When it comes to approaching your first full artist album, no matter who you are, it’s a daunting task – never mind when you lose your first rounds of drafts and ideas through technological mishaps. There’s a lot of pressure poured on you, especially if you’ve moved on in terms of sound from what first got you attention in the first place. This was the case for Sigha, one of a wave of artists who happened to start out at a time when the dubstep end of beatmaking was open to experimentalist using sub bass in a multitude of different ways even if they were finding their niche more at the four four techno side of things. A seemingly fitting analogy comes from his formative days working in the basement at BM Soho. The subterranean floor is more of a d&b and dubstep spot but Sigha transcended upstairs to the techno records…
Things move on and as his interest in techno grew it really became the sound to take him forward with his creativity and he started developing his debut album for Hotflush entitled Living with Ghosts - which he’s toasting with us in Room Two this weekend. It proves to be a fertile time then to catch up with the ever growing talent to find out how, rather than taking a breather after the LP release trail, Sigha currently has a multitude of projects under the go. All ready to come into fruition later this year they include his collaborations with another of last year’s strongest new artists, Shifted, and the fresh energy he’s pouring in to his Our Circula Sound imprint.
Hey James, happy new year to you – how was yours?
I spent the Christmas period and the New Year back in the UK with my family. I was a busy towards the end of last year and it’s set to be an even busier start of 2013 so it was really nice to have some downtime.
Last year you played the birthday – how was your experience of our 31 hour long party?
fabric is an amazing club to play, the system is obviously incredible and the crowd there always react well to my sound and are definitely there get down, so the atmosphere at an extended party like that is pretty intense. I played fairly early on Saturday night but I came back on Sunday evening and it was still electric in there, so many people I spoke to had been there for the duration. Extended parties of that length are a weekly occurance in Berlin, but they rarely seem to happen in London. Even though I’ve left I still see it as my home turf so it’s very special to be part of something like that there.
You’re down to mark the release of your album, although it was in the stores last year can you tell us a bit about the ideas behind it and the process with which it was created?
It was a long process, broken up by computer crashes and moving countries. I'd written well over half the LP when my studio computer died and I had to start over, bar a few tracks i managed to salvage. I think this ended up being a positive though, it gave me a bit more time to think about how i wanted to approach the album. By the time the second draft started to take shape i was settled into life here in Berlin and had come around to the idea of a more balanced project. I really wanted it represent me across the board as an artist.
Has it been making the body of your sets up for the last year – have you been pleased in the effecting results it has had on the dancefloor?
I’ve been playing certain tracks a lot, Scene Couple, Dressing For Pleasure (Ideal), Puritian. These were actually written with specific points in my sets in mind, so I've been really happy to see the results on the floor when they've been played.
What direction are you currently working in – you’ve talked recently about how you've been finding yourself immersed in the world of drone?
I’m working on several projects at the moment that won’t be released as Sigha , I don't want to go into too much detail at the moment simply because my attention span means they might take a while to actually finish.
One is an LP of ambient and slower electronic music, although its non-techno I suppose it’s very informed by it, which I don't see as a problem really. I’m trying to focus a bit more on melody, it’s definitely 'sunnier' than anything else I've done previously but maybe that’s not saying much.
The other project I'm really excited about is much darker, made up of processed field recordings. At the moment it’s still in its early stages and I'm just collecting sounds for it but the concept behind it's really strong and something that I'm hugely interested in.
Techno wise I’m getting tracks together for a few new EPs for Blueprint, Avian and my OCS imprint as well as finally finishing a collaboration with Shifted and starting a new project with Truss.
I know sometimes new material is tested months and sometimes years ahead by most producers and by the time the album’s out for some people they’ve predominately moved onto newer material when they play out…would people expect to hear dubs of unreleased work being tested more than your older material in the club?
A mixture really I suppose, when I finished 'LWG' I found focusing on techno a bit of a struggle, the old post-lp blues cliche I guess, but it feels like I’ve finally found my groove again and I'm enjoying writing and playing out newer tracks. It’s always good to test something out on a crowd and a good system if that’s the environment you want it to be heard in.
What external experiences have been most inspirational for you at this point? I know you’re an individual that takes in a lot from other cultural realms outside of technoland
I think we've got to the point where we're so bombarded on a daily basis with external stimuli that it’s more a question of what you choose to shut out and ignore when it comes to things influencing you creatively. I live a pretty reclusive life style compared to a lot of people really, perhaps to an unhealthy extent, but I find this helps me retain a semblance of focus when I sit down to work.
I enjoy visiting galleries, it’s not even just about drawing something from the works themselves, but I find it encourages me to think about the artistic and creative process.
Would you see yourself working outside of the traditional music process in future – say club / records /album in future in way of collaborations with artists or fashion designers? Has that crossed your mind before?
Definitely, these are things that I’d like to do at some point, but I think I've got more than enough on the go currently, unfortunately there are only so many hours in the day.
Onto a collaboration I know to be in action currently, I’ve seen you’re planning events with Shifted’s imprint Avian vs Our Circula Sound – what lead you to work together in this way?
Shifted’s been a very close friend of mine for a long time now, we share a lot of common ground and mutual interests both in and outside of music. We've been talking about the idea of putting on a collaborative party to showcase both imprints for a while, but we weren’t anticipating the level of interest that the project would generate. It exciting to have seen the concept grow in a short space of time from an idea into something concrete.
Do you have a plan for 2013? What releases do you have locked down?
Personally, the projects I already mentioned are going to be my focus this year. My label Our Circula Sound will be picking up the pace, we've signed some great new material from some new artists I’m really excited about and it’s about time I released a solo 12 on there as well.
The AVN/OCS parties and collaborative release series from both labels will also be taking up a chunk of my attention.
If you happen to be in London tomorrow you'll be able to catch Sigha performing alongside DVS1 in Room 2 at fabric. Tickets are available through the fabric Website. For more info on Sigha, head over to his Facebook Fan Page.
For this weeks podcast CLR add a new face to their ever expanding list on contributors. He may be a debutant on the series, but to readers fo the SDD blog, Rødhåd will be no stranger. Firstly, as a DJ, his residency at (and a founder member of) Berlin's Dystopian night, and more recently his appearances at Berghain, have seen him become a firm favourite in the eyes of the people of the German capital. But as was inevitably going to happen, he's now getting the recognition he thoroughly deserves in territories outside of his homeland. And with two releases (and a third on the way) on Dystopian's record label, his productions talents are there for all the world to see.
It was only a matter of time before he found his way on the CLR Podcast and he's announced himself to a wider audience with a mix full of hypnotic textures and deep dub techno vibes blended with driving techno to leave you wanting more. As a DJ who's made his name with sets than keep you dancing for many an hour, none of that set building quality is lost by condensing it down to under 65 mins.
You can subscribe to the CLR Podcast in iTunes or you can download and listen to the mix on the CLR Website.
Tracklisting
1) Dadavistic Ocestra - De kunst: Star Dot Star [Dust Science Recordings]
2) Rødhåd - [Unreleased]
3) Levon Vincent - Stereo Systems [Novel Sound]
4) Analog Solutions - The Concept Sampler [Analog Solutions]
5) Reeko - Dystopic Furture [Pole Group]
6) Shifted - Bloodless [Mote Evolver]
7) Pär Grindvik - Rudy [Stockholm LTD]
8) Vice - Noise Reduction [Tresor]
9) Truncate - 10th [Truncate]
10) Nina Kraviz - Best friend (DVS1 forever mix featuring Naughty Wood)
11) Arnaud le Texier - Ingredients [Children of Tomorrow]
12) Rejected - For the People (Ben Klock Remix) [Rejected]
13) Phase - Transantarctic [Token]
14) The Plant Worker [Limited 02]
15) Dimi Angélis & Jeroen Search - One on One [A&S]
16) Recondite - EC10 [forthcoming on Dystopian]
17) Reeko - Segmento 3 [Mental Disorder]
More info on Rødhåd can be found on his Facebook Fan Page. If you want to see him performing live and happen to be in Zurich on Saturday he'll be playing at the Hive Club with Nick Höppner, Tamo Sumo and more. Full event info here. Back in Berlin he'll be playing at the next Dystopian party on the 29th Jan and then at Berghain on the 9th Feb (click on the links for the RA event pages).
We kick off the New Year with a mix that was recorded by our boss, XI, at his East London home just before Christmas. The podcast was commissioned by the ever expanding new series called OurLand. Already on to it's 5th episode, focusing predominately on UK talent, they've featured mixes from Perc Trax artist Ben Gibson, past SDD guest Billy Allen, Void resident Jay Clarke and upcoming up Producer / DJ, Fundamental Interaction.
The mix takes a look at the darker side of the industry and the mental health implications that can go hand in hand with being a traveling DJ / Producer within the world of electronic music. Right from the start, the broken beat drones of Milton Bradley and Ike set the pace for this dark inward journey. The intensity rises as the Prince Of Denmark, Subjected and Rødhåd install a more four / four pattern before the Detroit stylings of Raw Series and Floorplan bring the mix to a close.
You can get the mix from the following links. Either via the direct download or you can subscribe to the mix in iTunes
Direct Download
iTunes
Tracklisting
- Brian Eno Feat Anastasia Afonina – Panic Of Looking [Warp Records]
- Milton Bradley – Reality Is Wrong [Prologue Records]
- Vid – Understand [Pleasure Zone]
- Ike – Loss (Regis Version) [Blackest Ever Black]
- Milton Bradley – Voices Of The Unknown [Do Not Resist The Beat!]
- Prince Of Denmark – Prypjat [Giegling Staub]
- Silent Servant – Utopian Disaster (End) [Hospital Productions]
- Subjected – MS.20 [Vault Series]
- Rødhåd – Thoughtcrime [Dystopian]
- Raw Series – Raw Series #2 (A Side) [Raw Series]
- Regal – Trick [Enemy Records]
- Floorplan – Altered Ego [M-Plant Music]
- Regis – Reclaimed 4 [D/N Records]
- Mokira – Manipulation Musik [Kontra-Musik]
As well as the podcast, OurLand caught up with XI for a chat about the inspiration behind the mix, his favourite UK producers, the future and a bit more on top. Check out the interview on the OurLand Website. There you'll also be able to find all the link for the previous 4 mixes in the series.
More info on XI can be found through his Facebook Fan Page or you can follow him on Twitter
2012 has been a good year for techno at fabric. We've been lucky enough to witness the likes of Sandwell District, Ben Klock, Marcel Dettmann, Peter Van Hoesen, Shed, DVS1, Shackleton, Luke Slater, Skudge, Karenn, Sigha and plenty more take to the infamous Room 2 over the last 12 months and they weren't about to let the year end without a bang!
The line up pretty much speaks for itself. Dave Clarke, Robert Hood presents Floorplan, Terry Francis and Joseph Capriati. Job done.
Tickets are available from the fabric website, doors open at 9pm and close at 9am (apparently)
Now if one night at fabric isn't enough for you, WetYourSelf! are giving you a cracking reason to turn round and head straight back there as Echocord Records boss, Kenneth Christiansen, returns to perform in London for the first time since he played for us in the summer of last year at Public Life. He'll be bringing his box chopped full of the most stunning dub techno, which has led him to become one of the most respected figures in the industry.
Joining him will be Palisade, with a live set, Antony Difrancesco b2b Dan Farserelli and the EarToGround guys, Chris Stanford and Gareth Wild.
Again, tickets are available from the fabric website
It's always an exciting time when We Fear Silence invite Blueprint Records back under the arches at Cable. Consistently setting the bar for the highest quality techno with every installment, we last saw them in the middle of an August Bank Holiday marathon as Jeff Mills delighted our senses with 4 hours of pure techno legendary.
Sticking with the Detroit heavyweight / Underground Resistance theme, Blueprint turn to another pioneer, Robert Hood. The flyer says he'll be performing live but, you'll be pleased to know, the M-Plant Records boss will also be performing a DJ set on top.
Mr Hood will be ably supported by the combination of James Ruskin and Mark Broom, both individually, and as their production duo alias, The Fear Ratio. Room 2 will be perfectly marshaled, as ever, by Colony. Residents MB & CB and Tengui and joined by the man behind the label Broken20, TVO (check out the top 10 tracks he picked out for WFS silence on their website).
Advanced tickets are available on Resident Advisor, or you can pay on the door, but I wouldn't get there too late if that's your preferred option because we expect it's going to be a busy one!
After our mammoth roundup post last week, we're keeping it shorter this week, but the three parties we have to tell you about, make it just as strong.
London
When London party throwers, Plex, Colony and Machine put on events on their own, they always turn out pretty special, but when they combine at Corsica Studios, it ends up being one of the best events on the clubbing calendar.
As with last year there's a few birthdays to be celebrated. Plex are turning six and Colony are reaching four. Plex take care of room one. Ancient Methods return, Regis puts in a live set, and the two combine for the UK debut performance of Ugandan Methods. Joining them is Surface Records' 65D Mavericks, Ø [Phase], Simon Heartfield with a live A/V show and the Plex residents.
There's a few tickets left on Resident Advisor, but don't hang about because they won't be available for long.
Berlin
Our favourite Berlin promoters, Grounded Theory, move to a new venue, Stattbad, for their 18th party and they've put together an epic UK trio in the shape of Surgeon, Tommy Four Seven and Sigha. The Berlin contingent is fulfilled by Sven VT and GT boss, Henning Baer.
As is the Berlin norm, there are no tickets, so make sure you get there early to avoid disappointment. Full info can be found on the Facebook Event Page.
Copenhagen
No clubbing roundup would be complete without a stop of at Copenhagen's Culture Box. On Saturday they continue their monthly homage to the sounds of Berghain and Panoramabar and this week it's the turn of Ben Klock to take control of the Black Box for an all night session.
Full info can be found on the Facebook Event Page
