Uitspraak van verwijderd op dinsdag 8 juli 2008 om 20:05:
wat bedoelt ie met "relative musical isolation"???? woont ie op de Noordpool ofzo? of luistert ie nooit naar techno en struikelt ie af en toe over een bak platen die ie dan maar draait?
beetje slap verhaal, net of de hele wereld dezelfde plaatjes van beatport trekt en meneer Curtin effe de dopeness komt brengen. Verder vind ik zijn "sound" nou ook niet echt baanbrekend ofzo. Vind t een chille DJ, producties zijn ook wel chill, maar kom op hee.
Je moet het hele interview lezen om te snappen wat ie nou eigenlijk bedoeld....als je alleen die tekst leest denk je ...ja....dan kan ik jullie reacties begrijpen
Zelf ben ik het met Fabio eens muziek haal je overal vandaan ik zelf van ebay , mbeat, decks,juno tot marktplaats
Hier het hele interview :
For the past ten years Dan Curtin has been one of the most eagerly observed producers in the techno scene, having forged a particularly distinctive and original musical style.
Combining his pastimes such as late night drives in his hometown of Cleveland and stargazing, with the futuristic sounds of techno and house, he began to fashion his own new sound. Isolated as he was, away from the hub of house music creation he so ardently observed he managed to avoid being identified with any particular scene. He started up his own label, Metamorphic Recordings, on which he and like-minded artists showcased their own individual style. I was not long before he came to the attention of the seminal UK label Peacefrog, who were on the lookout for a new rising star. His classic albums for them, ‘Silicon Dawn’, ‘Web of Life’ and Art & Science’ have defined his unique, individual and influential style for this generation’s aficionados of the scene.
Now hailed as one of the key players in the field, he continues to release cuts in his own name and as the Purveyors of Fine Funk, as well as taking his unique DJ style to clubs the world over…
We are very proud to present – Dan Curtin
11th-hour What were your primary influences when growing up, and what first inspired you to begin creating your own music?
Dan I was influenced by a lot of things, or rather, I was into a lot of things. Starting with hip hop, then new wave and electronic, some punk, and some indie stuff. I was finding out about all kinds of music but through all of it hip hop was the most important influence, hip hop as a culture and a movement, not just as music. For some reason I never picked up on disco back then. I think all of the mainstream disco pop like the Bee Gees completely turned me off to it, I wasn't aware at all of the underground disco sub culture unfortunately. If I only knew then what I know now...
11th-hour How and when was your first exposure to electronic music, and how did you first become involved in the wider techno community?
Dan Again, it was hip hop. Back in the day you would hear 'The Man Machine' by Kraftwerk on Mr. Magic's Rap Attack and on many hip hop mix tapes, people would break to it, etc. At the time I thought it was just another break dance jam, I didn't realize the importance of that track and of Kraftwerk until much later. So that is where my interest in electronic music took shape, many years passed before I was even aware of the existence of techno and house.
Interestingly on some of the old school mix shows on Cleveland's Urban Contemporary/R&B stations you can still hear The Man Machine!
11th-hour So you were mainly into hip hop before techno - where did the strong jazz influences in your music come from, and why do you think jazz and techno merge together so well? Do you also think your music still has much input from your hip-hop roots?
Dan The whole jazz thing was never really intentional. I was never particularly into jazz. I just picked up a few jazz releases here and there because I liked the chords and percussion. The influence was probably more subliminal than anything else. But, like you said, they do match well together. The both express a desire to go further and a frustration with the status quo. They both throw a lot of rules out of the window and in a more visceral sense they both have the ability to very clearly translate emotion into sound.
As far as hip hop. Most definitely. Hip hop will always be the standard by which my beats are judged in my own mind. Beats have to be thick, rough, funky and original. Each sound is very important and if you don't have your own style then you can't hang. The beats are everything.
11th-hour How do feel that the relative isolation in Cleveland from the rest of the electronic music scene affected you? Did you find it a restriction or did it push you harder to create the sound you wanted to hear?
Dan It was both a seriously irritating restriction and a motivation. I had to work really hard to even hear some house cuts at a club night or to get a record. Looking back I am glad for the isolation although at the time I hated it. It really did force me to dig deep and come up with some sound that, at least in my mind, took me to the places that I wanted to go.
11th-hour Like many of your contemporaries, particularly those from Detroit, your music displays a powerful science fiction influence - is this a fair observation, or is it simply the futurism of the music itself that interests you, rather than any peripheral inspirations behind it?
Dan I suppose the science fiction comparison is coincidental rather than intentional. Sci fi and techno both express a similar desire to take our current knowledge and perceptions and throw them into the future, to see what is around the next corner, and most importantly to make sure that we get there. Sometimes good sci fi helped me to visualize my feelings about the future, which in turn helped me to realize musically certain concepts and emotions.
11th-hour How do you feel your music has progressed over the past 10 years, and what do you consider to be major turning points for you?
Dan Well, in a way I have somewhat gotten away from the pure Detroit vibe that I was about in previous years. This is a natural evolution in techno though. I liked techno because it was progressive so the very notion of staying in any one form is contrary to my goal of moving forward. My sound is always, and always will be, dynamic and alive. Always growing off of what came before and always going forward. That is techno. I would have to say that DJing all over the world and living in a couple different countries has changed everything. It has given me such a broader outlook on music, culture, people, politics--everything. But that topic can be an interview on it's own!
11th-hour What equipment do you / have you use/d for your production, and how important do you think your choice of kit is to your overall style?
Dan I have the standard Roland gear, all of the drum machines, the synths, like SH-101, MC 202, Juno, etc. Another favorite piece of mine is the Akai S3000XL, I love that machine and the way it sounds. I also use a Mac and a fair amount of soft synths and other software. Logic Audio, Reason, Recycle, Live, and Peak are my core selection of software tools. As far as plugs I'm into Plex which I didn't like at first but now I am really getting the hang of it, Battery sounds fantastic and is becoming my standard tool for percussion inside the Logic environment. I've just completed several tracks only in Reason, mainly because of the Redrum drum machine and the Matrix pattern sequencer. The choice of gear is not so important to my sound at all (nor is the genre) because it is all about emotion and I can use any tools to express that.
11th-hour You have had a strong connection with the Japanese techno scene over the years, from appearances on labels like Sublime to collaborations such as Purveyors of Fine Funk how did this link come about, and is it something you intend to continue in the future?
Dan I think that all started when Sublime called me and asked me to do a record. Then the rest just sort of happened, I did more and more records and CDs, went over for tours etc. I don't work with Sublime all that much anymore but there are currently two more records planned. As far as continuing the Japanese connection into the future I intend to because I absolutely love Japan, but this is the music business and what one intends doesn't always have much to do with what actually happens!
11th-hour More recently, you've joined a seemingly endless stream of techno producers who now call Berlin their home - what drove you to make the change, and how has it affected yourself and your music?
Dan Well, in my case the move to Berlin was not musically motivated at all. My wife, Sandra, is attending university here and that is the only reason that we moved here. I have not really been in town for that long so I don't think that this city has had much influence on my music yet. I'm sure it will soon though because environmental influences play a more important role in creative output than influences from other music.
However, being here has really influenced my DJing. I have been going in this direction for a while now but being here has kicked it into overdrive. The direction is that I now feel like I am a DJ, not just a producer who DJs but a DJ and a producer. Now those two aspects of the music business hold equal importance for me. I really love DJing more now than I ever have and I am at a place where I really do feel like I have something to say and something to offer from behind the decks. Not just a name on a flyer but someone who gives his all for all of the people on the floor who have come to rock and have a great night out. I am on the stage for them and to give them what they expect and deserve after a hard week of work. And I go about this by spinning music that is 100% quality and 100% rocking. Anybody can play a collection of obvious hits and party tunes and conversely anybody can play a whole night of IDM or chin rubbing 'experimental' music. Booooring. The challenge is to bring those two extremes together, throw in a lot of soul, funk, and emotion and deliver a mind and body rocking experience. In other words. House Music--no not the genre--the feeling.
11th-hour What benefits do you experience from having such a concentrated collection of musicians and labels in one city, and do you think it may be at the expense of other localised communities if so many people flock to where the scene is strongest?
Dan One thing is that I can see is that most DJs play the same music, especially here so I can learn quickly what to avoid. For me it is not really a benefit because I am used to living and working in relative musical isolation and that helped me to become who I am and to create my own sound. So I prefer not to be too influenced by what others are doing. Because there are so many DJs all in a small space all shopping at the same stores you end up with a million clones and that is not good for the scene at all. I think it tends to stifle creativity and prevent people from taking chances and striking out on their own. The good thing is that there is never a problem finding club nights to go to but I find myself always going to see the out of town guests! I think that it is temporarily bad for the scenes in some of the other German cities because many of their DJs are leaving for Berlin where the perceived land of opportunity exists. In the end it doesn't matter all that much because DJs are a 'dime a dozen' and if the top DJs leave any given city for Berlin somebody will step in to fill their shoes. However this massive influx of DJs will end up being bad for most because fees will start to go down (they already have done so for local unknown DJs) and they will all become the 'little fish in a big pond.' But even though there are a million DJs here if you look on the flyers and programs you see the same names over an over again. Then on many other flyers you see a lineup of unknown DJs and who wants to go see that? Especially when the chance is very good that they will all basically be playing the same thing in the same way.
11th-hour Can you tell us a little about your label, Metamorphic? How did it originally come about and what are the ideals behind it?
Dan It came about because I wanted to release my own records on my own terms. Later it expanded a bit to include other artists like Titonton, Morgan Geist, Hanna, etc. The main thought behind the label was to release music that you could not really find elsewhere and to get the artists exposure. I never wanted to make money and I did not run the label with that thought in mind. That is why there have only been 19 releases in 10 years and that is why there is no set release schedule. The release happen when they are meant to happen. But it has been good and rewarding (except for the occasional bullshit that comes along with distributors...) and now most of the artists who had their first records on my label have gone on to have very successful careers of their own. So I guess Metamorphic has worked for all involved!
11th-hour What plans do you have for the future, both as an artist, and for your label?
Dan It is now time to get the label set for digital downloads and that is what I am working on at the moment for all of the people who can't or don't want to buy a $600.00 turntable. Sometimes I resent the digital download thing but the important point to remember is that the music must be heard, in whatever format.
Vinyl is still the king and I will not go away from that.
Personally I will continue to do what I have always done and that is to find new directions in electronic music. To always keep things fresh and never get away from that. Also I am expanding as a DJ and I will tour around the globe as much as possible. Plus I am working on developing a live set as I very much want to start doing PAs in the near future. This is something that I have not done too much of in the past and now is the time to take my music to the stage.
11th-hour How do you think techno has developed over the past 15 years, and what you make of it's future? Where would you like to see things heading?
Dan I think that it more or less stopped developing after the early 90's except for a very few artists. Everything since then has been simply a version of what already happened. Yeah, this new style and that new style have come up but they are merely combinations of pre existing forms. And then the whole electro thing is I a complete regression, and I see no point in that. The whole 80's thing in general is a complete regression and in direct conflict with what techno actually is - 'Something that you never heard before' in the words of Jeff Mills. The future of techno lies in innovation not in trend following or bandwagon jumping. People need to get away from the mentality of listening only to a particular style (I'm only an electro DJ, I only play tech-house, etc...) or genre and start thinking in terms of pure vibe. I would like the trend to be innovation rather than a clear cut style that the media can get hold of. This mentality has done nothing for our scene except to water it down and to allow multitudes of mediocre producers and labels to multiply like fungus. I think that it will all die and become boring for people to listen to unless these pointless trends like electro-rock or techno-rock stop taking center stage. Producers need to take risks, to think for themselves, and to make music because they love it and because they feel a passion for it. Not because it's cool to be a DJ.
11th-hour What are your thoughts on the style and quality of techno and other music being released at the moment? What artists and labels are of interest to you at this time?
Dan The above answer covered some of that. At the moment I like Delsin Records, Luciano (as a producer and DJ), Carl Craig's recent production and remix work, John Tejada and Palette, Classic Recordings, some Playhouse stuff, Headspace and Emoticon, It Is What It Is Recordings, I like Ricardo Villalobos' DJing a lot, Dan Bell's DJing, Los Hermanos, Silver Network puts out some sweet raw house, WMF records, some of the newer Cajmere material is pretty rocking...the list goes on...
11th-hour What drives you to create music? What about it has led you to dedicate so much of your life to it?
Dan I'm just mad for it, I can't get enough of it. It's that simple.
Many thanks to Dan Curtin for taking the time out to speak with us!
Contact & Booking Information
For more information check out the Metapmorphic Records web site, or email
info@metrecs.com .
p.s wie heeft nog meer zijn laatste set in Nederland gehoord...was in de 11..echt een mooie combi van verschillende stijlen...mensen gingen losssssssssssss
