Barefoot's Big Om- Click for more details

“What’s the overall vision? It’s going to be an Ibiza superclub style party with a super-positive atmosphere generated by state of the art electronic dance music, light and visuals and a gathering of the tribes: at Wembley Arena on the 12 December, culminating in 12,500 people chanting the Big Om together”.

Chatting about his upcoming event at London’s 12,500 capacity Wembley Arena, Taoist teacher (and esteemed Skrufff contributor the Barefoot Doctor) is both enthusiastic and upbeat about what will be on offer at The Big Om.

“As well as the pure party elements there will be a discreet but focused shamanic narrative with the beat provided by interventions from various gurus, street-dancers, free-runners, yogic chanting masters, laughter yogis and assorted wise people,” he continues, “Starting with the more hypnotic side of dubstep, sliding into tech house, culminating in moving the house into the deepest state of consciousness.”

Plus a climatic moment (or two) involving everyone present on the night, he smiles.

“The peak moments will happen when all 12,500 people’s intentions are aligned and everyone is dropping the OM simultaneously,” he hums.

“They’ll be 12,500 people toning together with an electronic pulse, the sound miked and fed back through the system, creating a humongous sound wave to do something profoundly healing for everyone there and the world at large.”

Not yet releasing details of either which electronic bands, superstar DJs or inspirational gurus will be taking part (‘we’re still in the thick of meetings and negotiating on the line-up but you can be assured it’s world-class’, he promises), he’s otherwise keen to expound on his vision.

“As it says in the website animation we’ve done, the universe is primarily built on a sound wave and sound has been known since ancient times to be the most powerful healing medium there is,” he says.

I’ve had the vision for this and have been preparing for it for 30 years. It’s like when I was given the gig by Manumission to ‘bring the Tao to Ibiza’ and I’d stand on the mike four times a night and do it with 6,000 people just for a moment and it totally shifted the atmosphere – and this is taking that and amplifying it over a whole event.”

Speaking on the animation video announcing the Big Om he cheerfully chats about gurus, so what makes him so what makes him more of a guru than the next person?

“I dedicate my life to it – but we all have our inner guru – and that’s what I help people find – so no one is more of a guru than anyone else, other than in the pragmatic sense of how you spend your time,” he begins.

“I happen to have spent mine; to have dedicated my whole life to studying, training, then teaching the Taoist martial arts, meditation system, medicine and magic, and I trained in psychotherapy and lived with the Native Americans for four years, which is where I learned the shaman craft. I have written 16 books and taught and interacted with millions around the world, so guru-ing is my job.

“I could have been a taxi driver or even a taxidermist or tango instructor- though I doubt it, but I became this instead.”

Skrufff (Jonty Skrufff): Starting with the event’s timing you mentioned you’ve been working towards it for 30 years, why does now mark a new beginning in particular?

Barefoot Doctor: “Sure, even every nanosecond is a new beginning, but there are certain moments in history when it’s evident something unprecedented has built itself into being with such presence that it can’t be ignored.

Since the 60s and even way earlier, there’s been an exponentially growing spread of supra-consciousness – or what you might lazily and possibly inaccurately term ‘spirituality’. According to the Mayan calendar, the 21st December this year marks the end of a cycle of thousands of years, which either indicates the end of the world or the start of something entirely new and fresh.

My vote is with the fresh and new option and I have felt guided to assume the sound wave we’re going to collectively produce will be an agent to help prompt that into being. There are some incredible minds on this planet and more and more of them are coming together faster and faster now, in what seems like a call from the subatomic realm to wake up the world. Something great is coming and I see it as a new golden era.”

Skrufff: On the video you also say ‘this event is going to be a portal” a healing for the world; how specifically?

Barefoot Doctor: “It’s been proven that when just a few hundred people meditate together in any particular city, crime and depression rates drop around 30%. Sound healing is a super-powerful form of meditation and when 12.500 people’s intention is aligned through it through the beat, pulse, tone, visuals and narrative, and embodied in sound as one voice, the effects will be huge. This has never been done before so how it will serve as a portal isn’t yet revealed – all I know at this stage is it will be a portal.

Skrufff: looking at the ticket prices; for £2,500, people can buy ‘the ultimate Big Om experience – we’re investing £2,500 in return for 20 priority front of arena tickets, PLUS access to the Hospitality Lounge throughout the event, PLUS access to the EXCLUSIVE after show party in the Barclaycard Unwind Lounge’:  how can you prevent commercial sponsors like Barclaycard from diluting the overall vibe/ impact?

Barefoot Doctor: “Barclaycard are sponsors of Wembley Arena and part of their business equation and Wembley are totally behind this because they love the concept and can really see it, but this doesn’t in any way reflect, impact or impinge on the event itself. The creative input is totally aside from anything corporate. We’ve just making it possible for people to get the first thousand tickets half price to get the ball rolling while we get it all set up, using crowd-sourcing and the above is just the maximum anyone can put in, in exchange for which they get a bit pampered. Seems fair enough to me.”

Skrufff: It also says ‘Only three groups of people will have the chance to mingle with all the Big Om performers at the exclusive after show party, as well as get priority front of arena tickets and hospitality lounge access’: how do you prevent elitism from damaging the collective consciousness?

Barefoot Doctor: “I don’t know, you tell me – all I know is you want the good energy to last as long as possible and of course we’d all love everyone to be there and did discuss it but realised that if we did that, have an after show party for 12,500 people, we’d have to rehire Wembley Arena so thought better of it. In any case the best way to stop elitism dominating an event is to not be elitist yourself.”

Skrufff: How on Earth are you going to attract 12.500 people? Seems VERY ambitious . . .

Barefoot Doctor: “The concept and the line-up will attract the people – who wouldn’t want to be part of this potentially historic life-changing event – like being at Woodstock back in the day, or the start of acid house parties – and at the very least you’ll be part of a record-breaking crowd filling the subsonic stratum with a sound to blast the cobwebs away – that in itself will do it.

Along with that making a proper good noise about it through all channels and the deep need we’re all feeling to join together in positive constellations now, and I’m feeling confident we’ll have a full house. Already the energy and enthusiasm of the team is immense and it feels like an unstoppable force.”

Skrufff: What happens if only a few thousand show up?

Barefoot Doctor: “Naturally ahead of any event, the best you can do is project – you can’t predict and I almost hesitated to say all the above lest it sounded arrogant in any way, as that’s the farthest from how I’m feeling about it – I feel humbled to be charged with serving in this capacity, and excited all the time about it – I’ve been working steadily towards it for 30 years after all – and whatever happens, I’ll be spending the next nine months promoting a positive spirit and a celebration of humanity and we can never get enough of that.”

Barefoot Doctor is putting on The Big Om, electronic dance fest and mass sound-healing at Wembley Arena, London on 12.12.12 tickets at

http://www.TheBigOm.org

Jonty Skrufff: http://listn.to/JontySkrufff

Click on the picture to listen to and/ or buy Chris' new album

“If I wanted to be a big star I would maybe bleach my hair blond or shave it and wear sunglasses, make totally different music and start selling my face. So yeah, good question, why make an album . . . But honestly. .  Why even make a single?”

Chatting to Skrufff this week to promote his new instrumental electronic album Electric Horizon (http://bit.ly/IB7e4i (click to listen/ buy on I tunes), German producer Kris Menace admits he’s less than enthusiastic about the technological advances restructuring and/ or ravaging traditional music business models.

“We’re living in an era where people are used to downloading music for free; in a time when music has lost all its value through technology and innovation and where anybody can produce a track in a few hours . . . Nowadays, there are programs and tools that make it easier for the normal consumer whereas in the past you needed a huge studio: nowadays you need just a laptop and some cracked software,” he points out.

“And nowadays people are overdosed by blogs, Youtube, Soundcloud, Facebook, Twitter and hobby DJs . . . it’s all about clicks, charts, promotion . . . and that’s very wrong,” he complains.

“It’s not about content and music anymore, it’s about hype, glimmer, glitter lifestyle. The concept and idea of the ‘artist’ has been lost, and the level of people’s open-mindedness is also totally fucked up too.”

“People are used to getting music everywhere for free,” he repeats, “so I really can’t give you a simple answer to why I still make albums. And you’re right, the dance scene always was about singles anyway and good albums have become ever rarer. Maybe because labels can’t effort to release albums anymore, and if they do try, they don’t manage to recoup (cover) their costs.

“So why am I doing a record like Electric Horizon, an instrumental album, in times when people even put a @krismenace in their twitter messages with a link to an illegal download link?’ “I just wanted to do it,” he explains. “On my own terms, my way.”

Though a cursory glance through his Discogs page  includes numerous high profile crossover club hits he’s currently operating solo, adopting a DIY approach for virtually all his activities.

“An album like Electric Horizon is so special that no commercial label would have spent a penny on it,” he continues, “And an independent label wouldn’t have had the money to release it the way I wanted.

“To me such things as artwork, the look of the actual CD itself and the music have a high value in themselves and it would break my heart to see my music being released by a 3rd party label without putting the effort into it, I personally think it deserves.”

“I will definitely lose money on it for sure, and it’s clear that an album like Electric Horizon is not about making profit, as it’s too special.

I do believe in something and I do believe in my music and I do believe in the moment where I created it. I might be stupid, but who the fuck cares anyway?”

That he does care- passionately- is immediately apparent, however, as he continues to outline his music making philosophy.

“An album nowadays is rare and a thought through concept as well,” he muses.

“Most people release and release and release one single after the other, but where is the value in that? I thought to go another road and to release an album to create something special, something outstanding.

Of course you need to promote an album with singles and music videos to make it at least a little different all the other millions of tracks being released commercially or independently or even given away for free. I’m very happy with the positive feedback I’ve received so far but I also know that I will never recoup what I invested. It’s a very sad development in the music business but I’m proud that, in such hard times, I’ve been able to release what I like.”

Skrufff (Jonty Skrufff): I know you make tracks usually in a day and have hundreds: how did you decide which ones went on the album; what criteria did you us to select them?

Kris Menace: “I always wanted to create a kind of Space Odyssey album, I love the cosmic energy from 70s psychedelic music but I also like techno, house, melodies, nu-disco and disco. A few years ago I started making more experimental music, which I never released and the idea for Electric Horizon came from that period.

The tracks were created in between others I was working on for another vocal album I’m releasing soon. I was just recording what I liked without any thought of releasing them- the idea for that came when I was in hospital and was listening to all the work I’ve done in the past year. I really felt the songs and thought that this could make a great instrumental album. So Electric Horizon really means a lot to me as it reflects a very hard time of my life and as it really comes deep from my heart.

Skrufff: How good a judge are you on when your tracks are special, or not so special?

Kris Menace: “I have no idea. I just do what I like without thinking too much of what is hype, cool, special or not. Every track I create is something special to me and I mostly try to make something different from what I’ve done before.

If it’s a team-up with Spooky or if it’s a techno-ish track like Steamroller, I always try to go one step further for myself and to develop what I’m doing. I’m fighting myself alone out there without a crew behind me, without a management and even without a booker at the moment.

How stupid do you need to be to release an album investing a lot of money and not to even to have a booker when the only way you can expect to recoup any money is through gigs? Well anyway, I mostly feel instinctively when a track has something magical about it and I hope people feel the same. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t.

Skrufff: I read a review of Electric Horizon on TheArtsdesk which went into great detail about ‘trance’ (http://www.theartsdesk.com/new-music/cd-kris-menace-electric-horizon. : how do you feel about the word ‘trance’ being used to describe it? How do you feel about the word in general?

Kris Menace: “Just because a song is melodic doesn’t mean it’s automatically trance and trance has anyway become a very bad word for the normal consumer. How stupid and limited can somebody be to automatically put something in genres? Of course someone might feel a record or not, but don’t tell somebody else bad things about it. If you don’t like it, well, just shut the fuck up and don’t destroy what it means for somebody else.”

“I would personally never go so far to say that there is anything bad out there. Everything done is made because somebody somehow believed in it. Of course there are overtly commercial tracks but I’m not talking about those or the major label driven industry. But again for them, they want to make money since to them it’s a ‘business’, one in which people have to make a living and shareholders expect some reward for their investment.  So there is nothing wrong or uncool, whatever, in how they operate. If there is a market and people are happy then what is wrong with that?”

“I’m so fed up of this hype thinking bullshit limitation shit and ‘this is cool, that’s uncool’ fuck ups. What is that all about? I just do what I like and I personally don’t have a problem. If somebody calls my music trance, trance is and was everywhere and I’m a sucker for melodies. Whether that’s so called “cool” things like Lindstrom’s ‘I Feel Space’ to certain Daft Punk tracks, trance elements are everywhere. It’s time that people wake up, open their minds and start thinking for themselves again. For me, my album of course has trance elements like most of my tracks do. But that’s mainly because I love melodies and sometimes I need a pad or a string to make the melodies sound the way I feel and want then to sound.

Skrufff: How would you describe your music?

Kris Menace: “I couldn’t say what genre it is, for Electric Horizon I decided to used the term ‘cosmic disco’ when by distributor didn’t know how to release it. And its quite interesting that most of the reviewers also don’t even know what they are reviewing but they still feel what I wanted to express. I’m very happy about that, because this shows me that I have created something new and therefore something special, and that’s all I can wish for.”

Skrufff: How much affinity- if any- do you feel with the likes of Paul Van Dyk and Tiesto?

Kris Menace: “I don’t know them personally and never saw them DJing, so I can’t say anything about them. I know they fly around the world for a lot of money and I’m sure they have and had a lot of work getting where they are… and this is something that I do respect that a lot.”

Kris standing in the shower . . . .

Skrufff: How much of a temptation is it to dilute your music so you can target Vegas/ US style pop-dance success?

Kris Menace: “I don’t give a shit (don’t care at all) about all that glammed up dance scene nor the European hype that’s following it either. If I wanted to target Vegas and/ or America I would make totally different music and would sell myself a bit differently too.

I never appear in my videos, I do promo pictures without properly showing my face and only concentrate on spreading my music, without having any ulterior motives in my mind about achieving crossover success or putting my profile in the spotlight.

“If I wanted to be a ‘big’ producer I would start by producing more commercial music but I don’t feel to do that right now. I’ve been offered many opportunities to become a producer for pop artists in the past but if you follow that road you work completely differently and I love to create my music the way i like it.

“I wouldn’t have a problem to go more commercial in the future, if I would feel it! But when I listen to most of the stuff out there at the moment I just have to say, that I don’t think there is a soul in this kind of music anymore. It’s rare that I feel love or soul in any kind of major released music and even in electronic music nowadays.

And also if you go on such a road, it involves allowing a lot of people to talk about your work who have the power to force you to change things if they say so. If I ever do that, I might really just do it for the money, at the moment I can’t see it happening but you never know.

But I do totally understand the people who do that. They work hard and they had a dream or whatever and they went there and they are there because of a reason. I hate that mentality thing where everybody envies somebody else’s success. If you don’t like what someone does creatively, just shut the fuck up: and always think twice before you post shit (abuse) on the artist’s Youtube channel. He or she might read it and you hurt their soul with a throw-away malicious comment. Amen!”

http://bit.ly/Jnbtzm  (Kris Menace- LIVE with Hexstatic / Electric Horizon Album Release)

Jonty Skrufff: http://listn.to/JontySkrufff

Deviation, London Friday April 27

“House and techno is the cornerstone of London club-land and is such a broad church that I cannot see that ever really changing. In fact, many of the fleeting new-genre led media obsessions you refer to  (dubstep, post-dubstep, drum & bass) broadly fall under that banner anyway.”

London club promoter Ajay Jayaram chatted to Skrufff this week about his wildly eclectic (and immediately successful) new party Broken & Uneven and said that despite kicking off with a semi-Berlin themed Ostgut party, he remains convinced that London is the world’s number one club capital.

“Berlin receives a lot of coverage and praise for its house and techno scene which is understandable and whether it’s better or worse than our own is of course subjective,” he concedes.

“But if your interest in music takes in other genres too – dubstep, drum & bass, grime or even hip hop, then London is the epicentre; I always find myself comforted by our city’s true eclecticism in that way.”

Proving his point via Broken & Uneven’s booking policy, he’s signed up Omar-S, Kode 9 and Benji B as headliners for their next party (Deviation x Hyperdub Warehouse Session, Friday 27 April), followed by a Panet Mu night 2 weeks later and an outdoor tech flavoured party in June. So what’s the overall vision?

Planet Mu party: click for details

“I guess it’s basically a natural extension of my personal listening habits as well as my own background in programming – at the End and also at Cable we covered a very diverse range of music and for this new project I was keen to continue with that ethos,” he explains.

“It also offers an opportunity to be a little bit more creative with the choice of spaces we use (unlike when we were based at a single venue) and indeed in the nature of the events themselves – no one has ever brought together Ostgut and Sub:stance or Deviation and Hyperdub, for example. So we’ll endeavour to keep things interesting wherever possible, which I hope will help us differentiate and distinguish ourselves from other parties,’ says Ajay.

Skrufff (Jonty Skrufff): Why did you leave We Fear Silence?

Broken & Uneven (Ajay): “It was simply time to move on. It had been three years since I set it up and whilst it had grown and developed (with a degree of success I feel), there was a kind of inevitability about it becoming more of a job and less of a passion because of the framework within which we found ourselves – i.e. a club residency. Cable came at the right time for us and was instrumental helping to take We Fear Silence to the next level, but for me personally programming a nightclub on a weekly basis was something that I had already done (at The End) and whilst still very challenging, was perhaps not as rewarding for me as a result.”

Skrufff: What’s your assessment of London nightlife right now: how much is the austerity/ everyone being broke situation affecting things?

Broken & Uneven (Ajay): “I think that the music being made in London right now is as exciting as it has ever been and there are some very talented DJs, artists and bands out there contributing to a very fertile scene which, though arguably lacking cohesion, is a great reflection of clubbing in the capital.

There are probably also more events on than ever too which suggests little impact from the recession, but I suspect that it has more to do with the Internet enabling everyone to become a promoter. Not everywhere is busy and not all of these events are necessarily of any significant scale, but whatever way you look at it, we are not short of options, which is a good thing I feel.”

Skrufff: Anything else to add?

Broken & Uneven (Ajay): “Apparently the average person falls asleep in seven minutes, which has got me wondering how long it’ll take to read this interview . . .”

https://www.facebook.com/BrokenUneven (‘Parties for a nightclub that doesn’t exist . . .’)

http://www.residentadvisor.net/review-view.aspx?id=10800 (Resident Advisor review of their opening night)

Jonty Skrufff: http://listn.to/JontySkrufff

Gee- click on the picture for more

Launching daytime party club Bora Bora in ‘an old run down empty beach bar’ in Ibiza in 1996, Gee Moore is famed for routinely playing 12 hour sets each day throughout the summer season, gradually transforming it into one of the wildest- and best- party spots of the whole Ibiza scene.

Squeezed out by the island’s often internecine clubland politics in 2006, he quit and set off on a global DJing tour that last year saw him reinventing Bora Bora as a premium destination on Brazil’s luxury costal clubbing area of Santa Catarina. Chatting to Skrufff this week about Bora Bora’s successful progression he’s clearly happy in his new home, though sensitive about the reasons he ended up leaving Ibiza for good (he was last there in 2007 for a visit).

“I felt when I left that the unique sprit and general feeling of the island that was so strong was evaporating very fast, I believed that once that was destroyed it would never come back or be the same,” he sighs.

“The island had become a parody of itself, packed with real-life Kevin and Perry’s running around desperate to be a DJ and play one record to nobody just to say they were an ‘Ibiza DJ’. (

Ibiza documentary film Kevin & Perry Go Large:

“Some people that I mistook as friends, that I had given a start and many opportunities to, started to show their jealousy and their true pathetic egos to be DJs at any cost,” he sighs.

“But it was good to know as actually it was a plus in the end, like getting rid of the dead wood. If I had taken those people and their problems with me things would not be good as they are now.”

That things are good, is clear given that as well as running his Brazilian beach club he’s also shortly setting up a Bora Bora in Tunisia, hosting an open air venue in the Mediterranean city of Souses from June 16. Though sensitive, he’s also philosophical, and upbeat about his new life and direction since leaving Ibiza six years earlier.

“Many people told me not to go at the time but I know I made the best decision, I didn’t want all those fantastic years of memories to be tainted with any bad ones,” he says,

“I feel I stayed there a year too long anyway, but I was always the last one to leave a party,” he laughs.

Bora Bora needed to progress and it was not going to if we stayed there any longer. I had done all that I could do on the island. Including being resident Dj in all the man venues.”

Bora Bors Brasil

He’s also firmly committed to Brazil and the nightlife community he’s found more than welcoming.

“Of course with any business there is an inherent rivalry and competition to survive and make more money, and that’s true all over the world. That’s why the monetary system is such a bad and outdated one,” he says, “But the differences between here in Brazil and Ibiza are many.

I know that the other club owners here are not so stupid and understand that Disneyland with only Mickey Mouse is not a good enough attraction.”

Instead, he says, clubs including Warung club, D-edge and Sky Beach all routinely swap DJs and help each other out, to the extent of cross promoting parties in each others’ venues.

“To give you an example we had Nick Warren play as our guest DJ on New Year’s Eve,” he recounts.

“We booked him through a friend of an agent and so didn’t realize that he was also booked to play in Warung club as their headliner only three days later. We had posters, billboards etc printed before we found out about the Warung club date. Their contract was in fact made before ours and so could have meant that we had to cancel the date, loosing a lot of money and not having a guest for the big day and night of the year.

But Rassi and Conti at Warung club were fantastic in their response. They understood the mistake and what the consequences would be for us and said that we are friends and that it was OK. That would not have happened in Ibiza! And that’s the big difference I’m sad to say.”

The only place I see a real rivalry, is between the commercial clubs and the good concept and underground ones, because those clubs and their followers know that the commercial venues have nothing to offer for the progression of the scene and are actually killing it, as we have seen everywhere else.”

Skrufff (Jonty Skrufff): It’s the 2nd year since you officially opened the new home of Bora Bora in Santa Caterina Brazil: How much has this year gone to plan?

Gee Moore (Bora Bora): “As you can imagine, an immense amount of hard word and dedication has gone into getting the new home of Bora Bora up and running. Now after the end of our 2nd year we can really get some perspective on how things are. We are very happy to see such great improvements and progression, which have surpassed our expectations.

Last year was really all about getting people to know we are here. We were quick to see where any problem areas where and make corrections and changes as fast as possible. The venue is so unique and beautiful that the word soon spread through the close season and the scene was set up perfectly for our 2nd year.

What was most impressive was to see so many people returning many times, this was a great indication that we were doing things right and that people liked the experience. Actually daytime clubbing here in Brazil is a relatively new concept but they are catching on fast. There are some other great beach clubs here as well so we are very happy about also. We had some fantastic guest DJs, including Nick Warren, Layo & Bushwacka, Ricky Ryan, Christian Smith, Ernesto Ferreyra as well as some great Brazilian artists such as Anderson Noise, Fabricio Pechanha, Emmy, Aninha etc ..

Skrufff: How much is the concept the same as in Ibiza (ie daytime beachside clubbing for free)

Gee Moore (Bora Bora): “The main difference is, of course, the fact that the people are not contained inside a relatively small distance on an island, even though in this area alone we have something like 26 major club venues, some of them holding up to 13,000 people. They are open all year round and very popular. There are some weeks in what’s known as the summer season (new year and Carnaval), where the people are in full on party mode, so we are mainly open at the weekends for parties and the week days for lounging around the pool and beach.

Most of the day-clubs here are free entry, or like us they adopt a system called “consume” This is where you pay a small fee to get in but are given vouchers in return for that same amount to spend on drinks and food in the venue. Once the customer has spent the value of the vouchers they continue to buy drinks and food as normal. It’s a good deal for the customer as the guest DJs and venue running costs are not cheap, even here in Brazil.”

Skrufff: Bora Bora in Ibiza started very low key in ‘an old run down empty beach bar’: how much does the new Brazilian club share a similar low key, underground ethos?

Gee Moore (Bora Bora): “I conceived Bora Bora as a music concept rather than a regular club set-up that just brings in DJs and promoted events. Being the owner of the concept as well as the DJ playing sets of 12 hours a day for 4 months each year in those first years has meant that I have been able to develop and keep the music style and its progression under control. Over the years I’ve heard people talking about, and asking for “that Bora Bora sound”. So as far as the concept, the vibe and sound are concerned it’s of course the same. That’s the whole point of Bora Bora. Basically Bora Bora is me and I am Bora Bora, Music, heart and soul.”

The guest DJs that I choose add another dimension, and are chosen to be in keeping with my music structure. The venue and its construction itself is a massive progression. I have made notes of all the things that I considered needed improving and changing over the years and now I’ve had the chance to make them right.

The first thing was to position the DJ stand so that everyone facing the DJ and the DJ had a good view of the sea. I mean that’s the whole point surely, we were very restricted in Ibiza as we never had a music licence and so I as a DJ was forced to be tucked away in a corner and the people were always facing those ugly apartments, I was the only one with the good view and that always bugged me.

The DJ stand itself is also a massive improvement. It’s large and fully equipped including Traktor sound card so there’s no need for DJ’s to start messing around pulling cables in and out of the mixer. The stand also has a private DJ lounge off to one side. We have an infinity pool mostly at a depth of 30 cm, perfect for dancing in.

The whole construction and furniture are made of wood. The decking is great for dancing on; it has a good spring to it. The wooden structure vibrates a nice warm sound and the furniture is strong enough to dance on, of course. There’s a lounge area full of Jacuzzis and a very large restaurant. Three large toilet areas, the women’s have a lounge area with mirrors and sofa.”

Skrufff: How conscious are you of being an outsider ‘gringo?’

Gee Moore (Bora Bora): “I am conscious of it only when asked about it, after all it’s not the first time I have lived in a country outside of the UK. I like to think that the world is one, we are only separated by nationalities, invisible boarders and crazy traditions that are all man made in the first place, so what’s to be concerned about? I have a lot of friends here that I made in a short space of time. They are all very cool and I have learnt a lot from them all.

They like English speaking people here for some reason and always try to speak it however little they know. In Brazil there’s the largest population of Asians outside of China, and in this particular area most of the people are 1, 2, or 3 generations away from Italian and German decedents. The woman that helped me with my papers here told me that in this area 300 or so people from the UK move here each year and with this being the number one destination for Argentinean holiday makers it has pretty much a cosmopolitan feel to the place anyway.”

Skrufff: How good is your Portuguese?

Gee Moore (Bora Bora): “I do speak the language now but I still understand even more than I speak. I have for the last year tended to become a bit of a recluse as I love the nature here as well as making music in my studio most of the time. So I’m now making an effort to get out a bit more. I also started to surf now and so that helps to meet more people to converse with.”

Skrufff: Why did you pick Brazil as opposed to somewhere closer to home? (eg Croatia? Italy? Or mainland Spain?)

Gee Moore (Bora Bora): “I had considered places like Italy and Croatia at first, but maybe I felt at that time that Bora Bora and I needed a real change. I don’t think anywhere else around Europe would have been enough for me at that time. I was fortunate enough to have a Bora Bora world tour set up that continued for a couple of years. It allowed me to spend some months in places I thought could possibly be right for Bora Bora. I also stayed longer in places where I got to do other things that were on my wish list, such as exploring and even acting, which I was fortunate enough to get a taste for in Hollywood. I spent almost a year in the USA altogether.

Once I arrived in Brazil, there was never any doubt it would be here. I remember being on the beach in front of Warung club, within half an hour, four different people from four different directions came up to me and asked me what I was doing there. ‘Was I going to make Bora Bora there?’ etc. That kind of sealed the deal in that one afternoon. I’m happy that Brazil was the last place on the list of realistic locations for Bora Bora that I had visited because I had a lot of adventures in other parts of the world getting there, I saw and I learnt a lot.”

Skrufff: When was the last time you visited Ibiza? What do you make of the island today?

Gee Moore (Bora Bora): “The last time was in 2007, I did not want to go back at that time as it was too soon after leaving but I had a new girlfriend and other friends that I’d made here in Brazil that wanted to go as they had not been before. So I rented a house for us all to stay in and spent my time throughout the summer at my friends’ recording studios making music and hanging out with people I knew at each other’s homes. I didn’t go to many venues except to Underground, KM5 to see some people I knew and to see my girlfriend briefly a couple of times, as she was a dancer in most of the clubs as well as a Manumission girl. I was in great company with my friends so it was good, they got it out of their system and I made some good music.

I’ve not been back since so I don’t know what the island and the clubs like Ushuaia are like. There are some old friends that I have not seen for some years on the island so maybe I’ll pop over sometime . . ..”

Skrufff: Anything else to add?

Gee Moore (Bora Bora): “Yes I have some very big Bora Bora news. – We have a Bora Bora tour going on here in Brazil and are starting to put some dates together around Europe. The Bora music label is ready to start releasing loads of new tracks as well as putting together a couple of compilations to add to our long list in the series.

We have a Bora Bora radio show team including Dave Gallier, Alan Prosser (SLR), Dan Ferritto (SLR) and myself making shows for Manchester Global (MGR) and Pulse. But the main news would be that we are about to open a new Bora Bora venue in the Mediterranean City of Sousse, Tunisia on the 15 June 2012. Yep time to dip our clubbing toes in the Med again…It’s a big venue in a great location. Our partners there understand perfectly what Bora Bora is about and we have a great wish list of DJ’s to fill the summer weekends with”.

www.boraborabrasil.com

www.boraborabrasil.co/tour

www.boraboraworld.com

www.boraboramusic.com

Jonty Skrufff: http://listn.to/JontySkrufff

“I really can’t see ‘hordes’ of Americans coming to Ibiza myself. I do hope a good few thousand come, but come on, the ‘hordes’ you’re suggesting don’t even have passports, mate.”

Chatting to Skrufff this week about the upcoming season of Sunday night parties at Space, We Love main-man Mark Broadbent is on typically feisty form, chuckling when quizzed about how he’ll be attracting American EDM fans flocking to the island for the first time.

“I don’t have any problem with Americans and in fact I even like a few of the ones I’ve met,” he jokes.

“There you go, Jonty, that’s how I’m going to target them. Let them know they are welcome at our party,” he laughs.

With We Love’s 2012 lineups involving the return of regulars such as Paul Woolford, Carl Craig, Derrick May and James Zabiela, alongside relatively new faces including Scuba, Oxia, and Appleblim, more than a few fresh faced American clubbers are likely to flock to the club, though any expecting EDM will be in for a let down.

Firstly, because Mark points out ‘it’s not what we really do’ and secondly though he claims ‘not to have too much of an opinion on it to be honest’, his next sentence suggests otherwise.

“I don’t like ‘pop dance’,” he explains, “and I fucking hate the term EDM.”

“I also think people who jump on bandwagons for cash and do things they don’t really believe in by booking ill placed and badly programmed acts should take a long look at themselves and ask why they are doing this,” he suggests.

“Dumbing down audiences and pandering to the masses has no place on Ibiza in my opinion,” he continues.

 “It has taken the people who care on this island a long time to change perspectives about what the island is really like and booking “pop” acts puts us back years and potentially shortens our shelf life as a serious music brand.”

Click on the picture for opening party details

Launching We Love at Space 14 years ago, he’s helped build the Sunday night weekly into the Ibiza’s most credible brand, attracting thousands of clubbers each week to dance to DJs spinning- broadly speaking- underground house and techno.

Highlighting We Love’s strength on the island, the party will be celebrating Space’s official 23^rd birthday celebrations on Sunday August 12, headlined by Chemical Brothers, Simian Mobile Disco and Joris Voorn.

Though he’s deadly serious in his warning of commercial house threatening the island’s longer term night life future he’s hilariously indiscreet when asked whether he agrees with Pete Tong’s recent assessment that ‘big business’ is threatening ‘the scene’. (Music Week: http://bit.ly/HNHaTW )

“Well he would know, right?” Mark laughs again.

“| didn’t hear what Pete Tong said specifically and in what context but Pete IS ‘big business’, in my opinion,” he asserts.

“He is a director of big businesses within our scene, plays a part in the biggest agency – WME (William Morris Entertainent) – in the world right now and DJs on our oldest national radio station – the BBC – so what is/was he saying? Did he sound threatening?”

Skrufff (Jonty Skrufff): Another year; another new season; what are the key changes We Love have planned for this year?

Mark Broadbent (We Love): “There are never any key changes at We Love… I think that one of the secrets to our success is that things have evolved rather than changed drastically over the last fourteen years. With ears and eyes closely focused on the street we take direction from what feels right to us, what we think will translate well on Ibiza and with this in mind we have introduced some really great new blood to the family this summer, acts we are excited about ourselves.”

Skrufff: I read on Ibiza-voice recently :’refurbishments could take place at space too, with the club’s worst kept secret, the vehemently underground red box, possibly making way for – you guessed it – another vip area.’ (http://bit.ly/wpirVx ): has that happened?

Mark Broadbent (We Love): “Space always make full use of the winter months to fully refurbish the venue so that returning customers are always welcomed with new ideas and themes. The sound and lighting systems are replaced with the latest innovations and a huge amount of time is spent on the general decor to ensure the customer feels like he/she has entered somewhere very special.

This year Space have decided to return the area where the Redbox was back to how it was five or six or seven? years ago. People who have been coming to Space for some time will remember the open terrace above the main-room (discoteca) with it’s decidedly dark corners and even darker seating.

I am told by the management that this will not be VIP but will be open to anybody who wants to enter on most nights with the possibility of table service for a fortunate few.”

Skrufff: Also on Ibiza-voice, I read your recent comment on their latest Berlin feature; ‘it’s  all about grozny now anyway so who cares?”  what prompted that? What’s your view of Berlin’s club scene- I guess pretty negative?

Mark Broadbent (We Love): “I absolutely loved clubbing in Berlin but am so bored of reading about it. Come on, move on, find a new city to fuck up.”

Skrufff: DJ Sneak has been criticizing Swedish House Mafia widely on twitter in recent weeks- blasting them for being fake (‘for the record, they do not play house music’): how much do you consider their music to be ‘house’? under what circumstances would you book SHM? and/ or Tiesto?

Mark Broadbent (We Love): “I can honestly say with my hand on my heart that I have never knowingly listened to “the Swedes” but years ago I was offered them for our sunset terrace. The agent suggested to me that we could have all three of them for a very, very low price as they really wanted to play for us and the agent thought it was the perfect fit for their first Ibiza residency. I didn’t like the name or the implications that they were some kind of house music gangsters, I mean, what can you expect if you invite that kind of person into your life?

Anyway, we didn’t book them and three years later they are the biggest act on Ibiza, making Pacha a fortune. Ah well, never mind, right!  I still wouldn’t book them for Space, but not due for the same reasons Sneak is talking about. After all, we have booked acts in the past who have since turned out to be pretty “fake” but for us it’s important to be able to get along with the people we work with and I just don’t think we would get along very well with those guys.

Acts like this are best booked when you can keep them at arm’s length, for a festival, for example. When you need to sell a shit load of tickets and it’s a broad demographic of people being targeted then you need acts like the Swedes and Tiesto for the most part and we have booked this type of act in the past to do just that at our festivals. We call this “the big swinging dick effect”: get a few bookings like this and the rest of the lineup comes together easily.”

Having said that, I don’t know, there seems to be enough room for everybody to do what they want right now.

Why is DJ Sneak even bothered by what they do? What does he want them to do? Lose the word “house” I suppose? But then the Italians might have problems with them right? The poor guys can’t win. ‘The Swedes’ just doesn’t sound right, does it? It makes you think of greengrocers not nightclubs and disc jockeys. I don’t suppose they give a shit about what he has to say anyway.”

http://bit.ly/GW7Td4 (We Love @Space opening party details: June 10)

http://www.welove-music.com/

Jonty Skrufff: http://listn.to/JontySkrufff

Dutch tech duo Mason are releasing a compilation featuring ‘non-dance music’ interpretations of tracks released on their label Animal Language, combining the ‘refurb’ versions delivered by producers including In Flagranti, Hatiras and Sam Sparro.

Unveiling the release this week, the pair were typically blunt about the logic behind the release.

“So what the fuck is a ‘Refurb’ anyway?” they said on the album’s accompanying press release, answering themselves by explaining it’s a ‘specifically non-dance re-interpretation of the original.’

“No original parts are used at all, but in terms of rules, that’s just about it,” they continued, “It’s not a remix though, far from it.”

Chatting to Skrufff earlier this year, Mason’s Iason Chronis chatted candidly about being unconcerned about credibility, admitting ‘We don’t care that much, to be honest.’

“But we have a pretty clear idea of what music we wanna’ make, which is somewhere between that border of underground and over-ground, let’s say,” he added.

“It’s too weird for huge commercial clubs, and mostly too accessible for the deepest of dark underground clubs – which is totally fine. We hope that the chin-stroking critics will see it’s musically well made though, and in no way cheap or disposable.”

Mason presents Animal Language Refurbished is out shortly.

http://www.soundcloud.com/animal_language

http://www.musicofmason.com

Louis Osbourne; click to listen to his new track

“Come on, let’s be frank, all the stuff that’s massive over there is shit! All this EDM stuff; it’s bollocks. It’s not really trickling through to underground dance music either.”

Chatting to Skrufff this week from the bowels of Jamie Anderson’s South Wales studio, tech-house type Louis Osbourne laughs as he confirms he has less than a little interest in cracking Vegas and America’s new ‘electronic dance music’ scene.

“I never really liked the clubs in Vegas and, yes I’ve played there many times, it’s a cheese-fest,” he continues.

“If someone wanted to pay me $25,000 to play what I play in Vegas then great if that’s what the scene was like, but it’s not. My music isn’t mainstream Vegas music. I play deep house, tech house and techno, period. So if someone wants to book me to play a credible club there then I’ll do it, but I’m not musically jumping ship to get on the Vegas shit wagon,” he laughs.

Despite sounding somewhat angry (via email anyway), he’s instead bubbling with enthusiasm, about both a ‘top secret HUGE US deal’ he’s just signed and his fruitful new studio collaboration with Jamie Anderson, one of club culture’s most talented though still unsung studio heroes.

As Osbourne & Anderson, the pair have just released Noho on Jesse Rose’s hipper than hip (and great) Berlin label Play It Down and with seven additional co-productions bubbling up look set for imminent- and paradoxically massive- underground success.

Skrufff (Jonty Skrufff): starting with your collaboration with Jamie;  why did you decide to team up in the studio as a duo?

Louis Osbourne: “Jamie is signed to my label, Mija Recordings. Shortly after I had signed his release Cyclone to Mija he asked me if I wanted to take a trip to his studio in South Wales to write some tracks. I did and the first thing we produced was signed to Jesse Rose’s Front Room. We got on really well on a personal level and a studio level so we’ve just carried on.”

Skrufff: Jamie works with LOADS of collaborators . . .

Louis Osbourne: “Incorrect, Jamie is only collaborating with two people at the moment including myself. He has done many collaborations over the years as he’s been producing the best part of 20 years. He works with Owain K on their “Jamie Anderson & Owain K” material that is deep house for labels like Steve Bug’s Dessous; he then does jacking Chicago / tech house with me as “Osbourne & Anderson”; then he keeps his solo “Jamie Anderson” productions for his techno sound and classic JA productions.”

Skrufff: How does the process work with you (is he doing the engineering? are you bringing in a bunch of ideas: and tracks?

Louis Osbourne: “Jamie is an engineering wizard, I can program but I leave Jamie to it as he’s so much faster and more experienced than I. I usually bring the sounds and sample ideas, then we steer the direction of the tracks together. O&A are starting to really develop our sound. We’ve been sampling loads of old house tracks because firstyly it gives us a vintage house sound, and secondly a lot of today’s record buying public were never exposed to 90′s house as they were too young. We are recycling it.”

Skrufff: How long did it take you to make Noho (from start to finish?) What was the vision behind the track?

Louis Osbourne: “We sampled a classic loop that we both loved and re-worked it, the loop was also used in a classic record from 1990, so there’s a nod to the old school. We took about three or four days on it in total. Although that was over a 6 month period. The way we work is we have loads of projects on the go at any one time and work with them in a piecemeal fashion, that way we don’t get lost on any one track too much. When we get those blank moments in the studio we just save the arrangement, go back to an old track or start a new one. We’ve seven tracks in progress at the moment.”

Skrufff: It’s coming out on Made to Play; why not your own label?

Louis Osbourne: “No, it’s already out on Play It Down, the sister label to Made To Play. We like that label’s output, Jesse Rose really liked the track when we sent it to him, so he signed it to Play It Down and for his compilation “Made For The Night.” Play It Down is a massive label on the up so why not put it on

that label? Mija is also a bit more tech-house, and this is a housier record.”

Skrufff: The last time we spoke you were about to leave Ireland: how much has your life-and career- changed since moving back to the UK?

Louis Osbourne: “Nothing has changed really on a DJing / producing level. But for different business opportunities I’m working on (and there are many!) it’s been great to be back in the UK and in a big city. Living in a village in rural Ireland, whilst idyllic, is shit for moving businesses forward.”

Skrufff: I see from Linked in that you’ve taken on a day job; how difficult a decision was it to take that step?

Louis Osbourne: “No, I don’t have a full time day job, I am in more of an advisory position at TheTicketSellers as their Business Development Manager. Some very old friends own the company and I said I could help them get some business through my extensive industry contacts. I’m more of a link-man connecting people. It’s great to be able to get income streams from different sources because work is all so unpredictable at the moment. Therefore it was an easy decision.”

Skrufff: You studied law for a few years; what’s stopped you from pursuing that direction?

Louis Osbourne: “I decided I didn’t want to be a lawyer, it was a great education though, and has helped me with everything I’m working on at present.”

Skrufff: Why are you spending Easter in the studio with Jamie as opposed to with your wife and kids?

Louis Osbourne: “Because my wife and kids have gone back to Ireland for Easter to see family, I fly over this week, so I’m taking the opportunity to get stuck into the track with Jamie and get some raving in. Last weekend I went to Circo Loco at the Arena, the new club TRMNL at Lab 11, Below at the Rainbow, and then Renaissance’s 20th birthday at Gigg St Warehouse, all in Birmingham. It amazing to see so many good things happening in Birmingham at the moment. I had a big night out on Sunday and then a good lie-in on Monday. Excellent stuff.”

Skrufff: How supportive are they of you prioritising music?

Louis Osbourne: “My wife and family are extremely supportive of my endeavours. I also have no interest in Easter on a religious level, I’m an extreme atheist so avoid any celebration of Easter. It’s just a 4 day holiday for me that I’m putting to good use.”

Skrufff: How much help- if any- does your dad give to your career? Have you ever asked him?

Louis Osbourne: “He doesn’t, and I don’t ask. We are world’s apart musically.”

Click to listen to Mija releases (soundcloud)

Skrufff: Future release/ DJ plans?

Louis Osbourne: “Just to keep on doing it. Jamie & I are really pushing our Osbourne & Anderson project now. We are really enjoying making tracks together, and I can quite safely say we have fucking rocked the clubs we’ve played together so far. But what do you expect from two guys that have been playing for almost 40 years between them?

I’m also seriously considering becoming a 100% vinyl DJ again. I’m sick of setting up Traktor in a club (I use the vinyl platters), and I always hated (Pioneer) CDJs and the burning of CDs (painful). I’ve been pulling out loads of my old vinyl and playing some again and people love seeing vinyl being played in a club. It’s proper DJing.”

Osbourne & Anderson; Noho is out now on Play It Down.

Jonty Skrufff: http://listn.to/JontySkrufff

Defected Records: click for more

UK house guru Simon Dunmore praised new producers including Solomun, Deetron and At Jazz for ‘bringing the soul into clubs these days’ though issued a pointed warning to instrumental obsessed veterans.

There’s still massive need 4 vocals &soul within House music,” the Defected Records founder and globe-trotting DJ wrote on Twitter.

“Some producers need to get real about what’s working with the new generation of clubbers,” he recommended.

His assessment struck a chord with the views of influential Berghain DJ Andreas Baumecker who, chatting to Skrufff earlier this year, was outspoken about leaving loads of vocals in his acclaimed remix of S.C.U.M.’s Whitechapel (co-produced with Sam Barker).

“I personally LOVE vocals. I think they are, in many cases, the only real thing that you take home in your memory after a long night out; even if it is only a vocal stab constantly repeating itself,” said Andreas.

“Unfortunately a lot of DJs, worldwide and not only in Berlin, are not taking risks anymore. They are all playing safe not to lose their audiences,” he suggested.

WITHOUT VOCALS:

Jonty Skrufff: http://listn.to/JontySkrufff

Mick Finesse

“My next EP on Perc Trax looks at mental disorders and psychotic episodes through the lens and language of a nuclear holocaust. Two topics that are very interesting to read about when entirely removed, but that are scary when it’s a reality you’re faced with.”

Chatting to Skrufff in advance of this interview, Denver tech type Mick Finesse says he doesn’t believe in DJ biographies, though a cursory Google search turns up a short précis on Resident Advisor. http://www.residentadvisor.net/dj/mickfinesse

“Stephen Penders, aka Mick Finesse, has been djing and promoting in locations ranging from Tokyo to Boston since 1999. Now based in Denver, CO, Mick has become an integral part of the local techno community,” the biog explains.

“Having hosted the very popular Dissonance / Resonance afterhours, in addition to regular appearances at Beta’s Beatport Lounge and various other local clubs, Mick has been all the while tempering his own interpretation of techno.

Obsessed with themes of context and contrast, Mick Finesse attempts to peel away layers perception and prejudice in both his namesake and his music. His ultimate goal being to move your mind as much as your feet.”

Accompanying the text is a press picture of  a character from a John Carpenter movie wearing a scarily life-like skull mask so what exactly does the biog mean when it says he’s ‘obsessed with themes of context and contrast’?

“In everyday life a slight change of perspective can be extremely revealing and I reflect on things like this a little more often than is probably healthy,” he explains.

“I mean you look at the world today and corporations like Monsanto, BP Oil, or McDonalds and some of the destructive practices that have been coming to light over the past decade and people are starting to become mildly outraged,” he continues, “but alongside that outrage they still drive SUVs, buy chemical disinfectants, ready to eat meals and snacks, and load up on french fries.”

“People are very vain about how they want others to perceive what they are thinking but struggle to maintain their resolve when it comes down to managing their own comfort level.”

So how much does he see himself as an artist as opposed to entertainer?

“Sometimes when I’m making music it’s just a bunch of banging around and goofing off until something works. Other times I have a specific concept or picture I’m trying to paint and I put all of the focus into that. But to answer your question I consider myself an artist more,” he explains, “But in the end I’m just a guy with a computer who is trying to express himself in a medium he’s passionate about.”

Though he takes his music- and ideas, more than a little seriously, he’s considerably less self-conscious when it comes to elitism and the importance of dance music for partying.

“I’ve had some discussions with friends or other DJs about the recent popularity of techno in particular and some people have commented that they prefer techno or house to stay underground and ‘douchebags’ that don’t ‘get it’ shouldn’t be at certain venues or events and I think it’s just ridiculous,” he says.

“Some people, in this city at least, toss out insults like someone isn’t ‘minimal’ enough or ‘techno’ enough and that’s just fucking insanity to me,” he continues. Don’t be so exclusive; when it comes to music any reason is a great reason to be involved.”

“I see some DJs say they are going to ‘educate’ people too often and I think it’s just pathetic and unreasonably pretentious. No one needs that. Half the people at any given event are out to get laid or fucked up so just give them a good time while they aim for that,” he recommends.

Skrufff (Jonty Skrufff): You’re from Denver whereas Ali Well’s label Perc Trax is London based, how does the relationship work?

Mick Finesse: “Ali is really and truly a great guy. I can’t say enough good things about him. This guy is very passionate about his label and what he wants to do with it but is never dismissive or condescending when you send genuine music to him. He has a tight grasp on what works and for what reasons yet still encourages his artists to explore. It’s very refreshing.”

Skrufff: How did you first connect up with him?

Mick Finesse: “I came home from (Miami) WMC a couple years ago and started writing They Sex Machinas as an antidote to the very predictable and overdone tech house sound that pervaded the conference then. I sent it off to Ali and the rest is history.

Originally it was supposed to just be that track and a remix by Perc, but as I sent him more stuff I’d been working on and the concept evolved and we now have the Tunnel Vision EP. Because Ali has been a great mentor and friend I do send him music I write first thing, though some music I write is not a fit for his label and it’s understood immediately so he will kindly offer some feedback and that’s that.”

Skrufff: How much has the recent explosion of interest in commercial dance music trickled down to you” How much has it changed the game for you?

Mick Finesse: “I feel like it’s always been there to be honest. As a teenager in the 90′s we had movies like Mortal Kombat or Hackers that had entire soundtracks of dance music. Then they have used stuff like IDM and drum & bass in commercials for car insurance. Maybe I have just always surrounded my life with dance music but I never feel like no-one knew what house or techno or some of the more obscure genres were.”

Skrufff: How ambitious are you to play the likes of Electric Daisy Carnival and Vegas casinos?

Mick Finesse: “Not ambitious at all really. Those events are geared towards a specific crowd that likes progressive and electro house and I’m not a preacher, I don’t want to convert anyone or prosthelytize techno or my tastes in music. If they like what I like then great, we have common ground, if not that’s great also.”

Skrufff: What do you think of producers such as Kaskade and Deadmau5?

Mick Finesse: “I’m convinced guys like Kaskade and Deadmau5 or even Guetta are sincere in the passion they have for the music they make. I can’t condone bashing another artist strictly because they make music I don’t like or I feel is pandering to the masses. It’s not easy to go into a studio and come out with ideas that resonate with many people so props to anyone that finds success doing what they love. I may poke fun at some of them for other ridiculous antics they do but when it comes to writing music I have respect for anyone that takes the time and effort to be successful at that.”

Skrufff: As a DJ, how important is it for you to perform (punch the air, strike poses? Engage with the crowd? Or not?)

Mick Finesse: “I think it looks silly most of the time; hands in the air or jumping up and down, almost like you’re trying to sell people that what you just did is so amazing or uncontainable when likely all you did is phase the low end or flip the cross-fader. I think crowd interaction is definitely important but some people just take it to a level where it seems very staged and disingenuous.

I’m guilty of throwing a hand or two up at a great breakdown on rare occasions and a few drinks into my set, but I usually keep it toned down as is my personality and just bob my head and tap my foot with some clapping and shouting here and there. I’ve never really understood the God complex of DJing like you’re leading the crowd, I always feel like I’m just a privileged participant in the process and we’re all doing our best to vibe it out.”

Skrufff: How did you end up based in Denver? (And why have you stayed?)

Mick Finesse: “Through my family. My wife is from here and we settled in after she finished school for architecture. We have a one year old child now and Denver is a comfortable place to live and have a family so we will likely stay here.”

Skrufff: I was reading about Denver this week, about ex Sheriff Patrick Sullivan being jailed for giving meth to rent boys: sounds like a ‘Breaking Bad/ Blue Velvet’ (scary) kind of place: what impact has this story (of the sheriff) had locally?

Mick Finesse: “It goes back to my obsession of context and contrast. Everyone hides under these layers of personality in which the truth is always one slip away from exposure. I think people are just desensitized at this point, I haven’t even heard this come up in conversation in any circle I’m in. We had Ted Haggard’s deal a few years ago locally and now the Trayvon Martin case nationally and I feel like people just expect abuses of power like the reveal of a TV drama. It’s a tabloid culture and people today actually feed on shit like this to make themselves feel better about their own bad decisions or indecision in life.”

Skrufff: And how visible/ accessible/ impossible is this dark side of Denver?

Mick Finesse: “Drugs are everywhere and I think people are just incredibly relaxed about it in clubs or at events. You see well dressed 50 year old couples doing blow (cocaine) or asking for MDMA as well as your typical rebellious looking raver smoking a joint in the corner or popping pills. I wouldn’t even call it a dark side, the country has been through shit times and people are cutting loose which is a good thing. We don’t have anything very sultry like drug related murders or overdoses very often here in Denver and things are relatively easy to access.”

Skrufff: How well known locally are you as international DJ Mick Finesse?

Mick Finesse: “Ali (perc) has posted up a few mixes and live DJ sets I’ve done which have gotten some decent attention but I don’t think I’m known as international anything at this point (laughing). DJ culture is very different from what it was 10 years ago and the music is globalized so DJ sets and DJs are a dime a dozen. I think people want to see artists they follow perform more often than they just want to see a DJ play music they like. That said, as much as I love DJing and playing great music on proper systems I don’t have much ambition in becoming a big international DJ and I don’t try to promote myself in that fashion.”

Skrufff: I read about problems with black gangs attacking white people in Downtown Denver in 2009 (http://bit.ly/6QsdGM ), have you ever felt in danger personally in the City?

Mick Finesse: “The interesting thing about that article is that right across the street from the club they mention, Bash, is one of Denver’s most popular dance music nightclubs Beta, which is affiliated with Beatport. I’d been there a little around that time and never felt like I was in a bad place or was in danger, but it’s possible I was just oblivious. There’s a few other clubs in the city that people have been shot at or where typical thuggery breaks out at the end of the night but it doesn’t happen often enough to be a safety concern.”

Skrufff: Do you own a gun?

Mick Finesse: “I don’t own a gun, no, I have a pretty strong stance against them and I don’t think they are necessary. I have some friends with guns and they’re pretty into it which is just bizarre to me to see people indulge in an object whose sole purpose is to kill or injure.”

Skrufff: Writing on Twitter this week you said you were ‘In a shitty upscale bar in a fancy part of town’: how did you end up there? Why?

Mick Finesse: “I have friends that are bar managers and bartenders from my days of promoting and I’ll go hang out with them at other venues to mix it up. It gets a bit boring just going out to hear dance music and having the same banal conversations about this record or that DJ. So a friend and I went out to watch trophy wives and coked out brokers go through the motions while we caught up on old times.”

Mick in a garage (click for his Twitter)

Skrufff: Chatting to Skrufff earlier you said you are opposed to marketing generally describing it as  ‘the bane of artistic endeavor’, why?

Mick Finesse: “So many people are wrapped around Facebook likes and Twitter followers and Soundcloud listens and they hammer people 24/7 over it and it is just absurd. There is a whole industry based around the social network agenda and people pay for this thinking it’s their key to success. I remember finding out about artists I liked by sitting in a record shop for 4 hours listening to everything I could get my hands on and by talking to the buyer, or even trainspotting DJs that came into town.

Skrufff: How else can people get to know you? Why do you not accept that people want to know more about you?

Mick Finesse: “We’re force-fed buzz words and adjectives and everybody is trying so hard to stand out from the crowd that it really just waters everything down. Be yourself, whether people like it or not.  The objective of any type of artistic endeavor is not to be famous. If that’s your intent then you’re probably doing it wrong.

I’ve come to terms with the fact that you can’t market your way into people’s lives.  If you do something that resonates with them then definitely engage your audience on that level but don’t overdo the self PR.

Skrufff: How much do you consider you might be self sabotaging by staying ‘underground’ or perhaps being afraid of failing by refusing to put yourself forward?

Mick Finesse: “I think it honestly comes down to the fact that I just don’t give a fuck. If I make music and my peers and people I admire like what I do then I am genuinely satisfied, and to have anyone else like what I do is a bonus that I’m exceedingly grateful for. I don’t think of this as an anti-pop or ‘underground’ stance, I’m just respectful of people’s sensibilities.

There are a lot of artists and indie labels today that don’t follow the now defunct music industry’s brand of ‘shove it down your throat at every angle’ marketing and are doing well for themselves. Because of the internet people can find what they want without being brainwashed into thinking “this is edgy” or “that is sexy”. The audience is smarter than that and I’m not going to spend time trying to market at them and convince them to like me when I could be working on something more creatively fulfilling.

I also have a day job and a family and I’m pretty content in life. If I’m asked to come out and play at venues around the world I won’t turn it down, that’s obviously a very cool thing to do for a living but it just pains me to see when some people get so wrapped up in trying to achieve the superstar DJ life above all else, like this is the ultimate purpose of being involved in music and this is the only goal one should strive for.”

Skrufff: What is your day job?

Mick Finesse: “I work in sales for a startup company that provides businesses with access to private suites at sporting venues, which they use to entertain their clients. So basically I talk sports all day with CEO’s and CMO’s.”

Skrufff: What do you colleagues/ work peers think of your ‘Mick Finesse’ alter ego/ parallel life?

Mick Finesse: “The office gets a kick out of it, and thought it was cool to see my name plastered all over Beatport when my first release came out and they will ask some questions from time to time as none of them are into or have been into this kind of music. I think they have this image of what a DJ or electronic musician should look or act like and I’m just this normal guy with a family who focuses on his 9-5 just like everyone else so we’ll joke about it every so often.

We have a consultant who is also a good friend of mine also that DJs so when he comes in we’ll chat a bit about that and he’s always asking on new stuff from me and how things are going on that end.”

Skrufff: Before the interview you also told us ‘Life is great but darkness is often painted’: what did you mean?

Mick Finesse: “When people create something meaningful it generally comes from a place of pain, and works on this level are what resonate with me most. Everyone has dark places and regrets in their life and even if you’re in a great place it’s hard to stop your mind from wandering back to the negative, or even reflecting on the negative events happening in the world today. It’s nice to have an outlet in music to get that out of my head and onto paper.”

http://twitter.com/#!/MickFinesse/

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‘Thousands of UFO believers are relocating to the idyllic French village Pic de Bugarach, the Daily Mail reported this week, in an attempt to escape the upcoming Mayan apocalypse.

The paper speculated that over 100,000 are expected to visit on December 21^st in the belief that the legendarily magical place will save them from doom, matching the prophecies of part time Holy Grail hunter/ author (and Skrufff contributor) Push.

“Bugarach is a French mountain village near Rennes-le-Chateau, which is where Rat (Scabies) and I do a lot of our grail hunting,” the former Muzik editor told Skrufff in an interview last year.

“Bugarach was Jules Verne’s inspiration for Journey To the Centre of the Earth and Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind. It’s your best hope of surviving the apocalypse. Apparently. Mind you, some say it’s going to happen on December 12th, not 21st, so you’d better get there for then,” he recommended.

“It’s probably a good idea to get there early anyway. I suspect it’ll be busy and it’s only a small village,” he added.

Also anticipating the new age invasion last year, local mayor Jean-Pierre Delord told the Telegraph it was ‘no laughing matter’ after reports that canny US travel agents were cashing in selling premium price one way tickets to ‘esoterics’.

“Many come and pray on the mountainside. I’ve even seen one man doing some ritual totally nude up there,” Mr Delord explained, adding that others are spending €800 a week on ‘strange sect-like courses’.

“For this price, you are introduced to a guru, made to go on a procession, offered a christening and other rubbish,” the Mayor grumbled, “All payable in cash.” (http://tgr.ph/ib6nlS )

“Due to the mountain’s unusual geology, a number of New Age believers (called “esoterics” by local residents) believe that the mountain contains aliens living in a spacecraft,” Wiki’s entry for Bugarach confirms, “They believe that on December 21, 2012, the aliens supposedly living in the mountain will emerge to save them.” (Wiki: http://bit.ly/epoQiP )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kYTnIeEUdc&feature=related Underground Cities for 2012 Survivors?

Jonty Skrufff: http://listn.to/JontySkrufff