[wpaudio url="http://www.boysnoize.com/blog/?p=2045" text="Strip Steve's ABC MIX"]
The excellent producer and DJ Théo Pozoga, better known as Strip Steve, has been quite restless after releasing his second EP in November, Delta Disco, a successor to his Skip School EP. There’s a remixes EP coming up very soon to go with Delta Disco, which will have remixes done by a handful of producers on it including Ian Pooley and Crystal. The track listing looks very promising and the French Berliner is set to release yet another lovely piece of art on Boys Noize Records! In the meanwhile he has been working on some new collaborations with Das Glow amongst others (about which we will hear more soon), and he has been producing material for other artists as well. Next to that he has been lively cutting and pasting film reel, and supposedly has some cinematographic goods in store for us. The Strip-Steve-Suspense is killing us right now and we are very psyched to hear and see what he has created. We recently got the chance to shoot him over some of our questions on electronic music ethics, and got some brilliant comparisons in return that covered both Mick Jagger and Detroit techno. If you want to know the details on what Strip Steve has been (and will be up) to and whether he will ever sing over any of his tracks, you’ve come to the right place..
TRUANTS: Hey, how’ve you been? STRIP STEVE: I’m good! I just finished a promotional mix and I’m working on my new EP and a couple of remixes. I’ve done one for two Japanese guys called Myss, which will be out on Roc Trax rec, and one for Tommie Sunshine, for Ultra. And other projects you’ll know about soon..
What, besides music, draws your interest? I like photography and cinema. I’ve done little videos for friends. I’m gonna work on a music video for another friend of mine soon, you’ll see soon. It’s exciting! My main love is music though, it has always been one. Before I started doing music I was doing grafitti and that was pretty important to me at the time too. I kept all my photos from the time I did graffiti. I did it for a time and it was fun but after a while I lost the excitement of spraying.
How did your taste in music develop over the years? A long time ago I started listening to rap and started to get into indie rap and underground New York stuff that was based around electronic composed music. Eventually I discovered the BPitch Label and artists like Feadz & Modselektor. They were doing electronic music that was based on hip-hop feeling to me. Then following that, I just pulled the string of history, with the help of a software called “Soulseek”, browsing through thousand of folders, listed by genres, years, BPM, haha!
I listen to a lot of different types of music all the time, I’ve been doing this all my life. I love rock music, with soul & disco, it’s probably what I listen to the most. I have to keep listening to a lot of different music to keep myself entertained. I’ve been listening to rock, rap and techno indifferently for the last ten years, I never believed in a way of the genre mixing however. Having a rapper purely rapping over an electro beat is not really what I’m into… Genres can mix though if it’s done in a fresh and indirect way, but most of the time it’s just a crossover that eats eachother i think. Imagine Mick Jagger singing over Detroit techno, now that would be weird. Also, a techno remix of Bowie will always suck, there’s a reason…
What elements does a song need to be good, if not perfect? The rhythm is very important to me. I don’t think you can have a good track when you don’t have a good rhythm. Some tracks that I absolutely love are only a beat with some decorative elements thrown in there. Some tracks are only made of a sample cut with a kick, like Sound hack. If the cut has a good rhythm, then you’re set. Green Velvet’s Flash is actually just a drumroll and a voice. It’s perfect! Thomas Bangalter’s Spinal Beat, that’s the same. Only a rhythm and a scratch, these two are good examples.
If you could live out any collaboration, what would it be? My ideal collaboration with anyone, I’d say Michael Jackson of course. If I would have the chance to do a track with Michael Jackson I wouldnt try to do a pop song, because he already nailed that. I’d do an acid line, a swinging beat and just him moaning over it, haha.
What are your future plans? There will be more collaborations coming up than before, I’m doing some tracks with Das Glow and other people I can`t name… There’s also an Australian tour coming up with Das Glow, I’m really looking forward to that! It’s the first time I do a tour with him. He’s a good friend of mine, I love what he plays and how he plays it. It struck me how he’s communicating with the crowd and he’s so much into it what he plays, it’s ridiculous.
How would you define a good DJ-set? First, play what other people don’t play out usually. Actually, a better first is to play good music maybe, haha. Try to throw your own style into your set. I try to play what people don’t hear a lot, and mix old school techno and house with what’s going on right now. I try to make the sound fit in a way that people can dance to what’s going on right now but also understand the history behind it. I want them to rave to things from twenty years ago in the same way they would rave to contemporary hits. I think my crowds actually understand what I do. I don’t have the chance to talk to them very often but from what I read on the internet they quite ‘get it’. Some people message me for tracks which is cool, they should be interested in what used to go on. For lots of people electronic music is Justice and Soulwax but it started and happened way before!
What do you think about DJs who sing over their sets? Green Velvet [who was playing that night] sings over his DJ-sets, it’s the first time I really experienced something like this. I saw a DJ do it once before and I thought it was funny. We heard you sang last time you were in Amsterdam.. Oh no! You were there? When I was singing? Oh no – that’s emberassing, haha! I’d love to sing over my tracks actually, but I just can’t sing. As a musician, I think I know the melodies and harmonics and I can hear them exactly in my head but when it gets out of my mouth is just awful! It’s really weird! Singing lessons? No, I don’t have time for that! I’m teaching myself to do music now, it’s difficult enough! ?
