Clara, Hill, Sonar Kollektiv, Jazzanova

By John C. Tripp

Clara Hill has been a seminal figure in the urban-electronic-soul scene since her teens. A the tender age of 17 the musically inclined artist founded the acid jazz combo Superjuice with her friend Funès. The duo gained a following in Berlin’s many dance clubs, laying the foundation for Hill’s forward-leaning sound. During these years, Clara made her first steps in live music and at one of her shows, had a fortuitous meeting with DJ Alex Barck of Jazzanova. This would be one of the most important of Hill’s career. The two became friends and in 1998 he introduced her to the producers of Extended Spirit (2/6 of Jazzanova): Stefan Leisering and Axel Reinemer, who were taken aback by Hill’s soothing vocals. Leisering produced one of her first professional songs, “No Use,” which would end up on Jazzanova’s landmark “In Between” album. Good fortune seemed to match Hill’s talents and her musical output took off with a number of new projects including her group Stereoton, a band that was rooted in hip hop but played with jazz elements. Hill also collaborated on several tracks with Berlin based singer Georg Levin including his hit “(I Got) Somebody New”, that was remixed by Masters Of Work.

All the while, Hill’s voice was strenghtening and maturing as were her song writing abilities, leading to the realization of her goal to record a full length solo album. In 2004 Hill released “Restless Times, a collection of reflective songs featured over the dreamy, deep house productions of Leisering and Reinemer (known together as Extended Spirit) as well as her old friend Funès. With “Restless Times” Hill’s great soul voice caught the attention of some of the genre’s most reputable artists, including Vikter Duplaix, Atjazz, and King Britt. Hill took advantage of this internation recognition by collaborating with these artists resulting in some velvety deep soul tracks like ‘Nowhere I Can Go, with Atjazz, ‘Paper Chase’ with Vikter Duplaix and ‘Did I Do Wrong’ with King Britt.

On her second album “All I Can Provide”, released in 2006 Hill took her collaborations a step further, working with the créme of clubland´s soul and jazz knob twisters. The result is a personal and very mature album, full of great songs, sensuous moods and complex emotions. All I Can Provide furthered Hill’s vocal journeys while mirroring various musical styles like deep house and boogie, jazz ballads as well as folk oriented songs.

Fast forward to 2007 and Hill has a number of additional collaborations on her growing resume, is busy touring the world and is releasing her third full length album “Sideways” as CLARA HILL’S FOLKWAVES. For this project she crafted 10 delicious acoustic-based and folk-oriented songs highlighting perfectly her passionate and rapturous voice.
The result is a recollection of neo-folk tunes in a very calm and slightly jazzy orchestration. She also left some space for very pure guitar and strings melodies in a sensuous atmosphere and invited her friends of JAZZANOVA and EXTENDED SPIRIT, as well as singer/song writer THIEF and NATHAN AMUNDSON from RIVULETS as male singers on the album. “Sideways” is a magnificent album full of enough emotional peaks and valleys to satisfy even the most temperamental music lover. This new phase in her artistic life will please her most faithful fans and will pave the way for the Sonar Kollektiv crew in its new adventures in folk music. which will be a departure from her past collaborations and will be Hill at her most intimate and personal (thanks to Soul Seduction for this last paragraph –ed.)

Mundovibes was fortunate to catch up with her in this exclusive e-mail interview just prio to the relase of “Sideways”.

MUNDOVIBES: You have been singing and creating music since you were in your teens and at the age of 17 you founded the band Superjuice. What inspired you to create music at such a young age?

CLARA HILL: Me and a good friend of mine we were writing a lot of songs. At this time we realized this kind of music/sound was not around in Berlin. We were listening to many Berlin- live-bands but we both were not satisfied with that matter of fact that the sound we loved to listen to were hard to find in berlin. (except the sound of early jazzanova music)

Short: at this time we thought our songs where nice and brilliant and we had to play on stages…in front of a real audience.

MV: Fate seems to have been on your side, since you became friends with Jazzanova’s Alex Barck while touring. How has that first meeting with Barck and your relationship with Jazzanova directed and impacted your career?

CH: I just can say that i´m still thankful. Jazzanova was and still is a big inspiration for me. making music together with Jazzanova was a dream of mine since I´m 17 years old. And it came true when I was 21 producing NO USE with Stefan Leisering from jazzanova. I´ve learned a lot about music and making music while working with Stefan and Alex. And a positive side-effect for me was that they had many useful connections around the world.

MV: You have also had a long standing relationship with Berlin’s Sonar Kollektiv, which is one of the leading dance and soul labels. How is it to be part of this “family”

CH: It´s still a special feeling working inside of this “family”. Sonar Kollektiv is still a label which never stands still. It constantly changing and breathing. And that´s very important for me – very important and helpful for my music that grows everytime.

MV: Jazzanova have played a big role in shaping a new urban sound, much like producers of previous eras. What impact do you feel that they have had on the music you create?

CH: As I already said before, they influenced and inspired me. I also wanted to make music which is modern, fresh and at the same time timeless. Sometimes they were like teachers for me…cause in my opinion they already did so many experiences.

MV: Your first full length record “Restless Times” was produced by Extended Spirit and Funes. How did this recording come together? What concepts and experiences influenced its songs?

CH: To record a solo album, was my first goal. This special morning in 2001 I felt that “now” is the right time to make an album. To make my dream come true i chose those producers with whom i had already worked earlier. Jazzanova /Extended Spirit and friends of mine. The concept was to make fresh, contemporary but timeless songs…with many choirs within. Sounds simple but we wanted to create deep music, deep electronic — sometimes “rough” sounds — in combination with a “soft” and sweet-soulvoice.

Jazzanova’s Alexander Barck. Photo by Fabien Vouillon.

Five tracks from “Restless Times” I produced and arranged with three friends (i.e. Funès, with whom I already worked and with Stereoton´s drummer and DJ). The remaining seven tunes of the album were written, recorded and produced with Stefan Leisering and Axel Reinemer from Jazzanova, 2002-2004.

MV: “Restless Times” introduced your talents to an international audience. Were you surprised by the reaction to it?

CH: Yes, I was surprised! I never expected such a kind of good feedback. That was the reason why i was inspired to make a second album. the feedback was a kind of new impulse.

MV: The follow-up to “Restless Times”, “All I Can Provide” features collaborations with a number of leading producers. Why did you choose to do it this way, as opposed to working with just one team?

CH: First i had the idea to make a kind of compilation-album inviting different producers to work with me. (Like Ursula Rucker does before) Cause I wanted to make new musical experiences. I was curious how it would be to work with other producers from the scene.

It was a great challenge getting all these very good musicians together and bring them all on one album. Had no idea how it would be to work with so many different people. But it worked! Because all the producers I have invited and worked with speak the same “musical language”!

MV: With two full length records behind you, you are firmly established as an artist. How do you feel about your career at this point?

CH: I feel accepted but I´m not satisfied…I can´t stop making music. cant stop expressing myself that way. I believe I have to make more experiences to gain more range of my musical languages. That is why I had to make a new album…my third album…coming out in September. After working two years on “all I can provide” I had to make something fresh. it was the right time for a change.

MV: Love and relationships are major themes in your music. What is it about these subjects that inspires you?

CH: Past and present main influence is the feeling of the “unfulfilled yearning” of love. Love or relationships or friendships are themes within the most intense feelings. Intensive feelings: in positive or negative ways. Love includes hate and happiness, mourning and pain. Love includes everything. Open topic. And I like to write about that.

MV: How do your songs form and take shape?

CH: Mostly I got the instrumental-sketches at first. If the sketch is good it inspires me to write a melody or voice-harmonies…and with the melody the words are coming. Then I write a story around the words. Later I do the vocal arrangements by myself…most of the time. i have to be in a special calm atmosphere/mood. “the write moment” has to be particular which challenge me to catch the special feeling inside.

MV: Your voice adds a lot of warmth and feeling to the music, which is mainly electronic. It is kind of like the soul in the machine. How do you feel about the juxtaposition of a human voice and electronic music?

CH: I like the combination of warmness and coldness. I prefer to work with contrasts. I like the warm sound of soul (not only a soul-voice. It also can be a typical soul instrument, for instance a Rhodes-piano) in combination with the cold and strange sound of electronic sounds. Sometimes it can be very interesting if you combine a clean warm voice with dirty cold sounds. That is what makes a song so colorful and fresh.

MV: How have you grown as an artist over the years? how has your vocal style evolved?

CH: I think now I can be more relaxed because i´ve learned so many things. And I can imagine that you can hear that in my voice. Now I can trust myself more and more ´cause I know what is good for me and my music.

MV: Would you ever want to work in a more traditional “band” setting with live instrumentation?

CH: That´s what I already do! Since I have my new “all I can provide band” I´m working with live instruments. And for my forthcoming album I also chose live instrumentations to translate my musical concept behind that album. We have a drummer, a lot of guitars, bass, keys and sampler/ laptop beside some electronic sounds.

MV: How does your “live” performance differ from producing music in the studio?

CH: As I said before, I tried to mirror the width of the full productions. that’s the reason I founded this band with a drummer, bass,synthesizer +rhodes, laptop and for the new band plus a guitar. if you do a performance with a band you have more energy. that´s what I found out again…(it´s like in the past when I had my own band.) Beside of that I´m also performing my live-pa set with a DJ.

MV: Collaboration plays a big part in your music. What makes collaborating interesting for you?

CH: When I was 17years old I always worked with one person. That was OK but I had to make steps into the future. In my opinion it is good to work with many musicians to make many experiences and get new inspirations.(sure, it depends on with whom you work!) It can be a special phase in your life. And making experiences means you can develop yourself and get more structure and character. But for the last album I just worked with a small team to keep the intimate and creative athmosphere of the music.

MV: What is it like to live in Berlin right now? How does the city influence and inspire you?

CH: I just can say that berlin is a very creative town. In the part of Berlin where I live you can find many artist, musicians and students. That´s a very inspiring atmosphere. It makes me feel free. But when i´m writing my songs I have to be alone and it has to be very quite.

MV: There is a great intimacy in your vocal style which ranges from soothing to vulnerable. Do you sense this as you are writing and performing?

CH: No, not really. Cause sometimes I don’t want to sing in a smooth and intimate way. But it seems to be a kind of “trademark”…but i never influence it.

MV: Trends in music all constantly changes and there is always a “new” sound. How do you keep up with this ever evolving state of music?

CH: As I said, I try to keep up with that…but try to keep my own style…no matter if it fits to what is hip or not. But I think it is important tobe well informed. It is good to know what most of the people are listen to…it´s a kind of orientation.

MV: There is a cosmic side to your music, with the spacey sounds such as those heard in “For Your Love”. Is there a connection with jazz from the 60s and 70s here?

CH: Sure there is. My music comes from listening to soul-jazz music from the 70s, jazz folk pop from the 60s and boogie and house tunes from the 80s/90s. These directions you can find in my music.

MV: What do you think of some of the new folk sounds that are coming out now? Is this inspiring to you?

CH: Yes it was…but before the sound came out. When i was 16years old i was listening to grunge music and a lot of guitar music. Today i go back to these roots. I rediscovered the guitar music for me. That´s the reason I wrote the last album: clara hill´s folkways: sideways which is a musical sideproject.

MV: How do you want your listeners to react to your music? How do you see them connecting with it?

CH: For me it´s always important to see: how music is moving people. I would like people to be open for my music. I would like to see people are listening to my music when they are outside, travelling, sitting in the car (because of the special mood) or dancing and also when they are at home, when they are quite, deep and relaxed.

…and then the hidden tracks will wake them up.

MV: What are the challenges of creating your music, both with your vocals and working with music that is very complex?

CH: My biggest challenge is to break new musical grounds. The thing is, not to stop that process and keep the passion. And i always want to touch souls with my sound of music. which is the combination of my voice, words and production.

MV: What are the challenges in fitting your voice and lyrics to a producer’s music? How do you improvise in this context?

CH: I´m mostly co-produce my songs. which means i always say what sounds i would like to have and which directions i want to go. So there is no need to improvise in this context.

MV: The majority of your songs would are slow to mid-tempo. Is this where you feel your music works best?

CH: I don’t know. On “restless times” the focus was on mid-tempo songs. On “All I can provide” I wanted to sing on more clubby and boogie tunes. I just can say that I prefer to work on different musical styles. Otherwise it would get boring for me, probably. I don’t want to define my style…when i´m writing music I just want to reflect the current phase of my life.

MV: Who are some of your inspirations today?

CH: Musical inspirations: these days i´m listening to Nick Drake, Linda Perhacs, Beck, Beatles and Rolling Stones again

MV: Are you frustrated by the lack of exposure to bigger audiences for your music?

CH: I´m not frustrated. I already played for 30 and 1000 people. And “Rome wasn´t built in a day”…

MV: What are your feelings on the U.S. audience, which is huge but exactly in tune with what is going on in Europe?

CH: This march was the first time when i played for U.S audience. I really enjoyed it. In Miami the people were singing “NO USE” together with me…nice! I´m looking forward to play more concerts in the states. I hope there will be a small U.S tour with the forthcoming album.

MV: There will be a new full length soon. What can we expect? Are you collaborating with any one you can tell us about?

CH: As I said before…for the new album i didn´t make big collaborations. Cause this time I wanted to keep this personal and intimate feeling. For this album i wrote 8 songs. You will listen to 10 folk-songs including electronic sounds and natural guitar songs…songs which are direct and pure. I knew exactly how to create the sound for this album. I worked with marc mac and extended spirit and sung with rivulets and sascha Gottschalk from Thief. A small team and friends I know for a long time.

Clara Hill website

Clara Hill Myspace

Sonar Kollektiv

The Dining Rooms

By J.C. Tripp

Milan, Italy’s The Dining Rooms defy categorization, challenging you to listen beyond labels like “lounge” and “downtempo”. Unlike much of today’s new music, it’s not just a groove thing — there’s meaning to their music. In the 9 year s the duo of Stefano Ghittoni and Cesare Malfatti have existed, they have produced five full-length recordings that bare the markings of rigorous experimentation and growth. The Dining Rooms adroitly combine sampling and live instrumentation, creating a wide body of music that absorbs a multitude of influences including cinema, jazz, funk and blues. With equal time given to instrumentals and vocals, The Dining Rooms music is an ear-rousing melange of moody chords, complex rhythms, deep basslines, acoustic instrumentation and thoughtful lyrics. Their fifth full length recording, ‘Ink’ is a merging of styles for the group, utilizing the live instrumentation, Fender Rhodes chords, and vocals of recent releases with the cinematic, ethereal atmospheres characterized by their earlier work. ‘Ink’ is a remarkable recording, further deepening their sound and reaching a wide range of tones and colors, with thoughtful lyrics and a melancholy mood. Half of ”Ink” features vocals by guests who include several international artists such as Dodo N’kishi (Mouse on Mars) from Africa via Germany; Georgeanne Kalweit, from U.S.A. via Milan, and Tomaz Di Cunto, from Brazil. “Ink” is by far The Dining Rooms most impressive and developed recording and promises to introduce new audiences to their sound. If only they just listen.

Mundovibes had the pleasure of corresponding with the Dining Room’s Stefano Ghittoni and contributing members of the Dining Rooms in an e-mail interview. As expected, his thoughts are serious and insightful.

MUNDOVIBES: Stefano, congratulations on the release of the Dining Rooms fifth studio recording, “Ink”. It’s a fantastic recording with a variety of vibes and moods. What concepts and ideas shaped “Ink”?

STEFANO GHITTONI: “Ink” takes some things from our old feeling, going back to the origins of tdr sound, more atmospheric and cinematic than “experiments in ambient soul” and concentrated more on downtempo. It has dark elements too and we hope (but we think) to have been able to release something mysterious and spiritual. We feel “INK” as a concept album and it could be considered as something close to numero “deux” and “tre” but with the quality production of “eias”.

MV: What is the overall concept of “Ink”?

SG: The album cover of “Ink” is inspired by Jean Michel Basquiat, whose art is really close to the philosophy of writing and therefore of “ink”. So “Ink” becomes a sort of manifesto of things to say, as well as of the energy to try to say them.

MV: There is a seriousness to “Ink”, both in its lyrics and arrangements with songs like “Hear Us Now”, “Fatale”, “Ceremony”, and the title track. Is this a reflection of the times we are in or yours and your contributors states of mind?

SG: We are not living in wonderful times, obviously, but TDR have always been a little bit serious because it’s how we are in our life, we like our life, however, and we are really satisfied of how it is.

Anyway we like the idea to go deeper in life and music things…..

MV: “Ink” is a very intimate recording, many the vocal songs are personal testimonies including the title track. Please comment.

SG: “Ink” is very intimate as almost all our records have been, only “Experiments in ambient soul” was a bit too pop oriented. Anyway we are very happy of this album intensity, either vocal or instrumental tracks.

Georgeanne Kalweit speaks about the song “Ink”:

I live on a river just south east of Milan and in the summer the nocturnal nature sounds are quite intense, beautiful and evocative though. I wrote INK in the middle of the night when I couldn’t sleep in part due to the incessant, mantra like drone outside, to too many painful thoughts of things gone bad in the past and in part due to a deep yearning for the physical presence of a person I was falling in love with who was away on the road. Putting ink to paper in this technological period seems almost rebellious yet familiar and raw, a primordial need to either confirm, dispel or clarify emotions which can’t always be expressed with spoken words, ultimately clearing the way to the now. The idea of ink mixing with blood internally really strikes a chord regarding the toxicity of how unexpressed emotions can implode and somehow take over the human organism. In INK there is resolve in the awareness that love, reappearing and reawakening can heal in layers.

MV: There is an even balance of intstrumentals and vocal songs on “Ink”. How do you develop these songs?

SG: It’s our style. Our albums are a mix of ballads, vocal and instrumental, and cinematic funks.

MV: As is your tradition you have collaborated with several guest vocalists on “Ink”. Please tell us how they became involved in this recording and what their contributions were.

SG: The vocalists are involved in a natural way in the sense that are friends or persons we feel very close to our philosophy, so there’s a a first contact in which we explain what we need and everybody feels if the thing is its cup of tea. If collaboration is born the singer is free on his songwriting and at the end me and Cesare produce or rearrange the voice inside the track.

MV: You have a mix of languages on “Ink”, which is typical of your recordings. Is it just a reflection of a diverse world view?

SG: We have a very free approach to music and it reflects the possible mix of languages in our albums, we feel anyway to be able to get homogeneous production on them, we wanna mix different point of views, we wanna feel what we live and put it on our records…..

MV: The song “Thank You” is very political and could be addressed to any “leader” who sells out his soul. Tell us about this song.

SG: “Thank you?” is built on a strings sample taken from patchanka French band Orange Blossom……it fuses poetry, Marvin Gaye echoes, post rock guitar solo and blues and ethnic elements. Slowly goes the funk…….

Sean Martin speaks about the song “Thank you?”:

I think that…many people are consciously prostituting themselves. They know what is going on throughout the world…about the death and cruelties they’ve been contributing to, but I presume they think they’re actions will be justified if they can keep this so-called “human progress” flowing. As they say: “the end justifies the means”.

People dying in Africa because of the tons of nuclear waste dumped there don’t seem to be a problem. If killing millions of people can lead the western countries to have cheap oil, then…it seems like God will forgive them. Some of the world leaders of the past even thought that God hated strangers as much as they did, and that they would be doing Him a big favor if they tried to exterminate them by any and all means possible.The western culture’s always had a pathological superiority complex, history speaks for itself. We’re being fooled by the “great institutions” and people have been led to condone bloodshed and exploitation in the service of their

lifestyles. That’s what thank you? is all about.

Oh! By the way…I’ve recently read that you can increase the purity of your soul by

purchasing one simple product…mmm…

MV: The Dining Rooms formed nearly 10 years ago. How did you come together?

We first met in a recording studio many years ago, mid eighties probably. Then Cesare opened one of the first midi studio in Milano and I went there to do some productions. We had a good time and started to work to some productions together that then morphed in The Dining Rooms.

MV: What music tradition or scene was formative in shaping the Dining Rooms sound?

SG: We both come from new wawe and punk and they are very important for us, mostly for the concept that anyone is owner of his ideas and therefore of his music. Then we have a very wide approach to music from Nick Drake to Talk Talk, from The Sound to Velvet Underground, from Art Blakey to Herbie Hancock, Sabu Martinez, Wire and Joy Division, including early Massive Attack and Portished to name a few.

MV: It seems like there are a lot of literary and cinematic influences to the Dining Rooms? What are some of them?

SG: Wim Wenders, Jean Luc Godard, Elio Petri, Pierpaolo Pasolini, Giorgio Scerbanenco, Jean Claude Izzo, Aki Kaurismaki, Jack Kerouac and the beat generation.

MV: The Dining Rooms music always has a cinematic, moody vibe to it. What do you attribute this to?

SG: Cinematic vibe is very important for us. One of the motto of our beginning was: “background music for your personal movies”, we did some tee shirts too. It’s probably the main aim of our music, produce music who could generate emotions and images.

MV: What are you trying to communicate with your music in terms of mood, vibe and lyrical themes?

Depth, Spirituality, Peace.

MV: Your music has gotten progressively more complex with each recording. Is this just a natural progression of your ideas and abilities?

SG: It’s for sure a natural progression, it’s important for music producers try to go deep, to be more complex. We did it and it probably depends too from the fact we are using musicians in the two last albums.

MV: The Dining Rooms sound is a mixture between electronics, samples and live instruments. How does this process work?

SG: I do the initial step choosing the sample that gives the atmosphere or primary melody of the track, then Cesare works with programming and first instruments, then we both work with other samples and edit, then the musicians arrive and play the samples adding some chords. The dining rooms do the final production and mix. Sometimes we keep the initial sample, sometimes we miss it.

MV: Why did you choose this way of creating your music?

SG: I’m mostly a dj and not a musician, so I don’t play instruments but records.

I do the initial step of the atmosphere of the song and it’s obviously always a sample….

MV: It seems that samples are playing less and less of a role in your music. How has the use of samples changed over the history of the Dining Rooms?

SG: We were born as a sample based project in the sense that in first two album we used only samples (and some keys)to write-build our song. Then we felt we wanted to add something else that could allow us to surpass the sample philosophy that’s great but basically very repetitive. So we started to mix samples and live musicians to create music that could have a wider development…In this sense the use of musicians changed a little bit our music even if our attitude is the same and the origin of the song is always a sample.

CONTRIBUTING VOCALS AND SONGWRITING (l to r): Georgeanne Kalweit, Toco, Sean Martin

MV: If you had to classify the Dining Rooms music, what would it be?

SG: Easy listening ambient blues.

MV: What have been some of the critical junctures or “moments of inspiration” for the Dining Rooms?

SG: We have been and we are inspired from everything, the whole world becomes our primary source of inspiration…

MV: You’ve created a considerable body of work since forming. Please reflect on the past 10 years and how you invision the Dining Rooms going forward into the future.

SG: The future is now!

MV: Vocalist Georgeanne Kalweit plays a considerablle role on “Ink” with co-writing credits for “Hear us Now” and “Ink” both stunningly beautiful annd personal tracks. Tell us how these songs came about.

Georgeanne Kalweit speaks about “Hear us now”:

I don’t think television rules everybody’s lives but when I see certain shit on T.V., and look at society at large I am daunted and disgusted by the abuse of this media tool and the negative implications it has on the psychology of humans. It takes a lot of discipline to remain a creative, self thinking individual and weed through the superficiality and loaded messages that get projected through the news, advertising and programs (with a few exceptional exceptions on an educational and satirical level), let alone decipher what’s REALLY happening. HEAR US NOW is a sort of protest chant for anyone who sees through the mechanism and refuses to be sucked into the dynamic of envy, fear and inadequacy that can only be placated by having and acquiring more things, being overly patriotic or nationalistic and feeling superior as a result. I’d rather use my eyes to look beyond the box-T.V. screen of stereotypes that foster ignorance and intolerance to appreciate better the oddity and sacredness in differences among all humans on a global level.

MV: Why not just have the same vocalists?

SG: We were born as instrumental project and when we start to think to some singers we felt we’d have like to have different vocal point of view on our instrumentals, I think it’s not so original as anwer but it’s the truth.

MV: What is the music scene like in Italy? Is it very supportive of your work?

SG: The Italian scene is quite fresh even we consider ourselves part of a global and world movement. We have a good reputation in italy but for sure we r more appreciated in other countries.

We are satisfied of our status even the period is not so good for music business.

MV: Is it more or less responsive today to what you are doing with your music?

SG: It’s difficult to say because the market is really strange today, it is becoming smaller day by day. Anyway as I told u before we r satisfied of our status even if the fact to have lost the American domestic releases after the Guidance bankrupt has been a problem for our visibility in U.S.A., that’s a very important market. We feel anyway to be on the right side and our audience seems to be close to what we are producing.

MV: How do you feel about the categories and labels that the Dining Rooms are given, such as “downtempo”, “nu jazz”, etc.?

SG: We don’t really mind about categories….

MV: Schema records has become one of the premiere labels for emerging jazz. Much like labels like Blue Note, Impulse! and others were part of certain jazz eras, Schema seems to be the definitive label for today’s club-influenced jazz. What are you feelings about this?

SG: We are happy to release records through Schema, we are quite different from a typical Schema act but it’s cool anyway to be part of that catalogue.

MV: At what point did the Dining Rooms become a live event?

SG: We started to play live in the beginning of 2004, between the release of “Tre” and “Experiments in ambient soul”.

MV: What is the live performance like? What do you set out to do?

SG: Our live show, as our records, is a mix between electronics and instruments.

We have on stage a 5 pieces band with drums, double bass, keyboard or guitar plus vocals. I play turntables and a small key with samples. Maria Arena then accompanies our music with visuals….

MV: How does the audience react to your live performance?

SG: The audience has usually a very good reaction…..the live show is balanced between jazz and blues ballads and rolling funky instrumentals….

MV: The videos for your music by Maria Arena are integral to the live show. Tell us about the video aspect of the Dining Rooms.

SG: We work very often with videomaker Maria Arena who’s taking care of our visual aspects and producing our clips. U can see them on our my space page. She takes care of visuals during our live too.

She works with old super 8 movies taking frames and sequences and reelaborate them as we do with music and samples, we have a very close philosophy.

MV: What will you be doing for the summer? A live tour?

SG: We’ll mostly work to some side project and we’ll produce a radio show mixing music and poetry.

MV: Will you ever score a film soundtrack?

SG: We did it for an Italian movie, “Dentro la città”, a police b-movie set in Rome.

Some of our tracks are then been taken for other movie soundtracks and tv series: sex and the city, csi crime, six feet under…

MV: Any one in particular you’d like to work with?

SG: Paolo Sorrentino and Jim Jarmusch.

MV: Where do you see the Dining Rooms going in the future?

SG: What is future?

The Dining Rooms Website

The Dining Rooms myspace

Schema Records

Mark de Clive-Lowe: the Tide is High

Half Japanese half New Zealander musician/producer Mark de Clive-Lowe has been on the music journey since starting piano when he was four. Classical piano lessons, jazz for playing pleasure and hip hop and soul on the stereo gave Mark the diverse foundation that his eclectic style has developed from.

For over the past ten years, MdCL’s musical journeying has taken him to the US, UK, Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand and Cuba. Performing and recording in different settings collaborating with DJ/producers, turntablists, acoustic jazz artists, Japanese Kagura, and the world of latin rhythms, Mark has become a major figure in the nu-jazz movement, blending jazz, ethnic music and urban grooves into a fresh 21st Century flavour.

West London based from 1998-2008, MdCL is a key collaborator, artist and producer in the scene spear-headed by Bugz in the Attic, 4Hero, Restless Soul and IG Culture [NSM]. His debut LP Six Degrees [Universal Jazz/emarcy] was released worldwide in 2000 – signatured with an amalgamation of jazz sensibilities and urban influences, the album found a niche with DJs, critics and audiences worldwide:

‘Firmly at the front of the nu-skool jazz and beats movement’ – The Times [UK]

‘Call it nu-jazz, call it nu-house, call it future-jazz, in fact call it what you want, I’m sticking with the words awesome and genius’ – Wax Magazine [UK]

Two world tours later MdCL had taken the Six Degrees live show global including featured slots at the Detroit Electronic Music Festival – having been personally invited to perform by techno legend Carl Craig, Amsterdam Drum Rhythm Festival, London Jazz Festival and throughout Europe, Asia and Australasia. Live Events

2001 saw MdCL contributing a stand out remix production of Shirley Horn on the Verve//Remixed LP alongside tracks from MAW, Joe Clausell and Thievery Corporation and in 2002, his carnival soul-beats anthem ‘Relax…Unwind’ featuring Abdul Shyllon became one of the year’s underground hits worldwide for the likes of Gilles Peterson, Jazzy Jeff, MAW and Jazzanova. 2003/4 releases also include collaborations with Kenny Dope [Masters at Work], DJ Spinna [BBE/rapster], Rima [JCR], IG Culture, Bugz in the Attic and Restless Soul. Over the past 6 years, Mark has stamped his sound on over 150 releases collaborating with some of the most cutting edge producers and artists around the world – include tracks for soul legend Leon Ware, productions for Philadelphia’s Lady Alma and remixes for the likes of Jody Watley, Omar, Incognito and Brazilian superstar Ed Motta.

MdCL’s album TIDE’S ARISING was released worldwide March 22, 2005 on ABB Soul/Antipodean featuring a who’s who of guest artists including Bembé Segué, Abdul Shyllon, Pino Palladino [D’Angelo’s Soultronics/The Who], Capitol A [The Roots/Jazzanova] and more. Immediately a new millennium classic, Tide’s Arising was one of the standout albums of 2005 topping critics lists worldwide. Tide’s Arising Live shows have been performed in the UK, Europe, Japan, NZ, Australia and USA. 2007 saw MdCL release the Japan-only album JOURNEY 2 THE LIGHT also launching the Freedom School record label. Featuring Bembé Segué, Sammy Figueroa [Miles Davis], Jason Yarde [Jack DeJohnette] and Richard Spaven [Guru/Jose James] the album brought the 70s Black Jazz and Strata East sound into the 21st Century with MdCL’s most jazz-oriented album yet.

Projects currently on the go include MdCL’s Freesoul Sessions clubnite and releases – a fully improvised show with Mark constructing beats and full productions live on stage with a rotating cast of beat, soul and jazz musicians and vocalists and The Politik – a collaboration with Bembé Segué. He’s also produced the debut single for UK soul singer Rasiyah and the soundtracks for multi-media dance production Legends of the Underground .

MdCL performs all around the planet regularly, every time redefining audiences’ concept of club culture and electronics brought to the live stage.

Mundovibes was fortunate enough to interview Mark de Clive Lowe who graciously answered our questions at length:

Mundovibes: First of all congratulations on Tide’s Arising, a superb recording of future funk and soul. Let’s start by asking what you wanted to accomplish with this recording in terms of style, mood and direction. You have travelled quite a distance from “Six Degrees”, your previous

full-length. You seem to really be looking forward in this recording. How has your music evolved since “Six Degrees”?

Mark de Clive-Lowe: A lot has happened since making “Six Degrees” in early 1999. That album was the result of a whole lot of inspiration and experiences gained traveling around the world in 98 – my first times in Cuba, West London, San Fran and time spent in NYC, Tokyo and Europe. It was also the first time I’d messed around with an MPC so as a producer, that was a really sharp learning curve. Since then I’ve had the good fortune to work with a lot of great artists and producers – either as a session musician, writer, producer or remixer and all of those experiences have helped me grow both as an artist and producer. everyone approaches what they do differently – whether it’s kenny dope, ig culture or lemon d – everyone’s got a different flex going on. working with different people taught me a lot and also helped me to craft the direction i wanted to grow in. doing remixes like the shirley horn one for verve remixed was a great challenge – i knew that MAW, joe clausell and a few other heavy hitters were involved with the project already so i wanted to make sure i did my best. that kind of pressure can be a really positive catalyst when it comes to creativity. stylistically i’ve also returned to my roots a lot – my school years were all about hip hop and beat music, jazz was what i did as a ‘serious musician’, so now i feel comfortable in bringing it all together.

making tide’s, more than anything i wanted to make a soul record. my vision of a 21st century soul record. melding beat culture, the history and the future all in one. i’m confident as a producer to be able to make a track that mixes latin, breaks, jazz and soul all at the same time and knowing it’s going to work out fine and have my stamp on it at the end of the day, so it was really mostly about getting on with it and getting the album made. where six degrees was a definitive nu-jazz record – balancing between dancefloor and jazz, i wanted to bring in the funk, hip hop and soul elements that i love in so much music for the new record. working with the right vocalists was always going to be key and bembe segue in particular is someone who i collaborate really well with. state of the mental was the first track she came in to work on and everything just clicked so she ended up coming in on most of the album. abdul shyllon is one of the most unique male singers on the planet – no one sounds like him and no one can do what he does. i love that kind of uniqueness in people. afterall, we’re all different from each other, so there’s no sense in us all rocking the same beat or the same shoes or the same car!

MV: There is a very “psi-fi”, cosmic-urban vibe to “Tide’s Arising” with its

spacey keys and effects. How did this sound come about?

What inspired you to go in the direction you did on this record?

MdCL: Time and space – the place where the cosmic b-boy resides! i love making music that’s different and can transport someone to somewhere they’ve never been before or even imagined existed. i get bored listening to music, watching movies or checking out art that takes me to the same place as the last place which is not so different from the next place. Change. it’s all about change. change happens with or without us – no amount of systems structures, politicians or big corporations can change that. i think if you dig deep into Tide’s Arising you’ll hear the message.

MV: How place-centric or scene-scentric do you feel “Tide’s Arising” is?

MdCL: stylistically i think the way i made the album and the overall sound of it is heavily influenced by the years i’ve spent in west london and working so much with people like bugz in the attic, phil asher, ig culture, alex attias and others. to me there’s also a big amount of american influence in there- i love the dilla swing, the neptunes production style, the philly scene, so the influences are pretty global. i could have made the album anywhere on the planet, but wherever i would have made it, it would have sounded different than if i had made it some place else.

MV: How much of it is simply straight from you as opposed to where you are?

MdCL: it’s always a balance of both – the honest artist cannot filter out their surroundings when expressing their creativity, nor can they filter out their experiences and being.

MV: How “live” is “Tide’s Arising”?

MdCL: the whole way i like to make music is how i balance man and the machine – programmed beats and live performance. it’s all live, and it’s all programmed! if you check how i do the live show, i’ll program the MPC beats live on stage everytime, it’s always different, so once it’s programmed, it’s not live, but the process of programming it was live from start to finish.

MV: The only track that features your keyboard playing in a more “standard” jazz mode is ‘Pino + Mashi’. How do you feel about this type of playing compared to the more futuristic and cut-up style that is featured on the other tracks?

MdCL: it’s all music! i do feel less of a need now than before to showcase my skills as a keyboard player. i dig it with someone like Thelonious Monk – if you dont really check him too deep it might sound like he doesnt have great skills, but if you know what’s up then you know that he is in total command of the instrument. back in the jazz day it was all about “wow, i got ten fingers and this piano has 88 keys, let’s go!” but now i understand form and function better, and how space can be as deafening as a drum solo if it’s used effectively.

MV: You have developed a very complex musical vocabulary of your own. What experiences and influenes brought you to your own “sound”?

MdCL: afro cuban rhythms, 70s jazz fusion, native tongues hip hop, d’angelo and the soulquarians, j dilla, ahmad jamal, herbie hancock, miles, weather report, early jungle… lots of stuff!

MV: How do you go about constructing the beats for your music?

MdCL: the best way to understand that is to check a live gig – i’ll have a drum kit on the MPC, hit record and jam the beats. i dont really like to spend too much time building beats academically, i much prefer to do it organically and on the spot. there’s usually subtle tweaks and flips i’ll add later, but generally most of the vibe is captured from the original session programming the beat. all the beats on Tide’s Arising are loops – some are 2 bar loops, some are 4 or 8 bar, but generally they’re all pretty tight loops but i’ll go into them and flip up different parts here and there. for me, loops are about creating illusions. that’s some fun shit right there.

MV: You collborated with a number of people on “Tide’s Arising” including Tell us about some of the people you collaborted with on Tide’s Arising and the way songs came together with them.

MdCL: i’ve already talked about bembe and abdul shyllon. some of the instrumental collaborators though – pino palladino has got to be my favourite bass player on the planet. when i checked out d’angelo’s voodoo live tour, pino was incredible. he and ?uestlove holding down the rhythm section like nobody’s business. dope! i worked with pino for a couple of months in a band IG culture put together and that was a great experience – jamming every day with one of the illest bass players on the planet. when it came to doing the album tracks, pino laced a couple of tracks with his heavy sound and deep groove. at the end of the session, i pulled up a break i’d been messing round with that morning and we just jammed it out – that became ‘Pino + Mashi’. similarly, ‘masina’s world’ was from a 15 minute improvised jam that chris bailey and i had after we’d recorded chris’s drums parts for the album tracks. there was a rhodes in the studio so we just jammed it out on rhodes and drums and ‘masina’s world’ was right in the middle of all that. joel haines and miguel fuentes are a couple of other fantastic musicians. joel is sax player nathan haines’ brother and for my money, one of the best guitarists anywhere. it was great to get him involved on the album. miguel’s a don percussionist – he’s played with miles, george benson, patti labelle, lots of great artists, and we’ve collaborated in nz (where he lives now) over the years but never recorded together until the tide’s sessions./

MV: Tell us about the themes and concepts of the lyrics on “Tide’s Arising”

which are very space- and travel-oriented?

MdCL: i wanted to keep it pretty conceptual on the lyrics side – paint pictures that are universal but encourage you to think about a whole other place that isnt the city you live, the street you walk down or maybe even the planet we inhabit. i think things that get people thinking radically outside the box are really positive, especially in this day and age when so much our senses are bombarded with is designed to keep us operating, thinking and living within a defined structure and system.

MV: The chorus to ‘Traveling’ seems to be about mind travel with its chorus

‘travelling without moving’. What is this song about?

MdCL: the mind’s a powerful tool like that. as is the human spirit. there’s so far we can go, so much we can accomplish if we just put our minds and spirits to good use. captial A spells out the mission statement pretty clearly 🙂

MV: It’s amazing how keys and key sounds can set the mood in music. Is mood an important element to what you are doing?

MdCL: for anyone who’s making music, mood is everything!! i think where it’s kind of obvious how drums and vocals can set a mood, what really hits the human ear and emotions on a deeper and therefore more consequential level is the harmony of music and the harmonics of sound. so yeah, i love all that. using different sounds to hit different frequencies, using different harmonic shapes to paint different colours and stories.

MV: There is so much interaction between the “parts” of each song, where

elements interact. How did you go about constructing such complex songs?

MdCL: it’s how i hear it. i dont build it by theory or formula or intellectually, it’s just how i hear it all coming together. compared to playing with a sick jazz drummer or a heavy percussionist, the music isnt really that complex. if you compare it to say regular house music, yeah it’s more complex, but me for one, i’m tired of hearing the predictability and formula in most music. play me some different shit!

MV: Did you have to “break free” from your traditional schooling or did it just naturally flow into what you are doing now?

MdCL: i did conciously decide that i wanted to deconstruct my knowledge. i studied a lot of stuff growing up playing classical music and jazz, but beat culture really inspired me to deconstruct it. that’s what it’s all about really anyway – you learn everything and then in order to apply it without being stuck in it, you internalise it, you forget it all and then you can be free to express your creativity.

MV: How has living in West London affected your musical sensibilities?

MdCL: i’ve definitely gone back and dug through music i wasnt that familiar with before – some of the more obscure 70s stuff and early 80s music that are big influences for a lot of the crew in west london. growing up on jazz, i’d heard plenty of gene harris and ramsey lewis, but that was always playing swing. hearing them play funk on rhodes instead of straight ahead on piano, hearing the music of the mizell brothers, all that stuff freaked me out when i first heard it. everyone in west london is coming from a different background – IG with his roots and dub, phil asher with house, dego with drum’n’bass, kaidi with funk, we’re all coming from different places but find a liberating common ground with each other where we can break the walls down between the genres and just make music.

MV: Apart from your own music you perform a lot in London and Japan with a host

of other musicians. Please tell us about these performances: who do you work with and how does it function? Is it improvisational?

MdCL: i did my 10th anniversary japan tour a couple of years ago, so i’ve been going there for a while now. i usually perform with the guys who are now part of Sleepwalker and DJs including Kyoto Jazz Massive, Mochizuki from Loop and Yukihiro Fukutomi. it’s the only place in the world i still ocassionally play acoustic jazz sets, but most of the gigs are club gigs. in the smaller clubs it’s usually Freesoul Sessions which is the full improvised set, bigger venues i’ll take the whole band over and do the Tide’s Arising Live show.

MV: How do you feel about the commercial side to what you are doing?

MdCL: it’s a constant struggle and challenge to balance art and creativity with commerce and product. necessity drives me to do certain things that i might not necessarily do if i didnt have to worry about necessity, but at the same time, i’ve developed a rep as a left field progressive artist and producer so people are coming to expect me to do something different from anyone else. i just did a remix for domu’s next single and as he already had a house mix on the 12 he wanted me to do something crazy – whatever i wanted. i ended up doing a 140 bpm breakbeat thing in 14/4, then the bridge keeps changing between 3/4 and 2/4 – to me it was like roy ayers meets george duke through a breakbeat cypher. that was fun. i dont think anyone’s going to come to me expecting me to produce them a sound-a-like pop song so for now, i’m just thankful that i can make a living from doing things the way i like to do them. compromise is never the way.

MV: There are so many tags put on music today with “broken beat” being one of the most common. What do you think of this name and is it really fitting to what you are doing?

MdCL: i dont know. before it was called broken beat, it was just music – music without definition but it all shared the same conceptual ethos. everyone in west london was making music at different tempos, in different styles, but there was a common thread through it all. i think it’s become more stylized since being tagged as ‘broken beat’ but i still look at it as a conceptual thing. i just finished a remix for jaguar wright and tempo wise it’s got more to do with drum’n’bass than anything, but if you listen to it, you wouldnt necessarily think it was drum’n’bass because it has my flavour left right and centre. space funk, future soul, nu jazz, broken beat – to me, it’s all hip hop. Not like 50, but like Hip Hop – a state of mind, a way of life and a creative concept.

MV: Please describe your live performance. Do you try to match the recording or do you let each show take its own direction?

MdCL: every show is completely different – the first thing the audience hears is the click on the MPC and i build the beats from scratch. it’s pretty much live remixing the tunes so nothing is ever the same. i save up the beats after every show, so i must have over 100 beats sitting on MPC disks that i’ve never loaded back up. that reminds me, i’ve gotta get back to them and start digging some out again. i have the MPC, rhodes, bass synth, keyboards and effects, so i’m really creating the bulk of the music myself. the other musicians (usually a guitarist and drummer) augment what i’m doing, but it’s definitely the MPC and synths leading the way. the singers work with me on top of that flipping the songs different ways. the Freesoul Sessions shows are really similar except that everything is improvised – right down to the songs. when i go and see a band and they’ve rehearsed their show up and sometimes their on stage jokes are even the same, that shit is lame. i want to experience an artist’s creativity at a show, see them put their balls on the line and take some risks. d’angelo and bembe segue’s live shows are two of the only gigs i’ve witnessed that at. what i like to do live, once people get their head around it, they’re always into it – they realise it’s fresh every time. no exceptions.

MV: What can we expect from Mark de Clive-Lowe in the future?

MdCL: i’ve been busy in studio doing remixes – domu, jaguar wright, lekkan babalola, phuturistix and a few more on the way; i’ve collaborated two joints on the new leon ware album and produced 5 tracks for lady alma’s debut album. bembe segue and i have kicked off a new project called The Politik. the first 12 ‘Money’ will be out on my label antipodean records soon and we’ve just written cherie mathieson’s debut album – she’s a great singer from NZ who featured on six degrees. there’s always lots going on – i like to keep busy and keep projects in motion. i’ve got a new 12″ coming out on funk of fury records out of sweden soon with remixes by recloose and drum’n’bass crew commix, the tide’s arising remixes 12″ out in summer on abb soul, and the next installment of melodius beats on antipodean records before the end of the year. touring wise, there’s lots going on as well – live shows and DJ dates in NZ, australia, china, uk, poland and a few different spots in the states including san jose jazz festival and montreux festival atlanta. i’ve only really scratched the surface for what’s coming up, so best thing is for people to keep an eye on the website – http://www.markdeclivelowe.net – in short, there’s a lot of music coming and a lot of touring coming.

Mark de Clive Lowe Blog