Interview : Legowelt

edu10 · #1 viernes 28 agosto de 2009, 19:53

Synth stories from the man who does not stop.

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Cita:

In the mid-90s, the strange connection between the Netherlands and the electronic strongholds of Detroit and Chicago ran deep: labels like DJAX, Eevolute and 100% Pure both released original music that wore its inspiration proudly, and pushed the authentic sound of the cities into Europe. Despite a brief fallow period at the end of the decade, the tradition continues today. And at the heart of it is Danny Wolfers aka Leogwelt, the restless synth enthusiast with the stream of aliases, and a seemingly unending enthusiasm for all things raw, jacking and Italo. With his ‘Vatos Locos’ now available on CD, Kenny Hanlon grabbed 15 minutes of his time…

What originally got you into making music?

At the beginning of the ‘90s, you had a lot records from Detroit and Chicago coming into The Hague. They were on the radio (and) I liked them very much. I thought, ‘Maybe i can do that too. I bought a synth and that's how it started. And then I bought some more synths and kept on going from there

Though you are known mainly as Legowelt, over the years you've also developed many aliases – including Nacho Patrol, Salamander, Danny Blanco and Smackos - how do you decide what gets released as which?

They are most of the times different types of music, different characteristics and atmospheres - a Salamandar track you can definitely hear is different to a Legowelt track. It's made by a different person in my mind but I'm not schizophrenic or anything! But that's kind of like the concept. Also the ambient stuff like Smackos, that is also completely different to Legowelt. I try to use different production techniques for each of them.

So would you use certain equipment for different projects…

Yes, certainly. For like the Phalangius album, I just used to the Juno 106, and say for another album it’s another synth that I normally never use. Then for the Legowelt stuff, I use everything! And I think then it’s the most commercially viable music - people can dance to it more.

You mention how the music from Chicago and Detroit were such a big influence on you and The Hague. With somewhere like The Hague I see how it's scene has developed as also being influenced by those cities; small groups of artists and labels working together, a sense of community.

Yeah, I'd agree they did have a big influence on The Hague. Say especially Underground Resistance, (that( was a big influence on Bunker Records. Bunker was supposed to be kind of The Hague's version of them. Also the mentality that comes with that - the labels have a laissez faire attitude, there's no contracts, no one is tied to a certain label or anything like that.

Part of that scene now is your own Strange Life imprint. What was your intentions on setting up that label, or are you making it up as you go along?

I did it just because I had theses Smackos tracks and I thought it would be fun to release them on CDr and people liked them, so i made another one and another one… and then people said why don't you release some vinyl, so that started too. Now it’s up to 32 releases and is going pretty well.

Many of the albums on that label have these seemingly bizarre back-stories, as if you've discovered these lost albums by old artists. I take it you made all that up and it's all your own work?!

There is a background story to every release, yes. I think it's quite important these days as there is so much coming out, so it gives you a little extra. Not all music needs that but for the CDs it works pretty well where you've got like 16 tracks, like an imaginary soundtrack.

You are pretty famous for your live shows, where you perform fully with only hardware. More and more these days many just opt for laptops and midi controllers. Does that bother you?

Nah, it's the same as using a laptop but it's with machines. You can do the same with a laptop. It doesn't bother me. I guess it gives something extra to the live show for the gearspotters or something, that's basically it, because most people don't care about it.

Your live shows vary quite a lot from acid to more disco influenced sounds and whatever in between. When or how do you decide what sort of show you'll do on a night.

It varies all the time. Sometimes iI know what sort of club it is, what sound they are gonna like or something. But most of the time i just do what I want.

Has that ever backfired?

Yeah, lots of times, ha ha! Like when i had the ‘Disco Rout’ record on Cocoon and it was in the dance charts in Germany. I was booked into these big clubs for a lot of money, I would bring the Bunker guys with me and we would play for like three hours. Play Chicago and Italo and lot of rooms would just empty in five minutes. We'd never get invited back - but it was fun!

Have you ever felt that ‘Disco Rout’ (originally released in 2002 and later championed by Sven Vath) was like a noose around your neck?

No, because it opened a lot of doors for me. People still ask me to play it but I rarely do. But like when I went to Brazil last year to tour for the first time I would play it there - I don’t know if it would be dangerous there for me not to! So I thought, maybe I should. But like in England they don't really know about it or care so I don't have to play it.

I know when Jeff Mills played in Dublin not too long ago he got a lot of abuse shouted it at him for not playing ‘The Bells’…

Ha ha! Yeah, if there are people that are angry, I don't care. If they like that song they'll like some of my other stuff too.

You've mentioned the likes of the early Chicago tracks being a huge influence, is there new music today that inspires or excites you in a similar fashion?

Well, with Chicago and all that, it will never happen again because back then it was so special, it was a completely new sound. But sometimes you can hear something you like that's interesting. The last thing for me was Terrence Dixon, because he has a really weird production style or something that's completely his own. He's got these very special melodies and basslines, that for me was kind of a sound I would like to make, it made sense in my head. There are probably a few other things, but i can't remember them right now!

What with the retro influences and the devotion to hardware does that other bastion of the old school, vinyl, mean much to you? Is it important for you to get your music released that way?

Well yeah, people expect it. Some wont buy CDs, they only want vinyl. Personally, I think vinyl is going end sooner or later. It's not going go on forever. At some point in the future there will be no vinyl. If you think logically about it, it makes sense. It's not handy. Yes, it's nice that there's a cover and you have it to hold, but there is also the sound quality. I know this is a very dangerous subject, but CD sounds better than vinyl. A vinyl has a certain amount of space and when you hear nearly all music today its mastered really badly, they just bump it up. People don't know but at the end of a vinyl certain frequencies disappear and they don't master it for the position on the records. Like in the ’70s, when vinyl sounded great, they knew about that. Now they just bump it up and normalise it on a computer and send it off. The quality of music on vinyl, how it is mastered has gone down dramatically. I'm not anti-vinyl, because I release on it and I buy it, but I'm not like ‘I must defend the vinyl’. At the end, it’s about the music, not the format. People just have to get used to it. And like today most music comes from a CD or computer anyways.

Do you still record to tape?

Yeah, but i have to supply it on CD or as a file. But I have to say again, I'm not a vinyl hater! I'm just trying to be realistic.

Finally, what are your plans for yourself and the label for the future?

I'm just keep on continuing with the releases. With the label its a nice thing to do. I've DJ Overdose release coming out on vinyl, I've another three CDs and in September there'll be a lot of new stuff. Lots of new artists and also some famous people...

Source - Interview : Legowelt