Page 24 - Zone Magazine Issue 006

feature interview
twisted
There are few artists that can recreate themselves and carry on for decades in the dance music industry. People like Carl Cox, and John Digweed for example have stood the test of time. Of course there the less public facing artists that have also achieved this accolade, for example Twisted (Kurt) from Belgium who has been involved in music now for 30 years. Moving from house in the early days to what he describes as his deep tech & techno sound, this guy certainly has a wealth of varied experience. So Alan Lumley caught up with Kurt to find out what makes him tick.
More than 20 years and still going strong, please elaborate for the readers on how it all began?
Well, my father was one of the first DJ's in our area in the 70ties & early 80ties so I basically grew up in a house where every weekend my father played his newly bought “White Label” vinyl’s to test them out before he played them in the club where he was resident for 22 years. At that time the electronic music started to emerge and I was hooked from the very start.
When I turned 18 and bought my first car I went out in famous clubs like La Rocca, Globe, Cherrymoon, Balmoral, Boccaccio, Club X, Ancien Belgique, Barocci, It, Parkzicht, RoXY, Ministry of Sound and visited events like Mayday, Love Parade, Thunderdome. I already played at some smaller illegal raves but the need to party was bigger so I stopped and enjoyed the crazy nightlife for some years.
Moving on from the days of the house evolution into now being a well- known techno producer, what made you happily settle into the sound you do now?
Throughout these 30 years the music
has evolved off course but I’ve always had
a better connection with the deeper,
hypnotic & driving style of electronic
music. I had the opportunity to witness
House and Techno from their “birth” till
now so that knowledge has also helped me
started to organize little events in some local clubs but later on my friends asked me why I didn't produce my own tunes knowing my musical past and party life. So they basically created the need to create my own music. I also visited CJ Boland in his studio a few times and had the opportunity to see him work on his tracks.
A few years later I was asked by a friend to run a label with him we named T&T Records. The 2 T's stand for our artist names, by the way. The label releases all sorts of electronic music and is part of the ASG group founded by DJ Max La Menace, Alex Stephenson and Howard Levine. Max owned a cool club called Zazou in Lier and Alex is the 2nd half from the guys who made that famous track, Jones & Stephenson - The First Rebirth on Bonzai Records in the early 90ties. After a few years I wanted to own a 'only Techno' label and so BUNK3R R3CORDS was created under the same group and 3 years later SUB Records in Berlin was created in order to spread the releases a bit.
Also being able to work with artists like Robert Armani, Orlando Voorn and others, who belong to the pioneers of Techno music, has been an advantage!! All this has led to who and where I am today. Also going out to more known Techno clubs like Tresor in Berlin, Fuse in Brussels, Spartacus in Cabries, Decadance in Gent, Watergate in Berlin and events like Nature One, Awakenings, Extrema Outdoor keeps me updated on what moves the crowd.
On the production level what is your chosen tools for music production?
In the beginning I played around with a bunch of DAW's, like most producers do, but Ableton just fitted me best with his lay out and possibilities. Now I work with Ableton Live 9 Suite and some VST plugins. Having a 165 GB sample library collection also comes in handy...I also try to help out other young artists work with Ableton as much as I can. I also worked with a group on Facebook called Open Music Synergy where new talent post their productions in order to get feedback, tips and tricks to improve their skills. A lot of unknown talent doesn't get the opportunity to get their track signed and that group tries to point them out in the right direction and a lot of label owners are also in that group so those guys pick up new talent right away.
Every 2 years there's a big music convention in Gent called Play and Produce with workshops, seminars, performances and a feedback section where I also was
asked to be part of. It's incredible how much talent there is that doesn't get noticed. So with a little help from the 'professionals' they still have a chance to show off their skills and get tips regarding improving their productions in order to get spotted by labels later on.
What changes have you seen from the start of your production career to how thing are done now?
Every producer grows throughout his career regarding skills, experience and even music style but these days it's a bit easier to make a track because software and hardware have become more complete and functional to be used by a starting producer. 30 years ago hardware synths and drum computers like the TR909, TB303, SH-101, Moog, Minimoog Voyager were not at anyone’s disposal. Now by using production software combined with midi synthesizers, VST plugins and samples it's more affordable to create your own music. This doesn't mean you get signed from the very start. You still have to grow and learn so many things on your path to glory, hahaha... Things like equalizers, compressors, limiters, using audio effects & sidechaining are a few of the things you have to understand if you want to be a professional producer.
Every artist will surely remember how hard it was to get your first release contract but I think that if you believe in your capabilities, stay true to yourself, be grateful for everything you've accomplished on your way to become a professional artist and most of all stay humble, patient and thankful, the reward will come for sure at some point in your career.
Off course the digital music revolution has put everything in another perspective. Everybody can sell his music now online using sites like Bandcamp, Tunecore and others. So the effort in becoming an artist has been made easier for a lot of people. In the old days we would send in tapes or cd's to record labels in order to get signed. Even now you can start up a label online and start selling music. But every producer still wants to be a part of that 'elite' group of artists that get a contract on a major label. Not that it would ensure fame and glory but it will, more likely, reach more people to get your productions sold and spread around the club scene. The more known DJ’s play your tracks, the more chance there is that people buy your releases.
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create the style I produce now. At first I
" Every producer grows throughout his career regarding skills,
experience and even music style, but these days it's a bit easier to
make a track because software and hardware have become more
complete and functional. "
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24 ZONE-MAGAZINE.IE