An interview with Steve “Silk” Hurley and Andrew Emil ahead of their new “S&S Sessions” release…

(Steve) This was the brainchild of my partner in S&S Records, Shannon “Skip” Syas, who is always looking for innovative ways to present the artists on the label. With Andrew being so active as far as remixing our releases over the years, we wanted to shine a light on his body of work as it pertained to the S&S Catalog.

(Andrew) I believe this is the second or third compilation of this type on S&S Records, where a collection of work from a significant remixer or hometeam artist has put together a selection of all their work for the last in one place.

(BOTH) If there was a single release on S&S that defined the label – which would it be?

(Steve) Of course we always focus on providing quality house music of all types. We have so many great artists at S&S so that’s a tough question to give a definitive answer to. The artistry starts with the original creators of the tunes, and eventually becomes merged with the creative vision of the remixer and can become something totally different.  What’s cool is that you never know whose version will take the lead, so it evens the playing field, and gives the new producer the same visibility as the “usual suspect!”  In other words, we root for the underdog and hope that their creative vision is also realized.

So for me, no one single release defines the label.  We just love to help all the creative visions become realities and when they do, that is a win-win for all of the creators.

(Andrew) This is such a tricky question for people like Steve, Shannon, and myself who are really about creating a prolific catalog of work to be viewed/heard, and not just trying to make a hit. All three of us align on the idea of creating a lot of work, because we are compelled to and it’s part of who we are.

However, if I had to choose JUST one, then I have to go with my all-time favorite Steve “Silk” Hurley record (Which I purposefully choose to NOT remix), “The Word Is Love”. I think that record defines an entire generation of house music, and not just the label.

(BOTH) How did you meet and start working together, did you know each other before this project? or did you seek each other out as part of the process?

(Steve) Andrew has always been consistent in releasing music and my partner Shannon “Skip” Syas is like the ultimate A&R; he believes in not only the music but also the people making the music, so after a conversation, us all working together was inevitable. So our connection was organic.

(Andrew) Shannon and I have known each other for a long time and introduced me to his partner, Steve, over the years and it started with a remix here and there. Eventually, it became a more regular thing over the last decade or so. Which is a great thing, as it’s just an honor to work with people whose work you respect, but are also amazing humans as well!

(Steve) What made you choose to work with Andrew?

Because he’s a real musician that is able to read and write music…allowing him to reinterpret the intent of the pre-existing music and transform it into something that takes you to a new world.

(Steve) Handing over your back catalog into the hands of another must have been a big decision?

It’s always scary to hand your “babies” over to a new babysitter, but in this case, it was not a daunting task at all to put our tunes in Andrew’s hands.  He has been establishing a unique sound for years, and proving himself to be a force to be reckoned with.  So there were no worries at all; just excitement.

(BOTH) How did you go about choosing which tracks were included? Did Andrew get free reign or did you have the final say Steve?

(Steve) Andrew chose what he thought would be good for the project, and Skip and I had a few pow-wows with him and were able to curate the final list of all the tunes.  It was a very collaborative process.

(Andrew) Steve hit it on the head, it was a total collaborative process.

(Andrew) Working with some absolute stone cold classic music must have been a bit nerve wracking?

YES! Absolutely, it was, and I would never take on remix projects, at this point in my career, if I didn’t feel that I could add something to the song, be it a well known tune or not. Music is a language, and if I have an idea for a sentence or a paragraph, I will write it, but if not, I will come back another day when I do.

(Andrew) Do you have any favorites from the S&S back catalog that you didn’t get to work on?

There’s just so many great records in this deep catalog of music, which also includes ID Records, and Silk Entertainment, that will see another day again soon as well. As I stated before, I have always loved “The Word Is Love” by Steve and it’s just that I have never had a great idea for a new version of it, so I have left it there, but someday, I think I might revisit the idea, just have to sit on it for another twenty years. ha!

(Steve) If you could pick a standout track from the compilation which would it be and why?

It’s hard to choose one so I’ll just call it a tie between the 3 that I really am a fan of. All three of these remixes capture the essence of the original versions but over a completely different music bed.

1) Syleena Johnson – Peace Pipe (Andrew Emil Main Vox)

Well-established R&B Diva and TV star Syleena Johnson always loved the disco hit, “Peace Pipe” and was a house music fan growing up in Chicago. On the Chicago LP Album, our first S&S Project,Skip and I brought in musicians to recreate that original 70’s vibe of the original BT Express anthem, over a House Music groove.  But on this project, Andrew strips all that away and takes it to a completely different world with his remixes.  The repetitive bass/organ groove of Andrew’s remix is very infectious and results in a very memorable house tune.

2) Christopher Williams, Carolyn Griffey, Steve Silk Hurley, DJ Skip, Zonum – You’re The One For Me (Andrew Emil Future Classic Mix)

Although Christopher Williams and Carolyn Griffey have firmly established themselves in the R&B world, they are both huge house music fans and were super excited to grace our remake of the  “D” Train classic with their vocals. This Andrew Remix is one of the more interesting remixes that we just released, which features a groovin’  Andrew Bassline as usual!

3) Tommye, Jump Chico Slamm – I Need To Go Away (Andrew Emil Dreamix)

Andrew does a great job of capturing the self-reflective mood of the original version on one of our original 90’s imprints, ID Records.  If you close your eyes and listen, you can more than likely FEEL what Tommye is singing, because Andrew surrounds his vocals in a music track that makes you listen to the story.

(Andrew) The production on the record is top notch, as always with your projects – can you tell us a little bit about how you work and your studio setup?

Thank You So Much For The Kind Words! It really means a lot that this level of fidelity is still appreciated. These days, I am pretty much all in the box, except for a few outboard pieces I use for processing, sometimes, such as outboard preamps (Avalon 737SP), AKG Tube Mic, a few old Roland and Korg rack synths, and a whole host of plugins.

I started as a traditional musician as a child, then sought out the studio world in my late teenage years, and learned about sequencing and sampling.

I made records with an MPC2000, a Juno-106, a Fender Rhodes, and my record collection for source material for about ten years before I discovered the wide-world of DAWs, etc. From there, it’s just been a constant consolidation of pairing gear down to virtualization and recallability.

I work on a lot of different kinds of music all the time, so the ability to flip between so many projects is with everything the way I left it was the biggest change to my workflow in the last fifteen years. This is why I began a quest to be able to recreate almost anything I was doing with hardware virtually.

The types of DSP and computation that we can do today is basically “The Future We Were Promised” in regards to having anything that you would want at your fingertips. However, all of my production techniques come from the school of traditional large format studio production practices.

Things like group and parallel processing, inserts, sends, group buss mixing, etc are all still a part of my workflow, and it’s just much easier to do with Logic, than what I was using so many years ago.

(BOTH) Will you guys be working together again? anything planned yet?

(Steve) Most definitely.  I’m sure that once the pandemic subsides, we will probably even go into a room together and see what the result ends up being.  Mad scientists at work!

(Andrew) I really am always excited for the next time we do get to work together, as it’s such a great pleasure to be in the presence of other fellow music fanatics! And as Steve said, I do look forward to possibly even making something together in the near future!

(Steve) What’s next for S&S Records? Can you share with us what you have upcoming?

My Partner Shannon “Skip” Syas and I are visionaries and proactive risk takers so our next moves are all based around evolving our sound and in-house technology.

(Steve) is it possible we might see some new music from you Steve?

Just as it is for many new artists out there, we understand that the influx of new music every day makes it impossible for everyone to see every new tune I put together and that we release on S&S Records.  A lot of great music is missed nowadays.  It’s hard for DJ’s to dig in the crates, because there are so many of them to dig in! This is why we put together projects that reflect an artist’s “body of work,” so that the DJ’s and consumers can see the “needle that was in the haystack all along, and find a few “diamonds in the rough.”

I’m currently working on multiple projects , which are all slated to be released soon.

(Andrew) With such a big project completed, will you be taking some time off? or straight back in the studio? what are you working on right now?

I don’t understand the concept of “Time Off” as I don’t see what I do as “Time On”. I am a creative person who needs to create to stay mentally healthy (believe me, I tried to stop once, and it didn’t go well). For me, the reward for creating is the creation. So, I am really just intrigued to go and flip through patches on a synth and play around until I find the sounds that inspire the work. It’s very innocent and child-like, my wonder with sound and audio. I figure if I keep this type of vulnerability in place that it will always feel like a place of happiness and not work.

(BOTH) With the compilation out this May, you seemed to have timed it well in terms of the music industry getting back going! Do you have any summer gigs planned yet?

(Steve) Yes, Skip and I are in the process of organizing multiple festivals, which we hope to highlight and feature Andrew on. Quality music deserves an outlet and we are committed to seeing his vision through.

(Andrew) I am looking forward to what the world has in store for these next few years, but as of right now still looking to see about the next few quarters of bookings to keep it moving, as we always do.

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