Music
Chew The Fat! @ The End Presents Hook N Sling
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Jul 17, 2007 - 5:11:56 PM

Not content with beating us at the sports we invented, Australians are now creating some of the world’s hottest dance music. With big props from the likes of Pete Tong and James Zabelia, slamming electro-house producer, Hook N Sling, is emerging as one of Oz’s leading exports. And with his debut compilation forth-coming very soon on Fat! recordings, we caught up to find out more.

First it was breaks. Now Australia seems to be knocking out a load of top notch electro tunes.   Is the Australian dance scene as strong as it seems?   And are there any other names or labels to watch out for?

Yeah, the Australian scene is definitely on the up. For me, some of the Aussie labels and producers that are really doing some amazing stuff at the moment are The Aston Shuffle, Dirty South, Sam La More and a new Sydney label, which I’ve just finished a mix for, called Vacation Records run by Stu Tyson aka Bass Kleph.

You have your first compilation coming out on Chew the Fat! on July 16^th. Can you tell us a little bit about what to expect. Who’s on there and how did you go about choosing the tracks?

I tried to do something really fresh and upfront with the mix. It’s a mix which you would hear me playing in the club but I also tried to do something that works outside of the club as well. There’s a lot of my new material on there, plus new tunes from guys like Mark Knight, James Harcourt and Superbass. The tunes I chose are things that I’m playing right now and new material from the guys who are always at the front of my record box.

Your single Bump, which reached number 1 in the buzz charts, was produced with Kid Kenobi who a lot of people here are familiar with for his breaks tunes. How does your partnership work?   And does it mean you’ll also be doing some breaks tunes with him?  

Jesse and myself were really in tune when we wrote this song. It was crazy actually, we pretty much had exactly the same idea for the tune before we got in the studio. So when we started writing, it all came together really quick.  I do all the production and engineering on our collaborations but Jesse and myself are very much equal when it comes to ideas. I’m not sure if we’ll be doing some ‘breaks’ tunes in the future. When we get in the studio, we don’t necessarily decide on a genre before we start. We tend to just jam and keep working up the good ideas.

You’ve done a great remix of the Stanton Warriors tune, Shake it Up. How did you get involved in that project?   Do you think it’s indicative of a growing cross-over between the house and breaks scenes?

Ah yes, the Stanton’s mix. Late last year Mark Yardley got in touch after he got hold of some stuff I’d been working on. I’m a big fan of the Beatnuts and the Stantons, so for me, it became a great project to get involved in. And yeah, it’s one of those crossover tunes that appeals to house heads and breaks heads. At the moment, a lot of the lines between genres are blurring which I really like. The old cliché still rings true - good music is good music.

What’s coming next for Hook N Sling?   Do you have any UK dates we might be able to catch you at soon?

Apart from the compilation, I’ve got a bunch of remixes coming out.  The Stanton Warriors mix is out in July.  I’ve also just finished a mix for Dutch house maestro, Martijn Ten Velden. I’ve remixed his tune, ‘Wish You Would’, which is getting a full worldwide release, complete with a video clip. That’s out in July also. After that are new mixes I’ve done for UK/Australian solo artist Darren Hayes and Silverchair. Oh and I’m also busy finishing some new Hook n Sling originals.

Buy: Chew The Fat! @ The End Presents Hook N Sling

 http://www.juno.co.uk/products/275651-01.htm