{"id":7465,"date":"2015-04-21T15:19:32","date_gmt":"2015-04-21T13:19:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.deephouselondon.com\/?p=7465"},"modified":"2015-05-14T13:53:22","modified_gmt":"2015-05-14T11:53:22","slug":"exclusive-interview-james-silk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.deephouseamsterdam.com\/london\/exclusive-interview-james-silk\/","title":{"rendered":"Exclusive Interview: James Silk"},"content":{"rendered":"

James Silk started out with a slower, more disco-influenced sound a few years back but, like most musicians, he is influenced by many different styles and, more recently, has been moving in a darker direction. With a new release soon to appear on Switzerland-based label Hive Audio we caught up with him to talk about his recent goings-on…<\/strong><\/p>\n

How is life for you right now? Where abouts are you in the world?<\/strong>
\nLife is really good thanks. I\u2019ve got lots of music finished this week, so I’m feeling great! I’m in sunny Liverpool!<\/p>\n

What was the last record you bought? Why?<\/strong>
\nI actually just ordered a vinyl copy of Omar – Feeling You (Henrik Schwarz remix). I realised I didn’t have a copy of it. It’s still incredible.<\/p>\n

How would you sum up your relationship with music?<\/strong>
\nIt’s a love\/hate relationship for sure.<\/p>\n

Did you teach yourself how to produce music? Did you have any formal training before then?<\/strong>
\nYes I taught myself via hundreds of YouTube tutorials. I’m not musically trained at all. I just guess all those years of listening to records gave me the ear to how things should sound!<\/p>\n

[youtube id=”on-cBu_WU4A” width=”620″ height=”360″]<\/p>\n

What do you look for in a track before you part with your money with it?<\/strong>
\nOriginality. Lots of records come out and hit the top of the charts, but a lot do sound the same. I try to play mostly unknown records in my sets.<\/p>\n

And how long have you been DJing? Did the production or the DJing come first?<\/strong>
\nDJing for about 16 years now, producing for 6.<\/p>\n

How would you sum up your sound to those that don’t know?<\/strong>
\nIt’s ever changing to be honest. I used to be more of a slower disco vibe, but now I am finding I’m enjoying the darker sounds more.<\/p>\n

So did you have a mentor of sorts over the years that guided you in the right direction?<\/strong>
\nA guy named Wez Saunders who is now A&R at Defected Records really helped me in the beginning. He is now label manager of my record label!<\/p>\n

What are some of the most important lessons you have learnt when it comes to production? Are you still learning?<\/strong>
\nTrust your own ears. Don’t be influenced by outside factors or what is cool. I learn new things every day!<\/p>\n

[youtube id=”T070oZD-3h4″ width=”620″ height=”360″]<\/p>\n

Are you a hardware or software guy? And which do you prefer?<\/strong>
\nI use both. Mainly software, but I do like to get out a hardware synth now and again if the VST’s aren’t cutting it.<\/p>\n

So tell us about Hive Audio. How did you hook up with those guys?<\/strong>
\nI’ve been a fan of the label for a while. I released my Language EP with them last year, which did very well. So I jumped at the chance to release on Hive again.<\/p>\n

And is there a story behind the latest EP at all? What’s your favorite memory of making it?<\/strong>
\nNot particularly, it’s just the vibe I was feeling on the day. My favourite moment was when I replayed the synth line I had created for La Noche as it’s just how I wanted it to sound!<\/p>\n

What plans do you have for summer? Anything exciting you can tell us about?<\/strong>
\nFew gigs here and there, which is always good. My new label Heyo launches in April and will feature a 2 track EP from myself each month. Other releases on Klangultur Schallplatten, Altus Project and my first official UK single will be released!<\/p>\n

James Silk\u2019s ‘La Noche\u2019 is out now on Hive Audio – pick it up here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Artist Page<\/a><\/span>Soundcloud<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

James Silk started out with a slower, more disco-influenced sound a few years back but, like most musicians, he is influenced by many different styles and, more recently, has been moving in a darker direction. With a new release soon to appear on Switzerland-based label Hive Audio we caught up with him to talk about […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":7466,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"audio","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3971],"tags":[4555,4506],"class_list":["post-7465","post","type-post","status-publish","format-audio","has-post-thumbnail","category-interviews-london","tag-hive-audio-london-2","tag-james-silk","post_format-post-format-audio"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deephouseamsterdam.com\/london\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7465","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=7465"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.deephouseamsterdam.com\/london\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7465\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deephouseamsterdam.com\/london\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deephouseamsterdam.com\/london\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7465"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deephouseamsterdam.com\/london\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7465"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deephouseamsterdam.com\/london\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7465"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}