August 18th, 2009
I think it may be safe to say that Erol Alkan is a ‘superstar DJ’. But instead of playing the same back catalogue of post-rave dance hits with an ever increasingly eleborate laser shows to convince a new generation of impressionable drugged out youth that he is in fact some sort of ‘Ecstacy God’, he releases an album of obscure psych rock re-edits. This interview mostly focuses on his beyond the Wizard’s Sleeve project which is worth checking out. I didn’t include the part of the interview where he gets pissed off with me for asking about his 7 year old Kylie Minogue and New Order mash up.
Winston: What was the idea behind the Beyond the Wizard’s Sleeve project?
Erol Alkan: The idea began when me and Richard decided to come together and do a dj set where we played more weird avant garde music which led to us producing music together. We did about a dozen remixes which leads us to this album. It was very natural, jus the enthusiasm for the music that we both had. Just coming together and just putting our creative minds into force and seeing what happens.
W: Did you set out to make a distinct type of music?
Read the rest of this entry »
Winston |
1 Comment
August 17th, 2009
The Juan Maclean are pretty spectacular. I really can’t put into words how much I love One Day. Everytime I hear it on the radio or in a club it puts a smile on my face. The interview sort of makes me want to hang around and have a beer or something with him, he just seems like he would be a really funny guy.
Winston Reed: Hey, I missed the interview with you a couple of days ago because I forgot the difference between AM and PM. Has this ever happened to you?
John Maclean: Yes, and it’s quite frightening. Sometimes when I go away on long dj tours, I lose track of time completely, and I lose my mind. I end up staying up until like 6am every night, sleeping a couple of hours, going to the airport, getting to a hotel taking a nap, going to a club, etc. So a couple of months ago I was in Warsaw, I was dj’ing at 4am. I took a nap at midnight and woke up at 2am. I totally thought it was 2pm. I couldn’t understand why it was dark outside. It was very troubling. Finally I called the front desk, “what time is it?” “Why it’s 2 o’clock Mr. MacLean.” “AM or PM,” I asked? “Please don’t call the front desk for jokes, Mr. MacLean,” was the response, and they hung up.
WR: Why are you so awesome, is it superior genes or good nurturing?
Read the rest of this entry »
Winston |
3 Comments
August 16th, 2009
I just love hearing the story of the rise of Acid House, which Ashley Beedle played a role in. He was really interesting to talk about his take on the global club scene, I especially think his comments about the press’ reaction to ‘new disco’ particularly poignant.
He is also one of the founding members of X-Press 2. If you have any passing interest in electronic music I recommend you check them out.
Winston Reed: How did you initially become interested in DJing, I know you were involved with acid house but I guess I’m wondering about what got your interested before that?
Ashley Beedle: I think it was my 15th birthday my dad bought me my first pair of decks. Before acid house came along I was involved with the reggae sound systems in London, which was quite vibrant in the late 70s and early 80s. From there I kinda progressed into playing soul and hip hop and then the house scene came along.
WR: How did you get interested in house music?
AB: Certain records started to filter through in the mid 80s, the sound was so different you know. A lot of it was coming out on the Trax label. In London especially we had the Watson Brothers , Noel and Morris, who had a club in London called Delirium, which was one of the first to sort of feature house music . They were very influential on DJ’s like myself. Plus there were the first warehouse parties. They were kind of part of the rare groove scene, but they also played a bit of reggae or rockabilly. The house records started to filter through so they also played early house music. It (house music) was coming at you from different directions.
Read the rest of this entry »
Winston |
1 Comment
