dance 'til you're dead

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A serious music collector since thirteen years old, host of an amazing radio show called Under The Stars and general ambassador of everything balearic and disco – Under The Stars via Real House Radio is a weekly broadcast hosted by deejay and producer Andrew Clarke. In addition to answering some questions about deejaying and his more recent interest in producing (which he’s quite good at) Andrew put together an hour mix as part of our “Matte Over Gloss” series. The mix features a new release from Ejeca and some other not so new bits and pieces; of those including a PBR Streetgang remix for Eddie C. See the mix and tracklisting below the interview:

dd

Since I know you’ve been a serious music collector for some time, at what point did you make the transition from listening to deejaying to producing. Please tell us about that. And, for those out there looking to make a similar transition, do you have a pointers?

I started really getting into music when I was about 13.  My friends older brother was into New Order, Depeche Mode etc. and that had a real influence on me.  I got really into New Order (still am) and started buying vinyl so by the time I got into balearic/house music at about 16/17 years old I already had a large selection of music.  I was always asked to dj at house parties because I had decks and records and that really continued up until about 3 years ago when I first tried my hand at edits.  I think if you’ve never used a music programme prior or have no musical training (like me), starting with edits is a good way to learn how to use music programmes and then gradually work up to trying to produce your own stuff.

Will you please introduce Under the Stars and talk about how you wound up there?

Under The Stars is a radio show that I started just in December 2011 on www.realhouseradio.com.  I saw something on Facebook asking if dj’s were interested in doing a show.  I know other people who do shows on various different web radio stations and always fancied giving it a go, so I put myself forward, they checked out my Soundcloud and they liked what they heard!!

How do you go about choosing tracks when you deejay and secondly where do you find new music. Do you have any particular sources? Any favorite blogs for that matter?

It really depends on the gig and if I’m playing earlier or later on.  If playing earlier I’ll pick lower tempo stuff and probably mix genres a lot more whilst if playing later on pick more uptempo house/disco stuff with a few favourites thrown in.  As for finding new music, its mostly from Soundcloud or on Junodownload but I do check a few blogs out for older disco/house stuff such as Bicep, House Of Disco, In The Deep End, SlothBoogie and of course Dance ‘Til Your Dead!!

What is currently more important to you, deejaying or producing? As I deejay myself, what’s the most distinguishing difference between the two? Or, do you think they go hand in hand?

I think the producing is more important to me at the moment just because I’m still new to it and learning all the time.  I’ve always loved dj’ing and still do but unfortunately, I think dj’ing is/has become a by product of producing. Up until 18 months months ago I had never really played outside my home town but since I started producing, I’ve been able to dj in some fantastic places!!

What was your first concert experience?

It was 26th March 1989 to see New Order at Birmingham NEC.  I was still a school and went with a couple of friends and was the first proper gig I’d been too.  The support band was a certain group called Happy Mondays.

Where are you from originally? And where are you living now?

I was born in London and lived there till I was about 8.  We then moved up to Burnley, Lancashire (30 miles from Manchester) and I’ve lived here ever since!!

Before you got into disco and balearic, what were you listening to? What tipped you off to disco in the first place?

As I said earlier I was really into New Order and other bands like Talk Talk and Big Audio Dynamite before I got into house/balearic.  But it wasn’t until about 4 or 5 years ago that I started listening to and delving deeper into disco.  I suppose a lot of dj’s I was listening to at the time would mix up house/disco/edits etc and I would then try and find out more about the tracks (especially the edits) and before I knew it I was converted.

Where have you been playing lately? (talk about some of your past gigs please)

Over the last 18 months I’ve been lucky enough to play in Brighton, Bucharest, Manchester & Oslo.  I’ve met some fantastic people and made some great friends.  The gig in Manchester was quite special as it was at a venue called Band On The Wall which I been too to see many bands over the years, so that was cool.  Obviously, getting to travel abroad is fantastic and I try and make sure I have a bit of time to have a look around and do the tourist thing!

Who is handling your booking? For those aspiring to play in front of real audience, what do you recommend first?

I don’t have an agent so promoters tend to book me directly.  I’m sure having an agent may get you more bookings but you have to work your way up before that can happen.  Obviously, producing raises your profile and being a good dj also helps!!

Who are your top picks for the New Year. (please give 3 artists)

Its really hard to pick only 3 as last year there were so many fantastic producers breaking through but If I had to pick 3, I would pick Slow Hands, Rocco Raimundo and Psychemagik.

On the production tip, what kind of hardware are you using when you remix or produce something? Have any of your productions (or remixes) been signed yet? If so, where can we find them?

I’m using Logic 9 with a basic MIDI keyboard and various plug ins.  I not musically trained, so mostly everything is done by whether it sounds good or not.  At the moment I’m trying to learn basic piano chords and learn more about keys etc.  I’ve done remix’s for Andy Wonderland and Sir Vinyl Instinct that have been released (http://soundcloud.com/clarky201/sets/remixes-official/) and hopefully upcoming I have a remix for Casual Encounters and Buddhist Army Records which will be a remix of Arthur’s Landing and coming out on vinyl!!

Tell us about the mix you made.

The mix is inspired by what I’ve been playing on my radio show.  It contains balearic, disco and house influenced tracks which pretty much somes up my musical taste!!

Lastly where can we expect to see you playing next? Anything in the pipeline we should know about? And what’s your drug of choice?

Next confirmed gig I’m playing at is in London on 31st March for AOR Disco with Steve Lee at The London Fields. My next release for Audio Parallax should be out in about 6 weeks featuring remixes from Kid Who, Havana Candy and LeSale. And my drug of choice is tea!!

Cheers Andrew, always looking forward to the couple hours a week Under the Stars

d

dtyd008 – Andrew Clarke/Under The Stars Radio by dance’tilyou’redead

[Tracklisting]

Quintus Project – Night Flight (Psychemagik Remix) 
40 Thieves – Crystal Mountain Thunder 
Ejeca – Tetra 
Lee Stevens & The Beautiful People – Ridin High 
Small Pyramids – I Want Blood (Goldroom Remix) 
Eddie C – My Woman (PBR Streetgang Remix) 
Andrew Yukon – Supermoon (Kid Who Remix) 
Stars On 33 – Something You Can Feel 
Downtown Party Network – Days Like These (Vocal)

-Yo! MTV Zach