{"id":22084,"date":"2015-08-18T14:22:01","date_gmt":"2015-08-18T12:22:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.deephouseamsterdam.com\/?p=22084"},"modified":"2015-08-19T18:51:49","modified_gmt":"2015-08-19T16:51:49","slug":"interview-claude-vonstroke","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.deephouseamsterdam.com\/ibiza\/interview-claude-vonstroke\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview: Claude VonStroke"},"content":{"rendered":"

In this day and age of music cross-pollination, Claude VonStroke sits at the forefront of all that is good, proper and most importantly fun. He\u2019s just as at home remixing Kenny Larkin or London Grammar as he is dropping multiple underground hits. DJ wise, his relentless touring of every major city, festival and basement after-party around the world has only enriched this unique perspective on music.<\/strong><\/p>\n

As the owner of the record label, DIRTYBIRD<\/strong>, VonStroke also built an impeccable A&R roster signing acts like Justin Martin, Julio Bashmore, Catz n Dogz, Riva Starr, Tim Green, Breach, Eats Everything, Shadow Child & Shiba San<\/em> well before they broke out of their hometown scenes. (and even naming a few of these artists.) Today, the DIRTYBIRD\u00a0label continues to surprise and innovate in the underground dance scene, releasing an enigmatic combination of house, funk, dirty-bass and electronica.<\/p>\n

Celebrating 10 years of DIRTYBIRD, Claude VonStroke and crew will be throwing a slew of events around the world, from their infamous DIRTYBIRD\u00a0BBQ<\/strong> to their DIRTYBIRD\u00a0Campouts<\/strong>. Claude has also put together the official DIRTYBIRD\u00a0BBQ compilation ‘Grill $on’s Revenge<\/strong>‘ (available now<\/a>) and will be joining Jamie Jones, Art Department, Skream<\/strong>, and more at Jones’ Paradise<\/strong> at Ibiza’s DC10<\/strong> on 26 August.<\/p>\n

With all this going on we feel lucky to have found a few moments to speak with Claude VonStroke on 10 years of DIRTYBIRD, interesting new collaborative projects, balancing DJing with a family, and much more.<\/p>\n

\u201cI never want to settle in.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n

With DIRTYBIRD\u00a0celebrating its ten-year anniversary this year, what have you found the most challenging aspect of maintaining such longevity within the scene? Was there ever an aspect of being a label boss you anticipated as being difficult when you first started, yet turned out to be smoother\/easier than expected?<\/strong>
\nArtwork is the thing that slows us down the most. Mastering can go really wrong but can also really help. Royalty accounting is a nightmare, but the thing I thought would be the hardest that is actually the easiest is finding the music. I think i just know when the music is right and I never really second guess myself. I thought it would be a lot harder to do that part of it.<\/p>\n

When did it dawn on you that 2015 was the 10th anniversary of DIRTYBIRD? When did you start thinking\/planning the way you will celebrate such a milestone?<\/strong>
\nI actually thought the year before was the anniversary but my wife had to show me the math. I\u2019m terrible with dates. I am always thinking about the label so the planning wasn’t so different from other years except for the fact that we did a few more label events this year.<\/p>\n

Speaking of celebrating, how are you celebrating the label\u2019s anniversary?<\/strong>
\nBy playing tons of shows and making even more new music!<\/p>\n

Can you identify certain seminal moments over the last 10 years that have brought DIRTYBIRD\u00a0to where it is now?<\/strong>
\nWhen ‘Deep Throat’ became a hit on vinyl that was when i knew we would make it past the first year. When I finished my second album, ‘Bird Brain’ and also when Justin turned in his first album “Ghettos and Gardens”. Also the last free Golden Gate BBQ was insane about 4 or 5 years ago.<\/p>\n

In terms of relevancy, how often does such a concept enter your mind as a label head? Do you find the pursuit of relevancy within the ever-changing definition of the digital age to be counter intuitive toward the primary ethos of a label? How do you ensure DIRTYBIRD, as well as yourself as an artist, maintain relevancy?<\/strong>
\nI don’t insure that we remain relevant in fact you could say my strategy is quite risky. I just sign the music I think is good. I don’t follow trends or change our thing to be like something else that is popular at the moment. One thing I’m looking at right now is that our current merchandise has a kind of trend following vibe to it that I don’t like. Thats something I’m going to work on. I don’t want to make a shirt because everyone is wearing it right now. Thats not really how we operate.<\/p>\n

[gallery_bank type=”images” format=”filmstrip” title=”false” desc=”false” img_in_row=”4″ animation_effect=”bounce” image_width=”600″ album_title=”false” album_id=”111″]<\/p>\n

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Explain how the city of San Francisco has aided DIRTYBIRD\u00a0in getting to where it is today? This can be musically, socially, or any other way the city has provided inspiration, resources, networks, etc\u2026<\/strong>
\nIts a very creative city that also has the luxury of a strong economy. There are not so many cities like this in the world where creativity and individualism are rewarded while also being an epicenter of finance. I think the fact that my wife and I had nice jobs while we started the label was very liberating and we made it through some bumps in the road that would cripple a typical label startup idea for someone who was just a local DJ trying to make ends meet.<\/p>\n

As a DJ, Producer and label head, how do you approach this balance of responsibilities? Is there ever a moment where you think you enjoy one of these over the others?<\/strong>
\nAs I get older I try my best to delegate as much as possible but in the end I have to be involved and work very very hard. I enjoy playing the shows and producing music the music the most. But a close third place would be the business aspect its not really \u201cfun\u201d but it is very rewarding and satisfying when it goes right.<\/p>\n

As summer is in full swing, how do you prepare for the rigours of the summer schedule, festivals, Ibiza, and all?<\/strong>
\nI prepare myself mentally for many many hours at the airport and many fun adventures. This summer I really felt like our label events graduated to a new high level in North America which has been extremely satisfying to me.<\/p>\n

Speaking of Ibiza, you have two dates at Jamie Jones\u2019 famed Paradise party. How do you view Paradise as a party brand, as well as an Ibiza institution? For such events, what is your preparation protocol like?<\/strong>
\nI think Jamie has done an incredible job building up that brand. I know how hard it is to do that and I respect his team immensely. That party is crackin’ and I fully enjoy playing at DC10 more than any other club on the island, it still feels like a place for music. I prepare for Paradise in the same way i prepare for everything. I want to get my personality across but also be aware of what party I’m at. I want to bring new music no one has ever heard and i want to be respectful of the party itself and not just go off the deep end playing a bunch of breakbeats like maybe i would at a DIRTYBIRD\u00a0BBQ.<\/p>\n

As a touring artist with a family, how do you find the balance between travel and family time? Do you ever find that certain specifics of the underground scene difficult to coincide with the realities of family life?<\/strong>
\nYes the constant partying and travel are a little bit of oil and water with having a family and running a business but I think I have figured it out and I also think the time I get out there on the road keeps me young, energised and full of life. I know a lot of family men my age who look like they are 15 years older than they are just because they have settled in and aren’t pushing for greatness any longer. I never want to settle in.<\/p>\n

You have the interesting performance collaboration with Green Velvet, Get Real. How did this collaboration form? What is it about Green Velvet that complements your own sound? Can we expect any original tracks from Get Real?<\/b>
\nThis came about by us showing up for a party at the same time a couple years ago and just deciding to play together instead of standing around watching each other play our sets. It went so well that we made it into a group called Get Real. Its funny you should ask about the music because I’m headed out to Chicago just this week to work with him in his studio. I’m a huge fan of Cajmere\/Green Velvet so its all a bit surreal because now Im good friends with someone I used to think came from outer space – he is so cool.<\/p>\n

Soundcloud <\/a><\/span> Artist Page <\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Paradise_CVS\"<\/p>\n

26 August | Paradise<\/a> | Tickets<\/a> | DC-10<\/strong><\/p>\n

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In this day and age of music cross-pollination, Claude VonStroke sits at the forefront of all that is good, proper and most importantly fun. He\u2019s just as at home remixing Kenny Larkin or London Grammar as he is dropping multiple underground hits. DJ wise, his relentless touring of every major city, festival and basement after-party […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":22087,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6002],"tags":[4990,4785,4712,5314,2415,4863,4559,4713,3984,4715],"class_list":["post-22084","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-interviews-ibiza","tag-cajmere-london","tag-claude-vonstroke-london","tag-dc10-london","tag-dirtybird-london","tag-get-real","tag-green-velvet-london","tag-ibiza-london","tag-jamie-jones-london","tag-justin-martin","tag-paradise-london"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deephouseamsterdam.com\/ibiza\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22084","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deephouseamsterdam.com\/ibiza\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deephouseamsterdam.com\/ibiza\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deephouseamsterdam.com\/ibiza\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/34"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deephouseamsterdam.com\/ibiza\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22084"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.deephouseamsterdam.com\/ibiza\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22084\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deephouseamsterdam.com\/ibiza\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22087"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deephouseamsterdam.com\/ibiza\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22084"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deephouseamsterdam.com\/ibiza\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22084"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deephouseamsterdam.com\/ibiza\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22084"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}