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Dillon Francis Headlines Bass Boutique Boat Party In Sydney

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Die hard fans of Moombahton pioneer and funny man Dillon Francis are in for a treat, with the Big Day Out tourer locked down for a Sydney sideshow, the Bass Boutique Boat Party to be exact. Setting sail on Sydney Harbour on Saturday January 25th, Francis will see support from a huge local line up including the likes of A-Tonez, Danny T , Natnoiz & more.

With Francis' debut album set to drop in March 2014, fans will no doubt be treated to a slew of new material during his set.

The Bass Boutique Boat Party takes place on the Bella Vista, picking up from King Street wharf at 12pm. Tickets go on sale Friday 22nd November through Moshtix. Full lineup below.

Full Line up:
Dillon Francis (USA)
Danny T
Spenda C
A-Tonez
Natnoiz
Platform 19
Pat Ward
Ocean
Nemo

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Listen: Matthew Herbert Remixes DJ Koze

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There's no denying that DJ Koze's remix of Matthew Herbert's 'It's Only' was one of the standout tracks of last year. Now Herbert has returned the favour, putting his own 10-minute spin on Koze's track 'Magical Boy' from his lauded 'Amygdala' LP.

The track is to be officially released as part of an upcoming 'Amygdala' remix 12" on December 2nd alongside a remix from Efdemin. Listen to Herbert's remix below.

DJ Koze Australian & New Zealand Tour Dates
31.01.14 - Club Cuckoo, Adelaide
01.01.14 - Lost Disco @ ivy, Sydney [BUY]
01.01.14 - Let Them Eat Cake, Melbourne
04.01.14 - Everybody's, Auckland

Listen to DJ Koze on Pulse Radio

Win A Double Pass To David August @ The Island

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This Saturday November 23rd sees Diynamic star and Harbourlife tourer David August headline his only Sydney sideshow at the city's most iconic harbour location, The Island. Playing a live set of his own productions, August will be joined by local faves Slow Blow, Marc Jarvin and Softwar. Those who caught the amazing Sasha gig last year can attest to just how epic an initmate party on The Island with a hot international act can be. In short; amazing.

Thanks to The Island, we have a double pass to giveaway to the party! All you have to do is enter the EASY competition below. The winner will be announced at 6pm this Friday 22nd November. Good luck!

Listen to David August on Pulse Radio

Rapid Fire With John Tejada

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Veteran DJ and producerJohn Tejadais bringing his newly revamped live show all the way from the USA to Australia this weekend for shows in Melbourne, Sydney and the 5th anniversary of the Strawberry Fields festival. In anticipation of his arrival, we fired some questions John's way. Here's what he volleyed back.

Pulse: Can you tell us about your new live show in terms of the music you’re playing. It covers a lot of your older catalogue, correct? John Tejada: It does. I recreate some of my works with minimal equiptment, so while songs may be familiar to some, they are also different in lots of way as they’ve been built from the ground up again in order to be played back on my small hardware setup.

And what about in terms of ‘live’? What equipment are you playing with and what makes it live, so to speak? I’m using an Elektron Octatrack and Analog Four with nothing else, so it’s a purely hardware set.

Your music has a lot of dance floor function, but much of it is also heavily reliant on melody. Are you always striving for these two elements to be present in your productions? It just comes natural to me that way. I don’t think about it much when writing, but many times it ends up this way.

Being an American, I’m interested in your thoughts on the current ‘EDM’ explosion happening there. Do you think any good will eventually come from it? Or is it a fad? Or are you just so far removed from it all that you don’t ever think about it!? I thought at first this would have some sort of connection, but I really believe there is absolutely no crossover or new fans seeking out deeper sounds. Once you see one of these events, you realize how far off it all is. So yes, I’m also quite removed from it.

What was the decision behind returning to your own Palette Recordings to release The Anaphora EP after two albums on Kompakt? Well, it’s a label I’ve been running for 17 years so I’ve got to use it for myself some time. There is a new Kompakt already in the works and details should be announced any day now.

When was the last time you were on the crowd side of the DJ booth and dancing, not DJing? I’d say it was at Mutek this year checking the Wishmountain DJ set.

Which DJ is making you stand up and take notice at the moment and why? I don’t get to check out many DJs play or keep track, but its always a treat to hear my good friend Daniel Bell play.

Name three of your favourite tracks from this year. I’m playing live so much that I don’t really keep up as you might expect. I also shy away from charts. I have found that pretty much all my favs seem to be vinyl only labels. This just ends up being coincidence, but some of these very fast to sell out vinyl releases are at the top of my playlist.

What are you looking forward to on your upcoming Australian tour? Food? Sightseeing? Yes, all of the above, seeing old friends. I don’t get to come down very often so this is a special trip for me.

[John Tejada plays Strawberry Fields, Melbourne and Sydney this weekend. Purchase Sydney tickets here]

Listen to John Tejada on Pulse Radio

Let’s get local – The Breathe Sunshine Sessions in Langa

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Langa Township, Cape Town’s oldest Township where Bridges for Music started their journey in South Africa of educating and raising awareness through music welcomes another session of quality grooves for the people. The Breathe Sunshine Sessions will be taking place on Sunday 24 November at the Tsoga Environmental Centre starting at 12PM pushing through until 9PM - Check the event out here.

This month’s Breathe Sunshine Session includes performances from DJ Mighty (Mabu Vinyl), Richard the Third, Vee Holliday, Diloxclusiv Deejay, Sir Vincent and more to be confirmed. 

There’s traditional cuisine with drink packages available to make your day that much less complicated. Organisers say you are more than welcome to bring along your own drinks (A small corkage fee of R40 will apply).

Tickets will be R40 at the door, or from webtickets, or Big Fish on Long St, Cape Town.

If you’ve never been out there before it’s simple, either take a taxi from the roof (Taxi Rank) in Cape Town, otherwise transportation to and from the event can be booked, along with a Township tour of Langa with Siviwe, a Langa local who knows everything there is to know about the area. Book now at info@cape-Kruger.co.za.

(The Breathe Sunshine Sessions are a Breathe Sunshine African Music Conference& Bridges for Music Initiative)

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Carl Cox's Safehouse Management Takes Over We Love... Space

One Breathtaking experience in full review: ONE Festival

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Pulse Radio took to the lush green hills and beautiful valleys of Mpumalanga to experience a 5 day magical infusion of underground electronic music and nature. Here’s what Candy and Mbali had to say about an all round titillating adventure known as One Festival. 

On arrival at 4:30 a.m. on Thursday morning I was taken back by my surroundings of the flourishing green hills, which seemed endless. The refreshing scent of the cool crisp air awakened my senses after the long drive through the night. With the fields still empty, I decided to explore the open landscape of the venue before the festivities began. The sun rising behind the mountains painted a picturesque pink and purple haze across the sky. The magic shone through the breathtaking sunrise as it peeked above us. This was the beginning of an enlightening experience…ONE Festival.

We scoped out the camping area to set up our new home for the next 5 days. After a peaceful sleep, we took a stroll down from the campsite to the destination where the festival was to be held. The crafted creations of Christopher Dowding were being sprayed with vibrant colours by Carin Dikson while the team began to architecturally mount the pieces together to create the design of the 3 dimensional embellishments. This displayed the face from the ONE artwork as the center piece, and the front of the stage symbolizing Mother Nature. A spire in the middle of the Main floor represented Huxley’s idea of the faucet of consciousness. I was blown away by the conception as it came to life.

We were welcomed by a kaleidoscope of clothing and other stalls each with friendly staff ready to meet our every need. Shaded chill spots provided shelter from the sweltering heat of the day. The setup on the main floor was running late, however, that did not get in the way of the music getting started on the Jungle floor. The first evening was an intimate gathering, a warm-up for what was yet to come.

The festivities really came to life on the Friday as many more people arrived to generate a buzz in the atmosphere. Chris Palmer opened for the Psy floor at 4:30 p.m. We were soon thrown into the music as the sun settled down taking us into a beautiful evening with a breathtaking display of the UV projection, amplifying the décor in the dark.

Deep Town hosted the alternative stage which was set next to the dam with a sensational view of a hilly landscape. Before long, I was captivated into the deeper Minimal-Tech House sounds of Hydro and Hugo playing B2B. These guys are a treat to hear together! One of the tunes they played was ‘Dusty hits’ by Jitter and the floor was soon in full swing with the vibrating sound penetrating amongst the crowd. Ric Norte' swiftly took over, changing the tone with smoother Deep House grooves. Metro Ticket followed with a dark and dirty Tech-House set. Diggin4Dodge brought their refined sound of the deeper side with a moody magnetism that won the crowd over. This floor was pumping big time!

At the same time, Mbali took to the Addictshun Jungle to see Ella G. This fresh lass is a newbie Drum and Bass selekta based in the heart of Jozi and has already superseded expectations. Her intelligent, articulate melodies boasted a vast knowledge of old school rhythms that spoke to the soul, and freed the mind, giving her set a very authentic, local feel as we entered the rest of the night.

Mr Green, as always, brought it. Like a Boss! This established head of Addictshun made sure that he had all of us jamming and bopping to the energetic beats that he had carefully sequenced and before we knew, it was time for the legend himself, Sowetan legend - DJ Benson.

One of the most respected, admired, and down-to-earth artists in the industry, the liquid king serenaded his way into the hearts, hips and feet of his eager audience, each note carefully comprised to produce the best euphony of sweet, liquid Drum and Bass under the starlit skies.

At 2:30 a.m. Thorn hypnotized the main floor into some really trippy dark Psy with an increase in BPM welcomed by the crowd. Satisfied with the music of the evening, I headed back to the campsite for a well-earned rest.

12 p.m. Saturday, Thalia played a sexy powerful progressive Psy set that got the crowd going wild! I love watching how much fun she has behind the decks, and the audience most certainly feeds off her energy. Toby One played an afternoon liquid Drum and Bass set at the Gypsy Carnival floor. His playful yet deep session was smooth, harmonious, and downright fun. This man with fifteen years of industry experience and knowledge gave his audience light, easy, and engaging melodies that were well received in the Mpumalanga heat. It’s a pity that the Drum n Bass did not continue over the duration of the weekend, but Mike Lesar made us soon forget that as he took behind the decks, getting our feet tapping and hips swaying to his jazzy swinging Balkan beats. What a treat for a variation in rhythm!

On the main floor Bazooka Boy exploded crazy energy with his phat, rolling progressive Psy sounds of the day - Bazooka Boy on Pulse Radio.

John Vicious kicked off the Teknotribe floor with a solid 2hr bouncing Techno set. He played a track by Bryan Zentz ‘Empraxa’ which really got me going! Sebotage took over, starting off with some beautiful liquid melodic Techno which progressed into a powerful electronic Minimal-Tech sound. This d-floor had an energy-packed presence. It felt like a private party on its own.

I made my way up to the Main floor for some real late-night trance. Minimal Criminal had a massive effect on the crowd with his dark night time vibe of crazy ‘psygressive’ minimal sounds ranging from 133-140 BPM. 

Sunday morning started off with a bang, bringing on a dynamic progressive Psy line-up of our talented local DJ’s from Cape Town and Jozi performing on the Main floor. I arrived just in time for Deliriant, a perfect way to start off the morning with a high energy. He brings a unique sleek style within his music with powerful leads into intense drops! It was time to get down and dirty to the chunkier, more playful styles of the day! Many people dressed up which added to the festivities! Hippie Mafia, a new day project from the duo of ‘Double Story’ - Josh Shachat & Daniel Peimer, really stimulated the crowd with their daytime full on Psy with more melodic progressive leads. The d-floor was one of full vibrating energy! The Sunday Alternative stage hosted by LOVE PEACE TECHNO& Mansion Records, brought a tasty underground line-up. Durban DJ - Coco Loco took to the decks stirring up some sexy Disco Tech-House beats. Deadbeat FM closed the main floor just before an unexpected storm came in, cutting the power.

The storm had settled, and the after party got started in the jungle. Void, Psycode Black, and Digital Dream exposed our minds into the darker side of Psy, playing up to 148 BPM! Now this is the Psy I love! The UV panels with polka dot lighting on the DJ booth lit up to create a kaleidoscopic vision. 

There are so many impressions and thoughts to digest after a festival like this! So much to tell, but I guess that’s enough for now… ONE Festival was a top notch event and the effort was evident to create a spectacular production. This was One hell of a party!

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Digitalism In Analogue

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Back in 2004 in Hamburg, friends Jens "Jence" Moelle and İsmail "Isi" Tüfekçi, started a band after becoming bored with the status quo in house music. Together, they became Digitalism, an indie-dance electro-punk and indie dance movement that has spanned ten years, two albums, seen them play major festivals and dark clubs alike, attracting several hundred thousand fans all the while, many of whom are notoriously loyal and devoted. Last week they were headed to London's XOYO, so our Stuart Divett caught up with the friends just before their set. 

After a delayed car ride from the airport, a mix up with hotels and a tight schedule before playing at East London’s XOYO, I was lucky enough to be given 20 minutes to chat with Digitalism, or ‘Jence’ and ‘Isi’ as they prefer to be called, about their musical journey, their fans and the current state of electronic music.

So you guys are in London playing at XOYO tonight. What sort of a relationship do you have with the city and the London crowds? Jence: I guess there’s a couple of cities around the world that always feel like a bit of a homecoming when we arrive, and London is one of those. We’ve got loads of friends here. I also lived here for a while, so it’s almost like a second home for us. This must be about the thirtieth time we’ve played in London so we’re really comfortable playing here. It’s actually a great of example how we grew as a band. We started performing here pretty early playing at Fabric, then we did our first headline live shows at small venues in London. On our last album tour we played the Forum, and even did the Astoria right before they tore it down, which was really cool. Sometimes you may think that the London crowds might be a bit too ‘cool’ to go crazy, but we always get a great reception here.

What are your plans for after London and the rest of the year? Isi: We’re actually going back home tomorrow, but we’re pretty much booked Thursday through Saturday every weekend till Christmas around Europe. It’s slowing down beginning of next year though, which will be good.

Looking forward to getting home? J: Kind of. But when you traveling so much, what’s home, you know?

I: We need to catch up with a lot of the office stuff as well so it’s still quite busy.

I’ve followed your music closely since you began and throughout your career and what’s evident is a really distinctive and unique sound. How did you manage to create such a unique sound and carry that through the better part of a decade? J: Thank you. I mean we basically made what we couldn’t find out there and that’s why we actually started making music – because we couldn’t find that sound and we were bored of the usual stuff. In our opinion it’s no different now to ten years ago – everything sounds the same after a while. Someone comes up with a new sub genre and everyone copies it. Back then we were really bored with house music, so we decided to put all our influences and what we liked into a huge mixing pot and came up with our sound. We still really like that sound now so that’s why we still making it. It’s obviously been updated but at the essence it’s still the same. We don’t really talk genres; we just make our own music and then get booked to play venues! (laughs)

It seems like a lot of people are getting bit obsessed with the whole genre thing and putting music into boxes rather than focusing on the actual music. J: Absolutely. It’s people who don’t really know what to do and needing someone to tell them whether something is good or not. You know, someone says ‘this is going to be massive on a stadium rave,’ so they go and do that, but they don’t really have their own vision, and that’s why there’s a lack of originality.

I was reading an interview of Todd Terje’s some time back, and the interviewer asked him for one bit of advice for any aspiring producers. He replied that a new producer shouldn’t release anything for the first two years because their music is just going to sound like the artists they follow. Do you agree? Both: (laughs) That’s a brilliant piece of advice. Wow.

J: When you start making music – or anything for that matter – you start by copying other people, so you need that time at the beginning to learn the art and find your own sound.

I: When we started in 2002 it took us at least a year before we released anything.

J: Yeah but back then though it was also harder to release a bunch of stuff. Nowadays you can just publish it on Soundcloud, so anyone that starts tonight can publish it tonight! Back then it took a while because it would take some time for a label to pick you up, which I guess was actually a good thing.

Is it a good or a bad thing that it’s so easy to publish your own music now? J: Just because you can cook doesn’t mean you should open your own restaurant. In some cases people don’t understand this. They have the chance to do it, so they just go for it. There are no filters anymore. There used to be two filters. First, there was the label that filtered everything, then the next step was the record shops because they only picked some of the stuff. Now there are no filters at all. I guess there’s a lot of amateurism out there now, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing because it can be really creative but it can also be bad.

Speaking of releasing music, it seems that you guys have stuck to a more traditional route of releasing full-length albums and compilations as opposed to a lot of electronic artists who will release a bunch of EP’s with remix packages etc. Was that something that just happened organically or was it a set decision? J: It was A, a decision because we work a lot with concepts and feel strongly about that creative process and B, we come from that time when it was all about making albums. If we started now it would probably be different (laughs).

Is the full-length album still relevant in music? I: When we put out an album it’s like a book with different chapters.

Like a story or a journey? I: Yeah, exactly. it’s a story. Jence was saying something really interesting recently where everyone is in this crazy skip mode. People don’t listen to whole songs, they’re skipping after a minute and a half or 2 minutes. This is really bad because there’s so much you’re not hearing. Artists now are having to react to that so they might not put out a whole album, which might disappoint some fans because that’s what they’ve been waiting for, but unfortunately they have to do what makes sense. Now days the public won’t give you any attention after a month or 6 weeks, which is really quite sad, but that’s how it is now, and if you don’t react you’re not going to last.

So it’s about evolving.

J: Yeah you have to evolve. If whatever you’re making isn’t strong enough or is just about individual tracks, then you just shouldn’t make an album these days. You can still pull off an album if what you’re making just has to be in that form. Like if the concept and everything behind it has to be that one big piece, then fine. In saying that though there are only a few artists who can pull that off now.

I find that quite sad. Like we’re losing a big part of what music should be. J: I think there are bands and producers now where you can just pick tracks from there, there and there and it’s okay, because it’s just a collection of songs and that’s it. However, take for instance the new Daft Punk album. A lot of people bought the whole album and I think most people realized that it was important to listen to it as a whole.

Do you find that your fans or the public have influenced the way you work or the music you put out? J: So far we’ve always done what we want to do. So for instance with our second album people were a bit split. Some people really liked it, and some didn’t because it was a bit different to our first one. We really liked it though so at the end that’s all that really counts.

Does that also go for your DJ sets? I: Not really no. A lot of DJs don’t really focus on the people and they’re just focused on their ‘thing,’ which can be good, but sometimes as a DJ you have to give something back to the crowd. If you do react to the crowd, then after a while you can pretty much do anything and they’ll be with you for the night. It’s like an adventure.

That journey or adventure you’re talking about is two totally different things depending if you’re at a festival or a small, intimate club. Do you guys have any preferences on where you would rather play? I: We actually really enjoy doing both. You’ll get bored of one of them if you do it all the time. It’s really nice being able to play close to your fans, but it’s also really rewarding playing a massive stage at a festival.

J: When it’s nice weather and you’re playing on a massive stage it’s great, but it’s not as intimate and maybe more anonymous. Half the people may not even be able to see you because you’re so far away. So it’s two totally different things but we love doing both.

Are there any festivals or gigs that have surprised you with the reception you’ve gotten? I: We were really surprised with the number of fans that came out to see us for our Latin America tour last year. We were playing venues of two and half and three thousand people. That was so cool for us. Of course, we’re used to doing that kind of size in certain countries, but it was our first time there,and it was sold out. The people were just amazing.

It must be a good feeling knowing that your music is reaching such a wide audience?

Both: Exactly!

Are you going to be rewarding said fans with any new music in the not too distant future? J: We’ve got a lot in the pipeline but that’s all we can say for now. When it’s time, you’ll hear it. We’re really, really excited about it.

I: Next year is our tenth year as a band, but there’s nothing specific planned yet. We like to surprise our fans so keep your ears and eyes open. It’s a bit different to all this big marketing, but we prefer to keep it small and unique.

I guess having such a dedicated and loyal fan base allows you to do that? J: Totally. It’s a really unique thing to have such great fans, and we’re very lucky to have that.

Good luck with the rest of the year and I look forward to hearing what you come up with for your 10th birthday.

Both: (Laughs). Cheers.

Listen to Digitalism on Pulse Radio.


Ibiza Superclubs: Then And Now

An Open Air Affair for Oskido’s Birthday

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One of the true legends of South African music is putting behind him yet another year of smooth grooves and successes. Oskido who you’ll recognise from the behind the decks as well as the Metro FM Saturday night show from 8 p.m. until 10 p.m. is celebrating his birthday but will be the one delivering the gifts. 

You can’t fully relate the South African music story without mentioning one Oscar Bonginkosi Mdlongwa also affectionately known by his stage names Oskido, Oscar Warona, Godzilla or The Big O. Born in Oukasie, Brits, the producer, performer, radio presenter, record producer, and entrepreneur, grew up between South Africa (Brits) and Zimbabwe (Bulawayo) and later moved up to Jozi to chase his music dream. He later started Kalawa Records with Don Laka and Christos, that later changed to Kalawa Jazzmee when it was joined by Trompies members Mandla “Spikiri” Mofokeng, Zynne Mahoota Sibika and E Mjokes Matsane.

Watch Character ft. Oskido and Mono-T

The line-up set for the party includes South African heavy weight Black Coffee from Soulistic Music who is carving a recognisable South African path in the international scene at the moment. Added on the bill you have DJ’s like DJ Sbu, Candy, Ganyani, Bobstar and DJ Zinhle among others that will be there to facilitate the beats for the festivities. 

The invite is out, pull through to the dance institute in JHB Truth on the 1st of December for an extravaganza that promises hot dancefloors under the night sky. Tickets will be R50 at the door after 8 p.m. before that it’s free entry. RSVP here. See you on the dancefloor!

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Back and Forth with OOFT!, M.ono & Luvless

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Ahead of both their appearances at Saints Don't Sleep this Friday, Pulse Radio organised an exclusive two way interview between Glaswegian deep house mainstay OOFT! and Rose Records head honchos, M.ono and Luvless. The Scot behind Foto Recordings opened the questions:

You guys are from Leipzig right? What is the scene like there in comparison to the rest of Germany? what are the best clubs to hear good music in Leipzig? 

M.ono: Leipzig has a nice small music scene with some great artist and labels. Everyone knows everyone and there is a record store called Kannstore from the label Kann where you can meet DJs and producers from Leipzig. And of course we had a lot of clubs in the city. I think the biggest and most famous are Distillery and Conne Island. The Distillery is an electronic music club only. Every Friday and Saturday are events with house and techno music. Conne Island is more broad in its music, it's more a youth center, with hip hop or rock events but also great house and techno events like the "Weekender".

Luv: I think Leipzig has a good variety of steady clubs and other smaller venues to hear good music. I think in some other cities you need to rent a specific location and carry in all your gear for the night to host a party. Not very handy i think.

How and when did you guys meet and when did you get in to making music? M.ono: We met us about 15 or 16 years ago at our apprenticeship. We had the same musical interests and a lot of fun at this time. After the apprenticeship we went our separate ways and met again about 8 years ago in Leipzig. At this point we spend a lot time together, started DJing together and later produce tracks.

Luv: I made my first steps with an old Amiga Computer back in the late 80's in the GDR just before the wall came down however this was very sporadic and just trial and error. I think I realised that I liked this form of music and how to create it then. I was never was into classic guitar music and metal or things like that, I felt more attracted to electronic beats. In the 90's I bought turntables and a small rotary from my first hard-earned money - just for my self with no real professional ambitions. Some friends of mine hosted small parties near Leipzig from time to time where I came more into Djing. On the side, I was also making music with my PC and Reason software. Hardware was very expensive and far far away for a young guy! The idea to launch a label and put out music for the public came when i met m.ono years later.

Can you give some back ground information on Rose Records? When did it start? who are the creative forces behind it? What is the musical policy? M.ono: Primarily we started Rose Records to release our own tracks, I think that was in the spring of 2011. Behind Rose are Eva, Martin (Hayes), Lars, Luvless and I. We are all good friends and we met here in Leipzig years ago. Martin, Luvless and I are the "producing guys", Eva and Lars are at the background doing the administrative stuff etc.

Luv: As a self-distributing label it's very nice to have a bunch of dudes around who care for the label. It would be hard as a single person I guess. We all like different genres but for the label itself it's house in all it's forms I would say. We have no specific grid the music should fit into. First of all it should warm our hearts. We never think of functional music.

What’s the plan for 2014 release-wise? Is there a particular direction either of you want to take the label in? M.ono: We will finish the Artist trilogy with Martin Hayes - Rose06. After that we have some ideas in the pipeline but nothing definite yet. I think the new Eva's Finest will hit the stores in 2014 and we are working on our first M.ono & Luvless EP. Luv: I think we'll do another various - various 04. I've almost finished my EP for Tsuba that will come in 2014. No further plans yet. Let's see what happens..

Do you have a shared studio or your own personal setups? what are your setups? M.ono: Mac, Yamaha HS80M, Ableton and a large box of samples. 

Luv: Nowadays I mostly use masterkeyboards and my Mac. I sometimes use a mic to sample a clap or something but i don't think it's really necessary anymore because there's no "sound" that's not sampled already - It's just for fun. From time to time i plug in my drum machines. I have a Yamaha dx7, which is hard to program but I like the sound. Maybe i can afford a Jupiter 8 some day. I'm no professional keyboard player but i like to squeeze knobs and see the effect. That's it.

Vinyl or Digital? M.ono: Digital

Luv: Vinyl & CD

What are your current favourite records when DJing?

M.ono: Good Guy Mikesh feat. Filburt - Place of Love  (MP Edit)

Luv: One is hard. I really like this one: Phuture Scope - What is House Muzik? Classic record on Emotive from 1994.

What are your top three Foto recordings tracks?

M.ono: Craig Bratley - Get Up

Andy Hart & Max Graef - Dem Young Jabronis

Ooft - Arbitrary (Piano Dub)

Luv: La Tuerie - Filter

https://soundcloud.com/aliooft/la-tuerie-filter-foto-007-lo

OOFT! - Billy

http://www.beatport.com/track/billy-original-mix/3399551

Andy Ash - Mason in my Basin

In part 2 of the interviewer becomes the interviewee and vice versa as the UK debutants M.ono & Luvless talk about.... ahead of their appearance at Saints Don't Sleep this Friday. Tickets.

When did you start making music?

I first started dabbling with cut n paste edits for DJing with around 2004 using an old version of Soundforge. It’s been a gradual process of self-education in production and studio techniques over the intervening years.

What are your biggest musical influences? First record you owned/bought?

I would say the two biggest influences are my parent’s record collection when I was growing up, and listening to Harri & Domenic every week at the Sub Club when I was in my early twenties. The music on when I was growing up was classic 80s pop such as Chris Rea, Dire Straits, Fleetwood Mac etc. So great pop/rock subliminally taught me about hooks and song structure. Subculture on a Saturday night has always been about playing great house music old & new, and one of the things I learned on the dance-floor is how simple tracks can sometimes work better than heavily produced ones, but arrangement is really the key. The first record I bought was the Michael Jackson – Bad LP. Chamone.

Tell us more about your other projects called “Prophets of the South” and “Midnight Marauders”. What was the inspiration behind them and is it just you or are other people involved?

Both of those are collaborations. Midnight Marauders is withTelford from the Sub Club, although it’s on a bit of a hiatus as he’s the manager there now as well as one of the resident DJs so he doesn’t have much free time for studio work. Prophets of the South is a newer collaboration with Esa from South Africa, so it’s more of a fusion of his African rhythms with my straighter white-man dance sound. I really like working on collaborations as you end up making completely different music than you would on your own.

What was the inspiration behind FOTO recordings?

I started Foto after the previous label (L.E.S.S. Productions) I was involved in finished up. The original idea was for it solely to be a vehicle to put out OOFT! tracks on my own terms and timetable, although I’ve ended up releasing tracks from quite a few different artists now. Looking in to next year I think I may go back to the original plan and try to step up the OOFT! output on there.

Tell us about the scene in Glasgow? What was it like growing up and what is the club scene like?

Glasgow has a fantastic underground music scene which far outweighs the population of 600,000. There are at least 5 excellent club venues, amongst countless other more middle of the road establishments. As I said previously being able to go to the Sub Club and listen to the best house records every week, on what is probably the best sound-system in the UK really shaped my sound and what I was into when I was younger. The club scene almost has too much going on which makes for very high levels of competition, but it definitely keeps everyone on their toes and we get the best guest DJs and live acts constantly passing through as a result.

3 Records/Songs that define Glasgow? 

Ooh that’s a tough one. Not sure I’m qualified to answer this as the music scene is so huge and diverse. I guess to narrow it down to my own experience’s 3 defining tracks would be as follows:

Global Communication - The Way (Secret Ingredients Mix). Pretty much the definition of deep house and sounds just amazing on any dancefloor.

Midnight Star – Midas Touch. Probably the biggest of all the 80s Soul/Boogie tracks and one that many Glasgow DJs play on the regular. The soundtrack to many a great party.

Underground Resistance – Transition. Glasgow has always had strong ties with Detroit through the Rubadub record store and distribution company, so UR tracks have been big. I could have picked anything really, but Transition has that crossover appeal between house and techno which made it a bit of a classic round these parts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Kd4AKKSn4w

How do you manage Music, business, and family life?

As best I can! At present I’m DJing and doing studio work full time so am based at home through the week. My son has just started school so he’s out through the day giving me a few hours to get work done be it DJ mixes, studio work, or running the label etc. We have a lot of family nearby so babysitting isn’t a problem thankfully!

What is your studio setup?

My studio is rather small and is in my house. The main bits of equipment are as follows: Ableton Live 9 as my DAW/Sequencer, along with a mixture of hardware and 3rd party software. Maschine supplies all the beats. Juno-106, Microkorg, and Novation KS Rack for pads n strings. Moog Minitaur for bass, plus various less regularly used bits in a rack. I just picked up a Boss Space Echo pedal so I’m looking forward to hooking it up to the above bits and seeing the results.

Where is your favourite place on earth?

Hmmm, not sure I’ve found it yet in terms of an actual destination. However there’s nothing better than coming home the day after a gig, usually with very little sleep and a large hangover and getting massive cuddles from my son and fiancée. *Soppy old guy alert*

Top 3 Rose Records tracks?

Luvless – The Better Days. What a groove! Could listen to it for days…

https://soundcloud.com/rose-records/rose05-luvless-the-better-days

M.ono – Love Pass U By. Another mid-tempo insatiable groove.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSTGA0ognd0

Luvless – Come On Closer. Deeper but oh so good. I’ve played this one a LOT.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqjUEXs5tbA

 

 

The Adeline Show 007 Featuring Skudge & Fishermen

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It's that time of the month again when we invite Adeline to broadcast a new edition of her radio show on Pulse Radio.

Hot from the depths of Adeline’s endless collection of grooves comes the seventh installment of her show for Pulse Radio. A wandering soul, Adeline takes inspiration from every new spot she happens upon for each episode. Currently, she’s in frosty Sweden, and met up with her longtime friends, Skudge, as well as one of the newest additions to their roster, Fishermen. This month, she’ll be starting off with a Swedish techno classic, moving into new material from Avatism, Alphahouse and Alixander III from Azari & III.

“This is a fun episode and I crammed a whole lot in! With plenty of different BPMs and styles, it might be the most varied yet. I'll be playing the new Skudge release, so ready your ears for that gem, and the duo also reveal details about the new live show they have planned for next year. Enjoy!”

Follow Adeline on Facebook.

Listen to Adeline on Pulse Radio.

Do you need R3HAB?

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Coming up, November the 29th Cape Town’s Sideshow will be playing host to international sensation R3HAB. Rising Dutch DJ and producer R3hab has established his name in the international dance scene in a short period of time. His producing skills and love for electronic music have made him one of the highest requested remixers in the dance scene right now, remixing for artists like Lady Gaga, Jennifer Lopez, Calvin Harris, Lil’ Wayne, Ne-Yo, Pitbull, Sean Paul, Dada Life, Snoop Dogg, LMFAO and Bob Sinclair just to name a few.

R3HAB at Tomorrowland

Then there are also R3HAB’s original productions that have moved dance floors around the world and more than frequently get listed in Beatport’s charts. His most notable releases to date are ‘Pump The Party’ produced together with Ferruccio Salvo, ‘The Bottle Song’, released on Wall Recordings and the much-anticipated ‘Prutataaa’, which is R3hab’s first collaboration with Afrojack.

“SOUTH AFRICA SEE YOU AT THE SIDE SHOW!!!” – R3HAB

Top-tier international DJ right here on our doorstep. Check out the event page and stay up to date with what will be going down with R3HAB stealing the show at Cape Town’s venue Sideshow

Tracklist:

01. Hardwell ft Matthew Koma – Dare You (Extended Mix)

02. Afrojack ft Spree Wilson – The Spark (Blasterjaxx Remix) 

03. Carnage – Mara (Original Mix)

04. Deorro - Dechorro (Original Mix)

05. Inpetto & Patric La Funk – Bobcat (Original Mix) 

06. Ivan Gough, Walden & Jebu ft Penelope Austin – Home (Original Mix)

07. R3hab & NERVO ft Ummet Ozcan – Revolution (Original Mix)

08. Syn Cole - Miami 82 (Avicii Edit)

09. DubVision - Rifler (Original Mix)

10. Tony Junior ft Mr Wilson – Escapade (Original Mix)

11. Tommy Trash - Fuckwind (Original Mix)

12. Nari & Milani - Patriots (Original Mix)

13. Merk & Kermont - Zunami (Original Mix)

14. Sandro Silva – Payback (Original Mix)

Listen to Pulse Radio 

 

 

Watch: Ben Klock’s Hilarious Response to “Being Boiled”

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Remember when German techno DJ/producer Ben Klock was “boiled?” The joksters at Being Boiled replaced the audio from his set at Boiler Room with random blips, beeps, and animal noises, that were perfectly synched with his actions and the crowd’s reactions. Now, Ben Klock is the one having all the fun. This weekend, he dropped the same track that was used in the viral video, the Grandstand Theme from a popular British sports show, in his set in Edinburgh. The audience loved it.

It seems that Ben Klock isn’t the only DJ to have incorporated the tune into one of his sets. Aphex Twin also played the track at his ATP show in 2007 in this video.

Listen to Ben Klock on Pulse Radio

Exclusive: Stream 'Self Portrait' From Joseph Capriati's New Album

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We’ve got an exclusive, full-length preview of the title track from Joseph Capriati’s newest album, due out on Monday, as well as the info on his upcoming album world tour. Listen here.

Apart from 'Fratello / Awake,' which were released as a double A-side single in June, this is the first peak at Capriati’s second artist album. The Drumcode favourite and Music On resident will also be heading on a world tour for ‘Self Portrait,’ hitting cities like New York (where he’s playing back-to-back with Danny Tenaglia), Miami, Florence and Barcelona. Full tour details below.

22/11/2013 Apokalypsa, Brno CZECH REPUBLIC

23/11/2013 Marco Polo Club, Nova Gorica SLOVENIA

27/11/2013 Pacha, New York UNITED STATES (B2B with Danny Tenaglia)

29/11/2013 Stereo, Montreal CANADA

30/11/2013 Space, Miami UNITED STATES

06/12/2013 District 4, Zurich SWITZERLAND

07/12/2013 Tenax, Florence ITALY

12/12/2013 City Hall, Barcelona SPAIN

14/12/2013 Florida 135, Fraga SPAIN

19/12/2013 Spybar, Chicago, UNITED STATES

21/12/2013 Ryze, Toronto, Canada

26/12/2013 mUmU, Liverpool UNITED KINGDOM

Listen to Joseph Capriati on Pulse Radio.

 


Flying Circus Is Taking Over The World in December: First Stop, New York

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As the Flying Circus enters its seventh year running, the global dance music event is flying higher than ever and has announced their busiest December yet, dotting the globe from NYC to Miami’s Art Basel to London and finally, to the magnetic and magical place that is Tulum, Mexico. Over the next three days we’re going to spotlight their monster December series.

What started as an opportunity to throw a party and bring friends together evolved into a festive phenomenon. Anthony Middleton and Luca Saporito, aka Audiofly, first envisioned Flying Circus in 2006. Jumping at an opportunity to throw a party and bring their friends from all over the globe to play together, the duo created an event that combines “spectacular, opulent and nature-touched” locations, best friends and great music (of course), creating an event filled with nothing but good vibes. 

Flying Circus has taken on the world, taking partygoers in cities like Russia, Croatia, Detroit, Peru, Budapest, Berlin, Costa Rica and London on a magical musical adventure for an evening. This month, Flying Circus is planning four very special parties, which kick off in New York at Sankeys on December 7 and move to Miami’s Treehouse the next evening. After that, Flying Circus takes London by storm on December 14 and caps off the year in Tulum with an epic New Years Eve event in Tulum, Mexico.



There’s no better city to kick off a world-dominating tour than New York and Sankeys has proved to be the perfect venue for such an event. The brand’s Ibiza venue was host to the Flying Circus party every week this summer and has received rave reviews for its intimate, basement-like atmosphere which keeps it real in a sea of clubs driven by larger-than-life grandeur productions. Audiofly is headlining each event and will be graced by the likes of M.A.N.D.Y., Luca Bacchetti and a special surprise guest in the Big Apple.



Anthony and Luca became Audiofly back in 2002. Anthony was already experimenting with making music and working as a DJ and Luca was working as an in-house music selector at the London department store Selfridges when the pair finally decided to join forces and devote their resources to their shared love of house music. They quickly became regulars in the London scene, releasing mixes, edits and tracks for underground imprints such as Fantastic House and Deleted. Their breakthrough came when Clive Henry requested an EP for the Low Pressings label. The EP, “Release Yourself,” skyrocketed the duo to another level. Since then, Audiofly has played at world-renowned nightclubs such as Fabric, Warung and Amnesia and produced releases for Get Physical, Mood Music, Kickboxer and Renaissance. Most recently, the pair formed their own label, Supernature, which serves as a platform for new talent and a home for the duo’s productions. Luca and Anthony are versatile supermen who juggle throwing massive ragers, DJing all over the world and managing their Supernature imprint with grace and success.

Another dynamic duo, Phillip Jung and Patrick Bodmer are the childhood friends who go by their moniker, M.A.N.D.Y. The Berlin-birthed group delivers a sound that is “an enviable arsenal of electro kissing house while caressing disco and flirting with techno,” as per their bio. They joined forces with Booka Shade and DJ T and founded Get Physical Records. One of the industry’s most recognized imprints, Get Physical was named DJ Mag’s “Label of the Year” in 2005. You may be familiar with their track “Body Language,” which flooded dancefloors and DJ charts for years and was named “Ibiza Track of the Season 2005.” In 2008, the duo did a Fabric Series and their compilation for Renaissance the year after was well-received and described by Resident Advisor as “maturity, smarts, and cohesions…that is are these days.” Catch Patrick and Phillip in their hometown of Berlin and at Flying Circus Tulum after their stint in NYC.



Along with a special surprise guest, Italy’s Luca Bacchetti will also grace the Flying Circus decks in NYC. Hailing from Lucca, Italy, Bacchetti has created productions and remixes for some of the industry’s top labels such as Ovum Recordings, Crosstown Rebels, Wagon Repair, Culprit, Saved, Defected and Supernature. He is currently based in Barcelona, where he runs his own label, ENDLESS. Like all artists on the Flying Circus roster, Bacchetti is hugely talented, has played at Fabric, Circoloco DC10, Cielo, Panorama Bar, Arma 17, La Huaka, D-Edge, Pacha, and delivers a versatile sounds that gets any party going whether it be in a dark basement club or at a sunny beach party.

Listen to Flying Circus on Pulse Radio

Fresh Blood: Bob Campbell

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Bob Campbell is composed of Bob Vasilauskas and Trev Campbell, two DJs and friends who joined forces in San Francisco.  In addition to DJing together, they also work as Black Magic Disko, throwing great parties in clubs and other venues in the Bay Area.  We got a chance to catch up with the guys to discuss how they originally got into electronic music, their experiences throwing parties in the San Francisco Bay Area, the most gratifying moments of their careers, and some of their dream gigs.  Be sure to check out the exclusive mix they made for Pulse below!

For people who don’t already know you, can you tell us a little about yourself? Bob: I am a fourth generation Californian, born in Orange County but raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. I like wearing black shirts, I have an addiction to kidrobot toys, and an affinity for street art.

Trev: Well, for some reason people started calling me the "rave child" a while back, somehow it stuck… Oh, I also work for Smoke N’ Mirrors Records doing a little bit of everything.

How did you first get into electronic music? Bob: My sister got me into electronic music at a pretty young age, playing a lot of new wave and industrial records. I went through a punk phase after that soon finding raves in Oakland that had a very free vibe. That led me to discovering west coast DJs like DJ Dan, Jeno, Doc Martin and Tony.

Trev: I’d say I first got into electronic music back when I was 13 or 14. Nothing crazy, but I did find a CD I had made with a bunch of the big room jams from the late 90’s. Things really got shaking when I started recording multiple shows a weekend throughout San Francisco with a friend a couple years ago, finally learning what real house music was!

What has your experience been like throwing parties in the Bay Area with Black Magic Disko? What events do you have planned that are coming up in the next few months? Bob Campbell: We've had a good time throwing the Black Magic Disko parties both in the clubs and the more low key venues. Andhim had the place going off so hard sweat was dripping and it got into the CDJ, causing the player to go haywire. Guess it was a pretty poppin dance floor…

As far as future parties are concerned, we have a crazy packed month ahead of us. Coming up we are doing a collaboration with Direct to Earth featuring techno legend Marc Houle. Coming in hot after that is the San Francisco debut of Trickski, followed by yet another San Francisco debut of Mind Against from Life & Death. Finishing out the year, we are also bringing DJ Sneak and Hector Moralez to a TBA location. This should be a banging night in December.



What has been the most gratifying moment so far in your career? Bob: Playing on my birthday at the Raindance Festival was pretty amazing.  The sun coming up over the granite peaks of the Sierra Nevada mountains was the perfect backdrop to play some really nice tunes.

Trev: Yeah, that was hella fun, super hot though! That’s definitely up there in my top moments this year, but I’d have to say mine was playing on the Mayan Warrior at the burn this year. Great sound, amazing art, electrifying dance floor!. Makes me still all smiley!


Credit: Amanda Kershaw

Is the stuff you play now what you’ve always played or has your style evolved over time? Bob: It's definitely evolved over time, but I have been playing deep house and tech house for a while now. I used to play a more tribal dubbed out sound with a hypnotic vibe whereas I think I’ve progressed into more of a minimal techy sound over the years. When playing with Trev, as Bob Campbell, I play a sound that's a little more deep and more of dark disco than when I play by myself.

Trev: My style has definitely changed. I used to be super into techno and minimal when I first started playing music a couple years ago. Somewhere down the line I got bit by the house bug, then I’d say sometime towards the end of last year, I got kind of obsessed with that really deep sexy stuff, which I still am all about. Playing as Bob Campbell though allows me to get back to those roots and mix it up a bit.

Where have you been playing recently? Bob Campbell: Monarch, Public Works, Underground locations throughout Oakland and San Francisco.


Credit: eye-c

What are some of your dream gigs? Bob:  Playing at the pyramids or Machu Picchu would probably be the coolest places to play. Opening a Black Magic Diskotheque in San Francisco is my ultimate dream. Playing in your own club is probably the biggest dream i have right now.

Trev: Ahhh yeah, that would be dope Bob! For me, I think it would be on point to play a couple quality festivals that aren’t in the good ole’ USA.



Can you tell us a little about how you decided to approach the exclusive mix you made for Pulse? Bob: I picked tracks from the past year that I felt had both the vibe of Bob Campbell and have a timeless sound.  Some of them are on labels I've cherished for years like Adult Only and 2020Vision. I feel we have the ability to slide between sounds, from deep to housey to techy and back, so I felt we should show that in this mix. This was intended to be for both the dance floor and for the after party when you are chilling with your friends. Fun and bouncy yet deep and spacey.

Trev: Song selection was based on what I thought would best showcase the tracks that we have played out and are playing at the moment. Kept it deep, but not too deep, with some tech here and there, and of course a house jam or two in the mix!


Credit: Amanda Kershaw

What else is on your horizon? Bob: We are going to Tahoe for New Years and it's going to be pretty special playing at this festival called SnowGlobe. We will be staying with good friends Bells & Whistles who are always having a good time and super funny. After that it's back to the drawing board to see how we can keep Black Magic Disko on the map in San Francisco.

Trev: Lets see, Tahoe, then BPM, then San Francisco, then the UK, then summer. Lots of raving and music enjoyment to be had I suppose.

Header image courtesy of Amanda Kershaw

Listen to Bob Campbell on Pulse Radio

Coming To A City Near You: Butane Hash Oil

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There seems to be a new drug epidemic in town. Described by users as “the crack of marijuana,” butane hash oil, a really potent form of the popular drug, has made its way to the East Coast. Local law enforcement officials see BHO as a rising threat because of its strength compared to other forms of marijuana.  It can contain up to 90 percent THC, compared to only 25 percent in most other strains.

The drug is also known as “dabbing,” “honey,” “amber,” “wax,” or “ear wax” is made by combining butane with marijuana to extract hash oil before removing it. Users typically ingest butane hash oil by heating up a piece of metal such as a nail and touching the hash to it. Then they inhale the smoke in a glass device, which, in some cases, resembles a crack pipe.

Sgt Mike Conner of the criminal enforcement division of the Maryland State Police explains the dangers associated with the drug. “A puff of smoke is emitted, and then the user inhales the entire puff of super-concentrated smoke. It is dangerous. People claim you can’t overdose on marijuana. In fact, you can. It’s so strong, they are passing out.”

The process of making BHO is dangerous as it involves using highly flammable butane. There have been several cases where inexperienced dealers have tried to make BHO themselves leading to huge explosions not unlike the ones from meth labs.

VICE sent “The Kid” of their Sunday Weediquette column for an entertaining journey to Colorado’s first annual Cannabis Cup Festival. Enjoy!

Listen to Pulse Radio

The Martinez Brothers Record A Hip-Hop EP; Grab It For Free

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NYC house duo The Martinez Brothers have gone hip-hop? It would appear so, with the siblings recording a five track EP entitled 'WARHOL*BASQUIAT,' which features a bunch of chopped up samples layed over soul and jazz.

"We have some big things coming up next year; we're starting a new label, revealing our art projects, and releasing more hip-hop productions," reads the press release of the free EP.

You can download the 'WARHOL*BASQUIAT' EP here.

Listen to The Martinez Brothers on Pulse Radio

Tiga: "I Have Some Eccentricities"

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If you've been following the output of Turbo Recordings the past couple of years, you will have noticed a move away from the electro house the Montreal imprint built its reputation on towards a rawer, techno sound. The same goes for the label's fearless leader, Tiga Sontag, whose techno-focused set for Boiler Room this year had us in such a tizzy that we heralded it as our best mix of the year so far back in July. Tiga's directional change has culminated in two recent cuts, 'Plush', and his collaboration this year with Matthew Dear; the ubiquitous 'Let's Go Dancing'. In essence they're techno tracks, but have successfully cut through the genre divide to find their way into the record bags of a large cross section of DJs, something Tiga takes great pride in.

On the eve of his Australian tour, we spoke with the affable and eccentric gent that is Tiga, touching on his recent studio work with Matthew Dear, his thoughts on celebrity beefs and how Sven Vath named his son after him.

Pulse: Hey Tiga, what are you up to? Tiga: I’m at home in Montreal just relaxing and doing interviews before I go back on tour tomorrow.

Whilst I’ve been waiting I’ve just been reading about Miley Cyrus being kicked out of a DJ booth by a guy called Chuckie. What are your thoughts on all these celebrity DJ fueds and twitter fights that seem to be happening all the time at the moment? I’m OK with it, it’s entertainment, you know? I think the fact that even the word ‘DJ booth’ has become so mainstream that it’s being talked about in that kind of way is pretty cool. It is strange for me though, seeing that after all these years - all that stuff to me is just comedy. It almost sounds like it’s scripted; a child entertainer walks into a DJ booth and some Dutch DJ kicks her out…it’s almost surreal. [laughs] I don’t know. I like the twitter feuds, I wish I knew more of them. The ones that I’ve casually observed are kind of entertaining.

They are. I wonder if perhaps they’re PR stunts? I don’t think so. Well, maybe. Perhaps they’re subconscious PR stunts in that they start innocently and then they realise the more fuel on the fire, the more people will follow it. I’m a little bit naïve, I’m too idealistic to believe that someone cooks that up in a laboratory. I could be wrong.

You’ve hooked up with Matthew Dear recently on ‘All Night Dancing’ which is getting played by a massive cross section of DJs, as does much of your work. It must be rewarding that your productions don’t really get pigeonholed as such. It is actually, I’m happy you pointed that out. It’s kind of been one of the nicest things about my career in general. It comes both ways though; sometimes it feels like it would be nice to be definitively linked to one very specific and focused sound or scene. But in general I like how it is, which is exactly like you said – you make a record and you’re embraced by the techno guys who play it, the progressive guys, the indie guys. It’s good and I think it’s nice too because that’s kind of who I am, so I feel like it’s accurate; I’m friends with a lot of those different people and I like a lot of those different records. It’s a good feeling. I know a lot of people like to pretend and say they don’t care who plays their records, that it doesn’t matter, but I don’t think that’s really true. As a DJ I know that what you say to someone is one thing, and what PR people or magazines say - that can be manipulated. But DJs actually playing your record out of every other record in a 90 minute set, that to me is real because they’re trusting their performance with your record. In the end that’s kind of the biggest compliment you can get.

For sure. So Matthew Dear is the lead producer on the new album you’re working on. When I think of you and he working together it makes perfect sense in my head. You both love and make pop music, but come at it from different angles. How has is been working with him? It’s been amazing, I’ve been a fan of his for ages. When I bought his ‘Black City’ album, I remember I was stuck in an airport and I listened to the album about three times and I was…jealous. I remember thinking, oh man, this is so very close to what I want to make. But at the same time there were things that…not that I didn’t like, but I saw the framework as something that I could really add to, and that he could add to what I do. Like you said, it made perfect sense, but that doesn’t mean that it’ll really work – that’s a fantasy world, that’s just a hunch. Though the amazing thing is that it really did work, both as friends and as collaborators. We challenge each other and right now – and I don’t want to jinx it – but it’s a very good vibe we’ve got going in the studio, it’s exciting. For me that’s the most important thing about every album or cycle, that you have that excitement and feel like you’re making something new. Or new to yourself at least.

Where is the sound of the album sitting? I know you’ve moved towards more of a techno sound in your DJ sets, as has your Turbo label. Is it somewhere between pop and techno? It’s definitely sitting somewhere between pop and electronic. It’s not very techno. It’s not as techno as the records that I play, or that Matt plays as Audion. I don’t seem to be able to make techno records, I don’t know why. I find them really hard to make. ‘Let’s Go Dancing’ was deliberate – that was me trying to make a techno record with a pop hook. The album is kind of hard to describe; there’s a bit of industrial stuff, a bit of house. There’s definitely a techno influence on there, but it doesn’t come across as a techno record.

tiga dear

People have been making quite a note of yours and Turbo’s move towards a tougher, techno sound, which is understandable I guess, but at the same time it doesn’t feel all that surprising. It still feels like a similar energy to the electro house stuff Turbo is known for. Even if you move around the spectrum, if you’re still using your taste, then there is a continuity. For the past few years at Turbo my brother and I have been doing the A&R together and we have similar tastes, so the odds are that if we both give the thumbs up to a record, then there’s going to be some consistency there, even if it’s a techno record, or a downtempo record, or an electro one. The thing with the more banging electro house stuff, we were some of the first people to play those records and push that sound – the crazy energy and the big build ups. At some stage for me it all went a little cartoonish and to such an extreme musically that I didn’t find it interesting anymore. If I heard a crazy electro house record now that I thought was great, I’d still be interested and sign it, but the records that I began to hear that I found more interesting were techno records. And coming up we don’t have that many techno records lined up actually, it’s other stuff.

When I was doing a little bit of research for this interview I re-watched your mock video interview, ‘Ciao! Means Forever’. Have you ever considered going into acting? I’m a horrible actor, like really abysmal.

I think you pulled it off pretty well in that video! Yeah I pulled that off well because it’s basically me, that’s an exaggeration of who I am. That’s the delusional me, the black version…perhaps who I was at 21 or something. It’s me without any humility or connection to the rest of the world. I actually did a movie about chess with Gonzales and my character is similar to the one in that interview. But as soon as any range was required, like actually acting and showing a range of emotion, I just found it impossible, I was like a robot. I’ve seen real actors in motion and it’s a very different phenomenon. I have a lot of friends who are actors and it’s almost like…they’re like empty vessels and then they have this ability to project and come to life. I’m like the reverse; too full of ideas, thoughts and opinions I guess.

Something interesting I heard about you is that you like to keep your office in a particular fashion and you even have special coloured pens in your desk for signing contracts. [Laughs] I’m laughing because I’m wondering who you heard that from! I do have a lot of different pens. I’m quite particular about a lot of things, I have some eccentricities. I’m very into my desk, I really like my desk…

Is it also true that Sven Vath named his kid after you? Yeah that is true.

How did that come about? Well I’ve come to know Sven over the years, we know each other quite well. He called me up and he told me that he loved the name and he wanted to tell me that he named his son Tiga. Being a techno kid from the 90s it was the ultimate affirmation. I was like, I can retire now because it doesn’t get any cooler than that. When I was at Love Parade in 1993, totally spaced out with Sven DJing, had you told me that was going to happen I never would have believed it. I love Sven, I think he is a real force of nature and I was really happy that that happened. I was also happy that it was Sven too – not naming any names, but it would have been kind of annoying if it was some mid level guy who rang me up and said, hey I’m gonna name my kid Tiga, you know?

Ha so true. Yes, probably best not to name names! You know what I mean though? At least it wasn’t some guy who’s like #99 on the Resident Advisor chart or something.

Tiga 2013 Australian Tour
22.11.13 - Motorik @ The Imperial, Sydney
23.11.13 - Royal Melbourne Hotel, Melbourne
24.11.13 - Strawberry Fields, Victorian Bush

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