Vinyl Junkie
We’re Not Dead: The 3rd
Chapter is looking to be the biggest release to date from Warehouse Wax, when
you embarked on this project, did you have any idea it would end up clocking in
at a staggering 50 tracks?
No, we we’re
thinking it would be more along the lines of 36 tracks, 18 on each mix. But we
got sent a lot more tunes than we thought we would. We decided to cap it at 50.
We could have had more but we had to set a limit really… 50 seemed like a nice
round number… Sorry for all the people that sent tracks that didn’t make it
onto the album… The competition was tough!!!
Can you tell us a bit about
the tracks you compiled for the album and what made them stand out to you?
Well, pretty much
all the tunes were sent straight to me and I would keep the ones I thought were
worthy, so they kind of got filtered before they even made it to Sanxion… We
argued a bit over some of the tracks and whose mix they were best suited to…
and his dad actually had to break up a fight on one occasion when I had him in
a headlock on the floor. So in the end we just tossed a coin on some of them.
The tunes all stood out, for different reasons, or they wouldn't be on there.
The most important thing, which determined whether a tune would make it to the
final shortlist folder, was the quality of production. There was a few tunes
that were really good but the production just was not there. There was also a
few artists we had to work with to get the production better as well.
What do you look for in a
track and what in your opinion, lifts a track from being average to being a
track that gets played time and time again?
I look for
originality, whether I think it will work on the dancefloor and a high standard
of production. What lifts a track from being average to being a track that gets
played time and time again? Well that’s the million dollar question isn't it.
When I figure that out I’ll be a very rich man!! I think if you have a really
well produced vocal track that is catchy and sounds fresh and current, then you
have as much chance as the next man of having a BIG tune on your hands. The key
is to PR the release properly. Get a PR company involved that can help you get
it into the right hands.
What advice would you give
to aspiring producers out there?
Try to be
original without alienating yourself. Perfect your craft and don’t send out
tracks unless you are 100% sure about them because it will come back to haunt
you later…
Sanxion
You have had a number of
releases out on Warehouse wax but how did you get involved in compiling this
latest album for the label?
It all started
with a studio session between myself, Billy 'Daniel' Bunter, and Warehouse Wax
boss Vinyl Junkie. Daniel had known and worked with VJ before and it seemed a
perfect fit for the 3 of us to get together to do a track.
After that session Vinyl Junkie kidnapped me, and has forced me to work for the label ever since. If I blink 3 times in a row at you when he's not looking, we can make a move and free me right?
After that session Vinyl Junkie kidnapped me, and has forced me to work for the label ever since. If I blink 3 times in a row at you when he's not looking, we can make a move and free me right?
The more boring
answer, is, me and John got on well when we met up that first time, and decided
to carry on doing tracks together, and he let me do a few remixes, and
eventually get my own EP on the label. It's just been a natural progression
from then to getting amongst it and compiling the album with him.
You have quite a diverse
selection of tracks that you personally picked for WND 3, what was it about
them that made you want to include them?
I can usually
tell within the first 30 seconds or so if a track is going to grab me or not.
I'm all about the biggest beats possible, the loudest bass, and the raviest
rave style bits. Sometimes, the more over the top, the better for me. Big and
brash and banging. If it fits those 3 criteria, I'm usually sold. The tracks on
my mix on the album hopefully cover that side of what's going on with bass and
breaks at the moment. Being a bit of a techie geek, I also quite like tracks
that get all technical along with it too.
And which producers in
general are doing big things in your opinion?
Strange Rollers
always delivers. His stuff sits on that fine line, between being banging, but
also being very musical, whilst somehow managing to evoke the spirit of
"Intelligent Jungle" (for want of a better phrase).
Toronto is Broken is just a beast when it comes to multi genre stuff. Pretty much everything he touches is massive. King Yoof, and Gold... just because they do that Future Jungle with Reggae sound so amazingly well. As do the RadioKillaz…
Toronto is Broken is just a beast when it comes to multi genre stuff. Pretty much everything he touches is massive. King Yoof, and Gold... just because they do that Future Jungle with Reggae sound so amazingly well. As do the RadioKillaz…
Too many to mention in a short interview to be honest. I also love the stuff that Flashback and Retropolis do (but I could be a little biased there, as their stuff comes through my studio a lot of the time) Slightly away from the 140 scene (is that even a good way to describe it these days?), I love what Dodge & Fuski, and Zomboy do. Just 110% banging!
As an ardent gamer, which of
the next gen consoles do you prefer and what games are you currently enjoying?
Don't get me
started...
This next gen cycle, I am holding off (at least for a while). XboxOne is the obvious way to go for me, as my current gen gaming was mainly on the 360. But nothing about it is really grabbing me. They are pushing towards it being a media hub, but a lot of the media integration, is (at the moment) USA centric. Same sort of thing with PS4 so far. Nothing really grabbing me enough to stump up the 400 quid or so this time around. In recent months, I bought a new studio PC, so whilst I was at it, I bought a decent video card, and have been having a ton of fun playing games on there. Stuff looks as good/better than pretty much all the cross platform next gen stuff still.
This next gen cycle, I am holding off (at least for a while). XboxOne is the obvious way to go for me, as my current gen gaming was mainly on the 360. But nothing about it is really grabbing me. They are pushing towards it being a media hub, but a lot of the media integration, is (at the moment) USA centric. Same sort of thing with PS4 so far. Nothing really grabbing me enough to stump up the 400 quid or so this time around. In recent months, I bought a new studio PC, so whilst I was at it, I bought a decent video card, and have been having a ton of fun playing games on there. Stuff looks as good/better than pretty much all the cross platform next gen stuff still.
I have played
some great games this year. Saints Row 3, and then straight into 4 was about
the most fun I have had with a videogame ever! Also, Bioshock Infinite, was
quite possibly the best piece of story telling done in the medium so far (some
of the combat gameplay wasn't great, but the narrative, and especially the
ending made up for its shortcomings) This year has been the year of the Indie
Game though. I urge you all to check out ‘Thomas was alone’ (never will a game
make you "care" about a bunch or rectangles quite so much)
Gone Home (Is it
even a game? Storytelling without a story so much)
The Stanley
Parable (A subversive narrative on the mindset of game progression...and
probably the only real "funny" videogame ever made)
Hotline Miami
(Uber violence, that somehow manages to evoke an oddly specific mood)
Rogue Legacy (The
best retro-action-plaform-roguelike-hack'n'nslash-rpg?)
I'm also in the
middle of building myself a mame cabinet using a Raspberry PI as the guts....
top fun.
'We're Not Dead: The 3rd Chapter' is out now on all good download stores
WE'RE NOT DEAD (The 3rd Chapter) by Warehouse Wax
And you can grab a few free promotional tracks for the album too
FREE STUFF by Warehouse Wax
Zombie Robot - You Belong To Me - FREE DOWNLOAD by Vinyl Junkie
LTD edition mix CDs by Vinyl Junkie & Sanxion available here: http://www.warehousewax.co.uk/wnd3/
