The Plug
The Soma Records 20th Anniversary boxset just arrived, with a mix from yourself and Graeme. How did you choose the tracks?
“To be honest it was actually quite challenging, as you can imagine, because basically we had to condense 20 years of music into 80 minutes. We started off with maybe 40 tracks, and obviously there were a few stonewall classics we kind of had to put on there, and it would have been silly not to put them on.
“So things like Alive and Positive Education were essential. But also we wanted to reflect the label in terms of style, and were looking to put something of ourselves in there, as DJs and producers. It was a real privilege and an honour for the guys to ask us to compile a back catalogue of that quality, and a very enjoyable experience.
So how did your approach to the mix differ from the usual club sets you guys play?
“Yeah, it wasn't too far off really. I mean the great thing about it was that the production on some of those old tracks was so good we had no problem getting a coherent mood to it all. In all honesty every track on there you could still play today, easily.”
You recently launched a remix competition asking fans to submit alternative versions of Feeling Blue. How did that happen?
“We were just approached, and asked if we'd like to do it. It's obviously quite difficult, but we thought it needs a good track to work, with decent vocal sections and stuff to play around with, so picked Feeling Blue.
“It's going to be great hearing all the entries properly. Some of them are deeper, sort of dubby type stuff, there's a dubstep track with some huge synths too, it's really interesting to see what people are doing with the original, and I'm sure we'll need a while to get through everything.”
Is there anything that you're looking for in particular?
“I'm not too sure yet. Graham and I will have to have a long chat, or maybe we won't- who knows. We just want something that's cool, different and surprising. The ones we have had so far have been great, so we're optimistic about the results.”
In terms of Soma as a label then, you still think the camp can cut it amongst all these younger imprints?
“Yes, I think it's as musically relevant as it ever was to be honest. A lot of the newer acts on the label, they're definitely moving things forward in terms of techno. And a lot of them have their own club nights going on, so it's actually a really good time for everyone involved.”
The Issues
Last year you were nominated for DJ Mag's Best of British in Production and Album categories. Is there still a place for music journalism in the digital age?
“Er, that's a good question. Yeah, I think it's really important for artists still, because if people were making music but nobody knew what was coming it would be very unfortunate. I can see that web based stuff is getting more popular, as you would imagine. But things like DJ and Mixmag are still held in pretty high regard.”
You once turned down an approach to appear on Top of the Pops. Where do you stand on dance music performed for TV audiences?
“From my perspective it's a case of ‘is it something you're into'. That's due to the way we think about electronic music, and our background. I don't see any problem in principle, dance music has a huge global following now so you expect to have things like that, but in terms of that particular gig it just wasn't for us at the time.”
You've been remixed by a vast amount of people. Anyone you'd like to have work on you?
“Well it's great actually. We have got pretty much the final release from the Soma 20th Anniversary celebrations, which is, I think, a 16-track Silicone Soul remixes album, which will be out in January. So we approached the artists to invite them to turn in some remixes, and they've all contributed some fantastic work.
“People like Sascha Funke and Maetrik have got involved, and also some of the guys on our own label like Of Norway and Freska, so there's quite a variety on there.
“Our choices were basically made from whether we liked the tune to play out as DJs, and if we liked the producer's music to play out as DJs, so it should be good. We're also doing a mix of the remixes as a bonus to go with it all so it's looking really cool, and with all those I don't think we need to think about any other remixers yet!”
Soma Records – 20 Years is available now on triple CD and digital
