Cet article PREMIERE : Manuel Darquart – Gutterball [Childsplay] est apparu en premier sur Bolting Bits.

Finally making his North American debut this week, Australian Mike Katz, who you may know better as Harvey Sutherland, is bringing his live show to Canadian soil. Starting off producing as Mike Katz and Mike Kay, he felt he lacked some consistency in his sound. The Harvey Sutherland alias was born to represent the more club-oriented music he’d been making at the time. Katz started off playing in a few bands but then transitioned into improvised live jams when he hooked up with local Melbourne promoters and label collective “This Thing Records & Tapes”, who also happened to release the first Harvey Sutherland record (on cassette).

In late 2014, Harvey Sutherland’s “Brothers EP” on Andy Hart’s Voyage Recordings made waves and was the beginning of his meteoric rise in popularity, which was only compounded by the following year’s “Bermuda EP” on MCDE Recordings. This of course, led to the inception of Harvey Sutherland & The Bermuda Trio with Graeme Pogson on drums and Tamil Rogeon on strings. The trio went on to enjoy their first European tour last year. The band have also released a couple of records on Katz’s own Clarity Recordings, “Priestess/Bravado” last year and “Expectations” earlier this year.

Excited to find out more about the man himself, the band and his label, we managed to catch up with Harvey Sutherland and ask him a few questions ahead of Sunday’s Nocturne 6 show at Mutek!

INTERVIEW

There are funk, disco, soul and house influences in your work. How would you describe your sound? Any particular influences?

I’m really interested in funk with stripped-back production, records like Sly’s There’s a Riot Goin’ On, Prince, Shuggie Otis, modern stuff like Steve Lacy, bedroom disco, modern soul. Chicago house, Drexciya, ECM, modal jazz. Anything interesting, minimal and soulful.

You’ve had a couple of acclaimed releases over the past several years on labels like Voyage and MCDE but have decided to go your own way with Clarity Recordings. Can you give us a little insight as to your vision for the label?

I want to showcase modern Australian music, and use the label to work with some amazing musicians in Melbourne and around the country. It’s predominantly a platform for my ‘producer’s hat’, so I’ll probably only release a few records that are really important to me. It’s a slow process!

Crédit Photo Alex Zalewska

Who are some names coming out of Australia (or beyond) at the moment that we may not have heard of but need to check out?

Krakatau. Kane Ikin. Tiana Khasi. Zeitgeist Freedom Energy Exchange.

Tell us a little bit about your current live setup. What kind of gear do you use and how has it evolved since you first started? We know the Juno-60 has been an essential piece.

I’ve pretty much kept the same rig for the solo shows – it’s all based around the Juno and Ableton, with some additional keyboards occasionally. I’m interested more in doing things in a ‘dub wise’ style, running tracks over a mixer with some delays and efx to keep the loops interesting. I think that will be the next evolution.

How does your solo setup compare to when you play with your band and does your live set differ greatly from what you do in the studio?

The band show is a very different beast – it’s a wilder dynamic with three people and we try to make it more of a ‘stage show’. Playing solo is more for the club, it’s head-down, dark room but still funky, just a different beat. Studio process is like a strange mixture of both, but it’s definitely more of a solo endeavour.

What’s your process like when writing new music? Would you say you’re the main producer in the group with the vision for the material you’re writing or are you all contributing somewhat equally?

I’ll spend a lot of time with Graeme recording rhythm tracks, we’ll just jam in the studio for ages. Then it’s a slow process of editing down those jams into tunes, overdubbing, re-recording and throwing stuff away. I’m doing most of the initial writing and most of the production, but then Tamil will bring a new melodic idea and the tune will take a different turn.

This is your first time playing in North America, correct? What are you most looking forward to checking out in Montreal and Toronto?

It is! I’m here to eat. Mile End, jerk chicken, bagels, bottomless filter coffee and whatever else this country puts on my plate.

Any forthcoming releases in the pipeline that you’d be willing to share some news about?

I’m doing another 12” with my good friend and collaborator Kane Ikin. Should be out this year! Everything else is under lock and key though ;)

Igor

Cet article MUTEK INTERVIEW: HARVEY SUTHERLAND est apparu en premier sur Bolting Bits.

The music of Dutch duo Fouk is the result of a lasting friendship and a deep commitment to funk music of the past and present. The talents of Junktion and Daniel Leseman harmonize perfectly in the project, exemplified from their first Outplay release to their most recent Gruff EP. We were lucky to exchange a few words with the pair, and are thrilled to showcase a fresh mix from them, exemplifying their infectious style.

INTERVIEW

You guys each have an impressive discography in your solo work so far, and every release under Fouk has been amazing! Kill Frenzy and The Great Unknown were easily top house records last year for me. What led you two to meet and what draws you to working together?

Thanks! Yeah, we’re quite happy with how it’s going so far! We met each other in high school. So we’ve been friends for quite some time. We started making music since we were 15/16 years old. Doesn’t mean our first productions were any good though, hehe! Since we know each other for so long, working together feels natural. We share the same vision that we’d like to express in our music.

How often do you two like to play shows?
As often as possible next to our studio time ;) At the moment we do a lot of DJ shows, but we’re planning on doing live sets in the near future.

The Gruff EP picks up right where last year left off in quality. What else are you getting up to this year?
We just got back the masters for our new EP, all we can say it’s coming in July :) Expect a nice summery vibe! Next to that there are a couple of remixes we’re working on and a track for a very special V.A. with loads of great artists is also coming up.

How do you balance researching music and creating it? Do they go hand in hand in your process?
Yeah, it’s all part of the process, both for production and dj-ing. We get inspired by contemporary artists and music from 70s and 80s. Most of our time we spend in the studio. While we’re making new stuff and looking for inspiration for instance, we come across a lot of music we can play out as well.

What is your studio set up like, and how would a typical jam session go down?
We live in different cities and both have our own home studio. The basic setup is similar. We work with Logic Pro X, the same monitor speakers and a couple of the same plugins. We have different hardware synths, so together we have built up a nice collection (Juno 106, JP8000, Moog Slim Phatty and Sub Phatty, Arp Odyssey, and we recently bought a Prophet 6). Usually we alternate where we work on stuff, one day at Hans’ and the other at Daniel’s studio.

But we do have one special place we go to every few months; Hans’ parents have a summer home at the Dutch coast. Then we haul everything we have over there and make a pop up studio :) The region has the most sun hours of the Netherlands, so often we have a very sunny studio and it inspires us a lot. We can get quite creative over there.

Our typical jam sessions start with a nice groove/beat or sample. One of us will start jamming on the Moog for instance and then the other counters that with something else. It’s a bit like question and answer, going back and forth, bouncing ideas off of each other. Sometimes one of us will press record during a jam without the other knowing it. That especially can capture the best spontaneous moments while jamming; like the lucky mistakes that happen during the process. With playing through midi, Logic has this great “capture recording” feature. It records all midi data while jamming without pressing record. So there’s less danger of losing good ideas.

I think we can all agree that Fouk basslines are a cut above. Do you have any favourite bassists, and where do you find melodic inspiration?
Thanks for that :) Well, we don’t have a specific favourite. But we do listen to a lot of funk/jazz/disco/soul etc. Sometimes we sample bits of bassline and then we play a bassline on top of it or around it.

Or we play our own bass melody. Funny thing is a lot of the times we end up using the first take of our bass jam sessions (next to fixing some minor timing errors).

What is your relationship with sampling, and how would you go about choosing samples, say, for an edit?
We do sample a lot, but it always has been a bit of a grey area. The divide between edit and something more “original” can be a bit vague sometimes. What we mostly aim for in our originals is making sure to have a totally different context or feel in our own production when using samples. Or combining samples in a creative way that will make a totally different sound.

If we make an edit we would try to do much more than just simply adding a beat to 16 bars of a disco track. It feels way too easy for us to do just that.

It’s actually quite difficult to explain the “rules” of sampling, now that we’re talking about it, it so much comes down to feeling and personal preference and perception. For us, it essentially comes down to this: sampling when done right is blending in the samples in such a way with the rest that they make the track/groove feel as a whole new thing. That said, we don’t mean it’s bad that a sample is recognisable from the original.

What have you listened to today? Any favourite artists at the moment?
Blair – Nightlife, a 70s jazz funk disco-ish track. Nice and sleazy, just the way we like it ;) Well, artists we have mentioned multiple times before are Nu Guinea and Harvey Sutherland, but Laurence Guy has been steadily putting out quality productions as well lately. We’ve been lucky to have his track Strings Attached on our fourth Outplay release.

Thanks a lot for your time and the mix! Any comments on the selection?
It’s what we’ve been playing lately and it features a track of Junktion’s new Outplay EP. Should be in the shops when this interview is published :)

TRACKLIST

1. Harry Wolfman – Casillero (Saine Remix)
2. Laszlo Dancehall – Channel
3. Thatmanmonkz – Boogie Down ft. Erik Rico (Laurence Guy Remix)
4. Simba – Susan Sorandom
5. Skylevel – All Night Rumble (Nebraska Edit)
6. Crue – Crue A
7. Times are ruff – Bottles
8. Junktion – What We Are
9. Nebraska – Done My Best
10. D-Ribeiro – Donut Breakin’
11. Dego & The 2000 Black Family – Find A Way
12. O’Flynn – Spyglass

Interview by Oliver. 

Cet article MIXED BY/ FOUK est apparu en premier sur Bolting Bits.

Taylor Freels est un jeune producteur de house habitant près de Los Angeles, à La Mirada, une ville de banlieue relativement proche du centre-ville et de la plage. Son nom de scène, Urulu, n’a pas vraiment d’histoire – il l’a simplement trouvé en gribouillant sur un papier ce qui, musicalement, sonnait le mieux pour lui. Entré dans la musique électronique « par hasard », Urulu a commencé la production en 2011 en sortant un EP sur un label basé à Miami, petFood. En habitué de ce format, d’autres ont suivi, à l’instar de son EP sorti sur Dirt Crew Recordings en collaboration avec Steve Huerta, « 25 Cent Color ».

Le dernier en date vient de sortir sur Voyage Recordings, l’excellent et juvénile label d’Andy Hart, basé en Australie et fondamentalement coloré par l’utilisation de synthé dans la structuration des morceaux house qui en sortent. Un superbe EP d’Harvey Sutherland est notamment sorti sur ce label. Avec « Greetings From Namek », c’est la cinquième référence du label et la première d’Urulu sur Voyage Recordings. D’emblée, cette sortie inspire un sentiment de nostalgie pour tous ceux qui ont lu Dragon Ball Z – Namek est en effet la planète d’où viennent les Dragon Balls, objet sacré qui constitue la trame principale de l’histoire et que les héros cherchent pour invoquer le dragon Shenron, capable d’exaucer le voeu de celui qui saura le faire apparaître.

Tout l’EP développe une house définie par l’utilisation de nappes synthétiques aux relents planétaires – entre le soleil et la lune, au choix. « Orion » est un morceau à la base proéminente, et l’apparition des longues nappes synthétiques contribue à accentuer l’intensité de l’ensemble. « Night Tube », le plus dansant de l’album, est un peu plus conventionnel dans la galaxie house : une rythmique classique basée sur l’autorité droite d’un kick, une vocal bien sentie et, encore, une couche lointaine de nuées ambiantes. Comme son nom l’indique, « Lullaby » berce l’auditeur de ses petites touches de notes claires comme l’écoulement d’une eau de source en montagne. Une track parfaite lorsque les lumières d’un club confidentiel se rallument. Et « 9045XY », dont le titre correspond, pour le profane, aux coordonnées spatiales de Namek, consiste en un affrontement harmonieux de notes ascendantes qui se répondent entre-elles : c’est tout doux et légèrement contemplatif.

Le dernier EP d’Urulu est de bonne facture. On apprécie la référence à Dragon Ball Z qui, dès lors que l’auditeur en est connaisseur, permet d’appréhender l’EP d’une autre manière – celle qu’Urulu nous a évoqué, calmement.

Victor Taranne

Cet article Urulu – Greetings From Namek est apparu en premier sur Bolting Bits.

A tout juste 30 ans, Motor City Drum Ensemble a déjà tout d’une icône. Prônant depuis toujours des sons analogiques, cet amoureux de la 80’s house mêle avec brio une house à la fois retro et futuriste. “Motor City” une référence à sa ville natale, Stuttgart, temple de l’automobile allemande et son amour pour la musique soul, jazz et techno de Detroit. “Drum Ensemble” comme un clin d’oeil à sa collection de boite à rythme et sa technique de base de ses productions. En 2007, il fonde avec le français Pablo Valentino le label Motor City Drum Ensemble Records. Prônant une musique house sincère, raw et toujours très soulful, ces deux fins mélomanes visent la qualité plutôt que la quantité. On se souvient tous de ces “Raw cut”, de “Send A Player” ou plus récemment du dernier Harvey Sutherland “Bermuda”.

Après plus d’un an de procédure judiciaire pour obtenir les licences, MCDE Recordings revient avec un grand classique du label deep house Rainy City Music fondé par Irfan Rainy et Rex Leon en 1995. Arme secrète de Jeremy Underground, Marcellus Pitmann, Mike Huckaby ou de MCDE, ce 12′ a traversé les âges pour finalement être méticuleusement remasterisé 20 ans après grâce à la DAT originale. Distribué exclusivement par Rush Hour et disponible en pré-commande seulement. Out le 06 mars prochain.

Cet article City People, 20 Below / It’s All In the Groove / MCDE est apparu en premier sur Bolting Bits.