Brand new solo project from one of the UK’s most exciting new producers
Decks, welcome to DMCWORLD towers dude. The last few weeks have seen us all jumping around to your new project and the release ‘Rapier’ swinging our way on 9G Records. Tell us a little history of this gritty electro tune…
“Thanks for having me! The track initially started out as an idea for a collaboration I was working on and then it sort of spiralled off and took shape as ‘Rapier’. It took a few days to fine tune the track and once I had what I thought was a solid idea, I sent it out to a few labels to get some 3rd party feedback and see if anyone was interested in it. I only hit up a few labels but the response was all very positive. So, I then thought that I would need an EP, if I was to launch the track under this new alter ego ‘Sirkus Sirkuz’, and thats when I spoke to a few friends that I respect musically and asked them would they be up for remixing the track.”
The track has received some great remixes from Deabots, Paul Jackson, Dert Cheep and Figure of 8 – why did you choose these artists to rework the track?
“I’ve known all these guys for years except Dert Cheep, who is already a 9G Records artist, but Paul Jackson was the first person to get behind The Japanese Popstars and we ended up releasing our first few singles on his own Dozer Records label at the beginning, so to me, it sort of made sense that he was involved in some way. Deadbots have been “wowing” me for years with their own unique dirty electro sound and I spoke to Paul (from Deadbots) to see if he was up for throwing down some ideas on this remix. He agreed and a few weeks later he sent me back a draft of the excellent remix you hear now. And lastly we have Figure Of 8 who has been making great nu-disco tracks and has an amazing history with music that stems from being in a few successful bands over the years….plus we used to work together in a proper “9 to 5” job about 6 years ago and I always thought he had so much musical talent, so it was time for him to share it out!”
What’s the latest of the Hybrid influenced ‘Nothing Changes’ you are working on…?
“I found an old hard drive full of samples, presets and ‘what-nots’, that another producer had given me when I moved studios last year and I had it tucked away under my desk, so was left it gathering dust. One day I was messing around with a loop that I thought would work with a vocal sample and I came across an accapella of Hybrids “I Know” on this hard drive. It inspired me to start writing a track around the beautiful voice of Julee Cruise, who sings on the track for Hybrid and I used a snippet of her vocal like a sample. I have worked a lot with samples in the past during my Hedrock Valley Beats days and the track came together quite fast. Now I’m stuck with the dilemma of what to do next with the sample, as the track is getting a lot of love in its current unfinished state on Soundcloud with the Julee Cruise vocal. One of my ideas in this project is to put my ideas and unfinished tracks onto Soundcloud, so people can see how the stages of how they develop and then they can comment on the music with feedback and ideas. I want to keep doing this, as it’s allowing people to help shape the tracks and become interactive in the process of making music through social media. The music grows with them.”
Your musical influences you claim stem from the ‘Hedrock’ ethos days. Who are we talking about here…?
“I have actually put together a mini-mix which sort of explains this in audio form better than I can:
http://soundcloud.com/sirkus-sirkuz/sirkus-sirkuz-mini-mix
It’s full of the artists that helped shape my musical taste and influence me in how I perceive music. I came from a background of rock and hip hop before discovering dance music in 1994 at a festival and artists like Ultramagnetic MCs, Beastie Boys and The Prodigy where the musical bridge to what I have become now. You can hear this in the mini mix, how there is a little bit of fun, aggression, flair and energy in the music of the mini mix but all the artists come from different styles and eras. That what I believe is Hedrock.”
Aside from your Japanese Popstars band, you have been recording under a name of different aliases and have remixed some massive artists – Beyonce, Groove Armada, Kylie and Gorillaz have all had your magic touch. How picky are you with the artists you decide to work with? Do they have to have an element of coolness?
“One thing through all the years when being approached to do a remix, was ensuring that there is an idea in the source material that can be worked on. Hearing something in the original track that makes you want to remix it is always a plus point! The coolness factor helps too. Liking the music is the main key in it all though, in The Japanese Popstars we have had to turn down some very well known artists over the years because we couldn’t hear anything to work with in the music that inspired us to make a track.”
How long have you been planning the Sirkus Sirkuz project?
“Not long. I think it was about November last year that I wanted to collaborate with other producers, make some music outside my normal group of people and away from a major label. The Sirkus Sirkuz idea started then in January, as a project where it allowed me to make music away from The Japanese Popstars, to make some music with other artists and producers that I really liked and respected! It got me excited about making underground music again and being able to experiment in different styles of dance music, not having to concentrate on pressures like making a radio hit. I could make music for me again. Which is obviously why I fell in love with making music to begin with. It was also a chance to discover new production techniques and learn from these other artists that I work with.”
What can you tell us about the remix for a ‘proper band’ coming our way in September?
“Yeah, its a guitar based indie rock band that I remixed called A Plastic Rose. They sound something between Foo Fighter and Snow Patrol and have been doing quite well recently. I got an email from their manager asking if I could do a Sirkus Sirkuz remix of one of their tracks off their forthcoming EP. He sent me three tracks and I chose “Kids Don’t Behave Like This” due to its aggression and melody. It reminded me so much of the Foo Fighters, who I’m a big fan of that it was a joy to remix! The track is coming out on Di Di Mau Records in September and I think the band have loads of potential to be very successful.”
And also, what’s the latest in the collaborations you have currently on the go?
“I have quite a few going on atm actually. I’ve done a track with a singer called Deci Gallen who is in a band called The Jane Bradfords, he has a wonderful voice that has an essence of New Order. Eddy Temple Morris has been playing this on his radio show alot after I sent it to him a few months back and has been a great support. I’m also working with Shadow Dancer on a few tracks. We are finishing off a couple of each others ideas and planning an EP of the music. They are great guys and brilliant producers, so this has been very exciting. Another producer is Audiofun who is signed to Vicious Records in Oz. He is actually from my neck of the woods here in Ireland and we have done an track together for release and I’m hoping to do another one with him soon. He’s a workaholic like me and is constantly sending me new ideas and tracks he is releasing on a daily basis. I see big things happening here in his camp! There is Run Riot which we have done two tracks together and are waiting for vocals to be added to one of them. He is on Skint Records and I put together a Sirkuz remix of his latest single which got released last month on the label. I have been a fan of him for a few years, as he has managed captured a sound very much like The Prodigy used to sound post ‘Fat Of The Land’. He’s a great producer and its be great fun working with him.
I have a few other producers and vocalists that I am working with but the collabs are still in thier infancy, so I’ll wait till they grow a bit more before going into any details of who…”
So where does this leave Japanese Popstars – are things on hold at the moment?
“I’ve taken a back seat from the Popstars, so to focus on this new project and the Popstars goes on now as two people. I’ve spent most of my time there focused on band direction and management over the years that it’s great to be back in the seat fully writing music once more.”
Tell us about your work with the graphic design company ‘Projectzion’…
“I met Projectzion at Parklife Festival in Manchester when we played there a few years ago. We kept in contact and I sent some early ideas I was having as Sirkus Sirkuz to him. Projectzion returned feedback with artwork that suited the music! This was a complete surprise to me, as he came up with the clown logo and all the original sleeve designs for the project. It helped give the project more identity, almost in a branding sense. He then teamed up with the great 13 Videos, who has done a few of The Japanese Popstars videos in the past, to produce a music video for my next EP called ‘Plastic Explosive’! Now Projectzion is looking into visually structuring my Sirkus Sirkuz live show for me. Some of the ideas he has sent me are pretty crazy but very realistic, so now its just working out a budget and the logistics to develop the concepts.”
What is the current top 10 you are spinning…
“I’m playing a lot from GND Records and Lektroluv at the minute. Both labels are on fire! Artist like Attaque, Turbo Turbo, Mumbai Science and The Loops Of Fury are all making incredible music too!
Here are 10 favorites in no particular order….”
Boris Dlugosch – ‘Cycle (Etienne De Crecy Mix)’ [Lektroluv]
Turbo Turbo – ‘Lamborghini’ [GND Records]
Peo De Pitte & Jay Robinson – ‘The Bagger’ [Fools Gold]
The Loops Of Fury – ‘Light Em Up’ [U&A]
Turbo Turbo – ‘The Jam’ [GND Records]
Hoshina Anniversery – ‘Chicago (Turbo Turbo Mix)’ [GND Records]
Bloody Beetroots – ‘Rocksteady (Mumbai Science Mix)’ [Ultra]
Just Regular Guys – ‘Charge’ [GND Records]
Junior – ‘Destroy Disco’ [Lektroluv]
Attaque – ‘Intensify’ [Bad Life]
What one artist dead or alive would you love to get in the studio and make some music with?
“I think it would be awesome to work with Alex Rose from Guns N’Roses. He’s a complete legend and apparently extremely hard to work with. I think that would be a fun challenge. Plus he writes awesome songs and has a great vocal range. He’s “Axel F***’n Rose”!”
What are your thoughts on the Olympic Opening and Closing parties from a musical perspective? Who rocked and who were shit?
“I don’t like sports, so I didn’t watch. Can you believe that?!”
Best live gig you have ever witnessed?
“I saw M83 live at Oxegen Festival in Ireland in 2010 and thought they where a powerhouse of music. They had so much energy and excitement in the live delivery of the music that added much more to the tracks I know and love from the albums. Unreal.”
Where did you learn your clubbing stripes? What were the early clubs/raves that saw you stumbling about in?
“I missed the early rave scene, as I was more into hip hop at the time, although I did attend some proper early sweaty underground rave club nights and stumbled into see some DJs and live acts that I can’t even remember who it was anymore! Probably my early best loved ones, when I had more of a “clubbing sense” was travelling to from Derry to Belfast to go to “Sugar Sweet”, which was run by David Holmes many many years ago. It was legendary. These where my first proper club nights that I would have travelled to and staggered home at silly o’clock in the morning.”
Early DJ heroes?
“It’s funny cause I don’t have any early DJ heroes, as I was always into bands like EMF, House Of Pain or The Prodigy. The earliest DJ hero that I liked would have been Adam Freeland back in 2000 and then he was replaced by Erol Alkan in 2004 when I saw how Erol was showman and had lots of diversity. Now I think the best DJs I have seen in the last few years were Boys Noize or Shinichi Osawa, I’ve got so much respect for them.”
Outside of dance music, who are the artists you are currently listening to?
“I am listening to mostly golden era Guns N’Roses and M83, atm.”
Everyone has one, what’s yours. What is your guilty pleasure tune you secretly love…
“Its Raining Men” by the Weather Girls. I think it would be funny to have it played at my funeral just to see the look on everyones faces!
And finally – when was the last time you went out clubbing and got completely mashed?
“I’m actually at a club now, doing this interview from the bar…does that count?”
http://soundcloud.com/sirkus-sirkuz
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