‘Hey Girl, Where U Going? I’m At The Disco…”
Welcome Scott to the DMC World. Riding high at the moment, new track’s ‘Fly Away’, the edgy, fun dancefloor bomb ‘I’m At The Disco and ‘Bad Self’ flying out of Germany’s Plasmapool – as well as the current ‘White Trashy & Blonde’ – talk us through the tracks…
“We’re really excited about these tracks and probably more on fire about this batch than any that have come before. ‘Fly Away’ is a collaboration between CyberSutra and Marcia Juell, and it’s sort of our mainstream commercial sound. We have a lot of fun riding this edge between uplifting and commercial, quirky and fun, and hard and bangin’, and “Fly Away” is definitely the former. We’ve been working this track for a while now, and it’s really great to see it come through (the remix package is really great, too) ‘I’m At The Disco’ is a little bit of on a different feel, it’s super high energy and definitely flips some different styles up on their head. ‘Disco’ marks a couple of firsts for us – we did all of the vocal work on it (Naite was the voice of Disco Girl, and Scott was the dude in the second bit). This was our first track to have a full on live action music video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-ZvjpRUXiU).’Bad Self’ is this dope track we’ve been kicking around for a while too, it’s hard and dark and does some genre crossing. Naite did the vocals on this one too, and it’s getting a great response in the club scene right now. It’s in the top 50 on the Electro House charts at Beatport, and that’s definitely a mark we’re really proud of. ‘White, Trashy & Blonde’ was our track with Mellefresh, and let us tell you right now, that girl is something else! She is so much fun to work with, she’s got this funky and twisted style, something you don’t see every day, and she brought all of that energy and more to this track. It’s bangin’, and it’s got a solid remix package with some genre hopping.”
So Scott, you create this amazing electronic music with Naite Heal who hails from Seattle – how did you two meet in the first place?
“A few years back, I was looking for a producing partner for a new music project. We actually met through my sister, she introduced me to Naite, who had been in and out of rock bands’ and music projects all his life. We both share the same passion for creating dance music, and that energy got fused into this rad thing we now call CyberSutra. At the time (it must have been over 3 years ago now), I was living in San Francisco and Naite in Seattle, so our initial collaborations took place online. There was a lot of technology involved, sharing files, transfering tunes, things like that. That actually became a crucial part of our process, even once we got into the same city. We spent a lot of time going through ideas, deciding what exactly what we wanted to make, and that lead us to our first tune, ‘Lick It’.”
What are the big ten tunes you are playing out at the moment?
CyberSutra ‘Bad Self’, Lacy Rich ‘Fatboy Slim remix’ (unreleased), ‘Welcome to the Jungle’ (bootleg), Hirshee ‘Hype The Funk’, Thomas Gold ‘The Button’, Digital Freq ‘Disco Falls’, Deadmau5 VS Melleefresh ‘Sex Slave’ (CyberSutra Remix), Sagan, ‘The Madhouse” and CyberSutra ‘I’m at the Disco’.”
Your sound switches into Electro House, melodic Trance and obviously the live vocal element – who were the artists that influenced you early on to go down this musical route?
“There’s a few artists and groups that defy genres and do some great live improv fusion DJ sets. In the beginning, we were looking at Daft Punk, Infected Mushroom, Basement Jaxx, Booka Shade…these guys all do some really innovative stuff that takes a fundamental musical element as a starting point and layers complexities on it until it’s just this huge energetic force that comes off the stage or out of the speaker and hits you right in the soul.”
You are renowned for your sets at San Fransisco’s ‘LoveFest’ – now called LovEvolution festival – America’s largest dance festival. For people who have never been to this incredible event, tell us about it – what have been your highlights there, what do you love about it?
“‘LovEvolution’ is, simply put, amazing. It’s massive, and it kind of takes over the whole city. These people, they all get together because they love music, they freakin’ love this music so much. They put together floats, like parade floats, that have huge sound systems, DJ booths set up in them, go-go dancing platforms, the works. They’re like mobile nightclubs, and they have this parade that goes through downtown San Francisco, and it ends up in the Civic Center where all the floats park and it turns into a huge multi-stage dance party. It’s frickin’ unbelievable. Naite actually had the opportunity to design the SFHouseMusic.com float in 2008, that was an unforgettable experience. We have played for three years now, and every year it gets better and better. Playing there is always kind of a chaotic thing, but this last year, it was intense. Our float had great placement, and there were just a ton of people and love and good energy.”
What is the best and worst thing about living in New York?
“First of all, New York City is the most amazing piece of land that we have lived in so far. It has such a rich culture and the people are absolutely fantastic. Not to mention the fact that’s it’s HUGE. You can’t even believe how HUGE it is until you come here. And anything you want, you got it here. It’s HUGE! The best thing about the city is it’s people and diversity. The worst thing, though, is also the people. They can be rude, and there’s a tonne of them.”
What other festivals around the world have been amazing for you?
“‘Burning Man’ is absolutely mind blowing and is probably our favorite. The Winter Music Conference is a tonne of fun. Sonar Festival in Barcelona is epic. But as far as networking and business is concerned, the ADE festival in Amsterdam is by far the best.”
Best live artist you have ever seen?
Scott: “Sting is the bestt showman on the planet.”
Naite: “Bjork is a hacker genius! Her live performance is indescribable. Yeah, she’s weird, but she’s so completely inspiring.”
What’s next from the Cybersutra studio?
“We’ve got a few more releases in the pipe, and after those are out we’re working on rocking some more massive club tunes. We’ve got an awesome collab track with Lazy Rich that’ll be out soon, it’s in the same vein as “I’m At The Disco” and it’s going to be a lot of fun, as well as a remix of a Hirshee track that’ll be out soon.”
Best DJ you have ever played alongside?
“We have played alongside a lot of amazing DJs so it’s hard to pick just one, but we would have to say that House Legend DJ Dan is probably the best. His mixing is technically solid as anyone we have seen and he makes our feet move every single time!”
One album you would never sell?
“Michael Jackson’s ‘Thiller'”
5 people dead or alive you would invite to your dinner party?
“Naite’s Grandfather, Scott’s Grandfather, Lady Gaga, Naite’s boyfriend Drew, and whoever Scott’s girlfriend happens to be at the moment. Our grandfathers would get along very well with Lady Gaga, we think.”
Best club you have ever played at?
‘Nocturnal’ in Miami
Do you EVER go on holiday!!?
“Every day IS a holiday!! We always make time when we go out of time for shows to hang out and actually be in the city that we’re in. When we go to San Francisco for LovEvolution or a club gig, we take some extra time to hang out. So there’s not really a lot of dedicated ‘holiday time’, but we work it in.”
Best city you have ever seen?
“Can’t name one, there’s too many. But here’s a short list of our favorites: New York City, San Francisco, Amsterdam, London, Barcelona, and Rome.”
What do you think has been your best ever release? – and don’t say the next one!
“So far our best release has been “I Believe” feat. Julie Thompson – as far as fan response, sales, airplay and club play, it has done really well. Not to mention it’s one of our favorite tracks we’ve ever put out there.”
Your weekly Internet show ‘Spektrum’ on Pure.FM saw some big DJ guest mixes – who’s has been the best?
“Judge Jules! That guy throws it down hard.”
What one artist would you like to get into the studio and get some guest vocals from?
“Ma ma ma ma… we would love to work with Lady Gaga. Can you imagine how hard that girl would rock an Electro House track??”
