Selective Hearing served a true techno feast to Sankeys. Packed with post-exam students, four courses of 130 heavyweights quickly set aside any lingering worries about the imminent debt, dole and a Desmond.
Rødhåd was the first big name in the Basement. Providing plenty of hands-in-the-air moments, the Berlin-resident grinned his way through a well-received set. Weaving in Recondite’s ‘Cleric’, his selection was tailored to be just the right, light side of dark for a crowd more used to house.
A disappointing Ben Klock performance followed. Lacking the energy or direction I expected, his selection failed to grip me. By the end, I felt that I had witnessed the Berghain veteran being eclipsed by that club’s newcomer who played before. An online apology for a “low flow day” may provide an explanation.
Upstairs at the more pleasant and spacious Spektrum, Ukraine’s most valuable house export Vakula took to the decks. Dropping Syclops’s rifftastic bomb ‘Where’s Jason’s K’ early in the set had the crowd grooving from the off. Playing records in a relaxed, confident manner, the better sound upstairs allowed me to get lost for a varied three hours. Renowned for an impressive catalogue of releases, his performance showed why he’s gathering an equally strong following for his DJing.
Sadly, Sankeys stopped a good night becoming a legendary one. London drinks prices, one-in-one-out for the toilets and woefully quiet sound downstairs all do their damage. Pointing towards the brawl to get to the loo, I heard an astonished foreign visitor remark “this in a superclub!” I was equally taken aback by him giving this club that label. If Sankeys wants to be mentioned in the same breath as Fabric, DC10 or any other true “superclub”, it needs to spend a lot of money on a proper soundsystem and start making its club clubber-friendly.
Do you think you could have evoked such drama and been able to set your dystopian scenes [in early albums like Replicas] as a straight up punk band, or is the guitar too confined as an instrument? Some of the songs on Replicas are more guitar than synth strangely enough but, overall, I don’t think the albums would have been anywhere near as effective without the synths. I love the guitar, and it can be processed in ways that can make it sound very unusual, but it can’t compete with synths for sound design. It was the synth that allowed me to expand ny sound beyond the punk band that I used to be. What are your thoughts on the statement that The Pleasure Principle gave birth to 1980s? And how does that make you feel looking back on that decade? I had Replicas and The Pleasure Principle both go to Number 1 in the UK in 1979 so electronic music was given a high level launch into the public’s consciousness via those two albums. It encouraged all the big labels to start signing electronic acts when they hadn’t been overly interested before, it encouraged people to start making electronic music of their own and it opened up doors of opportunity for those people that were already dabbling with it. In that sense I suppose I paved the way for some of what came along in the 1980’s and beyond. It’s something to be proud of I but, in truth, I don’t really think about it. I have never been one for looking back, either on successes or mistakes. I have always been almost obsessively focused on where I’m going next. Tomorrow is exciting, yesterday is over and done with.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uu6MDdxBork How did the Saturday Night Live performance change your career, and did you know before the show it would have such immediate effects? It made me an overnight star in the US so it had an enormous effect. I went to America essentially unknown, I did that show and the next morning it seemed that everyone in America knew who I was. It was incredible. I knew before I went there that it was a big show but I had no idea just how powerful it was. Thinking of tracks like Metal, those warm synth bass lines are becoming very fashionable once again – do you think an 80s ‘revival’ to some extent is on the cards? I hope not. I hate revivals. Music should be about creating new things, and that’s especially true of electronic music. I have never seen any point in looking backwards for inspiration if all you do with it is to repeat something that’s already been done. Surely we should be trying to create new sounds and come up with new ideas, things people haven’t heard before. I find it almost depressing to think that music may actually go in cycles where every few decades we repeat an older one. Whatever the truth of that it holds no interest for me. My reason for being a songwriter and musician is to keep moving forward musically, to keep coming up with new ideas, new sounds, and using new technology. On the face of it, Splinter is a very heavy, industrial and quite dark album in places; why did you write such a record? And does From A Broken Mind reflect where you were at the time of writing? I was diagnosed with depression in 2008. I didn’t write a song for over three years and things were falling apart somewhat, career, private life, pretty much everything really. The cure was almost as bad as it sucks you into this permanent state of ‘couldn’t care less’. So, you’re no longer ‘depressed’ but now you don’t care about anything so you still don’t work. It took a few big shocks to make me begin to realise that I needed to come back to the real world. When I did the urge to start writing again came back and the most powerful thing that had happened had been fighting the depression, so I wanted to write about that. I was broken in a very real sense and it took a long time to fix. The album title is very accurate.
What made you want to become a stunt pilot? I have always loved aeroplanes and I learnt to fly when I was quite young. As in most things I have an obsessive tendency, due to my Aspergers Syndrome I expect, and so with aeroplanes I wanted to learn how to control them to an ever greater degree. That took me into historic aeroplanes and then in to aerobatic and then formation aerobatic flying. I became an Evaluator at one point for the Civil Aviation Authority. Part of it was the simple pleasure of being able to handle aeroplanes well; good enough to be a display pilot for about fifteen years, but also it was dangerous and so very exciting. Unfortunately most of my friends were killed in various accidents over the years so, when my children started to be born, I decided to stop display flying. It seemed too reckless a thing to do as a hobby once I had a family of my own. I do miss it though. I’d like to end on a broad, slightly philosophical question if you don’t mind: How has fame affected you; are you grateful for your time in the limelight or has it been overwhelming? It was pretty overwhelming when it first happened. It was very sudden and I became globally massive almost overnight. It’s a lot to take in and you can only adapt to such huge changes over time. These days I can barely remember what it was like before the success, I’ve been doing this my entire adult life so I don’t know another way. I don’t think it’s affected me that much at all though to be honest. I’m very grounded, very down to earth. I have no diva in me, I’m polite, I don’t expect anyone to run around for me, I treat everyone fairly, I just think of myself as being very lucky; just that, lucky, not special. There are so many pop stars and rock stars and great songwriters and performers, we really are a very disposable thing. So many people can do what we do, we should never think of ourselves as being special because we’ve been lucky enough to sell a few records now and then.
Born into a family of singers, it’s no wonder Jamie Jooste’s sound on The Man Is Always Right, pays homage to such a breadth of iconic R&B and Soul legends. The material draws upon six relationship scenarios with each story from a different perspective, be it that of a child witnessing their own parents troubles, or as an experienced woman who becomes a mistress type figure in the eyes of her man.
The EP is alive with warm electric and pulsating beats, giving Jamie’s soulful voice and diva-like persona a fresh and contemporary feel. The tracks on this record are littered with sophisticated pop hooks, pouring with emotion and drama; bringing these tales to life.
Fusing all the elements together is rapper and producer Jay Picasso; supplying bars and a more importantly a male voice to the table. The combination of these two artists has culminated in a vibrant and bold selection of songs, with Jamie Jooste’s intricate melodies and harmonies at the core. At only 25, the progression of this South African born, modern-day diva is one to pay close attention to.
The spirit of ’67 was alive and well inside the Student’s Union at this year’s ‘Summer Of Love’ edition of Pangaea Festival. The vibrant and colourful theme matched the atmosphere within the packed, sold out event.
Karma Kid was one such name that truly brought the fun. Playing behind a VW Camper Van styled booth, his set had everyone in Academy 2 dancing with a grin with selections like Justin Timberlake’s ‘Rock Your Body’.
This provided a tough act to follow, and unfortunately Shadow Child failed match it, causing a sharp dip of the energy in the room. His considerable popularity is ever perplexing and I bid a hasty exit shortly into his very safe and dull drop orientated set.
Making my way outside I was met the brassy tones of Riot Jazz, particularly delighting with a medley of Hudson Mohawke covers. The outdoor stage was a very welcome addition, not previously present at January’s Pangaea in which this area was just a large smoking zone. Coupled with the dry weather and decent sound system the new stage meant everywhere you stood at Pangaea the party atmosphere remained bubbling.
Around the other side of the union in the outdoor tent Todd Edwards was spinning a classic garage filled set that proved the highlight of the night. I was hoping we’d hear an airing of Daft Punk’s ‘Face To Face’ which features Edwards’s vocals, and when he did play it he sang the vocals live down the mic, perfect.
Of course, no Pangaea is complete without wandering around all the rooms of the union hosted by local promoters. Bank & Mekka residents in Room 2 kept me in one place the longest with thumping house and techno, and NXNW residents closed the night joyously in the Union Bar with plenty of disco.
