Page 25 - Zone Magazine Issue 015

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ESSENTIALDANCEMUSIC 25
Who are your major musical influences, old and new?
days with whether an artist becomes popular. Do you feel that gaining fans due to your talent has died out and it’s more about the social following?
with Juno so will now be releasing a lot of vinyl starting with my album & the 3 singles from it. I also have a handful of stand alone singles & EPs ready from other artists on the label & have a 12-track compilation of original material planned for the autumn too. We also have artist albums in the pipeline from Jay Tripwire, Lo & other label artists too. We’ll also be releasing some digital only EPs & a few vinyl only EPs & hopefully, along with the right marketing will keep the label on the upward ascension in an organic manner. I’m trying to be careful to get the marketing right as over hyping could be dangerous for the label.
My early influences were Prince Buster & other 60s Ska & Rocksteady. Then the whole disco scene was a huge influence, especially the electronic side like Giorgio Moroder & Klein & MBO. Arthur Baker who produced so much amazing early 8os electro & also Kraftwerk were huge for me too. The Burrell brothers from the early New York house scene, DJ Pierre, Chip-E, Adonis & others from Chicago & of course the early Detroit techno producers Juan Atkins, Kevin Saunderson, Derrick May, Blake Baxter & most of all Carl Craig were big influences. New artists are not so much of a musical influence on me as I draw most of my inspiration now from what’s going on around me in my life & the experiences I go through. My favourite producers right now who do have some kind of influence are Marc Houle, who’s on remix duties for my 2nd single Ripple Effect & Superfreq artists Jonra & e:machinery really rock my world.
Not at all. Cream will always rise to the top, but it’s not easy for that talent to get on the larger specialist labels who can then provide the platform needed to really break out in the cutting edge music scene. With the right amount of hard work & effort, which does include social networking the real talent should hopefully come through. I do have to beg to differ with you about artist popularity being influenced by social media. I’d say that social media popularity comes from & is influenced by hype & mass marketing.
Where is your Incidents tour taking you over the coming months and are there any events that you are particularly looking forward to?
Ripple effect will be out in late June on vinyl & features remixes from Marc Houle, Chloé & 2 remixes Noël Jackson. The whole EP is dope & I’m very excited about it.
I also have a 3rd single lined up called Shape Your Dreams with remixes from David Scuba, Banco De Gaia, Bushwacka & Noël Jackson, which is also going to make waves.
I’ve already done a handful of South American shows in February. I then did the first leg of my EU tour the first 3 weeks of March, which included Superfreq’s 15th Anniversary, followed by a 5-week North American tour, which took me through to the end of April. I’m now in the 2nd leg of my EU tour & I’m really looking forward to playing at the Zoo Project in Ibiza on 23rd May & playing all night B2B with Tim Sheridan at Ministry on the 27th May. After that I’m looking forward to playing with the Return to Rio crew in Sydney & also at New Guernica in Melbourne in June. After that China will be fun. I’m also very much looking forward to our RIP event on London on the 8th July.
Pilar Zeta created the artwork for your album, is she an artist that has always interested you?
When you’re not touring, what do you love to do in your spare time?
You were recently seeking a new Label Manager for Superfreq, tell us a bit about your plans for the future of the label?
It would depend on what the occasion for the dinner was really. If was just for the hell of it, it would also depend on if I’m the one doing the cooking. The meal would be clean & healthy so would be mostly vegan, vegetarian & pescatarian, 100% organic & absolutely delicious. There would also be fine wines too as I do love a good wine.
I’m always touring as such. I’ve played pretty much every weekend throughout the world for the last 30 years. I always feel that I need to be playing somewhere as sitting at home doing nothing is a bit of a waste. People could be enjoying my sound instead. I do love going to art events, fashion events & also cinema but my favourite thing to do when home in LA & not working is to go to Jumbo’s Clown Room, which is an adult burlesque strip joint in Hollywood.
I’m a workaholic & have historically had a very difficult time letting go & allowing others to take the reigns. I’ve always felt that I can do a better job myself, which is dumb & so not the case. I have recently taken on a new label manager for Superfreq (at last) who’s amazing. For the first time since I started Superfreq 15 years ago I feel comfortable & trusting of someone & it’s probably because Peter Wohelski, who’s the new manager is one of my best friends & has more experience in this industry than you can shake a stick at. My current plan for the label is to continue to grow the brand & the platform to be a stronger platform for my Superfreq artists & myself. We’ve got a new vinyl P&D deal
Connect:
It’s been apparent that Social Media following has a strong influence these
Words By Paul Sawyer
There are many great artists who make tons of great music, have a decent social media presence, are great live or as DJs, yet still don’t become huge or in my opinion are not playing at as many great events as they should be. Once artists start paying large sums of money for marketing campaigns, they will then see a huge boost in their social media platforms, which only then will make the said artists really popular. It’s all about the pounds, shilling & pence sadly in our industry these days, so it’s the more well off artists who can afford to keep pumping money into marketing who will be the most popular. If it were only about the music, it would be a completely different ball game right now.
Who can we expect to see on remix duties for your second single ‘Ripple Effect’ and when does it hit the stores?
Which track has been your ‘go to’ track and most played over the last few months?
I’ve loved Pilar’s work for many years. We’ve been very good friends for a long time so I’ve seen her grow from starting out to doing the amazing job she’s doing today. That’s why I asked her to do the artwork for my album & was chuffed when she said yes. She’s done an amazing job, which really captures the essence of the album.
Broken Wing by Marc Houle is my favourite track of the year so far, which appeared on the Save Fabric compilation. I so love this track & still can’t stop playing it. The vocals & lyrics are dope, the music is proper trippy & exciting techno with a very fine & clean production. So good.
You’re preparing dinner for your closest friends, what would we expect on the menu?
www.facebook.com/mrcsuperfreq
Pics by Anthony Espino studio