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Table of Contents
00:00:00 – Introduction to Chris Chambers
00:02:12 – Chris’s Early Musical Influences and Journey
00:06:18 – DJing Beginnings and First Release Experience
00:10:08 – Managing Gig Nerves and Passion for Music
00:15:37 – Transition to Hard Groove and Current Techno Hotbeds
00:19:12 – Impact of COVID on Music and Launch of Phunkation Records
00:21:30 – Vinyl Release Experience and Future of Vinyl
00:26:16 – Marketing in the Digital Age and Building Community
00:30:00 – Challenges of Being a DJ Today and DJing Without Production
00:35:20 – Ghost Production and Artistic Integrity
00:47:53 – Production Workflow and Creative Process
Introduction to Chris Chambers
(00:00:04)
Robert Simoes
Welcome everybody to the Beyond the Decks podcast, your guide to mastering the art and business of the electronic music and DJing industry. I’m your host, Robert Simoes, here, and I’m really thrilled and grateful to be able to speak with this gentleman here today, Chris Chambers. And Chris is an artist and DJ of a decade plus of experience, but not only as a DJ and artist, but also a label founder and owner with his own label entitled Phunkation Records. Now, I became familiar with some of Chris’s work when I ventured a little bit into the obscure area of German Schranz and Hard Techno, discovering this very unique phenomenon and Chris’s own sound in the world of tribal techno or hard groove, as it’s become more and more known around the world, and hard groove and hard techno have been growing a lot in their interest for audiences. And so I was really thrilled to be able to speak with Chris being as sort of a forefront runner, especially on the underground side of the world. Now, Chris is a musical avant garde, with a unique phenomenon of his own style and enjoys the charismatic sense of lifestyle, traveling all over the world and, and, you know, releasing his records and collaborating with different artists and, and DJs.
(00:01:20)
Robert Simoes
And as I mentioned, he’s also the founder of Phunkation Records, with releases on Adult Records, Phunkation, Techno Artillery, XD selection and distribution, as well as much more. I’m super thrilled to be able to speak with you today. Chris. How are you doing?
(00:01:34)
Chris Chambers
Yeah, pretty good, pretty good. The honour is all mine. Thank you for, very welcoming intro as well. Yeah.
(00:01:41)
Robert Simoes
Amazing. Amazing. yeah. So, Chris, you know, based on where, where we start with your, your journey, you know, I always love to hear people’s story. How did they come to the place that they are today? Because as, as I mentioned, I mean, you are at this point where you’re doing this for a decade plus, and you have tons of releases as well as founding your own labels. So where does Chris’s story start? and you know, where did kind of I guess those musical inspirations take root, because I think you also had a little bit of an interesting start.
Chris’s Early Musical Influences and Journey
(00:02:12)
Robert Simoes
And you didn’t start in techno either. Oh, no.
(00:02:15)
Chris Chambers
No, I haven’t started in techno, actually, but my first release was techno. But I never started with techno. I started with acid acid trance. It was really popular back in the day, back in the I think mid 90s and end of 90s. That’s where I got in. It was at the time probably like, well, the best music for me, you know, and that was my gateway to getting to the techno later on by the end of the 90s. But what would I say if as my first beginnings, I remember I always remember, like production wise, when one of my friends invited me to the room and, he said he had found some program. I. You got to see it. It’s so great. You can you can create your beats, you can add kicks and stuff. I’m like, sure, yeah, whatever. You know, because back in the day, I was a skater. I never even knew that I’m going to be producing music.
(00:03:06)
Chris Chambers
And I remember he opened the doors, I saw the program, it was the turntable and it was the drum drum machine. I was like, wow, this is it. I want to do that. Skateboarding, you know what I mean? So yeah, that’s that’s pretty much the first thing. What, what what brought me into the industry.
(00:03:24)
Robert Simoes
And what was that earliest connection with with kind of music, you know, where did where did that you mentioned a little bit about this acid acid trance. where did where did that come from? Were you attending? Oh, yeah. Waves and gigs and things.
(00:03:38)
Chris Chambers
Yeah, I was, I was a bit too, too young for that. I was maybe ten, 11 years old. This usually came from, from my sister. She was buying the CDs every, every now and then she would go to Germany and she would be buying CDs from from the shops. It was always some dance or love Parade or something. Back in the day. And so from there I was able to to, to find out about some artists.
(00:04:01)
Chris Chambers
And you know, the guys like Warp Brothers and Public Domain and Aqua Gen, I think it was. And then later it was the Scooter and all these, all the older generations, they really know this music. And yeah, it was like a gateway for me, you know. So so it came pretty much I have to blame my sister on that because she was she was the gateway to the gateway. So. Yeah.
(00:04:22)
Robert Simoes
And so once you found yourself, I guess, with some sort of connection to even the studio environment, where did where did you go from there? Was it did you pick up, you know, some of your own equipment to start producing in your bedroom or.
(00:04:37)
Chris Chambers
Yeah, yeah. At first, at first it was just just a laptop really. Just a laptop. I was way too young. I was I think I started with when I was 12 or 13, something like that. The only thing that I had was laptop obviously. And since, you know, I coming from Balkan, it’s not really usual that people have a lot of money for drum machines and for everything.
(00:04:58)
Chris Chambers
So so my, my only, my only, my only sampling base were the CDs that I had, you know, and we were, we were changing CDs all the time. Those were the days. So that’s how I started, just with one laptop and a lot of CDs.
(00:05:14)
Robert Simoes
And you mentioned this like sampling component, which is is quite different. I mean, there today, especially with production, like we have all these simple packs, we have all these different. We have like an infinite number of instruments essentially. But you know, with creativity sometimes those constraints actually, you know, breed some of the greatest, you know, inventions, I guess. What were some of those early, early CDs that that you were sampling things off when you were making your own beats?
(00:05:41)
Chris Chambers
Zero G, I think, was the most famous one. I know that I had had a Cubase. It’s one program. I’m not sure does it even exists anymore? But Cubase had a very, very good sample sample, sample base.
(00:05:54)
Chris Chambers
But, yeah, those were, those were the ones I think zero G was the one that really took took my attention because we had a lot of loops. And, you know, when you were a kid, what else can you do then. Just loops. Yeah. So yeah zero G is the, the thing.
(00:06:08)
Robert Simoes
And when did then DJing come in? Was that always aligned with the production or did that sort of come later?
DJ Beginnings and First Release Experience
(00:06:18)
Chris Chambers
Yeah. That came out later. That came in 2000 I think it was ten, 2010. My first release was 2009, but I started ten years before that. You know, I, I was, I was you know, I was, trying until you release your first track, you never know how good you are. You know, you never you never know how guys are going to react, especially, you know, the guys on the dance floor. So for me, it was like a long wait to actually get, get, get some, get some balls, if I can say like that, just to release my first track and start to that adventure.
(00:06:57)
Chris Chambers
But where I got my base was, was the, the course that I did back in, back in my city in 2000, and I think it was 2009. I did finish a course. I think it was like one year or something like that, and it really created a good understanding of what needs to be done before you release music. And then after that, after I released my first track, it was actually in one American Croatian label, and it’s it was really great label back at the time. I’m not sure that exists for. Yeah, well that’s it. Yeah. And I think it was owned by Relz.
(00:07:38)
Robert Simoes
I think, I think I have it here was like Tribal Mania – Hybrid was your track.
(00:07:42)
Chris Chambers
Oh yeah. That’s the one. That’s the one. Tribal mania. Yeah. Yeah yeah. Tribal hybrid I think track name is hybrid. Yeah.
(00:07:49)
Chris Chambers
Yeah, yeah. Well, what was that?
(00:07:52)
Robert Simoes
Yeah. What was that experience like? Going going out on the dance floor and playing your your first track? I mean, what were you thinking like?
(00:08:00)
Chris Chambers
It was super stressful, but I don’t know how to tell you this because my first gig. My first gig. This is a fun fact. My first gig wasn’t in my city. It wasn’t even in my Croatia, in Croatia, in my country at all. It was actually in Slovenia. And so I had to travel, I don’t know, 5 or 600km by train just to get to my first gig. Whoa. And, yeah, it was it was very stressful. And the thing is that it was just a switch. Actually, it wasn’t just the switch, but I always had turntables at home and I was mixing on turn tables. But the problem is that we’re not going to have turntables on that party. So I had to prepare something else. So back in the day, Serato was really, really like popular things.
(00:08:47)
Chris Chambers
So I took that from my friend and I started, I think I had like maybe a one hour session, just the preparation, and I brought everything over there. Imagine I never I never tried to connect these things at home once. I tried to connect it and I brought everything on my first gig. And the first thing they saw me over there. Then they were like, no, we don’t want that. We’re just going to play on CDs. Oh, sure. Like whatever. And before that I actually never played on CDs, so. So it was pretty stressful. But I actually have one video from that gig. It’s it’s, it’s on YouTube. One of my friends, thermo, he recorded one of maybe a few minutes, and I was actually playing one on one of my tracks. I think it was he killed my vinyl and it was. It was great feeling. I remember that feeling. I was on stage and the bassline was much, much more bigger than it was at home.
(00:09:36)
Chris Chambers
You know how that feels when you step on the stage. You feel entire full power from your track. So it felt great. Yeah, to answer the question, it felt great, but it was it was like a little bit stressful right behind you, you know. So. Yeah.
(00:09:51)
Robert Simoes
Did you have like any strategies or anything like talking yourself up prior to the gig or how did you manage that, that that stress? Because I feel like some people who listen to this podcast, maybe they’ve never done their first gig or they’ve done their first couple of gigs. They’re still trying to manage those nerves when it comes to doing.
Managing Gig Nerves and Passion for Music
(00:10:08)
Chris Chambers
You know, when you love something, you don’t really you don’t really need the pep talk. I just knew I need to do this thing, and I felt it in my bones that I need to go. It was. It was never in the back of my my head. You shouldn’t be doing that. Maybe, maybe, maybe one minute before the gig, I get that voice.
(00:10:25)
Chris Chambers
Maybe I shouldn’t be doing that. But for for the rest of the rest of the rest of my life, I never really had second thoughts about going on stage. It was just something else, you know? So I don’t have that now. If if somebody else would have, I would just say, you know, have a have a good preparation, create some playlist if you have to. Whatever, whatever is your workflow, whatever helps you, you know, and it’s gonna it’s going to be fine. Look, people go on parties to have party. They don’t go on parties to listen to your transitions. That’s very important to to accept, you know.
(00:10:55)
Robert Simoes
Yeah. I think one of these, quotes, I can’t remember who said it, but maybe it was some random Reddit comment or something I read, but it was like a lot of times when you get the cheers from the audience, it’s for the music, not necessarily for the DJ. And sometimes we forget that, right? It’s like you’re sort of you’re playing these tracks, but it’s actually the tracks that the music is the most important part.
(00:11:16)
Robert Simoes
and but I want to take a small digression into, into techno. you mentioned you had some of these things like Love Parade and, I mean, there’s all kinds of stuff that happened. I came to the cabaret Love Parade, or was that the there was a different one that they played gabber and a bunch of hardstyle and.
(00:11:33)
Chris Chambers
Oh, yeah, back in the day, well, opera was higher than I was so hard and the music was different. I’m not sure. Was it different because they were playing it on vinyl, but it just sounded so much more. More raw and powerful than today. Maybe. Maybe just just the vinyls. Maybe it’s just the way the music is made today. But yeah, it was it was pretty strong. Yeah.
(00:11:53)
Robert Simoes
And so you had a lot of that vinyl influence, right. Especially with I assume you would have been buying lots of like vinyl, techno, vinyl and all this stuff. And how does that how does that kind of seep into your current influences and how you, how you make music? Because like I said, I mean, we have these like huge sample libraries, and a lot of times people don’t even really sample things from old, old records or anything like that.
(00:12:15)
Chris Chambers
Yeah. How I deal with it.
(00:12:17)
Robert Simoes
I think I have.
(00:12:18)
Chris Chambers
It here somewhere. I think I have from the. This is how I deal with it. This this is my to go to go a thing. Basically there’s just headphones inside. Few, few, few USBs, and that’s it. I used to have to carry 2 or 3 bags of of records. You know, it’s much different now than it used to be. And for that matter, it’s great to be honest. I don’t have to do anything. You know? I can really just come come with the backpack. And it’s all all, all great and nice. But yeah. What was other questions about sampling.
(00:12:53)
Robert Simoes
But I suppose like when you’re going through these production processes, especially early on, you would, were you resampling off vinyl or were you just using CDs or anything like that? Because there are, you know, especially in the world of sampling, like sometimes you just find some weird, like, gospel, you know, album over here.
(00:13:09)
Robert Simoes
Right?
(00:13:09)
Chris Chambers
And it’s yeah, I just found that. Yeah. Because I would sample anything that I would like. If I can make something work, I’ll sample it. I don’t care what it is. And I had I have been sampling from vinyls from all, all the type of music. For me music is not really like not even it doesn’t have to be electronic rock. It can be absolutely everything as, as long as it’s it’s a waveform and I like it and I can and I can insert it in my in my tracks. It’s going in, you know. And some of my tracks are actually there to say I am doing it. Yeah.
(00:13:44)
Robert Simoes
Yeah. Well, even some of the like, you know, some of my favorite tracks from you, I can’t remember what the title of it is at this moment. It’s like, it’s like quest of the soul or something like that. Yeah. And it’s, you know, it’s one of these. It’s got to be some salsa thing.
(00:13:55)
Robert Simoes
Right. And it’s, it’s it’s incredible when, when artists can, can take something like salsa, which has a completely different time signature. Right. In terms of, yeah.
(00:14:04)
Chris Chambers
Yeah. Back in the day when I was doing that one, it was, it was really the low end was bothering me on that track. I just couldn’t, couldn’t get every time I would play it with some track, it was, it was, you know, not more. It didn’t have enough impact, you know. And I had to I had to push it more and more and more until one day I just, I just I just blew it and I, I raised the entire entire low end for like six decibels or something. And it compressed it a little bit and sounds great. Yeah. That’s it. We’re locking this thing and you know, you know, it turned out pretty, pretty well, you know, sometimes you need to make these crazy, crazy, crazy things to make.
(00:14:40)
Chris Chambers
It sounds good. Especially. And as you call it, hard groove. You know, it’s. It’s called hard groove for a reason. Yeah. So.
(00:14:47)
Robert Simoes
So if we could take take a moment into that. So again, like me coming from, I guess an outside perspective, I didn’t start, my sort of earliest experiences with a lot of electronic music was more in Trance and Progressive side, and it wasn’t until later that I found, you know, a little bit more techno. I mean, when you first start, you think techno is something like sandstorm, right? sandstorm. Right. But the more you kind of dig deeper, it’s like, whoa, there’s a whole little world of this thing. So how did, like, what made you gravitate towards these, like, higher tempo sides of the techno scene and as well as, like from when you started to where we are today, where what is the development been like? Because as I mentioned, like Hard Groove seems like it’s become a really, really much more popular phenomenon now or tribal techno.
(00:15:36)
Robert Simoes
Yeah.
Transition to Hard Groove and Current Techno Hotbeds
(00:15:37)
Chris Chambers
Well, the difference between hard groove back maybe ten years ago, maybe less than ten years ago, and now there’s like ten BPMs difference, at least right now, because right now it’s much faster. But back in the day was was a bit slower. I think I like it a bit more around 140, 143 maximum, you know. But if you’re if you’re asking for how did I get from acid trance the hard groove, I think the everybody that comes from Balkan in that times is going to tell you it’s your fault, really. Because in 2000 music was absolutely amazing, you know, and we have to say that he was he was the thing, you know, but especially his, his, his DJ said, I love techno 2001. It’s it’s beautiful, you know. And that that actually got me in one of the first things I’ve heard from him, one of one of my friends showed me, you got to see this, this, this is the real thing. This is the DJs.
(00:16:33)
Chris Chambers
It’s not the other guys. All right, look, I don’t know anything about DJing. Back in the time, you know. And then when I started listening, it was like.
(00:16:39)
Robert Simoes
Wow.
(00:16:40)
Chris Chambers
This this bassline is so fat, so thick. And then you get to see some videos and you see what they’re doing on decks. It’s like, wow, I gotta do that as well, you know? And yeah.
(00:16:51)
Robert Simoes
And where, where do you kind of see I guess the, the hotbeds or epicenters right now of a lot of like the hard groove or primal techno coming out. I mean, you mentioned, you know, in your in Slovenia was your first gig ever, right? As well as maybe Croatia. But where else do you see a lot of artists coming from in this, you know, world? Or perhaps what are some of the artists that you’re keeping an eye on at the moment?
(00:17:14)
Robert Simoes
Yeah, well, look, it’s always Slovenia.
(00:17:15)
Chris Chambers
I think it’s always Portugal. These two places are like like epicenter for, for for great techno.
(00:17:22)
Chris Chambers
In my in my opinion, of course, you cannot really miss Germany because Germany is like it’s like a folk music over there. Techno is playing in the bar, you know. So. yeah. Like when when I was doing it more more when I was more into the scene, but I was releasing more music. It was really Portugal, Slovenia and Croatia. We were we were kind of the most Spain as well. Yeah. And if I missed some, some country, please don’t hate me for that. But yeah, look, those are the ones now we have Germany coming in. Now we have actually everybody jumping into this, this hot groove. And it’s it’s great. It’s great because right before Covid start, groove and that type of techno was really, really like low. You couldn’t find anything and yeah, you couldn’t find anything. And right now it’s great. You open Beatport, you open whatever you open. There’s like upbeat music coming up and it’s great. You can you can make really good sets back in the day.
(00:18:22)
Chris Chambers
Like, I mean, even five years ago you couldn’t create a very good set. Yeah that was really important.
(00:18:31)
Robert Simoes
Yeah. To to be able to find those you know I guess, like just banging tracks, right? And it’s like you said, I mean, it was so rare is not the right word because it was out there, but it was like, no, we didn’t really have the vocabulary perhaps as well to like some people, tribal tech, some people groove, some people, you know, they’re just like techno. But it’s like Halsey, I guess.
(00:18:52)
Chris Chambers
Like funky. Yeah, that’s pretty.
(00:18:53)
Robert Simoes
Funky.
(00:18:54)
Chris Chambers
But yeah, yeah, it was like inflation of beats basically. And you know, I couldn’t, I couldn’t as a DJ. I always need new stuff, new new new tracks and, and it becomes just, just so hard I don’t, I don’t like to spin just my tracks. I like always to put somebody else as well and create some, some different dimension of my set.
Impact of COVID on Music and Launch of Phunkation Records
(00:19:12)
Chris Chambers
And it was, it was just impossible, you know. So I just said, you know what? I’m going to take a break a little bit from this. Get get my ears, recover my ears a little bit, focus on some other stuff. Covid came which which affected me. Great. To be honest. You know, I’m sorry for the people that died, don’t get me wrong, but but me personally, I had such a great, great, maybe conversation with myself throughout these months. And what I want to do and, you know, it’s it. It was it was for music wise. Very good, very good time for me.
(00:19:47)
Robert Simoes
And so at what point then, you know, Phunkation. Where did Phunkation came into the picture. Because I mean your first release on, on your label was 2011 I think. Right. And this was, is this something that’s always been going on in the background. Like where did the where did the inspiration for starting your own label so soon after even your first release come from?
(00:20:10)
Robert Simoes
Yeah.
(00:20:12)
Chris Chambers
Good question. It came it came because I have these I was releasing music, but I didn’t really felt like I’m creating something more. You know, I’m just going to release music for other labels. And then in maybe 5 to 10 years, everything is going to disappear, you know, because half of the labels of half of the labels, but I’d say maybe 25% of the label. Labels that I produced, they they are really gone. They don’t really, really work anymore. So my music just disappeared. So so I had that in mind. And I also wanted to to express myself somewhere in my own vision, because you can’t really sign your music everywhere you want, and sometimes you can’t even sign your music anywhere if nobody understand it. Really. And vacation for me was like perfect, perfect setup because I started creating really like either it was tribal techno or it was funky techno. I created submissions or or the, the recycled funk. So those were my my two like, like collections that that people can actually hear on Phunkation alongside some other tracks that I have.
(00:21:18)
Chris Chambers
Like why so serious? I mean, that’s right. I don’t even know where it came from. It’s just like the only track, really techno track that I ever made, and it’s probably the most famous one as well.
Vinyl Release Experience and Future of Vinyl
(00:21:30)
Robert Simoes
And you recently released you know Phunkation black I think. Right. Your very first vinyl release Funk Mob.
(00:21:38)
Robert Simoes
Yeah. Yeah.
(00:21:39)
Robert Simoes
Where where did that come from in you know prior to you were doing all these digital releases, where did that come from?
(00:21:46)
Chris Chambers
Since the first day of digital release, I was planning to release a record. But the times were so hard, the distribution just didn’t care. Look, they are they care about the business and this is understandable. But the you just couldn’t get a great deal. You you should have invested a lot of money and there’s no guarantee you’re going to earn it back. There’s no guarantee you’re going to get anything back really. And back now maybe a year ago when the release went out, when we set everything me and Homer up, it was it really became real like oh my God I can’t believe after ten years of chasing this thing is actually going to happen.
(00:22:25)
Chris Chambers
Yeah. And once it came out, it was, it was such a great feeling. Like finally after after, I think I was chasing it for ten years or something like that after ten years. But you know what? I wasn’t really thinking about it every day about it. But, you know, after after so long, it was it was a very good feeling, feeling to release. But yeah, I’ve been thinking about it a lot. It’s not just that we were focusing only on digital catalog. I was always, always, always wanting to push the label in, in, in a vinyl, vinyl distribution and just to have something if not for the, for the turntables, at least for the wall.
(00:23:02)
Robert Simoes
And if we could dig a little bit deeper on this relationship, especially because you’ve been doing this for so long, you know the experience of vinyl versus digital and like you said, I mean that observation is really great because I mean some of these labels that you were releasing on, they they don’t maybe don’t exist anymore.
(00:23:20)
Robert Simoes
and so unless you have, you know, I guess a record or something or in some instantiation that was like, hey, I did.
(00:23:25)
Robert Simoes
Something.
(00:23:26)
Robert Simoes
Right.
(00:23:27)
Chris Chambers
That’s exactly what I did it.
(00:23:28)
Robert Simoes
Yeah.
(00:23:30)
Robert Simoes
And so what are your thoughts right now on this? You know, obviously, we’re at least a decade plus into this digital digit digitization of probably even two decades, honestly. but it’s created to a lot of artists and deejays. I speak to this element of, like, disposability of music, versus, you know, when you have like a record. I have a couple of records over here. My TJ set up over here, there’s like this tactile feeling, this like emotional relationship that you have with every record, a record you touch. So can you, can you give us some perspective, especially with some of the releases and things that you’ve done with other labels like adult for example.
(00:24:13)
Chris Chambers
What exactly do you want to know?
(00:24:17)
Robert Simoes
Like you on one hand you said there’s this business aspect where it’s, it’s maybe not as economical to produce the vinyl because first of all, people need to have turntables in order to play stuff.
(00:24:28)
Robert Simoes
the, the being having to go out to the record store to then go through the, you know, crates and everything doesn’t necessarily interest every single person. Right. And even now, a lot of folks don’t even buy their music. They’re mostly just streaming. but at the same time, we see the benefits of vinyl. We feel the benefits of vinyl from a tangibility perspective. I suppose I’m curious about do you think the world of vinyl will continue to, you know, grow and prosper as it seems to be doing? and getting into the hands of maybe younger DJs and artists, or is it something that’s always just going to kind of continue on the fall and decline?
(00:25:10)
Chris Chambers
Well, I don’t think it’s going to decline. It shouldn’t decline. I think it all depends on on economy. You know, if people have had money to, to have turntables at home, I think they will. They can spare ten, €15 for a for record. And me personally, I just love the way Vinyl.
(00:25:28)
Chris Chambers
Not just the way it sounds, but the way, the way it feels under the finger when I’m playing music. And those those are the things that I maybe it’s nostalgic a little bit. Maybe it’s the way I was. I grew up playing music, you know, I just it for me it feels different. But I understand why, you know, somebody just doesn’t want to carry all these bags on the gig. And at the end of the day, your, your, your setup on on that gig has to be really stable. Nothing can actually move because if it moves even a little bit, your, your, your table is going to start skipping and then you know how that feels right. So yeah look I wish I wish that it comes back. But in this digital era I don’t think it’s ever I don’t think it’s ever going to be even close to what it was.
Marketing in the Digital Age and Building Community
(00:26:16)
Robert Simoes
Yeah.
(00:26:16)
Robert Simoes
But even even the digitization generally has led to this like larger trend. I mean marketing has always been important.
(00:26:23)
Robert Simoes
You know, marketing is essentially meeting the market where it’s at and saying, hey, I’m here and providing and showing the benefits. And the case of music, it’s, hey, here’s the type of community or tribe and that I, I put my flag up for. And if you resonate, you know, come and follow me. But it seems that especially with a lot of social media and stuff, like the, the aspect of marketing has become so much more.
(00:26:48)
Robert Simoes
Just.
(00:26:49)
Robert Simoes
Like overwhelming really. with followers like I saw this, I don’t know if it was real or fake, but I saw a DJ poster recently that was like it actually had the number of TikTok and Instagram followers, under it, which to me felt very dirty. so horrible, I, I, I, as much as the social media is, is valuable in the sense of if you’re a promoter running a gig, you’re looking to have a big pull. Right? In one of my courses, for example, I talk a little bit about the the aspect of online reputation and offline reputation.
(00:27:25)
Robert Simoes
And I think sometimes it’s so easy for us to focus on online reputation. Right? We just get so fixed because it feels so easy to just post something right and feel like you’re doing work, but a lot of times it’s our offline reputation that gets us. Those like first gigs or just like helps us network into different worlds. So I’m curious about like your thoughts and perspective for the impact on DGS and producers, with this massive marketing trend? because I feel like when you talk to a DJ or producer, when they talk to the same level of depth about, like, I love the way the vinyl feels on my hand. It’s a level of of craft and appreciation and depth that I it just doesn’t seem apparent when people are more focused on getting, you know, multiple thousands of followers.
(00:28:10)
Robert Simoes
Yeah. Yeah. Look.
(00:28:13)
Chris Chambers
It’s a problem that that can only be solved if if people just delete their Instagram pages and stop following, following, following whatever is happening like that because I don’t see it stopping in any way.
(00:28:28)
Chris Chambers
It’s actually started to being very, very hot topic now in Croatia because one of one of the one of the girls, I wouldn’t like the, to mention anybody, but she was very famous and she wasn’t a DJ. And all of a sudden now she’s playing on ultra. So, you know, for me as a DJ, for somebody that is, I’m 100% sure that there is at least 100 people in, in on the, in the same city that deserve the chance much more than she did. And you know, as an artist, it does hurt a little bit. But then again, you know, it’s up to it’s up to promoter to decide whatever they want and however they want to project their, their, their, yeah, their promotion. You know, if we can call it like that, you know, after all that.
(00:29:13)
Robert Simoes
But yeah,
(00:29:15)
Robert Simoes
I think one of the things that I do observe, at least in my own, you know, going out to gigs and things like that is that certain gigs that are run by promoters who focus a lot on community seem to have this, not a munity per se, to like this, you know, social phenomenon, but like, I don’t know, a greater, a greater sense of bonding with, with the DJs in the crowd and everything like that.
(00:29:38)
Robert Simoes
How do you, from your perspective, build your community or focus on building your community and your brand?
(00:29:46)
Chris Chambers
It was much easier. It was much easier because you really had to be good and your music had to be good. There’s nobody cares about plays. Nobody cares how much followers you had. People just cared whether they can. This can make you dance or not.
Challenges of Being a DJ Today and DJing Without Production
(00:30:00)
Robert Simoes
And I was.
(00:30:02)
Chris Chambers
You know, I was pretty successful at that. So, you know, it was for some guys might be a bit difficult because, you know, some I can understand that even I create some music that nobody really understand except for me. But for the most stuff that I did created it fit exactly what it needed to fit in order for me to go outside around the Europe and start making gigs. So yeah.
(00:30:24)
Robert Simoes
Back.
(00:30:25)
Chris Chambers
Back then, much easier. But right now, I don’t know if if I was born ten years later, I don’t know if I would be doing music to be honest, because there’s so much more work that you need to do outside of of that that is not even connected with the music.
(00:30:39)
Chris Chambers
You have to you have to create your your social, social social network and you have to work on that. And while while it’s okay to talk to people, to talk with your fans, to interact, there’s far too much work. You know, I’ve been I’ve been talking with a lot of DJs and producers and they all have the same thing, you know, it’s just way too much work. And I know myself like, I’m not really a fan of these social networks that if I post my post once or twice a week and it has to be always, you know, meaningful, it can be just, just, just anything else. So yeah, it’s much from my perspective, it’s much more harder. But then again. It’s also like, yeah, it depends what the producer or DJ wants, you know? Do you want to be remembered? Bye bye bye bye social network artists? Or you want to be remembered by a very great or discovered by great DJ, by great producer.
(00:31:33)
Chris Chambers
It depends what you want. I think.
(00:31:35)
Robert Simoes
That.
(00:31:37)
Chris Chambers
Whatever whatever you, your, your focus is on social networks. If you have a great track, it’s always going to create attraction no matter what. So people shouldn’t be thinking too much about. But social networks think about using using half of that time to put into your music production, because that’s what people are. People are going to recognize you. But then again, you know, we have we have these guys appearing from social networks as well. And all of a sudden they are the hottest thing. So yeah, look whatever works.
(00:32:10)
Robert Simoes
And so you mentioned, you know, this aspect of putting more work into your production. Right. And so we are in this world where there’s a, there’s a, you know, very fuzzy line between the DJ and the producer. So a while back, it used to be quite clear cut, right? If you were a DJ, you were playing records, you’re playing at the club. If you’re a producer, you’re in the studio.
(00:32:30)
Robert Simoes
But we had this kind of crossover, you know. And now in order to be successful in some way as a DJ, it feels like you need to be a producer. and in some ways we have kind of like almost a very producer driven DJ environment. Like a lot of times when we go to go to events, it’s to see somebody playing their own music that you’ve maybe heard before. What do you think is the future of of just like the solo kind of DJ? do you think a DJ can be successful? or perhaps how do you how do you think somebody who maybe doesn’t want to produce music could be successful as a DJ in today’s environment?
(00:33:07)
Chris Chambers
It is possible because I think Pete Tong was one of the first that made it like that. But as well, when you think about the workflow, what’s your workload then as a DJ, you are what I’m thinking about. You’re not going to just have the gigs. You, you, you need to express yourself, maybe through some radio stations or your own podcasts or something.
(00:33:28)
Chris Chambers
So you have to create your workflow. You have to find yourself what works for you sometimes, maybe doing even something that you don’t really like, but you have to do it, you know? So yeah, if you create a workflow, I think, I think you can still make it, even though it’s a bit harder because from my experience, like being a good producer is is like a sure way to be signed somewhere and sure way to be to be called on gigs. But as a solo DJ. Yeah, but then again, yeah, actually, now that I remember, there is one fellow from Portugal. Maybe you heard about him. He’s very good in in funky techno and tribal techno. If you didn’t, you will soon. So yeah, he’s one of the guys as well. That was just into DJing and he’s he’s pretty good at it. So it is possible you can see it on his example that everything is possible if you put enough intention. So yeah. Yeah.
(00:34:22)
Robert Simoes
And even on this, on this kind of social social media point because, you know, it is interesting sometimes you do have these folks who they kind of do a gain some sort of social notoriety and marketing perspective, and then they get to a stage like ultra or, you know, various festivals or whatever.
(00:34:38)
Robert Simoes
And maybe they are just DJs, right? They don’t actually have the production. And it’s a combination of the marketing, the image and then, you know, the ability to pull. But then we kind of get into a world also that I’ve, I’ve discovered more over time of like the DJ as a brand, instead of, you know, the DJs, artisan or DJ and producer as artists and, and craftsperson. And so I suppose what I’m pointing to is this aspect of like, ghost producers. what are your what are your thoughts on that? Is, is there some sort of Artistic integrity that we we should be aspiring to? Or is it kind of similar to to just having a freelancer write your your program code for your business, for example?
Ghost Production and Artistic Integrity
(00:35:20)
Chris Chambers
That’s exactly what it is. It’s a business. It’s a business. And and there’s no rules in business. You know, you the only the only rule is to make it. Well, well, I personally don’t really judge on anything. It is what it is.
(00:35:31)
Chris Chambers
Look, if if guys are making good noise, you know, I’m actually not against it. I’m okay with it, you know, but as an as as it’s not really good for new upcoming talents that are starting from scratch, they don’t know where to start. They they don’t even know to who to contact. And it’s for them. It’s probably the toughest for for me or for somebody that is on the top. Yeah, I don’t think I think they, they, they really care.
(00:36:01)
Robert Simoes
Yeah.
(00:36:02)
Robert Simoes
So so it’s more of a, you know, one of the challenges I guess is what you’re saying is that it’s when you have a brand and you have enough affinity, enough pull, right? Using something like this is kind of just like a freelancer. There’s, you know, the question, I suppose, of because it’s sort of strange, you know, when it comes to art, we, we do have like this, feeling or spirit rise up into us about the integrity and, you know, all of these things.
(00:36:28)
Robert Simoes
And on the artistic side, it does feel important, right? If you’re putting your name on something, and it’s it’s not yours, then technically it’s yours, but, you know, copyright, you know, it’s fine. That’s great. But it’s it’s it’s not that you didn’t make it right. And there is kind of a joy in the the craft, even myself, with my own productions. Right. You’re sort of as frustrated as I am when I’m like, my stuff doesn’t sound like Beatport Top 100 without knowing what compression was, you know, and like back in the day. And I was like, right. But all these like little learnings and journeys along the way and being able to see that your music is improving, but you wouldn’t get that if you’re if you’re just, you know, just going through that ghost production journey is that is getting closer to the music in terms of the production. Is that what gives us this greater, taste for for DJing when we’re when we’re DJing, right.
(00:37:23)
Robert Simoes
Is it. Yeah. The fact that we actually go in there, we know what the drum programming is like or what the groove is 100%.
(00:37:30)
Chris Chambers
I actually had a friend that was just a producer, that he wasn’t a DJ and he was producing mad beats, crazy, crazy good beats. Everybody wanted to sign a very good basslines. And, I discovered through chatting with him that he’s not a DJ, you know, and, and you could, you could see actually once he said that you can, you could, you could have hear it. Yes. Because if he was a DJ, he wouldn’t do some specific things he’s doing in his tracks, you know, some, Some fill ups or some drops. It’s just when you are you trying to avoid that because you want to make it always more DJ friendly? So yeah, it’s it’s possible. It’s definitely better if you are DJ and producer because you get the complete picture of how music should sound, and definitely in terms of how you should create transitions and which track goes good with each other, you know? So yeah, yeah, if possible, always go for for DJing and.
(00:38:28)
Robert Simoes
Production and where.
(00:38:30)
Robert Simoes
Would you, you know, today, right? Chris is literally right. He hasn’t made his first Gorillaz feel good, you know, first track on on his YouTube channel. And he’s, he’s just starting today. If you were in that situation, maybe you weren’t sure if he wanted to deejay and or production, or maybe you want to do both. What would you do or what would you advise people to to start?
(00:38:57)
Chris Chambers
Does it have to be DJing or production or have to have to choose?
(00:39:00)
Robert Simoes
It can be both.
(00:39:01)
Robert Simoes
Can be both can be both.
(00:39:02)
Robert Simoes
Yeah, yeah I think.
(00:39:04)
Chris Chambers
As a production, it’s the most important to find yourself in a specific genre and try to learn the history of each genre. If it’s house music, try to learn more about the history, because it’s going to definitely create a better understanding of where this house or techno is going actually, you know. But when it comes to DJing you just, you just, you just gotta play music and go around it, just play, play, play, play until your ears remembers everything.
(00:39:34)
Chris Chambers
I it’s just so, so much maybe for somebody that starts it’s, it’s difficult to to accept some stuff. But you can you can hear your body can recognize the BPM in in two kicks literally when you when you get that good after two kicks, you can already start mixing in. So just have faith and yeah it’s going to come.
(00:39:57)
Robert Simoes
I mean, I love that point around the art history to like actually have the history? To the people watching the video, I’m pointing to a copy of last night a DJ saved my life. and it’s been, you know, definitely one of the most eye opening books on the history of DJing, as well as a little bit on the history of essentially dance music and where it came from. And that has kind of given me my own appreciation for, oh, whoa, this the reason why this sounds this house track sounds so great is because it’s some disco resample from like the 70s or 80s or something like that.
(00:40:34)
Robert Simoes
And then you sort of see all these elements, you know, of how House in the 90s was very focused on looping, right? Looping, just finding a really just great sample and just looping it over again. And then you look today at like house music produced now and you’re like, Like it’s a little different. Like the production, the structure, everything. And so kind of because even now we’re seeing releases that are just kind of, rehashing, a little bit of the past is, I guess, how I’d put it. you know, like, especially with, I suppose, what is the current mega genre, which is like tech House, although I think that’s kind of on the decline a little bit. but a lot of recycling. And so this, this, this history or knowing that history can kind of give a greater going back to that feel like the feel.
(00:41:23)
Chris Chambers
Yeah, it’s definitely a greater connection because I was I know this from a personal experience because I was I was halfway into into the production of releasing music for a couple of years before I actually began to the bottom of techno and realize what it is, and it definitely shaped me in in a better direction for not just for myself and for like artistry is more for for the scene if, if I’m making any, any, any sense because the history is what created a scene and whatever you can get out of that, you definitely going to get get better than on the dance floor as well.
(00:42:01)
Chris Chambers
Whatever is going on in the world now, you know, history does repeat itself on the dance floor. So it does good.
(00:42:09)
Robert Simoes
So so with that, I’m actually curious then what is techno to Chris?
(00:42:15)
Robert Simoes
Techno.
(00:42:16)
Chris Chambers
That’s a very good question. Yeah I always I always have to go to history. You know, I always have to go to history because it’s it was for me that was the best times I was I would always point out probably Adams work on drum code, very specific. What I really liked. Very simple techno, not simple in terms of being negative, but it’s very, very good for me as a DJ to use it in my in my, in.
(00:42:42)
Robert Simoes
My.
(00:42:42)
Chris Chambers
Mixes because I can, I can mix three tracks from, from like in the second. So it’s very good. His or basically Swedish techno was was for me one of the best ones, even though Slovenians were making great, great breakbeats. UK had great techno, Spanish as well, a lot of tribal stuff.
(00:43:03)
Chris Chambers
So that was techno for me, 2000 to 2003 and four. That was techno for me.
(00:43:09)
Robert Simoes
And with that, then where, where is techno going? Going back to what you said, right. If you if you can go through history in the past, you can predict the future. Where, where do you see techno moving in the future.
(00:43:22)
Chris Chambers
Well, it’s definitely coming a bit closer to what it was, even though it’s for like 10 to 15 BPMs a bit faster. But I like where it’s going. I like what it’s going at the moment. It’s becoming again what it used to be. Maybe people just wanted some change from a bit slower, slower tempo, but it’s coming closer definitely to to what we were doing and I love it.
(00:43:44)
Robert Simoes
I love it.
(00:43:47)
Robert Simoes
And one thing I.
(00:43:48)
Robert Simoes
Want to.
(00:43:49)
Chris Chambers
We’re going to have a great, great big, huge festivals again. You know, like I love techno because those were the days. That’s like a Woodstock.
(00:43:58)
Robert Simoes
I think the, the closest thing I went to was like awakenings in, 2019 or something like that, in the Netherlands.
(00:44:07)
Robert Simoes
And that was like I spent a long time in DJ Russia’s hard tent. A hard, hard time.
(00:44:13)
Chris Chambers
Yeah, Russia was always. Russia was always, very intense. Like he said, there are always, always new experience, you know, always very, very. I’m not sure if it’s dark or the right name, but it was very good.
(00:44:25)
Robert Simoes
Yeah. Yeah.
(00:44:26)
Robert Simoes
Maybe like an industrial kind of element to it.
(00:44:30)
Robert Simoes
Yeah. Sorry.
(00:44:31)
Robert Simoes
So I was going to say so maybe like an industrial kind of side to it a little bit in terms of, in terms of how hard it was.
(00:44:39)
Chris Chambers
About, Russia.
(00:44:40)
Robert Simoes
Did you. Yeah.
(00:44:41)
Robert Simoes
Yeah.
(00:44:42)
Chris Chambers
Yeah. Well, yeah. Look, he, he’s experimenting as well. He’s, he’s DJ mixes. But like I, when I say, what I, what I like about him, I usually I’m all about intensity, you know, and intensity and groove for me in techno is really the most important. Yeah, and rush was like magic.
(00:45:00)
Chris Chambers
Magic in that.
(00:45:01)
Robert Simoes
Section. Yeah.
(00:45:03)
Robert Simoes
It’s funny, it’s I would love to get your thought on this because I was watching, I think a DVS, like, conference talk and he was saying back to the point around techno being a little higher in BPM than it used to. He was saying that there was something about playing techno on a turntable at 133 bpm that gave it like a a different groove, just because of the actual, rotary mechanics, I suppose, of the vinyl.
(00:45:33)
Robert Simoes
Yeah, I know.
(00:45:34)
Chris Chambers
I had the same feeling. I had the same feeling, actually. One of my friends made made I think it was a birthday party we created in one club, and I said, I’m going to play 133 exactly before, before even hearing what he said about that. And we were playing on 133, the hard groove and tribal techno sound and just cohesive. You know, it sounded great, especially in the club, you know, with the we don’t huge basslines. It was amazing. Yeah.
(00:46:00)
Chris Chambers
So he he’s on to something, you know.
(00:46:03)
Robert Simoes
Yeah, yeah.
(00:46:05)
Robert Simoes
And one thing I think that that is interesting about your, you know, your story as well as where you are today with Phunkation is like I mentioned, I, you know, I usually do a little bit of research prior to these, these interviews and you are very much on like the underground, you know, side of things. Right. Even the sound. How are you as an artist and DJ? Like, how are you I suppose getting, getting your music and getting yourself out there in, in that with that same appreciation for the underground, with that same, connection to that community that you mentioned.
(00:46:40)
Chris Chambers
Yeah. One of the things is the history because I know what, what techno is, especially, especially now when, when I matured and I’m not 20 anymore and, and it’s full of, full of these crazy, crazy ideas that you can’t even fit in music. You know, I was just thinking that I can fit, but but it’s it’s it’s it’s my.
(00:47:02)
Chris Chambers
I don’t want to be mainstream. That’s the thing. I don’t want to be on every Beatport page. I want to be where I am. It gives me it gives me the peace. You know, because I tried to live for music and it was for me, just, just wasn’t it? When I have to work on my my music, on my artistry, on a deadline that that killed it for me. So I just said, I can’t do this. So it’s much better just to put it on the side, to be relaxed about it, to get the best out of it and to do whenever I feel it. That’s when I get the the optimum, optimum output. Otherwise it just doesn’t work for me.
(00:47:41)
Robert Simoes
Do you have a particular like workflow or something that you do like do you capture your ideas or melodies in your, in your head or samples or something like that. Put it into a folder. Or How does. How does the experimentation side of Chris work?
Production Workflow and Creative Process
(00:47:53)
Chris Chambers
Yeah, experimentation. I don’t experiment anymore. It’s just a huge waste of time. It’s like when you want to experiment, you have to understand that there is infinite, infinite amount of possibilities in music production. So whatever you do, you can just start going deeper and deeper and deeper, and you end up just not finishing the track. Maybe sometimes you have some idea about to about what would you like to experiment? That might work, but in most cases, sometimes I actually wake up with with the track. Exactly one of the first track that I woke up with the idea and I made it, like in a couple of days was, come on in my house. And it was, it was some sort of a funky, funky techno. It’s one of the one of the tracks on Recycled Funk. And that one was really, really like, I woke up and I had this epiphany. Yes, I know exactly what I need to do, and it was probably one of the quickest tracks that I ever created.
(00:48:50)
Chris Chambers
But for the workload. Workflow. Now what I use would probably be I would ask myself whether I want this track to be. More focused on the midsection. Do I want to have a like piano? Do you want to start? Or do you have to do have a melody? Or am I just going to focus on a kick on the baseline and just make it raw? And I start from there because as a producer, you need to know what’s going to be dominant. Even though kick and baseline are always mostly dominant in techno, you still need you still need to create a lot of this. This this vibe in the middle in order the whole entire track. At least that’s what I’m doing because I don’t really like to have highs and lows pumped up and then just a little bit of middle. I like to have a little bit more, create a little space. So yeah, that’s my workflow basically just. At least some of vision for the track before you start doing anything. And definitely don’t try to produce anything until you have all the samples set in place.
(00:49:50)
Chris Chambers
Sometimes you just. And again, this is the personal experience. Sometimes you just produce, produce, produce. And all of a sudden you, you, you basically finish with the track, you decide to add one more high hat and you have to rearrange in a production wise, you have to create more space for that ahead. And you just work double, triple, quadruple. It’s it’s never ending story, man. Yeah. So those are the the experiences I got in this 20 years, you know. So yeah.
(00:50:20)
Robert Simoes
Are you setting all your samples aside like in a few different channels. And then you’re, you sort of move the file pane, move the file navigation window away, and you’re like, no more. No. how do you.
(00:50:33)
Chris Chambers
It’s the tough one. Yeah. The best thing for me is, is if I have a clear understanding what the track is going to be, then everything goes as smooth. If I’m so, as you said, Experimenting a little bit. Those tracks usually takes a little bit more time, but can have a greater output.
(00:50:51)
Chris Chambers
Cannot can, but it doesn’t mean they will. So it really depends. Really depends. You never know what you’re going to get out.
(00:50:59)
Robert Simoes
I think it was The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron, I was, I read a few years ago and it talked about this aspect of producing kind of on like a regular schedule because there is this stereotype in the arts where it’s, it’s sort of creative inspiration. And then you do, you know, something and then that’s the amazing work that you produce. But I think Julia Cameron, sort of honed in on this perspective of like focusing on just doing the work, like every day, just putting out something and eventually some sort of quality result will arise. Right? it could be from the analogy or example of a bedroom producer. Right. Like maybe you start by making your own beats. You just make a couple of beats, maybe they’re not very good. But then with that you’re getting skill. What is your experience been Like with that. I mean, you mentioned that you’re sort of doing music with like a little bit of a side focus because it blocks some of the creative inspiration.
(00:51:52)
Robert Simoes
But do you have a regular like ritual that you sit down in front of the, you know, the the Great Satan?
(00:52:03)
Robert Simoes
Yeah.
(00:52:05)
Chris Chambers
No, not anymore man, not no rituals anymore. I don’t have anything. If I feel I need to feel it, that’s that’s my only thing. I need to feel that I want to make music.
(00:52:15)
Robert Simoes
And.
(00:52:15)
Chris Chambers
That’s it. I don’t I don’t really push myself. That’s. That’s why I say when when this, when I’m on the deadline and when I have to push the records out and everything. That’s so much stressful and it blocks me, you know, it was blocking me. So right now, if I feel the it feel that I want to make music, then then that’s what we are doing and that’s it. That’s it. The preparation is is sometimes it’s done by sampling, sometimes by by my own Jesus. I have like 50GB of samples and everything. And some of it like probably a few gigabytes of my own samples that I’m creating then reusing.
(00:52:49)
Chris Chambers
So yeah. Yeah. Look, it’s a huge database.
(00:52:54)
Robert Simoes
Like out in the wild with little recorder, like you’re just grabbing little.
(00:52:58)
Robert Simoes
Oh, yeah, I.
(00:52:58)
Chris Chambers
Will do that as well. Yeah, I will do that as well. There’s so many great sounds. Especially like I dropped something and all of a sudden it sounds so, so good. Like and I would, I would try it, try to try to record it on my microphone. I was even recording my dogs playing with the toy because it just sounded good at the time. And I used it as some, some kind of a stab, you know? So everything works. Everything works like music. Music is around us.
(00:53:21)
Robert Simoes
So yeah. Wow.
(00:53:23)
Robert Simoes
That’s a there’s just like an image in my head of, like, you dropping a pen over and over again and then, like, trying to record, you’re like, but the reverb wasn’t right. The acoustics.
(00:53:31)
Robert Simoes
Right. I tried again. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, that’s the problem.
(00:53:34)
Chris Chambers
Yeah. You always have this echo and reverb, but yeah. Look, it’s analog. It’s analog music, you know.
(00:53:39)
Robert Simoes
So yeah.
(00:53:41)
Robert Simoes
That is. That is, I watched a YouTube video where a producer was like, I think he he made an entire track from like a Bell or something. It’s just like it’s just about how much brute force effort you want to put into, like stretching the sample, making everything work. And so it was it was I mean, I don’t have that level of skill yet, but I was like, that’s yeah.
(00:54:02)
Robert Simoes
It’s a craft.
(00:54:03)
Chris Chambers
It’s the craftsmanship. But but you know, you can do everything even with, with a one, one sample if that’s that’s exhausting.
(00:54:10)
Robert Simoes
That’s exhausting work. Yeah.
(00:54:14)
Robert Simoes
I love it I love it. We are coming up on on kind of time here Chris but I, I did I did want to ask you these three questions because I did prep you with them. but three tracks we’re looking for from you, under the radar on repeats and your guilty pleasure.
(00:54:34)
Chris Chambers
Oh, these are all old school, I’m afraid. Nothing new. It’s probably. Let’s let’s say it’s Max Walder – Samba Del Costa. It’s the Marco Carola 9th Question. And, probably some some stuff from Marco Nastic. He was good as well. Yeah. Usually. Usually like lately, for some reason I’m listening to to these old mixes and these three keeps on popping up. You know, actually, the third one is is, Devil in My Pants by Marco Nastic. I’m not sure you’re familiar with those. These are these are a bit more and more, funky stuff from the past, but, these these are my repeat. I’m not really. I didn’t really found anything lately. Lately to to have it on repeat. Even though there are some, some good guys in the industry are making great music but just didn’t didn’t, didn’t stayed here like some of the old tracks. So, yeah, I’m still there. You know, I still didn’t came to 20, 24. Maybe something changes, you know? But until then.
(00:55:32)
Robert Simoes
Yeah, well, there is something I it’s not even nostalgia really about old like DJ mixes, but even I can’t remember where this came from, but it was somebody was saying that the almost new DJ mixes are almost too perfect. Too perfect in terms of their construction. I mean, sometimes people are using sync and stuff. but even in just in terms of the delivery, right. Whereas when you had to mix vinyl or something, you just, you would just throw the track in and pray. Yeah.
(00:56:01)
Robert Simoes
Yeah. That’s it. That’s it.
(00:56:02)
Chris Chambers
Sometimes, you know, with all these, stressful situations. Yeah. Sometimes was like that. You know, sometimes the speakers didn’t work. You know, it’s just the way the way you go to some experiences makes you. It makes you a better DJ. But yeah, old school DJs were, were a bit, I think more more, more. I’m not going to say more skillful because you always have this. Way of mixing music, even with Serato, even with mixed vibes and whatever, whatever guys are using here, the laptops, there is a certain art in that as well, But there is a certain art in spinning horror records and trying to make synchronize them together.
(00:56:43)
Chris Chambers
You know, that’s that’s much more stressful, especially in front of 10,000 people. Like, it gets it gets really, really difficult.
(00:56:50)
Robert Simoes
Yeah. Yeah. Especially.
(00:56:52)
Robert Simoes
You know, with that, what you mentioned around these more digital solutions. One of the things that I’m observing is that with the power, I suppose, of some of these like DJ software programs, like in one of my courses, I had to go through a bunch of different DJ softwares and I was like, wow, some of these are now even just like extracting stems on the fly. and it’s kind of getting into this world where you’re not quite DJing and you’re not quite producing. It’s like something in between the two. Do you have any feelings or opinions about that?
(00:57:27)
Chris Chambers
Well, if you’re doing it live, I guess it’s all right. I guess I guess.
(00:57:32)
Chris Chambers
My opinion is if if you can make people dance, then everything is allowed, you know, unless you starting to to sample some of this stuff and releasing.
(00:57:41)
Chris Chambers
But even that should be allowed, you know, because I personally believe that music should be free. But that doesn’t mean that everybody’s going to agree with me because, you know, you have people living off selling music, but that’s just my opinion, you know? But whatever can make people dance. Just do it. Don’t even think about it. Yeah, whatever. Whatever. That’s the most important thing to make people, people that this is the entertainment business. This is not what the you think business or what do you think? Business is just about making people dance and have a great time. And if you can make that, then I’m fine with that.
(00:58:15)
Robert Simoes
How do you then maintain the balance between the selfish individual artists and then the, you know, collective entertainer?
(00:58:29)
Chris Chambers
Yeah. The the thing is. on the live on on the gigs, everything everything is I would, I would do pretty much everything. I would sample everything, I would extract everything because the facts are here to be used.
(00:58:40)
Chris Chambers
But for production, there are some things that I just wouldn’t do. I wouldn’t sample some something really obvious. It’s just either if you’re going to sample something obvious, at least make it sound different. So it doesn’t remind me of the sampled tracks. It does remind me of your own work. So you look. Yeah, it’s a thin line. I know that some people can always feel, but I’m sampling somebody else. Look, you have to sort it with yourself. You have to say like, either are you happy with this or you’re not happy. Do you want people to know or do you want the people to think, what is it actually going to bother you that people know that you sampled this music? Do you want to project that image about yourself to other people? These are the things that you need to sort with yourself. And then if you’re happy, then you can move on.
(00:59:30)
Robert Simoes
Yeah.
(00:59:31)
Chris Chambers
But again, if you’re if you’re asking the, the record companies, the answer is no.
(00:59:37)
Robert Simoes
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
(00:59:41)
Robert Simoes
yeah, yeah, there’s definitely a lot of continual like I find personally when it comes to even, you know, selecting at a DJ gig, just the one hand, I think, I think one hand of a DJ is playing for the crowd a little bit and giving an experience, making them dance. But then there is this other side of DJing, which I think is not as valued anymore. I’m not sure what it is, but it’s about this showing people what they need to hear in some way because they don’t they don’t know about it or anything like that. So it’s.
(01:00:16)
Robert Simoes
Yeah.
(01:00:17)
Chris Chambers
Sometimes you have to make them listen.
(01:00:20)
Robert Simoes
You are the next big thing.
(01:00:24)
Robert Simoes
I recall I can’t recall what the DJ’s name was, but, yeah, he would clear flaws. He would clear flaws, with a track and it wasn’t. He would play it multiple times and eventually everybody came back and then they were like, okay, I’m on board. I understand this track.
(01:00:40)
Robert Simoes
So all right.
(01:00:42)
Robert Simoes
Very boldly or boldly.
(01:00:44)
Chris Chambers
But yeah, I wouldn’t do that. But well, my, my taste may be a bit different than his, so. Yeah.
(01:00:49)
Robert Simoes
Yeah.
(01:00:50)
Robert Simoes
All right. Chris, we are running up on time here, so I want to thank you again so much for for coming on the show. is there any, you know, we’ll link to some of the different things that we talked about. Like I said, Funk Mob. I’ll put a link in the description. Is there any other thing that you want to, you know, let the fans or anybody else on this podcast know about in terms of advice or things that upcoming that you’re working on?
(01:01:12)
Chris Chambers
Yeah, I’m working on at, a few more releases on Phunkation that we’re going to release on, on the, on the vinyl as well. But since we’re talking about the vinyl, I think I have something here for you. I’m going to send this to you. Oh.
(01:01:26)
Robert Simoes
For real? yeah. Look.
(01:01:29)
Chris Chambers
You’re doing a great job, so somebody has to pay you out, you know? And it might not be the money, but sure.
(01:01:35)
Robert Simoes
Look.
(01:01:36)
Robert Simoes
You know, I’m thrilled to have.
(01:01:39)
Robert Simoes
Your name on it.
(01:01:40)
Robert Simoes
Oh, amazing. I actually just I was at the store, their store the other day, and I was digging through some of the crates, and I found, like, some Ben they got, they bought, like a technical section or something. There was like a bunch of Ben Sims, a bunch of tribal techno, and I was like, all right, I guess this is the time to start building my collection on the vinyl side.
(01:01:56)
Robert Simoes
And it’s so easy.
(01:01:56)
Chris Chambers
It’s so easy to go on a shopping spree on these records. I just I spent thousands of euros on it, and I’m and I’m not.
(01:02:03)
Robert Simoes
Sorry.
(01:02:04)
Chris Chambers
For for $0.01 on it.
(01:02:05)
Robert Simoes
You know. So yeah, it feels good. It feels good.
(01:02:09)
Robert Simoes
I love it. All right, Chris, we will have to catch you another time.
(01:02:13)
Robert Simoes
And for now, this has been the Beyond the Decks podcast. Thank you for tuning in. Make sure that you subscribe to all the different platforms available Spotify, Apple, Apple Podcasts, YouTube and, the variety of different places.
