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Interview with John 00 Fleming
I just did this interview with John 00 Fleming, he's said some true things.
Enjoy!
1. Hello, John! Tell us how it all started for you, when did you discover electronic music?
J00F: I discovered Electronic music at a very early age of around 12. I used to buy records on my lunch break while at school while all my mates would play football or rugby. My headmaster at the school was organizing an under 18’s club night for the school and instantly thought of me to DJ. So I was thrown in at the deep end and this opened the door to my DJ career.
2. You are one of the most respected people in the underground trance scene. What do you think is the reason for this?
J00F: Maybe because I stick to my roots and still play Trance music. I have no care to be a superstar DJ or become a pop star, I simply appreciate good music. There’s few of us left now fighting this cause.
3. In the past years, there is a tendency in trance music for a given producer to aim at entering the playlists of the greatest names, radios and televisions by all means. Do you think that this harms electronic music? Should a producer do their best to achieve fame or should they stick to what they love, which may not be liked by so many people and may not bring them fame?
J00F: That’s their call at the end of the day. Every individual will have their own agenda’s, some set out to be famous from the start, that’s what they want from it. I have to admit the current market place is saturated at the movement with these type of people, very annoying. I’ve seen these cycles before, people get tired of commercialism thus making room for an underground scene. We need more people breathing new life into a tired generic scene, we need new DJ’s, new music and the underground provides the perfect platform for this.
4. There has been a slight transformation in your style over the past years, which was welcomed with a smile by people who love underground music. It looks like your tracks are at a lower BPM, with more progressive and deep elements. Is this the line you are going to follow and do you believe that such music could be well-accepted in clubs?
J00F: A big chunk of the fun being a DJ is discovering new sounds, music and experimenting. I’m currently discovering some wonderful new music at a slightly lower BPM. It’s still dynamic, dark, moody and hard…so don’t get the misconceptions it’s boring. I’ve also had some fun in the studio making some tracks like this too, and yes it’s been welcomed with open arms!
5. Tell us something more about your project „00.db”, on which you are working together with Ricky Smith (The Digital Blonde). When did you decide to join forces?
J00F: We actually started making tracks together about 15 years ago. We’re simply two mates that get in the studio messing around making new sounds, noises, fx, general geek sessions getting excited over a synthesizer. At the end of it a track is born. We have no care about making the track commerciality viable or worry if anyone will play it, we make the music as an expression of what’s in out hearts.
6. This was a very successful year for you two – you released the second 00.db album – Angels & Demons. How long did it take you to produce all the tracks on it and do you have a personal favourite among them?
J00F: We seem to be on a roll with this project and gathering a huge fan base, so maybe a good time to take things a little more seriously. I’ve learnt in my career its good to take time off to work on projects, after all we make everything ourselves (not using other engineers or producers). The last album took two moths of solid work, meaning every single day working on the tracks. We will do the same next year and start working on the third album.
7. Your label Joof Recordings stands for quality in trance music. What qualities should a producer possess in order to get his music released by you, in addition to their love for this kind of music?
J00F: Many of today’s ‘digital labels’ seen to be like factories turning around music. I’m from the days when labels bosses actually worked hands on with every single producer signed to the label. That’s exactly what I do with my guys. I actively get involved getting them to tweak tracks (often I’ll help) ensuring each track passes the quality control check (my ears!) then its ready for release. I take care in my label, it’s my baby.
8. You were born in the UK and have been living there all your life. What do you think about the club scene there? Is there a place for trance music, and your own style in particular, in the country or you have more gigs abroad?
J00F: Being brutally honest its in a mess. Perception from eyes abroad people think we’re at the forfront of the Electronic dance scene, but in reality we’re lagging behind. Those days have gone. Commercialism has killed what we once had. Greedy individuals have sucked the club scene dry and left it to rot. No sign of loyalty offering a helping hand to help rebuild, they just move onto another territory and do the same to who ever has the biggest cheque book.
9. As we are talking about gigs, I’m not going to ask you the typical question “which is your favourite country/audience?” because I guess you would say they are incomparable. My question is a bit different – is there a country, which has been highly recommended to you but you haven’t played in yet?
J00F: I’ve been really lucky and played pretty much all over the World. I prefer the countries that passionate about music, for me these gig are more rewarding as I can express myself musically as a DJ.
10. During his second visit to Bulgaria in 2003 Carl Cox said his sets were determined by where he was playing – at a festival or in a club. What is your conception of a J00F live set?
J00F: Carl Cox is the same as me, a true DJ. We assess each situation given to as and use our music as tools to build an atmosphere to the crowd. Every situation will be different so we play differently keeping an eye on the crowd as we go along. This skill as a DJ has been lost with the latest generation of DJ’s playing concert style sets, in the same way bands do. They play all the hits the fans want to hear.
11. If you could change one thing in the EDM scene, something you don’t like at the moment, what would it be?
J00F: Get rid of the false marketing cheats. It’s all false and fake, they are hidden behind IT people. This really isn’t fair on the true musicians and and DJ’s that get don’t want to play this tiresome game.
12. Can you share your near-term plans with us? What can we expect from John 00 Fleming, Joof Recordings and 00.db?
J00F: Early next year you’ll see my first ever sols artist album. I’ve been promising this for 5 years, but I can assure you it’s ready! This will be followed by the third 00.db artist album, both will be released on my label JOOF Recordings. We’re also concentrating on my club tour brand ‘JOOF Editions’, this is a concept that returns the club back to the clubbers. Forget all the fancy production with firewoks etc, we just concentrate on the music.
13. Is there something you would like to tell all your fans around the world?
J00F: Thank you all for your passionate support, this is the reason that fuels my quest to keep Trance music alive.
Come join the fun at my Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/john00fleming
Thank you for your time! Good luck!
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| quote: | Originally posted by Col
However, EDM seems to be political for some people - it's not about the music itself but it's about what the music symbolises, where the music came from, who spins it and how obscure it is. |
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