SR Mix #74: Zeppy Zep [Fortified Audio]

To be fair to Zeppy Zep, this mix/post/textual fellatio should have happened a long time ago, but whatever; things get in the way and needs must. It still doesn’t detract from the quality of his music and it’s nice to have our initial rush of interest cemented with more great music. - Ed

First popping out in a mix from Manc beardo xxxy, Zeppy Zep’s production moniker, is characteristic of the personality contained in his music - it’s just as animated, fully dosed up on high octane dancefloor workouts. Tracks like ‘Marillion’ emulate the snare work of the afore mentioned chromosomed one, hitting in a typically splashy way, glitching into frams over weird concoctions of reverbed chords, but it was the awkward drum fumble of ‘Rebis’ that first sent us into a headspin. Built around a true earworm of a leadline it flips through beat progressions ending up in a 4x4 strut that pounds over the descending vocal snatches with authority. It’s a bonafide show stealer and the tune that opened the door for us to a handful of original productions and his remix of former SR mixer The Phantom’s ‘Night Game.’

Long since the third producer in our Polish club music Bermuda triangle, he’s channeling the energy and rush of a sweaty dancefloor straight into his melodies and he’s just confirmed his debut solo release on Fortified Audio. Along with fellow countrymen The Phantom and Sentel he brings something fast and fresh to his releases, not afraid to ‘do a Canblaster’ and drop straight out of a rigid house kick sequence and run headlong into something completely different 8 bars later. It’s refreshing and duly exciting to dwell on the prospect of new music from him, so we pinned him down through his weeping, alcohol-soaked familiar, grabbed an updated version of his Sonic Router mix and shot him some questions designed to give him the platform to introduce his music properly.

SR: Can you provide those who may not know you with a bit of background info?

Zeppy Zep: Hi, my name is Michal and I'm from Cracow, Poland. I'm 21. Sometimes I make tunes and play parties.

Outside of music who are you? What do you do on the daily?

I do some graphic design, I should be in an art school by now, but things went out and I am not. Procrastinating. Playing Quake on dm17.

How did you first get into making music? What was it that infected you to do so?

I think I always wanted to make music, but this need kind of exploded right after primary school. I remember I bought Prodigy's Fat of the Land and Chemical Brothers Come With Us on a cassette. Damn, those beats sounded so fine I just wanted to do something like that. I knew my schoolmate was making hip hop beats and he told me about Fruity Loops. Then I saw a music magazine, with a CD attached, I remember Fruity Loops 4.0 had just been released so they've put a Demo version on a CD. I bought a magazine and boom, I was making music.

First it was hip hop beats, and then they slowly turned into more electronic stuff. My dad is a musicologist and he can play nearly every instrument, we had a piano at home but I barely played on that thing, I never took any lessons either.

What’s your production set up like? What’s your favourite bit of kit in the studio?

Funny thing is, it's still FL Studio. Yes, I tried Ableton and Logic but always ended up returning to FL Studio, it feels like home there. Nowadays, multiple display-pro-tools-uberproducers laugh at this but I don’t care, I love this piece of software. I got a MIDI controller but I don't use it, it’s kind of a shame that I play better on qwerty keys than on normal piano. I am planning to buy some superb monitors, right now I use typical computer speakers but I know them so well it's enough to make a fair-sounding tune.

Favourite bit of kit goes to Soundgoodizer, for this ridiculous name.

Where do you take inspiration from when making music? I mean it’s easy to hear the funky influence... something that Poland is getting something of a rep for at the moment. What’s the scene like in your native Poland?

The most boring thing is to look for inspiration in the same genre as the track you're trying to make. You should teach yourself to discover the great little things in places you'd never think of exploring. For example, I got this hardstyle sample pack and some sounds are just awesome. I am also a fan of early NFS games soundtracks lol.

Speaking of funky - yes, it had its big time in Poland but seems like the things are changing now, some people play more house, some others more of that "future" stuff. People are very open minded, we have plenty of awesome events going on, even in Warsaw which used to be a more fidget house oriented place. And of course brostep is getting dangerously bigger…


Zeppy Zep - Rebis

Are there any producers you rate that the world should know about?

Hoodmode, I saw his soundcloud lately - niceness. Lokiboi is a talented beast. Sentel are getting stronger every second. Also, from Poland - Vanatoski and Intreau.

We’ve heard a few production bits from you that’ve blown us away, ‘Menace’ in particular, plus there’s your remixes of people like The Phantom too. Does it differ for you, the way you approach remixes to normal productions?

Remixes have deadlines haha. I don't know, I feel that my The Phantom and Tom Encore remixes are polished just as I wanted them to be. I heard that you can somehow focus better on someone else’s track than on your own, but I don't think it’s true.

Have you got any releases have you got in the pipeline? I saw a bit about a 12” coming on Fortified Audio, can you tell us a bit more about what’s coming up?

Yes, ‘Menace,’ ‘Rebis’ and ‘Marillion’ are coming out on Fortified Audio but as slightly different versions. I did those tunes some time ago and want them to sound a little bit more fresh. Also my Tom Encore remix is out now on Concrete Cut.

Tell us a little bit about the mix you’ve put together for us…

There are some dubs from Superisk and Lokiboi plus Hoodmode’s ‘Everything’ - that guy I told you above. Two Blawan tunes, he's killing it right now, I cannot wait for ‘Getting Me Down’ to be released. There’s Jamie XX - so obvious but so damn good - some acid sounds - everyone already knows that 2011 will be year of tb-303 references right? The outro is John Roberts, with this sweet piano breakdown, really soft stuff.

Any words of wisdom, for our readers?

When in elevator, press floor number and close button at once - it won't stop on other floors.

::

DOWNLOAD: Zeppy Zep – Sonic Router Mix #74



Tracklist:

1. Tom Encore - Spellbound (Zeppy Zep Remix) (Concrete Cut)
2. Gil Scott-Heron And Jamie XX - I'm New Here (XL)
3. Objekt - The Goose that Got Away (Objekt)
4. Superisk - Life is Live (Dub)
5. Ben Westbeech - Falling (Dark Sky Remix) (Strictly Rhythm)
6. Hoodmode - Everything (Dub)
7. The Hundred In The Hands - Pigeons (Blawan's bare bones Remix) (Warp)
8. Lokiboi - Marina Faib (Dub)
9. M.I.A. - It Takes A Muscle (Pearson Sound Refix) (XL)
10. Damon Wild - Aqua (Synewave)
11. Hackman - Made Up My Mind (PTN)
12. Martyn & Mike Slott - All Nights (All City)
13. Mount Kimbie - Mayor (Hotflush)
14. Hardrive - Deep Inside (ZYX Music)
15. Beat Pharmacy - Piece of Mind (Ramadanman Refix) (Deep Space Media)
16. Joy O - Jels (Hotflush)
17. Blawan - Kaz (R&S Records)
18. John Roberts - Ever Or Not (Dial)

INTERVIEW: The Phantom [Senseless/Top Billin]

Another producer in the Polish contigent - whose hardcore, dancefloor aimed productions have breathed a little unexpected life into our ears on many occasions over the last few months - The Phantom, and his tunes have been rollocking around the globe in the record boxes of some of the most influential, tastemakers around. Sharing an affinity to the perplexingly infectious synthesized grooves of labels like Night Slugs and Hum + Buzz, The Phantom’s own rhythms centre around the 4x4 pulse, but come unique with a highly melodic slant.

Equipped with the rhythm and drive those shuffling, incessant snares provide his music hits heavy, but it’s the uplifting lean of his lead lines on tracks like ‘Girl’ and ‘Night Game’ that really stand out. With tracks and remixes for people like Jack Dixon and Supra1, popping up with ferocity and a debut EP for the Senseless imprint - out earlier this wee - we caught up with the producer to talk our way into grabbing the 63rd Sonic Router Mix…

SR: Can you provide those who may not know you with a bit of background info?

The Phantom: Hi, Bartosz Kruczynski here. I'm a currently Warsaw, Poland based producer/DJ.

Outside of music who are you? What do you do on the daily?

Studying the culture of early modern England! I'm writing my master's degree thesis on ritualistic laughter. Apart from that - sleeping a lot, watching obscure films, listening to weird experimental records.

How did you first get into making music? What was it that infected you to do so?

I started putting together some ideas at the age of 15. All the tunes back then (made with a friend of mine) were sample-based, sort of early Coldcut or Big Apple Productions, despite being a fan of early XL Recordings rave records. At that time, I became influenced by the bootleg scene as well - Richard X/Girls On Top, Soulwax, Mark Vidler, Soundhog. All the early pioneers. Been making bootlegs for a couple of years now (I still produce them occasionally). Got back to writing my own music like a year ago.

What’s your production set up like? What’s your favourite bit of kit in the studio?

Just a laptop and a pair of ears really...

How would you describe your music? I mean it shares a kinship with UK stables like Night Slugs and Hum & Buzz... Are those guys an influence for you?

Yes, they definitely are! I mean, thanks to Supra1, I was lucky enough to DJ alongside Bok Bok in Cracow, Poland like two years ago! And I was already a Faggatronix fan back then, as well as a a regular reader of Lower End Spasm (RIP). Club experiences are definitely a very important influence to me. The same with Ikonika playing at Unsound last year or, let's say, seeing Dam-Funk live. As for my music. I'm trying to keep it very raw and simple sounding, almost dated. It's also about the melodies, or particular chords rather than beats.



Where do you take inspiration from when making music? I mean it’s easy to hear the influence of more tribal drum patterns but outside of that...

If I had to choose any particular tracks sharing a similar sound these would be perhaps 'Desire' by Robert Hood or 'Strings' by Da Posse or some South African house music. Pop esthetics are important as well - I'd name Madonna's 'The Look Of Love' as an influence behind my own track - 'Night Game'. Apart from that - I'm using quite a lot of jazz chords.

You’ve turned ears with your remixes of people like Supra1 and Jack Dixon. Do you approach remixes differently to your original productions?

Yeah, to some extent. It is rather unconscious, but I always try to experiment a bit more when remixing, later incorporating the ideas (like new presets) into the original tracks.

What’s the scene like in your native Poland? There seems to be some really good producers putting out records at the moment... I mean we asked Sentel the same thing, but is the club side of it blossoming and is that affecting your profile do you think?

The scene is definitely growing strong here. Apart from Supra1, Zeppy Zep, Sentel, Sekta (releasing a new EP on Shifting Peaks soon) there are a couple of yet to be discovered producers like Rhythm Baboon, Venice Calypso or MCQ and Vanatoski. There's obviously also the tech-side - Catz N Dogz or Czubala. Lots of events here as well - almost everyone from the scene played in Poland - NB Funky, HH Banton, Crazy Cousinz, Untold, Kode9, Ikonika, Jackmaster, Bok Bok & Lvis, Girl Unit, Guido etc. All thanks to promoters like Unsound, Supra1, Sorry Ghettoblaster, BBQ or Gangsteppaz. As I said earlier - all the gigs definitely influence my music.

Are there any producers you rate the world should know about? I'm really into what Glamfranklin is doing,

I think signed to Hum & Buzz actually! Also the likes of Salva, Tri-Funk, Akhluts. I'm a big fan of Jam City as well.

How did you link with Senseless for you forthcoming EP? Did you choose the remixers yourself?

Senseless approached me over a year ago proposing the EP, despite me being completely unknown at that time. At first two completely other tunes were meant to be released. Decided to scrap them eventually tho. The remixers were chosen deliberately - already had quite a good contact with both Brenmar and Hackman (and Zeppy Zep obviously), loved their work so we offered them remixes.


The Phantom – The Phantom EP [Senseless Records]

What other projects have you got in the pipeline?

Working on a couple of remixes now, including Voltron (Discobelle Records) and French Fries (together with Zeppy Zep). Releasing an EP on Pets Recordings (Catz N Dogz label) and a single track on a Top Billin compilation. All early next year.

Tell us a little bit about the mix you’ve put together for us…

The mix includes a couple of new releases I'm really enjoying - 'The Alps' or the Brenmar remix (I think they are out already at this point), a demo by JTRP (Deep Teknologi Records), an African house anthem by DJ Bongz and 'Shivers' by Skalpel off their second LP.

Any words of wisdom, for our readers?

Don't eat the yellow snow.

::

DOWNLOAD: The Phantom – Sonic Router Mix #63



Tracklist:

Robert Hood – Clash – M Plant
Bateman – Tephra Riddim (Grevious Angel Remix) – Unreleased
Brenmar – You Make Me Say (Ikonika + Optimum Remix) – Forthcoming Discobelle Records
Braiden – The Alps – Doldrums
DJ Bongz – Underground Ft. Kgomotso – Huge Entertainment
JTRP – Shady – Unreleased
The Phantom – Night Game (Hackman Remix) – Forthcoming Senseless
Storm Queen – Look Right Through (Dub) – Environ
Untold – Come Follow Me – Soul Jazz
DJ Orgasmic – How Clap Low Trap (Joe x Ludacris) – Unreleased
Girl Unit – IRL (Bok Bok Remix) – Night Slugs
Jack Dixon – I Let You (The Phantom Remix) – Silverback
Ikonika – Simulacrum – Hyperdub
Skalpel – Shivers – Ninja Tune

The Phantom EP is out now on Senseless Records.

Link:
www.myspace.com/phantomghostwhowalks

STREAM: Jack Dixon - Substitue EP [Silverback Recordings]

Versed, as you all should be by now, in our love for all things Polish this post comes to kill two birds with one stone. Silverback Recordings are putting out the debut EP from Jack Dixon, a name you may have seen littered accross our Hivemind.fm show's tracklists, and the 'Substitute EP' features 6 original tracks from the producer coming equipped with remixes from Damu, Cairo, Swarms, Daily and one of our new obsessions, Polish producer, The Phantom - who turns in the stand out remix of the EP with his version of 'I Let You.'

A big fan of synthesized swells, Dixon's production is clean and perfectly measured. With an obvious emphasis on the use of vocal snippets tracks like 'Needin' U' and 'Be There' hint at the talent he possesses - fusing a house tempoed pulse with his freewheeling melodies and thick, almost inaudible low end.

Stream: Jack Dixon - Substitute EP Preview



'Subsitute EP' is out digitally 22nd November.

Link:
http://soundcloud.com/jackdixon

INTERVIEW: Sentel [Concrete Cut]

Casting our ears back to the first dalliances with Polish outfits like BBQ (their blog, parties, promo mixes and giveaways) and labels like Concrete Cut we're completely in agreement with the recent XLR8R penned notion that, Poland is on fire in terms of fresh and interesting bass music of late. With artists like Zeppy Zep, The Phantom and now Sentel littering our inbox, conversations and radio show tracklists we're totally assured that Poland is doing it about now.

The duo of Sentel, aka Sylwia Kopys and Bartek Baran, hail from Krakow - a town you might have heard referenced in a tale of debauchery or a last ditch effort to lose a mind before committing to someone in matrimony. Keeping their four four kick drums prominent, together they make music that sits as easily between the flummoxing styles of producers like Brackles, Untold and the extended Night Slugs family. Enriched by the erratic, almost scattergun synth lines that incline up into themselves on 'Chapel 20' their style is encapsulated beautifully on their debut release, 'Chapel 20' b/w 'Widow' on the Concrete Cut imprint. Their sound is thick, almost toxic in its luminesence, with the stabbing leads pulling and nagging at your ear drums. In a similar way to the recent work of Egyptrixx: if a producer like Ikonika's world is plagued by hyperbolic shades of neon, Sentel's is swamped by woozy, pixel patterned shades; colliding in flashes.

Grabbing our 56th Sonic Router mix as we did it, we caught up with the duo, asking them to learn us a few things we could tell the wider world in return...

Sonic Router: Can you provide those who may not know you with a bit of background info?


Sentel: We are Sylvia and Bart. We live in Krakow where we try to get by making beats, playing out, and spending too much time in clubs.

Outside of music who are you guys? What do you do on the daily? 


Bartek is attempting to figure out his life after an unsuccessful stint at uni, and Sylvia has just started hers at an old, respected university. In his free time Bartek works in computer graphics and Sylvia spins disco every night in a Ukrainian club.

How did you first get into making music? What was it that infected you to do so?

From the beginning, when we first started playing house parties in our hometown (Kielce) we were sure that we wanted to, at some point, start making our own music. At the time we didn't really have any idea of how it would turn out in terms of style.

Bartek: I remember the first tune I finished. It was in 2008 and it was a remix of Blur's 'Boys & Girls'. It was so bad it was barely listenable...

How does the partnership work between you when making tunes?


Everything happens fairly naturally. One of us starts a project and then we work together with each others' ideas. Sometimes one of us stays up later at night and when we wake up the next day we work on the project together. You could say that we split the work 50/50 (Bart makes the beats, Sylvia buys the beer).

Whats your production set up like? What’s your favourite bit of kit in the studio? 


To be honest we only use a laptop with Ableton live. We do have a Akai mpk49 midi keyboard and an apc40 controller, but we use those pretty rarely. Until now we haven't even been able to get a hold of studio monitors or even a single fully functional pair of headphones. That might be partially responsible for the sound on our debut... haha.

Where do you take inspiration from when making music? I mean it’s easy to hear the influence of people like Scratcha DVA and Ikonika in your tunes but what do you think influences the music you make? I mean your myspace quotes black metal as an influence...


Of course you can't directly hear the influence of black metal in our music but I think that there is a certain aura and a kind of straightforwardness to our melodies that we can attribute to the sounds of Burzum, Xasthur or Bathory. You certainly shouldn't take that too seriously. In the same way we could say that the board game Magia i Miecz (Talisman in English) from our childhood is an inspiration, or the kids cartoon He-man.

What is truly inspirational for us is stuff from Werk Discs, Night Slugs, old deep house, acid house, Detroit techno, and rave tracks that you can find all over the internet.




Sentel – Chapel 20 [Concrete Cut]

What’s the scene like in your native Poland? There seems to be some really good producers putting out records at the moment... is the club side of it blossoming?

The scene isn't particularly big, but there are a few really great producers in it. We have to mention Zeppy Zep and The Phantom (check out the last track in our mix), Tomek Urbanowicz from Supra1, Vanatoski from Gangsteppaz, Tom Encore, Liquid Molly, the Concrete Cut crew, Sekta, DJ Spox, and the whole PL Funky crew. The scene is quite good now and we have a feeling that more and more good new producers appear in time. Keep your eyes on Poland, it might surprise you yet.

How did you link with the Concrete Cut crew for you first 12”? What can people expect from it if they’ve heard it? I mean RA commented on the frenetic energy of the thing... do you feel that’s a good description?


We had a few tracks up on the internet that Concrete Cut liked and they asked us if we'd like release something on their label. Simple story really. As for the single, we wanted it to be weird and aggressive, and totally different from the standard approach to UK funky. I think we achieved our goal.

The artwork for it is incredibly strong, kind of bleak but a throwback to the primitive platform games of the past... was that a conscious thing for you? To give it such an arcade feel...


Of course, it was intentional. Bartek was the proud owner of a Commodore 64, and he also played NES. Games like Contra, ShadowGate, Last Ninja left their mark in their own way and Bartek used that as a guide when he designed the artwork. Apparently you can hear the echoes of this kind of visual style in our music. Maybe it's a little cheesy, but it's certainly sincere.

What other projects have you got in the pipeline?

We plan to release our first vinyl this year, with Concrete Cut of course. We haven't DJed a lot recently and we'd like to change that. We're open for bookings! haha

Tell us a little bit about the mix you’ve put together for us…

We wanted the mix to be a little different. We didn't keep a steady tempo and the energy is spread out in an usual way. We wanted to tell some sort of story rather than it just being a standard selection of tunes. That's why we used a song from an old Polish children's film, Akademia Pana Kleska (Mr. Kleks' Academy), after some serious modifications of course. In general the majority of the tracks we used we edited in some way specifically for the mix. There's also a new track of ours there with a working title of 'Bones' and a second untitled track which will likely never be released, but we decided to use it here as a sort of exclusive.

Any words of wisdom, for our readers?



We're the last people who should be giving out any sort of wisdom. Hahaha

::

DOWNLOAD: Sentel – Sonic Router Mix #56



Tracklist:

01. Velour - Booty Slammer
02. Mele - Bombay
03. Marcus Price & Carli - Var E Näääken (Girl UNIT Remix)
04. Claude VonStroke - Who's Afraid of Detroit (Edited by Sentel)
05. Revenge of Philip Golarz - Theme From Ms.Kleks Academy (Edited by Sentel)
06. Aiku - Just Can't Sleep (Egyptrixx Remix)
07. Sentel - Untitled
08. Hanuman Feat Kanji Kinetic - Bola (Kanji Kinetic Remix)
09. Kanji Kinetic - Thrill Seeka (Kingdom Remix)
10. Sentel - Bones
11. Pirate Soundsystem - Dub N U (Bare Noize Remix)
12. Nightmare Feat Skepta & Lil Nasty - Badness (Edited By Sentel)
13. DVA - New World Order
14. Redinho - Boy Racer
15. Modeselektor - Art and Cash (Phono Remix)
16. Zinc - Nexx
17. Jam City - Let Me Bang Refix (Edited by Sentel)
18. Makongo - Angolan Kung Fu (Double Dutch Remix)
19. Zander Hardy - Signalling
20. Sentel - Widow
21. Style Of Eye & Slagsmålsklubben - Homeless (Canblaster Remix) (Edited By Sentel)
22. Micky Slim & Nom De Strip - Do It (Original Mix)
23. Bobmo - Bring It (Hot City Remix) (Edited by Sentel)
24. The Phantom - Nightgame (Zeppy Zep Remix)

Link:
www.myspace.com/itssentel
www.myspace.com/concretecut

Photo: http://trouble-lighting.blogspot.com