The Re-Groove: Youth
there has recently been an increase in the flow of amazing re-edits of perennial classics and forgotten gems along the lines of those done by pioneers Larry Levan, Shep Pettibone and Francois K. With our new regular Re-Groove series we try and get to know the crate diggers and splicers behind these tracks.
Our first interview comes from Brisbane resident Youth. you can catch him DJing with the Swiss at Rhino Room or at the Touch Party at The Ed Castle Hotel on the 23rd in Adelaide. He can also be found out and about in Brisbane and the Gold Coast.
Winston: Where do you come from?
Youth: A French woman and an Australian man hah. No I was born in Sydney and grew up on the outskirts of Byron Bay in Northern NSW.
Winston: How did you first get into electronic music?
Youth: I first really got into electronic music through hip-hop. Buying DJ Shadows Endtroducing pretty much blew my 14 year old mind and encouraged me to buy a stack load of vinyl (most of it being op shop junk) but that kick started my passion for creating music.
Winston: What is about a song that compels you to edit it?
Youth: There can be a few defining points to choose a song for an edit. I personally like to take something and create something new out of it that I can fit into my dj sets; generally they’re tracks I already feel are pretty perfect but could do with a little spicing up.
Being able to ‘break’ apart the original enough to create something new without it sounding like hot garbage is also a pretty defining point in the production side of things.
Winston: What sort of gear do you use to produce?
Youth: I began making songs around 2002 by sampling records onto my computer in Sonic Foundry Acid and then sequencing with one of the early versions of Fruity Loops. In 8 years I’ve upgraded my home studio quite a bit, added new software and hardware. But I still love the simplicity of arranging in what is now FLStudio, although Acid has now been superseded with Ableton. Warping is such an amazing tool.
Winston: What’s your favourite edit you have done?
Youth: Personally my favorite edit would have to either be my Stevie Nicks re-edit (which is kind of technically a remix I guess because I only used the vocals) or my take on Arthur Russell’s How We Walk on the Moon, which happened to coincide with an album featuring a number of re-takes of his tracks but not that one.
Winston: What song do you think should never be re-edited?
Youth: Hmm I think anything is free game as long as it’s done tastefully. A lot of people make unnecessary edits though or make edits chock full of digital artifacts (one of the downfalls of warping).
I guess in this day and age you can tell if something’s done well if it’s released. Otherwise you’re only wasting a small section of bandwidth and a couple of minutes of time before sending it to the recycling bin.
Winston: How did you end up getting together with Fragrant Fowl?
Youth: I’ve been a fan of Pocketknife and Cousin Cole for a few years and have traded music on a few message boards with them. I met up with Cole when he last came out to Australia a year or two back and gave him some tracks. One of which he found to be perfect for a FF release (which is still pending).
Winston: What’s in store for you in 2010?
Youth: Hopefully if all bodes well the FF release will be out sometime mid 2010. Catcall is hitting the studio with her band soon and a few of her songs are based off my production. Other than that I’m still working hard on some demo tracks of new wave’esque disco with a few collaborators.
I’m also planning some US shows when I visit midyear.
Arthur Russell – How We Walk On The Moon (Youth Return to Base Edit)
Stevie Nicks – Smile At You (Youth’s Going Home Dub)
check out his website for more quality edits.
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