D:Fuse and Hiratzka
Interviewed for Riffin' by Webjockey Fashionboyz
Check out D:Fuse's Rifflist: My Favorite Tracks
D:Fuse and Mike Hiratzka have teamed up as production partners for the recently released "Skyline Lounge" album. With a sound that crosses classifications and that features guest vocals from Kristy Thirsk of Delirium and DJ Rap, their effort is at once sharp and soothing, punctuated and patient, rambunctious and relaxing.
Riffin': It has been a few years since your last album. How has your sound evolved in that time?
D:Fuse: We really wanted to be able to write music outside of the confines of dance floor-oriented tracks, and also spend more time fleshing out songs with a lot of layers. We had done a few club tracks together but felt there were fewer boundaries writing tracks for an album.
Hiratzka: We had started off doing a chill EP, and really liked the groove that we had going, so we began expanding on the theme and decided pretty quickly that it would be cool to follow through and do an entire album.
Riffin': You have been known to perform live percussion during events. What is the synergy that you seek by adding a live performance element to your DJ'ing?
D:Fuse: I'm a performer at heart. I've always loved being in front of a crowd and to feel their energy. DJ'ing is a part of that, but I realized that when I incorporated drums into my set that it changed the dynamic considerably. All of a sudden the crowd realizes you are really there making incorporating music elements on the fly. In the new days of the laptop DJ the performance inherently becomes more subdued and regressive, and I think crowds appreciate "live" performance.
Hiratzka: We both come from live music backgrounds, playing in bands etc., and we had been touring and doing a live show following the release of D's 'People 3' live CD, and we really felt like it took the whole experience to the next level. Crowds really react so well when there's more to the show than someone just standing in a DJ booth.
Riffin': Your new album is full of amazing surprises as you blend unusual elements on top of the electronic core: violins by Govinda, vocal performances by Kristy Thirsk of Delerium and DJ Rap. How would you describe the resulting sound?
D:Fuse: That was the sound that we were trying to achieve, blurring the lines between live instrumentation and electronic music. We had a full drum & percussion kit set up in the studio. Mike always had his guitar and bass ready to go. We made it easy to jump behind instruments whenever the feeling was there and I think that was important to the writing process.
Hiratzka: Someone described it as "organic electronic", we think that fits pretty well. It's really more about the song than anything else, about finding the right elements make it all happen, and having live instruments in the mix is just another way for us to realize the final product.
Riffin': What are the roles that each of you play in the creative process?
D:Fuse: Ive been writing electronic music since my Industrial music days in '91. Oddly enough I've never been an engineer, only a producer and musician. It limits me in a way but it also allows me to be really strong when it comes to looking at a track from a distance and knowing how to take tiny elements of the track to make the entire song flesh out. I also contribute with lyric hooks and vocal melodies that Mike and I then work out and develop together. I've been a music head all of my life with an extensive music collection, and that helps in that lyric ideas pop into my head the second I hear a good melody.
Hiratzka: It's a total collaborative process for us, both bringing ideas to the table and bouncing them back and forth as we develop a tune. I've been a musician my entire life, and have been producing and engineering records for almost a decade, so it's nice to bring all of that together and just concentrate on writing cool tunes that we both dig. We both have different personalities and identities as DJs and producers, and our collective results are a bit different than our solo projects, but hopefully people will just enjoy the music on it's own merits.
Riffin': Where do you see the future of electronic music going?
D:Fuse: That's impossible to predict, but I'd like to think more song-based electronic music could continue to bring more people into the fold. That's really what Mike and I were influenced by to get us into this music in the first place. I think the entire music business is getting more exciting after such a blood bath from the CD switch to downloading. Now download sites like iTunes and Beatport are much more user friendly and loads of people are logging on. It's amazing when you can hear a song on the radio or wherever and download a high-quality copy in minutes. My mother is downloading music and she never even had an answering machine! That gets me excited about the future of all music.
Hiratzka: Hopefully electronic music will continue to evolve and change with the times, and always be an exciting, relevant form of music that excites people and keeps them pushing the genre into new territory. I like to see new trends, and some of the new stuff that has given dance music a punk rock attitude demonstrates how electronic music producers can bring new elements in and give the music an interesting new twist.
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