ŞAKAMAKA INTERVIEW

This is an interview I did with Oktay Çelik a.k.a Şakamaka for Electronic Art House – http://www.facebook.com/itselectronicarthouse

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We’d like to introduce you to Oktay Çelik a.k.a Şakamaka, he’s a DJ and Producer based in Amsterdam. He sees his musical roots in the early 90’s underground Hip Hop. The different (electronic) music styles Çelik encountered on his journeys through the night life scene left a lasting impression on him. The first UK Garage records of his roommate at the time got him interested in DJing.

Çelik’s fascination in the variety and sounds of House music led him to a change in style. He later focused more on deep, dubby, but at the same time driving beats; also bringing the Techno side of House music into his sets without leaving his musical origins.

The sound of Şakamaka certainly reflects all these influences; his tracks are driven by strong beats that draw on the classic sound of Techno & House, interspersed with interesting samples and vocals.

Şakamaka has released music on various labels including Deep Sense Records, Zeitlos Music and Vulcania Records. He has also been recording sets for the likes of Deep Tech Amsterdam, Play By Ear Recordings and Toekomst Muziek.

One of my favourite tracks, ‘What Happens’, kicks off with a very nice Techno beat layered with reverberating samples and some slightly Latino style percussion; it then progresses, introducing an awesomely strong bassline and eventually some very nicely sampled vocals. Play it out on good speakers or through some good heaphones for full impact! enjoy!

We asked him a few quick questions about his process and inspiration:

1. Do you tend to listen to a lot of music when you’re not making your own?

Yes, I often listen to music; outside of house music I usually listen to various Oriental music and some Soul music.

2. Is any of your music influenced by visual art or things you see that inspire you?

Not really, I get my inspiration from everywhere; I take inspiration from all the types of music I listen to, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t.

3. Is there one artist/track that holds a strong memory for you and for what reason?

Pfff… there are so many artists or tracks that hold a lot of memories for me. Too many to mention really, each period of my life holds memories of different tracks, from Hip-Hop to Jazz and House music. I don’t really have an idol in House music, I enjoy many DJs and producers.

4. What does the best creative session involve for you? Any particular moods/settings/people/ or habits that help you get in the right mind set to create?

I make my best music when I’m alone in my room and home studio; I work well when the weather outside is bad and won’t be disturbed, so I’m most productive in the winter.
I must say that it takes a long time to feel like I’ve finished a track, I’m never satisfied but must stop at some point and finish it.
Music for me is pure hobby and passion alongside my real job; I have a small, low-key set up, my MacBook, sound card, studio headphones and a controller; I do everything digitally. In 2015 a vinyl record from myself finally comes out which I’m very happy about.

5. Do you procrastinate? Any particular work – evasion habits?

I don’t really procrastinate but when I start something and it’s not really working I stop immediately and start all over again when I have time. I usually make music in the evening when my children are asleep.

You can find all of Şakamaka’s great tracks and mixes on his Soundcloud page here:

https://soundcloud.com/sakamaka

And keep up to date with his releases and shows here:https://www.facebook.com/pages/Şakamaka/347708838576447

QUICK TRACKS NO.3

A beautiful compostion by Denmark’s Aebleoe

Some deep, dark Techno out of London, brought to you by Ore

Soulful electronic music from Wondrr

ELLE WICKENS a.k.a. III INTERVIEW

This is an interview I did with Elle Wickens a.k.a III for Electronic Art House – http://www.facebook.com/itselectronicarthouse

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We would like to share one of personal favourite artists today, Elle Wickens a.k.a. III.

We’ve had the pleasure of working with Elle on a few occasions so we know she’s a top lass as well as a top artist! Hailing from the Blue Mountains in Australia, Elle lived and studied In Sydney, she recently spent some time travelling around Europe and ended up in good ol’ Amsterdam.

I immediately fell in love with her work after being introduced to it by a friend; she has a very organic street art inspired feel to her work. Elle uses very nice earthy colours and often creates her work on found objects.

We asked her a few quick questions about her process and inspiration:

1. Do you listen to music while making your art, and which genres/artists?

I can barely make anything without any background noise or music, I usually listen to just about anything, generally its either Aus hip-hop or artists like Ta-ku and Bonobo.

2. Is any of your art inspired by any of the music that you listen to?

None of my works are directly inspired by music, but the kind of music I listen to definitely effects the way I create an artwork.

3. Is there one artist/piece/style that had a memorable impact on how you create?

Street art has always had a huge effect on my work especially from a young age through my older siblings.
Artists like max berry, Saci loves you and Egon Schiele have inspired me and my work.

4. What does the best creative session involve for you? Any particular moods/settings/people/ or habits that help you get in the right mind set to create?

Lots of light! I love having a bright open studio with loud music and lots of room to run around and step back from each piece. I love to have people around me when I work, I think noise definitely plays a big role in my practice.

5. Do you procrastinate? Any particular work – evasion habits?

Well sometimes the work just isn’t there and nothing seems to look right, which is something I think most artists deal with from time to time. Generally I just change my environment or even my clothes and I’m back at it again.

I’ve selected some of my favourites but you can check all her great work here:

http://lllartwork.wordpress.com/ or here: https://www.facebook.com/ellwickens

QUICK TRACKS NO.2

Some dream pop from France.

Some UK techno, Paleman on the remix of Polar Bear Music’s ‘Cuckoo (with Jin Jin)’

More from France, this time dub out of Lyon.

 

DAVID ERNST INTERVIEW

This is an interview I did with David Ernst for Electronic Art House – http://www.facebook.com/itselectronicarthouse

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DAVID ERNST INTERVIEW

David Ernst is a young Illustrator from Germany, he makes free and expressive work using techniques such as drawing and re-appropriating old photos. His work really jumped out at me as it has a very loose, psychedelic feel and it seems to create an alternate reality of it’s own.

 

 

We asked him a few quick questions about his work and process:

1. Do you listen to music while making your art, and which genres/artists?

Always! Mostly jazz, my favourite artists are Art Tatum, Wes Montgomery and Paul Desmond but I also listen to electronic music like Rhythm & Sound, Pablo Bolivar and Nicolas Jaar.

2. Is any of your art inspired by any of the music that you listen to?

Sometimes I like to pick part of lyrics that touch me the most and draw something from it.

 

3. Is there one artist/piece/style that had a memorable impact on how you create?

A friend of mine, Christian Lindemann, who is also an illustrator based in Berlin; he gave me my first Copic Multiliner for my 17th birthday. So I started to experience the possibilities of the tiny 0.1 mm pen tip and drew bodies made of small lines.

4. What does the best creative session involve for you? Any particular moods/settings/people/ or habits that help you get in the right mind set to create?

I mostly draw at night when I’m alone. But sometimes I like to draw with friends while listening to some music and drinking wine; kind of a familiar atmosphere.

5. Do you procrastinate? Any particular work – evasion habits?

I don’t think so…

I picked some of my favourites but you can see more of his sweet work here:
http://davidfoughtgoliath.tumblr.com

VISUAL ART FEATURE NO. 1 – WAXHEAD

To start off my ‘Visual Art Features’ I shall share with you the waxy goodness of Canadian artist Waxhead, Not only because he makes great work, but also because he’s a top lad!

Hailing from Toronto and currently living and working in Montreal, Waxhead’s work permeates and brightens the streets of Toronto, Montreal and the many other places he touches down. Painting on the street or off it, Waxhead pours an abundance of life and passion in to his work.

Photo by Sydney Sheedy

I met Waxhead whilst selling paintings on Leidseplein (Leidse Square) in Amsterdam; he stopped to ask me about the regulations of selling on the street, I simply told him to bring his stuff down and set up next to me. It was a pretty nice summer that year, especially considering the typical Dutch weather patterns, which made it all the more enjoyable sitting on the square, making/selling work and meeting people from across the globe.

Some off the street pieces by Waxhead.

Discovering Waxhead’s work was a really great experience for me, not only the final product, but also his process fascinated me. It was instantly apparent that he had an impulsive love of drawing, his characters and patterns seemed to simply spill out of his pen and brush.

   

Some work by Waxhead on the street

Watching Waxhead work is inspirational, his approach is raw and fluid, he doesn’t hesitate to make a mark on which ever surface he’s scoped out to bring alive with his creations. Another thing that impressed me about his approach is the fact that he doesn’t cling on to work and obsess over it. Instead he lets it grow organically, mixes up the way he puts down his ideas and is constantly churning out high quality pieces.

You can really see this organic quality shine through in his work; he creates worlds, creatures and patterns which are full of life and movement.

One of my art teachers in high school once told me that it was best to work your way out of an inspirational block, rather than just sit and think your way out. There seems to be some truth in that when you meet an artist such as Waxhead; his motto is ‘Draw Endlessly’, which says it all.

I spent ages going through his work to select a few so I suggest you simply check out his full body of work yourself.

Instagram

Flickr

If you dig his style then you should definitely follow his Instagram feed as he regularly keeps it updated with images that will put a smile on your face.

Photo by Lena Johnson

QUICK TRACKS NO.1

I’ll also be adding in quick posts with links to some lovely new music / artists. Here’s no. 1 for you!

Nice fresh track from the UK’s Bearcubs

Unique house sounds out of Dresden from Alex Troniq

Some more talent from Melbourne, Indian Summer ft. Shiner & The Ghost

MUSIC FEATURE NO.1 – BONOBO

Bonobo, of course, is a huge name now so this is not an attempt at sharing something new and upcoming, I will be attempting to do that on this blog, however this is simply an ode to Bonobo and for me personally, a perfect way to start off my Music Feature section.

Simon Green was the first electronic producer I really took an interest in and who’s sound deeply resonated with me.

I remember discovering ‘Animal Magic’ and being simply blown away; I already had a huge love for some slightly ambient or psychedelic sounds at the time. I was just entering my self reflective, broody and tumultuous late teenage years; I had been experimenting with certain things of course and was also starting to really explore my passion for the creation of visual art.

Music was, and still is, a massive part of my process as an artist; artists that had a notable impact on me when I first really started to immerse myself in my art are, amongst others, Animal Collective, Explosions In The Sky, Quasimoto/Madlib, Atlas Sound, J Dilla and The Cinematic Orchestra.

Upon hearing the sound of Bonobo however, I felt a huge sense of having found the ultimate soundtrack to my creative process. It felt as if I could detach myself from the music whilst simultaneously be immersed in the sound.

I had at the time already been experiencing other forms of electronic music which are still important to me, such as UK grime and US Hip Hop; and as I said, the likes of Animal Collective. Bonobo felt different though, it was pure, clean, musical landscaping with the perfect balance of intricacy and overall flow. His work pretty much opened up a whole new world of music for me and I went searching for more artists in the same vein.

 

After releasing two albums of instrumental tracks Bonobo started to expand his musical portfolio and began collaborating with singers, notably Andreya Triana and Bajka. Albums such as ‘Black Sands’ and ‘The North Borders’, show both the way he can completely engage you with a purely instrumental track and how he can then weave his sound around beautiful vocals.

Personally I think he’s one of the most consistent electronic artists out there and you can really tell he works hard at his craft. Also, like a lot of great musicians, Green respects and takes pleasure in a wide spectrum of musical genres; I think these are both signs of someone with an honest agenda and real musical passion.

Mr. Green also has a love of DJ’ing and says it’s something he’s done “since day one”. Listening to his sets you can really hear the fact that he takes influence from a lot of musical avenues.

 

Playing a DJ set, of course, really feeds off the atmosphere of the venue and the feeling in the crowd; a lot of the mixes you can hear on Bonobo’s Soundcloud, many of which are performed for The Boiler Room and Solid Steel, are more down tempo and ambient. Whilst living in Amsterdam I had the opportunity of attending a DJ set of his at Chicago Social Club, which is typically a dance venue, and I was simply blown away. He played a set that really made you want to move like crazy and at the same time it remained complex, masterful and full of unique qualities.

Anyhow, thank you for the wonderful music Mr. Green; I shall leave you with his latest EP ‘Flashlight’.