STEREO Q & A with CHEZ DAMIER

1.     
From 1997 till 2004 you kept off the radar in terms of production and DJing, as your personal affairs had taken first priority. How did you keep yourself busy? Were you still actively tracking the industry’s trends?  

First of all I have always had a corporate background so my life has always been split between what I called the real word and the artistic world, one having rules already in place and the other you get to make rules. Once I am into one or the other world then that is the only world that exist for me, so to answer if I kept my eye on the dance industry and trends doing this time the answer is no.

2.      You’re responsible for some of the most classiest and sensual house music. The body of your work is an amalgamation of influences coming out from Detroit, New York and Chicago, yet you stay true to your own sound. Who were your mentors when you first got started? Did you start DJing before producing?

I humbly thank you for them powerful words, concerning which preceded the other I guess the both really started at the same time after growing up in Chicago apart from the House Most of my inspiration to play and music came from Frankie Knuckles, and the inspiration to pursue it came from Juan Atkins, Kevin Saunderson, and Derrick may, and the motivation to give it my all came from, Dave Morales, Timmy Registford, Tony Humphries, Paul Simpson and Boyd Jarvis

3.      It was easy to assume that you ran the Chez Music imprint, a common misconception perhaps? But after working on KMS with Kevin Saunderson, and Prescription with Ron Trent, you do in fact run Balance Alliance. Can you tell us a bit about your upcoming   Chez Damier projects?

There are so many projects to hope for, completing a album, doing Live shows, and helping to develop new talent, these are on my desk at the moment, but with Chez things changes quite a bit, so who really knows until it happens.

4.      You, Chris Carrier and Jeff K collaborated on a project called The Gathering and wound up with a little gem entitled, “In My System”. This was probably one of the biggest records to be released in 2010. How did this collective come about? Did you anticipate this record to be as widely received as it did?

I was spending a a month  in Paris and Jef a longtime friend wanted to do a project and so he introduced me to Chris  and we all agreed on doing this project, I stared the track , just tracks at the time and left it with Jef and Chris to work on when it was time for all of us to do the session  we wanted to write a hook to it and that was it. I have been producing music for 22 years so you never anticipate what a record will do, so this was just a collected project that we were doing, I am always happy when the world agree with something I have done or been a part of, so to really be honest I do what I do, feel what I feel and if people like it, then it’s a good reward in the end, but this is and have never been why I do music. Chris and I have stared on the follow up , we are expecting nothing.

Interview by: Nadir Agha.

The Secret Agency's 2nd Fabric take over

The Secret Agency Night at Fabric / 19.02.2011


Photos: http://www.higher-frequency.com/party_reports/3152

Our second bite at the fabric cherry brought together Ethyl, Patrice Scott and Giles Smith. 3 DJs know for their forthright, uncompromising style. There was hardly a CD in sight and those that did come out packed a punch, with some raw jams forth coming from the artist’s own labels and close cousins like Aesthetic Audio gripping the fabric crowd throughout. 


Ethyl’s fabric debut warmed the room up nicely, playing cat and mouse with the slowly building crowd, teasing in with cuts from the likes of RNDM and slowly edging the floor towards its peak. His melodic flourish to end his set gave way to the warmth and atmosphere of Detroit’s Patrice Scott, who set off quickly into the groove, melding the swing of house with the hypnotic power of techno in a way only he can. Patrice is a fabric regular and really showed why, pushing and pulling the assembled heads in all directions, showcasing new material as well as tried and tested Detroit beaters.    

By the time Giles Smith took over at 3am the room was ticking over nicely, but the secretsundaze resident clearly had other ideas. Wave after wave of some of the most sophisticated house boomed through room 3, with each track luring in more dancers and keeping the faithful locked into step. Records from Steven Tang, fresh from Berlin’s Hardwax store gave the set a unique edge and the crowd responded dully. An hour past the scheduled closing time the music finally stopped, as the last few bars played out shots were raised to a special night.

Open House with Ethyl / Re-edit give away

With his debut at fabric upcoming on Saturday, we thought it was high time to have a little root around in Ethyl's record bag and delve into his hard drive to see what he has been tinkering with recently. Hooking up again with Huxley, Ethyl recently dropped Reflexions on Tsuba, following releases with Flori on Quintessentials, Freerange and Development.  

Record that never leaves your bag?

Roy Davis Jr - Gabriel. It's been in there for years and keeps jumping into the new one each time the stitching goes. I don't even play it out an awful lot, it's just comforting to know it's there.

Track that got a surprising reaction from crowds when you dropped it?

I always find reactions from the floor are most surprising when it's something which hasn't got an official release, like music I've been sent. One track that worked really well recently is by a self proclaimed newcomer Nick Turner. The track's called Keep On and it just went off.  I think it's forthcoming on Lady Blacktronika's new label, Kemystry.

What is your favorite remix?

Crikey, big ask. Off the top of my head at the moment I'm really feeling the FaltyDL remix of Frictionalism, it's different. And last year's Andres remix of KZRC - Feeding the Children is a great record. 

What's your favorite re-edit and why?

I guess I Can't Kick This Feeling - Moodymann is an obvious choice but it's a lot more than a simple re-edit, or Walter Murphy's Afternoon of A Faun id est Black Mahogani.

What were you trying to achieve from your re-edit of Fatback Band - Keep on Steppin'? 

I ended just adding a few subtle bits, some kicks, a clap, not a lot else and stretched it out. 


Keep On Steppin' (Ethyl's re-edit) by The Secret Agency

What is your connection with the original track?

It's just a cool track... I think. It's not really the kind of thing I play out or am hugely inclined to buy.

The Aphotic Segments Part One

Following Keith Worthy's latest last week, we now have samples of the latest on Patrice Scott's Sistrum imprint. Plunging to aphotic depths, each of the 4 tracks is as accomplished as you get, finding Lenoid's graceful Mudanza sitting comfortably next to the ebbs and flows of XDB's chugging Sotarin on the A. Flip it and Patrice' own 3am takes hold in hypnotic fashion to ease in a Sistrum debutant, Anton Zap, who rides a pulsing sub with an ethereal melody.

Click here for a preview!

Also doing the business now is Patrice' Sistrum remix of Pawel's Crillon on Dial, from a package including Osunlade and hot property John Roberts.

Click here to check out Louche 034 mixed by Patrice

Abstractions

Keith Worthy is back with his Aesthetic Audio label, high standards as usual with this 3 tracker with contributions from Michal Wierzchowski, Nick Agha and the man himself Keith. All three tracks are ocean deep with lots to discover but the spacey arpeggios of Deep Roots immediately had us up at a Friday morning jig around the office.

Click here for a preview!
                         

secretsundaze NYE in review...

A great welcome to 2011 with secretsundaze NYE at Red Gallery in Shoreditch. It was delivered by 11 DJs and 2 of the hottest live acts around, with the raw warehouse venue spread into 3 rooms of music that varied from Deep Techno to Post Dubstep. The low ceilings and retro oil wheel lighting made for a warm tripped out atmosphere, a perfect start to the new year.

Giles Smith started with some solid deep house slowly building into 2011, raising the sense of excitement, before Space Dimension Controller (all the way from the 24th century) who dropped the pace and created a blessed out mood with some familiar tracks from his repertoire.

With his own custom made rotary mixer John Daly pitched up tempo and crowed responded to the added energy well. His set is a collection of exclusive never to be released tools and upcoming material.

In the space of an hour he had brought the party to a simmer and it was time for the headliner. Chez Damier’s appearance behind the decks jacked up the excitement. Special edits and dusty Prescription classics kept things vibrant and soulful for the full range of house heads that have been captivated by his music over the years and now thronged around the decks. 

The night was closed by James Priestley with Chez Damier’s I never knew love, an uplifting, melodic end to a night (as seen on video).

 Elsewhere ReviveHER and Non-sense room were chocked full of people grooving to the disparate sounds pumped out by the DJs. All of this made up for one hell of a party to kick off 2011, the 10th anniversary year of secretsundaze.




You can view more videos on the dance floor of London at...
www.vimeo.com/channels/selectivepressureuk

GILES SMITH (secretsundaze, Two Armadillos) share his top 10 tracks of 2010

GILES SMITH (secretsundaze, Two Armadillos) share his top 10 tracks that have been doing the business for the past 12 months. The last few tickets for secretsundaze NYE bash, at London's raw Red Gallery are available here


1. Moody – It’s Too Late For You and Me (KDJ)

Kenny comes back and slaps you in the face! A dark uncompromising techno groove not unlike “Live in 98” is flipped into one of the most bad ass soulful basslines, exquisite, heartfelt vocals What more can I say.. a stone cold classic and up there with Mr Moody’s best work.

2. Walt J  - Reborn (DJ Qu remix) (Curle)

Originals are absolutely gems from the deep but its Q’s scintillating techno groove that takes this to a different yet no less appealing place.

3. Tazz – The World Of Techno EP (Underground Quality)

Amazing four tracker from Canadian Tazz. You want real Techno there's "Unrestrained", deep and experimental there's "Lost" and pure Detroit atmosphere on "World of Techno". Blistering EP!

4. Steven Tang – Verged EP (Aesthetic Audio)

What a great EP from Keith Worthy’s label. Standout tracks here are the atmospheric “Aerial” and the moody bad ass groove of “Glimmer”. All true authentic Detroit cuts!

5. Smallpeople and Rau – “Life Aquatic” (Smallville)

Just in time ! This record got lost in a promo box sent to me a while ago but its just fell into my hands before I did this chart. A stunted deep techno groove gets things going before the warmest, loveliest pads really open this track up. Could have included any number of gems from Smallville or Laid here. Another great year from them.