Traxx Interview Feat. HNNY, Ben Pearce, Real Connoisseur, The Mekanism and Harry Wolfman

We have a taste for the unconventional here at DT. A love of the experimental. And that is why we’ve decided to break with tradition and interview a compilation. No we’ve not gone mad and tried to speak directly to  a CD! We decided that wouldn’t work and the best way to get a flavour of a compilation would be to interview as many contributors as possible. So with that in mind we posed the questions and the guys behind the excellent new Traxx: The House That Garage Built gave us the answers. So read on for the musings of Ben Pearce, Harry Wolfman, The Mekanism, Real Connisoseur and HNNY, all in one place…

Ben Pearce    What do you think of Harry Wolfman’s remix of ‘What I Might Do’?   Better than the original? Haha, I love it, Harry has a knack for making anything his own and the fresh take he brought was a real treat for the package, i love playing that one out, it adds a real energy, I’m glad I asked him to do it.   What does the rest of 2013 have in store for Purp & Soul? I think we’ve found our feet as a label and a family, everybody is producing some amazing music and starting to play a lot more shows, as  a label with have releases coming up from Harry Wolfman & Jouhl, Real Connoisseur, myself and then also we have a sub-label that will be getting going with a 2ndSun EP. I feel so positive about the year, we’re moving forward as a group and it should be a lot of fun!      

Harry Wolfman

Things have really sped up since you joined the family at Purp & Soul. What’s the ride been like?

It’s been emotional… Had to say it. No it’s been amazing, the last 6 months in particular. The thing is that as a collective we all kind of nurture one another with honest feedback and advice, and I think that’s really allowed me and the rest of the guys, even Ben, to progress as artists. We all talk a lot even though me, Dan, Memo and Connor are kind of isolated geographically from the rest of the team and when we all get together the party tends to get out of hand… It’s been a lot of fun and I’m so excited for how the next 6 months will pan out for Purp & Soul. All of the guys are making incredible but diverse music, and I think that’s what makes us a little different to other collectives in that we’re really pushing our own individual sounds.

Can you tell us about your Wolfstock nights?

Wolfstock was born in the countryside where I grew up. We threw a massive party when I left school, several hundred people in our field and it was incredible! Me and my brother Luke decided to take it into London and that’s when it became official. The main focus is music, all of the bookings we’ve made so far have been a representation of what we’re into. It’s been extremely hard work at times but we’ve had some great parties. A particular favourite of ours was our last Plan B event with Fred P… We love Fred P and he absolutely killed it, one of the best sets I’ve ever seen. At this moment in time we’re taking a hiatus as I’m very busy with my own music and Luke is busy with a side project of his called Cirque Du Soul – well worth checking out by the way, amazing parties. We are beginning to plan our next move for Wolfstock, it will be something intimate and focused, so stay tuned for that!

The Mekanism Your ‘Body Classic’ is a real crowd-mover. How’d you come about creating it? First of all, this track was only released a few days ago so i’m very happy when you say that it’s a “real crowd-mover”! I love this track, i did it few months ago with Needwant, and we’ve been waiting for a good time to release it. Garage and NYC vibes are in my heart, so i wanted to make a track with thoses vibes, because bass music is so in right now I want to go back to some more Classic vibes (like chicago, garage …) For this track, I used some samples first to make a groove , then I built the track around it.    Having such a busy international touring schedule, how comforting is it, having a regular slot back home in Social Club, Paris?   I’m very happy to have a residency at Social Club, Gives me freedom to invite artists from my family like Adana Twins, Karmon… and invite some others I really respect but in the same vibe as me (DJ T, Benoit & Sergio, Miguell Campbell) For the “Pacifique” parties, i was looking for a good family vibe and people can feel it during every party!      HNNY

How much does the 90s sound of New York House influence your style?

I’ve listened to so much 90s house so I think it influences what I do a lot. I try not to copy or anything like that, but I guess you always get inspired from the music you’ve been listening to your whole life.

What’s your take on DirtyTwo’s remix of ‘For The Very First Times’?

I love it! I was so happy that they did something really different with it. Way too many remixes sound too much like the originals, so to get and 80s funk-remix of my house track was a great surprise!

Real Connoisseur

How sick is it to have a Garage DJ for a father?    It’s pretty cool! I think Garage is pretty much planted in my subconscious so it can’t help but come out when I’m producing tracks. Plus, having a 1000+ vinyl collection to dig through isn’t half bad!  What’s the scene like, producing out of Oxford?   There’s a small scene brewing in Oxford at the moment, but it’s not exactly known for it’s crazy nightlife… For me, it’s quite nice to live here because I don’t have a lot of distractions & temptations to go out which allows me to just get on with my music & not feel like missing out on anything.  

Traxx: The House Garage Built is available now via Needwant Records.