Thu, 14 Oct 2010  /  Post a comment
Christian Hawk is no newcomer to the scene, in fact he’s been working as a professional DJ since 2000, playing the most important gigs in and around Brazil with residencies at Brazil’s most important clubs including D-Edge, SPKZ, Vegas and the now-closed LovE Club.

Christian’s early inspiration came from bands like New Order, Information Society, Prodigy and Apollo 44 and his own music is inspired by the sounds of jazz, bossa nova, rock ‘n roll, reggae and soul. In 2008, Christian joined forced with partner Raoni Kirschner to form High Definition Records, a label investing in and up and coming talents as well as established artists around the world. You will find High Definition on all major digital download networks and I’d recommend you see what they’ve been up to this year, featuring some of the hottest talents on the scene including Kev O’Brien, Bigger Than Jesus, Brothers in Progress, Caio Carvalho, Christian Hawk himself, Farshad, Gabriel Boni, Gianluca Corvesi, Janmario, Juan Sanchez, Justin James, London FM, Luca Albano, Lust Addict, Nikko Z, Oblivion, Oliver Moldan, Richtberg & Wojkowski, Sabb, Sebastian Davidson, Simone Godenzi, Snaz & GuZz, Under Electric Shock and Vernon.

I am honoured to feature Christian Hawk on Deeper Vibes Definition 04 and the show promises to be a full House affair of the highest order, hope you enjoy :)

Here’s the EXCLUSIVE interview held with Christian in an anticipation of this podcast:

Shayne: Is there a difference between Christian Hawk the DJ and Christian Hawk the producer? Tell us more.

Christian: Yes there is! The DJ is a music lover that plays tracks according to the venue, the dancefloor, the crowd, and the time. It’s more than playing music, it’s about interacting with the dancefloor and providing some cool sound experiences. Christian Hawk, the producer, is just a crazy guy that loves making music period. Same as my label, High Definition Records, I don’t follow a single genre. Even when some people say that I should keep a genre, I just can’t, it’s something artistic. I produce because I need to express myself.

Shayne: Your label, High Definition, has been doing some good stuff recently. Where did it all start and what’s the origin of the label name?

Christian: It’s not just mine, I have an important partner who is also my best friend, his name is Raoni Kirschner. The idea for the label started when I was at the bar in front of a music production university drinking with students and talking about marketing, labels, venues… As I sat there, I was thinking of starting a label. Told the guys about it, and a good artist called Vitor Munhoz (from Oblivion techno duo) was there and said “So why don’t you do it mofo!”. I told Raoni and he loved the idea. We quickly started collecting tracks, building the label stuff, doin’ our thing. The label name was missing for a while. We were at a cool party here, talking bullshit and it was around june 2008, just when the “High Definition” technology got into Brazil and everybody was talking about it… at one point somebody played an amazing track and we said joking.. “yeah this one is quality… yeah this one is high quality… yeah high definition!” then I was like “Bro! That’s it! High Definition! High Definition Records!!!” and that’s the story.

Shayne: How do you categorise the music you play vs. the music you produce? I mean, do you tend to follow a specific genre or set of genres? Why?

Christian: The music I play on my gigs nowadays is mainly influenced by House and Techno with some Minimal touches, I’m totally up to funky stuff. The music I produce, I don’t follow a genre or a set of genres, I mean if I wake up inspired to make some weird dubstep stuff, I will. I listen a lot of Jazz, Soul, Hip Hop, Rock’n Roll and Reggae music, love those influences also.

Shayne: How long have you been doing the DJ/producer thing? What inspired you to become a DJ/producer?

Christian: Well, first came the DJ thing… I was really into electronic music parties since ‘95. In 2000 I got my first gig, then I started playing here and there. In a couple of years I was the resident of Lov.e Club (Sao Paulo), which was the pioneer club of underground electronic music here. Later came the D-Edge residency and in those places I learned a lot. As a producer I started a long time ago, was on Logic 3.3 for PC, I don’t remember the year. What inspired me to DJ was the passion that I have for the music and interacting with the crowd, for producing I get inspired by moments of my life that demand me to express myself somehow.

Shayne: When you get some alone time and sit down in the studio for the first time to start a new tune.. what goes through your head? Where do you start? Do you control the music or do you let it take on a life of its own?

Christian: Cool questions, in the beginning it was all experiences, I let it take on a life of it’s own. Today I can say I produce in two ways; first one is when I know what I want and turn it into music. The second one is just as I said before, but more experimental is what I can say.

Shayne: What was your biggest challenge in getting to where you are today? How did you overcome it?

Christian: Wow, what a question. I’m from a conservative family and for me it was hard to keep working against all odds, for sure working with music is not well accepted by society until you are finally somebody. But I can say it’s really hard, we all know that’s a new business, a market that is still growing, taking it’s shapes, and the information available, mainly in Brazil, was really hard to get. I overcame it keeping my aims and focus. I always knew what I wanted, and I always worked based on getting united with good and clear partnerships and NEVER break a deal. In this “nightlife” job your word is worth 10x more then a contract; and if you brake it once, you can have some hard times.

Shayne: The borders between Deep House and Tech House are not as distinct as they were a few years back, where do you see Deep House and Tech House moving in the next 5-10 years? Please also share some thoughts you have about the direction in which electronic music is moving?

Christian: There are a lot of different opinions about that. I always try to analyze all of them, also listening to what’s emerging and what’s new on avant-guard artists is good. I believe that in our days it’s hard to name a genre for a track. That’s so true that the same tracks are rated as different genres in different stores. I always say that this “genre” thing is not working anymore, what we have today are tracks “influenced by” genres that were well defined some time ago. I believe this “fusion” will keep on moving. You can see both modern Deep and Tech House really influenced by the minimal raw sounds, for example. Electronic music is moving forward with this big “fusion”, and new experimentalisms are going to be shown. Today Tech-House and House are the powerfull genres in the market, but we can see clearly a “Techno Power” coming back, mainly influenced by the 90’s Techno.

Shayne: Where’s the best place (or places) for fans to find you on the net?

Christian: Well they can keep posted about me on my facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/djchristianhawk), follow me closer at twitter (www.twitter.com/christianhawk), my infos on myspace (www.myspace.com/djchristianhawk), and follow my mixes and new releases at my soundcloud (www.soundcloud.com/djchristianhawk). Enough? LOL

Shayne: And we hope to also have more of you on Deeper Vibes in coming months!

Shayne: What’s your spontaneous Top 10 tracks right now, whether dance floor or deep, doesn’t matter? We wanna know what’s moving you right now!

Christian: Here you go:

1. London FM – Bottom Line [Original Mix]
2. AFFKT & Samuel Dan vs. AFTC Feat. Lisa Millet – Bad Habit [Original Mix]
3. Juan Sanchez – Movin’ [El Mondo & Satori Remix]
4. Christian Hawk – What You Think [Juan Sanchez Remix]
5. Oliver Moldan – Beloved on the 70s [Summed & Dot Remix]
6. Gabriel Boni & Rodrigo Carreira – Freak Me Out [Snaz & Guzz Remix]
7. Luca Albano – Calinda [Francesco Bonora Remix]
8. Federico Buratti – El Guage [Original Mix]
9. Tim Green – Old Sunshine [Original Mix]
10. Radio Slave – N.I.N.A. [Original Mix]

Shayne: Tell us more about this exclusive mix you have put together for Deeper Vibes.

Christian: It’s not a dancefloor mix for sure! I played a little bit with this “border line” between Tech House and Deep House, with different mixing techniques as well. I played some unreleased hot stuff, as well as oldie tracks.

Here’s some bonus questions to take you into Christian’s Deeper Vibes Definition 04 Guest Mix:

Shayne: What are your thoughts about bacon and eggs?

Christian: It reminds me Miami’s Intercontinental breakfast.

Shayne: What’s your favourite time to work in the studio?

Christian: Anytime.

Shayne: What’s your favourite DJ time? How long do you like to play?

Christian: Two hours is the minimum time to build something cool!

Shayne: Do you have an all-time favourite tune? What is it? And what memories does it bring back?

Christian: Karlheinz Stockhausen – Helicopter StringQuartet. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13D1YY_BvWU). Remembers me good times when I studied music history and crazy experimentalism stuff.

Shayne: What was your favourite music era?

Christian: This current one!

That’s it for the September 2010 installment of Deeper Vibes Definition. Much love and respect to Christian for taking some time out for Deeper Vibes followers, hope u like :)

Download

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Christian Hawk | Deeper Vibes Definition 04 | september 2010 | Part 2 | Exclusive | Deeper Vibes (138.1 MiB)
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ID3 tag information

* DJ. Christian Hawk
* Mix. Deeper Vibes Definition Podcast 04 Part 2
* Mix Date. 2010, September
* Release Date. 2010, September
* Main Genre. House
* Sub-Genre. Tech House
* Vibe. Club
* Length. 1hr 0mins
* Bitrate. 320kbps

Tracklist

1. Twisted Mind – Champagne [Original Mix] – High Definition
2. One Hand aka AFFKT & Daryn Vyrls – New Day [Original Mix] – CR2
3. AFFKT & Samuel Dan vs. ATFC feat Lisa Millet – Bad Habit [Original Mix] – OFF
4. Tommy Largo – Certain Clubs [Jason Hodges Mix] – Control Recordings
5. Albino – My Soul [Original Mix] – High Definition
6. Lilo – Child [Original Mix] – Kant Recordings
7. Jairo Catelo – Amoyeba [Original Mix] – Darkroom Dubs
8. Sabb & Luca Albano – Besom [Christian Hawk Keep It Up Remix] – High Definition
9. Luca Albano – Calinda [Oliver Moldan Remix] – High Definition
10. Oliver Moldan – Babe [Original Mix] – High Definition
11. London FM – Bottom Line [Original Mix] – High Definition

Thu, 07 Oct 2010  /  Post a comment