American house producer Pezzner will be touring Australia this August, playing dates in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
Though he's been professionally producing music for over a decade, it is only recently that Dave Pezzner has made a name for himself producing under his own name. His partnership with Bob Hansen under the Jacob London moniker lasted several years, churning out a series of singles from the late'90 right through to the '00s. As a solo artist, Pezzner has aligned himself with the UK-based Freerange Records, releasing his debut solo album just last month.
We recently caught up with Pezzner over e-mail, where he told us about what it was like producing his maiden LP, his relationship with Freerange, and how the Seattle scene is going.
You released your debut LP last month. Now that the album is in the bag, what do you think of the LP recording and release process? After primarily releasing singles and remixing, was finding cohesion difficult?
No, I don’t think that it was difficult at all. It was probably more time consuming than anything. The LP was commissioned a little over a year before the release, and almost all of the songs were written with this album specifically in mind. The process of writing all of the tracks took about five-and-a-half to six months. I guess the wait was the hardest part – that and fact that I’d chosen not to release any other original material until the album came out. So in order for me to make ends meet, I needed to produce a lot more remix work last year.
At this stage, is putting another LP out high on the agenda?
Yes. It's very high on the agenda. As soon as I return from my tour I’ll be making strides towards getting the next one under way.
Going back to 2008, how did you first get in touch with the guys over at Freerange?
I think Fred Everything put me in contact with Jimpster back in 2006 when Bob Hansen and I were still doing Jacob London records. I became a big fan of the label throughout 2004-2005 and thought it wouldn’t hurt to add Freerange to the list of labels we were sending demos to. Unfortunately we never put something together that fit the label, but I continued to send them demos anyway.
A few months ago, you remixed Shades Of Gray, two Sydney-based producers. Have you visited Australia before?
Yes. Bob and I did a Jacob London tour in Australia once. Played at Monkey Tennis in Sydney, did some other shows in Melbourne and Gold Coast. This will be my first time performing as Pezzner in Australia.
How often do you play in Seattle? Are there any regular parties there that you'd recommend?
Not as often as I would like these days. I used to have several local gigs each month. It seems the busier I’ve been getting out of town the fewer offers I’m getting to play at home. Granted, I’m not really trying as hard as I used to get the local shows, but I love playing in Seattle. We have a nice tight knit audience that really feels more like a family to me than a "scene".
I have two long-standing "favorite club nights" in Seattle. There’s one monthly, run by Sun Tzu Sound and Kid Hops (KEXP), every third Saturday at Chop Suey Nightclub. It's one of those nights where you can hear everything from Stevie Wonder to Roni Size, and Dorian Concept to Bohannon. The sounds are usually pretty eclectic and soulful early on in the night, and eventually move into house, broken beat, and disco by mid-way. New music, classics, fast, slow… There are no rules at Trust, and the energy they are able to get from the dance floor is outstanding. My other favorite night is every Sunday – Flammable at the Rebar. Brian Lyons has run this night for about 12 years now. I remember a time when I based my work schedule around Flammable so that I would have Mondays off to recover from Sunday night. The vibe is amazing, the place is dark, and the sound is good. You get really quality deep house music, and knowledgeable audience who come to dance.
Finally, what's on the cards for the rest of 2010? More touring?
Yes, a little more touring. Maybe things will cool down a bit as we get closer to fall, when I can put more focus on writing music.
Tickets to the Sydney leg of Pezzner's upcoming Australian tour are available at RA Tickets.
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