Category: Interviews

INTERVIEW: Mason (ADE 2011)

Dutch production duo Mason is best known for their club track “Exceeder” which became the pop hit “Perfect” thanks to vocals by Princess Superstar. They’ve gone underground with a series of tracks that have gained much play from DJs around the world. 2011 saw them release their debut artist album They Are Among Us, featuring collaborations with everyone from Roisin Murphy an Sam Sparro?to Kurtis Blow and DMC. To take their show on the road, the duo Iason Chronis and Coen Berrier have constructed a unique interactive multidimensional experience. Mason proves that there’s definitely more to Dutch dance music than trance and dirty house.

DJ Ron Slomowicz: I hear that you guys worked with Roisin Murphy.

Iason Chronis (Mason): Yes, that is true. We just released our album They Are Among Us. We have been doing very club-focused records for the last seven years with a DJ following, and we thought it would be a nice challenge to make an album with more of a pop approach. We basically made a wish list of artists that we would like to work with and sent out our ideas and sketches. A lot of them were really up for it because they liked the music. This includes Roisin Murphy, Run DMC, Kurtis Blow and Aqualung. It was really inspiring and a big challenge to work with these kind of people. Since they are so talented at what they do it made us want to work even harder.

RS: When you work with them, do you send them a track and they write a topline to it? How do you collaborate?

Coen Berrier (Mason): It is actually different every time. Sometimes we go physically into the studio and record. With Roisin Murphy that is what we did. She was very impressive by the way. She actually wrote the lyrics there on the fly. At first, we were kind of worried because she didn?t prepare anything. It actually turned out really nice, which shows how much talent she has. She came in with a big scrapbook that had all kinds of cutouts and news articles in it. Sometimes we just work from eMails or the artist will come to us. There is one track that we actually wrote the whole top line and then asked someone to sing it. It can work either way. With the Aqualung track, for instance, he just delivered the vocals and we built the track around that.

Iason Chronis (Mason): The nicest way is to be in the studio together at the same time so that you can go back and forth with ideas and leave the studio when you are finished and satisfied.

RS: You also worked with Sam Sparro, correct?

Iason Chronis (Mason): That is right; we did a track with Sam Sparro in collaboration with DMC. It is called “Corrected” and it did really well here. He is a great vocalist, so it was pretty cool.

RS: Your artwork and logo is a cartoon kind of creation, who drew it and what was the inspiration of that?

Iason Chronis (Mason): Our label is called ?Animal Language? and it started out as our logo. It started as one little animal, but since we kept doing Animal Language parties and releases, our designer Ifo kept making more of them. It is now a whole life form; there is a whole world out there of all these animals that just keep getting nicer and nicer.

Coen Berrier (Mason): His company 310k based here in the Netherlands. They do very great stuff. We are actually about to release an underwear line with these animals on them. It is a nice gift for the holidays.

RS: You have a new single called “Le Big Bob.”

Iason Chronis (Mason): That?s right; it is our new release on Animal Language. It is not from the album. It has an electro, pop funk track, with remixes by Arveene & Misk, that are also on our label, as well as Disco of Doom, Luke Walker, and In Flagranti.

RS: What kind of track is it?

Iason Chronis (Mason): It is fun; we don?t like to take things too seriously. We aren?t the type of producers that like to make the boring two-minute intro, bassline, a one-minute breakdown and outro kind of track. It is just a fun, crazy track. Many times, they are just sketches that they would be used to play live or in the DJ sets. When we see what works we just make it into a proper release.

Coen Berrier (Mason): The video is actually worth checking out; it has a nice kind of food porn thing going on. We ran into some guys at a marketing company in Holland and they use a lot of commercials from big restaurant chains. They have all sorts of salad tossing, ice cubes falling in slow motion, and shrimp being broken in half with the juice falling out of them, so it is real fun.

RS: Talking about visuals, do you have a new live show that you are working on?

Iason Chronis (Mason): Yes, we have produced together for over a decade. I always DJ on my own because Coen doesn?t DJ, so we really want to bring our music together live on stage. It is more challenging than DJing, so we teamed up with a bunch of technicians and created a system that we do with Ableton. It has all of the different sounds, lights, and video attached to it so we can do an interactive show. We play instruments and a lot of gear alongside of it. It is just our own music and material, it is a lot of fun.
Coen Berrier (Mason): We have developed a system that syncs up our live set to all of the club lighting and video screens. We have a special video and lighting track developed; it is a special plug in Ableton that recognizes what sounds we play. We can actually slow down a track, video, and lights. We can even reverse a song and have the lights go backwards.

Iason Chronis (Mason): We can combine ten tracks and all of the lights from the tracks go together. It is a very modern system.

Coen Berrier (Mason): It is like we are the DJ, the musician, and the VJ at the same time. It is pretty spectacular.

RS: Do you use Ableton when you produce, or just when you DJ?

Iason Chronis (Mason): Ableton is for a live show and in the studio, we work with Logic.

RS: Are the visuals that you use in your show things that you find, do you use software to generate them, or does someone create them for you?

Coen Berrier (Mason): There is a guy from DeeperEnd TV that developed a system with a bunch of other people. He came up with the whole idea and concept. He uses interesting algorithms. He took elements out of different tracks, and used them to create certain visual patterns to combine them all together. We can play different elements from the track. For instance, the kick has a certain visual; the lead and bass sound have a visual as well. When combined, they give every track a unique look that fits the sound. There is also color so the lighting all moves in time. It is pretty spectacular when you see it. There is a video about how that works on our site and also on the Ableton blog. It is nice to have Ableton on board; they support the new plug in that we have built. Make sure to check that out.

RS: Where do you think that you fit into the rise of the Dutch movement, International scene? Where do you think the Dutch scene is going to go next?

Iason Chronis (Mason): Holland has had all different scenes parallel doing well over the last years. You have the trance guys, the dutch house guys like Chuckie and Afrojack,? and the techno people like Shanadoo and 2001. I don?t think that we fit into any of those scenes. It is nice because everyone supports each other. It is nice that Holland is on the map on all of these different levels. For a small country, we have quite a big dance scene, so there are always things bubbling up. Right now Dubstep is big in Holland.

Coen Berrier (Mason): I think that is a natural progression for this kind of Dutch movement to cross over. There is a big tradition in dance music here for the last decade. The Trance guys are always on the top of the DJ list. Holland was established as a house music country. I think that America is ready and it helps that people like Chuckie have more of a hip-hop background. I think that is helps in crossing over the sounds. It is nice that the States are finally ready for this kind of music.

RS: Did you guys ever meet Princess Superstar? What was she like?

Iason Chronis (Mason): Yes, we did, She is nice and goofy; I think that she is a real artist. She does all kinds of things; she does really obscure and freaky records. As you probably know, we did a commercial record together. We both like to play and listen to really obscure stuff. I wouldn?t be surprised if at some point you find a Mason and Princess Superstar record together. It would be like the newest, deepest, weirdest, obscurest, hard rock.

RS: What would you like to say to all of your fans out there?

Iason Chronis (Mason): I hope to see you guys at one of our new live shows. We are really excited to present it to the world. To all of you guys producing don?t forget to do your own thing. Don?t try to be the next this or that. Follow your own line even if it?s not popular or trendy. Make the kind of music that you believe in. That is the only thing that there is.

Coen Berrier (Mason): Keep it real.

Interview conducted October 2011 during Amsterdam Dance Event.

INTERVIEW: Vato Gonzalez (ADE 2011)

The Dirty Dutch movement has conquered the world and up next, watch out for the Dirty House scene. Coming from the pirate underground, Vato Gonzalez mashes elements of hip-hop, dancehall, baile funk, and house to create an energetic, prime time pumping sound. While his mix tapes have been downloaded over half a million times, his debut single “Badman Riddim” made top ten on the UK pop chart. Could US domination be next?

Continue reading INTERVIEW: Vato Gonzalez (ADE 2011)

INTERVIEW: Darude (ADE 2011)

For many people, “Sandstorm” continues to be the gateway to electronic dance music. The first time you hear it, you are instantly blown away by the epic energy of the track, which was Darude’s debut release. More than ten years later, Darude continues to tour the world as an in-demand DJ and producer. Last year, he partnered with producer Randy Boyer to create the Enmass production team and record label. With productions and a hot mixed compilation, Darude to continues to whip up the storm.

Ron Slomowicz: Welcome to Amsterdam. Is this your first time at the Amsterdam Dance Event?

Darude: No, I have been here about 6 times.

RS: What is your goal this year, what are you trying to accomplish?

Darude: I am pimping myself out.

RS: Pimping yourself and EnMass?

Darude: Yes, absolutely. We have four releases out with EnMass. The fifth one is coming out on the November 15th, so that is what I am pushing now. It is Kristina Skye and Randy Boyer, featuring Shyboy. ?Welcome To The Future? is the name of that. On that release there is going to be my remix with Randy Boyer, a Menno de Jong remix, and also the original mix. I am wearing my EnMass shirt, trying to represent. There is going to be a mixed compilation by me on EnMass music as well. There is currently no release date on that, but it may be in the next couple of months. I am resending this to a couple of labels that we may want to work with.

RS: EnMass is you and Randy Boyer together. How did the two of you meet up?

Darude: First off- let me make a correction, the original EnMass was actually just Randy Boyer and late Eric Tadla. They were a totally different thing. Randy and I actually met in 2000 when I played my first gig in the US; it was in Hartford, Connecticut. We didn?t become friends right then and there. A couple years later, he was producing and doing his work as DJ Rampage out in LA. I actually started playing a track of his without knowing it was his work. He eMailed me, and I didn?t recognize who he was. I told him that I liked his track and liked to play it, but I didn?t want to do any work with him. When I finally connected who he was, we got together and now have a history of about eleven years. Our record company idea came about during 2008 when I took him on the road with me. We became good friends and realized that we had similar goals and ideas of music. We decided to share the workload. We took the name EnMass Music in honor of Eric and Randy?s earlier work. We thought of a name for a long time, but eventually we just decided to keep that because it already had scene recognition. We put out our first release on December 28th of last year. We are still very fresh, new, up and coming, and trying to slowly build it. We have been pretty successful so far.

RS: The EnMass night in Miami, this year is one of the highlights of WMC. A lot of people talk about how great the party was. How was the night special for you?

Darude: Well, it was our first EnMass music night and rocking the place was awesome. I loved the video screen and the setting. Having the room packed by 11:00pm, way before Randy was going on was great. The local opener already had the floor pumping. All of us were ecstatic about having our first party in Miami. We are looking forward to the next one, and also doing something in Amsterdam as well.

RS: How would you describe the sound of EnMass now?

Darude: Pigeonholing is somewhat irritating. Randy and I mainly use clubby, progressive, and uplifting trance, but we are also looking into 128 bpm, proggy house stuff, and of course with remix packages, all the styles vary. We are not the deepest of the deep music because we don?t like it ourselves. We are not the cheesiest either, and we don?t mind being half commercial, hooky and catchy. If commercial or radio success were to come our way we would welcome it.

RS: When the two of you work together how do you collaborate? Do you work on tracks on the computer together or send things back and forth?

Darude: We actually live about an hour and a half plane ride away from each other. We collaborate online, and we have weekly, sometimes daily Skype meetings about music or the label. We often do a video chat so that we can see each other. The music collaboration is pretty easy because we both have similar systems – a Mac with Logic Pro and we can just swap files. It makes it fairly easy and effortless.

RS: I heard you mention Atlanta. Are you in Atlanta now?

Darude: Yes

RS: When and why did you move to Atlanta?

Darude: I have been there about 3 ? years now. My wife is originally from Atlanta. We moved there for family reasons and eventually bought a place. It is great for me to have an American headquarters as well. Otherwise, I would be flying there for two out of the four weeks living out of a suitcase in a hotel. I have actually been doing one or two dates per week. I come back on Sunday evenings, and can spend my week being home with my family.

RS: Do you have kids now?

Darude: Yes, my son Max is two years old.

RS: How has being a father changed your musical career?

Darude: I love being a dad and it inspires me. I definitely have a lot less time and I struggle with that sometimes, but the minute that I am with my wife or especially my kid, that means nothing and there is no struggle. While I am in the studio, I think that it has made me more focused on the music and production. I do have my Facebook and Twitter days though, where I get stuck with the silly stuff but I love that too.

RS: Lets go back to your musical childhood. Your first song, ?Sandstorm,? is probably your biggest. I have always wondered if you signed a contract where they took everything away from you, or are you still making money off the record?

Darude: As a first time artist my contract was not very good percentage wise, but I’m not bitter about that. When you are a nobody and you sign a contract, that’s how it goes. Contracts after that were better. I wrote “Sandstorm” myself, so of the publishing side of it, not much goes elsewhere. There is a little part that goes to my producer JS16, but other than that, most of it comes back to me. Whatever goes to my publisher is well worth it because last weekend a Hyundai car commercial played “Sandstorm.” Paying those percentages to the publisher, in my opinion, is well worth it. As an artist if somebody were to ask me to sign that kind of contract now, I would laugh and walk out of the room. At the same time, I am friends with those guys now and am not bitter about the bad percentage. That is how my career needed to start.

RS: In your sets now, do you still play ?Sandstorm? or a remix of it?

Darude: Yes, pretty much every time. I think that the last time I played the original mix was in 2003, it has always been some type of remix or bootleg.

RS: Will there ever be an official vocal version of it?

Darude: I don?t think that there will ever be vocal version. I would be open to Rihanna doing a bit with “Sandstorm” in it, I am not stupid. Over the year?s different people, myself as well, have been toying with the idea of a vocal. I don?t think that the melody and chord progression really lend itself to having a vocal, I have yet to hear a good one. I think at some point there are going to be new mixes of “Sandstorm,” but probably not an official vocal one.

RS: Is there anything that you would like to say to your fans out there?

Darude: I hope that you can vouch for me; I am a very approachable person, so if anyone wants to ask me anything you can hit me up on Facebook or Twitter. It?s facebook.com/darude or twitter.com/darudevil. If you want to come to one of my gigs, I usually jump down after my set and give high fives, dance, or get a drink. All of the latest info is atdarude.com or enmassmusic.com.

Interview conducted October 2011 at Amsterdam Dance Event.