This man. I can’t get enough, dude is just always on his own trip. Jimmy Edgar continues to dazzle the world with every one of his artistic endeavors. I knew when Machinedrum got the go ahead for an Essential Mix, his best buddy Jimmy wasn’t far behind. Head to Ultramajic lands now, this man is the supreme guide.
Jimmy Edgar – Twitter Soundcloud Facebook Youtube
Jimmy Edgar – Disco Droppings Interview
– Jimi Jaxon
The vibes are golden with the return of Strip Steve. It’s been a while since we last talked on Disco Droppings. He’s been appearing in my sets for quite a bit now, latest favorite being “I Bump My Head :(“. You best check out his Crowd Control EP which features that one, along with “The Funktion”. I was playing his trax the other day and thought, “this dude is so underrated around here. I should see if he wants to do another interview.” Happy to say he was down, so here we go! For all you gear porn junkies out there, this dude is for you! We also talk about Seattle, his recent fabulous Rinse Mix, Ron Hardy and what he’s got cookin’ next..
DD Hi Theo! Nice to hear from you again, what are you up to?
SS Hey man! All good around here, currently working on the second part of the << Crowd Control >> EP in Berlin. :]
DD We met in March 2012, when you played the Boysnoize Records showcase at Chop Suey. I got to open for you, and I had sooo much fun chatting with Djedjotronic and Housemeister. Fun dudes! I believe this was all of your first time’s in The Emerald City. What did you think of Seattle?
SS Yes, part of a quite big tour in which we visited many American cities for the first time, so it was super interesting. Seattle seemed super chill & fun, especially the people, but we didn’t get to stay for so long so I can’t tell you much more sadly… Ah! If I’m not mistaken, the venue was split between under aged and adults with a clear barrier, that was an odd thing for us Europeans I must say…
DD Attack Magazine went inside your studio last year. I’m not a gear head (yet), but the pictures and the energetic way you described your set-up has me really intrigued. What’s the most unconventional piece of equipment you have?
SS Well, when I think about it I find myself working with pretty conventional equipment. The interesting thing would be how to use them in an unconventional way, how to go beyond their limited aspect (as opposed to a software like Ableton Live where you can virtually do anything). That can be anything – from chaining them without preconception of how it should be done (with FX pedals, cv or midi control etc.), to cranking the gain up to make it compress or saturate within itself before recording for example..
That’s what I love about making music with seemingly simple or limited machines, that creative will to transcend their boundaries.
DD That feature felt special. It’s intimate, taking everyone inside your music sanctuary of sorts. I imagine the person behind the songs more clearly, controlling all these machines. It looks like a world you could really get lost in..
SS It is an intimate place. And I’m very much in love with it, that’s why I felt I should share it. And yeah it’s definitely a place to get lost in. That’s really the purpose; losing a sense of reality when making music is the best feeling, and the environment plays a big role in that. My studio is like a cockpit & a playground.
DD Your Rinse Mix starts off so blissfully beautiful, bravo right off the bat. Was this your first time mixing for the station? I’m curious about what it’s like on the inside..
SS Thanks man! Yeah it was the first time, Manaré from Clekclekboom opened this Rinse France branch recently in Paris and I was there for a gig, so he offered me a 2h slow. I don’t know why but I love radio, I find it somehow romantic ahah…The studio is pretty simple, it’s just a small basement under a gallery, with a couch and some blinking internet servers.
DD Daft Punk are my biggest influence. Their Alive 2007 performance was the first electronic show I ever saw in Seattle, and that inspired me to become a DJ. This led to producing, starting Disco Droppings and eventually, connecting with you. I’m constantly thinking about their mindset when it comes to my own artistic work. You have a Ron Hardy shirt hanging in your Berlin studio, what about his life and contributions keeps you going?
SS Daft Punk was also a big influence to me. When my older brother bought Homework we were just listening to that in a loop for months… but that was way before I thought of producing. Later when I started really discovering electronic music I searched for more French House stuff, that lead to Chicago House, Ghetto House, and their origin: Disco & Funk.
I just love Ron Hardy’s shit, his tracks & edits feel somehow very advanced for his time, and you gotta check his recorded mixes, they had a certain ruffness & energy which I’m very sensitive to.
DD What’s next for Strip Steve? I hope our paths cross again!
SS A new remix for Funk D’Void out on Soma Recordings in the next few weeks, new EP’s on the way. I’ll maybe start writing a new album too soon but that’s too early to talk about it. :]
Yeah man really hope I’ll come back to Seattle someday and meet again!
Strip Steve – Twitter Facebook Soundcloud Discogs
– Jimi Jaxon
Just a few days ago, I posted my glowing Disco Droppings feature on Jimmy Edgar and his Ultramajic label. It’s just so surreal to now have him here for an interview, right on the heels of his Spring 2014 Tour. This string of dates has him in my area of Seattle on March 20th @ Q, via Studio 4/4 and Decibel..
DD Hi Jimmy, such a gift being able to talk with you here. This conversation is greatly appreciated.
JE Pleasure is mine. I am humbled by your gratitude.
DD Can you share any inspirations from your recent trip to Egypt? You mentioned meditating inside the King’s Chamber of the Great Pyramid of Giza.
JE I much prefer this conversation in person, but I might as well relay some of the things that happened since they were so amazing. Obviously, it was a challenge to even decide to go there because of the situation there, but I really convinced myself that it was fine. There were absolutely no tourists, the pyramids were completely empty it was kind of sad to be honest. We did a tour with a Khemit school of Ancient Mysticism and they had diplomatic ties so we were able to go into locked areas. The first locked area we went into was just adjacent to pyramids, but underground. As soon as we entered I thought there was a truck driver over us, and they explained that the sound is always there, and they asked me to sit in a sort of seat and close my eyes. I immediately started seeing geometry in my mind, since I have experiences like this often, I sort of accepted it and moved on. Later on, we go into the King’s Chamber and I was in awe of the design. The wall so straight and flat, and so high inside, no writing on the walls. All the documentaries and photos could not prepare me for the feeling inside there. I just got the feeling that there is much more to the story, it was so intuitive and obvious. Anyways, so we make it up into the King’s Chamber, completely alone again. Inside the chamber I was so awestruck by the resonant sound of the pyramid. I was hearing such a pure high fidelity vibrating reverberation. The guide tells us it’s completely illegal to do any meditation inside, and there are cameras. But, he basically says the cameras are bullshit and that we should get inside the sarcophagus and he will look out for us. Pilar Zeta, who does the Ultramajic covers with me gets inside and we take turns doing a meditation. I see this geometry in my mind again and I start focusing on it, so now I know it is something connected. She asks me if I saw some swirling tetrahedron type shape in my head shortly after, and I didn’t really plan on saying anything since it was such a personal experience. Hard to say what happened in there, but something perhaps deep and subconscious. For me, the pyramids seem to be some kind of temple or spiritual technology, something about sound and resonance.
We also visited Luxor, which was beautiful.
DD How would you describe the Ultramajic energy?
JE The parties are all about having fun. For us, we appreciate when people give us feedback on the artwork, which is our focus now, to create a vibe connected with the music with a lot of artistic integrity. I love working with Pilar because she has a way of not settling for second best. Since we are both hard to please, once we have something that we like, we end up staring at it for hours to make sure it’s up to our standard and something we are proud of. We have an ongoing joke that has stuck, and as long as everything has a bit of fun, a bit of magic, a bit of mystic, and a bit of fashion then we are on.
DD Your 2014 Spring Tour is about to begin, with its first stop at the highly esteemed Fabric in London on March 14th. A few days after that, you’ll be returning to my city of Seattle on March 20th at Q nightclub. After seeing you at Decibel Festival 2013 via the Leisure System After Hours showcase, I’m curious about how your upcoming tour will sound. There’s also your recent RA mix, Warehouse Project and Boiler Room sets online. What happens now?
JE The RA mix was more about scaling back and showing a really specific vibe, since I knew people would be listening at home. This was a huge challenge for me because when I DJ out I just want it to bang and people to dance. But really, I can’t comment much because DJ’ing is a very intuitive thing… I need to see faces and bodies moving and the sound system and everything ya know….of course I love playing new music and unreleased Ultramajic…again, it’s all about having fun and getting into a vibe. Recently, in Europe I’ve been playing the first hour of my sets with almost exclusive drum trax. So when the melodies enter it really starts to feel like we are going somewhere. I don’t think this works so much in USA. In the states we don’t have the type of patience that Europeans do for DJs. Americans, for the most part, are expecting some kind of fire because we don’t have the same club culture. That’s fine too, I just feel I gotta tune my set a bit. What I actually do can’t be quantified, it’s all intuitive and felt when I’m there.
DD Are there plans to present more Ultramajic visuals at events? Your graphics are sure to be super trippy in the club environment.
JE Yes, thank you. Visuals are a big part of what we do, but I am more interested in working with LED and lighting designers. I am not a big fan of projectors, I don’t think they have the impact and brightness I am looking for.
DD How have your recent fashion projects been going?
JE I don’t do much these days, but I just shot Pilar Zeta’s fashion line called Holographic Universe for their FW2014 collection. Really amazing designs and I am excited to see them released. The website is up..we worked on this project for months and then flew to LA to shoot it in the studio, we had a really cool team.
DD There are so many pictures of yours that latch onto me. The one of you holding that striking Black Tourmaline stone looked mesmerizing. I’ve become kinda obsessed with crystals lately, always carry something on me. What’s your relationship like with gems and such?
JE Ive always had crystals since I was a child, I don’t know what it is, I just really love them. Well, actually I’m lying, I just pretend I don’t know what crystals do, but I am convinced that what “new age” people say about crystals is true. You can program them and communicate with them. Ever since I was a child I used to always imagine being a room full of crystal walls, it was one of my youngest memories. I don’t understand why some people are so ignorant to the power of crystals, our computer hard disks are made of Silicon. Science already knows that crystals can hold memory. Anyways, you should Youtube “crystal documentary” and you will find this guy called Les Brown, who gives a very boring but informative lecture on the nature of crystals, and for me its important to have the scientific openness to convince myself of the authenticity. A few of my friends who used to be complete fuckups found themselves through crystals, which is quite drastic but really fascinating to see people really get into them. Once you have the belief and you allow yourself to connect, whether it be crystals, nature, aliens or whatever, then you open that door to see what’s possible. For me, I’d rather live in a world of magic and wonder rather than a world of “I can’t”, and limiting yourself to possibilities. I now find myself feeling really bad for people who can’t even consider the possibility. Like I said, just being open makes a doorway for these things to come into your life…but it applies to everything.
Jimmy Edgar – Twitter Soundcloud Facebook
– Jimi Jaxon
I welcome new energy. It’s a chance to keep things interesting, and push towards a collective evolution. Very recently, I reached out to the new Kremwerk club in Seattle. I asked about booking, sent over my mixes, and subsequently starting talking with Austin Stone. I enjoyed my interactions with him and was very intrigued by this new place. He has kindly asked me to play this week with fellow DJ/Producer Møss on February 27th. After seeing the club for the first time and getting a tour from Austin, I knew that his words and actions should be shared with more people. So here we are..
DD What inspired you to move from Berlin to Seattle?
AS Berlin had the art, music and lifestyle I dreamed about, but I had an opportunity to contribute what I loved and bring something to the Seattle community instead of just feeding off of a vibrant oasis in Europe. Several of my mentors and heroes inspired me to make the move, a chance I wouldn’t get again, and a path that would yield for not only me but a greater network of artists and people.
I had not lived in Seattle for more than a few months before, but I have several family members who live here so there was a great foundation of support to cushion the move and grow once I planted my own roots.
DD What was the process to build this new club called Kremwerk? I talked with you about it the other day, and it’s been quite the journey yeah?
AS The original space was about six dingy apartments that had various anarchists, night-crawlers, and moles in a windowless low ceiling basement. The other partners of the club, Nicole Stone and Henry Waltke leveled the entire floor about six feet to redo the plumbing and lay a new concrete slab. They wanted a fresh start for a new vibrant space. Everything is a new build and design, provided by Nicole and Henry of Kremwerk.
I came in May 2013 to help with the build, design and concept of the club. We went through various designs and concepts, but decided an electronic venue with my recent Berlin inspirations would be pragmatic, and tremendous amount of fun to create and prolong. Nicole built out the space, Henry handled running the business, and I helped with networking for bookings.
There were several challenges to overcome through the city, family/personal illness, and unknown logistics to open the venue. But Henry, Nicole and I all kept our cool and patience to wait for our announcement in Winter and start events. Now that we are up and running there is a shift for all of us to adapt from daytime build into nightlife management. It has been a tremendous endeavor, altruistically inspiring, and so much joy to be here. I would do it again in an instant!
DD How would you describe the aesthetic of the place?
AS Kremwerk is an industrial German electronic nightclub; there is minimal form and color that accents our robust concrete, steel, and wood build out. Kremwerk looks tough but feels soft. Color is big part of the space, everything is indirect lighting that builds on our textures and surfaces. The space is also modular; every light and object moves or changes to fit the theme of the night, we want every event and experience to be special.
Kremwerk makes extensive and complex behind the scene development look simple, natural and effortless. There is a feeling of awe and freshness throughout the entire space.
DD I’m curious about your own artistic background. Stuff you do/have done with music..
AS I started writing contemporary chamber music and then incorporated electronic elements to further explore abstract listening. This lead to creating multimedia works with generative programming and complex electronic synthesis. While studying music production at Berklee College of Music I began throwing events off campus with a collective of other artists called ElecSonic. Eventually I pursued mastering and high end production for film and surround. At that point I moved to Berlin to write and experience music, and worked at a new media arts venue currently at KunstWerk called FEED. I also worked at Scape Mastering with Stefan Betke aka Pole and focused on serious electronic music production.
Currently I am keeping a few high energy dance tracks on the outgoing, and I always take on a few mix down edits or mastering projects for others. Eventually once the heat rises we will be aiming to start releasing material from Kremwerk.
DD Who are some artists that have influenced your expression the most?
AS To name a few of many: Monolake, Pole, Bronski Beat, Motor City Drum Ensemble, Emika, Tarik Barri, Hercules and Love Affair, Os Mutantes, M.Constant, Wheez-ie
* Austin will have new self released productions in March
Kremwerk – Facebook
Austin Stone – Soundcloud
– Jimi Jaxon
Lately, I’m either thinking about Machinedrum or talking about his music at least once a day. I am buzzing over his new productions, which only add to my sheer amazement of this artist. The amount of ideas and fresh vision coming out of Travis Stewart is so huge. Some don’t fully understand everything he offers to the world.
This “Eyesdontlie” video astounded my friends and I. What resembles those Roller Coaster Simulator rides carries you through a district of Vapor City. The environment becomes increasingly trippy, kinky and colorful, eventually fading into nothing.
In this interview with The Creators Project, Machinedrum talks about the dreams that inspired this new album on Ninja Tune..
“I would kind of be transferred to this same city in my dreams where it felt familiar, even though I knew I’d never been there. In the dream I felt like I knew all the places, I kept seeing the same streets, the same shops and clubs. Same amusement parks and weird little details that I kept noticing were recurring and it really started to freak me out that this kept happening—and it was also happening the first half of the year that I lived in Berlin.
So it started to form this sort of combination architecturally between New York and a bit of Berlin. A sort of old-meets-new sort of architecture. But it was very vast. And I could almost, in the dream, sort of zoom in and see the city for what it was, and kind of get an idea of where I was in the city. But it was crazy that I kept having this dream and it started fading out as I was living in Berlin but I thought it was definitely something I should explore more creatively, there was definitely a reason I was having this dream.”
When you make it out to Decibel Festival 2013 next month, make sure you experience the world debut of Vapor City Live on Friday, September 27th @ Showbox Market. It’s a part of the What The Festival Showcase with additional performances from XXYYXX, Giraffage and Timeboy (visuals by Zach Walker).
Vapor City will be released on September 30th
Machinedrum – Twitter Facebook Soundcloud
– Jimi Jaxon
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