{"id":7299,"date":"2015-04-01T12:30:36","date_gmt":"2015-04-01T10:30:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.deephouselondon.com\/?p=7299"},"modified":"2015-05-26T17:24:23","modified_gmt":"2015-05-26T15:24:23","slug":"mix-036-by-lovebirds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.deephouseamsterdam.com\/london\/mix-036-by-lovebirds\/","title":{"rendered":"Mix #036 By Lovebirds"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Back in 2011 Lovebirds, AKA Sebastian Doering, released a track called &#8216;Want You In My Soul&#8217; through a friend&#8217;s label (Winding Road). Despite virtually no promotion the track, which features the brilliant Stee Downes on vocals, became a massive hit on the underground and a modern-day classic in the process.<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We absolutely love the track here at Deep House London and were very pleased to hear the news that it will soon be re-released via Island Records with a couple of killer new mixes from Shiba San and Illyus &amp; Barrientos! To celebrate the re-release we&#8217;ve got a very special mix from Lovebirds and we grabbed him for an interview, which you can check out below&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsoundcloud.com%2Fdeep-house-london%2Flovebirds-deep-house-london-mix&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=false&amp;show_comments=true&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false&amp;visual=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"166\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"button small\" style=\"background:#E40045;\"><a style=\"color:#FFFFFF;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.unlock.fm\/2yw\" target=\"_new\" rel=\"noopener\">Download<\/a><\/span><span class=\"button small\" style=\"background:#E40045;\"><a style=\"color:#FFFFFF;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/lovebirds.official\" target=\"_new\" rel=\"noopener\">Facebook<\/a><\/span><span class=\"button small\" style=\"background:#E40045;\"><a style=\"color:#FFFFFF;\" href=\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/lovebirds\" target=\"_new\" rel=\"noopener\">Soundcloud<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Can you begin by telling me about where you\u2019re based at the moment?<br \/>\n<\/strong>I live in Hamburg, Germany.. but in a month and a half I\u2019ll be moving to Berlin.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What\u2019s the reason behind moving to Berlin? Was there anything beyond it\u2019s great music scene that attracted you to the city?<br \/>\n<\/strong>Yes, well of course the music scene is great there but also, the main reason, is that I\u2019ve been based here in Hamburg for 20 years now and I just had this moment where I felt nothing would ever change if I stayed here. My wife is Russian and she likes Berlin, too \u2013 some of my friends have moved there\u2019s not a huge reason to stay in Hamburg really, so\u2026<\/p>\n<p><strong>Have you found somewhere to live already?<br \/>\n<\/strong>Well, the most difficult thing is actually finding a studio space \u2013 I don\u2019t just use a laptop and monitors, I have proper gear and I was worried it would be quite hard to find a good space. Luckily I contacted a guy, who I kind of knew and it turned out that he had a really nice room in a good location with great acoustics and other studios around it. It\u2019s perfect, so I\u2019m really happy about that and looking forward to moving to Berlin.<\/p>\n<p><strong>You say that you felt nothing would change if you stayed in Hamburg. What kind of changes are you hoping to achieve through moving to Berlin?<br \/>\n<\/strong>It\u2019s mainly that feeling you get when you visit a new city, somewhere nice, a new location \u2013 you go to new cafes and such like, and it\u2019s exciting, it opens you up to things. Whereas, staying in your town for 20 years, you know everything, you know everyone, it gets boring. Also I have an album project with a Japanese girl who lives in Berlin, so it will make it easier to do sessions with her when I\u2019m there\u2026 overall though, it\u2019s more than a music-based decision, it\u2019s more of a life thing for me.<\/p>\n<p><strong>So, tell me how the re-release of \u2018I Want You In My Soul\u2019 came about?<br \/>\n<\/strong>I signed the record to Winding Road back in 2011, which is a small indie label. The owner had a few requests from bigger labels early on, but he didn\u2019t think the offers were good enough. It took four years to get to the point where the package that was offered to him was right and I really respect that. As an artist you sign your music to a label and, once they own the rights, you don\u2019t always have a lot to do with it \u2013 I didn\u2019t contribute to the deal John made, but we\u2019re good friends so I was informed about what was happening at every step.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s good, it\u2019s nice that the deal came through for him and it\u2019s not like an old record that nobody plays anymore. I think, to some extent, it\u2019s almost become like a modern classic already and there was never any effort or promotion when it first came about. Obviously the label has a small promo list that the record was sent to, and there\u2019s the little video, with countryside photos, which I did as my first iVideo project ever! That\u2019s all the effort that went into it, so I guess people thought they should try to give it a proper push, maybe get some radio play and get it out to a bigger crowd.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Yeah, we were looking at the stats on the track and it\u2019s had some incredible Shazam-related searches\u2026 over 200,000, with 2.2million Spotify streams and just as many, if not more, on YouTube. The demand is clear and it\u2019s got that familiar air, so it\u2019s deserved.<br \/>\n<\/strong>I wouldn\u2019t mind some more success for it! It\u2019s a proper tune, it\u2019s something I can stand behind 100%. I love everything about it\u2026 that\u2019s music, sometimes everything is just right; I was just running around on the interview, Googling and I found Stee on MySpace, which I never do. Sometimes things just happen, it was the first thing we did together, so you know\u2026<\/p>\n<p><strong>What are your hopes with the re-release, a chart position maybe? Or are you quite modest in your dreams for the track and hoping that more people simply know about the tune?<br \/>\n<\/strong>Well, I\u2019ve been in the music business a while now, always in the \u2018underground\u2019 department, so I\u2019ve learned not to expect much so you won\u2019t be disappointed! I have a hard time finishing stuff, doing the mixdown \u2013 with \u2018Want You In My Soul\u2019 I spent maybe six weeks on the mixdown, so you can imagine listening to a track over and over for six weeks you end up not really having the same neutral view of it as someone who hasn\u2019t been so involved in the production process. In the end I was like, \u2018Just take it!\u2019, when I handed it over to the label. So I didn\u2019t have any expectations of it back then and I don\u2019t expect anything of it now! If it happens, that\u2019s great, if not, it\u2019s still a great record. My biggest so far, but I\u2019m also excited about my future projects\u2026 I don\u2019t think I\u2019m a one-hit wonder producer, I\u2019m confident in my future projects, too.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Tell me about the album you\u2019re making with the Japanese singer? Are you leading the project or are you featuring as her producer?<br \/>\n<\/strong>We wanted to call the project \u2018Minako and The Lovebirds\u2019. I don\u2019t see the point in using lots of different project names and then people discover that it was you years later. That might work for someone who\u2019s a superstar who wants to do something a little secretive but, at my stage, I think it\u2019s important to have my name out there.<\/p>\n<p>I met Minako at a gig in Tel Aviv as she was living there for eight years. I told the promoters that I was heading to Tokyo and she actually had to return there due to a family issue and that\u2019s how we got in touch with one another. She sent me some stuff over and I was crazy about it in the beginning but I sent her some tunes. I mean, only about 3% of the stuff I make gets released \u2013 97% is in my hard drive. So I started sending her all the down tempo, different sounding stuff because she doesn\u2019t have the typical \u2018boogie diva\u2019 type voice, she has more of a pop voice. I also wasn\u2019t expecting because, through experience, a lot of people can sing but not many can actually write good songs. Anyway, she sent me back the first track and, the first time I listened to it, I was like, \u2018I think I like it\u2019. The second time I was like, \u2018Ah, this is really good!\u2019. And the third time I listened to it, I was like, \u2018F*****g hell, this is really really good!\u2019. There she was in the old room she grew up in in Tokyo and I\u2019m throwing tunes at her \u2013 in two weeks we had around eight to 10 songs but I\u2019m still not finished and that was four years ago! We will finish it this year though.<\/p>\n<p><strong>It sounds like it\u2019s quite normal for you to take a long time to finish your music!<br \/>\n<\/strong>Yeah, I really need a partner who can deal with the mixdown part of the process. I\u2019m more of a chaotic, intuitive type of person \u2013 when I\u2019m making the music I don\u2019t want to worry about whether the sound is good or not, I just want to put down my ideas. At the same time I\u2019m still a perfectionist and have high expectations, so the mixdown presents quite a dilemma!<\/p>\n<p><strong>Is there anything else forthcoming besides the album with Minako?<br \/>\n<\/strong>Yes actually, talking about the problem I have with all this music that hasn\u2019t been released I decided that I should put together an album using a few of them \u2013 my favourite \u2018hard drive sleepers\u2019. Nothing spectacular, like a big EP with stuff I really like. I have some remixes on the way, one for Chopstick &amp; Johnjon from SUOL, and another one for an indie band called Corbu. A few releases on my own label, Teardrop\u2026 I have a track on there which is taken from Gilles Peterson\u2019s Talkin\u2019 Loud label, by a guy called Galliano, a rapper. I met him a couple of years and we stayed in touch, so there\u2019s a track from him which is 81bpm, with a Roy Ayers summer groove to it. Then a friend is doing a liquid funk, DnB mix and I\u2019m looking for someone to do a house mix. I\u2019m always keen to do that to show the connection between the genres \u2013 the roots are the same, and I think the whole scene would be more interesting and open-minded if more releases were like that and avoided always being based around the same old grooves.<\/p>\n<p><strong>And to close up, can you finish this sentence.. \u2018Without house music I would\u2026\u2019<br \/>\n<\/strong>I would have lived a different life. My plans after school were not based around music at all, it all happened by accident. I thought I\u2019d have to do national service, then I wanted to study economics and business\u2026 then the whole music thing came along and changed my life. I probably wouldn\u2019t be a DJ or producer now, and probably have a lot more money! But less fun probably as well!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Back in 2011 Lovebirds, AKA Sebastian Doering, released a track called &#8216;Want You In My Soul&#8217; through a friend&#8217;s label (Winding Road). Despite virtually no promotion the track, which features the brilliant Stee Downes on vocals, became a massive hit on the underground and a modern-day classic in the process. We absolutely love the track [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":17454,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"audio","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3970],"tags":[4852,4489,4490],"class_list":["post-7299","post","type-post","status-publish","format-audio","has-post-thumbnail","category-dj-mix-london","tag-lovebirds-london","tag-stee-downes","tag-want-you-in-my-soul","post_format-post-format-audio"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deephouseamsterdam.com\/london\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7299","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deephouseamsterdam.com\/london\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deephouseamsterdam.com\/london\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deephouseamsterdam.com\/london\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/46"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deephouseamsterdam.com\/london\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7299"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.deephouseamsterdam.com\/london\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7299\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deephouseamsterdam.com\/london\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17454"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deephouseamsterdam.com\/london\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deephouseamsterdam.com\/london\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deephouseamsterdam.com\/london\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}