STRAKER
When and how did you start making music? “I’d been playing guitar and bass since I was about fourteen and then I progressed onto making dance music about six or seven years ago. I started doing programming for CD Roms and television ads, small films and for bands. I got pissed off working for other people so I started Spectrum Is Green last January. That’s where it evolved from.” |
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Have you released any records yet?
“Not yet. I’m waiting for a few labels to release some material, it’s just a question of time really. I’ve also been talking to a few UK and French labels. One of my tracks also featured on a CD Ministry magazine gave away last year; called the ‘Nu Era’ mix, which Judge Jules mixed.
You entered Sonarstate on four separate occasions. How come?
”I had four different projects I wanted to enter; the first one was Spectrum Is Green which is very house oriented, the second had a dark, Tenaglia vibe, the third was with a vocalist, Jasmine Russell and that was more in the Madison Avenue vein and finally the Straker entry, which got chosen. It’s similar to Daft Punk, quite commercial sounding.”
You must listen to a lot of house music…
”It seems to work out that way, it’s what I feel happiest with. I can’t really do dark, hard music, I find once music goes over 125bpm, it’s hard to get a groove going. It’s also the only style where I can include live instruments, like live bass, guitar and percussion parts without sounding like a cheesy sample.”
What house producers do you rate?
”Masters At Work, Morales, Tenaglia, Miguel Migs, Francois K, all the US producers and I like the French sound, Daft Punk and Etienne De Crecy. I also listen to a lot of funk and disco. I see house as an extension of disco, it’s just taking Nile Rodgers putting him through a sampler and some filters.”
Why did you enter Sonarstate?
”Various people said I should enter it, so I went for it. The overall quality was really good, the standard was much better than I expected. I’m not a big fan of progressive house, but some of the tracks in that vein are as good as the material Sasha and Digweed play. Even in the short list, there’s no one particular sound, it’s quite diverse; there’s trance, house and break beat, loads of diversity.”
You’ll have to play live on February 3rd. Are you worried?
”No, I love playing live. I’ve quite a few live dates coming up, in Dublin and Scotland. I might be using vocalists as well at the final.”
Would you be happy if you won?
”Sure, Sony would give you a budget to make more things possible; at the end of the day, what I really want to do is a very commercial, vocal sound, slick as fuck, really polished, like the kind of material Morales makes.”
Will you be really pissed off if you don’t win?
”I’d really like to win, but if I don’t it’s not the end of the world, something else will happen.”
