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The Project Club Interview
This month The Electric Disco is joined by London DJ and Producer – Steve Lee and his partner in the studio, full time musician – Andy “Slim” Black, together, better know as ‘The Project Club’.
Steve has been a DJ for the last 20 years. He runs several successful nights around London and guests all over the world, playing quality electronica, disco cuts and Balearic inspired grooves.
Andy, also known as “Slim”, comes from a more traditional singer / songwriter background, is a recording studio owner and shares his time writing material for his progressive rock band “Seventhson” and doing session work for other artists.
Steve and Andy formed “The Project Club” in March 2009, bringing their two musical worlds together with a view to producing lush Balearic inspired music with a deep electronic edge.
They’ve just released their first single “Intro” and are currently working on their first LP which they plan to go “live” with on UK stages next year.
Steve and Andy have given us an awesome interview, a great new mix and an exclusive track to download, so put the kettle on, download Steve’s mix here, get yourselves comfy and read on to find out a bit more about one of the Balearic world’s bright new talents …
Hey Steve / Andy (Slim), first up thanks for taking the time out to talk to Electric Disco.
How’s it going?
Steve – Cheers and thank you – Slim has got the coffee on, so it’s all good here in the studio.
Can you give is a bit of background about yourselves and The Project Club?
Steve – We formed “The Project Club” back in March of this year after I moved into a huge house-share with Slim’s loft studio. I gave up my day job in film/TV production two years ago with an aim to get back into music production, along with full time DJ’ing – and moving-in was a chance to save some money before getting my own place, and to make some music.
I’ve also been DJ’ing since the late 80’s when I was still at school, starting out as a turntablist spinning funk, hip hop and block party breaks. In addition, I trained as a sound / lighting engineer gaining an apprenticeship after leaving school. So, I guess I had some kind of mid-career crisis. Anyway, I hooked up with Andy after writing a few tracks and it all went from there. It’s a really nice balance of electronic meets indie-guitar and two musicians who also know their way around a studio.
Slim – I’ve lived and breathed music forever, and it’s been my only passion for the last ten years. ‘Been running my own studio (www.myspace.com/studioslim) for the last 5 years too. Always like to collaborate and guest on other people’s projects, and when Steve hit me up with a bit of session guitar work, it could have just started and finished there. But we soon realized we had something really special. The ‘project’ became a lot bigger than we’d planned – and to be honest the last few months with Steve have been immense. Seriously good…
So is The Project Club the first outfit you’ve released music with?
Steve – In my time as a studio Engineer / Editor, I was involved with programming, recording and editing for a number of pop acts, indie bands and classical artists. But, I’d never done anything on my own, probably due to my career in New Media, TV & Film. It’s certainly been a long time coming.
Slim -I’ve been in bands / solo projects / live work / studio projects for ages. But The Project Club is my first electronic dance collaboration. That’s why for me it’s so fresh. Everything I’m putting into this is box-fresh – techniques, ideas, grooves, all that. I’ve been an indie, singer-songwriter kid all my life, so what we’re doing now is total kick up the backside – you can hear this in everything we’re doing I think.
Definitely, your music has that really nice laid back feel about it, minimal, grooving electronica with those subtle hints of acoustic guitar and piano progressions chilling it out even further.
It seems like it would work just as well on the dance floor as it would by a sunset or after hours on the sofa. What or where do you have in mind when you start work on a new track?
Steve – That was the brief from the start and one we try to stick to – We want to do everything from blissed out electronics / guitars to out-an-out 4/4 club music. How we start depends on my inspiration, mood and any new music which is exciting me at that time.
Slim – The best way to work is to just let it flow. Que sera etc. We often have a brief in mind, but once we’re flying we can end up anywhere. Yeah I love the chill-out element to our stuff but we are equally as home on the dance floor as the sofa. Most of our stuff comes out with different mixes anyhow. I like the idea of us putting out club / dub / acoustic mixes of songs too. Pick a mix to suit your mood!
That’s cool that you’re not trying to pigeon hole yourselves like a lot of artists seem to, giving your music and your creativity a chance to find it’s own direction, rather than just saying – “this one will be house”…
Steve – Yeah, I think we’ll find the perfect balance once we’ve got more material in the bag.
So are you musically trained yourselves?
Steve – Yes, I studied with London Trinity College Of Music in Piano, I can find my way round a guitar, drums and I have also have a formal qualification in sound engineering which I achieved in my apprenticeship.
Slim – Not really no. Taught myself guitar, and learnt the studio thing through trial and error. I do it all by ear, intuition, blind faith and belief in the great beyond! I need to learn how to play records on decks though – next year….
That sounds like the perfect skill set, classical training, full production know how and a natural musical ear! It must have helped a lot with setting your studios up and then quickly being able to realise the sounds and arrangements that you have in your heads…
Steve – I guess so… However, in the last two years I’ve had to re-train and get my head around logic and ableton. It’s been a while since the days when I was using the original pro-tools system, a DAT machine and various analogue outboard gear. But, I think I’m pretty much up to speed on most recording / programming software we use. But, it’s equally valuable to understand analogue recording techniques and I can still cut, splice and edit on a studer ¼ inch Reel To Reel machine, which is a skill most people don’t ever get to learn.
Slim – Yeah it’s all about pooling talent and experience. That’s why the stuff we’re creating is so fresh. It’s like pissing about with the chemistry set – seeing what happens when you dump a load of the funny red power in with the iron filings and Bunsen burning it! Ha ha ha!
Steve – My mum wasn’t to happy about my chemistry set – I ruined our very new and lovely Heal’s of London carpet…. Whoops!
Can you tell us a bit about your studio setup?
Steve – We have two studios – Slim’s being the “live” room studio and my studio which is more electronic for editing, programming and final arrangement.
In the studio I run Logic 8 and also Ableton on two macs with various soft synths and plug-in’s.
I’ve also recently moved home and in the process of setting up a new production room and I have made a decision to move from passive to active speakers and I’ve purchased some Yamaha HS50M’s running via my Mackie firewire desk. On the synth side, I have a Roland SH-201, Roland Juno Di, Korg Electribe Mk II and the Arturia synth. I also have an M-Audio Axium controller, which comes in handy. And in the next few weeks, I’ll be purchasing a waldorf rack synth.
Slim – Techy bit! Err. I’m old school PC man – deep breath …. Windows XP! Cubase. My weapons of choice (guitars) are Fender Telecaster Deluxe (electric) and a Taylor 210e (acoustic). Some nice outboard (Focusrite / Joe Meek) a classy-as Rode NTK mike and you’re good to go. On the software side I’m a sucker for the Waves plug-ins they seriously are the best in the business and I would totally be lost without them…
That’s quite an armoury of equipment you’ve got there… anything you just couldn’t work without?
Steve – Our Coffee Machine… (Laughs)
Slim – …and a coffee grinder man! It’s all about fresh beans. You lose all the oils after you grind, so you’ve gotta get it straight into the pot! No going back now…
Can you tell us a bit about your working process and how you go about writing a new track?
Steve – I start with deciding on a tempo and tend to play around with chord structures, then focus on the beats/drums, then the pad & lead sounds and thus, build layers around that. Once it takes shape and can’t add anything more at that stage – I hand it over to Slim for guitar parts or live room recording along with a rough brief.
Once that’s done, it then comes back to me for final arrangement, editing and adding FX and then a few bounces down the line we get to a finished track. Slim always takes care of final mastering and any de-noising processes. However, we are changing our writing ways to ensure both of our influences are captured – Therefore, Slim will now be writing some guitar/bass parts for me to work around – which I’m excited about and provides a new way of working.
Slim – Yeah it works well with two studio setups – we do work together in the studio of course but a lot of our creative march forward has been found working alone, and then hitting each other up with the results. This kind of ping-pong process keeps it all fresh. Digital’s great – gimme a BPM and some nicely synced audio stems and we can import / export forever!
I was gonna say, working digitally must make it easy to bounce things back and forth between the pair of you…
Has something ever come back from either of you that’s taken a track in a completely unexpected direction?
Steve – Yeah, when Slim recorded the guitars on the Mainstem Remix for “NO LOVE” – The track totally changed and I re-wrote pretty much 90 percent of my keys, drums etc… And, it made sense from that point.”
Slim – A lot of the time, ‘cause we’re both putting loads into a track, we have to sit back and pull stuff out, to let the tune breathe, give some space etc. So you have to make sure you’re not too precious about your licks and beats. The song is king, not the individual parts…
Slim, you come more a more traditional live band environment as opposed to the DJ, electronic music background of Steve. Do you think the two different influences add’s anything to the way that you work or the resulting sounds?
Slim – Of course – it’s like conjuring up a new cocktail. Steve’s scene and background is obviously alien to me (but I’m learning…) and vice verse – and you can hear this in our mixes. This said, we do have common points of interest. Disco, dancing, grooves, melody, harmony, time and space – all those things…
That’s the perfect cocktail for dance music though isn’t it… groove, melody, harmony, time, space… and I think it’s probably true for all good music, without those elements there’s no point really is there!
Slim – Nope!” That’s it…
Have you thought about stepping away from the synths and taking The Project Club in a more live band direction? Or alternatively adding a couple of squelching acid lines to Slim’s music?
Steve – This is our actual aim – In 2010, we want to take The Project Club on the road with a full band. It’s just a question of building a catalogue of music at the moment and that’ll follow, for sure. We’re both musicians and actually enjoy playing live – it’s much more inspiring than sat in front of a computer screen.
Slim – Watch this space. Our stuff will rock live. Seriously…
That must be a pretty exciting prospect for you, to take your music to a completely different arena. Watching ‘bands’ like The Chemical Brothers, Prodigy or Basement Jaxx tear the roof off festivals to hundreds of thousands of people… that’s got to be some kind of crazy buzz to experience on stage…
Steve – Yeah, this is the part I’m looking forward too… You can’t beat a live audience and both Slim and I have encountered this, but just not together in our band.
Slim – The great thing about dance music live is that it’s totally about the sound, the beats, the sonic thing – so it’s a job for life. Faithless, Massive Attack, Groove Armada, Chemicals – they’ll go forever. Fill fields at festivals forever. No-one cares about the wrinkles and grey hair!
Steve, you’re involved in the Mondo Disco, Disco not Disco and Balearica nights, can you tell us a bit more about them?
Steve – Yeah, well Disco Not Disco and residency has been running for the last 8 years in Kings cross. The night itself is held in a quirky small art-media type bar, which suits my music policy. It’s basically my home for a personal choice of music and we have a lot of fun on a Friday night.
As mentioned, I also run Mondo Disco with David Bumpstead (Twisted Tongue – Acid Jazz). We’ve been running the monthly parties at the Horse & Groom for a year, concentrating on the disco re-edit scene, various cosmic oddities and good old fashioned acid and deeper grooves. The night is probably more geared towards the dancefloor crowd and we’ve had some great guest DJ’s. The party initially was born out of the facebook group which just blew up, now with over 2000 members and we felt it was right to put on a party to represent the music shared on the group.
And, Balearica is my own little gathering with fellow spinner Graeme Fisher and in essence, it’s a mini Sunday Social with some of the big names in the world of the Balearic spirit.
The bar has a wonderful sunshine terrace and we provide beautiful Sunday music for a laid back crowd. This month I’ve stepped up the game and have invited Richard Norris (BTWS/Grid/The Time & Space Machine), Toby Tobias (Rekids) and Balearic legend Phil Mison (Cantoma) to come down and play in October
Do you ever feel like taking it out to Ibiza or somewhere a bit warmer, or perhaps closer to its roots for a season or are you happy just keeping it local?
Steve – Well, we kind of did in Croatia… I kicked off the Friday night with a Balearic set whilst the sun went down. But, to have a local night on the beach with a cheap bar has to be happy days, indeed… But, perhaps not Ibiza – I think the Balearic spirit has changed in Ibiza.
Slim – Croatia is ours soon…
Is DJ’ing important to you and is it a useful arena to try out new material and see what’s working?
Steve – DJ’ing has been part of my life for a long time and I love introducing new music to people on and off the dancefloor – and, yes, It certainly helps being able to test tracks prior to completion and getting feedback from the floor or fellow DJ’s / Producers.
Have you tried anything out that’s just bombed?
Steve – Not yet. I wouldn’t play anything I wasn’t 100% confident about. And we do have a track (“Our Town – Lights Go Down”), which I’m not confident about and that’s being reviewed and re-worked by Ray Mang. The track is just missing something and it’s too good to shelve. We feel it just needs new ears on the project and some new direction and Raj (Mang) is up for re-working the recorded elements.
Slim – Actually there are two or three things already that have been filed under ‘work-in-progress’ which we seriously need to revisit, and will. ‘Our Town’ is going to be mega – we’re sitting on it tight – but it will fly soon. I have a tendency to push things towards the poppy end of the market. I love humour and groove and harmony and the element of surprise in mixes. I did this club mix of the 808 State song ‘Pacific State’ which I was proper chuffed with – Steve dubbed it the ‘WKD stiletto club mix’ – which I think is a complement! Obviously our stuff for Balearic labels doesn’t fit this, but we will have many faces in the future. ‘Running Scared’ is another one that will soar – watch this space…
Steve – Yeah, “Running Scared” is a great track and one I feel will work better in a “live” environment.”
I’m looking forward to hearing it!!
Slim – It’s on the myspace player I think, in demo form. I’m gonna put it into some better shape soon actually. Get it rolling again…
So conversely have you tried out anything that’s been an instant success?
Steve – INTRO hit the mark the first time I played it at Mondo Disco. I was also with Ray Mang when he dropped his mix – and the crowd reaction was great on both occasions, with people asking how to purchase the track.
Slim – And just a few weeks ago, the NO LOVE remix for Mainstem did the same… Huge reaction and a lot of interest from the crowd and DJ’s, alike.
We’re like a couple of kids still with our tunes at present. Mixing down – playing rough cuts to our mates in bars just to see the reaction. Uploading to Soundcloud.com constantly. Connection is what it’s all about right?
That’s gotta be pretty satisfying, people asking what that killer tune was that you just played and being able to tell them that it’s your latest track!
It seems like your both just really enjoying yourselves with it all at the moment… it’s cool to see, I’m sure that the success of your nights has got a lot to do with that.
Steve – Yeah, It’s always wonderful to get really upfront positive feedback… And crowd reaction helps as it draws in people to the music which is being played – even better when it’s your own track.
Have you thought about or even tried combining your Project Club music with your DJ’ing? Perhaps mixing and remixing stuff live through Ableton?
Steve – I’ve done a few nights at Disco Not Disco where I’ve done a live TPC set along using ableton. I also performed LIVE at the Futuresonic Festival in Manchester – where I did my own re-version of INTRO using Ableton after spinning a 2 hour DJ set. I like to embrace various technology and formats when DJ’ing, it makes it much more fun and challenging. But, I’m equally happy with two technics and a beat up old mixer at parties.
However, Technology is moving in the right direction in terms of DJ’ing which excites me as you’re able to perform in a more unique way, edit ‘live’ on-the-fly, scratch and cut up your own samples and offer more of a show as a DJ – But, secretly, I probably just embrace technology to keep up with the kids. I certainly don’t want to be left behind…
Yeah, I hear that… I’m still vinyl only and I see adverts for these handheld wifi mp3 deck controllers and feel a bit like I must be living in the dark ages!
“Look at granddad over there with his old crackly records….”
Steve – Yeah, Absolutely… DJ Technology is moving at a rapid rate at the moment… A lot of new products coming out each month. You only have to go to your local DJ hardware store to be blown away by the gear available.”
Slim – I could get into Serrato actually. Steve’s bank balance is drained constantly by new vinyl buys. So I think I’ll just dip into my ocean of mp3s for now…
Who are some of your favorite guest DJ’s so far?
Steve – In terms of friends, my fellow resident Graeme Fisher always excites me with his blend of disco, Balearic, acid and prog-rock sounds – he has a great ear for music and I feel a natural bond to his music selection.
And, studio friend Raj (Ray Mang) – A man who can play his own material/edits for 10 hours, with everything being of the highest quality. “Not many guys can do this…”
But everyone involved in my parties are deeply talented and serve up wonderful playlists, which enables us to constantly push forward in terms of musical diversity.
Anyone that you’d like to get down to DJ that hasn’t yet?
Steve – I’d love to get Harvey, Mark E and for pure self indulgence – Ewan Pearson.
And, Rob J (Mainstem), so I can finally get to spin with him – that would be a great night.
Harvey is always a winner… I remember hearing him at The Electric Chair years ago and right in the middle of a killer set of edits and disco obscurities, totally out of nowhere, he drops LFO… the place went mental!
Steve – Christ… Yeah, that takes me right back. Harvey never fails to impress. I used to be a regular when he had his Ministry residency – simply amazing night of music which inspired me a lot to think outside the box in terms of house music, disco and what he called ‘sex music’.
Slim – Totally out of price range (no pun intended), but I’d love Stuart Price, or Norman Jay at the drop of a hat!
Vinyl or mp3?
Steve – What like, Dad or Chips? Well, at the moment I’m 60/40 – 40% being vinyl. I embrace both formats. You still can’t beat fresh vinyl being delivered to your door and record shop browsing for vinyl and CD’s – And you can’t beat the price of MP3’s.
Slim – I missed the vinyl train – for my sins, but I’m not an mp3 fan. What bugs me most is this loss of quality now the CD is dying. People have their top-notch stereos and amps at home and they’re wiring in piddly little compressed files from their IPODs.
Dad or Chips??
Steve – Sorry, yeah… It was an advert years ago – Someone asking a five year old – Dad or chips? And the kid chooses chips over their Dad.” “Your question had that kind of angle… A difficult decision right now – MP3 or Vinyl – surely time will tell?
What kind of thing would we be likely to hear you playing at Balearica / Mondo Disco?
Steve – For mondo I drop nothing but new music and will start, for example.. With the latest Claremont release going thru to new disco edits and then on to the latest Compost release. I always provide a mixed bag of new music.
As for Balearica – I try a lot of my own material with a mix of ambient, guitar driven electronica mixed with slo-disco elements – and towards the end of the night I move into some slo-mo deeper grooves around the 115bpm tempo range.
Yeah, it’s good when you’ve got control of the night as a whole rather than just a two hour slot or something… you can spend longer creating and working a vibe can’t you
Steve – Oh yeah, I much prefer a 6 hour set… But then, I did Mondo at the Weekend and had an enjoyable 2 hour set. And this weekend I’m in Manchester doing 6 hours on my own – where I can create the clichéd journey… (laughs)
So what does Balearica mean to you?
Steve – (Laughs) It was the hippy party I went to in Ibiza in the late 80’s. I was only 16. I danced all night on some very strong lsd, whilst listening to an eclectic and wonderful DJ set by a local DJ. And yeah, it was certainly a liberating night coming from the sweaty rave parties which were happening in the UK. I also had a night of passion on the beach. So, to sum it all up for me – LSD, IBIZA, SEX & HIPPY DANCE ORIENTATED MUSIC.
Slim – A warm sonic bath in magic hour – sunsets over the sea, horizontal dancing, classy records, head-nodding, fuzzy memories, and tunes you have to get the names of to put in your phone… going down / coming back up and passing people going the other way. Squelchy stuff, warm pads, filters, and MASSIVE reverbs and delays. And NO grime or bad vibe or nasty angular stuff!
Ha, I’m not keen on your bad vibe or nasty angular stuff either! (laughs)
Fond memories for you then Steve, did you get her number?!
Steve – (Laughs) “Nah, she was some crazy Glaswegian girl – very sexy – but equally mental – Not one to take home to see mum.
Have you been back there much since? The vibe’s changed a fair bit between then and now hasn’t it…
Steve – Since my first time in Ibiza I’ve been back quite a few times, but the last was a few years ago when I played at Mambo and the vibe had changed from the early days – Still good fun, but equally I felt quite saddened by the bigger clubs and their stance on the music being played. I haven’t been back since.
You’ve travelled quite a lot with your DJ’ing, can you tell us about some of your favourite gigs?
Steve – Airbound Festival this year was a major highlight – Simply wonderful venue, weather, music and people – and the Mondo team have been asked back next year… So, we must’ve done a good job.
Slim – Yeah I was there this year to watch – an amazing place that – The Garden in Petrcane in Croatia where Airbound was. We’re hoping to go back there in 2010 to do a full live set which will be crazy.
Steve – And for out-an-out crazy – It would have to be The Firehouse in Los Angeles. I spun reggae, dub and funk 45’s in this slight edgy gated private club, which was filled with gangsters, Beveley Hills 90210 type kids and the odd Hollywood celebrity. All of which were freely smoking dope, head-nodding whilst drinking Red Stripe. It was quite insane for LA – but an enjoyable evening of music and dope.
Slim – My out-and-out two favourites have to be Groove Armada at the Scala about 10 years ago. Amazing club – getting lost in the stairwells, and I had complete memory loss due to various consumption errors, but I can remember it was stella. The funniest thing was coming round to my senses just as they were dropping the trombone break in ‘At The River” and I remember thinking – what happened to the rest of the gig! I had a very bizarre UDI (unidentified drug / drink injury!) too that night, which involved two great big teeth mark cuts scored into my chin, and no memory of how, and then dripping blood all over the dancefloor, getting hauled into the club office, and refusing to go to hospital, so they slapped a whopping great blue surgical plaster on me and sent me back out. No regrets at all – I still have the scars to prove it… And only a couple of years ago, seeing Daft Punk in Hyde Park – they were absolutely phenomenal – the best outdoor sound rig I’ve ever heard, a massive neon pyramid for the decks, and the most mass-dancing in a field in Zone 1 London there’s ever been! If you ever get the chance to see Daft Punk live outside, drop everything. Seriously…
Your LA gig sounds awesome! I don’t know a lot about the US scene, but nights like Harvey’s Sarcastic Disco are massively popular so there’s obviously a really healthy vibe out there… Any plans to go back?
Steve – My best friend lives in New York – but the scene in New York is very different to London – In comparison to London, there is certainly less choice in terms of disco parties – but when they go off, they are the best parties in the world. And, I love the laid back vibe of California and would love to get out there again. I was just lucky to play out there as my day job took me out to LA for weeks on end – where I doubled it up with DJ’ing thru contacts I met at record shops etc… Soon, I hope… Soon
Croatia seems to be rapidly becoming a destination of choice for Balearic heads looking for a change from Ibiza, Airbound (that you mentioned) and the Electric Elephant seem to be getting more popular year after year…
Steve – It’s an incredibly beautiful country and the vibe of The Garden (Pinia) is perfect for that kind of music. I just hope the louts that litter other popular European music destinations don’t spoil it.
Airbound was great with my highlights being our MONDO night, Alexander Robotnik, Danny Wang and everyone who we hooked up with. Slim even got out there and I think he found it a refreshing festival, vibe and country.
Slim – Robotnik was really cool. What a great bloke – he must be drawing his pension soon but still has so much passion. My highlight in his set was his first track to drop – a rework of Le Freak by Chic and he was MCing random encouragement to everyone as it rolled – brilliant – and such an intimate festival too – these often are the best – we bumped into Robotnik on the way home at about 8am after his set. Did the embarrassing hugs and all that – very cool!
Steve – I couldn’t attend the Electric Elephant as I had UK commitments – but I think I felt the vibe through Luke Unabomber’s tweets on Twitter – I certainly think they had fun.
Luke’s a character isn’t he, (well worth following his tweets if you’re not already readers!)
Did you ever make it to The Electric Chair while it was running? What a night that was…. an anything goes music policy in a dark sweaty basement in the crappy end of Manchester… brilliant!
Steve – Yeah, my father lives up that way and I attended a couple of times on my own – but never knew anyone, but still enjoyable sweaty-dance-fueled nights.
Are you inspired by the diversity of the original Balearic and Cosmic pioneers such as say, Baldelli and the way which they worked music across all genre’s to achieve the sound they were looking for?
Steve – Hmmm, I wouldn’t say inspired. I appreciate the history of these cosmic pioneers as well as the disco, techno and house pioneers. However, diversity is paramount for me – in every aspect of my life. I think those who know me would certainly agree with that.
Yeah, diversity is definitely key, I totally agree with that, combined with a bit of zero gravity mixing…
Are there any genres that you’re definitely not into or are you willing to give anything a listen?
Steve – I don’t get dubstep – I leave that to the kids on Ketamine. And, I never been a fan of drum and bass / Jungle. But, I’m open minded and can appreciate a quality production whatever the genre… If it makes me head-nod or dance, then I’m into it.
There seems to be a real family vibe around the Mondo, DND and Balearica nights with quite a few people involved with the running of them. Is this group ethic something you encourage with your production, perhaps taking the multiple influences to sculpt your sound in different directions?
Steve – Yes, I agree… We are like a family and there’s a real shared passion of disco / Italo / Balearic / house / prog rock / acid and clubbing culture as a whole. There is a lot of music amongst everyone involved – and, I think that’s because we’re all having a mid-thirties crisis and want to remain young and keep the magic alive.
But, seriously, everyone on the scene is connected and we’re all pretty close, especially in East London. It’s a naturally friendly vibe where a lot of parties work alongside each other with mutual respect in what we offer and bring to the clubbing square mile of Shoreditch/Hoxton.
In Music Terms, I think I’m influenced by everything in my life. It would be hard to pin point. But, I’m all up for collaborations and moving forward. I mean, look at the DOVES and how they moved forward – They started with Balearic-ambient, then dance music with Sub-Sub finally becoming one of Manchester’s loveable indie bands. I can see The Project Club moving in that direction…
Yeah, I love digging out old Sub Sub tunes for Doves fans and they’re like eh… really?
The secret has just been consistently good music for them though hasn’t it.
Steve – Yeah, “PAST” was an incredible tune and one I still play today – in fact, I think I have a signed white label in the shelves.
Slim – ‘Spaceface’ by Sub Sub is ace. They’ve closed a few Doves sets with that one. The funny thing with that one though is that a lot of the indie-heads don’t know it, and even though it’s an in-your-face disco hit, at Doves gigs no-one knows it – so the crowd is a bit static where they should be jumping crazy at it. Maybe that’s our mission – to break down the rock / dance barricade and get everybody dancing!
I’m new to this scene as you know but I can safely say I’ve been taken under various wings – they are a big fuzzy family of friendliness – Mondo, DND, Balearica – all of them. Many messy nights at all the residencies have attested to this!
Steve – Yeah, they do get a bit messy – mainly due to the vast amounts of alcohol we consume over 8 hours….
I can’t recount the number of messy alcohol related DJ’ing catastrophe’s I’ve had over the years, you got any good one’s you can remember?
Steve – Countless… Just the weekend gone past with Phil Mison – I picked up the wrong needle – Always beer related, but yeah… I could tell a million stories. My best being with Carl Cox, who blew up a bass bin after being told not to go in the red – Anyway this sub bass was mounted in a wall and subsequently it caught fire, in the wall – So we had to get 2500 people evacuated out of a club – And that’s 2500 totally spangled people being evacuated on a Sunday morning… Absolute nightmare!
Slim – The ‘wrong needle’ Steve? That’s dangerous. My DJ experience is confined to playing ‘guilty pleasures’ sets at random parties (yeah whatever…) – and the best catastrophe so far is forgetting the power supply to Steve’s better half’s laptop, and the bloody thing launching into this ear-screeching ‘low battery’ warning bleeps half-way through my set. Deafening. Embarrassing too – but being a true pro, she had packed the leads under the decks. Phew…
Steve – I was more concerned about the tight white tee shirt and the policemans hat you were wearing… talk about G.A.Y. disco – You were only missing the handlebar moustache (Laughs)
Your first release ‘Intro’ is just about to come out on is it Balearic…? Are you excited, and what has the advance response been like?
Steve – Yes, I’m excited.
The advance response so far has been really positive. Luke Unabomber smashed it at the Electric Elephant and has called it “A timeless Balearic classic” and Paathan from BBC radio had it on rotation constantly, dropped it on his show after quoting it as “Out and Out Balearicism”. I personally think INTRO is a great package – and offers a mix for everyone.
Slim – It’s great because it was the first one we took out of The Project Club box. It’s fresh, yes timeless. It’s what we do but it’s also a promise of much more to come. And it’s my first ever work on vinyl which I can’t wait to run my hands over!
One for the mantle piece eh… (remember to keep the fire off!)
Slim – Yeah don’t leave it in the sun. I made a lovely Kettle Chip bowl out of a dead, scratched to death Xpress2 12 inch the other day actually. There’s a hole in the middle though so no liquids allowed. Strictly crisps and other dried snacks…
Steve – Funny you mention that – I managed to melt a record on the radiator in Kings Cross last winter… Gem of a record too – gutted.
How did you get involved with the is it Balearic guys?
Steve – I had booked the guys to DJ at Balearica, but that fell thru, so I booked them for Mondo, purely on the basis that I was a fan of their label and had seen Tim’s name around since the Venus days. Ampo had listened to our myspace page and instantly took a liking to INTRO. So, the deal was done over a beer when they came to play at Mondo.
How did the Mainstem and Ray Mang remixes come about?
Steve – I met Raj (Ray Mang) at a night where we were both DJ’ing. We then discovered that we were in-fact neighbours. So, I invited him over for a coffee and it all went from there. I’ve always been a fan of his work and still now I keep finding music he has been involved with. Anyway, We’ve become good friends and even at the start it was a natural choice to get him involved. I’ve also used his studio to QA our final mixes and to get a second opinion on working progress mixes.
I discovered Mainstem via some mysterious MP3’s hitting my inbox. And, I liked what they were doing, but didn’t actually know the guys behind the name. However, over time and via network connections, Rob hooked up with me and we had lengthy online chats about the current scene, history, and our own productions and by mutual respect – we agreed for them to remix INTRO. And subsequently, we’ve just finished a remix for them, which will be released later in the year.
Your musical network and this family vibe are obviously a big part of what you’re about. You’ve got the contacts, the studio and the reputation, have you ever considered just starting your own label and taking it to the next level?
Slim – Yeah we’re almost a one-stop-shop. We can do the audio recording, the mixing, the programming, the mastering, even the artwork, so it’s nearly there already.
Steve – I’m in the process of starting an agency for DJ’s in our field, I guess the label follows that…
What other artists are doing it for you at the moment?
Steve – I’m really loving where floating points are coming from and feel I’m on the same wavelength in my DJ sets. On a similar vibe – Mark E’s output always has my support. “Still Going” “Holy Ghost” & “House Of House” offer great music along with pretty much all of DFA’s output.
On the 4/4 deeper house side of things, people like Ewan Pearson, John Daly, Zwicker, A Mountain Of One and labels like Mule, Tirk, Nang, Permanent Vacation, Mood, Drumpoet Community and Compost always hit the mark.
Richard Norris’s “The Time & Space Machine” and “The Phenomenal hand clap band” are great – And, I can see The Project Club going down that direction – more live sounding, big drums and guitars. Adult-orientated-Prog-disco.
AOPD! I like it!!
It’s tricky thought isn’t… adult orientated dance music that’s credible but still has a commercial edge that’s gonna shift units.
You’re right about DFA, they’ve done it brilliantly, what with The Rapture, LCD Soundsystem, Juan Mclean…. Can you see any similarities with what they’re doing and your vision for The Project Club?
Steve – I think of DFA being quite raw – Most of their releases always have a raw analogue feel. I don’t think we quite compare, as we like a lush sound. But you never know… I’m in the process of writing a gritty-raw-DFA type track at the moment – which’ll need live drums and guitars.
Slim – My tips and tracks are a bit more ‘off-message’ or ‘throw a six and catch up’ tracks. My favourites over the last few months (and these are all oldies but hey ho) are Riz Ortolani’s Cannibal Holocaust theme music – just beautiful and creepy and poetic all at once, the old 90s disco remix of Chris Rea’s Josephine which is total disco heaven in an Edwards / Rodgers kind of way, Talking Heads ‘This Must Be The Place’ which is a cut from their 80’s LP ‘Speaking In Tongues’ which I was blown away by on a boat party in Croatia with Airbound this summer – it must’ve been massive in Ireland as all the punters knew every word!
I’m the mainstream “indie” dude in this so don’t expect rare 12” tips from Slim – but I’m loving Pnau, Empire Of The Sun, and Ladyhawke this year – there’s a real class and sense of fun about all those antipodeans making this kind of music at present. In a way though, as I don’t DJ and I’m constantly working on my music or other people’s, I don’t get to dig that deep in the crates. I still get the biggest hit of all from playing back something I’ve been working on all day – proper loud in the cans and dancing round the room! The best high out there!
I haven’t heard the Cannibal Holocaust theme music, I’ll have to check it out.
Slim – It’s deep, dark, and beautiful” I love the juxtaposition of light and shade. Like that Bond film where the villain is feeding some goon to the sharks, and they’re playing ‘Air On A G String’ or something. Top stuff – or in Casino where Joe Pesci is getting baseball batted to death and Scorcese drops the beautiful coda outro to Layla. Magic!
Talking horror soundtracks, have you heard the Goblin tracks that have been re-edited recently? I’m yet to get hold of them but I bet there’s a gold mine of old horror soundtrack stuff that’s waiting to be rediscovered…
John Carpenter’s stuff is amazing too…
Steve – I wouldn’t say it was my kind of sound I play-out, but I do have a few tracks from Goblin and a lot of John Carpenter stuff.
What do you think about the scene as a whole at the moment?
Steve – I think the whole East London disco-italo -house-balearic scene is great and yet, still feels underground – and the plus is that it’s all on my doorstep, with so many great producers, parties and DJ’s within the area. Manchester, Glasgow and Leeds also have a strong following for this vibe and I like the intimate following. But yeah, it’s certainly a refreshing way forward for club music and a nice bunch of people involved.
Can you tell us a bit about the track that you’ve given our readers to download?
Steve – I’ll let Andy tell you about Do You Remember When? I need to go to the toilet
Slim – This is a re-work of the 808 State classic ‘Pacific State’. That track was built around the sax hook of the original – which is totally unmistakable. We wanted to take it in a ‘Project Club’ direction whilst still paying homage. Steve hit me up with some synth pads and acidy arpeggios, I added loads of guitars, and reworked the famous riff on my Telecaster with an ebow and tonnes of delay. Just sort of all slotted into place.
I also went off on one while I was at it and did a disco club mix (the ‘WKD stiletto Club mix’!). Steve told me he was calling it ‘Do You Remember When?’ in deference to the original and all the memories it will conjure up, and I ended up doing loads of Chic guitars, funky basslines, and stabby vocoder vocal harmonies for that. We need to put this out at some stage too! But yeah the free download is beauty – really classy. It just makes total sense…
I was gonna ask you about this earlier actually when you mentioned Edwards / Rodgers… You can play the instruments, you’re into the vibe so do you ever get the urge to just get disco with it all more often?
Steve – Slim always wants to go disco… (Laughs)
Slim – Yeah he keeps me in check the bastard. You’ll never beat ‘Good Times’ for a bassline. It’s the total blueprint for everything in that scene since. The use of silence, space, rhythm – Bernard Edwards was a bassline god. RIP
So what have you guys got lined up next?
Steve – I’m working on a few projects with DJ’s, a hip Hop collaboration with a new up & coming rapper and I’ve also started on some new TPC material – slightly different from our last few tracks.
Slim – Like Steve said we’re always up for mixing up the creative process so for the next one I’m going to hit him up with some basslines, guitar grooves, a BPM and maybe a vocal hook, and see where he takes it – then he’ll bust it back to me, and we get it good, and we unleash it on you lot! It’s gonna be special though – trust me…
Ok, let’s get some quick charts from you both…
All time classics:
E2-E4 – Manuel Gottschling
Gerry Rafferty – “If You Get It Wrong, Get it Right Next Time”
Steely Dan – “Do It Again”
Dennis Parker “Fly Like An Eagle”
Tears For Fears – “Pharoahs”
Chris Rea – “Josephine” (the disco remix)
Balearica classics:
Sade – “Paradise”
808 State – “Pacific State”
Business Man – “Dubby Games”
Anything from Claremont 56
John Martyn – “Sunshines Better” (the Café Del Mar remix)
Am I allowed The Orb’s “Little Fluffy Clouds”?
Mondo Hot Tunes:
Floating Points – “Vacuum Boogie e.p.”
Zwicker – Who Are You? Feat. Heidi Happy
Andrew Weatherall – “Built Back Higher” (Radical Majik Remix)
Hot Toddy – “I Need Love”
Lusine – Baffle (Steve Lee’s extended Edit)
Where should we point our readers if they wanted to get hold of your Project Club tracks or find out when the next Balearica / MD nights are?
www.myspace.com/thisistheprojectclub
Balearica:
24th October @ Roadtrip feat. HPA & Steve Lee
31st October @ Roadtrip feat. Richard Norris, Toby Tobias and Graeme Fisher
Mondo:
17th October @ The Horse & Groom feat. Polaroid, Dave Jay, Graeme Fisher & Steve lee
Disco not Disco every Friday @ The Lincoln Lounge, Kings Cross
INTRO will be available at all good independent record stores and Juno for mail-order.
Any last words?
Steve – Thanks for having us, enjoy the mix, the track and Is it finally time for 3 O’clock beers?”
Slim – Followed by bacon sarnies, rocket-fuel coffee, and chats with the neighbours cats, and then back to the guitars and the edits… ahhhh…
Steve, Slim, thanks again for taking time out of your schedule to talk to us, it was great chatting to you guys and we wish you every success for the future, with The Project Club and for your forthcoming LP and we’re looking forward to seeing the finished product live on stage in 2010!
The Electric Disco
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The Electric Disco presents “The Project Club mix” Click here to listen now
Exclusive Project Club download – “Do you remember when?” Click here to download
