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Joe Europe is a rising talent who's fast becoming known for his deep, left field approach to the modern dance floor. Releases on FALK and a new EP on Ibizan underground stable Vitalik show the mark of a producer with a wealth of knowledge and talent. But Joe Europe has been on the London circuit for quite some time, having run a few of the capital's best kept underground parties including Ears Have Eyes and Disco Biscuit. For Pulse, Joe has weaved together a mix that demonstrates the same eclectic aesthetic that binds together his "Mona" EP - lush, rolling atmospheres, dubbed out, acid washed bass lines and emotional clarity that speaks well ahead of his years. And much like the sound he creates, it all comes naturally to this exponent of deep, peripheral house music. Download it here, then read on for a more info on this up and coming talent.
Mr Europe, welcome to the Pulse Radio fold. What is your musical influence and background, and how did you first get into DJing? Thanks for having me! My musical tastes are pretty broad, but I've been massively into electronic music of all types from a very young age. My brother is 4 years older than me and when I was around 11 or 12 he started going out to clubs and I started stealing his tapes and that was that. From listening to his tapes, I went on to discover the whole word of electronic music – from drum & bass to early Chicago house, Detroit techno and all the rest. I got into DJing at free parties in the countryside around my hometown of Shrewsbury, and this again was a massive influence on me musically. A lot of the music there could be pretty questionable, but a lot was amazing. Some of my friends were heavily into the Detroit sound and they opened my eyes to a lot. Also, at around this time, I started going to clubs like Atomic Jam in Birmingham and Bugged Out in Liverpool, and they were a massive influence. When you get to watch DJ Sneak in one room and then Dave Clarke in his prime in the other, it definitely has an effect on you.
When – or how – did you catch the production bug? What inspired you to make your own music? I was messing around with production from when I was quite young actually. My mate Pete got me into it when I was probably around 14. We were massively into early drum & bass and rave at the time, and we were just messing around with programs like Rebirth and a sequencer called Making Waves. Pete also had a Juno 6 for a while, and that completely blew our minds. I really got serious about it all a bit later on though, after dropping out of my first degree. I realised that I gave a lot more of a shit about writing house music than I did about philosophy! It kind of just went from there. That was quite some years ago now and I've just been plugging away ever since.
What are the ingredients used in this mix? Is it a typical snapshot of the set that you would play out? The mix was recorded in one go and wasn't overly planned. I just grabbed a chunk of records that I'm really digging at the moment and it all seemed to come together. Also there are a couple of promos of things coming up that I really wanted to include too. I'd say yes, the mix is quite typical of what I play, but obviously what you play in a club depends on the time, the crowd, the vibe...
You're producing leftfield, deep house as evident on your new Mona EP on Vitalik. How do you view your music and why do you like the deep sound? I've always been drawn towards a deep and hypnotic sound and this comes out in my productions I think. I've always had a pretty broad range of influences old and new and I can see directly where a lot of the things come from in my musical past even if they're not immediately recognisable. Like I'll hear an influence from an old Metalheadz track, or something from an old Chicago record. Not something overt but just something embedded in my make up aesthetically.
Obviously “deep house” has been taken out of context over the last few years with many people claiming to produce it. Why do you think this sound has become so popular with the mainstream? Yeah, the whole "deep house" thing has been really mainstream of late, but a lot of the time I don't see much of a relationship between that and what's always been happening on the underground. The mainstream always needs a new flavour of the month. That said, there's always been an interchange of ideas between the underground and the mainstream. The people who have been producing quality deep house music with integrity have done so for years, and will keep on doing so! I think there are so many vibrant exciting ideas around in the underground scene we don't have to worry too much.
You've been running parties in London, namely Ears Have Eyes and Disco Biscuit. What does each of these parties bring to the city's clubbing landscape, and what makes them different to other parties in the capital?Me and my friends Miles and Chris ran Ears Have Eyes in this tiny, under the radar venue in Whitechapel for years. We just had the best times, but we've kind of had a rest from doing the parties and are now focusing on it as a label. I think our ethos with EHE – and also with Disco Biscuiy, which we run with our other friends Wil and Joe – is the emphasis on fun and friendly vibes. We don't like to take ourselves too seriously (although we are very serious about our music) and I think this is reflected in the vibe of the crowd. I think this kind of sets us apart from a lot of other nights, the emphasis on fun. It’s just some mates playing records and having a good time. We're playing the basement at Shelter this Friday, it’s on Kingsland Road in London, so if anyone wants to find out what our parties are like, come on down! It should be a right old knees up.
What more can we look forward to in the next few months? Do you have more releases lined up? Yes I've got quite a lot in the pipeline. First up I've got a 12-inch coming up on the new offshoot from Audio Parrallax called Constant State Records. I'm really pleased with it and it's a bit of a departure from what you're used to from me, so I'm extra excited about that! Other than that I've got numerous things on the go, so keep your eyes peeled. I also have my first gig in Berlin coming up at Freundenreich on the 28th March, which I’m also really excited about.
Do you think the house music scene is in a healthy place in 2014? Do you think the resurgence in dance music and the amount of people writing music and putting on parties is a good or bad thing? I think it only takes a brief look at the music coming through at the moment to see that the scene is in a fantastic place. There's some really amazing music being released across a broad range of styles. I think if there are more people getting involved, then that’s great. If you work hard at what you do, and always strive for quality, then you can only add value to the scene. If you make dull, uninspiring music, then it doesn't matter if you're new to the scene or have been in the game for years.
Finally, your name pertains to you being a man of the world. Aside from London, where is your favourite place in Europe to go and why? Ha! Well my name was given to me back in the days of me playing at fee parties. My mates thought I looked like a German tourist and so they just put Joe Europe on the flyers whether I liked it or not. I guess it just stuck.
That said I do love Europe, but it's hard to pick a favourite place. I love Amsterdam – it's such a buzzing yet chilled city. Brussels has some of the most amazing food I've eaten. And then Ghent just down the road has a fantastic music scene. I have great memories of dancing in the old ballroom called Vooruit where they held 10 Days Off to the likes of Juan Atkins and making lots of Flemish friends. I also played in Dresden last year and loved it there, too – Such a great vibe to the city. So too many to pick as you can see!