A Detroit favourite plays his favourite house records.

Mike Huckaby is one of electronic music’s teachers. Here’s a man that recently told us that he’d prefer to stay in his home city of Detroit tutoring kids on music production at the city’s Youthville centre than playing festivals in Europe. A deep house producer who spent years honing his synthesis and programming skills only to publish his knowledge in the form of a sample CD. (“I just have a sense of compassion to help others not to be stuck regarding the music making process like I was in the past,” he told LWE last year.)

Our Machine Love feature with him last year was full of anecdotes concerning this struggle to succeed in music making, yet it always ran parallel with his desire to share all he’d unearthed. If this is all beginning to sound a little too feel-good then we should also emphasise that Huckaby is pretty badass DJ and producer in his own right. He’s been releasing grade-a deep house since 1995 and despite his statement to the contrary regularly finds himself touring throughout Europe among other worldwide destinations like the upcoming Decibel festival in Washington state.

As for Huckaby’s mix for us? “These are the records that I want to hear for the rest of my life.”

What have you been up to recently?

I’m quite busy these days. I’ve just finished Tresor’s 20th Anniversary mix CD; remixes for Vladislav Delay and Pole; a limited release for Sushitech; Sun Ra Edits Vol 2; a sample CD for Red Bull Music Academy in Australia; a lecture and workshop there; the Decibel Festival in Seattle; as well as a European tour that starts in October. In addition to that I have several workshops in Europe and Russia too. So yeah, I’m quite busy these days.

How and where was the mix recorded?

At home in Detroit with vinyl and turntables.

Can you tell us about the idea behind the mix?

These are the records that I want to hear for the rest of my life. This is also my last podcast for 2011. So the best has been saved for the last, so to speak. I found an old reel tape when I was on the Electrifying Mojo’s show, so I crafted a nice little intro, and mixed from there. That was one thing my reel-to-reel came in handy for.

It’s impossible to capture a city in a film. What did we miss that you think is important about Detroit in Real Scenes?

I think coverage of Ron Murphy’s contribution to Detroit should have been discussed, as well as Archer’s vinyl pressing plant in Detroit. Those things should have been included. J. Dilla’s influence and popularity in Detroit could also have been discussed.

Has there been much of an upsurge in interest in Youthville since its premiere?

Absolutely. I am overwhelmed by the amount of feedback I have received about the documentary. People from all over the world have begun to contact me and make contributions towards my Ableton and Reaktor classes at Youthville. People have donated computers to students in need, and as well as financial donations to help students in need of purchasing software for the classes.

But the greatest thing that has been achieved after the documentary’s premiere has been landing a sound design opportunity for the two students featured in the video. Being able to do sound design for Reaktor at 11 and 14 years old is mindblowing!

When the concept of the Detroit / Berlin connection is being discussed, Tresor and Hardwax is often the source of the conversation. But the next Detroit / Berlin connection beyond the millennium is a technological one that exists between Native Instruments, Ableton and the work that I’m doing at Youthville. Those companies have lent a tremendous amount of support.

What are you up to next?

I’m trying to get My Life with the Wave Vol. 2 done, and I’m soon on my way to Russia.

Deadbeat is, in the broadest sense, an electronic dub artist, but his musical palette goes far wider, fusing his productions with deep, tech-laden ragga and crackly, sparse ambience. After producing for over 15 years, Monteith has indeed mastered his craft.

An ambient rework of a Pantha du Prince track opens up the mix, which melts into crisp, minimal dub from Sven Weisemann and works its way into heavier form, through Matias Aguayo’s much-used tech-house stomper ‘Dance Machine’, ex-Headhunter Addison Groove’s manic ‘Make Um Bounce’ and Dutch progressive-dub prodigy 2562, with a cut from his latest warped disco album.

The mix finishes with some typically refined but heavy dub atmospherics, via ‘Fourth Quarter (Cala’s House)’, one of Monteith’s own tracks taken from his new album, ‘Drawn and Quartered’, which is out now on BLKRTZ.

This week I’m very proud to have an exclusive mix from one of techno’s greatest artists : Anthony Shakir. His releases on his own label Frictional are an essential component of any self-discerning techno DJ’s box and form an important backbone to the history of the genre. From “Soundblaster” on Gigolo to his latest on FIT, Shake’s unique and often unusual take on techno keeps the listener guessing. I personally find it somewhat like a particular code or algebraic problem – once you “get it”, his music makes perfect sense. In an age when techno seems all too easy to produce or imitate, he is a perfect example of the wisdom of isolation. Whilst some of his contemporaries have had greater commercial success, Shake’s unique take on dance music remains fresh and startingly innovative. It is also life-affirming to see him back in the studio. There’s no tracklisting for this mix but the first track is from the aforementioned release on FIT.

Toby Frith

Tom Ford is at the forefront of the post-dubstep breed of UK bass music. Combining influences from DnB, Jungle, Dubstep, House and Techno, Peverelist’s productions are characterized by their innovative, challenging percussive layers and funky bass grooves. Peverelist’s seminal Punch Drunk label has helped define the current underground dubstep scene, fiercely distancing themselves from the Rusko-focused mainstream.

Interview

How are you? How is Bristol and Rooted Records?

I’m very good. Been spending some time in the studio for the first time in a while.

What is your production process? How do you like to make your music?
Computer music is an art for the individual, oftentimes it is tricky to incorporate a laptop into group projects. When you make music with friends what do you like to do?

I usually doodle around with ideas. A track can take on many different forms before I am at something I am happy with – it could sound completely different from where I started at. Sometimes I’ll get a track finished quickly, sometimes I’ll make a start and leave it for a few months before I come back with renewed enthusiasm or a fresh perspective.

Collaborating with other artists can be challenging, you have to find a way or method that works for each collaborator, sometimes working together, sometimes working apart is best.

Punch Drunk is your gateway between Bristol and the world. How is that project going? What is in the future for Punch Drunk?

We have a busy schedule this Autumn that I am really excited by. A dancefloor bomb by a producer called Superisk that has been tearing up the London underground scene, a collaborative 12” between myself and Hyetal which has been going down well and also a very special limited edition release by Ekoplekz coming up in November to mark the 20th 12” on the label. I have also curated a definitive collection of Bristol dubstep tracks from the past five years for a 2CD and digital compliation album on Punch Drunk called Worth the Weight which will be in shops in November too.

As for the future, Punch Drunk just kind of happens by itself. It finds it’s own direction, I just facilitate the music hitting the stores. I am starting an online store punchdrunkmusic.com before the end of the year stocking the back catalogue and choice vinyl cuts from other labels, plus a couple more projects in the pipeline.

Have you discovered any exciting new talent recently?

I wouldn’t say I have discovered them, or that they are new, but Ekoplekz, Hyetal, Kowton & Andy Mac are all newish names to watch from Bristol.

How about outside of dubstep and Bristol, what are some record labels that you are following right now?

I usually listen to old music generally. Dub, dancehall, house, garage, grime and techno. I’ve really been enjoying the Dug Out reissue series this year. New stuff, FXHE, Skudge, Conforce, Kyle Hall, T++, A Made Up Sound, too much to mention, I lose track.

In your interview with Resident Advisor you mention a connection between your music and the human experience and interpretation of time. Can you elaborate on that idea?

That sounds a bit pompous when it’s written down. Really, I like to get lost in music, for it to be immersive, psychedelic and life affirming.

Yeah! I totally understand this. Music making and listening is a transformative experience. What is it about this experience that is so magical for you? Is it exploration? Is it escapism? When you are djing and forming the immersive environment, what are trying to create?

It is escapism and it’s also tapping into something innate within the human psyche. The most challenging element of djing for me is persuading people to dance to music that isn’t the hard rave music that they are maybe used to or expect.

How does sound system culture and electronic music, in particular, affect people’s perception?

Sounds sheer volume and physical sonic presence, means that you are confronted by the music. I think it’s a common problem with dubsterp artists to play at a club where there isn’t good sound provision because there music wont translate. It’s like asking a soccer team to play with no boots.

With electronic sounds, you have a much wider palette to explore than with a guitar, which has been done to death. Electronic sounds can be much more alien and otherworldy too.

How did you first come in contact with electronic music and sound system culture. For some people there is a clear memory of the “holy shit” moment: mind-blown. Was it like that for you? What were into before that realization?

I cant really remember any specific ‘moment’. The underground Uk scene was always very visible from when I was young & I have followed it through the years. Moving to Bristol I went to Lakota in the late nineties and St Paul’s Carnival – I guess it all sinks in.

How did you come to explore this concept? What made you think about temporality and it’s relationship to music?

It’s not anything new, the dance all night vibe is as older than dance music itself. It’s about locking into some that’s innate, tribal, in the conciousness.

Bass music is growing in popularity. Top 40 hits in the US have started incorporating some dubstep tropes and there is a growing, and perhaps misunderstood, enthusiasm for a bastardized sub-genre I like to call “Womp-Womp”. From my perspective this music is all about big drops and peaks. How do you feel about the appropriation of the ideas of sound system and dubstep by “mainstream” media? What does it mean for dubstep?

Mainstream media has always reappropriated the underground in all forms of music. No one owns culture, I don’t have a problem with it. I just do what I want to do. It means that some people who come and see me play get very confused with what I play and what I do. I am always getting requests like when are you going to play some dubstep? When are you going to play something with some bass in? Why are you playing this stoner music we came here to party? Etc etc but that’ll die down, those people will go elsewhere and I’ll still be there.

The “we came here to party” mentality is something that I have always battled with in electronic dance music. While I definitely think that a dance floor and a sound system is one of the best ways to share the experience, it creates misunderstandings like you mentioned above. What is your ideal? When the hype dies down, what do you want to happen? What do you envision for the future?

I usually like the smaller parties, the more unusual venues and circumstances. They make for the best dances. I don’t know what the future holds but I’m just busy doing my thing.

A lot of new DJs and performers choose a laptop and mp3s to perform. And while you have presented yourself as an in the box, all computer producer, you have also said that you don’t listen to mp3′s and instead you are a vinyl listener. How do you feel about the increasing use of laptops in live electronic music?

I can’t use a laptop, I would definitely spill my drink on it.

I have to be careful what I say on this issue because people are very passionate about it on both sides. Its really just down to personal preference. I find watching someone djing on ableton is boring and sounds flat. I often find that people who dj with serato aren’t as stringent with their file quality as they should be and they will play what ever they get sent rather than take time to seek out the best music. Of course there are exceptions.

I always think that a dj playing records is 100% more ‘live’ and much more exciting than most electronic music live sets.

Interview: Neil Cline

“I’m just vibing, man,” he told us over e-mail. “I’m just going off of a lot of my experiences that I’ve accumulated from DJing, clubbing, the Music Institute in Detroit, the Shelter in NYC, touring, and selling records. So this mix is another set of classics from the vaults of Mike Huckaby…”

Yes, Huckaby has real pedigree. He worked for many years behind the counter at the Record Time store in Roseville, releasing his first 12″ on colleague Rick Wade’s Harmonie Park imprint in 1995, the aptly named Deep Transportation Vol.1. Its four tracks were rooted in the Chicago house tradition, but their shading and sense of space owed a great deal to Motor City techno and its P-funk ancestry, its percussive swing a great deal to jazz – it’s no surprise that Huckaby today counts not just Larry Heard, George Clinton, Stevie Wonder among his heroes, but also Sun Ra. “Larry Heard is the sole creator of deep house, and Sun Ra possesses the entire realm of all possibilities within jazz,” he asserts. ”Jazz is the umbrella under which deep house resides.”

Huckaby released a second volume of Deep Transportation on Harmonie Park in 1996. Both records have since become part of the deep house canon, something which has come as no surprise to Huckaby, who was determined from the outset to make music that was future-proof.

“We made sure that our first releases behind our names would last, and stand the test of time.”

“We tested out our early productions in the record store religiously,” he recalls. ”We would test our tracks out on the system, while people were shopping, just to see if we could get someone to look up and ask us what was playing. That’s one of the reasons why those EPs are considered classics, and are very rare to this day. We made sure that our first releases behind our names would last, and stand the test of time.”

Another reason that Huckaby’s productions sound eternally fresh is that he’s not in the business of pastiche. Though he’s quick to express his debt to Heard, Ra et al, he doesn’t live in the past. Indeed, when it comes to music-making technology, Huckaby is almost aggressively forward-looking, always on the look-out for interesting new equipment and keen to master it. He’s generous with his knowledge too: he’s taught students at the Youthville centre in Detroit for the best part of 14 years, coaching them in Ableton Live, Reaktor and other music production technologies.

Since those early Harmonie Park 12″s, Huckaby hasn’t exactly flooded the market with releases, working instead on honing his skills, and remixing the likes of Pole, Vladislav Delay and Norm Talley. His process-driven way of working reached a conceptual apogee on 2007′s My Life With The Wave: an EP recorded using solely the legendary Waldorf Wave keyboard. “I challenged myself to see if i could do it. Now I feel like a boxer who has trained with ankle weights and removed them on fight night.” Huckaby being Huckaby, he also released a limited edition Waldorf sample CD for other producers to work from.

“I feel like a boxer who has trained with ankle weights and removed them on fight night.”

Having recently contributed a track (‘Mathematics From The Jazz Republic’) to a split EP release with Jose Rico on Downbeat, Huckaby is about to embark on a European tour. At Berlin’s Farbfernseher on October 14 he’ll be playing a Sun Ra classics set as well as special reel-to-reel edits set; at the Unsound festival in Krakow on October 22 he tops an incredible bill at Klub Fabryka that also numbers Shackleton, Kyle Hall, Actress and Raime. There are further shows planned for Holland, Croatia and Russia. and the final stop of the tour is Plex’s 4th Birthday Party at London’s Corsica Studios.

Huckaby’s FACT mix is, of course, masterful – rooted in classic house but wild, even a little unhinged at times, with a rare energy and sense of funk that works in tandem with, rather than counter to, its immersive depth. He’s asked us to delay posting a tracklist for one week, to test your knowledge and get you track-spotting. Once a record store guy, always a record store guy, eh?

Interview

Can you tell us a little about the mix you’ve recorded for FACT?

“Im just vibing man. I’m just going off of a lot of my experiences that I’ve accumulated from DJing, clubbing, the Music Institute in Detroit, the Shelter in NYC, touring, and selling records. So this mix is another set of classics from the vaults of Mike Huckaby.”

“To begin with, Rick Wade actually worked in another department within the shop – the lame department.”

What have been your most important formative musical experiences? What artists or releases or moments really made you sit up and think, “this is something I want to do, or at least try to match”?

“Well, that’s an easy one. A lot of primary influences came from Detroit. Weather it was George Clinton, Parliament, Stevie Wonder, or Detroit Electronic Music, the primarily influences were always from home. Immediate influences outside of Detroit came from Larry Heard, and later on Sun Ra. Larry Heard is the sole creator of deep house, and Sun Ra possesses the entire realm of all possibilities within jazz. Jazz is the umbrella under which deep house resides.”

“Taking music theory and piano lessons for 10 years, studying chord progressions, listening to Sun Ra, and studying synthesis heavily has equipped me with many possibilities to explore. Larry Heard’s ‘Slam Dance’ on Alleviated Records is the best example of something I tried to match or achieve. That EP demonstrated early on for me the range of production skills a single producer had to be equipped with. It brilliantly incorporates house and techno, on a single EP.”

Your first couple of solo releases were on Harmonie Park. How did you get to know Rick Wade, how did you come to release music on the label?

“We both worked at a record store in Detroit. He actually worked in another department within the shop – the lame department. We were into many similar things, musically. So I rescued him and hired him in the department I ran. We immediately formed a friendship. But what most people don’t know is that Harmonie Park was originally formed between Rick Wade and Dan Bell. I was immediately selected as a person that the label would release music from.

“We tested out our early productions in the record store religiously. We would test our tracks out on the system, while people were shoping, just to see if we could get someone to look up and ask us what was playing. That’s one of the reasons why those EPs are considered classics, and are very rare to this day. We made sure that our first releases behind our names would last, and stand the test of time.”

“Deep house is just a water drop in the ocean compared to its primarily influence, which is jazz.”

How would you describe the development of your sound over the years? Speaking in the abstract, do you feel you’re trying to push towards something that’s ahead of you, or rather trying to refine and perfect something that’s already in your grasp?

“A combination of both. You’re always trying to look ahead while trying to maintain the level of production standards of the times. Things are different these days with the advent of computer production, and digital software. In terms of hardware, you only had to worry about the warmth and clarity of the audio signal. In terms of software and digital production, you have an additional concern, and that’s the workflow which can be achieved through the software. I mention this in my workshops I do around the world quite heavily.”

For the benefit of those who are unfamiliar, can you tell us about the My Life With The Wave project?

“My Life With The Wave was a EP that I recorded on my label, S Y N T H, which solely uses the Waldorf Wave Keyboard for all musical parts. Every track on the entire EP solely uses the Wave for musical parts. I challenged myself to see if I could do it. Now I feel like a boxer who has trained with ankle weights and removed them on fight night. Furthermore, a sample CD was included with 200 limited copies of its release.”

“I was obsessed with Jean Philippe Rameau, a French composer who wrote the Treatise on Harmony. I hired a mathematician, and even went to Czechoslovakia where I consulted someone to create a device in Reaktor which could further develop his ideas…”

You mentioned jazz when we first spoke. Can you tell me a bit about your relationship to jazz? Do you still follow contemporary stuff or is your interest rooted in the classic era? Who are your heroes in the field?

“My heroes in jazz are Sun Ra, Lonnie Liston Smith, Doug Carn, Herbie Hancock, McCoy Tyner, Chick Corea, and Stevie Wonder. Again, as I’ve already said, jazz is the umbrella that most, if not all deep house is derived from. It’s really strange too, seeing that deep house is just a water drop in the ocean compared to its primarily influence, which is jazz.

“I’ve been trying to combine Sun Ra, jazz, and Reaktor for quite some time. I was actually obsessed with Jean Philippe Rameau, a French composer who wrote the Treatise on Harmony. He translated music theory into algebraic terms. I hired a mathematician, and even went to Czechoslovakia where I consulted someone to create a device in Reaktor which could further develop his ideas. I’m still convinced by those ideas.”

“I got tired of all the bullshit presets most synthesizers shipped with. So I had to do something about that. Your next goal in life can always be identified by your dissatisfaction with something.”

What have you found the consistent pleasures and pains of making music over the years to be?

“Searching for new sounds, and creating them. That’s actually been a pain and pleasure. This is the reason I went so heavily into synthesis. I got tired of all the bullshit presets most synthesizers shipped with. So I had to do something about that. Your next goal in life can always be identified by your dissatisfaction with something.”

Plus I had to break up a lot of groupie shit in the D. A lot of guys like MAW, Blaze, Kerri Chandler, and Louie Vega. But at the end of the day, can you play like Blaze? Can you create chord progressions like Kerri, or Louie Vega? If not then you’re just a groupie, or a Masters at Work cheerleader. People need to learn the production skills that make their favorite producers who they are. The definition of a groupie is praising or being entertained by another artist while he is making money doing what you want to do, while you’re talking shit, and not working as hard as he is.

“The definition of a groupie is praising or being entertained by another artist while he is making money doing what you want to do, while you’re talking shit, and not working as hard as he is.”

You actively teach music production, right? How and when did you first begin doing so, and how would you say this experience feeds back into your own work (if at all)?

“I started teaching at Youthville in 1996. Nearly in the beginning. It just feels good to be able to contribute to a kid with talent, and enabling him to find a way out, while being able to see the world from the point of view of his blossoming talent. Native Instruments and Ableton really have made a contribution to Detroit by lending their support in many ways. They enabled me to teach classes there, and the effects from this will continue for quite some time. It makes me accountable for a workflow that I have to be able to describe. Both it terms of my own work and for other people.”

“The more you know, the less gear or software you need.”

Are you always hungry for new technology and additions to your studio set-up? Or are you content with your present lot?

“Absolutely. But I will admit that the more you know, the less gear or software you need. I’m always saying that I’ll never buy another piece of gear or keyboard again, but I’m just a sucker for technology when it comes to that.”

Can you tell us about any projects or releases that you’re working on at the moment?

Another sample CD, Deep Transportation releases, My Life With the Wave Vol. 2, and a few other remixes, and releases on both labels. I’ve been getting a lot of requests from some professional companies to do sound design, and thats what I wanted to get into (Loop Masters, Twisted Tools, etc). There are over 20 EPs that have used my sample CD on records, so that lets me know that people are listening across the spectrum.”

Deadbeat is Scott Monteith, Ontario native and adopted Montrealer who has since relocated to Berlin to pursue a career as one of the globe’s in-demand producers. He has been releasing his explorations into electronic dub since his debut twelve-inch Cesium Beam (Hautec) in 2000. Whether crafting dub-laden electronica, upfront techno, dubstep flavoured compositions, or – most recently – his distinct brand of hazy dub-techno, Deadbeat continually adjusts and expands his sound palate, reflecting his urge to push the boundaries. In preparation for his upcoming performance as part of MUTEK’s programming at the Festival Internacional Cervantino (FIC) in Mexico, we take you back to one of his earlier performances at MUTEK.

The Punch Drunk boss digs into his box of dubplates for this week’s RA podcast.

Tom Ford is arguably the central figure in Bristol’s electronic music community, spending his day job managing Rooted Records—the last remaining small shop in the city that sells new stock—and running the Punch Drunk label, which is resolute in its function as a platform for Bristol talent. Ranging from the fluorescent dubstep of Gemmy and Guido through to the heavily dub and jungle-infused tracks from RSD, the imprint hosts a wide variety of different styles, but what really makes it stand out is its consistent level of quality over the past four years.

Ford’s own music—under the Peverelist moniker—is a major part of the Punch Drunk sound, reconfiguring soundsystem culture’s past into futuristic technoid rollers that sound like nobody else around. Even though it was released late in the year, his debut album Jarvik Mindstate managed to reach #19 in our albums of 2009 poll with its twisted subversion of dub, jungle and techno sounds.

Being a record shop employee and a self-confessed soundsystem culture vulture, his passion for vinyl extends to his own DJing, and he continues to cut a large amount of dubplates for his live sets. Hence, it’s no surprise to hear that this week’s RA podcast is an all-vinyl set from Ford, which is packed full of fresh dubs and plenty of his own material. We shot Tom an e-mail to talk about the mix, his current production habits, and who he’s been in the studio with.

What have you been working on recently?

Punch Drunk just had the Guido album hit the streets around a month ago. That was followed by my new 12-inch Better Ways of Living / Fighting Without Fighting which came out last week. I have been working at Rooted as normal, juggling that with Punch Drunk-related stuff. I haven’t had much time in the studio, but have managed to complete a couple of remixes recently, one for Bristol Roots crew Dubkasm, one for October’s Caravan label. I’ve been planning ahead with the label releases for the rest of the year and have some great 12-inches lined up, the next one is a tune called “Find Your Way” by a producer called Superisk, which has been causing waves in London over the last couple of months.

How and where was the mix recorded?

Just in my bedroom on my 1210s. A few acetates and a few records. No special FX, no Ableton, no CDJs, just raw DJing as it should be.

Can you tell us a little about the mix?

There’s the A side from the new Peverelist 12-inch buried in there alongside some brand new unheard Bristol dubs and a few familiar faces. It’s a snapshot of the Pev DJ bag at the moment I guess, a real mixture.

We hear that you’re doing some collaborations at the moment. Can you tell us a little about them?

Collaborating can be fun, a new creative angle and a good social. I recently linked Appleblim to remix our friend Bass Clef’s track “Promises” from his May the Bridges I Burn Light My Way album. I’ve also been working with Hyetal on a couple of beats which came out great. We’re both really pleased with them.

Where are your favourite places to play outside of the UK?

It’s an honour to travel abroad to play and I’ve never had a bad experience. It’s always great to see how other scenes operate and how music works in the different contexts. I always love Berlin and have many friends there. I’ve played there twice this year so far, once at Mark Ernestus’s Wax Treatment dance and once at the Sub:Stance party at Berghain. Japan is wicked as well, I spent a bit of time out there at the end of ’08.

Do you feel the need to expand your production horizons at all, or are you still comfortable with your Fruity Loops set-up?

It’s not what you’ve got, it’s how you use it. I’d love to increase my studio and expand, but I don’t have the budget. Spent it all on dubplates.

What are you up to next?

I’m having a weekend off! Heading off to the Free Rotation festival and I can’t wait. Otherwise I’m looking forward to getting back in to the studio, and moving forward with the label and music in general.

http://www.littlewhiteearbuds.com/tracks/2009/LWEPodcast22PortablevsBodycode.mp3

Alan Abrahams maintains that traditional African music and house music are much the same thing. In his music as Portable and Bodycode, Abrahams acts a living link between the indigenous sounds of his youth in South Africa and the first Chicago house records whose futuristic aesthetic broadened his horizons. Since leaving South Africa for London, Lisbon and now Berlin, Abrahams launched the Süd Electronic label with Lerato and released on ~scape, Spectral Sound, Karat and Perlon (among others). Tomorrow sees the release of his second album as Bodycode, the spectacular Immune on Spectral Sound. Full of fuzzy synth chords, needling percussion and Abrahams’ emotion-filled vocals, the album finds his sui generis sound in its most realized state.

www.myspace.com/bodycodemusic

Source : Little White Earbuds

01. Oleg Poliakov, “Rainy Dayz” (Portable remix) [Circus Company]
02. Bodycode, “Meaning and Memory” [Spectral Sound]
03. Portable ft. Lerato, “Body to Body” (live remix) [Yore Records]
04. Portable, “Release” [Perlon]
05. Bodycode, “Subspace Radio” [Spectral Sound]
06. Portable, “The Many” [Perlon]
07. Bodycode, “I’ll Hold Your Hand” [Spectral Sound]
08. Bodycode, “Nanotechnolody” (live remix) [Spectral Sound]
09. Bodycode ft. Lerato, “What Did You Say” [Spectral Sound]

At what age did you start listening to Chicago house? What drew you in about the music? Did it relate at all to what you were already listening to at the time??

Alan Abrahams: I must have been around 16 or 17 when I first started listening to Chicago house music. I guess what drew me to it was the fact that it was new music. This was the time when some of the first drum machines and new synths were being made, and you had a completely new, futuristic sounds being experimented with. Some of the the really early Chicago house tracks were completely revolutionary. Like Liz Torres’s “What You Make Me Feel” or Master C & J’s “Face It.” Some made only with a 909, [which was a] brand new sound back then, you must understand; this is after the latter years of disco and the biggest change I felt was the addition of a harder, more bottom-ended bass drum, sparse vocals and amazing pads! There was no real relation to what I was listening to at the time. In fact, before house there was only pop and african music for me as a pre-teen.

How long were you making music before releasing your first record in 2001? Did your years of experience mean you already knew what you wanted to make when you were able, or was it a lot of experimenting?

I was making music for a little while before, more experimenting with different incarnations. In fact I was part of a duo called The Mighty Masses, my first foray into singing. We had a big record deal, recorded the album but it was never released. The label felt it wasn’t “black enough” for the country. Funny as I was black and the execs were not. I then left this and started experimenting with more dance related music. A CD was released called “Dance for Freedom” in 1994 under my one time pseudonym, Plexes, on Mass Records in South Africa. This was to coincide with the first South African democratic elections and the release of Nelson Mandela. It was a rare remix album of traditional African freedom songs, one of which later became the national anthem, remixed into a house context. During this time I also had my first foray into deep house music for a record shop/label in Cape Town called DJ Syndicate. I was told it was never released but discovered, after I left Cape Town for London, that in fact it was released without my knowing. In fact, Lerato, who now appears on “What Did You Say” is featured on one of the tracks. So after my move to London a few years passed and it was 2001. “Patterns and Signals,” my first international release was on Sutekh’s context imprint. After that I sort of found my way into the international musicstream.

Your records often find interesting ways to combine African music with house. I was curious where you think the two sounds naturally meet? Do you ever get tired of producers trying to replicate African sounds and, rather often, doing a mediocre job of it?

It’s funny, somehow I feel that house music and traditional African music are really one and the same. Traditional music is made with the intention to get to your soul via rhythm, and the earliest and truest house music is intended for the exact same purpose. I use traditional African sounds and instruments and convert them to bring them into the digital domain. I never just use the sound as it is, that is not the ethos of my sound. My goal is to re-interpret these ancient sounds for the here and now, not just to sample and re-use them in a cheap way, which all these cheap producers do. They are just lazy, it’s easier and easier to make music but not so easy to compose something truly from the heart. I often here these guys talking about how they’ve got this hot track, only to find out that it took them a couple of hours — and of course it sounds that way. Like everything in life, for a piece of music to be timeless, it needs to take time to compose.

It seems since you started using vocals in your projects you haven’t gone back. What significance do your vocals hold in your music? Do you use them when you want to be more explicit about thoughts/emotions? Who are a few of your favorite house music vocalists?

As I mentioned before my first foray into the music world was as a singer. I left that for many years and really just stumbled onto it again recently. I was trying to figure out different ways to move my sound forward and the natural progression was to use vocals, specifically mine. But not vocals just for the sake of vocals, but just when needed. The general idea was to make the tracks more personal,and how more personal can you get than by adding your own voice. I guess my favourite house vocalists are Liz Torres, Robert Owens, and Aaron Carl.

You’re more of a live PA guy rather than a DJ. What draws you to that over DJing? Who are a few of your favorite producers who do live PAs?

I’ve started playing live just before Ableton 1 arrived, back then with a desktop of all things, haha! Then along came Ableton and opened up a whole new world for the live electronic music composer. I love playing live. You can change your tracks and really feel your music making a difference with the audience. Many times the live sets come up with completely unique versions of my tracks that wouldn’t happen anywhere else but right there on the dance floor. Although I like DJing sometime, I feel I have more to offer as a live PA. And recently I’ve been using a homemade theremin and adding my voice too, so who knows what happens next! As of yet I’ve not seen any outstanding live PA’s, so I don’t have a favourite.

What are the difference between the Bodycode and Portable projects? Your Portable remix of Oleg Poliakov’s “Rainy Dayz” and your Portable singles for Perlon and Musik Krause sound to me a lot like your new Bodycode album. Are the two projects growing closer together production-wise?

I would say the two projects are growing closer for sure, they were never meant to be too far apart. From the start Bodycode was a dance version of the Portable material. Why the remixes and Perlon and Musik Krause releases sounds more dancey is because they were vinyl based releases for the dance floor.

The Portable sound has shifted quite a bit since it first started, though it feels a bit more “stable” these days. Is it more important for you to present a consistent sound or to be flexible?

The very name Portable is meant to mean always moving,being able to move with the flow of existence. I guess it’s sounding more stable now cause these times are a little more stable for me. It’s only important me to present a sound I feel is right and moving with the times, whether it’s stable or not.

When making the Bodycode album, were you aiming more for the dance floor or home listening? How important is it to you to appeal to both settings/audiences?

To be honest, if I’m not listening to classical music or traditional music then I’m listening to dance music. But the Bodycode sound is a dance floor project. So it’s a dance orientated, but because it’s not just thrown together slapdash like so many of today’s productions you can listen to it when you’re cycling or when you’re running or cleaning or cooking or just hanging out with friends, because I feel it appeals to all these aspects.

I know you’ve moved around quite a bit since leaving South Africa. Are you a restless person? How has living in multiple places influenced your music or musical outlook?

I grew up in Cape Town, South Africa and then moved to London to further my music aspirations. While in London I started my Süd Electronic label with longtime friend, Lerato. While there my music as Portable was signed to Background Records, then later with ~Scape and I was able to carve out a reasonable living only composing and playing my music live. After ten years in the concrete jungle that is London, I wanted a change. To be able to live closer to nature but still be within Europe. On a gig to Lisbon I fell in love with the city and this opened up the door for this kind of lifestyle, a little city and a lot of nature, beach and beautiful weather. So I moved to Lisbon. It is topographically similar to my home town, a city on the ocean, and I think this influenced my music in a big way. Almost as if I had come full circle in a way. It reminded me of why I started to compose music in the first place, which mainly was to include natural elements in electronic music. After three years of this style of life I needed a change to some place with yet more urban appeal. This was what prompted my move to Berlin, Germany. I’ve only been here for a few months so I really can’t tell you what kind of influence it’s having as yet. I doubt it will have time to affect me too much as I’m continuing my life in Lisbon come September.

Tell me a little bit about how the “Emerald Life” EP came about. The Aside is rather raunchy and rocking while the B side is so beautifully melancholy. What was on your mind?

Well I was listening to a lot of early ghetto house music at the time and all of that music is really raunchy. And if you think about it, a lot about dancing is sexual, and also a place to meet people. So I wanted to include this sexual element, an often neglected element in today’s electronic music scene, into my music. On the flipside I wanted to compliment that honesty in a deeper why, with the track “The Shallow,” in that it’s easier to be shallow than deep.

I’m also curious about the track “Imitation Lover” on Immune. It’s so emotionally vulnerable, reminding me a bit of Prosumer & Murat Tepeli’s “What Makes You Go For It.” Would you tell me how that track came to be?

Well, it was kind of a mix of things. I was in Tokyo on tour and a very good friend of mine there was telling me about his lover problems and how they always end up fake — “imitation.” Both of us are really crazy about old school house, so on a night out we jointly came up with the “No No No, imitation lover” line whenever we spoke of someone or saw someone who fit that description. Later on, while composing the track I expanded it; in fact, the dub version is the original. I then started brainstorming the theme and wrote the lyrics to transpose into the online singles lifestyle. “It’s all pretend, a simulation,” and how in a sense, it brings us closer together yet further apart… “a firewalled mankind.”

Are there more releases to come on Süd Electronic?

Yes the next release on Süd Electronic is my first live set ever recorded in 2002 and features many unreleased tracks. Shortly after that is an EP by Lerato.

What else is coming up from you in the next year?

Right now I’m working on a new release for Perlon and possibly a new Portable album for Perlon; but for that, it’s early days. Think more vocal tracks from the heart and mind!