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Written By: BenGomori |
If you’ve been anywhere that they play techno in recent months, you will have undoubtedly stumbled across (or rather been battered by) Christian Smith & John Selway’s monstrous Total Departure. You know, the one that sounds like it’s taking off for about 5 minutes and builds up and up ‘til you feel like your head is about to explode, all pummelled along by that chunky mofo of a bassline. It’s a record you can only get away with playing in certain situations, settings and locations, due to its fiercely peak-time, intense nature. It will go down in the books as one of 2008’s biggest tracks, played by house and techno DJs right across the board.
But perhaps you don’t know as much about Swedish born Christian Smith as you should. He’s a phenomenal DJ, and for the last 12 or so years he’s been churning out consistently delectable, chunky, mouth-watering, groove-driven techno, both on his own and with the aforementioned American producer John Selway. His currently defunct label Tronic, Primate, Intec, Underwater Records, Cr2 Records, F Communications and Yoshitoshi are just a handful of the hugely respected labels he has produced tracks for, and with a stunning new euphoric double header on Bedrock as well as more beats for Renaissance, a release on Dubfire’s Sci+Tec label, and a remix for Kevin Saunderson all to follow this year, it looks set to be the year that the wider dance music community remember his name for once and for all.
Currently residing in Barcelona, where he runs his superb Club 4 nights, Christian is still ever the globe-trotter - but found some time to entertain our questions and tell us just where he got THAT sound from.
You’ve moved from Sweden to Germany to Washington to New York to Barcelona. What do you love about each place, and would you say you are happiest where you are now?
I moved around a lot for professional reasons. I lived in Germany when I was a kid because my father was stationed there as a pilot for Lufthansa. Then I moved to Washington DC to attend university. Later to Stockholm for more university. And then to New York for 5 years for music. I have also been in Barcelona and am now in Sao Paulo, Brazil. I guess I like to move around.
Being an international DJ I travel about 50-60% a year. I like all the places that I have lived in, but for now Sao Paolo is my new home and I love living in South America. The people are very warm and open. Also the scene is growing fast and it’s nice to be a part of something that is growing and evolving. But I will still be back in Europe almost every month for gigs.
How were/are you influenced musically by each place?
I am constantly being influenced by where I travel to and where I live. But most importantly I get influenced listening to other DJs play and hear their music. It’s always nice to get a different perspective on things. And I really appreciate this.
What’s the most popular sound in Barcelona currently? Are people quite fixed in what they like or are they eclectic and open-minded in their tastes?
A bit of both really. They have more commercial venues like Pacha that book the likes of David Guetta and Roger Sanchez, but they also have wicked clubs like Loft where you get everybody from Sven Väth, myself, to Hernan Cattaneo or Miss Kittin. Barcelona has a wide variety of clubs and I am very happy that there is a healthy amount of choice. But overall minimal and slow techno is really popular at the moment.
Give us the FULL story on how you and John Selway met...dialogue and all...
To make a long story short, we met at a rave in Washington DC in 1992 and became friends as we shared similar musical tastes. We kept in touch for a few years and in 1997 we made a record together for Rotation which became a big success. Subsequently we decided to collaborate more as we had fun making the tracks and a good chemistry in the studio. Eleven years later we are still working a lot together and especially now in 2008 we are going at full steam. You will see many more Smith & Selway releases coming in 2008 and 2009 as well as solo productions.
How does it work, producing a track when you are both on the other side of the Atlantic? It must have some big limitations surely?
We only really work together when we are in person. This works much better as you can get immediate feedback when working on a track. We might do a few tracks together via online in the future, but for now in person has been the most successful way to get good tracks done.
Being that techno is quite a raw style and reasonably constrained in its musical palette, are you surprised that people like yourself can stay so fascinated and dedicated by and to it after so many years? What makes it so addictive?
The key thing about techno is in technology and that it’s constantly evolving. As opposed to some other electronic genres. This is why it did not bore me for such a long time. But to be honest all this minimal hype is really boring me now. One great thing about minimal is that it has slowed down techno and is pushing boundaries. But less is not always more. I miss the funky basslines, musical aspects such as melodies etc. But thankfully that is now changing with modern house having a comeback and people not being so shy to do what they really want. I really like the fact that house, techno, and progressive is all just one grey area and everybody plays everything.
Techno has changed a lot in recent years...slower...sexier...who would you say have been the most important in terms of giving the genre a new lease of life?
Techno will never cease to exist simply because it always changes. I am really happy that currently it’s slower and as you say “sexier”. It being slower gives the producer more space to build complex and funky grooves. More importantly more women are into it and this to me is very important. I’m tired playing for a bunch of blokes.
Obviously Richie Hawtin is the single most important contributor to techno slowing down and moving more into the minimal direction. He has had a huge impact on me, more in the past that now, but I respect him a lot for not going with the flow and having the balls go into a totally new direction a few years back.
Have you been surprised at how big Sweden has become in terms of electronic music in recent years, with you and your Drumcode guys, the Swedish House Mafia, John Dahlbäck, Zoo Brazil etc...?
Strangely for such a small nation Sweden has always had a big amount of successful music producers. Even on the pop level Sweden is a huge player with bands such as Abba, Roxette, etc. Also some of the Swedish house producers such as Axwell are more pop than underground really. Also, the Drumcode family has been strong for over 10 years now and I don't think that will stop anytime soon ;)
Total Departure has been ridiculously large. Where did the inspiration come from and what’s the biggest reaction you’ve seen to it so far?
The inspiration came from a plug in we downloaded called the Schaefer effect. It's a sound that makes you believe that rises and rises and never stops. We were so intrigued with this effect that we decided to devote an entire track to it. We basically built a simple funky groove and to accommodate the effect and sound and wrote a trademark hands in the air style break that makes people go mental. The reactions have been immense and I am very happy at the crossbreed of DJs that have and still support this track. Everybody from John Digweed and Sasha to Richie Hawtin and Carl Cox have been playing Total Departure at most of their summer festival gigs.
Which producers do you most admire in terms of their technique and production quality?
There are so many producers I respect and appreciate its hard to just name a few. But some people who I really like for their technique are Steve Angello as he has a fat sound. I also like Adam Beyer’s sound as well as Tiger Stripes’. There are so many people that have a good sound. Oddly there are some very famous producers that have very poor production. I won't mention their names, but what kept them alive is the fact that their tracks are really good. If a great track is poorly produced its still OK, but if you can combine both you have a killer tune.
You once remixed Queen...how did that all come about and how did you approach such a task?
We were approached by a big UK label that wanted us to remix this tune. They had licensed the original and wanted a Smith & Selway style remix. It was a fun project to work with because I was a big fan of Queen in the ‘80s.
What’s the most diva-like you’ve seen a DJ behave in all your years playing across the world?
You hear many stories around the globe about Paul Oakenfold and his behaviour and demands. But I do not know if they are true, nor do I care. Diva-like attitude will only hurt you in the long run and I think in the small DJ world we live in its better to be polite and well mannered.
What’s still left on Christian Smith’s “to-do list”?
Re-launch my Tronic label in the fall, make a few more 12”s and remixes before the years end, keep on gigging and accumulating those air miles and possibly even write a book.
Which producers should we be keeping an eye or ear on at the moment?
Johnny D, Milton Jackson, and of course Smith & Selway J
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