Alex Arnout Interview by Henry Rumour

A short interview with Alex Arnout made by Henry Rumour for Burlingtonproject

Disclaimer: The article below has been contributed by the event promoter or somebody representing the event promoter. As such we take no responsibility for accuracy of the content and any views expressed are not necessarily those of Skiddle or our staff.

Date published: 17th Sep 2012

What have you been up to recently outside the studio?

- There's isn't much happening outside the studio for me at the minute, I seem to be locked in there! I went out to Ibiza for the openings and played at the Fuse Ibiza after party recently, then spent some time in Amsterdam. Apart from that, I seem to be tied to my mac.

And inside the studio? Who you been working with?

- I work with quite a wide range of people, I like to jam and see what happens. It gets a bit monotonous trying to make music on your own and I'm kind of set in my ways to a certain extent, so it's good to work with other people and get out of your comfort zone once in a while. Recently I've been working with Clive Henry, Maya Jane Coles, Stojche, Enzo Siragusa and Seb Zito. They all have their own style and sets of ideas and that makes it more interesting for me.

What is your current studio set up?

- I've pretty much gone back to an analogue set up, I was finding the software synths a bit thin in sound and lacking in depth.

I use Ableton with an Akai APC 40, the Moog "little Phatty" Stage2, a Nord Wave synth, the Prophet 8 and Elektron's Machinedrum with a Soundcraft desk. I find my tracks are a bit warmer these days :)

How would you describe your productions?

- Organic. I don't really plan tracks or cater my sound for certain labels, I genuinely don't know what's going to come out at the end of a session. I can have a general idea of what I want to make but 60% of the time that morphs into something completely different.

Who has influenced you musically?

- Music in general, it's not fair for me to mention one person or band in particular as I've always listened to a broad range of music growing up, and been influenced by different artists at different times for different reasons. But nothing quite grabbed me as much as the first time I heard house music on those old ' House Sounds Of Chicago' albums in '86/87. It definitely triggered something in me that I still feel to this day.

Guilty pleasures! What music do you secretly get down to?

- All sorts really, I'm partial to a bit of jazz from time to time. I also quite like Fela Kuti, I like to get away from electronic based music and dissecting tracks as I listen to them, so these genres of music are great. My guiltiest pleasure is 80's music tho, it was the background to my youth and it brings good memories back when I hear tracks from that era.

Have you ever cleared the dance floor? Tell us about it!

- Quite often! I used to work the clubs in Tenerife in the early 90's. There must have been 60-70 clubs and bars on a 100 meter strip of road. All the clubs were free and quite close to each other, so if you played a couple of tracks the crowd didn't like, they'd simply go next door! It really taught me to watch my dancefloor and to make sure I kept a vibe up.

What record never leaves your box?

- There's a couple really, Dj Koze's 'All The Time' seems to be a permanent fixture in there but there's one tune that probably holds the record, Mood 2 Swings's 'Do It Your Way', it's been in there since I bought it in '96.

If you were not working in music what would you be doing?

-Trying to get into music.

What advice would you give yourself if you could speak to you 10 years ago?

- If your car breaks down, don't take it to Marshall's Motor repairs!!

There is no ambivalence in your label name and outwardly it feels like a labels label, not being sucked into the race for Beatport chart exposure etc. Tell us a bit about your Dogmatik imprint.

- Dogmatik came about because I wanted to do things my way and push and develop new quality artists that weren't necessarily in the public eye. It also came about because I wanted to release quality music, I'd been dj'ing for about 15 years and worked for a couple of labels by the time I'd started Dogmatik, so I felt I was in a good position to start something with a bit of substance. With Dogmatik I've not really been interested in following the latest musical fashions, there has been a lot of house music made in the last 20 years and I wanted to showcase the many genres of house rather than base my label on the sounds that are in vogue at that time. As a result Dogmatik has organically grown into what it is today.

Can you tell us about your latest release: Stojche - The Old Bill EP - Dog013

- Stojche is a young producer from Macedonia. He sent me a demo nearly a year ago, his stuff is quality. You can tell he spends a lot of time on his tracks and the detail and sonics are really great. The Old Bill Ep is his second release on Dogmatik. I didn't really intend on doing the remix but I'd been messing around with the parts and sent him what I had done. He loved it and persuaded me to release it along with his EP. I wasn't sure at first but the response I've had for the remix has been great, so well done Stojche!

You put me onto Maya Jane Coles fairly recently, how did you come across her and what can we expect from her on your label and in the future?

- Maya got in touch with me on myspace, I think she was about 18 at the time but her production skills outweighed a lot of producers I was hearing. I was interested in releasing Maya's music and kept in touch with her via myspace and emails until I bumped into her at a party. We've been friends ever since and I see great things happening for her. Maya has had 4 releases on Dogmatik so far and she has another one, her 'Cool Down EP', due for release in Aug/Sept. I like her sound, she doesn't really pay much attention to what other producers are doing and writes from the heart. Exactly what I look for in an artist. Maya's already got herself onto several labels and has started a band Called 'She Is Danger', which has already got them remixing Massive Attack and Groove Armada. The sky really is the limit for this one.

What else can we expect from your upcoming releases on Dogmatik?

- I've recently signed a track by up and coming producer Floyd Lavine. He seems to be going a different way with his sound, and I'm glad I caught him on the cusp of where he's heading. That'll be coming out with a Tom Demac Remix. I've also signed a Claire Ripley EP which I'm really happy with and that should be coming out with a Bearweasel Remix, so I'm looking forward to the next few months.

Can you give us 3 tracks that have been rocking your world this summer?

- Dj Koze- Rue Burnout

- Erdbeerschnitzel- Tonight is Today Is Tomro (Arto Mwambe Remix)

- Caribou- Sun

And one artist / DJ to look out for

- Arto Mwambe

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