“Some people might think my music comes off as overly dramatic – maybe it doesn’t have the cold restraint a lot of people want out of dance music”
Electronic dance music can be quite a nerdy boys’ world sometimes, really focused on beats and equipment. It’s refreshing to find a producer so willing to talk about the crucial emotional dynamic of the music.
“I totally agree – I guess that’s just who I am, that’s my personality, but I do think the music needs emotional depth to be interesting. Some people might think my music comes off as overly dramatic – maybe it doesn’t have the cold restraint a lot of people want out of dance music – but there’s so much power in the balance between the two. Like in “Mind Reader” – it does have a cold, dark side, but it has warm side too; a girl side and a boy side. I want to try to bring all of that into the music.”
Are you guided by a similar aesthetic when you DJ? How do you go about constructing a set?
“I want there to be moments of anticipation, when I am just giving the crowd something deep and cold, where it’s building towards something – and then I want there to be this big, female epiphany moment, you know? I want there to be a fucking booty club moment. I want to take them on that journey.”
What’s the deal with the NYC club nights you’ve run in the past? Tell me more about your aim in starting them, and whether you have any plans to bring them back.
“Vortex was my first real night that I started in 2008 – I wanted to create a night that was really clubby, with flashing lights and bass and a dark space, with visuals and animations by myself and this artist Black Moth. I’m planning on relaunching it at some point with Dre Skull, though maybe with a different name. ddarkk, on the other hand, was a night I could feel a lot more casual about, where I could play a lot more R&B and old-school grime and garage. Both have been victim of NYC venue issues, to an extent.”
What’s the state of club culture in NYC at the moment? It doesn’t sound like it’s easy.
“There’s no progressive DJ culture, really, so it’s a bit harder to put on an innovative night with DJs no one’s necessarily heard of. People would rather go to their corner bar and listen to someone play off their iPod – that doesn’t bother them. At the other end of the spectrum, the really big clubs will be taken up by big name mainstream house DJs. So there’s a big gap – what’s needed is something that’s new and interesting, but still a real club. That middle space needs to be filled, and I either hope to fill it – or move to LA, because there’s also stuff going on there that I’m really interested in, artists like Nguzunguzu and Total Freedom.”
On the flipside, what have been the positives to honing your craft in NYC?
“New Yorkers are the best dancers of any city I’ve been in. Well, I think people in America know how to dance better in general, but I’ve DJed to some of the most amazing dancers in NYC – and as a DJ, that’s pretty inspiring. It’s so satisfying to see someone go OFF and really be dancing full on. New Yorkers are more stylish than most too – not in the sense of designer labels or whatever, but in the sense that they’ve really thought about how to put their look together.”
So the crowd is being creative as well as the DJ…
“That’s right.”
“New Yorkers are the best dancers of any city I’ve been in”
You seem to be part of a very particular global community of producers with something indefinable in common: you’ve talked about your affinity with, eg, Nguzunguzu, you released “Mind Reader” on A-Trak’s Fool’s Gold label, you’ll be releasing material on Bok Bok and L-Vis 1990′s London-based Night Slugs label. Are these connections something you’ve thought about?
“Bok Bok and I were talking about this just now – we haven’t put our fingers on it yet, but there’s this sound aesthetic that’s unspoken but seems to be shared by a group of people; and it’s not closed off enough that you can make a good name for it. Some of us did a Ustream two nights ago – it was Ikonika, Jam City, Girl Unit, Bok Bok, Manara and myself – and though we were all playing different records from different genres, there was still something indescribable about the sound we were doing. I guess it’s open-minded global club bass music with a hint of oddness, and a sense of restraint while still being pretty wild? Oh God, that’s like the worst description ever.”
What I find interesting in terms of how fresh it sounds is that it’s so casually global – a lot of it is fuelled by how easy it is to exchange ideas and information with like-minded artists thousands of miles away on different continents.
“Yeah, part of it is definitely the internet. I mean, Bok Bok and I met through the internet, and now we’re constantly influencing each other, working together, collaborating on things, hearing each other’s mixes – these things wouldn’t have happened without the internet. And that’s what makes it so hard to pin down – I’m always influenced by friends in LA, who are influenced by stuff they heard in Mexico, and it’s a crazy cycle. There’s something great about and something a little wrong about it too; it is less localised, and some of my favourite music is extremely localised, like Chicago juke – but is there really such a thing as local music now? When it travels, it can do amazing things. Like, there’s a Belgian juke guy called Kill Frenzy who’s added this whole intense Euro element to juke that takes it to a whole different level.”
Moving away from music, what else in life inspires you?
“Science fiction and fantasy movies – my new tracks have even more of a mystical, spacious vibe. I guess “Mind Reader” and “You” have this intense, emotional side, whereas the new stuff almost sounds more spiritual, shamanistic club music. I’m also into the outdoors – it’s not very direct, but somehow the times that I’m able to be in nature and out of civilisation are extremely inspiring to me. Not as literal as using forest sounds or anything, but those experiences out in nature really inform me when I’m in the closed space of production – I want to recreate those open spaces in club music.”
Shamanistic club music sounds extraordinarily tantalising. What are your plans for the rest of 2010?
“Just continue DJing and producing, really, as boring as that sounds. There might possibly be a video for “Mind Reader”, so that single’s lifespan isn’t done yet; I’m also looking forward to getting the chance to showcase some new sounds on my next EP for Night Slugs.”
Alex Macpherson
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