‘Cliche’ – stunning new EP from the hot trio from Ottawa
Interview : Dan Prince
Simon, Zoltan, Chris welcome to DMCWORLD…where are you all in the world right now?
“Hello, Dan. We are sat at a table in a Starbucks in Ottawa, Canada. It’s currently 8pm, and the free Wifi isn’t working.”
Rock & Roll! Well, a huge new EP that has had the world famous Buzz Chart crew going mental this week, please talk us through the tracks and history of the immense ‘Cliché’ swinging our way on Kittball…
“Ha! So here’s a brief description of how each tune came about:
‘What’s It Gonna Take’ – this track was originally meant to be the follow up to our first single ‘Lolita’, which came out on Pleasurekraft’s Kraftek last year. We wanted to create a more melodic, yet clubby track with a hooky vocal. Kaveh from PK then introduced us to the Kittball crew and thats how the ball started rolling.
‘The Afterparty’ – We had a few projects on the go but none had been completed. Simon quickly scrambled together a 30 second clip which Kittball liked enough for us to finish. We wanted a dark afterhours groove with a “German” sounding break (and we’re not sure if we succeeded). If you listen closely, you can hear two of us adding harmonies to the main vocal during that break. The vocals represent two sides of the afterhours scene, in which most people are just trying to enjoy themselves, and others, well…you probably already know…
‘2 to the 3’ – This track is has an old school vibe to it with raw drums and hip hop vocals. We were listening to a lot of Josh Butler and Sidney Charles at the time, which influenced the overall feel of the track. After changing the bassline a BILLION times, we stuck with a straightforward tech-house bounce.”
So let’s cut to the chase, how does a UK producer end up in the capital city of Canada making sweet music with a dude from Hungary and a Canadian native…what’s the story here?
“Five years ago, Simon was seduced and “imported” to Canada from Southampton in the UK by a lady. That lady just happened to be good friends with producers Zoltan Kontes and Chris Girard. Naturally, we all started to hang out frequently, and eventually came to know each other well. The advantage is that we now know precisely what to do to piss each other off. After a trip to ADE ’12, Zoltan and Chris fell for the new sound of Deep House that was taking over. Our name came about while casually brainstorming on the streets of a small Romanian town. Since we were all pretty jaded about the state of our personal successes in the music industry, we decided to come together and make music we truly dug. We were making a ‘return’ so to speak.”
How old were you when you first discovered dance music and who were the producers that first grabbed your attention??
“Like most DJ/producers, we each discovered electronic music at a young age. It came to us through TV and radio at first, and eventually we had access to almost everything through mediums such as Napster. Here in Canada, Zoltan and Chris remember watching a weekly television show called Electric Circus, which was basically a dance party on TV. Over the ocean, Simon recalls how he used to tune into Judge Jules to hear big room trance on Radio 1. These memories are simply snapshots when compared to everything else combined. In regards to producers that caught our attention, well, Zoltan mostly wanted to DJ like Sven Vath, and look just as cool doing it. Chris basically burned out Daft Punk’s ‘Homework’ album, and subsequently discovered the realm of “French House”. Simon was pretty much obsessed with everything Anjunabeats.”
When did the idea of having a career in music start to formulate in your head?
“We’ve always felt that we had something to offer the global dance music scene individually. Return of the Jaded is the sum of our efforts and experiences. This project is by far our most ambitious one to date, because it is a test as to whether we can collaborate in harmony, while also being able to develop a strong following. The way we see it, there is nothing else we’d rather be doing.”
Your first big break?
“The signing of ‘Lolita’ by Pleasurekraft (which we initially planned to promote as a free tune) was evidence that this collaboration was worth our time and effort. The signing of our EP with Kittball only reconfirms that statement. We couldn’t have asked for a better label to continue our momentum.”
Who excels where in the studio?
“Simon is the perfectionist who has really good technical and sound designing skillz. Chris is a big teddy bear who adds soul and groove, usually through subtle elements. Zoltan, coming from a house and hip hop background, is obsessed with drums and basslines. In our individual workspaces, we each start our own concepts. We then usually get together in the main “orange” studio to finish them. This is also where we record our own vocals, and do the mixdown/mastering work.”
What are the big 5 records in your box right now?
“Here are a solid 5 we’ve received great reactions for dropping…
Hot Natured – Benedition (GRADES Remix) [Hot Creations]
Claude VonStroke – Eye I Eye [dirtybird]
DJ Anna, Beverley Ely – Secret (MANIK NYC Remix) [Toolroom]
Black Loops – Up On You [Gruuv]
Return of the Jaded – I Like It Real [Unreleased]…”
It’s that time of year again, the annual DJ Top100. I interviewed Arthur Baker this week, he remarked…“there are too many DJs and genres for a realistic competition, it needs to split”. What are your thoughts on that – do you actually give a shit?
“We feel that the ‘DJ MAG Top 100’ seems to have lost it’s credibility in recent years with having “pop” DJs take spotlight. To be honest, it’s just not relevant to our scene anymore. Splitting it up by genre would be a great idea, as it’s current format is somewhat redundant.”
A recent quote from a certain superstar DJ…“I believe true DJing is actually an art, but it’s a dying art, as everyone is pushing the sync button…it’s a real shame when you see a ‘DJ’ plug his laptop in and call this DJing. Music will always evolve but sometimes not in the best way.” What are your thoughts on that?
“Because we’ve all learned how to DJ using vinyl and CD decks, we have a great appreciation for those who still use those formats. Admittedly, we do use software when we perform live, but in doing so, we have the advantage of basically manipulating and adding live elements to all of the music we play in real time. Why waste so much time proving you can beatmatch, when you can use that time to be more creative?”
What is the last great studio toy you bought yourselves?
“The Roland ‘VT-3 Voice Transformer’ is our latest studio toy. There are just so many ways to incorporate it into our music, however we’re still in the ‘experimental’ phase. For example, we recently stayed up late recreating voices from the Mass Effect video games (yeah, we’re a bit nerdy sometimes). We even went as far as Googling scripts from the games and reading them into the mic.”
So we head back to your gaff after the club, what is the Return of the Jaded Back To Mine 10 you spin us to carry on the party of chill the vibe…
Wamdue Project – Are You High
Oxide & Neutrino Bound 4 Da Reload
Dark Monks – Insane (Steve Murano Remix)
Hot Chip – Night & Day (Dusky Remix)
Midtone – Pearl
A$AP Rocky – Peso
Bart Van Wissen – Space Tourist
Seal – Crazy
Daft Punk – Revolution 909
Vic Mensa – Orange Soda
Who are some of the producers from around the world you are giving high fives to at the moment?
“These days, we’ve been a bit obsessed with the sounds of Wehbba, Sidney Charles, and Dusky (to name a few), because they consistently put out quality ch00ns. HOWEVER, we tend to follow record labels more than individual artists, because they inevitably introduce us to new and/or unfamiliar producers.”
What is the record that…
…reminds you of your childhood?
Childhood (Zoltan): Ice MC – It’s A Rainy Day
…always get you dancing?
Dancing (Chris) Michael Grey – The Weekend
…reminds you of being broken hearted?
Heart Break (Simon): Ridgewalkers feat. El – Find
…you wish you would have made?
Wish (General consensus): Disclosure featt. Ria Ritchie – Control
Paris Hilton earning $200,000 a night at Amnesia in Ibiza. Thoughts?
“Meh. Like Joel Zimmerman once said, “whatever, just clean up your stupid fuckin mess before I get there next week.”
What makes a great piece of Return Of The Jaded production
“A great piece of ROTJ production consists of our strengths, emotions, and good vibes (yes, we know that sounds terribly cheesy).”
And finally – what is coming out next from you guys studio wise?
“We hooked up with 303Lovers for our next release named ‘Everytime’. The release contains our original version, and also a dirty remix from Luigi Rocca himself. It’s slated for release near the end of this month!”
Thanks guys. DMCWORLD are loving your music…
“Kisses, Z, S, & C .”
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For further information on Return Of The Jaded…
https://soundcloud.com/return-of-the-jaded
https://www.facebook.com/ROTJmusic
