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Molek FMInterview: Boys Noize vs Lapsap
After a day out on the town, Lapsap chat up a storm with the one and only, Boyz Noise before he blasted Zouk to pieces at one of the biggest parties of 2010!
How did you 1st get into DJing?
I worked at a restaurant and the chef helped me purchase my 1st pair of turntables after 4 years working for him. When I left, I still didn’t manage to pay him back-all my money went to buying records and food. I just enjoyed making mixtapes and then things just happened progressively.
Describe a day for Boys Noize when not touring.
I have a dog, so I take her for a walk and it’s great. The attention is all on her and I don’t have to worry about anything else that’s happening around the city/world, and sometimes we drive into the woods and get into some forests just to get away from civilization for a bit.
Why did you set up new sub-label BNR TRAX?
It just made more sense since a lot of record stores are holding back on ordering a lot of vinyl, as the sales have been depreciating. And I get so much great music from producers around the world so I use BNR TRAX as a platform to get singles out, and digitalised music such as MP3 or WAV formats. It’s a much quicker process, but I would still like to release some tunes through BNR TRAX on vinyl. Maybe after 10 or 20, I might just choose the best few and print it on one “Best Of”.
What are some of the artist releases in the pipeline?
We just released our 1st Electric Rescue EP [Ambivalent]. There will also be follow-ups from Benny Rodrigues and Para One.
Congrats on your 50th release on BNR! Your DJ style has evolved throughout these years; why’s that?
Well, I don’t think it has changed. Since I saw 2manydjs in 1999 or 2000, I was really inspired by their way of mixing and mashing songs to keep things interesting. I don’t play so much mash-up anymore because any 16 year old can rock up on Ableton and do the same playing all the hits and putting 5 or 6 tracks together. I’m still the DJ that likes to play with 4 CDJs and still wants to keep it fresh.
So how did you meet Erol Alkan and why the sudden move to make records with him?
When I started up BNR, I sent promos to Erol cos he was one of the 1st DJs to support my music, and one day he invited me to his legendary night Trash at The End in London. We played back to back and had real good fun so we kept in touch and became good friends. We started talking about making tracks together and it happened. It wasn’t something we planned from the start; it happened seamlessly.
Do you remember your worst gig?
I think this was in 2005 when I did my 1st US tour. It was in Boston when I played at this bar-like club. The DJ that was on before me was playing some cool indie tunes so I was like, this shouldn’t be so bad since there were like only 30 people there. But 20 minutes into my set, the DJ comes back and tells me he has to take over since the punters are not really enjoying it. He comes on and rocks rnb and shows off his skills on the mic. I had to go on after him and when I did, from the start ’til the end of my set, this dude just stood in front of me the whole time with his middle finger in my face. There you go.
Future Sound Asia’s 10th anniversary gig Future presents Boys Noize went down at Zouk on 6 October. Say hello to Alex at www.boysnoize.com and our very own LapSap boys at www.wearelapsap.com. Much love to Blink for the pictorial and interview!