Dirtybird has a new compilation in the works called Hatched.
Run by Claude VonStroke and Justin Martin, Dirtybird has been putting out bass-heavy house music since 2005. Hatched gives a snapshot of where the San Francisco institution is at today, with with a dozen new tracks by as many artists, both established (VonStroke, Catz 'N Dogz, Worthy) and new to the fold (Tom Flynn, Sacha Robotti, Eats Everything). Before the full compilation comes out in February, the tracks will be released across three digital EPs beginning in January, "spanning a bird's full life cycle from hatchling to roast dinner" as VonStroke puts it. All of the songs included are previously unreleased.
Tracklist 01. Claude VonStroke & Eats Everything - Ignorance Is Bliss 02. Sacha Robotti - The Major 03. Kingdom - SFX 04. Tom Flynn - Jerry's Liquor Store 05. Christian Martin - Waiting 06. Dj Cra$y - That Amen Track (BrEaCh Remix) 07. Samuel Dan - Bitch 08. Catz n Dogz - Bring Me That Water 09. A1 Bassline - Why Do You 10. Worthy - Shy Look 11. Kingdom - SFX 12. Nick Monaco - Long Kiss Goodnight
Dirtybird will release Hatched on February 29th, 2012.
Chez Damier & Chris Duckenfield- 'The Idiots Are Winning' 1st Birthday @ Life, Friday 4th.
Line Up
Chez Damier, (Prescription / KMS / The Music Institute) Chris Duckenfield, (Swag / Popular Peoples Front) Louis Finch & Jake Manders (The Idiots Are Winning)
Tiime: 10pm - 5am Venue: Life/ 2-4 Old Street, EC1V 9AA Cost: Tickets are £7 plus BF / Door tax is £7 before 12, £10 thereafter
Dirtybird, Swayzak Live and Kyle Hall @ fabric, Saturday 5th.
Line Up
Room One: Dirtybird Claude Von Stroke Justin Martin Eats Everything
Claude VonStroke has released tracks featuring monkeys, whistling and gurgling. Claude VonStroke has also retained credibility. These two things don't exactly add up. But that should tell you something about the man in question. The San Francisco-based producer has been releasing bass-heavy house with a sense of fun since 2005. The ongoing twist, however, is that just when you think you have him figured out, he'll go deep on a track like "Aundy" or remix a bass music anthem to devastating effect.
VonStroke's Dirtybird label has been the vehicle for almost all of his original material but that's not to say it's been a one man show: a family of artists has formed around the imprint, with names like Justin and Christian Martin, Catz 'n Dogz, J. Phlip and Julio Bashmore all achieving international recognition from the Dirtybird stable. Looking at RA.271's tracklist you could be forgiven for thinking that this was mostly an "influences mix" but as is explained below, Claude VonStroke has recently taken to playing whatever the heck he feels like. And he has his grandma to thank for that.
What have you been up to recently?
I'm on my new remix album tour called "Makeovers." Right now I'm doing the North American part of the tour. After this I'm going to my dad's birthday in Detroit with our family for a week. Then finally I will get home to work on new tunes!
How and where was the mix recorded?
It was actually made at a cabin in Minnesota—no joke. I didn't have any access to a DJ setup so it's done in Ableton, but in the wilderness of Minnesota where my wife is from. Every year we go on a cabin trip to the middle of nowhere, like an hour past Brianerd if you know Minnesota. I had to wait until everyone was asleep to work on it in the middle of the night which might give you a sense of the vibe in the second half. When it was done I had to go into my brother-in-law's car, turn it on and listen to it on his car stereo like a nut in the middle of the night.
Can you tell us about the idea behind the mix.
You can hear the beginning of the set is very bass-oriented, then going Dance Mania style, then deeper into house. The concept of my stuff is always the same: just choose all the tracks I love and try to put them together in a way that makes sense. I also wanted to throw in a couple surprises like the EPMD track because I've started to drop all kinds of music in my sets. I'm not really satisfied with just playing three hours of house. I'm doing tons of drum & bass, hip-hop and reggae edits—like Easter eggs for the crowd. No obvious radio tracks but cool stuff like Krust, EPMD, Ed Rush, Fela Kuti, Damien Marley, whatever.
You just had a show on Rinse and put out a remix of Girl Unit's "Wut" through Night Slugs. What do you think the common ground between yourself and the UK scene is?
I really enjoyed meeting all the Night Slugs guys in London and to tell you the truth I asked them if I could do that remix for free. So part of it is me kind of putting myself in the position to be in alliance with the UK bass scene. It really harkens back to my original first love, drum & bass. I was an unsuccessful drum & bass DJ, I never got into the right clique or made the right tracks or got the right lucky break or whatever. I'm still overcompensating for that perhaps.
As far as house music, Dirtybird is one of the only American bassline labels. We always deliver on basslines. That is definitely not the focus at most labels. So it's not really any accident that we have strong ties with towns like Bristol and Leeds—towns where people go ape-shit for basslines. We definitely give it a different flavour on the West Coast; not quite as dark or moody perhaps. But even as I say that I just signed another Bristol guy last week!
Are there any firm plans for a Claude VonStroke live show?
Nope. But maybe something else. I'm delving into some different ideas this year, no concrete plans but I am practicing live loop making on Maschine—that kind of thing. You can expect the unexpected I imagine. I'm getting a lot more comfortable with big risks and just going for it musically. As your grandma always says, you can't please everyone all of the time, so you might as well go crazy.
What are you up to next?
I'm working with some other producers and exploring new ideas. I think there will be a new VonStroke album next year as well. Definitely some new singles soon. I can't say much more until I actually do some tunes and see what happens.
Next month, Dirtybird Records will release Makeovers, a collection of remixes by label head Claude VonStroke. VonStroke's DJ sets and Dirtybird parties have made him a leading figure in San Francisco's club scene, but his productions have given him a reputation around the world.
Though he might be best known for his original productions–most notably 2006's "Who's Afraid of Detroit?"–he's a prolific remixer as well, with dozens of reworks to his credit so far. Makeovers looks back on his efforts over the years, from his remix of Poxy Music's "Warpaint" to his recent take on Girl Unit's "Wut." All of the tracks have been remastered specifically for the collection at Air Studios in London, and some have been revamped by VonStroke himself. The release will be available digitally and on CD, with a limited run on vinyl.
Tracklist
01. DJ Blaqstarr feat. Rye Rye - Shake It To The Ground (VonStroke Mix)
02. Andy Caldwell Ft. Lisa Shaw - Warrior (VonStroke Sharp Toof Mix)
03. Mikael Weill - Silmarions (VonStroke Bavarian Ferrari Mix)
04. Cajmere - Percolator (Claude VonStroke Remix)
05. Poxy Music - Warpaint (VonStroke Remix)
06. Girl Unit - Wut (VonStroke Fully Dressed Mix)
07. Worthy - IRST_TE? (VonStroke's R U Thirsty? Mix)
08. Scott Grooves feat. Parliament Funkadelic - Mothership Reconnection (VonStroke Energy Pattern Mix)
09. Gonzales - I Am Europe (VonStroke Take a Trip Mix)
10. Katy B - Easy Please Me (VonStroke Grizzl-fiyah Mix)
Connoisseurs Of House with Robert Owens @ The White House, Friday 16th July. Line Up
Robert Owens (Journeys/Compost) Sy Sez (AphroDisiax) Peter Borg (Simply Salacious) Vinyl Vixens & DJ Jolie (Unknown FM) Steve Feelgood & DJ Solo (Connoisseurs of House) Percussion by Brother Snare (Ministry of Sound/Hed Kandi)
Time: 7pm - 5am Venue: The White House, 65 Clapham Park Road, Clapham SW4 7EH Cost: Free before 9pm, £6 before 11pm, £8 after
Claude Vonstroke, Heidi, Matt Tolfrey @ fabric, Saturday 17th July. Line Up
ROOM ONE:
Claude VonStroke, Heidi, Matt Tolfrey
ROOM TWO:
DJ Sneak, A Guy Called Gerald (LIVE), J.B.
ROOM THREE:
WOLF + LAMB...
Gadi Mizrani, Lee Curtiss, Carsten Klemann Time: 11.00pm - 8.00am Venue: fabric, 77a Charterhouse St, Clerkenwell, EC1M 3HN Cost: £18/14 (Students/fabricfirst); £8 for all from 4am, £5 from 5am
Lovebox Weekender 2010 - Sunday (Day 3) at Victoria Park, Sunday 18th July.(Random Pick) Line Up (in bold are the acts you dont want to miss) Grace Jones Hot Chip Peaches Hercules & Love Affair Chromeo Cut Copy Hurts Fenech Soler Holy Ghost! (Live) Silver Columns Brendan Rogers Derrick Carter Larry Heard (AKA Mr Fingers) Underground Rebel Bingo Club Salvation Wish Horse Meat Disco Trailer Trash Wet yourself Jonny Woo DR Noki
Time: 12 noon - 10.30pm Venue: Victoria Park, Hackney, London, E9 Cost: 1 day £45 / 2 days £80 / 3 days £99 (all prices + booking fee)
“The American Dream is a tricky, tricky thing. In my heart I believe that you can do anything but I also believe that people have been sold a lot of bullshit.”
Five years after his debut Dirtybird release Deep Throat became a worldwide club hit and four years after ‘Who’s Afraid Of Detroit?’ did exactly the same, Claude VonStroke is one of America’s and the world’s most credible- and popular DJs. Specialising in producing, playing and releasing the minimal (and nowadays post minimal) deep digital house that’s dominated much of club-land in the intervening period, he’s also succeeded in establishing his label Dirtybird, whose five year birthday he marks this month with a triple CD compilation (5 Years of Dirtybird: click HERE for sounds)
“Anyone can do what I’ve done but not if they just see the surface,” Claude (real name Barclay Crenshaw) clarifies.
“They must understand the 20 years of buying samplers and working with sequencers and having radio shows and playing the cello and putting all my money into gear that’s involved. The American Dream is not possible if you just decide to be something and want to be successful in one year. But it is possible for anyone who dedicates their entire life and all of their resources to something,” he suggests.
Self-made and self-taught, he began his obsession with electronic music whilst a teenager studying at one of America’s elite boarding schools in the late 80s, though rather than attend an Ivy League college, ended up working as a tour guide at California’s Universal Studios for four years. Returning to Detroit in the late 90s he rediscovered his passion for electronic music and after moving to San Francisco (his current base) came up with the concept of making a ‘how to become a successful DJ’ DVD. Interviewing the likes of Derrick May, Theo Parrish and Derrick Carter for the 6 hour DVD (called Intellect) he gained first hand advice- and contacts, that inspired him to launch Dirty Bird in 2005 (some 15 years after he first dreamed of making a living through music).
“Going on American Idol because you practice singing one hour a day and then being devastated because you didn’t get through; that is not the American Dream,” Claude continues.
“For example, if you write a screenplay and you try to sell it and you fail – you cannot say the American dream has failed you. BUT,” he stresses, his voice booming, “if you get a degree in English, go to screenwriting workshops, write 50 screenplays over 15 years, teach writing to kids, study the structure of films, network with other screenwriters, bust your ass to get an agent, etc etc etc.. I feel like even if you don’t write the next great movie that something good will come from all this dedication. Maybe it’s not what you originally wanted but it will be something good. Dedication always pays off even if it is through some other avenue. Right now we live in a culture where people value quick fame over quality. This is not teaching people the right lessons to achieve the real American Dream.” Skrufff (Jonty Skrufff): You’re celebrating five years of your label with this new triple CD ‘5 Years of Dirtybird’ how much did you have a 5 year plan when you started?
Claude VonStroke: “My initial plan was actually to make it past 5 records when I started since a few people told me that was the test to see if a label can survive; five records. Five years is amazing to me but then I see a label like Ovum or Spektral or even Planet E. These guys really have longevity. Hopefully someday we will be in that class of classic American labels.”
Skrufff: Releasing a triple CD seems rather extreme (and counter-intuitive given the state of the market); why do it? How much of a gamble financially is it: are you expecting/ NEEDING to make profit from the comp?
Claude VonStroke: “The question ‘why do it?’ is kind of similar to ‘Why get up in the morning?’ You do what you love. We don’t need to make anything. I don’t do the label to make money. Labels aren’t that profitable as an entity. It is more about the total package. I think in a market where everyone is cutting back, the only way to stand out is to deliver the best possible product and give the consumer the most for their money. This Five year triple CD is basically Dirtybird defined. If you like the label you can get the feeling of the whole label in one shot – one purchase. Right about now I would normally make some joke about being able to get it illegally on the Internet but since we made all the versions of this totally different you actually cant get it illegally (yet).”
Skrufff: Resident advisor said in an earlier interview ‘VonStroke has led a charmed life since the success of ‘Deep Throat’: how much easier has life got since then?
Claude Von Stroke: “Yes, I have a charmed life if you think relentless work is charming. What happened to me is that I took the opportunity given to me by having a couple of hit records and made it into something more with hard, hard work. I am a workaholic. There is no free time. I run two labels, do remixes, new productions, A&R, promotions, travel, whatever it takes. I have two kids as well. Life was way easier when no one knew me and i didn’t have a family and I could walk down Haight St with a hangover on Sunday morning with no particular plans. That was charming.”
Skrufff: How much has success made you happier? (What’s been the happiest period of your career so far?)
Claude Von Stroke: “There are moments on the road when I am just getting on the decks in a packed room where everyone is going wild and I step back from the mixer and just take it all in- ‘this is my job- this is the best job I could have ever dreamed of having’. The happiest time of my career was the start when everything was fresh, like my first signing, my first remix, the first time I heard someone huge was playing one of my tracks. I still get super amped (excited) about all that stuff but you can never duplicate the first time, especially when you are starting from zero.”
Skrufff: How much of your success do you attribute to luck?
Claude Von Stroke: “I make my own luck. People can think ‘oh it was lucky that this or that happened’ but it is not lucky that it happens over and over again and it is not lucky if you are prepared for good things to happen. I prepare for success only. I fail all the time but I only prepare for success.”
ClaudeVonStroke - Aundy (Original Mix) by Maciejempire Skrufff: You went to boarding school in Connecticut: my boarding school was a fairly violent place (in Manchester, UK) with a fair bit of bullying/ fighting etc: did you ever get bullied? Or bully anyone yourself?
Claude VonStroke: “No, I have stayed away from violence for the most part. I may have been bullied a little but mostly because I wouldn’t ever retaliate. I’ve always been kinda’ Zen-like, that way. Honestly, my boarding school was like an Ivy League primer school. You had to have straight A’s just to be accepted. Most kids there were brilliant and that environment really helped me. I struggled in a lot of subjects and wasn’t the best student there but I was the most ambitious electronic music person that school ever saw. I failed German and Algebra but I was an excellent creative writing and music student.
That is where I figured out for real what I was good at and I got a lot of positive reinforcement (even though I also got a lot of negative reinforcement) to join up with all the blue bloods and follow the straight and narrow. It has taken me a long time to come to terms with the fact that I had such a privileged experience to be able to go there. I mean, the education opportunities I was given by my parents were amazing and some times I still feel guilty because I see the real world much better now. I didn’t get into Harvard or anything but when i did get to college I got straight A’s almost as a ”thank you” to my parents, but it also helped me understand I could be successful in life.”
Skrufff: How ambitious/ driven are you today compared to say 5 years ago when you started Dirtybird?
Claude VonStroke: “In the beginning I didn’t have children so it is more of a sleep quotient than an ambition thing. I still am just as ambitious but my free time has dwindled down to about half the amount I used to have. So I am trying to squeeze all my ambitions into half the time, which can be extremely frustrating. Even so I love what I do and I am more than happy to be doing it.”
5 Years of Dirtybird- is out on April 26. Click HERE to listen to clips:
Fabric 51 has been revealed to the world in tracklist form, now i'm not the greatest fan of the fabric comps but I have enjoyed a few of them; fabric 43 - Metro Area (November 2008), fabric 46 - Claude Von Stroke (May 2009), fabric 50 - Martyn (January 2010) & FabricLive.38 - DJ Craze (February 2008) FabricLive.39 - DJ Yoda (April 2008) to name a few.
Anyways so Fabric have announced that Dj T (German DJ/Producer) is mixing there new Fabric 50 Compilation and have released the tracklist. DJ T aka Thomas Koch, who is the founder of Groove magazine, who has been Dj'ing since 1989 a true vet, is a perfect pick for a Fabric mix cd. This mix looks serious from the tracklisting , i am a fan of Koch's work so i am hoping this mix will reflect his style of production.
Fabric 51: DJ T. comes out March 22.
Tracklisting: 01. dOP - Wiper Law 02. Michael J Collins - I Just Wanna Be Your Disco Bitch 03. 10lec6 - Drown Dogs Holidays 04. Stuffa A Million Secrets (Salax Peep Show Remix) 05. Madioko N Rafika - Ellelli (Kalabrese Remix) 06. Danton Eeprom - Give Me Pain 07. Matias Aguayo Ft. Lerato - Pata Pata 08. Ben Mono - Jesus Was A B-Boy (TJ Kong & Nuno Dos Santos Remix) 09. Will Saul & Tam Cooper Ft. Ursula Rucker - Where Is It (Will Saul & Tam Cooper’s Reloved Dub Mix) 10. Dave DK & Holger Zilske Feat. Richard Davis 11. III & Azari - Hungry For The Power 12. Wigald Boning - Kobra Dance - Compost 13. Soulphiction - The Royal Pennekaums (Chocolettes Nervous Mix) 14. Le Roif Ft. Roland Clarrk - I Get Deep 15. DJ T. - Try To Understand - Kindisch 16. DJ Mujava - Township Funk (Crazy P Mix) 17. Good Guy Mikesh - Milk & Honey (Basket Mix) 18. Bodycode - Immune 19. Random Factor - Broken Mirror 20. WhoMadeWho - Keep Me In My Plane (DJ Koze Hudson River Dub)
