(thank you very much for Kelly at SLK Associates for the interview)
One of my all time favorites, Kissy Sell Out has been a bit silent outside the UK since the end of his residency at BBC Radio 1. However, he's got quite a tight schedule, let's what he's up to in the last few months. Big up to SLK Associates for the interview by the way!
Q: Hey Kissy, firstly thank you for letting us steal a
moment of your spare time, which by the looks of your movements lately has been
few and far between. We can’t go any further without asking about the album
you’ve just released, tell us the journey that went with it?
Kissy:
I’m still getting used to talking about it in the past
tense! Working on an album is something people seem to talk a lot less about
these days and since this is kinda my third album (albeit with A LOT of help
from my friends this time round!) I forgot how much a project this size takes
over a whole year of your life!
San City High has been going since I was still at
university – so 6 years ago – and after about 20 releases featuring records
mixed by Eats Everything, Dillon Francis, Laidback Luke, Zeds Dead, Jack Beats
etc, we’ve finally released the first San City High compilation album – and
also my first official DJ mix album (….if you discount my Mixmag cover mount
and that Ministry of Sound Australia album a few years ago!)
Q: You’ve also just released a single with Rob Sparks
called “Live Wire”, the video is immense for it, did you come up with the
concept?
Kissy:
Julien James Davis is an incredibly talented director;
I’m very lucky to have him onboard as a friend of the label at such an early
time in his career! He did such a great job on “Live Wire” that we’re already working
on a bigger budget follow up for the next single with Machines Don’t Care
(a.k.a. Hervé) – but my job at video shoots is mainly to make people laugh and
have a good time while lenses get changed etc…..working with so many people is
my absolute favourite thing about running the label.
Q: Did
you want to be a barman before you became a DJ?
Kissy:
Hell no! I’m a crap barman even when I’m just acting
(badly) as one. I’ve got such a short attention span I wouldn’t be able to
remember anyone’s order!
Q: You’ve decided recently to launch yourself into
something totally different and have enrolled in a physics and astronomy
degree. Firstly, hats off to you. Secondly, are you aiming to be the next Brian
Cox?
Kissy:
I have indeed! I’m crap at history, geography,
biology, English literature, business studies etc..but I’ve always found maths
fairly easy and actually got 100% in my A-level believe it or not!?
It started as Brian Cox astrophysics type stuff but my
main area of interest now is quantum mechanics which essentially explains (with
very dense equations!) why everything we see, hear, touch, love exists in the
first place.
It’s quite a serious hobby – and last month I finally
figured out how to explain why there are only 8 gluon vector gauge bosons in a
3x3 special unitary matrix while I was watching telly in bed – but as unlikely
as it sounds, I find it sits very nicely beside my passion for electronic music
as they both involve thinking outside the box.
Q: The 28th March sees you join The Squatters
at the launch of their brand in Leeds, you’ve been a supporter of the lads for
a while now, how did you first hear about them?
Kissy:
No tall-tale to tell really, I just thought they were
very talented producers and engineers – the music kinda spoke for itself!
During the first San City High tour with Zeds Dead, Hot Pink Delorean, Urchins
and The Squatters on the tour bus, we got on so well right from the word go. They’d
tease me about how all my tracks are 2000bpm and I’d tease them back about how
much trance music they play! They got stuck right in with the relentless
gigging across the UK on that tour and we’ve been very close ever since.
Q: You’ve even collaborated on a track with The Squatters,
how did that come about and do you see that happening again soon?
Kissy:
It’s just about us being in the same place at the
right time really, I’m very proud of that record because it seems to gel with a
variety of DJs’ sounds so hopefully we’ll find time to do another one now we
know the formula works.
Q: Mixmag launched the DJ Lab recently and you were one
of the first to get involved. How did that go?
Kissy:
A lot of people try and set up video streams like that
but not many pull them off! Full credit to the Mixmag people for being mad enough
to have a weekly party at 4pm, literally, in their office(!!!!) – Mixmag only
occupies one floor in a big high rise office block to you see lots of
bewildered looking people in suits walking past as they are cracking out the
Jaeger-bombs! Our show was a great success and it was cool going back to back
with one of my favourite DJs, Hatcha.
Q: Speaking of Mixmag, in days gone by they were one of
the only places people could hear about Dance music and became the sounding
board and judge for so many artists. With the Internet and social media
becoming so huge now, do you think the digital age has been difficult for or
improved our scene? Do you think it’s good to have so much choice?
Kissy:
It’s difficult to pick out the real talented people
when everyone shouts at once, but as a label manager I still get a kick out
finding them one-in-a-million people.
Q: Leeds has become one of the leading cities within
dance music and especially House and Techno, do you enjoy playing in Leeds?
With a crowd that’s so switched on?
Kissy:
Love playing Leeds – in fact, it was only a few months
ago that me and MC Cobra played in that centre public square you have!
Q: What’s your favourite venue in the world to play at?
Kissy:
It’s too hard to pick so I’m not going to! Sessions in
Leeds should be a contender though surely!
Q: Your label, San City High, has gone from strength to
strength, can you let us in on what to expect from it in the next few months?
Kissy:
I’ll hopefully put out an EP by DrDr soon – I love
their music millions loads totes emosh! Check em out on Soundcloud.
Q: Lastly, for the serious questions, what can the crowds
at Mission in Leeds on March 28th expect from the Kissy Sell Out
set?
Kissy:
It’s gonna be HUGE. The Squatters are perfectly
capable of smashing it up on their own and that means that I’ll be super
relaxed and limbered up on the night – ready for action – bring it on!
Quick Fire!
iPhone or Android?
iPhone......you can’t play “Earthworm Jim 2” on an
Android....
Sun or Snow?
Snowboarder since I was 10 years old, so snow
definitely.
Football or Rugby?
I’m ex-art student. That should tell you all you need
to know.
Jam or Marmite?
Marmite – BOOM!
Radio 1 or Radio 2?
Classic FM or Mark Kermode & Simon Mayo’s film
podcast.....I’ve got my own tunes for dancing to.
WMC or ADE?
Will I prefer Ultra in Miami to WMC so I guess I’d go
with ADE!
World’s #1 DJ is…
DJ Hype Hype Hype Hype Hype
Shorts, in the snow,
really?
Hell yeah! Go hard or go home!
Please throw a LIKE to Budapest Bonkers on FACEBOOK aswell!
Nincsenek megjegyzések:
Megjegyzés küldése