The WetYourSelf crew speak to CMYK label boss Alex Under, a personal favourite of theirs, ahead of his return to Farringdon this Sunday. Read on to find out more about the evolution of Under’s live set and fresh plans underfoot for his own output as well as the label’s in 2013.

Firstly, how was 2012; what were your high points and low points?
I would say it was a year of catharsis for me; it brought a lot of big changes in my personal life, all of them for better, but it was still a hard year. Musically and professionally, the high point of the year was the release of my second album and getting my live set together for it working alongside the outstanding visual artist Rod MacLauchlan. I don’t recall any specific low point, at least one that I would make public.

We’ve just arrived in 2013 – Did you make any New Year’s resolutions? points?
Just to continue on the hard path of being a better human every day. That and to stop drinking coke…

You released an album last year, ’La Máquina De Bolas’. The album is quite different from your last one, what was your motivation behind recording this album and can you tell us something about the processes involved and what you wanted to achieve?
I produced La Maquina de Bolas as an exercise of deleting every single prejudice I had in my mind when working in the studio. I felt totally stuck in terms of creativity, I wasn’t enjoying techno music either, suddenly techno music became exactly the opposite of what It used to mean for me. Since I can’t produce music A La Carte I decided to stop making music for a while, and then I started doing some long live recordings, which I then built up in the form of 8 tracks which became a conceptual album that is based in psychoacoustics and biology, based on ideas of how the human brain discards a sound that it has been repeating after some time because is not considered as a menace for survival.

Can you give us an insight into what to expect from your live set coming up, especially for those who have not seen you before?
My first season of performing live lasted 5 years, it was a very productive stage of my career and that performance almost came to life itself. But, also it was a very long period of time and I stopped because I thought it couldn’t go any further with those initial ideas. After preparing the live set of ‘La Maquina de Bolas’ I was curious to do a similar performance but with dance techno music, so I was testing some setups, well to be honest I’m still testing them.., but I’m very close to what I want it to be. For me, it’s a priority that the live set is different from before and what I do when I DJ, I hope I will know how to do that before Sunday…

How is your label going at the moment, have you got any releases planned for next year?
Yes there is a good bunch of new releases coming up. I started back again with cmykmusik at the end of last year with my own release ‘Blanco de Mente’ and we have some great Spanish producers coming next who had remixed me on Soma, Fernando Sanz and Cesar Martinez, also with the other label bemysheep, we just released a free download of the first of these remastered tracks , ‘Nobody Lives Forever’ by Dolly la Parton, which is a deep psychedelic masterpiece.

And finally, can you tell us who your favourite are artists at the moment?
I’m a very loyal man; Thomas Brinkmann is gonna be my favourite artist forever. But if you want some names I discovered more recently, I’d say Madteo and Hakimonu.

You are known for having an extremely eclectic style and being able to blend really varied genres, do you prepare for your sets or do you pick what you play on the day?

As a Dj I look into house music, techno, minimal, electro and build my own set.
As a producer, I’ve always composed music without me setting a limit of styles, I produce tracks as well slow as clubs, since my first EP released in 2002 on the label Karat. There are many different ways to do electronic music, each artist has its own approach. I think it is important to be independent and free in the creation, it is a real boost to my dj sets & productions.

Your bio describes you expanding your collaborations with other artists choreographers performers and film makers, can you tell us about any work you’re working on at the moment, and how your approach changes compared to when you’re working on your own.

I’m always open to have new projects that can nourish my work, also by collaborating with performers, dancers, cineastes and any other special projects. It allows me to enter my music even further, it is more experimental, it’s full of soundscapes, voice changed, melodies.
I usually use some elements of these diverse projects in my live sets, or new tracks.
My last project was the release of a book / CD Chasser Croiser/The Surreal and Its Echo, published by Dis Voir/ZagZig that was asked by the french radioshow : “L’Atelier de création radiophonique” (ACR).
This show is about to ask some artists from any origins to arrange and to compare their artistic practice to create a radio piece choosing a specific theme. The result is a 40mn piece about surrealism coming with the book in which there are photos taken during trips, tours and live DJ, notes, projects, albums, collaborations, and excerpts from notebooks.
I’ve presented the project live in Centre Pompidou in Paris, it is a very inspiring performance.
Next experience will be a new cinemix/ live project: Blackmail, Hitchcock (1929) , first performance @La Cinémathèque, Paris Dec 2012.

You’ve lived in Paris for quite a while now, can you tell us what keeps you there?

I was born and raised in Paris, I thought few times to move to another city, it’s the kind of city you hate and love, but my whole world is there.
I have to say I also love Paris because I travel a lot: I’m always happy to leave the city as it can be stressful as every big city, but also I’m always happy to come back home.

Running your own label, how do you feel about what you release on your own label compared to what you put out for other people, do you have certain criteria you have to meet for yourself?

On Kill The Dj I ‘ve released my 2 albums ‘The Waiting Room’ (2007) & ‘One in Other’ (2010), it’s a label that is not necessarly all about club music, and this is very important to me. These 2 albums were more intimate to me, a different approach compare to other EPs & remixes I’ve released on different labels such as Live at Robert Johnson, Karat, Bpitch control, Playhouse etc…

You’ve become a bit of a regular at WYS!, Whats been your favourite WYS! party to date?

WYS! is a very open label to a lot of kind of sound & good music, going from house music to techno.
I feel close to the crew Cormac, Peter Pixzel and Jacob Husley musically but also as persons. I feel i’m part of a family, it’s always very special to play with them.
Last party we played together at Sonar Off was amazing, we had so much fun, i’m really looking forward to the next party the 26th August.

With seven years in the world of house music behind him, Glimpse has forged his own unique DJ style bringing hardware into the mix giving him an edge on his charismatic sets. As well as releasing on his own self titled label ‘Glimpse’ where he found his production feet, labels like Crosstown Rebels, Leftroom and Hypercolour were quick to pick up on what he had to offer. Fast forward to 2012 and Glimpse has already seen the announcement of releases on Pokerflat and secretsundaze sp, you can see why the WetYourSelf crew have wasted no time getting him down for some Sunday night disco action this weekend and to talk future plans and vinyl loving with the four four purveyor.

It’s been almost 2.5 years since the last release on your own label, which we love. Can we expect more from Glimpse recordings in the future?
Glimpse Recordings will definitely be coming back this year I hope. It’s difficult to release regularly on there as I only put out my own material and am working with other labels as well. Especially in the current climate where labels seem to be putting out two releases a month and the shelf life can be as little as a week. I don’t think I would be able to produce music quickly enough.

Tell us about your plans for 2012, what are your aims?
This year I’m putting out a series of singles on labels Hypercolour and Pets. I’m also just putting the finishing touches to a solo EP entitled ‘Business as Usual’ I haven’t really thought about a label for that yet. It’s very different to my previous work on Crosstown Rebels or Planet E and definitely a sound I’m going to be pushing more this year. There will also be some remixes appearing on selected labels though this is something I’m really keen to pull back on in 2012. Apart from that I will be touring live and DJing as usual. I also have a new alias and side project that seems to be picking up some interest so I look forward to developing that. Lastly I’m toying with the idea of either entering Master Chef or doing a half marathon definitely not both though.

You are touring all over the world, do you have a favourite country to play in or places do don’t want to go back to?
To be honest I love playing anywhere with a good sound system regardless of the country. I suppose I enjoy playing in Japan allot, Space in Ibiza is also always a great gig but the UK still seems to be the most consistent gig wise. London has a thriving scene at the moment. The scene as a whole seems to be healthier than ever and there is some fantastic music being written with new artists with new ideas coming through all the time. I’m really interested in seeing what happens musically this year as things seemed to go a bit stale in certain areas towards the end of last year. With everyone playing or copying the same old sounds. I’m sure this year will produce some interesting new artists and styles.

You used to run a record store, are you still a vinyl junkie?
Yes I still collect vinyl but have recently moved over to digital since integrating hardware into my DJ sets such as the 909. I played vinyl for 15 years but as the digital revolution crept up on us all I found it harder and harder as most sound systems are set up for digital. I still think vinyl is by far the superior vehicle for dance music sonically and there is definitely something very sexy about vinyl. I will always be a keen record collector.

Do you have a preference between live and DJ sets? Which is more rewarding at present?
I like both for different reasons. Playing live though every week can become a bit frustrating especially if you’re on tour and don’t have the time in the studio to change your set. I like to have a balance between the two. I’m really enjoying long DJ sets at the moment as there is so much amazing music out there old a new and it’s great to be able to experiment with that using hardware as well.

If you could make a new law what would it be?
Ban V- Tech from all dance emporiums and put Allan Partridge series 1 & 2 on the National Curriculum.

What’s the greatest music production tool ever invented?
Roland 909 rhythm composer! PERIOD!

We absolutely loved you set last time you visited the club, what in terms of music have you planned for us this time around?

Firstly I want to say thank you for my first appearance at WYS!, it was a great night!
fabric is a one the best clubs in the world, and WYS! is an awesome and special night, so naturally I do give some forethought to my set, not prepared as such, but ready. When you start your performance everything can change because the mood and the relationship with the people in that particular moment in that particular place is something impossible to plan.

Our NYD party has an Alice In Wonderland Vs Star Wars theme, what are you dressing up as?

The Mad Hatter is my favourite…

You will be DJing with Traktor? Explain how your DJing has changed since going from analogue to digital. What are the benefits?

In my humble opinion, the feeling is absolutely the same, the love is the same, the passion is the same. I remember going to the club with a record bag and now I go with a laptop and some devices: that’s the difference! Though, there are some things that now I can do with Traktor and turntables that i couldn’t do before just with records, there are loop and effects that allow me to create different mixtures and also dramatic points in my set but I still always try to respect the original soul of the track I’m playing. Another point is that I can’t abandon the turntables, I just can’t…I can’t get in the mood without them. That’s probably why from analogue to digital was not a big change for me…. turntables are the “liason”.

Tell us a little about your production. What is the master plan for 2011? Anything set in stone that we can look forward to?

I’m taking a little break right now in order to clean my mind and to collect my thoughts. I released my mini-album on m_nus a couple of month ago, I just finished a remix for Mean rec that is out now and I delivered a remix to the Princess Ellen Allien for BPC (pretty proud of it!)…There’s also a Plastikman remix and a free track for Burn Studios. At the moment I’m trying something different in the studio, but with no rush or plan, something more romantic and organic. So we’ll see what that brings. Another wish for 2011 is to do some music with friends I have around the world..I’ve never one this before, and it’s bit strange for a techno producer.

How do you name your tracks?

Its a Secret!!…Joking aside, I just try to find a name that sounds lovely to me before start a track, then, if it fits with the track, OK, if not then I work on the name considering some particular sounds or voices of the track.

Whats it like working with M_nus?

It is a incomparable experience and opportunity that I have to deserve day by day.

Looking back at 2010, what was your favourite place to play and party?

ADE was great this year and I love Club 178 (it’s an amazing small club in Sanremo-Italy)

You began DJing in Bologna, what skills do you think you pick up playing to an Italian crowd? How does it compare to the rest of the world?

Well, Bologna is a bit different from the rest of Italy it has always been musically forward, because of the university it is a melting pot of artists and inspired young people. In general terms I wouldn’t compare Italy to the rest of the world, there are some awesome clubs and parties like in other countries, but some not so great parties too.

Do you remember you first ever DJ gig? When, where and how was it?

Yep! Absolutely. It was in Bologna, in a club called Cassero (it’s still the best club in town). It was a great night, and when I finished my set I was immediately invited to play at one of the best after hours parties (it became legendary) near Bologna…everything started from there…

What is you favourite chill out album at the moment?

Actually I don’t have a favourite chill out album, but if I really want to chill at the moment I listen to A Tribe Called Quest. Their hip hop is so beautiful, organic, minimalistic and warm at the same time, really inspiring.

What music/bands did you grow up listening to?

Orb, Orbital, Kraftwerk, Leftfield, Chemical Brothers, Sphongle, The Police, Madonna, Rage Against The Machine, Bjork, Keith Jarret, Jonh Coltrane, Jean Michelle Jarre, Shirley Bassey, Public Enemy, Dr. Dre and all his crew, Erikah Badu, Cypress Hill, A Tribe Called Quest, Tupac, Pink Floyd, Massive Attack.

Who and what shaped you musically?

I fell in love with dance music pretty quickly, so I can surely say that techno music shaped me the most and from the beginning of the 90’s I studied in depth. It’s necessary to start from the roots to then understand all the different variations. Even psychadelic trance gave me a lot of ideas and tips in the past, the use of sudden sounds, the hypnosis of loops in the terms of psychoacoustics and a certain use of synths in an extra-terrestrial way. Then, my first contact with minimal techno was love at first sight with the typical sounds of first generation techno that got stripped down to the bone and could co-habit with rythmic patterns in glitch form.When you put all of this together you would obtain that typical trippy and mental form of minimal techno. Needless to say that the work of Plastikman left its’ mark and opened new frontiers.

I can also not forget about the 10 years i studied classical piano, which influences the stature of my tracks. Also my still ongoing love for hip hop and jazz always brings me back to funky and melancholic atmosphere’s. In any case, each and every different form of art can influence me, but I think this counts for all of us, especially visual arts and modern architecture; it’s hard to experience a great piece of art and not have the immediate necessity to translate it into music.

Smitten with the swelling atmosphere of London’s old-school acid house phenomenon, it wasn’t long before Ellen Allien set up her own dance empire in her hometown of Berlin. Dedicating her time working non-stop between underground radio, record stores and rising techno labels, working against every convention of those around her, her label BPitch Control was born. Home to a tight-knit crew of artists including Kiki, Moderat, Thomas Muller and WYS! resident Cormac, the colourful musical expression and pulsing energy of BPitch, which is now over a decade old, is still impossible to match.

Tell us what’s going on in your world at the moment…
I’m very good… I am on the couch searching for music… I am playing tonight with Kiki back to back, in Berlin, my hometown. It’s so good to be home. OK the weather this year is very bad, there’s lots of rainy days. I’m missing the sun but the sun I feel is in my heart.

You’re no stranger to WetYourSelf! Parties; can you share any memories or favourite times you’ve had with us?
Every time is special because you are all sweet, sexy guys, from the first time I played I loved it a lot…

There seems to be no limit to your creativity, what do you envisage yourself doing in 20 years time?
There are no limits. I am creative all day and even in my dreams. The business part takes my energy but to be creative is how my personality comes out and the best time I can have is when I create shirts or artwork or I’m thinking about my next record.

What animal are you?
A fox.

Where did the name ellen allien come from? why did you choose it?
A bar keeper gave it to me… he said my music sounds like the first Alien movie.

Name one thing you’ve always wanted to do but haven’t done yet…
India to Nepal to Africa to Mars.

You started a label and an empire in a time in Berlin when there was not so much going on, what advice do you have to young people now, dreaming to do the same thing?

Follow your dreams, ask people when you need information and work it out in peace.

The club world is precious, but intense also. What do you do outside of work to stay balanced happy and inspired?

The love of my friends and my sister are very important for me to feel human. Peace, I wanna give the world in a freaky moment to share with music… And I like to kiss…Good food veggies and many fruits + music all day and some yoga in-between.

The Berlin based Clink Recordings boss Camea makes an overdue appearance here in Room One for WYS! this Sunday. With her label home to artists like Alexi Delano, Mark Henning and Tim Xavier, she is undoubtedly a woman of impeccable taste, but as her promo mix for the event in question proves, she’s got a knack for seamless DJing to boot.

WYS: Tell us a little bit about your mix and your thought process behind it…
Camea: I did this mix after a long weekend, so I was feeling a bit more deep and experimental. I tried to put together a selection of music that I love to listen to when I am relaxing at home as well as play out.

We are approaching New Years Eve… Can you give us some of your highlights of the year so far?
Wow, it’s hard to summarize as I have had an amazing year and am very thankful for every moment of it! I think seeing my name on the cover of DJ Mag was definitely my biggest highlight; that was total pipe dream come true. Also being the first female to have music on Plus 8 was a big moment (I remixed on Ambivalent’s ‘Jackson EP’), as well as doing a track on Heidi’s ‘Jackathon’ comp and a remix for Ellen Allien’s ‘Dust’ album. I was very honored to be a part of all of those projects. I also did my first compilation this year on my label, called ‘Clinkology’, which was a very gratifying experience as well!

You posted a picture of your dog recently on facebook, relishing your time off. What else do you like to do when you’re not touring or producing?
When I am not ‘working’, I love going on long walks with my dog, riding my bike and doing yoga. I also love to read books and watch cheesy teenage TV drama shows, they really give my brain a rest!

You were born in Seattle, cut your teeth in Brooklyn and now reside in Berlin. Where do you see yourself ten years from now?
Good question. I absolutely love living in Berlin but in ten years I might not be so in love with the long, dark winters. If that happens than I would love to move somewhere sunny in Latin America, I do a lot of touring down there so it would be nice to be in the region for awhile.

What’s can we expect from Clink next year?
Actually, I have been so busy that I have not had time to organize much for Clink yet in 2012! I have a lot going on in the studio right now and am working on some projects for some other labels. I am enjoying branching out and working outside of my label, it’s new for me and very inspiring. I’ll probably dream up some new, fun projects for Clink over the New Year… hopefully! I am definitely looking forward to some more Clink and Friends events, they have been going great and I am enjoying collaborating on events with friends. We are doing our first one at Panorama Bar in Berlin in January, I can’t wait!

Meet Huxley, the latest gem to adorn the UK’s deep house crown as its current vivid resurgence amongst the international scene continues. Picked out by Nick Curly and Tsuba label boss Kevin Griffiths as an emerging talent, he soon followed with his first release, a collaboration with Ethyl released on Curly’s Cécille Label and sure enough it was an instant smash, backed up by ensuing releases on Tsuba. Huxley is the headliner gracing our Sunday dance-a-thon WYS! and he’ll be joined by Outart, the Italian duo currently making waves all over Europe with their label IANVS71 and their enigmatic DJ sets and of course, the WYS! residents Jacob Husley, Peter Pixzel and Cormac.

Hi Huxley, thanks for speaking with us. Firstly just tell us a little about where you’re from and how you got into electronic music? Well, originally I’m from a small town called Tring which is in Hertfordshire. It’s nice enough, but a pretty dull place to be honest and doesn’t really have anything going on, which is probably why most people move away from it when they get older. I got into electronic music at around the age of 12. Before that I was mainly into older music from the the 60s and 70s. I’d love to say it was all really credible and good, but the truth is, a lot of it was really bad. But around the age of 12 my best friend of the time bought round the two Dreamscape compilations, which each had three cds in, one old skool hardcore, one drum ‘n bass and one happy hardcore. It was really the first time i had ever heard anything like that properly, and i loved it. It was at this time I decided that I wanted to be a dj and got my first set of Soundlab, belt drive decks (which were fucking awful). After a few years of buying mostly drum ‘n bass records (things like Urban Takeover, Ram Records, V Recordings) I moved onto playing UK Garage and a little bit of house. I started to produce at around the age of 15, released my first record at the age of 17, and I guess the rest is history.

You’ve enjoyed a good couple of years so far with releases on Tsuba and Cecille, tell us what else you’ve got coming out next?

Well I’ve had quite a busy few months working on remixes and EP’s for labels such as Morris Audio, Suara and Tsuba. My next few Huxley things are actually all due out pretty soon. These include EPs with Hypercolour offshoot, Losing Suki, new label Act Natural (with remixes from Mic Newman and Chris Lattner), and a new one on Tsuba with Ethyl, which is a 3 tracker; 2 remixes of our track Reflexions by Aybee and a new one from us, which is very very different!! After that I’m going to be concentrating on my new label, Saints & Sonnets and also a project with my house mate, Sam Russo, for Leftroom. I actually just got the remix back for our first release on Saints & Sonnets, from the legend, Roman Flügel. It’s fucking badboy!!

Your portfolio of tracks is steadily increasing, are there any plans to play live at any point? Yeah I think so. I have just bought a laptop so i can start to practice it a little bit. To be honest I never wanted to do it before, but a lot of people have told me i should look into it. Who knows though, it might never leave the 4 walls of my studio, we’ll just have to wait and see. I don’t want to go out there and do it if I’m not totally happy with it.

There’s been a resurgence of deep house recently, how do you feel about the scene in the UK? It’s all starting to kick off again, it’s great to see that we’ve finally found our own sound again and it’s really kicking off. For a long time we seemed to rely on the music from Europeans and Americans to play, but there’s now this new breed of UK producers that are showing we can stand on our own two feet again. Are there any artists that are exciting you right now? Julio Bashmore, Midland, DJ Qu’s new album is on constant rotation and I love the new Brawther release on Secret Sundaze. I’m also really into Mic Newman’s new material.

And lastly, tell us a little known fact about yourself

I’m not really sure what to put here, so I’ll just tell you a little known fact that i know – a duck’s quack doesn’t echo.

Barcelona relocated Tuscan native Luca Bacchetti has risen to notoriety through releases on Wagon Repair and Ovum records and more recently through the activity of his own music and lifestyle brand Hideout.  The WYS! crew caught up with him to discuss his recent exploits.

Hi Luca, What have you been up to recently?

Most recently I’ve been really busy working on some new releases. I’ve been feeling the need to work on own production instead of remixes to keep things interesting for me. I’m really happy with how it’s been going and hope you feel it when I release it in the Autumn. Studio time and touring with Hideout has been keeping me pretty busy at the moment – got a lot on my plate!

Tell us a little about how Hideout came about, you’ve described it as being more than just a music label, and your website boasts interesting divisions such as style detecting and video art, can you tell us a bit more about these and other upcoming projects?
Exactly, that’s what the label is about – when you’re passionate about something it becomes more than work, your working life and personal life end up being one and the same thing. Hideout is a way of life for us and everything we like becomes HIDEOUT. In terms of specific releases, there’s lots coming from Davide & Guti, as well as my new EP and some new artists that will be announced soon.

How do you manage your time, between touring, running the label and making music, do you try to prioritise anything at any point?
Touring takes up so much time and there’s not much time to stop and relax worked into my schedule, but I try to find time to enjoy nature which is always a source of inspiration for me.

You’ve mentioned that you love to travel, how do you feel this ties into your creative work, do you take any influences from places you’ve been to?
Travelling is essential for me, it may sound selfish but when I travel alone I get the most out of it – it’s when I’m alone and see everything flow by that I can tune into my own personal trip.

It’s not necessarily about being on a beautiful beach in South Australia or riding the Metro in NYC, inspiration can come on a night flight over the Pacific while listening to music. Lots of these experiences have gone on to inspire me later in the studio. It’s difficult to explain how images turn into music it’s a really personal process, even the title of a song can help evoke a feeling. Lately South America’s been a particularly big inspiration, it’s such a passionate place.

One of the advantages of working with digital technology is the ability to create and distribute things quickly and to a wide audience, however this also increases the amount of work out at any one time. What approach do you take towards making your work unique whilst still being accessible?
Thankfully technology also helps manage the sheer volume of work but it’s the human factor, being motivated and keeping on top of things that makes the real difference here.

And lastly, what advice would you give to people thinking about starting a career in music but are unsure of the industry’s future. Do you have any encouraging words to share?
It’s hard to give out specific advice, all I can really say is that I think it’s really important to follow that little voice you have inside.

You were born in Dublin but raised in southern Spain, can you tell us a little bit about your childhood and how you got into music?

Some might argue my childhood was pretty damn golden actually but for me it was one big adventure. My parents moved around a lot and it seemed like we were in a constant travel mode, the initial move was quite spur of the moment and im really glad they took the plunge to move around despite having 3 small kids.

Neither of my parents are into music and I can never remember them even having a particular favorite artist! I think this left a vacuum you know? So I started filling it with everything from Techno to Jazz during my teens, eventually leading me to want to play at Dublin’s Kitchen Club (a legendary techno/drum and bass spot co owned by the Edge from U2!).From having my brain switched on in there and other clubs like The Temple of Sound, LFO and the free parties in Dublin, i got really curious about how these sounds were made and started hanging out in studios like Crows lane, eventually getting a chance to learn the ropes. After ages of working on other peoples music,from Pop to Rock,i signed up to some labels like Pokerflat and Karmarouge and began DJing full time.

Do you feel like this mix of cultures influenced you?

Totally yeah,the strange combination of lost cultures in Spain,the Balearic vibe,the old rythms of flamenco and arab music definitely reach far into techno and house.There is a massive history of techno in Spain,and obviously the Balearic island fame is notoriously influencial on the scene as a whole.As kids in Spain in the 80s, we were surrounded by bars and nightlife pumping out Italo and 80s eurodance everywhere,which was a first introduction to electronic music for me. That relentless beat and the atmosphere took hold early.

You describe yourself as having interests such ranging from entomology, cosmology and marine biology. what attracts you to these studies?

Yes, I confess to having some very nerdlike interests, especially Marine Biology. Having spent daytime in the sea or on the beach as a kid any chance I can get to kayak or go snorkelling while at home or touring I’m gone. Seriously, even if I’ve been playing till 7am in the morning, its on. That’s one of the many perks to travelling I guess and it’s also crucial to music production also by getting away from your own work, so you can really hear it.

If there was a Sianology, what would it be about?

I worry it would be something like Scientology and Voodoo combined,a vegetarian pseudo cult for ADD casualties perhaps?

Octopus is building up an impressive roster, tell us a little bit about how you came to start Octopus, what did you want your aesthetic and purpose to be?

Out of pure frustration,there wasnt anyone doing our vibe. I want a label that felt a bit more DIY-like outside the whole standard model of label, distributor and design you know? The sound and look of the label is modern techno I guess a lot of these aesthetics come from the whole digital revolution that makes running a small, truly indie label possible nowadays. We are big advocates of the new direct interaction, co-operation and immediate technology that’s around at the moment and I feel its giving small boutique labels a real chance to make waves amongst established imprints.

Spain is an interesting country in relation to electronic music. On one hand it hosts Sonar one of the most influential and respected music festivals in the world, yet on the other its influence on the music scene may appear to be marginalised by producers from the UK or Germany for example. Tell us your thoughts on the Spanish music scene, and where you feel Spain fits on the map in terms of influence and sonic character?

I always thought about this actually and wondered why there were’nt so many Barcelona native producers..apart from Paco Osuna. Given that Sonar week peaked 2 years ago at 1.4 Million visitors to the city-all for electronic music. I think it has something to do with the fact that Spanish culture is based on lazyness, good living and relaxed attitude. Like in Dublin,or Stockholm or London or most Northern European you got to make it right? In Spain its like,”I do it Manana”.

Your upcoming artist album spans 130 mins and comprises of over 1013 individual clips, tells us a little of your process behind this and what you aim to achieve. is there a reason why you choose to use such a large number of clips?

I was never meant to be so vast or difficult actually! the process was to take all the parts of my new tracks, combine them with the remixers versions and make one big session with these elements as a longplayer. So as you can imagine,it was super difficult and stressful to work with such a massive session and so many parts,but the result i hope is a really new way of looking at the album format,which i am proud to have as a statement on the label.

Hello Kittin! We are very happy to welcome you back to WYS! on Sunday, we’re counting the days until we see you.

You seem to have a unique ability to transcend underground and popular culture as an artist, and as a vocalist. To what extent are you conscious of your audience and contexts when you compose?

Everything comes out in such a strange spontaneous way. Being in the studio is a precious intimacy I can’t explain. You have to be opened to be inspired, but when I compose, I focus on what I feel, only. I would never have done what I’ve done if I would try to please. I must say I am not conscious enough about my audience… I don’t mean it in a bad way, I just always under-estimate myself… Somehow, this naive state of mind keeps me going I suppose. On the other hand, with experience, I learnt the power of words; I am trying to write deeper and deeper.

You’ve studied art and graphic design to a high level, yet you’ve forged a career in making music. Do you feel like your background in art has influenced your approach to music, and if so to what extent?

A few years ago, I could say music was a reaction against art… My short art experience was more painful than expected. At school, you’re supposed to learn how to know yourself, dig inside and deliver a point of view, but instead, I got extremely frustrated and pushed down, by teachers and by the establishment. Now, I can say I learnt a lot from it, I learnt to break the rules and follow my instinct, even if the whole world is against you. Also in my working method, I realised my first spontaneous ideas are always the best, and always comes fast. In art, like in music, no one but you can tell if what you do is good, once you know your intimate conviction. Of course it’s not an easy path…

You have collaborated with wide ranging and prolific artists, can you tell us a little bit about your approach when doing collaborative work in the studio, and how it might differ by providing perhaps some specific examples of work in the past?

First of all a connection has to happen – most of the times it was as I say “happy accidents.” For example, I started working with The Hacker because I needed to do a track and he was the only one I knew who had equipment and could help me. With Felix Da Housecat, we met in a festival in Switzerland, ‘Frank Sinatra’ just got released, he was so fan, the next day we were in a friend’s studio in Geneva and did ‘Madame Hollywood.’ In the moment you don’t know what’s gonna happen but it happens, a subtle chemistry you may not even notice yourself because you’re having fun. Sometimes artists call me, like Sven Väth, and it works, beyond the pressure. All in all, it’s about enjoying digging into the other’s universe, sharing visions and tastes, coping with differences till you bring the best out of the two. You naturally push the other over his boundaries and the other way round. It’s quite a privilege that makes you lazy to work on your own…

You’ve mentioned before that you wanted to build a band with your best girlfriends but it never happened, have you any thoughts on reigniting that idea, and if so what would it sound like?

He he… Yes it would be nice… It would probably sound like modern punk! Easy riffs, strong melodies, basslines with one string, the lower, a keyboard, a drum machine! But my girlfriends are hard to catch, and so I am… The idea came mostly to have fun together and enjoy the jam experience like any other bands playing in their garage! I would probably ask Andrew Weatherall to produce it ha ha ha! My other dream project would be to make a musical with Peaches, just imagine it… The 2 of us on stage telling a story of 2 girls in a tour bus or something… ha ha ha I am just laughing on my own!

Electronic music, and technology in general, has a special way of liberating people in many ways. For many, it is a way of creating music, even if they have no traditional knowledge of composition, allowing anyone with even a laptop computer to make a song if they want to. However it has also created a certain amount of friction and uncertainty towards how music is produced and consumed. How do you feel this progression is evolving, and where do you see music in relation to technology in the future, in terms of production, performance and consumption?

I am the perfect example of someone who knows nothing about technology… I started singing without a voice, even! I am very happy to be able to write a song in my studio with just a computer and a microphone. It shows technology doesn’t bring ideas but helps you putting them down. Most of studio engineers I met know so much about technology they can’t compose. They’ve always told me I don’t need to know about technology, as they are just here for that. I started to stop feeling guilty about my lack of nerdiness. The conclusion is always the same: technology doesn’t make music. There will always be musicians lost in technology, and musicians using technology to serve their ideas.