Article: HATIRAS in hamiltons View Magazine

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-- Article: HATIRAS in hamiltons View Magazine

Posted by nightdreamer on Dec-19-2006 04:40:

Article: HATIRAS in hamiltons View Magazine

Here's an article on Hatiras in Hamiltons View Magainze.
http://www.viewmag.com/viewstory.ph...yid=4716&page=4

Hatiras enjoys balance. For someone whose main job is to balance
between two tracks while spinning live, balance beats and loops
while producing and balance creativity with business acumen
while at the helm of a wildly successful record label, indeed it
makes sense that the concept would be familiar.
His biggest challenge with balance, however, comes with
knowing when to step outside of his studio. �I can get lost in
there,� Hatiras assures. �I love to really explore crazy, funky
concepts while, at the same time, create sounds that are really
going to last. I can lock myself away for days to the point where I
grow a full beard or something.
�I try to balance the work with coupling my travel and gigs
all around the same time and then taking some time to be at
home, recharging and in the studio.�
In response to the sounds created during those in�studio
sessions, Hatiras always sets out to do something different. �I�m
in the studio as much as possible and I always try to create
something new and fresh,� he says. �But I know that there is that
consistency in my work that does make it recognizable and
familiar. (My sound is) a bit funky, always electronic and always
danceable. I don�t try too hard to lace each track with heavy
vocals or repetitive loops because I always like there to be tension
in the songs. I want listeners to feel as though they�re being
pulled somewhere, and then being held there until it�s over just to
hear what comes next.�
An industry veteran, Hatiras has created musical nights for
thousands for more than a decade now. Having promoted �Liquid
Adrenaline� raves for crowds of 10,000 or more a pop from 1995
to 2001, it was his global smash hit �Spaced Invader� that turned
the spotlight on the man behind it all. �Spaced Invader� itself
invaded countless charts around the world and caught many eyes
and ears at home. �It�s always hard to get the respect from your
home base,� notes Hatiras. �Whenever I spin outside of Canada,
the fans can�t get enough. I am now getting much love from
Canada which I couldn�t be more happy about.�
Part of that attention was a 2002 double with Juno (Best
Dance) and SOCAN (Most Radio Play) awards touting �Spaced
Invader� and opening many doors for Hatiras� production
capabilities. �Winning the Juno was funny because I was (at the
award ceremony) with a friend and the Best Dance category was
the first one called. I was so nervous and turned to my friend
wondering if I should have even been there. When they
announced my name, all I could say was �Oh, shit! Now what?�
�I ended up marching up on stage because I didn�t know if it
was appropriate to say a speech or not. I just waved the award up
in the air and said �Hey!� and �Cool!� and marched off!�
While remaining, first and foremost, a creative talent with
consistently searing abilities to create the most drool�worthy
tracks in the scene today, Hatiras has found himself to be a
regular business maverick as well. Always one to effectively self�
promote, Hatiras� self�made marketing campaign of sorts is
indeed one key in the well�padlocked door of success in this
industry.
�I didn�t really set out to market myself overly,� says Hatiras,
commenting on his breadth of merchandise, logo cross�
pollination and overall branding exercise placing him as the
product. �I�ve always been into visual art and I get off on things
like marketing and cool ad campaigns. When I promoted the
�Liquid Adrenaline� events, I knew it helped to have a consistent
logo and vibe to sell the events. I then just started to apply it to
myself when my own music started to take. I�ve always gone for
the simple logo and really have tried hard to avoid that classic,
clich�d DJ shot.
�I looked a lot to those in the business I admired like Daft Punk,
Chemical Brothers and the Prodigy and took lessons in how
they had self�branded. I could stand to brand myself a little
better. A lot of Djs will put the emphasis on the marketing and
not the substance. I try to focus first on the substance of the
music so that there is actually something behind the brand. The
brand comes second.�
Forming Blow Media in 2003, Hatiras needed an outlet for
his sounds and other Djs in his peer group that was away from
major label expectations. The result has been a awe�inducing
roster of talent coupled with countless hits on charts around the
globe in just three short years.
�Blow Media is basically stemming from �Blow Me,� a very
punk term,� explains Hatiras of the concept behind the label. �We
want to do it ourselves. We want to break the rules of the industry
and deliver the music in the most up�to�date, technologically
advanced sort of way.�
And that they are, with Blow Media using vehicles such as
MySpace, e�blasts and free mixed sets and radio sessions to
connect more intimately with their current and potential fan base.
�We�re not necessarily the only guys doing this, but we are well
ahead of some more established labels in this area of connecting
directly with listeners. The majors are watching us because the
industry is changing. With digital downloading from iTunes,
BeatPort, Napster and so on, it�s a new landscape.
�I can�t even say that I get too excited about hard products
anymore like vinyl or CD sales. I can work on a new track and,
within a week of completion, have it uploaded and available for
sale or exposure on more than 200 different web sites around the
world. If nobody buys it, that�s fine, but at least it�s up there and
exposed.
�This concept scares the hell out of the majors. There is no
obstacle between us and the consumer.�
Considering Hatiras was on his way to med school, having completed
studies in biology and pre�med, a career as an
electronic music mogul was never in the cards. �I thought I would
just promote as a part�time gig and then, when �Spaced Invader�
took off, I thought maybe I�d take a year off between studies to
pursue it further. And now, all this.�
There are no regrets, however, and Hatiras assures those
heading out Friday to O Lounge won�t have any either. Promising
a packed set of all things he�s known for, savoury beats dripping
in funk and edgy cuts, Hatiras also winks that he�s been in the
studio this past week creating some new tracks to test out to O�s
crowd. �It�s going to be new stuff, not heard before, and some
stuff from my archives and label mates. It�s going to be a really
good time.� V

[ TAMARA HOLMES]