Thursday 21 February 2019

Interview with ETHAN FAWKES from Belgium!



It was last year when I accidentally listened to an amazing Oldskool Techno, Belgium influenced tune entitled 'James Brown's Return' over Soundcloud.
After my instant shock, I started digging the man behind that badass tune and then spread my precious support to him. Big props to the Belgian producer/DJ, Ethan Fawkes
A multi musician, as when he doesn't DJ, he's a performer, playing guitar too, respecting Metal same as with his Belgian Rave roots and eventually the hottest moment came a week ago.


Ethan Fawkes has just released his 3rd personal album called 'Hoovers & Stabs' and you can guess it right. Expect 11 unmixed tunes of EBM, Oldskool Techno and Belgium Rave, Warehouse sense, illecit party tunes.
Is it like a new Quadraphonia record maybe?
Or Moby called Voodoo Child again?
One way or another there's no comparison with anything, cos it's fresh and pure quality on its own coming from the School of Belgium.
On behalf of this brand new record, I've done an interview with Ethan focusing on some of his musical bits & pieces...
You will realise that everything's surrounded by hoovers & stabs!



GK: 'Hoovers & Stabs' is the name of your third personal album inspired by EBM, Belgian Techno and Oldskool rave generally.
Tell me a bit about your album, how long dit it take, why you chose this type of direction and if you're satisfied with the result and the response?

EF: After I released 'Wanna Kill EDM' on Dancefloor Killers on 2014 and finishing 'Raving is Still Alive' in 2016 (which was released in 2017 on Herr Zimmerman); I really enjoyed working on early 90's rave sounds and I made 5 new tracks in this style including 'Let's Go James' which was released in 2018 on Herr Zimmerman too, I thought first to do EPs cause I was still working on my second album 'Dance On Your Grave' but as I loved very much those tracks, I preferred to put them on hold, so I can do a new album featuring those as well.

It's in 2018 that I can completely back on the new album, made other tracks, adding also 'James Brown's Return' that I released last summer on vinyl because it fit very well on this album.


Yes, I'm very happy with the result. For the first time I was ready to do the master by myself and the sound is exactly what I wanted.
About the response, it's only out since one week but I had a lot of great feedbacks, so, all it's nice for now.



GK:
There are many tunes from this album which have been already released during last year as limited 7" Vinyl (+ digitals as well).
How do you see fans 'reacting' to this Vinyl format of your releases?

EF: There are still a lot of people who have a real passion for vinyls, an amount of them asked me about some of my digitals EPs that I can't release myself, but my answer is "a lot more to come soon".



GK: What type of equipment did you use to work on this new album and what's your production 'tools' in general?

EF: For this album my principal synth was a Roland Alpha Juno, for the acid line on 'The Lord Of Darkness' a Cyclone TT-303, on 'Belgium Is Back' the Sound Object N°5, a handmade Russian analog synth, and there are some little parts of the Yamaha SY22, I sequence and mix on the DAW Reaper, and a big collection of oldschool rave samples which are a big part of this album.



GK: You're hailing from Tilff in Belgium.
Tell us a bit about the music aspect of Tilff and how did you personally get into music?

EF: Tilff is a small village close to Liege, but I was already a big music lover at 10 years old, so, it was not really the place where I lived influencing me at start.
At this time it was possible to listen to good music on TVs and big radios, same like now when we have access to all with Internet.
I think it was more easy to access to underground music in 80's and 90's.



GK: There are still local legends like T99, R&S, Frank De Wulf, CJ Bolland, The Lords of Acid, to Bug Klinik Record and events like Rave Alert for example that prove that there's still a healthy rave scene over Belgium.
Whats your perspective? Belgium Is Back as you sing or always alive?

EF: Belgium Is Back is about '82 to '92, EBM, New Beat, and early 90's Rave.
For me the 10 big succesfull years of Belgian Music; great artists that you cited have marked this era.




GK: Whats your favourite genre?
Or better say, what does each of Metal, Grunge, Oldskool Techno, EBM mean to you?

EF: That's a really difficult question, I listen regularly to all these styles, and it really depends on the mood of the day. I feel those genres since I was a child. I never tried to analyse that.


GK: Your Top 5 tunes at the moment?

EF:

Atix - The Dome [Tripalium Rave Series]
Macross - Beats Of Rage [Dancefloor Killers]
Minimum Syndicat - 1991 [Nocturbulous Records]
Deep Dimension - Coming on Strong [GEN X]
Ontal - The Visionary Movement [the29nov]



GK: You have already made a good amount of remixes and signed on different labels, but is there anyone you'd love to collab with, or giving a remix?

EF: Moby in '91!



GK: Best DJ gig ever you played

EF: I think first to the 2 years of BNK in Paris (but it was on live) so, as a DJ maybe last month at Kablys Club in Vilnius, Lithuania.


GK: Tell me a bit about your label Nu Body Records. How has it started with Fabrice and what's next over there?

EF: I had already several collaborations with Fabrice Torricella with remixes and EPs on his Techno label Qubiq Records and when I learned he will launch a new EBM label, I proposed him to get in contact with some producers that I know well, thus he suggested me in return to join him to run the label.
I accepted directly, because I love the music direction he wants to showcase on the label and I've been also aware of his quality work over Qubiq records.
Next, we'll get 5 strong Techno, EBM, Industrial EPs from Crystal Geometry, Radikal Kuss, 2XNI, qpdb and Son Of Chaos (the EBM project of Fabrice).


GK: Why people should listen to your new album?

EF: My unconscious thought about this album for almost 30 years, it certainly deserves an hour of listening!



GK: What's next after this album then?

EF: First a digital EP 'Rave Series Part 2' with remixes of Interactive, N.U.K.E., Luke Creed and Gemma Furbank, who will out on February 25th on Qubiq Records, and then in March and April two 7" picture discs vinyls extracts of the album.

In May a 12" Vinyl, which is actualy at the press and I work on tracks for a 10" and a 7" for June and July, and on March 3rd, a DJ set for Jaded London.



GK: Thank you a lot for this interview Ethan and all the best with your new album, your forthcoming gigs and all your full of Hoovers plans!

EF: Thank you Glowkid!





'Hoovers & Stabs' is available on CD & DIGITAL
https://ethanfawkes.bandcamp.com/album/hoovers-stabs





ETHAN FAWKES
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