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Wednesday, 07 January, 2009

PLANETNOTION TELEVISION!

CAMERA-FOLK AND FILM EDITORS WANTED!

Planet Notion is looking for guys and dolls to film and edit features for its new TV channel, PNTV. Accompanying Notion to artist interviews, gigs, fashion shows, festivals and international events, you will be skilled, passionate and full of ideas about how to produce shit-hot video content. Camera-folk will be experienced and ideally have their own equipment, or at least access to equipment, while editors must be able to turn projects around quickly, and with stylistic flare. If you can both film and edit content, we would especially like to hear from you! These casual, unpaid positions would be ideal for those looking to develop their showreels, and to get the chance to travel, film major artists and top events.

Please email lucy(at)musichqmedia
(dot)com if you’re interested in getting involved, cheers!

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Kid Koala

Pictures of Kid Koala give the game away - he's a sensitive soul with an impish sense of humour that leaps out often unexpectedly. It's this thoroughly likeable personality that translates into his scratch music, and was all too evident on his 'Short Attention Span Theatre' tour of Europe three years back. For now though, Kid Koala - Vancouver-born Eric San - has gone back to basics, and can't wait to talk about his new album, 'Your Mum's Favorite DJ'. "It was super fun to make - we laughed a lot, even the mastering man. Humour is important to me, because there's not a lot of laughter in scratch music." Describing his approach to the recording, he says, "I wanted to go back to the sort of tapes I used to make, and so I went out and bought some reel to reel and did it on that. It's different from a computer because you only have 15 minutes for each side, and you just can't buy 200 reels of tape every day so you have to get it right early on. I went back to the old scratch tapes to see what I could do, and it was recorded relatively quickly - in three months I think. Some of these records I'd had for many years and tours. The recording I did without an advance, as I didn't want to be a burden to Ninja." It's not many artists that hold their record label in such high regard, yet Kid Koala is conscious that the last albums were expensive to produce, with their accompanying art material. "This time it's about photography rather than a comic book," he says. But does this mean his cult characters Grandmaphone and Megatron will be consigned to history? "These characters will be starring on their new website. The book with the last album ('Some Of My Best Friends Are DJs') was great but since 2001 we’ve had a nice collection of photos, so there's a mini photo essay with this one. One shot of the audience at a gig in Toronto has them all wearing Megatron masks!" The 'Short Attention' tour was a uniquely interactive experience for the fans. Audiences got to warm up with the wacky German singer Lederhosen Lucil, who wrote songs about dried apricots and trains amongst other things - Eric remembers it fondly. "I would know by the time she'd been on, how the audience reacted, as to how the whole evening was going to go. Some people didn't get her, but most people loved it." And then there was the bingo, with one card per ticket holder, devised by Kid Koala himself with the help of his characters. "I had no automatic generator, so had to cut and paste 200 cards myself, and I messed the order up so that if things went a certain way we could have, like, 16 winners!" He explodes with laughter, before continuing, "I was nervous I was going to have to give the decks away or something. After all, if you win bingo, you should win a prize, not public humiliation. We made them play stone-paper-scissors to see who won the top prize, but we were able to give some people consolation prizes." The tour clearly holds fond memories for the DJ. "It was the best show, just the vibe that we got from the audiences. Some cities didn't believe me when I said we wanted tables and chairs on the dancefloor. I wanted to do something different though, because when it's just a scratch turntable and nothing else your eyes just glaze over, so we tried to lift the format." However it's not a format he'll be revisiting - like many a good artist he continues to seek new ways of doing things. "We'd got up to eight turntables and three DJs on the tour, we had people eating in their seats while others were dancing. It was great fun at the time and to have the show on CD is brilliant, but now it seems like the people who were following the music early on have all had babies, and the kids coming to the show are more rowdy. I think the new tour will reflect that." Eric's friend Monkmus constructed movies featuring the Koala characters to accompany the live show, and these were aired in breaks while the DJs changed records. Likewise in between concerts, Eric relaxed with a pencil and paper. "My drawing started as a kind of babysitting thing. If I was acting up at a dinner table, people would hand me a napkin and a pen and I would lose myself for a good two hours. Now it's developed a bit, but not that much! You do it to relax on tour, as there's 10% performance, then 5% soundcheck, and then the rest just spent waiting around at the gates of a train station or something. It would be nice to have a four track recorder to take around with me but I guess that's kind of tricky!" Kid Koala, of course, is his mum's favourite DJ as the new album title suggests, though he's confessed in the past that she only really likes one of his tunes, the affectionate cover of 'Moon River'. It becomes clear that Eric grew up with Tchaikvosky, Louis Armstrong and the Beatles, but drew more and more from hip hop and comedy, the two becoming his primary influences. "De La Soul, they were big for me, and I'd listen to their albums four or five times in a row while I was doing my homework. At that time I was really drawn to hip hop, but then I got into Monty Python and loved it so much! I mean, I've listened to the parrot sketch more than 'Me, Myself & I', and I've studied Monty Python more than most Public Enemy. I've always loved sound effects and music, and how they go together, and these were really great experiences as I could just put my headphones on and escape. What was really funny was that I knew all these things on tape, so it was a real shock when I realised they were visual and saw them on screen. They're a huge influence for me. In fact I blame the British for any humour that's in my music!" Kid Koala comes across as an extremely modest person, a point borne out when he describes his talent for scratching as "more like a knack. It's a process, and I’m still growing, ever since I started at the age of 12. I'm extremely lucky, because I get to do a record, make a book, and these things feel very normal to me. I also get to have a house here in Montreal with a studio, and this one has air conditioning, which is very important as I'm melting in the heat right now!" KID KOALA’S ALBUM ‘ YOUR MOM’S FAVORITE DJ ’ IS OUT ON SEPTEMBER 18TH ON NINJA TUNE . KID KOALA PLAYS A ONE MAN SOLO SHOW AT CARGO ON SEPTEMBER 20TH . WORDS: BEN HOGWOOD

tags: | kid koala | your moms favorite dj | cargo | ninja tune | club | dance | dj | de la soul | more...

Juliette and The Licks

Juliette and The Licks

"Put it in my hand and tell me how much pressure it takes to get you off," is the opening lyric to 'Shelter Your Needs', the opening track on the Licks' first EP released in 2004, and lets you know exactly what you are in for right from the off. Lewis' appearances in dark, hardly mainstream, almost punk rock films such as 'Natural Born Killers', 'Kalifornia' and 'From Dusk Til Dawn', to name three, means you wouldn’t have been surprised if a future role had been taking the lead in a biopic of Joan Jett. But she took it one step further and actually formed a band in real life, partly due to equal parts boredom and frustration, partly due to passion, and instead of singing manufactured bubblegum pop a la Lindsay Lohan (for want of a better example), she sings good old-fashioned rock and roll. When meeting Juliette she is just out of bed, hungover, make up-free and completely un-starry. (Where's the entourage?) She has been staying in a hotel apartment for the last few months due to appearing in the Sam Shepard play 'Fool for Love' in the West End. On the wall is a calendar packed with future engagements including the start of her upgraded UK tour in a few weeks. This is just the beginning of the press circuit which means she is excited to talk about the forthcoming album - and also can’t wait for her band to come over and join her and get back on the kind of stages she is used to. Over green tea, we briefly chat about Nouvelle Vague ("I want to work with this guy") and guiltily fancying current singer-songwriter du jour James Morrison ("oh my"), before moving on to discuss the soon to be released second album 'Four on the Floor'. I keep accidentally referring to it as 'Four to the Floor' because that's the saying I know. "Oh Four on the Floor is the saying I know. It was 'Four to the Floor' the first time I saw it in print and I was like (screeches) "What?" It was one of those Spinal Tap moments. Four on the Floor is a term I heard a couple of years ago and it’s just a solid drum beat - one, two, three, four, one, two, three, four. It's a drum beat that's pretty timeless and makes you want to move. And when I told my dad, he was like that's a race car driving term. It means what you're driving and it stands for speed and efficiency and because there's four gears. I say it in 'Smash and Grab' (first track on the album) and that song's a metaphor for driving, fighting and screwing and stuff. For me it was something timeless and solid which is the rock album I was hoping to make." How long did the recording process take? "Really a total of a few weeks. We did all the drum tracks in three days and everything else, guitars, vocals and stuff a couple of weeks later. So the whole thing was mixed and recorded in probably a month and a half. We don't have the luxury of time or money or anything... yet. So everyone works within... we all work on passion really. And Dylan Mclaren, the guy who produced it. I'm a bit wary of somebody else's direction because this is something I built from the ground up and I really want to preserve the sound." You can tell when a producer comes in and takes over and it's just their vision instead of the band's. "Yes! Totally and they'll start trying to put different sounds in and it's like (gruff male voice) "you should start using a harp" or "why don't you do this?" Dylan stretched us... but all he really did was realize who we are sonically and he had mixed the band several times live so he understood us as a live act. I thought anybody who is going to work with us needs to know what we are like as a live band and he mixes really good so the sound is really rough and full and energetic." How did Dave Grohl get involved on this album? Have you known him from way back? "No I haven't! (laughs) That was just a bit of magic. That was really special. Last year we met at the Reading festival and he came up to me and said hello and I watched the Foo Fighters from the side of the stage that night and I don't know, we struck up a friendship and our entire friendship revolved around music and all we would do was trade music back and forth that we liked. I think he had been touring all year, and so had we, and I wanted to try demo-ing the record, some songs, start planting the seeds of what the record would be. He offered us the use of his studio and then offered to drum on demos we recorded. We recorded five, three are on the record. And I think he was hungry to drum after touring so much. So the demos turned out really, really nice and I asked him to do the rest of the album and he said yeah. I think it was a timing thing as much as anything because to get that guy, you know some of his time, is pretty hard and it was just the perfect window." Do you think he will play live with you at any point? "God willing. Really, it will be my mission." You hear about how he's one of the best drummers around but it's not until you see him live that you realise he actually is. "Some drummers are just superstars and you watch them and you just get goosebumps. To record the album and be like five feet away from him and when he was drumming, you can feel that energy, it's just phenomenal. So yeah, it will be my mission that he will play live with us but we'll see." Was supporting Foo Fighters at Hyde Park in June your biggest show to date? "Well, believe it or not, we played this weird show in Italy in front of 400, 000 people so it still counts because we were in front of that many people but it was for a TV show. There were a bunch of bands and we did four songs. But technically that was the audience, I mean it was almost half a million. So this was our proper rock show, the biggest - yeah for sure. It was just an amazing privilege really to be asked by Dave to be on that line-up and to be the opener. We knew we were going to open so we wanted to set the pace and bring the rock and roll to the table right out of the gate. I think we did good... we played all of our songs too fast because we were all really nervous. We were like, "what? did we play too fast?" When we played, Pat Smear and Dave Grohl were on the side of the stage and the drummer I had at the time was playing Dave's parts so I was a bit nervous. That was such an exciting day to be on the bill with all those bands and then once your set's done, you get to watch all of the other bands. Lemmy from Motorhead and his guitar player asked me to sing back-up on one of their songs. Was that a dream of yours? "Not really! I’d seen them live in LA and they are probably one of the most fun bands to see live." They are definitely one of the loudest bands I've seen. "Yeah they were, they live up to that. The thing is with this whole music thing I take nothing for granted. So if an opportunity comes my way, I just frickin' grab it. So when I’m asked by Motorhead... and normally, you don't want to make a fool of yourself." Did you know the song though? "No! I didn't know the song (laughs). I get intimidated here and there... but I can't pass up the chance to stand onstage with Motorhead. Lemmy's girlfriend was singing back-up too. There wasn't really a melody and once you get on stage you don't hear vocals, it's literally a wall of sound of distorted guitars. I thought I had permanent hearing damage... it was phenomenal - I think they are half deaf. But that was fun." The first single to be released from the album will be 'Hot Kiss'. After a brief pause where Juliette stops to kill a fly, she can't remember where the video was filmed, definitely in London though, maybe Camden, maybe not. "That video idea had a bigger idea but we don't have money yet. This is my whole goal to create a living and sell some records so I can better the vision I have for things." So, do you want to spend loads of money on videos and production? "Not loads but you have no idea how little we have." The low budget look and feel works for this video though. "I originally had the idea where we were on the tour bus and I was looking down the hall and my band were getting dressed. It's a vision I have all the time because the song's about missing my man. But I'd like to earn a living so we have more room to be able to create... so we could film a video in two days instead of one. I'm not talking about millions. The next single is going to be 'Sticky Honey'. I have an entire little story but there's no way we could film it... of two little kids who grew up across the street from each other, they go off to school then they get married. I have a whole idea and I can't do it. When we tour, we don't have a sound guy, every so often we'll get one and on this tour, we're going to have one because it’s really important, it's our next album so it should sound good - you have to spend where it makes sense. But I just want to improve our show and also be able to have more time to create the next record instead of having to rush everything and have deadlines. You don't understand, I have deadlines all the time." The Licks are Todd Morse (rhythm guitar, formerly in post-hardcore band H20), Kemble Walters (lead guitar), Jason Womack (bass) and Ed Davis (drums). Are you looking forward to the UK tour? "Man, I've been counting the days. My band are at home. My right hand man, Todd, always calls me. We have to get a new drummer in shape to tour so this guy Ed is going to be filling in on drums and they've been rehearsing with him and my guitar player will call me and send me MP3s because I told them to record some of the songs. We'll practise together for two weeks and then go on tour. We're all excited to play the new record." Is this the first time you are playing the whole record on tour? "A couple of them we have played live for the last six months - 'Hot Kiss', 'Mindful of Daggers' and 'Bullshit King'. But all the rest like 'Purgatory Blues' I can't wait to play and 'Killer' - that’s a mouthful. When you write a song like that you have to be clever with your insults. You can't just say (screeches) "why are you such a fucking shit?" or something. Be inventive or use a metaphor but this was about a friend of mine's alter ego and I just love that term killer and being a ladykiller. But this tour is so exciting! I feel like it's the beginning of the beginning. I feel like this was my vision three years ago finally realised and this record’s more focused than that last (2005's 'You're Speaking My Language') and I feel like we've grown as a band and we've created this synergy... and the line-up of who we are, besides my new drummer, is the band. Collectively we all have the element to create the music we make." When you were putting the band together, did you almost have a checklist in your mind? "Well I did because when you create art together, quote unquote (laughs) you have to be able to communicate in a really special way and it’s kind of unexplainable, so how do you do this through a conversation? How can you tell if you will be able to vibe and be open to exploring a song together? The main thing is that they be drug free. Absolutely. Because if you are going to be creative with somebody I can't work through fucking pot haze, or if they are speeding or whatever, I can't create... to me that just slows everything down and that's just annoying because people can't take direction necessarily well and they get sidetracked and there's a whole side of touring you avoid when people aren't on drugs. So that was the criteria for everybody in my band. I wrote songs with a few different people so I had this template which was five songs that each person had to learn so they'd learn the five songs I had written with various people and that was the first seeds of the Licks, and from there we would just develop songs. The great thing about musicians is they always have things they've been working on so they'll just play some riffs and either you respond straight away or you don't. That's the magic of music, you just hear things, it's sort of in the air. It's really neat." Juliette will talk openly, honestly and thoughtfully about anything she is asked. Other topics waxed lyrical about included the lack of frontwomen for girls to look up to and be inspired by. Apart from Beth Ditto ("I love the Gossip. I wanted them to open for us on our tour but they can't"), Karen O from Yeah Yeah Yeahs and the Brighton-based band, Headless who Juliette first encountered at one of the Licks' London gigs. Crowd-surfing: if you have seen Juliette live, you will know she is not just going to stand there and be admired, she likes to throw herself around on stage and get involved with the crowd. "No one audience is better in terms of reaction. But I can tell you about how each audience in different countries grabs me when I'm crowd surfing." Incorrect musical definitions: "I don't get why we are referred to as punk." Having to rein in guitarists: "Neil Young can play a guitar solo that will be dear to my heart but he’s Neil Young." Starring in an emotionally demanding play: "It’s difficult, sometimes I just don't want to go on. It’s like I don't feel like screaming today, I'm actually in quite a good mood." Macho bullshit in music: "I'd love to do a cover of 'Big Pimpin' by Jay-Z and just turn it on its head from a female perspective." Her future film career: "I would definitely like to do more films but it would have to be something really good." Scientology: "Some people get it so wrong. Like I read an article in a magazine and they just didn't get it at all. It's not about following a religion, it's about using it to enhance your life." And to set the record straight, she has been clean from drugs for 11 years ("people always get that wrong") and she didn't divorce her parents because she hated them. "It was just what you did, everybody did it. If you were an emancipated minor as opposed to just being a minor, you would get more work." So much more to discuss, so little time. Interview over. "You’re not even going to ask me about Brad?" she asks incredulously, obviously used to being asked about her former beau all the time (especially by UK tabloids I'd imagine). To be honest I'm so not interested in Brad Pitt. "Well (laughs) it's like me asking you about, like, Todd who you dated in eighth grade, it's so in the past." Ms Lewis has definitely come a long way since the pretty brutal criticisms of the band's appearance at the Vans Warped Tour a couple of years ago. Whether you like the music or not, you have to respect anybody who does things totally on their own terms. Somebody this driven and passionate could never give up or fail. Still think it's four to the floor though. THE SINGLE ' HOT KISS' WILL BE RELEASED ON SEPTEMBER 26TH AND THE ALBUM ' FOUR ON THE FLOOR' WILL BE RELEASED ON OCTOBER 2ND BOTH THROUGH HASSLE RECORDS . WORDS: LYNSEY HOSKINS

tags: | shelter your needs | juliette lewis | the licks | natural born killers | kalifornia | more...

Good Shoes

Good Shoes are a music journalist's dream, with their name providing unlimited quips and puns to compliment their glowing reviews. Since they shut themselves away in a recording studio in Sweden to polish off their debut album, catching up with them is a hard task but, via cryptic messages and carrier pigeons, Notion managed to have a chat with the group's lead singer and main spokesman, Rhys. Since meeting at school and forming a band, brothers Rhys and Tom Jones and friends Steve Leach and Joel Cox have heard every footwear joke going. "One of my mates said he was going to start a band called Good Shoes and I said: 'No, you're not. I am'," laughs Rhys. "I wear old brown leather brogues, but that's not relevant. You know it would be a good thing if reviewers concentrated on the music rather than listing as many shoe puns as possible." He sighs, blatantly bored with the endless questions concerning his choice of sole. Putting the shoe gags aside; Good Shoes have emerged onto the scene encapsulating everything that makes our indie saturated music world good. It's all here... Arctic Monkeys-style gritty suburban tales set in UK towns? Check. ('Drunken fools singing 80s tunes /they'll be singing out of tune saying/Get the foreigners out of my area'). The directness and bold swagger of Razorlight? Check. ('I'm a good shag, but I find nobody fit'). The paranoid mind of The Kooks? Check. ('It’s all in my head'). Now add a small streak of melancholy from The Cure and a thick layer of The Futureheads' jerky indie pop and we're almost there. "I suppose the music we first started making sounded a bit like The Strokes or The Libertines, but it kind of developed into our own sound. It's a bit of a cliché to say it now, but when The Strokes came out it was a bit of a revelation really. That's when I realised there was more to music than what you're spoon-fed by. I guess we write about what we know, but what else can you write about?" In their early days, Good Shoes could have been seen as the B&Q of the music industry. A true D.I.Y band with a shed doubling up as a recording studio and practice area, home-made badges and former art school student Rhys designing all of the band's artwork. Although they have moved on from the shed to a recording studio belonging to songwriter and producer Tore Johansson (famed for his work with The Cardigans and Franz Ferdinand’s first album), Rhys still creates the colourful art that adorns Good Shoes' record sleeves, whilst Joel is in charge of their videos. "I think it’s great to be in control of what goes on the CD," Rhys says. "It's cool to get something you create back and it looks good. I had a vision of the artwork... and having the whole single come together over a couple of months really is nice." Being one of the first signings to Brille Records (also home to The Knife, Envelopes and Whirlwind Heat), could have been a risky move but the boys are revelling in having a free reign over their music. "Yeah it's been pretty crazy," Rhys admits. "I guess that when you’re in the middle of it, you don’t think about it. We chose to sign to them because they're pretty cool guys who run it and the other bands on the label are just really cool bands. It's been so easygoing, being able to do whatever artwork you want and deciding with them what singles should come out. There are people I know who are just told what to do." With their home town of Morden being the last stop on the Northern Line, Good Shoes are automatically qualified to be part of the new wave of London based talent along with Jamie T, Larrikin Love and the Mystery Jets. But despite counting the latter as a major inspiration, Rhys doesn't quite see it that way. "We never really go out to the obvious scene-type hang-outs. When I'm not playing gigs I tend to hang around with my mates who I've known all my life. I don't tend to want to be a part of that whole scene thing to be honest, but it's an exciting time. Definitely when compared to Britpop. To see it now feels like the late 70s or early 80s when there were bands and scenes all over the country." Doing their bit for the recent dance and indie crossover trend, Good Shoes are running a side project remixing material from fellow bands. Their spin off myspace.com site (www.myspace.com/goodshoesremix) dedicated to their reworking of indie tunes sees Good Shoes' Joel and Steve giving Maximo Park's 'Stay' an entirely different sound, consisting of slowed down vocals with edgy electro bleeps and a beat that borders on techno. "We got asked by Maximo Park's management because they're friends with the people who run our record label, and if the truth be known, we're not really Maximo Park fans and we'd only remix songs we didn't particularly like in the first place." So things are going from strength to strength for the quirky four, especially after touring with Texan mavericks Be Your Own Pet, who announced Good Shoes as their "favourite fucking band" at each gig. Along with that, what would they count as their best experience yet? "Signing is pretty amazing," recalls Rhys. "It's just that security and definitely knowing that you’re going to be releasing some material. When we got signed we got new equipment. We recently got new flight cases and Tom got a new drum kit and it's started to feel like a proper band." Judging by the punchy anthems they produced previously, they always have been. Now with Rhys being called back to recording duties, there's nothing left for you to do but put your best foot forward and join the new music revolution. THE SINGLE ' ALL IN MY HEAD' IS AVAILABLE NOW ON BRILLE . WORDS: LAUREN TONES

tags: | good shoes | maximo park | all in my head | brille | band | music | rock | indie | more...

Jurassic 5

It's been said that home is where the heart is. The comfort of one's surroundings, one's own environment, makes some feel loved. But for others, home is not always the best place to be. Though the heart remains, some just long to get away. Producer/DJ Nu-Mark and rappers Akil, Marc 7, Chali 2NA and Zaakir (AKA Soup), together known as American hip hop group Jurassic 5, embrace the need for travel beyond their comfort zone. Jurassic 5 love to stand united with hip hop lovers beyond home's states. "Touring internationally is better, I think; the people have just got a love," said Jurassic 5 member Soup. "Sometimes you find a couple of them that get caught up, but a lot of times overseas they just enjoy the fact that you're there and you're trying to have a good time, trying to give them 100%. They really enjoy that, and I love that." Back home on American soil, touring can get a little dirty. Some have a love/hate relationship with Jurassic 5 - some just love to hate them. "You've got a lot of people in the game who just don't like us," Soup said. "They ain't met us, I know they ain't saying that after they meet us. They just don't like the music; they don't like the way that we look or whatever it is. But they can't understand why we're still here. "I'd think people know why (we're still here). It's from having the maturity to make proper business decisions and make moves to help us gain momentum in whatever we're trying to get to." Jurassic 5 has been "here" for more than 10 years now. In 1993, two hip hop crews from Los Angeles, California - Rebels of Rhythm and Unity Committee - merged to form Jurassic 5. In 1995 with former member, DJ/producer Cut Chemist, the then six-member group recorded their first single, 'Unified Rebellion.' Two years later the group released a critically acclaimed self-titled EP. Soup said things have grown drastically since their first release, including his own, and the group's, maturity. "Personally I had a lot of growing up to do," he said. "I didn’t like the fact in the beginning that Charli would get all the notice. And the ill thing about it too was that when we first got together I remember telling Charli that he was the best in the group. Now go figure that! It’s funny because it wasn't that I wanted to be the star, it was that I really didn’t know what it was!" "I love these dudes," Soup said. "I had a lot of growing up to do, getting to know the fellas and getting on the road with them for two and three months - going overseas. We argue; we go through all the ups and downs, but there ain't another groups of dudes I'd rather be with." Their togetherness came full circle in 2000 with the release of their full-length follow-up, 'Quality Control'. Jurassic 5 joined the Warped Tour and toured with singer/poet Fiona Apple. Some found humour in their choice of tour mates. "I read an interview with Evidence from Dilated Peoples, and he said we were on tour with Fiona Apple; they had in parenthesis 'laughing'," Soup remembered. "He thought that was funny because that was something he wouldn’t even think of doing. But look at us though! It's not a comparison with Dilated, but those types of decisions keep us going." In 2002, Jurassic 5 released their second full length album, 'Power In Numbers'. Domestically the album has sold over 379,000 copies to date according to Nielsen Soundscan. In 2004, Cut Chemist left J5 for a solo career while the remaining group members continued to tour in the U.S. and internationally through 2005. Jurassic 5 performed various dates in Canada, Switzerland, France, the Netherlands and United Kingdom. "Out of the underground movement we're some of the only cats that's still here," Soup said. "A lot of the cats ain’t here no more, and if they are, you ain't really checking for them. And I’m not saying they're super-checking for J5, but J5 does have a little life." That life continues to feed from touring abroad. In such places as Bristol, Glasgow and London, Jurassic 5 are accepted for what they do. At home in some parts of America, the hip hop quintet is an acquired taste. "If you're not what people came to see then they're not trying to hear you," Soup said. "Overseas they just want to get with you and have a good time. Domestically, out here, we’re real big on categorising." The culture of hip hop and its music varies in every point on the compass, especially in America. Hip hop in the East is represented differently from the South, and so on. Over the years, hip hop has been segmented. Though they’re from L.A, Jurassic 5 have a sound not normally associated with hip hop from the western United States. They employee a more poetic style associated with traditional rappers of hip hop's New York origin. This adds another dash of pepper to the acceptance of their flavour elsewhere. "The old school sound we got may not be original because we didn't create it, but we try to put our spin on it," Soup said. "Being original we just try to be creative as much as possible. We don't sound like nobody out now." For Jurassic 5 being original in sound, and separating themselves from the norm, has had its disadvantages domestically. Soup recalled when Jurassic was one of eight acts on the Smokin' Grooves Tour. He said fans in certain areas had no problem showing their disapproval of Jurassic 5's presence. "We were performing and there were some guys and girls shaking their heads like "no" while we were performing," Soup said. "People get there early because they want to get a good seat. I'm like, dude you got the ticket; did you get the memo? There are eight groups on this bill. They're shaking their heads like we're stopping them from seeing who they came to see! You're going to have to wait! If we're not your favourite group, that's cool. That's just how it is. "I've bought tickets to shows with a packed bill," Soup continued. "I never dissed other people because my favourite group came on at 8, and it's now 12 o’clock." For Jurassic 5, the clock is still ticking. The group put a lot of time into current album 'Feedback', their 2006 album release for Interscope Records. With Chemist gone, more of the group's production fell on Nu-Mark. The group also welcomed a contribution from producers Salam Remi and commercially successful, multi-platinum producer Scott Storch. Storch's style, which has backed the likes of rappers 50 Cent, G-Unit, Busta Rhymes and Fat Joe, is a huge contrast from typical J5 fare. That may turn some of their fans pale. "We can continue to talk about "the Golden Era" and what rap should be, or we can see how we can fit what we do into the new age of where everything else is going," Soup said. "I think it will be something on there for the fans who know J5 to like. And hopefully we got some stuff on there for new people to pick up on it. And at the same time we’re going to lose people." The first single from 'Feedback', 'Work It Out,' features pop/folk group Dave Matthews Band. Soup said the collaboration was bound to happen sooner or later. "Dave has been a big fan of ours," he said. "He asked us if we could do a couple of dates with him on his tour. So we did that. "Dave came out every night to introduce us, to soften the crowd up a little bit I guess," Soup continued with a laugh. "He saw our show every night we performed on tour with him." After the tour, Jurassic 5 participated in an organisation called Vote For Change with Matthews. Their working relationship grew stronger. Jurassic 5 discussed doing a song with Dave Matthews Band, and DJ Nu-Mark produced a beat the group felt fit Dave perfectly. They contacted him, flew to Seattle, Washington and recorded the single. Then Nu-Mark went and tracked the rest of the band. Both parties were pleased with what had been drawn together, but those on the outside looking in saw a not-so-pleasing picture. "I've already heard die-hard J5 fans say they're not going to buy this record because Dave Matthews is on it," Soup stated. "We're going to do what we’re going to do. We always did what we liked doing. I would like for them to stay on board, but if not, I'm not begging them to. If you're with it, you're with. If you ain't, you ain't." From touring with Fiona Apple, to teaming up with Dave Matthews, to touring the world; Jurassic 5 do what they need to do to keep themselves around. They prefer international tours, but they're still at home. 'Feedback' is just another round trip. "It's a different vibe," Soup said. "When we did the Warped Tour we were the only hip hop group there. And people still point out and remember where they’ve seen us. We have to be mature enough to make the proper decisions to where it benefits us and keeps us going." THE ALBUM 'FEEDBACK' WILL BE AVAILABLE THROUGH INTERSCOPE ON JULY 25TH WORDS: JOE WALKER

tags: | jurassic 5 | feedback | interscope | hip hop | rap | dj | music | dj | nu-mark | akil | more...

Tiefschwarz

Tiefschwarz, which is German for "deep black" was formed in 1996 by brothers Alexander, 39, and Sebastian, 37, Schwarz. The pair are joined by Peter Hoff, who runs studios in their home city, to complete the production team. Their latest compilation, for Fabric, is up there with the best in the series. For a lot of people German music has long been synonymous with naff or mindnumbing. Although there have been groundbreaking and respected acts such as Kraftwerk, in more recent times German dance has conjured up thoughts of cheesy trance and Eurotrash techno music with taste well and truly out of the proverbial window. But in the last few years, cooler producers have emerged onto the scene with edgy Berlin influenced electronica from artists including Digitalism, Alter Ego, and the daddies of it all, Tiefschwarz. Starting out producing deep house music they now boast a darker sound - an infusion of minimal techno beats; uber-cool electronic bleeps and crunching rock basslines which all make for an ear busting trip of gritty and edgy electro. Popular tracks like 'Blow', 'Ghosttrack' and 'Issst' plus their remixes have been tearing up dancefloors all over the world - most notably their take on Spektrum's 'Kinda New' - which was the tune of Ibiza a couple of summers ago. When Tiefschwarz reworked the London quartet’s disco-punk stomp it was played all over the radio and at every type of house night going, thrusting the German duo firmly into the clubbing mainstream. The brothers grew up in Stuttgart in Southern Germany as part of a fun loving family and drew inspiration from their party-mad parents particularly their father, who sadly died last year. His influence remains firmly with the duo and it was his early music and passion for dancing that really fired their imagination. Alexander, or Ali as he prefers to be called, explains: "We don't have a musical background, but we have a big party background. My father was always bringing old records and tape machines to parties. He was into all kinds of music: pop, 50s, the Beatles and Stones, classical, everything. Our parents loved to dance and were very open-minded. Our father would often come on tour with us." As teenagers Sebastian, or Basti for short, loved punk rock and was the drummer for several bands, so it was Ali who immersed himself in the new wave clubbing scene in Stuttgart and at 15 years old often found himself the youngest in this new social community. Despite this early introduction to the clubbing scene it was only later that he discovered electronic music. "I had a friend who had a huge record collection and I would go to his house every afternoon," Ali says. "He knew all about so many rare bands, from black music to eclectic leftfield but also electronic music and I started to listen to music like Kraftwerk. He would teach me to listen to music more deeply, to actually go deep into the structure of it and learn what’s behind it all. That was a very important part of my life musically," he adds. Ali and Basti soon began hosting their own parties, first in their flat and then professionally by renting out local venues. But whilst Basti still loved drumming and moved to Hamburg to study music Ali opened his own club On-U in 1990. "When the Berlin wall came down we built a wall around the club and had weird furniture from East Germany. It was a really special time." After two years away Basti returned to Stuttgart and the pair began DJing in the club and then opened another called Red Dog in 1993 but this time only playing deep house. "We dedicated Red Dog to becoming a pure underground house club. It was really small, but we had amazing guests - Masters at Work, Tony Humphries, all these US legends," reminisces Ali. As their reputation grew beyond Stuttgart they began to take their house sound across the rest of Germany plus countries such as Austria and Switzerland. And it was here that the twosome began to produce records. Ali explains: "Together with the profile we had with the club and our first productions, it started growing. And the Tiefschwarz story really began in 1996." Between releasing their first album 'Ral 9005' in 2000 and 'Eat Books' in 2005, they remixed over 200 tracks and their sound evolved from deep house to the electro sound they use today. Basti says: "After the first album we discovered clubs more and more. It was really good to have all these kind of remixes, we crossed the border. We said ok, we're not deep house anymore. We changed and it was really good to change because we're free now and we can do whatever we want. That was very important." The new sound was a hit with British fans and they have played to throngs of clubbers in venues all across the country. But they were first introduced to the UK dance scene in 2003 when they played London's revered nightclub Fabric. Basti says: "We were so excited to play at Fabric. For me it's one of the best clubs in the world with by far the best line-ups. It's really remarkable. It teaches the crowd to accept new perspectives and visions of music." Tiefschwarz are so popular that the club asked them to release a mix album on their Fabric series of compilations. So what can fans expect from Fabric 29? "We wanted to give a perspective of a Tiefschwarz DJ mix in one hour," Ali explains. He says: "We were interested in showing what interests us as a DJ team. That's how we selected the tracks. It made sense to do a DJ mix rather than an eclectic mix because that's why we're at Fabric." And the mix doesn't disappoint with a typically deranged and blaring peak time set scattered with popping beats, rock basslines, punkish vocals and stomping rhythms. Now major forces in the electro house movement the duo, currently based in Berlin, also boast a record label, Souvenir, which puts out club tracks in the Tiefschwarz style, the aforementioned albums and a rigorous tour schedule that takes them DJing all over the globe including a prestigious residency this summer for We Love Sundays at, arguably Ibiza's hippest club, Space. "We are so blessed to see the world through these special eyes. We always come into a city where we're invited as a guest. I created this term "inner-circle tourism," you come and people take you inside the scene, and that's something you never discover as a normal tourist," Ali says. With their second album being hailed by critics as the "freshest thing since Daft Punk," energising DJ sets spreading their music all across the world and in-demand production skills which have recently reworked tracks for A-list acts such as Goldfrapp, Fischerspooner, Missy Elliott, Depeche Mode and Madonna - their star is definitely on the rise. FABRIC 29: TIEFSCHWARZ IS AVAILABLE NOW. WORDS: FIONA RAISBECK

tags: | tiefschwarz | germany | black | alexander | sebastian | schwarz | peter hoff | fabric | more...

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