and
totally
suprising
people just for
the hell of it.
I like to think
I've maintained
a consistancy
in quality and
style whilst
keeping things
interesting and
different.
Q:
You started out
as a drum 'n'
bass producer
in the early
1990s. Do you
still make the
odd excursion
into drum 'n'
bass?
A:
No, not at all
- in the end I
found it
suffocating. I
felt unable to
do what I
wanted to and
was constantly
working within
some set of
perceived
limits and
rules. I may
put a 165 bpm
track on the
album but it
probably won't
be played on
the
floor.
Q:
What made you
make the change
to nu
skool?
A:
I found that I
had a freedom
to choose my
own limits and
rules and that
the tempo
allowed me much
more room to
work in
musically. It
was fresh at
the time and I
still don't
think it's as
restrictive as
drum 'n' bass
and never will
be for those
reasons of
diversity and
influence I was
on about
before. Also,
there is quite
alot of
throwback to
the breaks of
the very early
1990s where I
cut my dance
teeth and that
inspired me to
write dance
music in the
first
place.
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