Brightest Young Things

As much as the guys from 88 truly love techno, their 3rd Annual FORWARD Festival boasts a diverse lineup of talent that spans an impressive variety of sounds. The Festival is taking place at 7 different venues across the city starting Wednesday (3.17) and running for 5 days straight with the Finale taking place Sunday (3.21). This year's lineup features several major acts from across the globe, ranging from deep house to dubstep to glitch hop to funk & soul to tech house to disco and everything in between. This is NOT your typical dance music festival.

FORWARD PASSES AVAILABLE FOR THE ENTIRE FESTIVAL (COVERS ALL EVENTS AND WORKSHOPS) - ONLY $45: http://forward3.eventbrite.com/

The 88 crew has taken the time to sit down with some of the headlining acts from this year's festival for some in-depth and exclusive interviews to give you an idea of what to expect this year. Take a moment to get to know these artists then check out their sound by listening to the mixes they have contributed . Our first set of interviews are with 2 of the most exciting names in dance music at the moment, they both are on top of their game and have had truly amazing years while showing no signs of slowing down any time soon.....

TRUS'ME: MANCHESTER'S MASTER OF ALL THINGS DEEP
(Laying it down at "The Dig" @ T&T Clubhouse on Sat.3.20 alongside the High Priest of Detroit House - THEO PARRISH)

David Wolstencraft aka Trus’me is one of 88’s favorite people.  With each visit to the area he confounds us with DJ skill and his affable personality.  So much so that last time we let him split the entire nice with another great bloke, Mr. Clive Henry.  Not only did he start and finish the evening on the decks but after the smoke cleared he had tagged a half hour of disco, retrieved digits from the sharpest dressed female attendees, and took extra time to let everyone know how thankful he was for the effort.  For his next gig with us he will be in one of the city’s best venues, with what is sure to be an enthusiastic crowd alongside one of his heroes.  Quite simply it will be a night for the ages.  Excited for the night we sent him some questions via email to get a bit more incite into the DJ, label head, producer, and businessman taking house, deep house, and heck, music in general by storm.  In addition to his answers he provides a top notch mix from his label Prime Numbers.

Trus'me FORWARD Promo Mix: http://www.back-and-forth.net/audio/Prime_Numbers_mix03.mp3

Exclusive Interview:

88: Let’s start with your passion for vinyl culture. Tell us about its origins.

TM: Living in Manchester with over 6-7 record shops selling mainly vinyl, 2nd hand and new, it was obvious that I would be collecting my music library on this format. From a DJ perspective, the physical connection you get when playing Vinyl helps you connect with the music your playing. I sell it, therefore I play with it! You wouldn’t sell Ferraris, then drive off the forecourt in a Yugo.

88: As you travel the world do you have any favorite spots for digging for something new.

TM: Always NYC, Philly is great too and Chi town of course.. but there are spots in the EU of course but your $ is so crap that it’s better to buy here.

88: Do you still find beats and musical ideas which really move you or spark your own ideas in the vinyl bin?

TM: I mainly get these ideas when I’m playing my own music mixing disco into house or vice versa, sometimes when I rung out of ideas in the studio I just turn the decks on and start mixing shit up.

88: You began on a Chicago label, you tour this country extensively, you collaborate regularly with American artists and your samples come from American based music.Do you identify with American music and culture more than other countries?

TM: I would say so yes, there is so much talent here from past present that it’s hard not be all up in the American music. I mean it’s not all American music, but when it comes to soul and disco there is no better place than right here in the USA.

88: You learned your craft through University at an intensive 6 month course during business school. Was this course cathartic for you as a musician or were you there to keep an open mind and away from another career path?

TM: The 6 month intensive course I took while multitasking. To get ahead these days you can’t just be the Dj or the producer, you have to be it all. I always collected music from an early age and for some reason or another followed the producers rather than the artist, I was always more interested in the beat.

88: Do you find a well spring of pride coming from the rich Manchester musical heritage or is it just where you were born?

TM: Yes sure, I mean it made me who I am. I have an open ear and an open approach to music and production due to the influences of the city. It’s a humble place and inspiring too we just have shit weather.

88: Any Mancunians pass through your life during this stage of significance?

TM: Yes you got the Unabombers who were part of Electric Chair and MR Scruff I mean a load of names you never heard of but there is some crazy good dj’s here. I mean to be a dj in Manchester is to freestyle. You would be surprised with what is played in just your local bar, we have taste.

88: Of course your rise since University has been meteoric. What’s more you remain almost completely cohesive to many genres. Anything you contribute it to?

TM: I love all music but country. I try to make sure you see this in my dj sets and my production. I can’t just play one thing all night. I have to entertain my brain, I guess why people refer to me as the “DJ’s DJ” is I play stuff I love and not really because I’m trying to rock the crowd.

88: Any track which makes you step back and marvel at your accomplishments over last four years?

TM: I am making way too much stuff to listen back, It’s like an addiction right now I have so much to come out.. really excited to let people here my new direction.

88: You get many demos. Any artist give you a demo which really raised an eyebrow to you?

TM: Every day Linkwood sends me something new that just blows me away, people just really don’t know how talented this guy is yet. I plan to let people know,

88: You are now on bills with some of your influences or at least people who have been making dance music for a long time. Any tips you have gained from these individuals?

TM: Yes I guess that never becomes tired, just the other week I played Fabric sandwiched between heaps of my idols, but they have just accepted me as one of them so eventually it just because normal, they become friends.

88: Patrice Scott and Keith Worthy send you open invites on facebook. Any reaction you might like to share?

TM: I got alot of time for them 2, they are doing their own thing and trying make their own way. Whatever they wanna do I try to make happen they part of the D3K family.

88: Do you like facebook as a promotion tool?

TM: It’s perfect way of reaching out, I’m sure I would not be playing worldwide without this platform.

88: Would you ever let someone take over management of your facebook/myspace site?

TM: I mean all of them are set up as a label, Events promotion tool so it’s not me all the time. I have a team behind me to achieve the things I want to do.

88: We are really excited about your performance with Theo Parrish. Any aspects about which you are excited?

TM: We have very similar styles so it will be interesting to see if he will take it into a different direction once I do my thing. These are the kinda gigs you just look forward to playing more than most.

88: The venue in which you will play is one of it’s kind in this city. A very basic layout but one which makes it raw and look back to a bygone era in dance music. Any type of venue you like?

TM: Dark, no lights, Ladies, and a warm hypnotic well tweaked and loved soundsystem. Oh and Liquor.

88: Is it really the crowd that matters above the venue?

TM: Always, I mean I have had some great times in a sh*tty little bar but ’cause the crowd loved it! you love it. A DJ just wants to make people dance and connect with what you love, the music.

88: In a video interview you defined yourself as a DJ? Even with your success as a label head, promoter, partier and producer are you above all a DJ?

TM: You can’t be one without the other, but yeah I’m a DJ I wanna play music listen to it and make people get down.

88: Do you ever see a different direction for yourself (not that you would change your awesome life right now)?

TM: Stand Up Comedy, I need to tell the world about all this shit I have got up to over these few years, the shit is hilarious.

88: We really appreciate your time with us and we wish you the best. Any parting words for your DC fans?

TM: Bring Open Ears, Talc Powder and come to dance first!

BAREM: THE ARGENTINIAN MINUS MAN - INFUSING TECHNO WITH A WARM SOUTH AMERICAN VIBE
(Headlining "This Is How We Do Techno" @ Aqua on Thurs.3.18 alongside Thoughtless Music mastermind Noah Pred)

You will never forget where you were the night of June 25, 2010. The news of MJ’s passing struck a raw nerve and part of you felt suddenly alone. Then you looked down in your pocket to discover a folded up sheet of paper. It was a ticket to the Minus Showcase put on by 88 that night. A coy grin rose on your face, and you realized there is another reason why you danced. As you arrived at Muse you noticed a floppy, dark haired twenty something headbanging as he geared up the room for Richie’s descent. He played an elegant and thoughtful set though you gave him little thought in light of the minus label founder to follow.

Well we will always remember that night and every performance by the Minus crew.  To note, that floppy haired guy was Argentinian native Barem and we want you to know more about him. We asked him a series of questions he really liked and we are excited to share with you. Before hand we suggest you take a listen to his set from Robert Johnson from summer of last year. Yeah he is going on last and we hope you will agree that he should play deep into the night.

Barem's FORWARD Promo Mix: http://eightyeightdc.com/88blog/mixes/Barem-Robert%20Johnson%209_19_09.mp3

Exclusive Interview:

88: Tell us a bit about how you mentally stayed with becoming a DJ. Did you know from an early age while still in rock bands or was there a moment at which you said “yes, i was born for this purpose”?

Barem: I didn’t know at an early age. In fact, I don’t think I had any idea of what I wanted to do with my life until I was 18 or so. I was playing guitar back then, and I had a few band projects with friends, but nothing serious. The idea of becoming a DJ started around that time, after I did my first steps in electronic music production. Another friend of mine taught me how to mix and eventually we started playing together in small home parties. Finally he decided to become a film director and I kept Djing and producing by myself.
There was never a moment where I said ”yes, I was born for this”… In fact, I’m still not sure about that hahaha!

88: You could consider yourself a trained musician. Tell us what might separate a trained musician from Argentina from musicians developing in other areas of the world. Are there certain musicians ingrained in you by music professors or fellow artists?

Barem: I don’t consider myself a trained musician. I only studied music for 3 years and that’s not a lot of time. I even forced myself to stop thinking musically as an electronic music producer, ’cause my knowledge was pretty basic and therefore my ideas were rather predictable and boring. Working in a more intuitive way gave me a lot better results than thinking in structures I knew. I might have some kind of sense of harmony from those years though, but that’s it.

The difference I see, is that in South America is very hard to make a living out of being a musician. It’s a bit tricky, ’cause that helps to have more passion, work harder and sometimes even come out with amazing ideas, but it also makes a lot of talented people quit, find a more secure path and keep music only as a hobby.

88: Tell us about your first contact with Richie. In interviews during this time frame he was very excited to travel to that part of the world. Did you have a role in that excitement because of your already well received production work?

Barem: Yeah, he was very excited to play and open new minds in South America. It was also a time where the scene in Argentina was huge but all progressive and trance, which was also an interesting challenge for him. Most techno orientated DJs here owe him a lot, ’cause he opened a lot of doors for everybody after promoters saw that it could work.
When we met the first time, he was already playing my tracks and he didn’t know I was from Buenos Aires. So I guess he was excited not because of me in particular, but because of realizing that he was also inspiring people here and getting something back that he could use to keep doing what he does.

88: What were your thoughts as a local DJ, that Richie would come to that part of the world?

Barem: It was awesome! It was around the time where I was really hoping somebody to start bringing techno / minimal artists. So when they announced he was coming, the little techno scene here got super happy and after he killed it at that festival, everything changed. It’s amazing to think on how many artists from Argentina started releasing music all over the place around a year or two after that.

88: Minus seems to be a label which creates a career for its musicians. Do you agree or not agree?

Barem: It definitely does. In my case I kind of had a career already but minus gave a lot of shape to it. It makes sense too, ’cause people like Hawtin or Villalobos are opinion leaders, and when they point at any newcomer, the general crowd automatically pays attention to them.
Minus also has a very nice structure with people at the office helping artists develop their careers since the beginning, plus a lot of showcases around the world that help all new artists to be part of big things at an early stage, and if you can deal with the pressure, it saves you a lot of time and makes you learn very fast.

88: Do you see DJing as your career or more as a musician who DJs to pay the bills?

Barem: I am a DJ, no question. I enjoy playing music a lot more than making music. I also enjoy making music but it’s not something I can do all the time. I sometimes spend half a year without even making a single loop. Some people think of me as a producer, ’cause when I started touring I was only playing LIVE. But I did it ’cause if promoters were booking me for the music I was releasing, then it was fair to play that music at their parties.
I switched back to only DJing after two years, when promoters started booking me not only for the music I was making, but because they trusted already on me and anything I would do.

88: Since 2005 and becoming a minus artist you have taken on a furious schedule. Tell us about how this hectic schedule affects your production.

Barem: It’s pretty tough to sit down and make music with this kind of schedule, even more for people like me, who like to make music, but is not an addiction. I sometimes force myself to do it, but the more I think about it, the more I believe it happens when it happens, and that if I’m playing a lot now and not making a lot of music, is also for a reason.

88: There are many analog sounds in your production. Do you have a preference for your sound?

Barem: Thanks for the compliment, but I actually never ever owned a piece of hardware. I’m 100% digital producer. I do use samples taken from analog instruments and machines, but that’s it. Since over a year I started using more and more analog sounds, but it also has to do with my own sound, that changed into a more organic direction.

88: Your style is very languid, percussive and rich in nuances. Do you see this sound as a result of years on the road or something you have desired all along?

Barem: I always try not to think about it, and just do what I feel at a certain moment. I have a lot more experience now and of course it helps, but I just try to keep that knowledge somewhere at the back of my brain and hope it to come out naturally without calculating or analyzing too much.

88: Do you ever see yourself taking your music in an entirely new direction?

Barem: It might happen. But as I said before, I’m trying not to think about it and let things happen when I feel they should happen. For example, in my last minus ep (Kolimar) I included a deep house track. It was my first deep house track ever and I just made it ’cause I felt like making a deep house track, not thinking on minus or anything else. It was interesting to see how in the end minus supported me on that change and to see that the general crowd also liked it, specially DJs who were not playing any minus tracks and were sort of against the label.

88: Tell us about your favorite track you’ve created and why? Do others share this sentiment or is the track personal?

Barem: I think Suki is my favorite. It’s super simple. I made it with a very slow desktop PC and a bad home stereo, it only has around 8 or 9 sounds, and it’s just a loop. It’s hard to believe today how something that simple started the great career I have today. I was nobody back then and it became a hit. Tons of Djs were playing it, it was my first track Richie played, and the most important, it was named after a person who helped me and supported me a lot in my personal and professional life. Today I’m not surprised at all that it was her track the one who made everything else happen. Musically I would maybe pick another one, but for me, Suki will always be the most important.

88: Finally, you played a wonderful set for us in July 2009. Anything new as you headline Forward Festival?

Barem: I’ve been on holidays for a few months now, so I’m full of energy and excited to go back on tour! Musically there are no big changes, techno, tech house, minimal, house. I always go around those styles. But I’m very happy to be back in DC. I got amazing feedback last time and I hope to Dj a lot better this time. I think I will, ’cause last time the set was short and I was very tired from flying all the way from Berlin that same day, plus 2hs at queues at the airport after I landed and almost 2hs stuck in traffic. You guys gotta do something about customs and traffic… Both of them are very annoying! hahaha!

But don’t worry. I come by train from NYC to avoid those things this time, so I’ll be in a great mood!

STAY TUNED FOR MORE INTERVIEWS, MIXES AND A FULL FESTIVAL GUIDE COMING SOON.

For More Info Visit: http://www.eightyeightdc.com