Nick Chacona will release his debut artist album on Moodmusic early next year.

Chacona has always been a prolific producer, but it's taken him nearly 18 months to put together the tracks that will make up his first long-player. Work began apace in October of last year when Chacona left his position at Downtown 161, a New York vinyl distributor. The results reflect Chacona's wide-ranging interests, with collaborations with disco muse Kathy Diamond, house beatmaker Brothers' Vibe and frequent cohort Anthony Mansfield, with whom Chacona co-runs the Hector Works imprint. To find out more about the album—and some remixers that will be involved on the 12-inch level—we caught up with Chacona via e-mail earlier this month.

Have you been working on the album for a while?

I had planned to do an album for many years, but the decision to focus and actually get it done came in the beginning of 2008. I had a few of the tunes done at the time, and they just seemed like perfect album material, and I figured it was meant to be. In October I left my position as buyer, production coordinator and salesperson at Downtown 161, spent some time in the country in Upstate NY, and then a few months in Berlin working in the studio. I didn't finish until mid-2009, when I was back living in Brooklyn again. So in essence it was about a year-and-a-half in the making.

What can fans expect from the record?

I hope they don't have any expectations, and are open to whatever they are going to hear. :) But those who do can expect to hear a variety of styles that I've drawn upon over the years, from arppegiated disco, to lush deep house, to full on Gabber and Hardstyle. (Well, not really.)

Did you select the remixers yourself?

I asked Levon Vincent to do the mix of "Be Like Olive" personally. In my opinion (as well as many other people's) he's one of the exciting producers around, honest and true to his vision of house and an all-around great guy. And other than doing a mix with my new project Beg To Differ (with Roy Dank of The Wurst Music Co.), Sasse [Moodmusic head honcho] tapped everyone else. Most likely we'll be doing some more, and we'll probably be deciding them together.

Why did you decide to go with Moodmusic for the album?

I've done two singles for Mood to date, and Sasse and I have collaborated together on singles for Buzzin' Fly, Forensic, and Mood. We also DJ together on occasion, which is always great fun. Over dinner a few years back, he asked me release my debut artist album on Mood, and I was happy to oblige.

Can we expect anything else from Hector Works in 2010?

Oh yes. We've got some goodies up our sleeves including new mixes of "Band Practice" (including a vocal), a label compilation and quite possibly an album from Anthony and I together. And maybe some special edition halter tees w/ a picture of Anthony riding a big black horse with the text "Italian Stallion" underneath. [winks]

Tracklisting
01. Especial
02. Turning and Tossing
03. The Fear feat. Kathy Diamond
04. Jambong Express
05. Autumn Pass
06. Eskayelator
07. Wait feat. Brothers Vibe
08. Proving Ground
09. Be Like Olive
10. Hipstar

Moodmusic will release Nick Chacona's Love in the Middle on February 15, 2010. 9 Comments