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A. Flores Interview (Ssleaze / DJ Guano)

2014/08/26 //
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ssleaze

Summer 2014 in Seattle coincided with the beginning of the Disco Droppings monthly at Kremwerk. In keeping with the spirit of the site which pulls together a wide spectrum of sounds, I’ve featured some of my favorite local artists including DJ Veins, Sphyramid, and Bardo:Basho, along with my residents Zoolab, Mascara and Greyspot. This month I will show just how wide my interests are, Dave Segal at The Stranger says it much better than I can..

“Los Angeles trio Ssleaze push a strident strain of synth punk, aggro vocals and all. They seem to play with a perpetual sneer on their mugs and probably find Throbbing Gristle to be too genteel. It’s as if Ssleaze are channeling the disdainful attitude of the cast of Liquid Sky into their craggy, cranky songs. They sound like particularly nasty dominatrices who’ll leave welts on your ears. Fellow LA peeps Egrets on Ergot play uptight, frantic new-wave rock that has similarities to early-’80s groups like Pylon and the Lines—and it’s damned danceable. Seattle’s Ononos make for an ideal opener. What’s curious about these glamorous minimal-synth malcontents is that they only have two songs online and no official releases. Five years deep into their existence, one would think, Ononos should have a sizable discography. But this just makes their club appearances all the more special. They’re one of this city’s most riveting live acts. This extra-raunchy edition of Jimi Jaxon’s Disco Droppings night also includes Jaxon DJing with Dorsia, DJ Guano, and Mascara.”

 

And here is an extra special gift to go along with this interview with Andrew Flores. The exclusive first listen of “Love Market” off Ssleaze’s upcoming release ‘The Thirst Is Real’. Now onto our fun conversation..

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DD Hi Andrew :]] How would you describe your band Ssleaze, and you as DJ Guano?

AF In broad terms I’d say we are an Electro-punk band heavily influenced by the darker sides of music and life. But people have called us “MOLLY GOTH”, “PARTY PUNK”, “BACK ALLEY PUNK” & “RAVE PUNK”. As far as DJ’ing goes, I don’t know how to explain that. I usually try and showcase the history of electro & darkwave.

DD Were you interested in bands first before getting into DJ’ing?

AF Yeah totally. I remember being really inspired in my teens from various bands that made me want to start doing it myself. Dj’ing kinda came into place when I realized I had always thrown super great house parties, and was approached to start doing club parties.

 

DD And what are your parties like down in LA?

AF Juicy, plain and simple.

DD I’m down.

AF People don’t really get to pick if they are or not. I like to beat them into the beats.

DD We’re similar. I’ll make em’ like it, or it’ll be too weird and they’ll leave.

AF Yup!

DD Last time you guys were in Seattle you played Cockpit. Sad I missed it, you guys had a pretty wild time yeah?

AF Yeah! I knew the night was going to be killer because we had the honor of sharing the night with butcher and Ononos. But I wasn’t expecting the warmth and acceptance we received from the crowd. Everyone was just going so crazy! I honestly to this day still think Seattle showed us our best show ever. I have easily never had more fun before.

Disco Droppings 8.28 Web Poster-

DD Hyped to bring you back this month! SSleaze were just recording new material. How’s that feelin? And will you be showing off any of these tracks at this month’s Disco Droppings Presents @ Kremwerk?

AF Yeah we actually just finished last night, and it feels amazing. These songs have so much heart and I couldn’t be any happier with how they came out. We worked so hard on this album. I think the best part is when listening you can tell how exciting and thrilling it was for us. And yeah we will be playing its entirety at Disco Droppings!

DD Special vibez. Well thanks for stopping by the site, if you have any last words feel free. See you ina few dayz Andrew:]

AF Hmmm, when yr highness barks “you bitches better werk,” you better werk. Thanks for having me! Can’t wait to get juicy.

Ssleaze – Facebook Bandcamp 

– Jimi Jaxon

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Bardo:Basho Interview

2014/07/30 //
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bardo

Don’t miss Bardo:Basho at Kremwerk this Thursday, July 31st in Seattle. “Disco Droppings Presents” is in its second month, with Basho aka Kirsten Thom playing alongside Zoolab (debut DJ set), Sphyramid (live set, 7 Deadly Records) and myself. Kirsten has produced brand new music just for this show! She mentioned it being very rhythmic, can’t wait!

Let’s get to our conversation..

DD Hii Kirsten. We’ve known each other for a short while now. I did a live dj mix and interview on your show for Hollow Earth Radio back in May. Thanks again for that. How would describe your show?

BB Hi Trevor! That was really fun. My radio show emphasizes experimental electronic music, mostly on the darker tip. I play lots of techno, and some ambient, drone, and noise stuff. I also try to play as much local music as possible, and I make sure to represent female producers.

DD There are a bunch of sub groups in Seattle for electronic music. These often have many similarities to me, with differences in the genres and styles focused on for each crew’s parties. What’s the crew like that you usually find yourself with? That would be secondnature yeah?

BB I have a lot of friends who work on secondnature, who focus on hypnotic techno. I help out from time to time, and attend almost all of their events. That is probably the crew I am closest with. I co-curate an electronic music event series called Elevator, which tends to feature avant-garde and noise-oriented stuff. I also go to Motor as much as I can, along with Sweatbox parties..and I’ve been really impressed with some of the more post-punk and industrial-leaning events like False Prophet and Lust Strength, which both take place at Kremwerk.

 

DD Something told me to put on Blade Runner as visuals to this LP Sampler of yours. Fit together perfectly. Are you a fan of the film?

BB The last time I saw Bladerunner was a long time ago. I remember enjoying it, but I think it’s time for me to watch it again. I will take that as a compliment!

 

DD You should. This is your debut album correct? I’m curious about the path that’s led you here as a producer…

BB The album I recently finished (but have not yet released) is my very first as Bardo:Basho. I’ve been building my production skills for the past three years, and it’s been a slow process. I started out trying to make techno, but then I found that more vocal-oriented, home-listening type music was more expressive for me. Now that I know a little bit more about sound design, I’m making my way toward a more dance floor friendly sound. Before making electronic music, I sang and played synthesizer and rhythm guitar in a few bands, and played classical piano on my own.

DD “Meditative” is one of the hashtags on the LP sampler. Is this something you practice? Whenever I see you there’s a calm, collected energy that I sense.

BB Thank you! I don’t sit down and meditate regularly, but I try to always be present in the moment, and focus on my breathing for a few minutes a day.

 

DD You’ll be playing this month’s “Disco Droppings Presents” at Kremwerk on Thursday, July 31st. This will be a live set from you. Any hints you can give readers as to what you’re going for?

BB This set will be very rhythmic – think bongos and kettle drums – with layers upon layers of vocal loops, and a touch of acid synth. Thanks so much for having me! I’m really looking forward to Thursday.

July31discodroppings

Bardo:Basho – Twitter Facebook Soundcloud

– Jimi Jaxon

 
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Tricky Strutt Interview – Catchin’ Up

2014/07/21 //
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Let’s get grimey..

DD Well dude, hello! It’s been a little over 2 years since we first talked on Disco Droppings. Crazy huh?

TS Yea man, good to speak to you again. Time fly’s.

DD This “100% Tricky Strutt Production Mix” is really rad. Had it on at work a bunch, keeping’ me hyped. So as the title suggests, this is all your own productions. Anything you’d like to share about this collection of tracks?

TS Literally the tracks are just a bunch that have been sitting on my hard drive for a while, the direction hasn’t really changed. I think there’s a few in that mix that are at least 2 maybe 3 years old, the second track and second to last are the only ones that are “current” shall we say and to be honest. I’d forgotten I’d made half of them. The mix was purely for DSL on Nasty FM. I wasn’t really ready to send out any tracks at the time but I thought if I put them into a mix context it would show that I’m still about really, as I’m so quiet on the tune front.

I purposely left out quite a few tracks, mainly all the ones one of my friends told me to put in haha, and hopefully all the tracks show a different vibe or style at 140 bpm. Pretty much my take on grime which we spoke about two years ago as my main love. I’m still spending stupid money on tracks I had on repeat 10 years ago. I brought roundabout another 40 vinyl last week. It’s great that it’s coming back into the limelight a bit.

DD Since it’s been a while, what’s a current day in the life of Tricky Strutt entail?

TS A current day for me..I “manage” a small business, which drives me up the wall, but it has it’s advantages. Building a studio a few minutes away, being the only one that springs to mind atm. Trawling the internet looking for equipment when I get a chance, and of course record hunting.

DD Where do you wanna’ take things next?

TS Artist wise, I’ve dropped a few tunes in other fields under different alias’s since we last spoke. There’s other stuff in the pipeline, but I won’t really go into it too much. Lets just say it’s at a polar opposite to this kind of stuff.

Other than that I’m just making tracks and stacking them up as usual. I think I’ve got a good few hours of unheard stuff spread across three hard drives and two computers. It’s now a case of getting everything mixed down haha.

Good speaking to you again!

Tricky Strutt – Twitter Soundcloud

 

– Jimi Jaxon

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Into the world of David Comito

2014/06/05 //
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david3

Whatsup everyone? Very hyped to share this conversation with friend and fellow local artist, David Comito. If you’re in the Seattle area, you best be at his art show this Sunday (FB event). I won’t be missing it..

DD So with your art, is this something you’ve been doing since you were little, or was drawing something you got more interested in later?

DC I’ve been drawing all my life. Its always been my primary source of entertainment. As far as trying to sell it, that is a more recent aspect of what I do. Marketing myself takes me a bit out of my comfort zone.

DD Well you have a beautiful looking site, and I’ve seen my roommate Stefani wearing one of your shirts. It’s good to push yourself a bit. I can’t draw worth shit, so your work is especially kool to me. How long do these pieces usually take to create?

DC Thanks! It is definitely something worth doing. I’m so lucky to have friends that tell me that my work connects with them, it pushes me forward to promote myself. How long some of these pieces take all depend of different things, like my mood, or the subject or weather. Sometimes a particular piece would benefit with more attention to detail, other times it would be better with a quick and lose treatment. I think the most I’ve spent on a picture, adding all the time up would be about a day, but I do lose track of time when I work so that might not be accurate. It’s one of the things that make it hard to monetize my work. I don’t really count the time as wasted or something that needs to be reimbursed.

david1

DD I see so much imagination in what you’re doing. Reminds me of some of the cartoons I watched growing up. Have cartoons influenced all this for you?

DC For sure they have. If you are a child of the 80’s, I think you definitely have its mark on your imagination. I think what maybe influenced me most was Jim Henson. I find myself using a lot of his visual cues and sense of humor in my work. I also have love of pen and ink and that is definitely pulled from my love of comics.

DD Speaking of comics, was it Comic-Con you went to recently?

DC I did but just as a comic fan. My favorite thing to do there is talk to the artists and look through all their work.

DD It looks really fun. Who were some of your favorite artists to interact with?

DC Dimi Macheras is a fantastic local comic book artist. He’s working on a comic right now called Guttertown that is set in future Seattle where people compete in a drug induced telekinetic beat music fight. I dig it. I also connected with Alex Pardee, his stuff was just hilarious and awesome.

DD And what’s in store for this art show in Seattle this Sunday?

DC My art will be there of course. I’ll be there to talk and answer any questions people want to ask, and I’ll have some prints and original pen and inks for sale. Really, I’m just looking forward to meeting people and talking art.

david2

– Jimi Jaxon

 

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Checking In w/ Strip Steve (BNR)

2014/04/23 //
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Theo

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

 

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