I caught up with westcoast techno pioneer Marijke Jorritsma aka BREEZY NIX after asking for an mp3 of her latest work. Marijke has always had a provocative and psychedelic edge to her music/art, and her newest offering is no exception. I asked her a few questions to give a backdrop to this recording, "JARRY". I wonder if it is named after the author of Pere Ubu? I wouldn't be surprised! It's a deal, BREEZY, we will take you to the river! Enjoy the summer jam and all these mixes she just rained on you. -Avalon
Why and How do you make electronic music?
Currently I'm making most of my music using Ableton Live (software and a computer), working mostly with soft synths and drum machines, samples. I occasionally record hardware jams with what I have lying around or borrow and cut that into samples to be used in my sets and songs. I've also been working on some remixes.
The why is a bit more difficult.... Why does anyone make any music or art?... to create something they wish existed, to partake in something they love, to celebrate with others who do too, to have a social alibi for being a complete weirdo... ah, I dunno.
What is it like making and mixing this kind of music in SF?
Well, I've actually only played one show in SF as Breezy Nix, my other shows have been in Barcelona, Berlin, and Oakland. But San Francisco is generally pretty fun, people want to dance, and if the sound is good and the stars are aligned it can be pretty awesome.
What is your favorite music right now?
Oy, so much. I've honestly been just listening to tons of mixes that I download from blogs. These are my top ten mixes of the moment:
With a broad musical sensibility and inspiring enthusiasm for House and Techno, Portland DJ/Producer/Electronic Musician Erik Hanson is more than deserving of an Ecstasy feature. A shining star in Portland's nightlife, Erik has been shining a torch on the path, so to speak, for some time now. Below is a dark and mesmerizing dub edit of a Japan tune for download. I was able to ask Erik some questions about context. Go dance with him this month and enjoy the dub! -Avalon
Why did you make this dub, how did it come about?
I love this song and have always wanted to effectively work this song
into a DJ set, but the mood of the song, to me, is full of a certain
heavy restlessness. It's beautiful at home, but I wanted to diffuse
the mood a bit for a club atmosphere. Plus, it's just fun to dissect
and mess around with the structures of songs that I like. For
instance, trying to isolate the vocals and set David Sylvian's voice
in an abandoned, frozen factory. I also wanted to add a mechanical
aspect to it as sort of an underline to the original's repeating drum
pattern. I made this one with DJing at Holocene in mind. I did it for
a particular night that I was booked to the DJ between bands. The time
between having the idea and the show itself was pretty short. It made
me have to be strategic about what I wanted to do it, in order to get
it done in time.
What music are you really inspired by right now?
There's a ton... Inspiration comes from all over. Inspiration drawn
directly from music is tricky to pinpoint for me because it is so
wrapped up in feeling. When I feel connected with a piece of music and
get that *zap* it has everything to do with how I'm feeling at the
time. I'm very inspired right now by the interviews in the book "The
Record Players: DJ Revolutionaries" by Bill Brewster and Frank
Broughton. I really admire the eclecticism that was embraced by DJ
pioneers such as David Mancuso, Afrika Bambaataa, Françios Kevorkian,
and Frankie Knuckles. These guys would pull records from many styles.
I would love be able to effectively combine a diverse variety of
danceable music, regardless of genre, into a night of dancing the way
that they have done.
What do you think of the dance/tech/house scene in Portland?
I think I've spent the past four days trying to type an adequate
answer this question for you, Avalon, and I am now opting for the
short response! :P
Currenty, for techno, DJs Folding and Ian Obe are keeping me on my
toes! (Their set from the last Various is excellent:
Miracles Club and Finesse get international makeovers today and they are looking fyne!
The first of which is The Whendays heady take on "The Light of Love".
The Whendays are a half Swedish half American duo based out of Stockholm that are making beautiful pop music that sounds to me lie somewhere between The Stone Roses and Al B Sure. Their take on "Light of Love" is a deep and provocative take on thee Original.
Check it.
Next is Prague's Sasha Nevolin and his DEEEEP remix of Finesse's "Elevate". Sasha tastefully strips "Elevate" down even further to just the bare necessities where he finds a hypnotic groove and rides it in to the sunrise. LOVE.
Check out the fabulous new video for Innergazes's "Shadow Disco" out soon on 100% Silk. Really groovy new track and direction for the group a very NY mutant-disco-proto-house-ish vibe but all of thee stripped down psychedelia of their earlier trax is still in full effect. Features our dear friend Damon Palermo of Jonas Reinhardt & Mi Ami on drums too.
Check out our new video directed by Judah Switzer Light of Love originally released on Ecstasy has been "Re-visioned" by our friend Dan for his label Cutters The 12" EP is available now at Juno and Here digitally. Thanks to all our homies for being a part of the club.
I first heard this track while by myself in a Helsinki hotel room coming out of a 6 day fever. I had slept only 45 minutes in 2 days. Something about it's mesmerizing synchronized beat cycles, deliciously dubbed out stabs ascending, descending bell drips immediately took me into a beautiful dream-state where i felt lifted and healed like some sort of remote reiki. This is now already one of my top ten songs of 2011 and go-to for the need for the immediate chill-down/re-energizational tripsss treat. And it's on my new favorite imprint Discaire out of San Francisco started by members of Honey Sound System. This one-sided limited 12" single comes in a top secret envelope with a signed manifesto and special codes in order to view the video in it's entirety. RIGHT?!!!! This is MAJOR so get it before it runs out!
Check out Ecstasy's own Operative. They played an excellent show last week with other great local projects Soft Metals and Jason Urick at Holocene. This just got me psyched for summer :)
