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Interview with Jon Rundell Reported by tom / Submitted 17-06-02 22:53 Jon Rundell has a full time job at Amato distribution, one of the UK's largest vinyl distributors and alongside this ties in a busy schedule as an up and coming DJ, producer and one of harderfaster's vinyl reviewers. harderfaster caught up with Jon to talk to him about how he got to where he is today, the state of the UK hard dance scene and his plans for the future: harderfaster: So Jon, tell us a little bit about yourself - how you came to be working at Amato, how the idea for starting producing first came about. Jon Rundell: How I ended up at Amato was by pure chance really. After I finished Uni I dossed around for a bit doing cash in hand jobs and subscribed to music week, as I really wanted to work in the music industry. I saw an add for sales people at Amato, applied, had an interview and got the job the next day. Within 7 months of selling records I was promoted to Label Management and am lucky enough to be dealing with all the biggest hard house labels and developing the rest of the hard labels we carry. The idea of producing came about because I used to sell records to Sam Reeve at Hotwax. We used to have many discussions about the music and I was always telling him about how good the London scene was and how forward thinking some of the music was. One day he just turned round and said why don't we get together and do a track and bring all your ideas along. Well, the rest is history really as the first two tracks we ever made together were signed to Kaktai and we began working more often. I go up to Sam's every couple of months and we end up doing 2-3 tracks. HF: We hear you're starting a new label, what's it called, who's behind it ? JR: Yes, It's called Retek. Myself and Sam are behind it and as well as it being an outlet for some of our material it's also an outlet for new talent and pushing new sounds with credible mixes. We have had a lot of help in setting it up from various quarters across the industry and due to the nature of my job it is being looked after for us as part of a collective of labels, RecoverWorld. We are looking to work with all the key players in the industry as they all supported us so well on our Kaktai and forthcoming releases. HF: What releases do you have in the pipeline ? JR: The first release is one of Sam's, "Tec It," and Paul Glazby has been kind enough to provide a wicked remix. The second release is one of mine, "Volume" and Andy Farley has agreed to do a mix. The third is a collaboration between myself and Sam under a our "Nutek" guise and Nick Sentience is interested in doing a mix of that. The fourth is an EP by a major talent we have discovered and are keeping quiet! We want to break new talent into the scene and spice things up a bit. We will also no doubt have the likes of OD404 and hopefully BK appear on the label at some point too, as they are both really into what we are doing. We also have all kinds of tour nights lined up all over the UK, and I'm in the middle of trying to get some tours around the world, we are really pushing the boat out because we really want it to succeed. We are not just another hard house label as we are being really experimental with the sounds and just feel that the future of the scene is not always being looked after as much as it possibly could be. HF: When and where are the first releases going to be made available ? JR: The first release will be in early June, promos are available from the website (www.recoverworld.com) and from a few of the usual shops around the country now. HF: How would you describe the music style that you are looking for on the label ? JR: So far the material we have put on the label is a fusion of techno, tech house, funky and trance. We want uplifting elements as well as the more driving stuff and have been looking at the Dutch and German stuff for a while too. We have drawn sounds from all genres of music and not just looked at hard house. This is something we are keen to continue as we have time on our side to be able to experiment with sounds and develop new artists. HF: Looking at your release schedule you have major industry names like Glazby, Sentience and Farley pencilled in for remix duties - are you going to have people of this calibre working on all your tracks or is this just to kick-start the label ? JR: We would like to always have high calibre remixes in order to give the new artists exposure in the right places. Further down the line we may ask some of the people we are working with for a full release and ask our artists to remix them. Its purely a self promotion thing for them, for the label and for people to take it all seriously. Further down the line as we develop these artists we will begin to concentrate on albums of their material and explore other markets. HF: Is anyone else going to be providing original productions for the label or is it just a vehicle yourself and Sam Reeve with others supplying remix work ? JR: Yes, most definitely. But we are keeping it a secret until the time is right! We are always on the look out for fresh producers and people with ideas. It's really important to be breaking new talent at this stage of the current scene. HF: Who would you say you most respect or is your biggest influence on the production side ? JR: In terms of hard house, it's Nick Sentience. When the purple label was launched it injected some new breeding ground into the scene. It was these early records that influenced the tracks on Kaktai. It was just the amount of different effects and sounds that he used. Even when he collaborated with Phil Reynolds there was still an element of a fusion of sounds. The arrangements of his tracks are what really made me notice his talent. So naturally I'm chuffed to bits he likes what Sam and I are doing. The tracks that did it for me the most were defiantly Freedom and Discotech. Both tunes made me completely refocus my direction. I put together a mix demo last August and it ended up being a bit of a Nukleuz Purple marathon, all the tracks just sat really well and there was a natural flow between each one. It's the best mix I've ever put together and to be honest there wasn't anything else out that fitted what I wanted to portray." HF: Which other producers would you most like to work with ? JR: I'd love to work with Carl Cox one day. He has been my idol for many years. The pure passion and raw energy he has is like nothing I've ever seen anyone else emulate. I've seen him play at hardcore raves when I was a kid, I've seen him play abroad doing his funky, latin thing and I've seen him on the rare occasions in this country doing some really twisted techno. Each time it's been breathtaking to watch. We have a track of his coming into Amato next week and I can't wait! I also would not mind working with some funky house, drum and bass and break beat producers. Plans are already afoot to get the ball rolling. I just love music to be honest. HF: A lot of people have been voicing the opinion that the hard house sound is in something of a rut at the moment - do you agree with that assessment and how do you think things are going to go from here ? JR: I think it's fair to say that certain sounds of last year have become slightly stale. As result of this there have been some producers out there bringing in new influences. Namely BK and Nick Sentience with the techno and hard trance as well as some of the Dutch and German invasion. Also worth mentioning are Phil Reynolds and Steve Blake as they produce what they believe in. There are others out there like OD404 who's sound from the start has always been different to the norm and for that I have the utmost respect. I think the main problem with hard house has been some of the music presses ability to make a genre cool for a year and then destroy the next year. However hard house has been around for at least five years, well that's when I discovered it and it'll just stay underground for a while until the music press deem it cool again. The same thing happened in drum n bass recently and what's come out of it as a result is some of the most fresh and exciting good quality music I've heard. The thing is that when something becomes popular everybody jumps on it. The market gets flooded and when these people see there is no money involved anymore they stop churning out substandard material, leaving the really good stuff room to breath. I think that the scene is purely in a developmental stage as it evolves and explores more avenues, which for me is very exciting and can only be good for everyone involved. HF: Take us through the equipment that you use for production: drums, bass line, synths, pc/mac and software. Where is your studio ? JR: I don't currently have my own studio, but this is something I'm in the process of building. I have knowledge of Cubase, Reason, Logic and Acid. Reason is wicked, it's like having a whole studio on your PC and some of the effects you can use are awesome. So basically I use this to create sounds. I've sampled sounds from other records but never blatantly. I'll then turn this sound into something else. Sam has been a great help in showing me how a lot of things work. HF: Tell us a bit about how things are progressing on the DJ side... for example we notice that you're playing at the upcoming Tidy Event on June 1st - how did that come about ? JR: Well, what can I say ? I've been DJing for nearly 9 years now and have always been frustrated with the knock backs and the fact that people won't take you seriously when you know deep inside you your heart is really in it. I'm a DJ more than I'm a producer, I like to entertain while I play, I think it's really important. I have had my fair share of knock backs like the rest of us but you learn from them and they shape you into the person you are today. The main thing was getting the piece of credibility behind you to make people notice you. I've played on tours for magazines and run my own nights while I was at Uni but my main focus had to be on my studies. I have to have something to fall back on as I won't be able to DJ forever. The major factor in getting all of my recent sets is a combination of working at Amato, giving me the credibility and the opportunity to speak to the people in the scene I wanted to and a lot of hard work in terms of networking. I've been in London just over a year now and I'm only just starting to reap the benefits of going to every night every time its on and talking to the promoters, talking to the punters, the DJs and basically creating a buzz about myself. I've had a lot of encouragement, advice and help from several key people within the scene and for that I'm eternally grateful. I've also had a lot of support from the regular clubbers by just generally being myself and going out and having a laugh. There's loads of people Id love to name that have helped me but I'm wary of leaving any of them out and they all know who they are. There's also other people who are also making waves at the same time as me, we're kind of sticking together and looking after each other and they know who they are too ! I also got made a Jedi Raver recently and have been wearing my badge with pride. Whenever Jedi's see me play with my badge on they go mad so I have to also thank them for their support. With the Tidy thing, people may say it's because of my job but to be honest it had nothing to do with it. I was asked on the merit of my DJing, which is even more pleasing. I'm really chuffed to be playing for them. I will always tell people that my work during the week is different from my DJing, its totally separate. The majority of my DJing has come about because I have made sure I surround myself in the right social circles. Self-promotion has never been my best ability but I'm learning fast, I usually try and get a couple of opportunities and then create more opportunities out of playing at those gigs. I'm just really pleased at the moment to be given the opportunity by people. Then there are the boat parties that are in the summer that I'm co promoting with Craig, H2O, starting on 8th June, which are going to be a right blast. It's more about a party than a club, just a bit of a laugh. HF: Do you intend doing any remixes of past classics for the label ? What's your opinion on remixing old tunes, 'never touch a classic' or 'anything goes' ? JR: This is a tough one. There's tracks I'd love to get my hands on, I don't think they would ever appear on the label though. I think that if a classic is a classic it always will be, if it's brought up to date within the current scene then I don't see anything wrong with that. For example some of the Tony De Vit tracks, I think what's happened with them has done them no harm, and especially the future ones I've been hearing. HF: OK Jon, to round things off can you name three tracks you'd most like to remix ? JR: Again a tough one! Id love to do Bizarre Incs "Playing with Knives" and loads of other hardcore tunes, especially a certain Carl Cox one. There's also a Nukleuz record Id love to have a go at and I'm going to ask them soon. And finally there's "The Prophet" by CJ Boland. This track was life changing for me. There are also loads of others in different genres. There's some break beat, drum and bass Italian house and funky stuff I'd like to remix too. HF: And finally name your top three tunes of all time JR: Paul Weller "Changing Man" CJ Boland "The Prophet" Nick Sentience "Freedom/Discotech" [i]With thanks to Jon Rundell for his time. Share this :: : : : Follow HarderFaster :: Other Features By tom: Interview with Guffy Interview with Energy Dai Interview with Tara Reynolds Interview with Anne Savage Interview with James Lawson The views and opinions expressed in this review are strictly those of the author only for which HarderFaster will not be held responsible or liable. Comments: From: Element7 on 24th Jun 2002 08:19.17 Jon played a wicked set to a packed room at the Tidy event, he certainly entertained the crowd. I have a great deal of respect for Jon and the level of dedication he puts into the scene he is so passionate about. Definitely a name for the future! Nolan Element-7 From: Jonathan on 24th Jun 2002 12:37.19 I agree! From: beac on 26th Jun 2002 19:44.53 Heard Jon on the first boat party and he rocks!!!! This interview with him has made me respect him even more for being a great DJ!!! Keep it up Jon and c ya on the 06/07/02 for h2o2!!! c ya Martin the Beac From: monK on 28th Jun 2002 12:11.53 Jon Jon me love you long time all the way from Thailand. I passed on you number to the lady boyz just as you asked. monK

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