We are getting Hijacked in Deep Space y’all
Interview by Ian Fleming
Antwon Faulkner is a Detroit scholar of the Techno community and often shows this with a number of excellent hits on his Hijacked Records Detroit imprint. We caught up with the man to talk about what’s been happening with him recently, his new release, and memorable moments for him in Space Ibiza!
Hey Antwon, great to meet you! How are things in life right now for you?
Nice to meet you as well! Everything has been going really good for me at the moment. I’m blessed thank you.
How influential have your surroundings been on your musical taste?
Glad you asked. I moved to Toronto Canada in 2009 from Detroit and it was then when I found myself surrounded by so many talented people who were producing Techno at the time. I was doing more DJing so that’s when I realised if I wanted to get the respect as an international artist I had to start producing more music like the friends I knew here were doing. So when I made the transition of moving here to a city with so many other cultures it had a big influence as well. I have a lot of friends from different cultures who are into electronic music and that is a beautiful thing. It inspires me to make more good music that we both love.
So how would you describe your current sound? What equipment do you use to make most of your music?
My sound has become funkier with all the elements of my roots in Detroit. Jazz, Gospel, Funk and House. Its called “Hi Tech Funk” which is a sound that was created in Detroit by Mike Banks and Underground Resistance in 1998. This is my version of that 17 years later into the future. I have a Machine Studio with multiple plugins and synths, M – Audio oxygen 64 midi controller and M – Audio BX8-A Monitors to compose with right now.
When was the last time you were stopped in your tracks by a record, DJ set or party and can you explain what or who it was and why you liked it so much?
There are 2 times that has happened actually! The first time was when I watched Richie Hawtin @ ENTER.Sake Week 04, Space Ibiza in 2013 Live on Be-at.tv with my wife. All of a sudden I hear this track coming in while he’s got the effects going looping and the crowd is going crazy! He was into it and I’m like damn that track sounds familiar. So when it drops I’m like OMG! That’s My “Synthology” track on Greg Gow’s RESTRUCTURED Label. It was the moment I had dreamed about for a long time having that guy play my record. Then the very next month I was listening to Carl Cox & Marco Carola – Global Radio 543 (The Revolution Unites Week 6)@ Space Ibiza and Carl drops my “House Muzik” track on ELEPHANTHAUS and he killed it. I was blown away! That’s when I knew I finally had the respect I worked so hard to get as an artist because those 2 are the biggest Techno guys on the planet and they played my tracks in Ibiza @ Space and for me that was huge.
Who or what have been some of the key inspirations for you over the years and have they remained constant or changed? Jeff Mills would be the one. Not only has he been constant but also he has changed the way I look at techno now and how you can take it further then just the dance floor.
How long have you been producing? Who influenced you to start?
I’ve been producing full time now for 6 years now. My Dad was the main influence. He was a Jazz musician and my grandfather was as well. He played with Miles Davis so it’s just in me to make music. It wasn’t until I met my wife and moved here to Toronto with her, and she told me I should just focus on producing full time because she could see the same big picture I saw for my music career and supported it.
How do things like the atmosphere, venue and sound system influence how you approach a set?
For me I’ve learned how to create my own atmosphere when I play now. I’ve got a thing now when I play no matter whose on before me or what venue or sound system I’m on, I am going to try and get inside everybody’s head to understand the story I am telling with the music. I’m playing and the journey I’m trying to take them is full with positive energy. So when I’m done they just may understand it better spiritually because that’s where I am at now with it.
If you could own one track no other DJ could ever play, what would it be and why?
Inner City “Good Life” because it was one of the first singles of Detroit Techno to sell over a million copies.
So tell us more about your newest release on Hijacked Records Detroit called ‘Deep Space Radio’? What was your thinking behind the track and how did you go about making it in terms of your method in doing things?
Deep Space was originally formed in the early 1990s by Juan Atkins, Kevin Saunderson, Derrick May and Eddie Fowlkes. It was a Detroit radio show dedicated to house & techno. I grew up listening to the show when I was 15 years old when I first got into DJing and electronic music. It had the biggest impact on me because that’s where I got educated on a lot of Detroit Techno because they played it all. Once I got my own label going again here in Toronto when I moved, I had the idea of making the track just to pay homage to something that had a influence on me growing up in Detroit.
What was it that made you choose the re mixers you did, and how pleased were you with their productions?
Well I knew who would fit on the remixes from Toronto that’s why I got Matt & Mark Thibideau. I heard one of their live sets when I moved here and knew that I wanted to work with those guys. They are very serious about making Techno music. Their studio is like synthesizer heaven so I knew there remix would be awesome. Greg Gow’s music has always been influenced from Detroit Techno and he’s got an amazing catalogue to prove it. I’ve known him the longest and I have done work for his Restructured label so it made perfect sense to have him on this release. When I thought about getting someone in from Detroit the only guy I felt who understands my sound and would make it funky in his own way would be Franki Juncaj aka “DJ 3000”. I’ve done work on his Motech LTD label as well so I knew he would make the release complete.
What does 2015 have in store for Antwon Faulkner? An album maybe? Or big tour schedule?
I’m just going to focus on making more good music this year. I want to take it as far as I can and reach new people in new places around the world, with more EPs on my label from others and me. I’ll put an album together for my label in the future. I’m not going to rush it right now. Touring I’ll do that when the timing is right so will see about that next year.
Antwon’s ‘Deep Space Radio’ is out now on Hijacked Records Detroit
