Hello !

It’s been a while since the last post, but we are here, we are alive and we have a new interview for you guys ! This time our guest is a beat maker from Auckland, New Zealand : Christoph El Truento. First time I came across his music was when I found @peace album on bandcamp. Few weeks later, a short preview of his (then unreleased) EP 01 was published by his label Wonderful Noise on their Soundcloud page. The EP was released on the 18th of January this year and you can download the digital version here  or try to grab it on 12″ here . Below you have a mix made by the man himself that includes some of his inspirations. Despite quite harsh review from his girlfriend “my girlfriend said everyone will stop listening by the 3rd song” the mix is full of beautiful music and have some cosmic, relaxing vibe to it – check it out for yourself – press play and enjoy the interview.

(fyi : some of you might not be used to reading more than 140 characters – (thanks Twitter!!) – so just to save you some time – there is much more reading here)

Christoph El Truento – Themusicinmyhead 10/5/12 by Themusicinmyhead

As far as I know you started your adventure with music from dj’ing – was there a lot of music in the house you grew up in ? What was the music you were into when you first got into dj’ing ?

When I would go to the city to visit my brother’s flat, there would always be music on, he always had records everywhere and it was the fist time I saw two turntables and started to understand what they are for. I used to love going there for that, he would let me make selections and we would make mixtapes. Shortly after, my other brother who was living with us at the time, bought an Mpc and that was my first exposure to sampling and things of that nature. It was a different feeling back then, but I knew that’s what I wanted to do.

When I got into dj’ing I just wanted to be a hip hop dj. My brothers raised me to know where hip hop music came from, but I wasn’t really ready to branch out into other genres at this stage.

Was there any particular event/dj set/gig that made huge impression on you and changed the direction you were heading as a dj/producer ?

There are definitly events in life that have changed my music to where it is now : the birth of my son, learning about love, spiritual growth, meditation, these things all inform my current direction in music.

Fat Freddy’s Drop, Electric Wire Hustle, Benny Tones, Lord Echo, Julien Dyne or Isaac Aesili – over the past few years music from New Zealand is getting bigger & bigger on the map of future-soul / electronic beats – how do you think New Zealand, local culture & the people influenced your musical journey ?

I try not to box myself into being from here, and even probably try hard to not sound like ‘kiwi music’, so it influenced me in such a way where I feel like I need to be on a different tip. We have many amazing musicians and I love a lot of the music that comes out of this country, but at the same time I feel like we get boxed in. Also a lot of artists who are not from America or the UK tend to consider themselves second rate, even though they might not admit it, especially in hiphop, electronic music or even jazz on some levels, so I think in some ways we need a bit of a confidence boost in ourselves.

Living in this beautiful country has definitly influenced my music : the beaches, native birds, trees… a lot of beautiful sounds come from this land. If you listen, the natural sounds of this earth provide an amazing soundscape and serves as a great inspiration for the music I wish to produce.

The first time I had a chance to listen to your music was when I got @peace album – great hip-hop production with very nice “90′s golden era” vibe to it – tell us a bit more about the crew, your role in it and future plans.

The group kind of happened naturally when my good friends Tom & Lui started writing together, they had a bunch of songs that they wrote to a bunch of beats by local producers including myself, Miso, Ben Jamin etc.. They recorded all the vocals with Dicky who is another member of the group. Once all that was done they asked me to arrange all the songs and build bridges between them so that the album kind of had a cohesive feel to it, I was really happy to take the project on board because I have a real passion for arranging songs.

Once it came time to perform the songs live at the release party they talked about putting some kind of electronic band together to play and arrange the music in a live manner, which basically lead to a group consisting of myself on Ableton, Dicky on Ableton and horns, B.Haru on keys and Tom and Lui on raps. It’s been really great having the group together and has lead to us getting to travel a lot and play a lot of amazing festival shows.

We are now planning the 2nd album or ep, which we are all really excited about now that we have our core group down to write the tracks with. We all have different tastes in music so I’m really excited to see what happens when we get in the studio and build together.

Going through your website/bandcamp/soundcloud I had an impression that you are travelling in two a bit different musical directions : one is more ambient – mysterious – experimental and the other one is rooted in more classic idea of 90′s hip-hop. I think that the two elements combined make your music so soulful, unique and interesting – do you see it in a similar way and if so, which “side of the force” is winning ?

I try not to separate them into different groups even though it may come out like that. I guess the perfect balance would be somewhere right in the middle. Though I just kind of make what ever I’m feeling at the time which is informed by a range of different things, my current mood, who i’m listening to etc.. I’m just constantly trying to evolve into something that I feel is my own, that is one of the hardest things to do and I don’t feel I’m anywhere near there yet, but I will say the more ambient / spiritual side is the direction i’m leaning torwards for the future, that’s where I feel most like myself.

Looking at services like soundcloud or bandcamp, new independent artists have now much more ways to promote their art – on the other hand – loads of already established artists suffer from piracy & file sharing – what’s your point of view on the  role of internet & new technologies in music now ?

I really feel it’s a positive thing, everyone has their chance to be heard and nobody gets a head start in a way, we all have our equal chance to put our creativity out to the universe. Things have changed so fast that most big labels have kind of gotten lost in it all and don’t know where they stand, artists are no longer being ripped off by middle men and now have the means to connect directly with their fans. I really feel that art should be for everyone to enjoy, and it’s great that money is no longer a barrier between the people and the music. I mean if you really love somebodys art then by all means pay them what you think it’s worth, but if you are broke then you can still appreciate it.

You describe what you do to “be like an audio scrapbook, taking inspiration from anywhere, putting it down into a rough idea and leaving it how ever it land” – using this analogy, what kind of pens/brushes you use to write in the scrap book – do you make most of your music in a software based environment or do you use a lot of hardware ?

I use software as my blank piece of paper to peice everything together, what ever I can find on records, sounds around my house, instruments I find / borrow / buy, the rain, birds outside… i sample these things and chop them up with Ableton. These are all my current main tools in making music.

A lot of producers who started making music from hip hop taught themselves about the music while doing it – how was it with you ? Do you have any “proper” musical education, or did you learn everything “on the way” ? Do you think that being a classically trained musician helps or makes it more difficult when it comes to creating new and experimental beats ?

I definitly picked up everything along the way and continue to do so. Of course being clasically trained would be a great thing, anything to elevate the art form. At the same time maybe it can sort of kill the curiosity for experimentation to a degree? I guess it’s all about how you apply it to your work.

The name of your website “Hello your quietness” brings to my head a track from Larry Young’s 1973 LP “Lawerence Of Newark” – was that the inspiration behind the title ? Do you have a large record collection when it comes to jazz, soul or funk ?

“Lawrence Of Newark” is one of my favourite albums, my girlfreind found it. I especially took a liking to that song and applied the title to my website, my own meaning behind the title is basicly going back to what I said about how in the quietness you can hear and understand the natural rhythms of the earth we live in. I started the website as a place to post my latest work that I feel people should hear to understand me as a producer, it’s really simple and I don’t say any words on there, it’s an audio visual kind of thing.

I like to keep an archive of my favourite jazz albums on vinyl, top shelf. I don’t really just buy random records anymore, I’m more after things that I know I will still love in a long amount of time and things that I can pass onto my son.

On the latest NAMM show Akai/Numark released a DJ controller with build in mpc pads (http://www.futureproducers.com/forums/hardware-software/hardware/sequencers-samplers-hardware/numark-akai-mpcdj-akai-max49-392493/) The line between being a dj and a live producer-remixer is getting thinner. Do you think that thanks to that technology, there is more good dj’s out there than 10 years ago or the opposite of it?

I think as far as raw skills, it’s not the same anymore. A lot of DJ’s are more like producers now in the way that they craft their sets, I personally like both sides of it.

What kind of advice you would give to any upcoming music producer / beat maker when it comes to getting the first deal signed ?

When you feel ready, send your music out to your favourite labels. Don’t be afraid to show people your craft, just make sure the music you’re putting out is something you love and you’ll find others will love it too.

Thanks a lot for your time – the last question I have is : if you could only leave 5 records from your record collection to your son, what would that be ?

John Coltrane – A Love Supreme
Alice Coltrane – Journey In Satchidananda
Pharoah Sanders – Pharoah
Sun Ra – God Is More Than Love Can Ever Be
Flying Lotus – Cosmogramma

Thanks a lot for your time ! 

Thanks !!

Check out Christoph’s website, facebook & bandcamp plus have a look at this short video from EP01 release party :

written by Herman

Studio 51.15 Presents : The Best Of 2011 Part 2 by Studio 51.15

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1) Fatima – Floating Points – Cinnamon ; 2) Robert Mitchell 3io - Alberto Balsam ; 3) BADBADNOTGOOD – The World Is Yours ; 4) Quadron – Samba De Verão ; 5) Hypnotic Brass Ensemble – Sun Ra – Pluto ; 6) Galus – Cubism ; 7) Sepalcure – Hold On ; 8 ) Mux Mool – Jen and Soda ; 9) Si-Tew – Hard Look ; 10) En2ak – Edwards’ Short Circuit ; 11) Free The Robots – Young And Yet Too Old ; 12) Young Montana? - Midnight Snacks ; 13) Amp Live – Differ.e.n.t. ; 14) Amalia – All The Funk I Need (Atjazz Love Soul Remix) ; 15) Huess – I’d Rather Be The Hunter (Kelpe Remix) ; 16) Young Montana? – Sacre Cool ; 17) Dimlite – Than Them ; 18) Dirg Gerner – Fatima – Rubies & Diamonds ; 19) Envee – Kali

 

written by Herman \\ tags: 2011, Amalia, best of, floating points, herman, Huess, Mux Mool, Quadron, studio 51.15

Studio 51.15 Presents : The Best Of 2011 Part 1 by Studio 51.15

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1) 74 Miles Away – Seven Four ; 2) Wojtek Mazolewski Quintet – Chase The Devil ; 3) Afrika Hitech – Cyclic Sun ; 4) B-Ju – Habit In Your Redlight ; 5) James Blake – Love What Happened Here ; 6) Jhene Aiko – Stranger ; 7) SBTRKT feat. Yukimi Nagano – Wildfire ; 8 ) Machinedrum – She died there ; 9) Robot Koch – Nitesky ; 10) Clams Casino – I’m Official ; 11) KRTS – Hold On (Pavel Dovgal Remix) ; 12) Kingdom – Let You No ; 13) Inc. – Heart Crimes ; 14) Taprik Sweezee – Eating At The Void (Jameszoo Remix) ; 15) Knxwledge – Loavhorts ; 16) Roni Size – New Forms (Juke Edit) ; 17) Moa Pillar – Water Lily.

 

Happy New Year ladies & gentleman !

Welcome to Studio 51.15 The Best Of 2011 – part 1. There are two things that I don’t like about the title : the first one is that some of the songs on the selection were made in 2010. The second one is that it’s not really „the best“ – it’s more like : my favorite. But I was not feeling very creative today, and the title express 95% of what I wanted to say/share musically. I’m not a big fan of any kind of recap-the-best-of-top-of-the-pops kind of thing, but in 2011 we were very “quiet” so I think we owe this one to you. This year was very difficult for me when it comes to Studio, mixing music, recording and sharing it with you. This one will be different : but I won’t write too much about what I have in mind – this time I will focus on doing it This mix was made today on a train in Logic, after doing the brief selection of 243 of my favorite tunes a.d 2011. I won’t bore you with all of them, but in the next 7-10 days I will upload at least two more parts to cover what was on my stereo in 2011. Huge thanks for the support in 2011 : enjoy, share, comment and stay tuned – there is much more to come !!!

 

written by Herman \\ tags: 2011, 74 miles away, best, clams casino, herman, machinedrum, robot koch, SBTRKT, studio 51.15, taprik sweezee

Studio 51.15 Chapter 8 : The One About Being Free by Studio 51.15

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1. Coultrain as Seymour Liberty – “Mutual Posession” ; 2. Hawthorne Headhunters – “If You Were My Baby” ; 3. Wildcookie (Freddie Cruger and Anthony Mills) – “Come Close”  ; 4. Kazahaya – “Gonna Love You Anyway” feat. Tuomo ; 5. Star Slinger – “Dumbin’” feat. Reggie B  ; 6. Taprikk Sweezee – “Eating At The Void” (Jameszoo Remix) ; 7. Soulpersona feat. Princess Freesia – “Ultrasuperlove” ; 8.Aaries – “Baby This Love I have” ; 9. Bastion – “Suga” ; 10. Sonar Kollektiv Orchester – “Held Him First” ; 11. Richard Spaven – “Maz” feat. Jose James ; 12. Marcin Wasilewski Trio – “Night Train To You” ; 13. Robert Mitchell Trio – “Twice” ; 14. BadBadNotGood – “Fall In Love” ; 15. RF – “Thnx 4 Dilla!” (Farah Re-Edit) ; 16. Bilal – “Is This Love” ; 17. Frida Touray – “Give It To Me Right” ; 18. Jazzanova feat. Ben Westbeech – “I Can See” (Vaitaitau Remix) ; 19. Scrimshire feat. Faye Houston – “Home” (Captain Planet Remix) ; 20. Jose James – “Trouble” (Live @ Jazz Re:Freshed bootleg) feat. Richard Spaven, Rob Robin Mullarkey, Grant Windsor, Takuya Kuroda & Alistair White. ; 21. Anto Vitale feat. Heidi Vogel – “Taxi Nights” (Shabu Music Jazz Remix)

 

Hi.

We are back.

Here’s a selection I did over a month ago in a bit different way than all the mixes I’ve done for the Studio so far. Instead of recording it “live” from two turntables, I arranged the music together using audio editing software. I was about to record some voice over the music to say few things about the selection, but  English is not my native language and I just hate the sound of my voice recorded, so I decided to upload it as it is – below you will find few words from me about each song :

 

1. Coultrain as Seymour Liberty – “Mutual Posession” – Coultrain on a beat from TOKiMONSTA – you can’t really go wrong with a combo like this ! Beautiful tune from Coultrain’s “GodMustBeABoogieMan” EP  that I used as the main theme for the whole selection – this one is about being free !

2. Hawthorne Headhunters – “If You Were My Baby” – Coultran & Black Spade – great tune with a bit cheesy lyrics, but that’s what I love about it the most

3. Wildcookie (Freddie Cruger and Anthony Mills) – “Come Close” – when I heard this tune for the first time I hit repeat straight away – I love this mid 90′s r’n'b/hip hop vibe that it has – pure quality.

4. Kazahaya – “Gonna Love You Anyway” feat. Tuomo – Kazahaya is Tokyo based producer & Dj. Being true to the old school approach he makes all of his music from cutting up samples on his MPC 4k – this track comes from his album “Soul Is Yours” and it features one of my favourite soul singers Tuomo (check out his album  “My Thing” from 2007 – modern day soul classic!)

5. Star Slinger – “Dumbin” feat. Reggie B – Manchester’s very own Star Slinger is definitely the one to watch out right now – after releasing great album earlier in 2010 simply called  “Volume 1″ he’s back now with a new tune featuring Reggie B.

 6. Taprikk Sweezee – “Eating At The Void” (Jameszoo Remix) – Taprik Sweezee is a producer and a singer from Hamburg. On the 28th of February he released EP called “Poly”. After 8 months the EP was remixed by cats like Montgomery Clunk, Jameszoo, Pixellord, kidkanevil, Skyence and more.  The remixed EP “Repolyx” was  released as a tape/digital combo by the guys from Error Broadcast. Killer – one of my favourite tunes of 2011.

 7. Soulpersona feat. Princess Freesia as Avalon Lexus – “Ultrasuperlove” – first time I heard this team working together was on a great track  “Candy Wrapper” from his album “Soulacoaster” . Now they are back and the … just read this and grab yourself a copy ;)

8. Aaries – “Baby This Love I have” – great cover of one of my favourite tunes of all time. Check out the whole free cover compilation from the Aaries and keep your ears open for the full length LP from these girls – it’ll be massive !!

 9. Bastion – “Suga” - synth pop/afro tek quintet from South East London. I love the music & the fact that the band mentions : “Smoking, sleeping, eating…” as their main interests  . Check out their new tune and register to the newsletter & facebook .

10. Sonar Kollektiv Orchester – “Held Him First” – heard the original version of this tune ages ago and I fell in love with it . When I was working on this selection, a fellow Dj put the original version of the song on his selection and reminded my about the track. This version comes from Sonar Kollektiv compilation “Guaranteed Niceness”.

—end of Part 1.

11. Richard Spaven – “Maz” feat. Jose James – I could write a poem about Mr. Spaven‘s skills on the drums, but instead of that I will just mention few of the artists he worked with : The Cinematic Orchestra, Ty, Robert Mitchell 3io, Panacea,  Guru’s Jazzmatazz, 4 Hero, Kaidi Tatham, Platinum Pied Pipers, Mark De Clive-Lowe  and Jose James. This tune comes form the first album on the Jazz Re:Freshed series called “5ives“. The CD version of it is already sold out, but you can still get it through itunes. I would suggest you do. More insight on Jazz Re:freshed – both the club night & the label coming soon.

 12. Marcin Wasilewski Trio – “Night Train To You” – Grandmaster Maceo played this tune in his “Kosmos” radio show and I was gone – beautiful musical ride from Marcin Wasilewski Trio’s album “Faithful” on ECM records.

 13. Robert Mitchell Trio – “Twice” – guess what – Richard Spaven is back This time together with Tom Mason (bass) & Robert Mitchell (piano) with their beautiful take on Little Dragon’s modern day classic  “Twice”. I was lucky enough to go to the album release party hosted by Jazz Re:freshed @ Mau Mau Bar, so here you have it live - enjoy !

14. BadBadNotGood – “Fall In Love” – hype, hype, hype – from Gilles Peterson through the Mighty Blogosphere to Tyler The (hype) Creator. They are young, they are from Toronto and they kick ass – hype is well deserved in this case. Great cover of classic Dilla joint from even more classic Slum Village Volume 2…. or maybe not ;). When it comes to Dilla/jazz combo the next thing that comes to my mind is :

15. RF – “Thnx 4 Dilla!” (Farah Re-Edit) – took me a while (and a few £) to grab this 7″, but it was definitely worth it – check out the whole RF’s album here.

16. Bilal – “Is This Love” – well… this is a perfect example of : who the fuck am I to write/say/blog anything about this !? The best I can do is just spread the news about it and share it with as many people as I can, just to make their life a little bit more beautiful. At the same time – to let them know about someone like Bilal so the next time he has a record out or a gig in town, they go and show love and support. Masterpiece. (check out the video).

17. Frida Touray – “Give It To Me Right” – I love to search net for new music – simply because you can find things as powerful and beautiful as this little cover from Frida Mariama Touray. This 21 year old singer comes from Sweden, she studies in London and in my opinion she did a bit better job than Melanie. Join her FB group and keep your ears open !

18. Jazzanova feat. Ben Westbeech – “I Can See” (Vaitaitau Remix) – I had to. It’s a bit of a musical “joke” on the selection, but the first time my friend (thx Jordan !) played me this tune, I was like : I can’t believe they did it ! But they did – and it works really well ! This one won Jazzanova’s remix competition and you can get it here together with two other great remixes & acapella.

19. Scrimshire feat. Faye Houston – “Home” (Captain Planet Remix) – I came across Scrimshire doing my weekly “check-out -what’s-out-on-Juno” routine – the 60 second snippet of their (his ?) track “When I Was Love” feat. Claire Laurent blew me away and in the next 24 hours I had a tasty 7″ on my desk (you can listen to it, among few other dope tunes on my previous “serious” chapter) .

20. Jose James – “Trouble” (Live @ Jazz Re:Freshed bootleg) feat. Richard Spaven, Rob Robin Mullarkey, Grant Windsor, Takuya Kuroda & Alistair White – well… this one is special. First of all : it’s a bootleg – I recorded it myself during Jose’s “surprise” performance on the 21th of July @ Mau Mau Bar (Jazz Re:freshed once again). That was a very special night for me – the vibe in Mau Mau was amazing and I think that it’s one of the first public performances of the song. The horn section with amazing Takuya Kuroda and Alistair White + the feedback from the crowd take this tune to the next level. The video is a bit “shake’y” but it was hard not to move to this amazing tune ! Thanks to Mark for sorting out the levels on the original recording.

21. Anto Vitale feat. Heidi Vogel – “Taxi Nights” (Shabu Music Jazz Remix) – there is also a story about this tune, but I will feature it in my post about Jazz Re:freshed - coming soon. For now just chill out, enjoy and listen to it

 

I know that the whole thing is a bit too long but I guess that’s what happens when you don’t record anything for a year. This time we’ll get back to you shortly

Thanks to : Lazy Troubles for the cover, Mark for technical support and sharing his knowledge, Adam “Rockers” Moses and the whole Jazz Re:freshed crew for doing what they doing, Maja & Maceo & Senor Soul & Adam Sunday & Arizona Loner & Jordan & Shymmie Shymmie Yo for inspiration.

 

 

… and yes : we’re back !

written by Herman