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Great Interview of Nick Warren
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| BLuEOcEaN420 |
seems like this interview is couple of wks old but its a great intreview nontheless. Enjoy! :)
RA.com.au Interview with Nick Warren
| quote: | Your latest Global Underground from Reykjavik is finally being released in Australia and New Zealand this week having been surrounded by quite a bit of uncertainty due to GU's much-publicised financial difficulties. How has GU's financial troubles and the change of ownership affected you?
It has been a bit of a pain in the arse. The album was meant to come out in January and I was really concerned about all the records being out before the release. Luckily most of the labels - if not all of them - have put all the releases back so it hasn't really affected me too much.
The only real pain is that it got onto the internet; although, that was the first mix I did and the one being released now is not the same. On the original mix there was an old track by Fluke but unfortunately that's had to come off because a new company can't license tracks off the major labels for the first six months.
DJs like yourself, Sasha, Paul Oakenfold, Dave Seaman and John Digweed were responsible for establishing GU as THE brand on the compilation market. Recently, a lot of GU fans have felt the choice of DJ hasn't lived up to the previous GU ethos which in turn, has been reflected in their sales. What are your thoughts on why GU has lost its stronghold on the compilation market?
I think it's hard because a lot of people don't really understand why the downfall of GU came about. GU came to me really early on in my career, and theirs. They always believed in me and me in them and I swore to them and vice versa.
Certain DJs who have become really successful, now won't do albums for them. It's really hard for them to find someone who has a similar profile to those DJs and who can generate the same type of sales. This has been shown recently and is part of the reason why GU got into trouble in the first place. It's a catch-22 situation because these days in the compilation market, you do need the big names to shift the units.
On the internet you see a lot of fans asking for a particular DJ - who may be technically brilliant - but a lot of people don't realize just how much money it costs to put a GU out and the risk involved by the label.
On your last GU, Amsterdam you featured tracks by Futureshock and James Holden, catching them just as they were breaking through. This time around, you have tracks by Gray Area, Starkid and Habersham & Numinous. Do you think these guys are also the star producers of the future?
I think GrayArea especially have real talent. On Disc One there's a track by Ulrich Schnauss, which is a mid-tempo track. He's an amazing producer and his album last year was my favourite - it was also Tom Middleton's favourite album of the year. In five years time I think he'll be huge. All the stuff he makes is really beautiful but unfortunately he hasn't got into house music just yet. I spoke to him recently and begged him to do a club track so hopefully he will. Starkid is the same. He's got real talent too.
That's always been my philosophy with compilations. I don' t want to put someone's remix of Madonna on it. It's about finding young producers; finding artists who perhaps, have yet to get a record deal.
There are a lot of talented unsigned producers out there. So how do you go about selecting the final tracks?
It's really random. It should be really planned but it's not. I've usually got an idea of what I want to do but then GU phone me and say they need the tracklist by next week. So then, it's simply a matter of going through CD-Rs, speaking to labels and finding out what they've got.
Disc One of your GU reminds us of your Back To Mine album you did a few years ago. That kind of ambient electronica with trippy sounds and cheeky movie samples . Did you intentionally make it that way?
I've done four GUs already and they've all been club-based so I didn't see the point in doing a fifth one. On this album I wanted to try and put loads of tempos onto it and the movie stuff too. I just wanted to have more fun but this time it was more of a challenge to make the whole thing flow.
So why Reykjavik? Did anything crazy or memorable happen there?
I've always loved those places which aren't necessarily known for clubbing - I think it's more interesting. Back when I did the Budapest and Brazil ones, no-one was really going there but nowadays both of those scenes are going off.
Reykjavik was all mad. Iceland is like a volcano. It's all black rock and there are no trees. There's only 270 000 people living in Iceland and 250 000 of those live in Reykjavik. We went out in the countryside and they don't have rainbows they have 'rain blocks'. It's like a block in the sky like a square that looks like a rainbow. So you're driving along and you see these things and you're like ". What the hell is that?"
The people there are also really amazing. All the girls are stunning. They're all really tall, blonde and very beautiful. And they all go out and get absolutely ing hammered! Drugs are so expensive there so everyone drinks and drinks and drinks. There's only like a thousand people in the scene so they all know each other. And when all the bars shut at 3 am you see people driving down the road with someone standing on the roof of the car. It's just mad!
Unlike Reykjavik, the UK has pretty much been at the centre of dance music culture and clubbing since the beginning. Recently, some have blamed the decline in clubland on certain superstar DJs who command extravagant DJ fees. Some people in the industry feel they're responsible for holding back the scene and preventing its growth they feel there should be more of a push towards the young talent coming through. What are your thoughts on the current state of clubbing in the UK?
Financially, the number of DJs who charge that much is really small. It's the Oakeys and co who charge ten-to-fifteen thousand pounds but in actual fact most of us don't so I really don't think that's a major factor.
In terms of the decline in numbers, I think it was boredom rather than an actual lack of talent. All music goes through cycles; it was the same with punk and rock. These days people in England don't want to go the same club every week. And the people who are 18 or 19 either saw their older brothers and sisters do it or even their mum and dads doing it.
I think anyone with real talent will still come through anyway. What a few of the younger DJs out there have got to learn is that it's not all about the trainspotting. If you turn up somewhere you're meant to rock the arse off the club and if you're flown around the world you've really got to turn it on its head. I think a few of the younger ones are too worried about the trainspotters in the crowd than about rocking it.
You've been on the international DJ circuit for a long time now. What are your thoughts on the excesses surrounding the DJ lifestyle?
It's impossible to hold a relationship together. My wife and I are now separated and we have a daughter who I have half the time. I'm lucky having a daughter because I can't go too mad - I've got to get that flight home. A lot of the guys really live the life to the extreme and I bump into them and their miserable. They're moaning because they've had to fly to Japan to play a gig. I'm like, "You're moaning about this?" I think it's really bad and it starts to reflect in their sets. It's unbelievable that someone can turn up to DJ in a club and look miserable. It's like they¡Çve lost the whole point of it. So I've never really thought that there's anything wrong with the job even at the busiest of times; as long as you keep your head.
Do you ever feel like putting up your DJ shoes to concentrate solely on production?
It's hard. It's really good fun, especially at the moment. I think the music is getting a lot more fun again; more uplifting - not that dark and tribal stuff. When I look out and see people dancing and smiling the whole time, I love it. It's like an addiction. Once I lose that passion for finding good music then I'll stop straight away or else if I'm too ing old to do it!
Jody and I have just signed to an agency in the States to do some film score stuff so that's going to come up at some point. If that all rolls in then I probably won't have time to DJ. Luckily I can balance everything but if I had some serious deadlines then obviously I couldn't do it anymore.
Besides the potential soundtrack work in the future what else can we look forward to from yourself and Jody? What has Way Out West been up to recently in the studio?
On Saturday night I played two of our new tracks. One was a breakbeat number with spacey sounds and strings that's going to come out in the summer called 'Apollo'. We're hoping to get the album fairly wrapped up by the summer which will mean a full release in January next year. So our priority is the album first, which will come out on Distinctive, but we've also signed a new management deal with Hope Management, who look after Timo and Starecase.
RA featured your production partner Jody Wisternoff in the Producer Playpen. What's your relationship in and outside the studio with him? How do you work together? Is it a real team effort? Who does what?
It's really loose. I bring in nearly all the sounds through samples or keyboards. Jody's very much a producer and arranger so what we tend to do is have a blitz. We usually spend a week or two getting all the sounds in and working on some arrangements. Then while I'm away touring Jody will start putting arrangements together. When I come back we'll work on it some more together.
We've tried doing stuff when one of us isn't there but it's never as good as when we're both in there together. The roles really vary and that's where it works. We don't spend any time outside the studio together. We've worked together for about 8 years but we've never been out with each other socially; we've never had dinner or anything. I think if we spent too much time together there'd be too many arguments.
On your last compilation for Renaissance you featured several tracks from Australian producers like Phil K, Ivan Gough and Luke Chable. Are you planning on catching up in the studio with these guys when you get down there?
I actually mixed that album down in Melbourne with Phil K, who's doing really well these days. Unfortunately, I doubt that anyone will be there since Miami is on. I intentionally timed the trip at the same time as Miami cos I couldn't face going again this year and getting too wankered! A lot of those guys will probably be in Miami but I know Kasey (Taylor) will be around so it'll be good to see him.
The last time we spoke to Anthony Pappa he mentioned that you and him might be setting up a new label in the future. Has this evolved beyond the original idea?
So, I keep hearing - maybe he should give me a ring! Now isn't really the best time to start a new label and I actually don't have the time. Once I get the album done if it's still an option then I might consider doing it. But then I'd have to spend some time with the artists on the label because I wouldn't like to just put one record out and then leave it at that. So maybe not for a while.
In Tokyo you played several classic prog tunes like 'My Lexicon', 'Horizons' and 'Age of Love' in addition to a lot of tracks with male vocals. Can Australia expect the same?
The version of 'My Lexicon' is actually our dud that was never released so I always play that. There's no piano in that mix so only me and Jody have got that. I think it's one of the best remixes we ever did plus it mixes really well with the U&K mix of 'Wavy Gravy', which is a really funky mix.
Yeah it'll be the same in Australia. In Tokyo I was surprised that a lot more people didn't recognise the Coldplay and The Hives tracks but I think that kind of stuff will go down really well in Australia. Plus, the Infusion mix of Kate Bush which is just monstrous!
Finally, Sasha always has 'Xpander' and 'Dark and Long' in his record box, Digweed always keeps 'Cowgirl' and 'Song Of Life'. What are some tunes that you always keep in your record box?
Mine are Leftfield's 'Cut For Life', The Age of Love's 'Age of Love' and Mory Kante's 'Yeke Yeke', all of which I played on Saturday night. Those three are always in there.
Nick Warren's GU:024 from Reykjavik should be in all good music outlets around the world. To read the review of the latest Global Underground release click here;
Review : GU024 - Nick Warren - Reykjavik.
Written: Sunday, March 30, 2003 - 05:39
Author: Tami & Don. |
http://www.residentadvisor.com.au/features.asp?ID=265
-BLuEOcEaN420 |
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| Sand Leaper |
Good read,I especially like this part:
| quote: | | A lot of the guys really live the life to the extreme and I bump into them and their miserable. They're moaning because they've had to fly to Japan to play a gig. I'm like, "You're moaning about this?" I think it's really bad and it starts to reflect in their sets. It's unbelievable that someone can turn up to DJ in a club and look miserable. It's like they've lost the whole point of it. So I've never really thought that there's anything wrong with the job even at the busiest of times; as long as you keep your head. |
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| torontotrance |
| Nick Warren tells it like it is again. |
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| starglider |
| Nice interview, really interesting to see what he had to say and Nick seems like a good guy. Need to buy his Reykjavik mix! |
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| BLuEOcEaN420 |
glad u guys enjoy reading the interview :) my respect for him has gone up quite a bit esp since reading the sleevenote of GU024. i was esp impressed when he commented about the present state of music. heres an excerpt from the sleevenotes:
| quote: | Unlike a lot of key figures, Nick Warren is unfazed by UK dance music's current, much-talked-about slump. "I think it's fantastic that people are panicking about the business and all the doom and gloom. All the big fish who have made money for years and years, all the big club promoters who milked it without putting that much back into it, have had their comeuppance," he says. "You can't sit on your heels and expect the same people to be going out for more than ten years. It never happens in music."
Instead, Nick argues that this is a time for focus back on good music, not bad drugs and cheap hype. It's time for DJs like him to be more flexible about how much they charge and where they play, and to put something back in. He's started with a new monthly night at Bristol club Level with Hope Management - where he plays for free on the proviso his fee goes back into making the club better. This dance music shakedown, Warren insists, will sort the wheat from the chaff, the good from the naff. He saves his real ire for the British charts, and for the wave of reality TV programmes like Pop Idol, Fame Academy and American Idol. "This whole concept of instant stardom, I think is absolutely disgraceful. Cause you are killing young kids' talent. It's all about programmes, it's nothing to do with the artist." He sees it as a fame mill that will leave "bitter young kids. They should be left to find their own success, if they've got talent. I think it's really wrong."
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major props to the man for vocalizing what most of the record labels have failed to realize and keeping true to the his music & his fans! :cool:
-BLuEOcEaN420 |
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| victor |
| quote: | | The people there are also really amazing. All the girls are stunning. They're all really tall, blonde and very beautiful. And they all go out and get absolutely ing hammered! Drugs are so expensive there so everyone drinks and drinks and drinks. There's only like a thousand people in the scene so they all know each other. And when all the bars shut at 3 am you see people driving down the road with someone standing on the roof of the car. It's just mad! |
much respect to the man!!!!
but i loved this... hahahahah i so wanna go to iceland!!!!! |
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| SuperFarStucker |
| :toothless hmm, interesting.. have yet to listen to GU 24 tho :crazy: :crazy: |
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| QRIUS1 |
WOW...wicked interview... much respect to Nick Warren.
THanks for posting that, btw.
Very interesting reading.. and yeah, I wanna go to ICELAND, BABY! |
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| Hybrid |
nice interview!
wicked party in iceland!! come on summers and have fun with us in the midnight sun! :cool: |
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| orange4 |
read last week on RA, nice interview from nick....
I'm still a GU and Nick Warren whore :cool: |
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| Dave Albert |
| He is just someone to lookup to. |
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| fr0st |
| I realy look up to him aswell. I think some of the other djs overshadow him when infact he is on par with them if not better listen to some of his older essential mix's there are just totaly awesome....I specialy love where he plays the pearl jam track then goes into to realy epic trance.... |
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