The Danish don rolls up his sleeves for another huge year
Noir is a producer, DJ and label owner responsible for some of 2011’s most enduring house records. Last year was the year that the deep, evocative, groove-led sounds championed by labels such as Crosstown Rebels, Get Physical and No.19 Music really came to the fore – especially in Miami and Ibiza – and Noir has cherry-picked the very finest examples of the genre with which to craft his mix for Defected In The House Miami ’12. Here we chat to the Danish artist about his own experiences of Miami during WMC, the artists he grew up idolising, and blushing with embarrassment at some of his early productions…
How’s 2012 treating you so far?
“It’s been really good. Things are better than ever for Noir and Noir Music. Fanbase, attention and support is growing quicker than I had hoped for if you had asked me a year ago and I feel really happy and balanced with what I do these days.”
What are your own experiences of Miami?
“They have always been great. First of all you gotta love the weather compared with cold Scandinavia. It’s like the first feel of summer, sun, pool-parties and a warm-up to Ibiza and the festival season in Europe. But the whole ‘feel’ surrounding the WMC in Miami is special to me because it was the place where I first felt that my music was appreciated and loved, not only by the clubbers, but also by the big DJs. My first time in Miami was during the WMC in 2006 and I had a couple of tracks out on various labels. I wasn’t prepared for being supported by the big DJs playing my tracks at the parties, I wasn’t prepared to be recognized on the streets (although I had a pretty recognizable Mohawk haircut back then) and I certainly wasn’t prepared to meet all the big names in the industry and learn that they actually loved and supported my productions. So it was all a very overwhelming experience for me and going to Miami always reminds me of that time.”
Do you think anyone really gets any work done in Miami anymore? Or is it all about the party?
“Well…not much business is done in Miami during the WMC, but… you do meet a lot of people from the industry and the networking part of industry has great importance for the future business. So what it’s good for is meeting people that you potentially end up doing business with. I have also become friends with a lot of DJs and producers after meeting them in Miami, and again looking back at the first time I was there it kinda changed my life meeting that many people from the industry and staying in touch with them afterwards. But yeah, sure… it’s mainly about the partying… and deals being made with too many vodka shots involved!”
Who were the DJs you grew up idolising, the ones that really impressed you?
“I was fascinated by Kraftwerk and early hip-hip when I was only six or seven years old. During my teens I was extremely fascinated by Depeche Mode and idolised their frontman Dave Gahan a lot. But at the same time I was also very impressed by the late 80s Chicago and Detroit house and techno and the whole acid rave scene that hit Europe. I used to tune into English radio stations to listen to tracks from Inner City, Bomb The Bass & D Mob as the Danish radio stations simply didn’t play that kind of music.”
When did you first realise you wanted to pursue a career in music?
“When I fell in love with the music of Depeche Mode I knew that I wanted to create electronic music and pursue a career in music. But it wasn’t until later on when I started DJing and got more into the club scene and house music that I was convinced that this was what I was born to do. After a couple of years getting experience and practising as a DJ I started getting into producing music and I think after five years making music I finally quit my day-job and without any safety-net or income started to pursue the dream. And boy, am I happy I had the guts to take the chance back then.”
Over the years that you’ve been producing, your talents have obviously progressed. When you look back at some of your early records, are you still pleased with how they sound?
“Not at all, some of them even make me blush with embarrassment. There was a time and a place, right? But I have been involved in a few projects that I am not particular proud of, that’s for sure. At the same time I really love that you can hear evolvement over the years. That’s actually one of the things that motivate me to do more and do better. And honestly, there have been some big producers/artists that have really disappointed me over the years because they refuse to take any chances. Being a producer, artist and DJ is all about evolvement in my opinion, and not being afraid of change.”
When you’ve had a track that’s been as successful as ‘Around’, do you feel there is a lot of pressure on the follow-up?
“Hmmm…I guess I have felt some sort of pressure, but I don’t let it get to me. I don’t feel I have to follow any trends, satisfy people and do what’s expected of me. I really do feel comfortable and balanced as an artist and just produce and release whatever feels right for me. I am really happy with the outcome of ‘Found Out’ [the follow-up to ‘Around’] which is a little deeper and certainly darker than ‘Around’. I am especially happy with it as it doesn’t sound similar in any way or structure other than the fact that its a Noir production.”
The sound you as a DJ and your label champions was huge in Miami last year…do you think the same will be true in 2012 or will there perhaps be a bit of a backlash against its popularity?
“The underground DJs will probably create a little backlash of the vocal and more melodic stuff this year because it’s been around for a long time now. But I still think it will be huge over the WMC this year and well for the entire 2012. A lot of the big labels and underground DJs are still in love with the deeper and more sexy sounding vocal tracks, so I think its gonna stick for some time to come before we get hit by another wave of instrumentals. I think techno will come back in 2012 in a big way…not the annoying, commercial sounding bleepy UK techno, but proper Detroit, Berlin sounding techno.”
To a point, DJing is about being able to play records that not every other DJ is also playing. Now that it’s so easy to find music online, how do you make sure your sets are unique?
“It’s very important that you have your own unique taste in music; believe in that and don’t be too influenced by what’s in the charts and what other big DJs are playing. I edit almost every single track I play in the clubs, so it suits my sets perfectly, but you also need to get to know the tracks inside out. I am very fortunate to get exclusive promos from some of the world’s leading labels and artists, then I have a very big platform of my own – Noir Music – which of course gives me the opportunity to test exciting demos and upcoming releases, remixes and projects that no one has heard of before. I never have anything planned before I am actually in the club playing and feeding off the crowd to choose the next track. Then of course like almost any other DJ I create a few secret weapons, booties and mash-ups from time to time to spice it all up.”
Tell us about your Miami ’12 mix…what were you trying to achieve with it?
“To be honest I just started compiling and mixing some of my favourite tunes and didn’t have a bigger plan in mind. I am very spontaneous and just do what feels right at the time. But just like my DJ sets I hope it ended up being quite deep, sexy, personal and… ehmm… VERY NOIR! Hopefully people will feel they are taken on a CD-length journey from early evening deep house tracks into a late-at-night techno vibed experience. I feel the tracks in my mix all have great personality and diversity. Those are the main factors for me to create something that stands out from the typical DJ mix.”
Are there any particular tracks you’d like to highlight?
“ALL OF THEM! They are all special to me and part of the entire ‘journey’ I ended up with. If I had to pick one it would be the exclusive remix Martin Thompson and I did of Tevo Howard & Tracey Thorn ‘Without Me’. That remix is only available on this compilation, so that makes it extra special.”
With so many podcast and mixes freely available these days, what can you do to make a commercial mix like this an attractive proposition for people to go out and spend money on?
“As I said, the exclusive remix included should hopefully be an attractive appetizer to draw people’s attention to the mix. I think the track selection speaks for itself. The majority of people spending money on music will look at the track selection, look for something they already know and can relate to and then hopefully discover a couple of new tracks they can fall in love with. The mix is also spiced with special edits and vocal tools that have been created especially for this mix CD.”
What’s been the proudest moment in your career to date?
“Noir Music has given me a lot of proud moments. I am very proud of having so many talented producers involved on my very own label and I am very proud of the reputation and success I have achieved with the label.”
What do the next few months hold in store?
“Lots of touring and hopefully some quality time in the studio to work on the forthcoming album. I am a perfectionist so it’s gonna take some time to finish all tracks and I am working with a lot of talented singer/songwriters to create great personality and depth to each track. So its gonna take lots of studio time and hard work. There’s also lots of exciting stuff from the Noir Music and NM2 (Noir Music 2) labels and a 5 Years of Noir Music compilation. Good times…I’m very excited about 2012.”
Anything else you’d like to tell us about…?
“Gosh…so many new things happening every day it’s even hard for me to keep up. Follow me via www.facebook.com/Noir.Face. Unlike a lot of other artists I actually do all of the updates myself.”
Defected In The House:
As Miami as it gets: Franky Rizardo, Treasure Fingers and Noir bring you three stunningly diverse mixes of house music.
Defected In The House Miami ‘12
Mixed by Franky Rizardo / Treasure Fingers / Noir
Out: 27th February on 3CD and download
