In Conversation: Vijay

In Conversation: Vijay, talking about himself & one of the remixes that he did.
Clash The Disko Kids & Ming - Midget Gems (The Vijay Remix)

How did you get yourself into this path?
In my teenage years i went through my phases, shoegazer indie rock and then hardcore punk, not forgetting some Milli Vanilli and New Kids on The Block in between. It was I think when I hit a certain dead end in the mid 90s after jamming with some hardcore punk bands that I discovered electronic music. What I found so refreshing about it, was the freedom. The endless posibilities of fusing different sounds and genres together. Anything and everything was possible. So i made a dash to buy my first 303 and locked myself in for months, ignoring phone calls from hot teenage girls who wanted to go out on dates with me.

After about two years of creating all sorts of things in that box, (back then I couldn't afford a computer and software) I put out my demos of some frenetic beats and such, you can hear it here www.myspace.com/ssleepss . Bear in mind this was all made on a drum machine , sequenced and everything, no visual representation , i had to just use my ears to trust the sound. Sometimes limitation has its benefits ,it sort of pushes you to your limits.

Then of course when I got my hands on a computer and some software, everything changed. I did a lot of beat heavy stuff , put out a couple more releases- www.myspace.com/throbsfromthechestcompilation , formed a band - www.myspace.com/phorousp and had a lot of fun along the way and of course everything was done DIY. Took a lot of time and sacrifice to produce, write and engineer the tracks and along the way had to reject hot girls who asked me out on dates because I had to finish a song.

In 2006 I released a track on Raw Fusion records in Sweden together with Spiritual South. A latin broken beat number called Hullabaloo. Suprisingly it did really well!

Where do you get your inspiration?
Inspiration really comes from love. "Nothing really matters , love is all we need" is what Madonna once said. I totally embrace that philosophy. I don't really care about anything else. In fact I don't really even care about music , love is all I care about , embodying and embracing it in whatever form, it might take in daily life.

Is there any tricks & tips for those who wanna head into production?
I'd say do something nobody else has done before . There's no point making beats or music like someone else.

Do your own thing, craft your own art-form. In fact if you can even try and make your own genre or do something nobody would. I made some crazy stuff in my time , listen to this - www.myspace.com/noartificialinstrumentsadded and this - www.myspace.com/invoice777 .

What do you hope for the best outcome?
I don't hope for anything because really nothing matters. Its more about the journey and not the destination.

Last words?
Listen, love , live and learn !

In Conversation: Brendon P.

In Conversation: Brendon P. talking about his latest production - The East Coast Spirit EP [Rawjak].

So where on earth do you get your inspiration from?

- I usually just have an idea and then just get started on the drums. The bass-line is always kind of humming in my head so that generally gets laid down next, and then I just flow from there. There's no real inspiration or template that I go with, just an idea that creeps in there when I'm in the weirdest of places.

Normally NEVER in a club. And the end result normally also doesn't quite turn out the way I envisioned it to be initially. Most of the time it's better, some of the time I just get lost and trash the whole thing and start again another day.

Since when did you start working on your production?

- I have been working on an album project since November last year actually and have about 6 to 7 more or less finished tracks done already. They're quite varied and don't really just conform to one specific genre or style. I'm even working on a drum and bass one at the moment. I've always loved drum and bass, didn't really get the whole dubstep thing, but drum and bass and I share a secret love to some extent.

I've also been sending a few more tracks out to other international labels as well, so I hope something positive comes from that soon. Funnily enough, this is the first EP I've had out on my own and I'm quite glad and thankful that Has hit me up on wanting to release this one.

Before this I'd done two remixes for DjB's "Incheon" and "The Urban Word"; both released on John Julius Knight's US based label Reversoul Music. I was quite chuffed when Byden (DjB) chose to use my remix on the Defected ITH Zoukout 10 mix CD, but it was working well on the Zouk main floor for most of the residents sets so, I suppose it was an obvious choice (LOL).

And it got me on the "Defected" roll-call in a way, so I'm really happy about that. So yeah, I reckon there'll be more stuff out during the course of the year. I've also done two remixes for a Pasadena based Singapore singer/songwriter named Geraldine Png who's a great songwriter, and it was a challenge to work with vocals and take her music into a new perspective. She's been happy with the results thus far and I may just creep up and choose one more of her tunes to re-interpret. They're available for free download so go look them up sometime.

Great! Before we end our conversation, any last words?

- As for props and thank you notes, I guess first and foremost, I'll thank God for blessing me with this ability and my folks for allowing me to make this my career from a very young age (and bearing with the extreme decibel levels throughout my early practice and mix tape runs back then).

And all the true friends, old colleagues and people that kept me in their care and support all through the years and continue to do so. And the new one's I've met and made recently along the way too.

Coolios bro, I wish you all the best to where you are heading and it shall be good!

To all cool heads out there, show your love and support for my bro here.

The East Coast Spirit EP

Shlalom. Itchi.