Codekontrol Records has been around for a while now, bringing us
fresh acts and uncovering a depth of talented producers. After
attending a studio launch party a grab the two men behind their
Opposite Forces EP for a quick chat with Alpha Channel and Mario
Reder.
Codekontrol Records has been around for a while now, bringing us
fresh acts and uncovering a depth of talented producers. After
attending a studio launch party a grab the two men behind their
Opposite Forces EP for a quick chat with Alpha Channel and Mario
Reder.
First up how did the opposite force EP come about?
M: my first objective was to work on an EP that would appeal to a
diversified audience, rather than to focus on one specific
genre....
With Reeject I've tried to reproduce atmospheres generally used
in videogames ( i Love video games) and to keep deep/ penetrating
rhythms and percussion, whilst in OneSevenOne the mood changes
completely: melodies are more repetitive and the sound becomes
more techy than minimal.
The EP has received some rave feedback from established
performers, tell us a bit more?
M: Yes, in fact the response was much more overwhelming than
expected, having your work appreciated by the likes of Paco
Osuna, Lorent Garnier or Colin Dale makes you feel even more
positive about the direction that you are taking as an artist, it
is another way of getting motivated and trying to put your
passion to a good use :)
Alpha Channel, the remix you made of OneSevenOne also received
full support?
A: This being my third release I wasn't sure how my sound would
be received or if it would fit with what people are playing, as I
think my style is a bit different from most. However, I was
stoked at the great feedback I got from people like Mistress De
Funk, Paco Osuna, Alex Tepper and Anderson Noise, it made
all the time spent in the studio worth while.
Who are your influences? Where do you get your ideas from?
M: I enjoy all kinds of music, and amongst my passions is playing
piano- to which I've dedicated ten intense years- Loved it!!
Therefore it would be difficult for me to pinpoint exactly
artists or genres, but certainly you can account as my favorite
Djs and producers: Stephan Bodzin, Mark Houle and Marco Carola.
What about you Alpha Channel?
A: I have so many influences on my music it's not even funny. I
find it hard to keep track of my ideas when they come to me, I
try to keep them in my head or write them down somehow in words
but they tend to escape me. A lot of my sound comes from artists
I like and look up: Marc Houle, Alex Under, Gaiser.....the list
goes on. Elements of things like TV programs and computer games
seem to end up in my tracks and I find a lot of my ideas will
come to me whilst i'm watching films. So when I make tracks I
tend to have something on the television beside me with the
volume off or some picture or something there to spark off ideas.
For this remix I was listening to a lot of 80's electro at the
time and I think that really comes through in the track.
How did you guys come to work with the Codekontrol?
M: I've met Cj through a common friend and from there we started
sharing some ideas and we discussed the possibility of releasing
on one of the Codekontrol Records sub-labels: Minimal Force in
this case...
And then in Codekontrol I have found all that an artist needs,
the whole team puts a great deal of efforts in making sure that
all is taken good care of, and there is a a positive vibe going
on... so it looks like a nice relationship is growing, in fact
there are already some new projects on the way for Codekontrol
Records.
A: I used to go to parties with Ted Schon, label manager of
Picknik Recordings, and I passed him my tracks once I was happy
with them. My sound wasn't right for his label but he hooked me
up with CJ, who is one of the directors of Codekontrol Records,
and we took it from there.
How was it to remix Mario's work?
A: It was cool to be asked to do it. I had been learning to
produce for years on my own and was finally confident enough in
my style to get released on Minimal Force. I really liked
the track and it made me see lots of images in my head which is
generally how I work. I have an image in my head and with that
image comes a sound or tone or maybe even just like a beat or
noise and then I try to expand the idea from there.
Where do you both see each other in the future?
M: I think that one of any artists' priority is to have their
music heard, in order to give the opportunity to others to enjoy
your work. however I would definitely see myself more in a studio
environment, concentrating on developing my skills as a producer,
although I love playing and the vibes that you get are completely
different.
A: At the moment I'm focusing on improving my producing and
trying to hone in on a sound. Every time I do something I do it
better and in a different way to how I did it before. I hope that
keeps in going and I can continue to get closer to the sound in
my head. I've got a solo EP coming out in first half of next year
which I'm very excited about, the artists we've got on board for
the remixes are exactly who I'd want to be on there. On the
perfomance side of things I'm working on moving into the Live set
up.
Minimal Force is back with brand new material. For the eagerly anticipated third release by three of our new up and coming artists featuring Mario Reder with remixes by Alpha Channel and Roby Mannarini.....
Arrangements and complex multilayering, that is achieved with a sense of ease.
The EP begins with Mario Reder's ‘Reeject' an off-beat groove with deep spacey pads, rumbling basslines, soft tones and delicate melodies alternating throughout. The slippery percussion helps to build the tension to this definite late night belter.
The second featuring track ‘OneSevenOne’ starts where ‘Reeject’ left off. It constantly builds with the help of the deep steady driving bassline, filling up the spaces with a twisted electric pad which builds and builds, the raw drum sounds add to the wonky minimal madness to get your ass shaking all over the place
Alpha Channel's remix of 'OneSevenOne' sees the EP take a new direction propelling you into the driving wobbly bassline, the momentum never lets go, accelerating into thin slicing percussion surrounded by a trippy vocal and effects throughout.
The 'Opposite Forces' EP borders on mixture of deep driving techno beats, combined with clicky minimal under-tones and massive electronic soundscapes all brought together through the vigorous...
The second remix is of 'Reeject' featuring Roby Mannarini, unfolding us deep into a hypnotic allure of driving beats, a tech infused builder loaded with bleeps and electronic grunts building with a sense of urgency and breaking down and swallowing us up into nocturnal synths.
