I first found Fairmont (Jake Fairley) on Sasha's Metrophonic Guest Mix from November 2008. His track "I Need Medicine" was carefully nested in between Timo Maas' Subtellite and Paul Kalkbrenner's Gebrunn Gebrunn, which brought the mix to a close. We all have certain tracks that call out to us, and Fairmont's track did just that with its dark notes marked by eerie vocals that let me just slip away to a surreal reality. Ever since, Fairmont's work has been on my radar. Hailing from Toronto, Canada, the man has racked up quite some miles in traveling in the last ten years. His truly raw and uncommon sound often accompanied by vocals, allows for the emotional club experience. It is no wonder that he has been picked up by My Favorite Robot and will be playing alongside them this Sunday, July 28th at Montreal's Piknic Electronik. I caught up with him for a chance to find out about the man behind the music, as he tells us about his travels, his studio gear, and who are the "big hearted club misfits."
You grew up with the Toronto indie rock scene, but how was the electronic music scene there before you got connected with Jeremy Caulfield of Dumb-Unit? There was definitely a pretty cool scene in Toronto, but I had zero connection to it until I met Jer. I was really in a bubble while I was first getting in to electronic music. Jer introduced me to a lot people and got me my first good gigs and put out my first 12 inch. He saw me playing live in a pub to about five people and signed me on the spot. I was very shy and nervous back then and was really lucky to have somebody pushing me. For him, I think it was cool to discover an artist that was completely unknown and unassisted with anything else. I think he was also excited by the fact that I approached things differently than people who came up in the scene.
It says in your profile that you have developed a following of "big hearted club misfits." Underground clubs tend to be inviting for all types of people. Could you describe to us what characterizes a club misfit and who are they? Ha! I didn't write that, I think that was Gemma from Border Community that came up with that. I don't think that's in my current bio, but I like it and I should probably start using it again. To me this is referring to some kind of “outsider dance music scene.” Producers, DJs, clubs and their fans who all love club music and clubbing, but not the status-quo stuff that one normally associates with the words “underground dance music.” This is the world I try to live and and the kind of people I choose to be around. Something that is slightly scary to me at the moment is a trend in the industry towards strictly larger events from the 500 person dance club. I prefer small and medium-sized clubs and the kind of community and musical freedom that is possible in them.
My favorite track of yours, "I Need Medicine," I find myself listening to in melancholic moments. The emotion is raw and I often find myself wondering, is there an event in your life that influences such creations?“I Need Medicine” is about drinking cough syrup. There's a ingredient in certain cough syrups that is psychedelic if you drink enough of it. Me and my high school buddies used to drink that stuff all the time. It was cheap, easy to get, and a lot of fun.
Tell us a little about your technical set up in the studio. What are you currently experimenting with? I compose on a computer like most people, but I make all my sounds with hardware. Up until now I have chosen portable stuff, because I move around a lot. This means mostly new gear like the Dave Smith stuff and Moog Minitaur. However, now that I am settling in Barcelona, I plan to start getting some fun and bulky vintage gear. My favourite bit of kit is my Swejman S1 modular and my new TT303.
Do you sometimes wish that you could go back to not being in public's eye, just making music without any expectation of playing it live? I'm right where I want to be. I travel the world and make a good living while I'm at it. I'm recognized for my work, but I would't say that I'm really in the public's eye. I'm not exactly famous, and i wouldn't want to be.
You have chosen a nomadic mindset, living no longer than a season in any given city. How many cities have you lived in so far? Where are you living now, and what city do you have your sights on next? I've lived in over 10 cities in the last few years. Right now I am in Barcelona and I am going to stay for a while, no more bouncing around. I've never been as happy with a place as I am now. I will still visit Toronto when I can, but there's nowhere in Europe where I would rather be. So for once, I am going to put my roots down a bit.
Tell us, how is your label Beachcoma going? Are there any artists you'd like to highlight that we should keep an eye out for? Beachcoma is going really well. Metope, Sid Le Rock and I decided from the beginning that our only goal was to have fun, not to be too serious about it. That being said we are lucky enough to have some amazing artists that want to bless us with their magic. The young and talented Max Farlane has really become like family to us and keeps giving us very inspired tracks. We've also just signed some truly stunning songs from a Dutch producer named Sigward. So although we approach the whole thing in a very chilled way, it's still turned into something that I am very proud of.
You're playing Piknic Electronik with My Favorite Robot and Jordan Dare on the 28th, have you played Piknic before? If yes, what are your favorite memories from the Park? What are you looking forward to, playing this time? I've played Piknic Montreal twice before and I had the honour of playing the very first Piknic in Barcelona last year. All of the those gigs were great, it's really a special event. What I'm looking forward to most is playing beside My Favorite Robot. Those guys have become like brothers to me and it's been such a positive experience moving over to the label. It's a family of very funny and genuine people at MFRR and it's been a breath of fresh air for me.
