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David Flores has been hard at it mixing up sounds and styles since a teen growing up in southern California in the mid 1990s, and he started making his own music since the middle of this past decade - music that has hit home hard this year under his Audio Injection alias, and is being spun and charted by the likes of DJ Hyperactive, Tommy Four Seven, Speedy J, DJ Hi-Shock and Chris Liebing - for whom he recently did a CLR podcast.

A little bit of research indicates you've been releasing your own music since about 2005 with the Audioinjection EP through German label Monoid, under your own name David F. - followed by the Abstract Dancin' wax (as Broken Rules) the following year - is this correct?

"Yes, those were pretty much my first releases, aside from my very first release on Droid Records in 2004, which was a compilation CD. The Broken Rules record was released on a hard techno label based in the Netherlands, and Broken Rules is my alias for my harder, more noisy music."

So you've been using the moniker Audio Injection since 2007, with the releases through Droid Recordings?

"I've actually had the name Audio Injection since 2003, and used it very little; around 2007 is when I actually started releasing music under the moniker - I liked the name so decided to actually start using it."

You did some collaborative/versus work with Drumcell (Mohammed Espinosa) back in 2007 - how did that come about?

"I hooked up with Moe back in 2002-03, about the time I first met the Droid guys when they were doing their early parties and Vidal [from Acid Circus] was doing a radio show from his college. We both had the same interests in techno and we worked together back in those early years but never really released anything until 2007, when we actually thought our music was good enough to do so. Since then we both thought we worked well together in the studio and have been doing collabs and remixes a lot more."

Several years on, how do you feel about that early stuff?

"It's pretty dated now, maybe with the exception of our bigger track 'Bottle Opener', which got us a lot of attention. But as the years went on our tastes changed and our sound has changed too, which you can hear in our productions. We also try to stay up to date with techno, not just sticking to one particular sound/style, but still have our own little flavour in there."

What inspired you to first set foot in the studio and start recording tunes?

"I started DJing when I was a teen, back in 1996, and used to buy tons of records; my inspiration came from house, techno, hardcore, drum 'n' bass. I was a fan of all styles of electronic music, so after years of DJing I decided to try to start doing my own music in around 2000 - I felt it was the right thing to do and I had a lot of ideas, so went with it."

Your remix of Octave's Edge of the Chasm is now out on limited 12" vinyl released by Android Muziq. This remix has been dropped by Chris Liebing and a bunch of other famous DJs... what do you feel makes this remix so damned attractive and DJ-friendly to people like Liebing?

"I really don't know what makes it so attractive to be honest!" [laughs]. "I mean it's a good record and good remix, so I guess it just has this certain mood and vibe to it that makes it appealing to some DJs, and when dropped at the right moments it really works the crowd."

You've remixed DJ Hyperactive, Acid Circus, Miro Pajic, Joel Mull and several other artists. How do you approach the remixing process and how do you go about personalizing it with the Audio Injection stamp?

"Usually when I get the remix packs, I don't try to sit and think out how I want to go about it, I just go with the flow and start sequencing stuff, keep what I like, and remove what I don't. To put my own personal stamp on it I just go with the flow."

You've been producing music and interacting within the music industry for several years now. What's most changed in electronic music over that period?

"I'd say music software has changed a lot since I've started - I mean there was most of the software there is now, back then, but just how far it's come is crazy: being able to produce whole tracks in one program and actually making it sound good is great. Also, of course, the DJing software is a big thing; that's a whole new level for DJs."

What upcoming Audio Injection projects/collaborations/events we should know about for 2010?

"There're definitely more collabs with Drumcell, as well as some stuff with Acid Circus [aka Raiz], an Electric Deluxe release with remixes from Drumcell and Speedy J, also more remixes and other stuff for Droid."

Is vinyl dead - or just becoming more of a select option?

"Vinyl is still alive in my heart - I grew up using it, buying it, and I still collect it to this day... but as far as sales go, it's going downhill unfortunately. It seems these days it's just an option for the vinyl enthusiasts."

Can you see DJs utilizing records in 5 years' time, or will everything be done through Traktor?

"Of course there're gonna be DJs still using vinyl in 5 years; I don't think it's a completely dead format - plus with so much good old music out there, it seems people are also going back to the old stuff and playing it again. I know I do. I still dig through my own collection and pull out some old goodies and relive them. It's fun for me to do. Then, of course, there's Traktor - which I'm sure will be widely used and more advanced in 5 years... I just hope the art of DJing doesn't die out and be left to just hitting play on your software and letting it mix for you."

Either way, is digital download really the future of music?

"It seems at this point it is. There're so many labels out there popping up everyday, new music coming out everyday, it's just so much easier to release digitally than on a physical medium like vinyl and CD - plus it's cheaper! Unless some new format comes out, then I really don't see music going any other way."

One of my preferred emerging Japanese artists at play here in Tokyo over the past couple of years has been the somewhat enigmatic Tsuyoshi K (he doesn't tell anyone what the 'K' stands for), who started out making fringe, left-of-centre electro-pop stuff as Gadget Cassette but more recently changed name to Cut Bit Motorz and at the same time began pushing through more tech-house related sounds.

Funnily enough, even though we live in the same city and constantly email each other as well as remix each other's tunes, we haven't ever actually met.

But that didn't stop us releasing a digital slab of mixes of Tsuyoshi's latest tune 'Dry Fruit', in which we got on board some of his more experienced Japanese peers - DJ Wada (Co-Fusion), Toshiyuki Yasuda (Robo*Brazileira), Takashi Watanabe (DJ Warp) and Tomi Chair - to do the rejigs, making it an entirely Japanese putsch that criss-crosses eclectic, tech, electro, house and (dare I say it) a marginally more progressive stance.

Truth is I really dig working with this elusive digital mate and Tsuyoshi is breaking ground with his own work (he recently remixed the Dead Agenda track 'Chaos Theory' as well as Tomi Chair's 'Stroboscope') and you'll probably brush up against the guy more often in future outside of this forum.

Anyway, I ran some concepts by him to get a wee bit more background fodder as follows; luckily he didn't object to the more obscure, self-indulgent questions:

BACKGROUND

"I started making music from age 13. My first synthesizer was a Yamaha SY-55, and after that I worked with some bands. These days my favourite music-making tool is Protools - I've been using it for two years, and it surprised me because I can work so efficiently with it. If only I'd been able to use it at an earlier stage!"

INFLUENCES

"TM Network, Soft Ballet, CMJK, M-age, and wonderful techno music that a lot of people don't know, or I don't know the names of. I like Ken Ishii, if it's limited to Japanese electronic musicians.

"As for YMO, Susumu Hirasawa and Isao Tomita, I've really been influenced by them since we're from different generations."

JAPANESE SCENE

"It's subdivided very much and is healthy."

FAVOURITE GODZILLA CHARACTER

"I like King Ghidorah, though I'm not well-informed about Godzilla. I think I like Ghidorah because his name and appearance are so striking."

CUT BIT MOTORZ

"Cut Bit Motorz was started from 2009. I was making tunes for DJ friends."

DRY FRUIT/GOLDEN GARDEN REMIXES

"Wonderful! I've been most surprised about these people actually choosing to do the remixes in the first place, and it's exciting. I want you to listen to them by all means."

CURRENT MUSICIANS

"I don't have any favourite musician right now - however, I do like rock better than techno."

SAKE

"I like sake! And the best sake is Koshino Kanbai, made in Niigata."

FUTURE DIRECTIONS

"I want to work as regularly as possible - and I want to play parties!"

BEST ANIME MOVIE

"Definitely I'd say 天空の城ラピュタ [Laputa: Castle in the Sky (1986), by Hayao Miyzaki] - this movie has a wonderful outlook on the world and the story is awesome. Then there's the musical score which is sublime."

DIGITAL vs VINYL

"As for the vinyl, I don't want it to disappear, though I can't play it myself... Regarding digital, there are great outlets online through which to dig up music from all over the world, and then share it about, which is fantastic."

MUSIC TO MAKE LOVE TO

"I like music with sorrow - and probably rock rather than techno."

UPCOMING

"I'm contributing to Tomi Chair's release 'Colourful', which will be out on 23 August through Bellarine Records."

On the last day of last month (July 31st for those of you without a handy calendar), I got the opportunity to help stick out a digital EP through my hack label.

Called 'Chaos Theory', it's the debut release by sterling British duo Mike Holmes and Dan Hultum (aka Dead Agenda), with their original mix conjoined to a batch of reinterpretations by Paul Birken, Enclave, Cut Bit Motorz, Dejected, Marcin Markowski, Krzysztof Jastrzębski and me - hence crisscrossing the globe from the US to Japan, and Poland via Australia to the UK.

Admittedly while we're having problems getting the cover artwork online at Juno right now (goddamn you modern technology glitch!) there's nothing at all wrong with the music, which you can check out here.

So, anyway, with a bit of time on my hands, a promotion machine to crank relentlessly, and swayed by the fact that not only are all the mixes fantastic fodder but Dan and Mike are cool cats I've grown to love, I decided to put them onto the griller and get the facts straight.

These are their confessions.

BACKGROUND

MIKE HOLMES [MH]: I've been obssessed with electronic music for as long as I can remember; my Dad giving me a Jean Michel Jarre tape when I was a kid was probably my introduction to it all. It was around 1992-93 when I really got into it, listening to rave and old skool hardcore, and then onto gabba! I got my first set of decks aged 13 and then the obsession began. I was first exposed to techno about ten years ago when I went to Bugged Out in Liverpool and saw Dave Clarke, Justin Robertson and Adam Beyer and it blew me away!
We started throwing our own illegal raves and parties locally around the same time and I got to DJ alongside some of my idols like Neil Landstrumm, British Murder Boys and Jerome Hill, which was just a dream come true.
I stumbled across the supurb Fun in the Murky site about four years ago and met Trevor Wilkes who has been a great support, allowing me to contribute to the website and do regular Bleep Radio shows. The site really has shaped my sound into what it is today, opening my eyes to the wonky scene and all the artists and labels that I really dig these days.

DAN HULTUM [DH]: I started creating my own tunes around 2001 after leaving school - me and a DJ friend of mine attended a music technology course just outside of Chester. I bought a Mac iBook and an M-Audio midi keyboard and started using Garage Band.
As my keyboard skills got better I starting experimenting with different software and midi controllers. Music has always been a massive part of my life and I love loads of different styles, genres and eras. Everything from classical to really far out abstract techno.

MUSICAL INFLUENCES

MH: Mine's pretty diverse but always underground - everything from acid house, old skool and Chicago house through to techno, jackin', wonky, IDM and gabba.
It was the early Altern-8 and Prodigy stuff that really got me and I still rate Prodigy's Experience album as my favourite album of all time. Labels like Sativae, Tresor, Dance Mania and Downwards really caught my attention when I first started DJing.
We did a few parties with Regis and Surgeon a few years ago and they were a huge influence for me musically. More recently it's been labels like Jerome Hill's Don't, Miditonal, Feinwerk, Neue Heimat, Coin Operated and obviously IF? that have featured consistanly in my sets over the last few years.
Some of the "newer" guys I'm really digging are Luke's Anger, Ben Pest and Kanji Kinetic to name a few, and then there are guys like Michael Forshaw, Neil Landstrumm, Paul Birken and Jerome - I could go on for hours!

DH: Some producers and DJs that have really influenced my style are Neil Landstrumm, Si Begg, Jeff Mills, Little Nobody, Paul Birken, Daft Punk, The Avalanches, Underworld, and The Herbaliser.
I also like some hip hop, house and indie electro styles. I would say Mike is also a big influence as he introduced me to the techno scene and has a really good ear for electronic music.
Also listening to Andrez's Action Hero album [ED: Wha--?!] I was really blown away by the sheer thought and care that goes into his really unique sound.

INITIAL CONNECTION

MH: I met Dan at work around two years ago and his totally diverse taste and love of music was clear to see and we hit it off straight away really.

DH: I met Mike around two years ago when he started working with me. We shared a common interest in electronic music and I listened to his mixes on Bleep Radio and really enjoyed them.
I told him I made my own music and he suggested we team up and try and get some techno tracks out there. So that's what we did.

HOW DEAD AGENDA CAME ABOUT

MH: Dan had been producing all sorts of music for a long time and I'd been DJing for years so it was a case of two worlds meeting, really. We both share the same passion for music but have very different tastes.
I've always wanted to start producing my own tracks and Dan was already at it so we got together and Dead Agenda was born.

DH: Dead Agenda came about the back end of last year when we finished are first project, 'Chaos Theory'.

THE REMIXES

MH: I'm so chuffed with the final remix package of 'Chaos Theory' and to have one of my idols, in Paul Birken, remix our first track makes it extra special from a personal point of view.
I love the fact its been remixed by artists new and old from all over the globe: Japan, Australia, Poland, America and England. There really is a remix for every taste; it touches many bases, which is great!

DH: Having such fine production talent remixing 'Chaos Theory' was an absolute thrill and pure honour. The remixes show a wide range of different styles, all of them superb in their own way.
I'm particularly fond of the Paul Birken and Enclave remixes.
Getting to know the guys as well was really cool. I remember receiving the Cut Bit Motorz remix first and was just blown away that somebody on the other side of the world had taken our tune and totally reinvented it. It's a way good feeling!

THE FUTURE

MH: We've had a few offers to do some remix work, which is great, and are currently working on several new tracks of our own which are sounding good and we are also working on our live set too, so watch this space.

DH: I hope the future will bring more Dead Agenda tracks and more remix work; also, we have some more collaboration projects coming up which will be exciting. I'm working on a solo album at the moment - so busy, busy, busy!
We've got a few gig bookings this month in the UK, so hopefully that will continue and we're also working on a live set as well.

DIGITAL vs VINYL

MH: I've still got my decks and all my vinyl, and always will - but I've gone fully digital now. I feel that programs like Ableton, Serato and Traktor really add another dimension to my sets and allow me to do things that I couldn't with vinyl.
It does have its downside, though, with many labels and distributors suffering and vinyl sales struggling as a consequence.
And I do miss going all over the country to go digging in record shops for that gem of a record as it's all so easy now with mp3 sales on the Internet.

At the moment I'm doing this completely self-indulgent series of articles for Impact magazine over in the UK - focusing on what I've unoriginally dubbed The Greatest Anime Ever Made. Most of it's selected by me, much of it is obvious (Ghost in the Shell, Akira), and on the feedback front I've conscripted a lot of local Japanese filmmakers, manga artists, anime crew, and - well, since they're cool and I dig their muzak - DJs and producers.

One of these helpful talking heads has been Shinji Tokida, who runs the record labels Fountain Music and Plaza In Crowd, and he cites Akira as the number one anime experience in his lifetime. "I love Akira - I even had the jacket," he recently told me. "I love the drawing touch and the characters' eyes, as well as the universal future concept which struck my mind when I was still in primary school."

Tokida also cited Mamoru Oshii's early opus Patlabor. "Oh, the Patlabor movie - I watched it when I was in elementary school; also I collected the manga and read it on my futon. I was a heavy fan and I remember that I bought the model kit, but I was too young to figure it out and put it together. Still, it was a good memory."

Then he pulled back to the here and now.

"These days I'm only into music, so I don't watch movies or TV and I don't read comics."

When I pitched the idea at Shinji this week that I'd like to extend beyond the anime references and talk to him more about his labels and himself, the man was thrilled. "One of my dreams has been to be interviewed by someone - thank you for fulfilling that!" he enthused.

Without a second to breathe, it seems, Tokida is off - the guy is a joy to quiz.

"I started DJing at 17, scratching records - I'd just changed instruments from the guitar to turntables and got right into hip hop. Then, in my Tokyo years, I came across more valuable music like house, jazz, soul and funk - and at last I arrived at techno. This was my true start to explore the business of music in my life."

Thus there are his record labels.

"The Plaza name was founded in front of my Mac at the funeral of Michael Jackson as he set forth for the heavenly world. It's a is techno label, with the concept being a dream crowd, all the people in the world together in one party. Fountain Music is more beautiful electronic sounds. I started a label more than ten years ago, when I was 19 - at that time I was crazy about the Mo' Wax label, and I read a magazine article that said the label owner James Lavelle started the label at 16 years of age. I just felt that I was so late starting a label after that!"

That early experiment folded later, however. "The label closed and for three years I did nothing - then I saw a beautiful woman at Nagoya Station, and it got me thinking: What is beauty? I thought about that on the train, and I just dreamed that if everyone is beautiful, the world would be a happier place. On the train home I decided to start new label."

Other influences include "Derrick May, Ryuichi Sakamoto, and also Yoko Ono", while he cites fellow labels like M-Nus and Cocoon. "But I have a dream to make my label a major player like Sony or EMI, because I am a music lover."

At the current time Tokida is pursuing more humble ambitions, but he's always looking to expand the horizons and is keen to share these ideas with others.

"We do CD pressing and distribute in Japan and Europe; we also do some digital releases. We're currently working on the new Popnoname CD release Surrounded By Mars - we got the finished product just today," he says. There's a promo video on YouTube here.

"Popnoname is my best friend in Cologne along with his producer Marc Knauer who runs the Italic label."

And then there are all the other artists he's currently working with.

"With DJ Yellow I feel a real sense of destiny, from Dave Angel there's super high energy, Dublee is an intelligent man, Sans Soleil is our first contracted artist, my neighborhood friend Takaaki Tsuchiya, new artist Temma Teje, Thopa, Death on the Balcony, Synethesys, Genevieve, and Astrid Suryanto." He pauses for breath. "These are the older friends we're working with, but we're also connecting with new artists such as Soundsquirt, Ney Faustini from São Paulo, Ron Schubert, Peter Clamat, Peter 'CWB' Mooka and Trancemicsoul. 4/4 Kicks Kiss and Sasaki Hiroaki, Louis Haiman and Masha Era are the latest inclusions."

Then there're the remixers they're calling in: Dubfire, Dave Angel, Mijk van Dijk, K.P.I., James Ruskin, Si Begg, Donk Boys, Dave Tarrida, and more (apparently) to come.

Shinji says he also often works with Hiroshi Watanabe (video here) and Greek artist Echonomist.

"The designers I'm working with on artwork and so on are my very old best friends Quenta and Beople [Yukifumi Uchida], and one of my bigger influences comes from Mars Gallery Tokyo and photographer Rikki Kasso.

Japan has a great history of cool electronic musicians - like YMO, Isao Tomita, Susumu Hirasawa, Ken Ishii, Takkyu Ishino, Fumiya Tanaka, DJ Krush, Satoshi Fumi, Hifana, Merzbow, Captain Funk, DJ Warp, Cut Bit Motorz, Toshiyuki Yasuda and Shin Nishimura.

"Techno's root is also in Japan," declares Shinji. "Technology and industry make people intelligent and active to love."

Any interested parties can check out Tokida's two labels online at Beatport (Plaza In Crowd and Fountain Music), plus they also have a new podcast out mixed by Tokyo-based DJ Temma Teje.

"We have to blast out this solution to all over the world and get in touch to all people who love music!" Tokida enthuses.

A little bit of hack research indicates you've been releasing stuff through Audio Textures for a decade now, starting with the Terry Mitchell record 'Flavas 1/4', and since then have done 10 releases by the extremely talented likes of Paul Langely, Robert Armani, K. Alexi Shelby, Lester Fitzpatrick, Paul Birken, and now Vadz. Have I got it all right?

"Yes, that's correct."

What's it been like working with these people?

"It's been great working with the artists from the label - over the years we have become good friends."

Now you have the Vadz release 'Panic Attack' out, as release #10 - how did you swing this EP and what do you feel makes it truly special?

"Myself and Vadz have been in contact for a few years, exchanging e-mails; we did hook up on a past project with Mark Hawkins that didn't surface on my label - he sent me the tracks prior to the 'Panic Attack' project. So I chose some tracks - which wasn't easy because the Vadz demos were of such high quality! - and thankfully I got there in the end and the release was signed and ready to go.

"The 'Panic Attack' EP is very different to me in its approach to techno... it's what I call a hybrid-style, fusing elements of other directions in Vadz's own style, which I think personally is refreshing because I've heard a lot of techno music of late that just goes by formula and doesn't push any boundaries in production."

How would you define the ideology behind Audio Textures, and how has this altered over the past 10 years - or is it still exactly the same?

"The ideology behind the label has always been an open minded and forward-thinking approach to techno or experimental music. The sound has changed over the years - where in the early releases we had a more straight up and gritty jacking techno sound and on into the more experimental side of techno, now we still dip into the odd straight-up techno banger as well as releasing bigger profile artists over the years; I've also focused on working with up-and-coming producers alongside the bigger names as well."

How did you first organize the label, and why?

"I first organized the label back in early 1999 while I was running my own small distribution service, KC Promotions. I was distributing all different styles of music including techno in the UK and had some good contacts with UK producers Terry Mitchell and Paul Langley, who sent me demos. I spent a lot of time researching the techno market and came to the conclusion that there weren't many labels representing the style of techno or Chicago-inspired sound I loved at that time.

"The next step for me was the name of the label, which didn't take too long - I looked through dictionaries and came up with 'audio' which I thought was a cool word for output as in music, and then 'textures' was a good name as in textures of music because I knew I might change styles in the future... so there you go. Myself and Terry Mitchell were in contact at that time and he gave me some tracks and I signed the 'Flavas 1/4' project. The rest was history. Also, because I had strong connections in Chicago, I signed up some of the hottest producers from there. I researched distribution companies too and hooked up with Tony Viera of Integrale Muzique and worked with those guys till I think 2005 or '06, then Harvey Lane at Veto, then digital with Oliver Way at EPM. Currently we're signed worldwide for digital with Label Worx."

Ten years on, how do you feel about the early stuff?

"The early releases for me were really cool - I had great support from Dave Clarke, DJ Rush, Jim Masters and Mark EG, which was great back then, but I feel now the label has moved on and matured in sound from that to more of an experimental sound."

What was your relationship with K. Alexi Shelby and the Rated-X imprint - and is this a possible continuing project?

"I hooked up with K. Alexi Shelby in 2002 while working at Integrale London office. Both of us had a passion for house and techno and decided between us to start up the label. I used to do the day-to-day running of the label, working with distributors, and K. Alexi was in the studio. We released about two projects and had plans in the pipeline to work with Robert Armani, Gene Hunt some other guys from Chicago and Dave Angel, but due to other commitments we shut
the label in 2003 and there are no plans to restart it for the future."


Where exactly were you both born, and what's it famous for?

"I was born in Brentwood in Essex, here in the UK. We have a school here called Brentwood School - it's famous for the likes of Gryth Rhys Jones and Cliff Richard attending having attended, and some other renowned names too; there is some lovely countryside here as well."

You've been interacting within the music industry for a long time now. What's most changed in the electronic/experimental music related music industry over that period?

"I think what's changed over that time period personally for me for is the obvious decline in vinyl sales worldwide and the closures of many distributors and record labels, and seeing the digital medium coming to the forefront of techno/experimental music."

What keeps you motivated?

"For me, keeping motivated is finding new talent, like producers. I do spend a lot of time on MySpace going through new profiles; it's very rewarding finding new talent. I also get sent loads of demos from producers and always give feedback or help point them in the right direction as I know it's a very frustrating process - and of course I love hearing new fresh music."

In the '90s guys like Cristian Vogel, Si Begg, Dave Tarrida, Subhead, Tube Jerk, Justin Berkovi and Tobias Schmidt were basically life's blood for me as a fan and DJ. What do you think of the "newer" guys coming through like Luke's Anger, Ben Pest, Mark Hawkins, JE:5, Marcin Markowski, Mike Holmes and Donk Boys?

"All those guys are really good producers making really refreshing beats - Mark Hawkins has always been one of my favourites from years back; his early Djax releases were really cool but his sound has definitely moved on now and he's producing interesting music."

Which current crop of local British artists and labels are grabbing your attention, and why so?

"I don't really follow many labels but the Blueprint label is a label I respect, and of course James Ruskin who to me is a very interesting, talented individual - his productions are very fresh sounding. Also the Downwards imprint... I'm a big fan of Surgeon, and Regis is always quality. Some other interesting artists from the UK that I like include Dez Williams and Darkmode, releasing quality electro, and Kev Willis is one to watch for 2010."

In what shape is the UK electronic music/techno scene at the moment?

"I think the shape of the techno/experimental scene is very good at the moment. Producer-wise it's great and there're some talented new people around, though I still think there are not enough proper techno nights. I no Detached and Atom Jam are cool and Fabric in London, but I would like to see more clubs geared towards techno as a whole."

What are your impressions of overseas artists and labels to look out for?

"I think there are so many good artist/labels out their overseas. I'm still into my Detroit stuff - Underground Resistance and DJ Bone's Subject Detroit label always impresses me so I'm always looking out for releases by these guys. Decibel Flekx from the US is another producer to watch out for, he's making some quality tracks on his label Assimilation. US-based AEOD aka Petey Nicoleson, is really turning out some interesting beats and also some good solid new producers from Europe like Martin Mueller."

Here's the mandatory inane question: If you were pressed into a corner and forced to confess under great duress, how would you define the sounds/styles of Audio Textures?

"I would define the sound of the label as experimental, positive, forward-thinking electronic music with an urban edge and a dash of funk."

What upcoming Audio Textures projects/collaborations/events we should know about for 2010?

"Loads of very exciting projects on digital forthcoming this year with an EP by Roman Zawodny, and Darkmode, Kev Willis, Martin Mueller, Lester Fitzpatrick, Donnell Knox, Decibel Flekx,remixes from Alan Barratt, and many more - and an interesting mini album from the US by AEOD, plus in the pipeline some limited edittion coloured vinyl runs to follow.

"Thanks to everybody supporting my label over the years, and shouts out to Lester Fitzpatrick, Robert Armani, DJ Feedback, Urban, AEOD, Decibel Flekx, DJ Hectic, Circuit Breaker, Roman Zawodny, Brian Dunn, Martin Mueller, Darkmode, Kev Willis, Mark EG, Paul Birken, Alan Barratt, Dez Williams, Terry Mitchell, Axel Sohns, Mark Hawkins, and Trevor Wilkes.

"And, of course, look out for Vadz's 'Panic Attack' EP which came out on May 21st at all digital outlets - please check www.myspace.com/audiotexturesrecordings for info on this and the future releases."

What's it been like working with these people?

"Some of the new guys from the label have been very good to work with, very punctual and methodical and very helpful in their approach."

How do you foresee techno & electronic music in general developing over the next 12 months?

"I think techno/experimental music will really prosper over the next twelve months. I'm hearing some really good techno from producers all over; I can also see minimal stuff gradually dying off very soon. Personally, for me, it's not very challenging music even though I do like some releases I hear. All I see on the digital sites is dominated by minimal so it would be cool to see more techno coming back in a big way."

Lastly - how do you like your mushrooms cooked?

"I like my mushrooms fried in a full English breakfast."

Regular readers of Fun in the Murky who bother to wade through my long-winded hack articles may have noticed a trend (aside from the same recurring questions) - namely that a lot of the time I'm also working with the interviewee on something for my label IF?, they may have just (charitably) done a remix for me, or I'm doing something myself for their label.

This isn't always the case, but as I say it is a trend, and I've even noticed this myself - god forbid.

The reason is simple. Because I'm in close contact with them working on the musical angle at the time, these people are finally vulnerable to me to hit up for an interview - and given that my other day job is hack journalism, and I only really want to work with people I (a) respect, (b) am hugely influenced by, or (c) I've become mates with and want to sing their praises, the interview/article thing seems appropriate. Luckily these people are usually too nice to say no, so they indulge me, and we end up with some interesting written fodder to browse through here.

Justin Berkovi was the latest such 'victim'.

I first stumbled across Justin's music when I picked up his Crouton vinyl on Mosquito, and it became a pivotal member of my DJ sets and my patchy radio show on 3PBS back in Melbourne just over a decade ago.

I've been a huge fan since, keeping an eye on his stylistic tangents as much as I've tried to follow up on his releases through other labels like Music Man, Force Inc., Sativae, Drought, Pro-Jex, Djax, Neue Heimat, Harthouse, and Berkovi's own Predicaments.

"I've never released anything for Tresor," he quips, "although for some reason everyone thinks I have!"

So when Simon Nielsen (aka DJ Hi-Shock from Elektrax) approached me late last year to suggest we release my Little Nobody track Metropolis How? as a vinyl release with remixes, I couldn't think of a better practitioner to suit the moment... along with, of course, two other another canny remixers in Hi-Shock and James Ruskin.

We actually released this wax at the beginning of this week (that's unsubtle hint #2, in case you're wondering).

So far as I'm concerned, biased and all, Justin's remix is revelatory - he picked apart the slow, grubby, vaguely distorted acid slant of the original track and made the journey his own entity; think a mesmerizing remix defined by little incidental noises and hisses, the occasional snare, and a subtle, slightly dark orchestral flourish.

"It's pretty laid back," Berkovi himself assesses. "I didn't want to do a slamming techno track for this one, just something a with some tech-house influences and more subtle than an out-and-out banger!"

So, as per my usual wont and as you can probably guess by now given the artist bytes (above) and the title to this story, I did something I'd wanted to do since the late 1990s - I finally interviewed Justin Berkovi.

The following is the simple Q&A; his answers are stand-alone gems.

I didn't want to bury them in more rambling text, as I figure you've copped more than your fair share of that in this introduction. Big thanks to Justin for his remix, his words of wisdom, his time - and his cracking sense of humour.

I've been into your stuff since the year dot, but a little bit of research indicates you've been producing your own stuff, first off with Mosquito or Sativae, since about 1997. Is this correct?

"I did my first tracks before this but my inaugural release was on Mosquito in 1997. My first ever track - I think! - was 'Tonight', which ended up released on Mutter a few years later in 2001."

The stuff on Force Inc. was quite mad; I loved it, of course. How do you feel about that early stuff now?

"The Force Inc. period was when I was first starting out so I loved doing these early EPs. I still like what I did back then, they were good times! The Force Inc. EPs gave me good exposure - one was an NME Dance Single of the week - and allowed me to produce my first album [Charm Hostel] quite early on."

What inspired you to set foot in the studio yourself?

"I was originally into old electro such as Mantronix, and then old school techno, Detroit stuff, early Djax-Up-Beats, and so on. I'd always wanted to produce music so it was just a question of trying to get more gear than an old drum machine I had knocking about. I was just desperate to produce music, whatever it was going to be."

Where exactly were you born, and what's it famous for?

"I was born in Watford. It's fairly famous for Watford Football Club, which was at one time chaired and funded by Elton John. However, in the main Watford is a total shit-hole and I avoid it at all costs. It's full of rich chavs who want to fight each other."

You've remixed Cristian Vogel, Subhead, Hardfloor, Digital Primate, DJ Rush, and now this Little Nobody track for me. How do you approach the rejigging process and how do you go about personalizing it with the Justin Berkovi stamp?

"Usually I'll just grab all the parts and then create my own track. If the track though has a unique thing for me such as a crazy bassline or just some element I really like then I'll work my mix around that. I don't have a set remix style and I'll often create two remixes, one harder one and one more introspective."

You've been producing music and interacting within the music industry for a long time now. What's most changed in the electronic/experimental music related music industry over that period?

"That's a big question! So much has changed. Years ago I think vinyl played a very important role in the industry - people had to wait for white labels or promos, a buzz was created, and then the entire process of selling or buying a 12" was played out over time. Now everything is so instant. You've got a zillion digital labels releasing all kinds of crap and sifting through everything is really time-consuming.

"It's just a completely different landscape now, not as rock and roll in some ways as before - I mean I'd never have predicted seeing techno DJs Twittering about what Wagyū beef they're eating or how many times they've been to fucking Nobu - hilarious!

"But techno goes round and round, in and out of fads - from the minimal explosion has come a general acceptance of a much broader style of techno, so whilst the narrow fads might piss people off they often lead to things evolving later. Which is a good thing!"

What else keeps you motivated?

"Good, clever music and sounds that blow me away. I've always been a sucker for producers that use innovative and unique sounds - I'll often hear something in a track, it could be some strings or an effect or anything, and that will inspire me. My motivation now comes from producing again - I'm about to release my first music in over four years, so am excited about this and just keep wanting to produce tracks."

What gear/software are you making most use of in the studio at the moment?

"I still have a few bits of hardware left, but mainly sample it. My main production tool is Logic and my live tool Ableton. I'd like to make the switch to producing only in Ableton but keep going back to Logic. I prefer the timing of Ableton; it reminds me of my old hardware sequencers I used to produce with."

Which part of your studio is the most vital facet?

"Hmm... tough one - I'd say some of my outboard because it's now taking the flatness out of computer music and warming up my sound, making it more like my older productions."

Which current crop of artists and labels are grabbing your attention?

"Too many to mention! I still follow all the old guys but like a lot of well-produced stuff by Gary Beck and newer artists from minimal and tech-house to techno. I don't really listen to one or two genres or artists - I just go by what I like when I hear it."

If you were pressed into a corner and forced to confess under great duress, how would you define the sounds/styles you're currently making?

"That's easy, really - I'm doing deeper stuff under my Nightrax thing, and tougher, darker techno."

What upcoming Justin Berkovi productions/collaborations/events we should know about for 2010?

"I'm putting together two mixes for some artist podcasts - they'll be a trip down old school techno memory lane, and then a special preview of my new live set. I've got a Nightrax-style EP coming out on Eevolute, the imprint run by Terrace and Estroe, I have a remix for Jurek Przezdziecki coming out on Germany's Whirlpoolsex Music, and I'm in the studio working on a series of EPs for different techno labels. I'm planning on releasing a lot of stuff in 2010 as well as starting touring again with my live set."

You've also run your own label Predicaments - is it finished by the way, or just taking a nap?

"Predicaments is finished. I loved running the label but because I did everything it was just too much work in the end - you need help with running a label! Saying that, I'm actually thinking of starting up Nightrax again for my deeper music."

You released Subhead, Dave Tarrida, Steve Glencross, DJ Rush, Adam X and Miss Kittin on Predicaments, along with records by yourself. What were the label's perimeters, and how did they change over time?

"To be honest the label didn't really have a 'style' as such; it was just good techno by people I liked and got on with."


What's it been like releasing through all the other cool labels you've worked with over the years?

"It's been great - you meet like-minded people who want to release your own music! All the labels are different and it meant a lot to me to release stuff on labels that I'd respected so much in the past."

CDs are a disappearing facet of the music industry, and a fair amount of people in electronic/dance music circles are cutting back on vinyl these days because they say it just doesn't make back the money invested. How do you feel about this?

"It's just the way it is. We could chat about the demise of vinyl till the cows come home - of course I feel it's a shame, I love vinyl! There is just nothing like it and I have to say that I miss seeing DJs use vinyl out... but times change. Vinyl can still be a wonderful way to add kudos to a release, though."

Either way, is digital download really the future of music?

"I guess so. I wonder how this will evolve, because there are so many 'digital labels' out there at the moment. Is giving everyone a chance to release music easily a good thing? Who knows! There's certainly less quality control than before!"

How do you foresee techno and electronic music in general developing over the next 12 months?

"Well, techno has just gone from strength to strength in the last few years - a big plus for me because it's made me return to producing and wanting to play out again. I think it's simply going to be a good year for techno and electronic music in general, there is some great music out there with real guts and soul."

Lastly - how do you like your mushrooms cooked?

"Well done with no water. Preferably as part of a great breakfast in Melbourne with a great coffee."

...care to add anything else?

"Just to say thanks for everyone who has supported me over the years and I can't wait to come back in 2010 with my new live set, releases, and immerse myself totally back into techno - bring it on!"

Founded in 1989 by Alan Herrick and Jenny Liang, Auricular began as a humble little record retail store in the Lower Haight neighborhood of San Francisco and slowly carved out a small niche for itself by offering in-store performances by Hafler Trio, Merzbow, Zoviet France and Nux Vomica.

"The store became kind of a central location for experimental and noise artists within San Francisco," assesses Herrick in retrospect.

"It may be due to the fact that we did not carry much major label material and were always willing to consign material from local artists or it may have been part and parcel of my tastes and intrigues."

Out of all this music and noise grew the offshoot label, Auricular Records, which began with the release of the first Auricular Audio Magazine on cassette, back in the days before DIY artists or labels had access to CD-R.

"The label started as cassette only releases focused on friends and family," Herrick says. "The first compilation releases was all locals who performed live together regularly. It was just another way to try to get some of the music out there to be heard. Quickly the label evolved from a handful of local artists to include tracks from artists all over the world on our releases. The money was tight then and CD production was expensive. I never had enough money to release anything in large quantities and cassettes were limiting but we did OK and got by."

In 1992 Auricular Records closed the doors of its retail shop and the label went into long-winded hiatus - until resurfacing two years ago with a fresh approach to experimental electronic music and releasing innovative material by a new array of artists.

"I decided after far too long to get back into it all and resurrect or revive the label and start working with artists and releasing my own material again. This resulted in instantly coming in contact with new people and starting to produce the largest number of releases I ever had to date. It is now 20 years from the dawn of Auricular Records and we have over 100 artists who have appeared on our label and over 70 releases, with many more planned."

On Discogs it says that "Auricular Records was a small independent music label dedicated to preservation and support, as well as distribution, of the works of world wide experimental music artists." Is this still the main perimeter - or have things changed?

"This is still the main perimeter. I re-focused efforts on Auricular Records several years ago with the intent of continuing to find new artists and to expose as well as reinstate work with some old friends and projects of my own.

"After a few years of diving back into the music scene I am discovering the things that have changed and what is working and not working so there's a change in perimeter - or, rather, a shift in focus. I am moving more towards more 'special edition' releases such as a CD that is accompanied by a book, boxed sets of art and audio, retrospectives and maybe some audio/video projects."

Herrick shrugs. "The whole idea of an independent music label has changed drastically in the past 20 years and I am still formulating how Auricular will evolve beyond this and still work within the perimeters we have in the past. In 2009 I started a sister label, Ambit Din, which aims to explore and provide a vehicle for release of a new canvas of sound art focused on field recordings and compositions that use field recordings and their main backbone."

Inspiration itself comes from some interesting sources in this particular case.

"I come from a very musical family and I can't recall a time in my life where music hasn't played a significant role. Musical composition, sound art and audio experimentation is all an extension of my palette of emotions. I've used sound to express a lot of things that would have otherwise gone unspoken, or things I do not have words for.

"I have experienced or utilized music in ways most people would use drugs, meditation, or spirituality and shared some very intimate relationships musically that could only occur as part of the creation of music. I wouldn't say I have been so much inspired to create music as much as compelled or driven by my own inner workings."

He goes on: "I was born is Middletown, CT, established along the western bank of the Connecticut River - which served as the original home of the Mattabesett Native Americans. It is probably most famous for Wesleyan University. I only lived there until age eight.

"Oddly enough, a major turning point in my musical education came at about age 10, while listening to a radio very late at night. I've no idea what the show was or who was broadcasting, however they played a piece of music by a professor from Wesleyan that had been entirely composed from the sounds of different types electrical switches turning on and off. This absolutely amazed me at the time and probably played a very significant role in my thinking towards the potentials of music and sound. I have never been able to to track that recording down since."

Herrick himself has made music with Big City Orchestra, Sense-Net, Concerto Infernal, Haters, Ultrasound, NU33.3X, Turntable Orchestra, and Amphead.

"Most recently I've worked with a close friend and very talented composer, Brent Goodbar, on a project called G:NOME. I've also worked recently with Space Gambus Experiment - a project out of Malaysia - along with collaborations with Math Lewis of Noisepsalm and also collaborative efforts between Nux Vomica and Voice Of Eye," he says.

The man has been producing music and interacting within the music industry for quite a long time now - so what's most changed in the electronic/experimental music related music industry over that period?

"What hasn't changed?" He quips.

"Our medium for recordings, our production methods, our distribution models have all changed. Each of these has changed so drastically that it's difficult to say what has changed the most. Technology is the number one thing that has changed, probably. The advances in computers, access to bandwidth, storage, software, and media have all had profound effects on every single aspect of the music industry from what makes and artist to how and album is created or purchased. It just keeps on going and going doesn't it? I'm not sure I can foresee anything in particular happening, I just know it sure isn't going to stop!"

Motivation is another matter that's connected. "Most likely the constant change and the absolutely huge amount of music I haven't heard yet keeps me motivated. The other primary motivating factors are the artists themselves, and the friends and family we have built along the way."

In his own studio productions things have also changed.

"I switch things up a lot depending on mood and project. Logic Pro is my number one studio software environment - after years of frustration and irritation with ProTools, I hung it up, turned to Logic and never looked back. Other apps I utilize fairly extensively for sound creation, at the moment, would be Reason and Gleetchlab 3. The Mac is essential - it keeps the sounds, mixes, produces, rips, communicates, and distributes. It is my most important tool in the studio for productivity as well as during downtime when it's time to relax and enjoy and explore things."

Which current crop of artists and labels are grabbing his attention?

"I've been very heavily into net labels lately - I've been following, and really enjoy, Justnotnormal, and/OAR, Wandering Ear, and Feedback Loop to name just a small few. This is just a small list of a large number of labels and artists who are out there creating music for themselves, pushing boundaries, doing unique things with sound and audio production and turning out some truly interesting material that provokes and intrigues."

Describing your own music is something a lot of artists are loathe to do and Herrick seems bemused by the notion. "This question was so much easier to answer when there were five genres of music," he suggests, "but now we have 45,000 ways to say the words 'techno' or 'alternative'. My work has always fluctuated between noise, electronic and ambient - I am going to stick with 'SoundArt'. I've always liked the ring of it and it encompasses, to me, a wide range of styles and possibilities."

How about if we pose the same question for Auricular?

"Auricular has always been a bit more diverse and I keep it that way because I like it to showcase and reflect all the different styles of music I enjoy or my curiosity is piqued by. The idea of Auricular has always been to showcase the unusual or unheard. In the process we have unearthed brilliant pop, grand noise, incredible electronica, and some unclassifiable and indescribable material. There have been several times I've said 'This doesn't fit in with our imprint' - then the release is out or a track is on a compilation and sure enough it fits right in."

Herrick smies. "I'm very happy with what has happened with Auricular. I've met some incredible artists and come in contact with wonderful people over the past 20 years and I wouldn't trade those relationships and experiences for anything. Auricular has constantly evolved over 20 years and I want to keep it evolving. Right now I'm struggling with the direction to take it in from here and repeatedly I see it moving from the audio realm into the multimedia realm. Whether this happens, only time will tell."

What's next through Auricular?

"Auricular will be releasing some new artists, most of whom have appeared on recent Auricular Audio Magazine compilations. There are upcoming CD releases planned by Rhedcerulean, Noisepsalm, Nux Vomica, Andrez Bergen and old label veterans Big City Orchestra - which features Phil Knight of The Legendary Pink Dots. I have a retrospective 10-year audio, video and curio boxed set planned for Minmei Decelis' project, My Boyfriend The Pilot. I've been working with the very talented The Amber Tapes, from the UK, to release a CD with an accompanying book of his visual art that correlates to the audio works.

"Recently we released the first in a series of collaborative recordings between Nux Vomica and Voice of Eye as a dual effort between Conundrum Unlimited and Auricular Records. There will be several more recordings coming out in that series. I have been working furiously to remaster all 12 of the early Auricular Audio Magazines to offer as a CD box set, however this project may be put off until the 25th anniversary and be much more involved to include book, video etcetera."

Any upcoming Alan Herrick productions/collaborations/events we should know about for 2010?

"I am hoping to be able to work with Brent again on a new G:NOME release and I hope to continue collaborations with Math of Noisepsalm. I'm sure we will have some new Nux Vomica material and we are hoping to start working on some soundtrack work to some old silent films very soon - I'm going to be vague so as not to give away too much on that project."

CDs are a disappearing facet of the music industry, and a fair amount of people in electronic/dance music circles are cutting back on vinyl these days because they say it just doesn't make back the money invested.

"I don't think I've ever made back money on any release I have ever done on CD. It's more and more difficult to sell through downloadable distribution and make any money at it. The proliferation of net labels and free distribution of music can certainly keep a music consumer pretty happy - I am a huge audio junkie and can barely keep up with what I can get for free online. I have almost ceased purchasing music and I should be a person who stands up and supports the small labels trying to make a go of it.

"The music industry is in a state of reinvention and all labels, major and small players, are wondering how things will pan out. Not making the money back will certainly curtail or limit what I do with Auricular and my own music projects but, in the meantime, I am not going to stop doing it. I stand behind the audio I find and manufacture and distribute. The Auricular family of artists is a fantastic group of people and I'll always try to find a way to keep working with them and others moving forward regardless of the bleak finances involved."

Is vinyl dead?

"I see it making a comeback these days,even if within a small subsection of humanity. I'd love to be able to say it isn't dead because I truly love vinyl as a medium for audio more than any other out there. I could probably embark upon a lengthy and insane-sounding diatribe on this but will spare you. I do not think vinyl is dead per se, I do think our model for recording mediums and distribution is in great turmoil and almost any medium is close to dead. It is a shame to say the MP3 is our strongest option these days. Technology has finally given people the ability to create pristine multitrack recordings in their own home with next to no cost involved and a very small learning curve yet we distribute these recordings in a format that sounds worse than an ill-tuned FM radio. I am still baffled by this. I am going to keep my room full of vinyl until there's not a stylus left on the planet."

Is digital download really the future of music?

"I'm not sure... I could not have even imagined it as a possibility 20 years ago so I am pretty sure I can't imagine what is to come. It's a good bet the folks who listened to the first wax cylinders could not have even fathomed an 8-track of Foghat being snapped into the car deck. I think we have a long way to go with downloadable music and it is certainly still in its infancy. We will hopefully see leaps and bounds in quality as technology and bandwidth permit. It may not be the future, but it's our immediate present and near future."

Lastly - how does Herrick like his mushrooms cooked?

"Grilled, with shallots and red wine, and a pinch of salt."

One of my favourite German record labels over the past five years has been Kitty Corner, through which Paul Birken, TSR, Luke's Anger and Mark Hawkins have released some scintillating vinyl.

It's run by Axel Sohns who also runs subsidiary label Slidebar Recordings (with way cool artwork by frequent Fun in the Murky commentator Marcin Markowski), and he makes exceptional music himself - making the man prime fodder for one of our completely self-indulgent Q&A sessions.

Tell us all about Kitty Corner and how the label got started - in 2006, right?

"The concept existed a bit longer, but the main problem was getting the financial base - so finally, in the middle of 2006, my label project was ready to be realized. The first question was what to name the label. It was really difficult to find a unique name in the wide range of labels that exist these days, so I started to type in random words in an English dictionary... and after a while I found Kitty Corner. It sounded really amusing, so I asked some friends about their opinion, most of them were really into it, and KCR was born. The next step was to find the right distributor. The first release was planned with another artist, but after some negative replies from distributors I decided to ask Mark Hawkins to do the first release; after that I got in contact with Possible Music Berlin and worked in cooperation with them until the end of 2008. Since the beginning of 2009, KCR and my other label Slidebar are distributed by deejay.de."

How about Slidebar Recordings - what's the difference?

The idea behind Slidebar Recordings was to start a label which is more open minded and a platform for experiences. Another reason was to release more 'various artists' projects, and of course records at a faster pace; I think it doesn't make sense to release every month a new record through KCR. With two labels, it's easy to split projects and plan out in advance."

What inspired you to start making your own music?

"I came to electronic music through a Frankfurt-based radio station called HR3. There was a show every Saturday with well known artists like Sven Väth, Chris Liebing and Pascal F.E.O.S. This was really essential stuff and I listened to my recorded tapes for weeks - because MP3s didn't exist at this time and it was even really difficult to get DJ mixes.

"After a while I started to collect records and that made it possible for me to choose the stuff directly that I wanted to hear. I bought most of my records at Klang-Art in Wiesbaden - but unfortunately it's been closed now for 4 years - and at Overdrive in Mainz. After a while collecting vinyl, I got Proppellerhead's Rebirth from a good friend. Some will laugh. Of course it's a really simple program without much variation, but in the beginning it was a lot of fun. I think this was the point at which I made the decision to produce instead of just mixing."

Where were you born, and what's it famous for?

I was born in Wiesbaden in Hessen, a city near Frankfurt, but I live in a province called Rheingau. It's well known for viniculture and lots of taverns along the river Rhein, and of course the beautiful countryside. I'm not a fan of large cities, so I'm really glad to live there, but I think this is mostly habit."

I noticed you've worked under the name Escope. Any other under groups/aliases?

"Escope was my first pseudonym when I started making music; after a while I changed to my real name. I also had some gigs in Frankfurt with my mate MonoPascal as Symphonic [ctrl] Error. It's always a lot of fun to play back-to-back with him and I can imagine doing this more often."

Running the labels or your own production work: which avenue gives you the most satisfaction?

"Both are a lot of fun and it's always a pleasure to work together with other artists who support my labels. I try to keep everything on a friendship-based level instead of strictly business, because it's not in my interest to work with music like this. Unfortunately, however, producing music is currently ranked beneath my day job because my job eats up a lot of time and it's really difficult to find the right motivation during the week. Mostly I try to be creative on weekends, but I hope better times will come soon."

You've been producing music and interacting within the music industry for quite a long time now. What's most changed in the electronic music related music industry over that period? Or at least in the Frankfurt techno scene?

"What's changed most, and I think this is what everyone would say, is the switch to the digital medium. Of course it's a relief for DJs to rock up to clubs with only a notebook with lots of music uploaded on its hard drive, instead of a heavy crate jammed full of vinyl - with a smaller music collection.

"But a classic DJ for me is someone who mixes real vinyl. Another reason for me to prefer the black gold is to that feeling of holding something in your hand, which has personal worth for me, and of course I like the analog vinyl crackle. And as callous as it sounds, MP3 is worthless so far as I'm concerned and I would never pay for an immaterial digital file to save it on my hard disc. So of course it's bad when good tunes are only listed in digital stores.

"But the worst phenomenon is the creation of the mass of Traktor DJs out there. Every second guy who listens to electronic music has a drive to be involved in the techno scene, so many people just stop listening only to the music; instead they start to produce and mix try to be famous without any of their own ideologies. Sure, it keeps the music alive, but this makes it more difficult for every newcomer to establish oneself in the scene - and a lot of talent disappears in the wide range of hobby-musicians.

"The internet has done a lot to contribute to this. It has never been so easy to get lots of tracks and music software for free. Just start a sharing program and after one hour, here you are: The new star in the sky.

"The party scene has also changed. This is really sad. I remember a time when there was a kind of spirit and parties were something special for the night... Today it's more a selfish thing and the community feeling is totally lost, a reason why I rarely visit parties in my region anymore. Another Important thing is the kind of music which is played here. Everywhere is the same sound - the DJs play mostly a constant line without any highlights in the sets; this is not only boring but also it sounds like they play only two tracks for the whole night."

So what keeps you motivated?

"Sometimes I ask this myself this question, but when I look at the market there are a lot of labels which stopped releasing or changed their styles, so it's also a kind of job for me to keep this genre of music alive; what I like myself, I mean. There can be no talk of making money - I mean the times are over to live only on pressing-up vinyl - but so long as people like and buy the releases and I get positive feedback, I take this as my motivation to go on."

What do you foresee happening with the music we care about in 2010?

"This is a difficult question but I think that the speed with which the music turns up and it will get away from the ass-shaking 'clacker' sound. I noticed that there's new hype in development with the current Advent/Industrialyzer sound. So many hard techno and minimal DJs changed their BPMs to meet somewhere in the middle, and a lot of producers are starting to copy the sound. This reminds me a little bit to the 'Schranz' hype from 2000.

"What I hope, for the future, is that this stereotype thinking in genres throttles itself and all different styles of electronic music will find themselves together. I mean it's totally sad that the UK sounds like dubstep didn't find their way to West Germany, but nobody knows what the future holds in stores."

What gear/software are you making most use of in the studio at the moment?

"Currently I'm learning the ropes of Ableton Live in combination with Native Maschine and the Komplete stuff; I also use some hardware from time to time, especially the DSI Mopho and Nord Modular, but my midi interface is currently broken so my production setup is limited to software use only."

Which part of your studio is the most vital facet?

"I know what I need as a part of my studio - and that's a pack of cigarettes near my keyboard. It's strange because normally I don't smoke during the week, but when I sit in front of my gear I smoke like a chimney. That keeps me motivated."

Which current crop of artists and labels are grabbing your attention, and why so?

"Oh there is a lot of stuff I like, but currently I'm listening a lot of dubstep and little bit breakcore from artists like Ebola, Kid606, etc - and, of course, my classic records themselves, most of them from the middle of the '90s with my all-time favourites by Paul Birken, Cristian Vogel, Audiovoid, Chris Sattinger, DJ ESP, Distorted Waves of Ohm, Unit Moebius, and Crystal Distortion."

If you were pressed into a corner and forced to confess under great duress, how would you define the sounds/styles you're currently making?

"I'd say there's no special sound that I follow. Usually when I start a track I don't have a specific idea of it's supposed to sound or be; it begins mostly by playing around with my synthesizers to explore new tones - which is an important production process in my tracks. Back to the question: When I have to define my sound, it's just techno with experimental influences."

Back to the labels - how do you feel about the course of Kitty Corner four years later? Did you achieve what you set out to do with the imprint, and what direction would you like to take from here?

"Difficult question. Quite honestly I have no idea which direction it'll take, but for sure you have to move on with the times, so it's no secret that the sound will change in the future - but I can say that I will remain faithful to myself. I only release what I like and I don't want follow the current hype or trend to boost the number of sales. I prefer the tunes which pump in the club to freak out to, instead of the click-clack sound... So I'll still keep this angle up for sure."

What's currently afoot with the two labels?

"I don't like to plan too much in advance; doing that only adds stress to hold to deadlines! [laughs].

"At the moment Slidebar 03 is in stores with no one else than Little Nobody as Funk Gadget - it's a remix project with some great artists like Si Begg, Dave Tarrida, Paul Birken and Patrick Pulsinger, who all make the EP really different in style so there are tracks for everyone. Slidebar 04 is also planned as a various artists release - it will be with Lief Ryan, Doshy, Nino Fight & Smees, Jesse Hall and Kid606. It sounds like an amazing compilation! KCR, since the last release, has had a little break - but will be back in the near future with Subhead's Jason Leach."


Any upcoming Axel Sohns productions we should know about for 2010?

"At the moment nothing special is planned, but when I have something that's worth releasing - and I'm satisfied with it - there could possibly be a track or two in the near future. We'll see..."

Lastly - how do you like your mushrooms cooked?

"I like my mushrooms in a white wine cream sauce with garlic and garden herbs, and as a side dish a baguette."

When I was five-years-old, I went to the late lamented Gardiner toy shop and bought a toy robot with the money my Nan gave me for my birthday: a made-in-Japan, wind-up tin carouser whose major identifying feature was a big 'W' emblazoned across his chest.

Just occasionally I still wonder what that 'W' really meant. Is it some secret identity or code? 'W' for 'Wind-up'? An honest Jenglish mistake, like Wobot? Nothing earth-shattering at all?

I still have old Dubya. He's like Old Yeller, but never bites. He's rusty, missing his arms, and has been deconstructed several times, but he still works when you tweak the metal key that's stuck above his right foot.

He sits proudly atop the mantle next to my desk, having returned to Japan from Australia nine years ago. We even found his mint-condition, spitting-image double at the Yokohama Tin Toys Museum, which was a bit unsettling for us both.

It's Dubya's fault my childhood infatuation for robots moved on from the Cybermen and Daleks in Doctor Who and the Cylons from the original series of Battlestar Galactica, on into giant robot mecha-action anime - starting with gems like Mazinger Z and Tetsujin 28-go (better known outside Japan as Gigantor).

Some things don't change, like my penchant for things robotic - no real surprise then that the name of my new Little Nobody vinyl EP through IF? is 'Robota'.

However there's another trace element influence here. Nope, it's not related to the project by Star Wars art director Doug Chiang - I only just discovered that today on Google while doing hack research for this piece - nor the freaky 'educational and therapeutic devices' promoted here. It isn't even a wayward misspelled homage to Styx's 1983 classic 'Mr Roboto'.

Instead I nicked the name off Wikipedia.

Yep, you read right. I was checking out the entry on robots and the origin of the word, and deep in there I discovered this pearler: "The word robota means literally work, labor or serf labor, and figuratively 'drudgery' or 'hard work' in Czech and many Slavic languages. Traditionally the robota was the work period a serf had to give for his lord, typically 6 months of the year."

Being a lazy git myself with an eye forever on the couch, I decided to call the track 'Robota'. Nothing deeper than that, I'm afraid - though we can always pretend otherwise and toot some people's horns.

For this baby I originally shanghaied into the arrangement Japanese producer Toshiyuki Yasuda - one of Si Begg's favorite musicians who'd just finished working at the time with Señor Coconut, a.k.a Atom Heart - to do his bloody brilliant robot-style vocoder vocals as Robo*Brazileira.

"Robo*Brazileira is my singing alias, a fictitious Brazilian robot," Yasuda patiently explained to the unenlightened (in this case myself) at the time. "For me, the robot is one view-point with which to see ourselves as humans. To see us more cautiously, I think I must have external eyes."

With an attitude and moniker like that I had no real choice but to get the laddie involved.

Then to do their own wind-up remixes of the original combo we first lassooed in the insanely respected Mr. Steve Stoll - a man who's released motorized techno over the years on labels like Proper NYC, NovaMute, Djax-Up-Beats and Harthouse.

I was a huge fan in the '90s and first interviewed him just over a decade ago (along with a more recent chat for FITM here); fact is that the guy continues to steer my personal techno inclinations pretty darned effectively and I love his drums - both real and programmed.

We also got on board the irrepressible Dave Tarrida, whose output through his old label Sativae and since then through Tresor, Musick, Neue Heimat, Dancefloor Killers and Feinwerk has been my repeated refill cuppa tea for years; his recent stuff continues to kick my butt about, and he nicely hit me up with some canny comments last year for the FITM piece on digital downloading.

Rounding out the remixing troupe is Germany's Cem Oral (a.k.a Jammin' Unit/Ultrahigh/4E), a man we also previously featured in Fun in the Murky - here - and the erstwhile genius behind Cube 40's 'Bad Computa' and Air Liquide's 'Robot Wars'.

How on earth (or indeed off it) couldn't I include him here?

Finally, I indulged in a wee bit of the tyranny-of-distance e-mail mud wrestling thing, this time between Tokyo and Sydney, as me and fellow Aussie Simon Nielsen (DJ Hi-Shock of Elektrax notoriety) did the final mix.

There's a ripe possibility we'd together like to intimate that this record is machine-based disco-funk-tech for the next decade - the promo propaganda sheet says precisely that - then suggest you should hop online and order the wax now, since it's available from today (surprise, surprise)... but the fact remains that none of these musos, who are also mates of mine, would be so pretentiously narcissistic. They're cool individuals with a great sense of humour and a definite interest in music for music's sake.

So instead, for shameless promotional reasons of a more ulterior bent, I gathered together all the boys involved in the vinyl remixes and bounced around some silly robot-related queries. Far from earth-shattering, completely self-indulgent and occasionally obscure, this reads as follows:

What do you really think of robots and robot culture?

"I think we Americans need to embrace our robot brothers and welcome them into this country," Steve Stoll espouses. "I never get mad when I see a hard-working robot having success; I mean isn't that supposed to be the American Dream?"

"I think I have a old fashioned view about robots," says Cem Oral. "The friend of man, the enemy from outer space and such is more my cup of tea than robots doing the industrial jobs of man. Robot culture? Tell me more about it."

"Robot culture may include our wishes or desires rather than real future," muses Toshiyuki Yasuda. "So it's good to be fantastic and dreamy even if they have useless functions like singing."

When Dave Tarrida thinks robots, he thinks Japan. "I love Japanese culture in general, with all the gadgets, technology, etc, and robots have always gone hand-in-hand with this," he says. "There's nothing better than heading into their toy stores and checking out the robots and anime figures!"

In a war of robots, which one would win?

Stoll: "The shiny ones with big meaty claws."

Oral: "If you mean man against machine, I think man because there still hasn't been a robot created instilled with the will to live and energy through belief. But who knows..."

Tarrida: "My money is on the robots."

Yasuda: "No war please."

Why do boys often obsess about robots?

"Because they do what you want and they are strong. Definitely a power thing," Oral says.

"I am actually obsessed with analog synths, so perhaps it's a similar obsession to want to control/program things - but mostly I think it's because boys have too much free time," muses Stoll.

"Robots have various aspects that boys love: They could be vehicles, arms, servants, friends..." Yasuda ponders.

"We all love the futuristic escape from reality - but the make believe is slowly becoming the reality," adds Tarrida.

What's your favorite robot (character or toy)?

"Armitage the Third, the sexy robot that could bear children," suggests Stoll.

"The one from the original 1951 version of The Day the Earth Stood Still. A 'good' against 'evil' one. I was eight years old when I saw that movie and I got very, very inspired!" (Oral)

"Mazinger Z, from my youth. It was the first real robot animation I ever saw." (Tarrida)

"Of course my fictitious Brazilian singing robot Robo*Brazileira."

What's your favorite law of robotics as suggested by Isaac Asimov :

1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey any orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

Stoll: "I think most robots are against Asimov's 'Laws' as they take all the fun out of being born robot."

Tarrida: "I'm down with all three."

Oral: "Law number 4: A robot must switch off by ORAL command."

Yasuda: "There must be a loophole in there, whether I like it or not."

Do robots actually need laws?

"Don't think so. They're limited by their programming." (Oral)

"Maybe not. Limitation instead of laws would be enough, but the idea itself that laws are needed is interesting." (Yasuda)

"We all need law, right?" (Tarrida)

"I've always thought robots should be free to run ape-shit through the streets, with big flaming red LED eyes and flailing metallic fists; I mean that's what they do in the wild, so who are we to put restrictions on them?" (Stoll)

What's your preferred robot-related movie?

"Maybe Metropolis, the original robot movie." (Tarrida)

"I haven't watched too much robot porn, but the few I have seen are pretty good." (Stoll)

"2001: A Space Odyssey. 'Daisy' was sung by a robot!" (Yasuda)

In the original Astro Boy (鉄腕アトム ) our hero shoots a cannon concealed in his buttocks and in Mazinger Z, Aphrodite A (アフロダイ) fires missiles from where her breasts should be. Which part of the human anatomy do you think makes the best weapon for a robot?

"I personally have always liked butt cannons, but only as a secondary weapon to the trusty titty pistol." (Stoll)

"Haha, well you mentioned some parts. I would add the rectal flame thrower." (Oral)

"I'm still a fan of the fist. You just cant beat an old fashioned punch." (Tarrida)

"Eyes!?" (Yasuda)

Is it possible for a robot to have a sense of 'music'?

"Of course - as robots become more human like, they must take on what humans feel." (Tarrida)

"Sure." (Stoll)

"Maybe. Humans have definitely a sense of robot in the music." (Oral)

"Yes! It may be an additional function but it often occurs that kind of useless things turn out to be very popular features." (Yasuda)

Why are robots necessary?

"To do human work. That was the idea of automation." (Tarrida)

"They wouldn't be necessary in a world where people got up off their lazy asses. I hate lazy people with their robot butlers and fancy sexbots. By the way, I only like sequencers with knobs and I also hate midi and fuck Protools. I also hate when people download tracks illegally, and then blame their robot for doing it when they get caught." (Stoll)

"I think they're definitely not necessary. In my opinion they belong to the Industrial Revolution and therefore lead nowhere but self destruction for mankind. But on the other side we're lazy and love our little helpers and seem to be willing to pay the price - it's a Faust thing." (Oral)

"Not necessary." (Yasuda)

What kind of robot/automated helper is essential in your life, and why so?

"The cruise control in my car on long road trips." (Stoll)

"Hmm, the only servo motors I can think of are in the hideaway lights of my 1968 Cougar..." (Oral)

"My Mac." (Tarrida)

"Not essential." (Yasuda)

Describe your remix of 'Robota' in 21 words or less.

"Automated dance music for humans, and robots if they like." (Tarrida)

"Rrrraaaaaawwwwwwwkkkkkkkk. That's robot-speak for 'techno'." (Stoll)

"A more mechanical-sounding perspective of the iron made friend. Inflexible but funky!" (Oral)

What angle did you choose to take in the remix you did, and how do the Robo*Brazileira vocals sit with that interpretation?

"I just thought 'If I were a robot, how would I sequence this?', and it seemed to work." (Stoll)

"I cut out the words robotica and dance; why cant robots dance too?" (Tarrida)

"Hmmm." (Oral)

What do you think of the record's artwork by Marcin Markowski - and is this your style when it comes to robots or are you more serious-minded?

"The artwork is catchy!" (Yasuda)

"I like robots that look like they want to rip off your arms and smack you around; Markowski kicks ass!" (Stoll)

"I think they are half of the concept and I really like them. Serious-minded is something that should be avoided like a disease." (Oral)

"I love it, the green really stands out, it's a really striking image." (Tarrida)

What do you think of the over all record musically?

"It's a great mix of versions, important for a remix package." (Tarrida)

Is vinyl a bit old fashioned for a release that's focused itself around a sense of the 'future' - or can robot iconography and ideology be suitably retro as well?

"Robots make records, so I think it works fine." (Tarrida)

"Edison cylinders are old fashioned and hard to beat-match with. Vinyl is still viable and now unprofitable." (Stoll)

"The vinyl sound fits that kind of music very much, I think!" (Yasuda)

Why are records important these days, anyway?

"For their bigness!" (Yasuda)

"Sorry, they're not. Vinyl isn't handy, it's heavy, gets scratches, eats up your space at home, costs a fortune, needs oil... BUT IT SOUNDS BETTER THAN ANYTHING WE GOT YET." (Oral)

"It's good to lift heavy stacks of vinyl to stay in shape, but remember to bend at the knees. I recall changing apartments in New York and the movers saying 'What the f**k do you have in these boxes?!'." (Stoll)

"There's room for both vinyl and digital in this world." (Tarrida)

Would robots prefer to play wax or digital?

"Of course robots have access to both the Internet and a built-in player!" Oral laughs. "To please his master he's able to DJ with several decks simultaneously."

"The record would be nice for the contrast, " hankers Yasuda, while Tarrida is more the realist here: "Pre-2005 robots would play vinyl, and post 2005 would play with Serato..."

And Stoll is right on the money.

"All serious robots listen only to Morton Subotnick - Google him, kids - on vinyl," he says.

"I should also point out that they only use audiophile turntables that're synchronized to the earth's exact rotational force. By the way, robots are seriously offended by Kraftwerk's portrayal of them and have openly vowed to destroy Florian; that's why he left the band." (Stoll).

For what it's worth, 'Robota' is out now via Prime Direct in the UK.

American producer Vincent Capuano, known to mates as Vinz, conjures up techno under the alias of V1NZ.

He's remixed Wyndell Long and Virgil Enzinger, has cut tracks for labels like Proper NYC, Naked Lunch and Elektrax, and some people would have you believe that this cat is one of the real faces of future 'proper' techno. I'd agree with 'em, but I'm biased - I always did have a hankering for this style, Vinz is a really nice guy, and he's currently doing a remix for me as well.

Anyway, disclaimers aside, here's a nice little fireside chat we just shared:

I've been into your stuff for just over a year now, but when I did a quick check of Discogs it indicates that you started production releases in 2009 - correct or not?

"My first actual release was the 'Basic Human Behavior' EP released through Proper NYC back in September 2008."

You're also DJing now as well - how long have you been doing that?

"I started off strictly producing tracks but around a year ago, after messing around with Traktor, I started to experiment and was really overcome with excitement. Instead of mixing together sounds to create a track, I was now mixing together tracks to create a set - which eventually started to become a real blast when I mapped out all of the effects, looping utilities, etcetera, to my XONE 3D. Since then I have played at several events over here. The nearest city with an actual nightlife is Montreal and I'm currently speaking with several cats up there regarding parties/clubs/festivals that I aim to become involved with."

How'd you first get involved in this music?

"This goes back to the mid '90s. At the time New York City was experiencing an explosion in the rave scene; it was less about clubs at the time and there were mainly free outdoor parties spread out across the city. We would head out on a Friday night to Roseland Ballroom to attend a party which would run until 6am or so. Then we would drive over the bridge into Queens and set up the generator, turntables and speakers in a random park, under a random bridge, in a random neighborhood.

"Witnessing, hearing, and feeling the vibe and the sounds emanating from the speakers totally blew my mind. I began visiting record shops and picking up mix tapes so I could start to hear more and more techno. As I listened I become very interested in producing my own beats and grooves. I worked three jobs the summer of 1996, bought myself a Roland R-70 drum machine, and began laying down patterns and such.

"For me production is a very personal thing; I tend to sit in the studio and write tracks straight from my heart and mind. It is a great way for me to output my thoughts and feelings in relation to what is going on in the world and my life in general. A very artistic approach I take - sort of like painting a picture.

"DJing for me is equally as enjoyable yet in a different sort of way - in this case the ability to shape and build a specific feeling and lay it on a crowd and have the chance to interact with people on the dancefloor is really special. I love the feeling obtained by twisting knobs, pushing buttons, and mixing together several tracks at once... It's a wonderful thing to hear, feel and witness the effect that the music has on people."

The stuff on Elektrax and Android Muziq has been quite mad (I love it, of course). How would you describe your output, and do you differentiate between these two labels?

"Elektrax is a harder-edged sound, heavier and faster than the sound of Android Muziq. I get a lot of my influence from techno artists of the '90s such as Jeff Mills, Steve Stoll, The Advent, Surgeon and others. I use elements present in that style of techno and apply it to my Elektrax productions as well as the tracks I create for Android Muziq. For Android the application of these bits is deeper and more on the minimalistic tip. It's fun to produce more than one kind of techno."

Where exactly were you born, and what's it famous for?

"I was born in New York City, which is the city that never sleeps. I guess it's not surprising that I turned out to be the person that never does."

You've remixed Wyndell Long, Virgil Enzinger and Max_M. Any other upcoming remixes I should know about?

"Well I've also remixed for Miro Pajic, R-Play, A. Paul [Naked Lunch], and several others, and in addition there are some upcoming remixes coming out I'd like to mention - one of these is for DJ DeH on Foot Fetish Records, another for the BCR Boys on Proper NYC, a bangin' remix for Brad Lee, and the 'Robota' remix for someone we both know which is going to be wicked!"

How do you approach the remixing process and how do you go about personalizing it with the V1NZ stamp?

"In production I'm still what many would consider old-school in that I use Logic as my primary sequencer. Most of the artists I've spoken with have jumped on the Ableton bandwagon these days but I feel that the sound quality and organic feel I get with Logic gives my productions a unique sound. When remixing though, I do use Ableton. For remixes I will take the parts given to me and drop them into Ableton; I then rewire Ableton into Logic, and add my own blend of percussion and synths from inside of Logic - while allowing Ableton to handle all of the time stretching of the parts.

"Logic and Ableton are at the center of it all but I also have a nice analog modeling synth by Novation on the hardware tip and I'm using a large number of VST/Audio Units plugins for effects and sounds. I've become a big fan of the WAVES Renaissance Compressor and drop it on inserts, sends, as well as the master bus. I also use IKMultimedia's T-Racks mastering suite which provides some really nice tools to get that final touch on a track. A really sweet soft synth worth mentioning is SURGE by Vember Audio - it has this warm feel to it, which is something I have not found in other tools. One of the most important pieces of gear that constantly grabs my eyes attention in the production process is my rack-mounted spectrum analyzer by Behringer. I don't use it to shape the sound but rather as a visual tool/reference to help me keep my mix-downs tight."

Which part of your studio is the most vital facet?

"Black lights, blue lights, red lights, and other tripped-out visuals help very much. Making music for the club, I need to feel as if I am in that club."

How do you stay motivated in an industry with few financial rewards these days?

"As I mentioned when I lived in New York City I was surrounded by quite a scene for dance music. Going out and being amongst the music was a big motivation for me. After moving out of the city, into an area where electronic music and clubs are given relatively little to no attention, I immediately needed to find a new form of inspiration. Traveling north to Montreal and attending after-hours events is a big motivation - I can head up there for a weekend, return to the studio, and get a lot done as a result of my experiences there. I've met many cool DJs, promoters and clubbers up there and it really is a blast to visit that city."

Which current crop of artists and labels are grabbing your attention?

"The new talent that is turning up on Android Muziq is very exciting, with one artist in particular: Octave from France. He's a production machine, with brilliant minimalistic gems delivered on a near weekly basis. The new label out of Argentina, Subsequent, is sure to bring a bangin' dose of harder techno in this coming year. Then if we head over to Germany there's Mirko Scheider and his label Foot Fetish, which seems to consistently deliver solid techno that has been turning up all over the charts on Juno.

"I still listen to the veterans as well - in effect Jeff Mills, The Advent and Surgeon. Recently I've been introduced to Casual Violence out of the UK, and let me tell you he has got some wicked, dark productions out there as well. I could go on forever, but lastly I'd like to mention two more labels: Naked Lunch and Labyrinth are really great sources for tasty techno."

If you were pressed into a corner and forced to confess under great duress, how would you define the sounds/styles you're currently making?

"Simple question. Here goes: Healthy doses of proper percussion, crisp and defined - yet subtle and intricate - combined with eerie, melancholic synth scenes and a twist of darkness, topped with just the right amount of boom."

What's upcoming for V1NZ in 2010?

"One big one I would like to mention is the upcoming V1NZ vs. R-PLAY 'Blackjack' EP, which will be my first ever vinyl release. It's coming out on Android Muziq this June. Also I'd like to mention an upcoming release for Subsequent Records, the new label in Argentina run by Luis Ruiz - it's Subsequent 04, Experimentool, featuring V1NZ and A. Paul. 'Experimentool' is a collaboration between Mirko Scheider of Foot Fetish and Jimmy T. Kindt. A. Paul is the label owner of Naked Lunch, and one of the most well known DJ/producers in the techno scene today. My track on this release - called 'Recovery Process' - is a real banger - and a lot harder than the other stuff I've been creating lately.

"On the DJ-tip I'll be turning up from time to time on Daz Furey's 'El Exilio' radio show on fnoob.com. The show is currently being streamed on Sunday afternoons and evenings. I was asked to be a part of this and I gladly accepted, with my first mix broadcast on March 21st."

You've released through labels like Elektrax, Android Muziq, M_REC, Antiritmo, and Naked Lunch. What's it been like working with these people?

"It's absolutely wonderful. One of the best things that has come out of my involvement in the music scene are the abundance of relationships I have developed across the globe. It is really great working with all of these guys; I think I may need to move out of America." [laughs]

What else are you up to?

"Well I'm currently helping out Simon [DJ Hi-Shock] doing A&R for Android Muziq - that's really been a blast working with the label. As an artist I think I've also learned quite a bit while holding this position!"

CDs are a disappearing facet of the music industry, and a fair amount of people in electronic/dance music circles are cutting back on vinyl these days because they say it just doesn't make back the money invested. How do you feel about this?

"Well there're still a fair share of DJs who use the CDJs and avoid Traktor and Serrato. Of course they buy their tunes the same places that digital DJs do, so I guess they can be lumped together as one, but vinyl production these days has become quite expensive for labels - although it really depends. We've had vinyl releases on Android Muziq that have sold out in a matter of a week. I think vinyl is a wonderful thing, and it will survive - something about having that physical product in your hand with artwork and all. To me it has much more meaning and value than an mp3. We are still respecting vinyl over at Elektrax. Not every release is pressed. But there have been and will continue to be vinyl releases for sure."

Is vinyl a dinosaur - or just becoming more of a select option?

"It definitely isn't dead - there're plenty of DJs still using the vinyl and there are certain clubs especially in Europe that only allow DJs to play the vinyl. One thing worth pointing out is this: If you go to Juno and search vinyl for techno, most of what you find is techno. If you go to Beatport and search digital releases for techno, I would say about one out of every 20 tracks you listen to is actually techno. It seems that vinyl has more respect for sound quality in general and genre in as well. Cassette tapes have the ability to die, and I feel this has already been happening. But vinyl, nope. Vinyl will live on."

Either way - is digital download really the future of music?

"We can't ever predict what the future will bring. Hundreds of years down the line music might be an artifact of our bloodstream... perhaps we might be downloading tracks directly to the human body. [laughs]. As for now it seems to be the primary source of electronic music for DJs. But remember - there was a time where the only way you could hear true underground electronic music was through buying vinyl."

How do you foresee techno and electronic music in general developing over the next 12 months?

"I think dark techno is on the rise, and I think eventually the click-clack minimal will be replaced by true minimal in the form that it was when it was born: Steve Stoll, Robert Hood, Surgeon, Jeff Mills, and so on. I'm not saying that the sound will go back to what it was then, but production quality is on the rise, so new sounds and new sculptures of the founding forces will prevail."

Lastly - how do you like your mushrooms cooked?

"I tend to saute them with some olive oil, white wine, garlic, lemon, and oregano."