Born in Ireland and raised in Spain, Sian’s name has been synonymous with high-quality, next-gen progressive house and techno over the past few years with serious praise coming from a wide variety of DJs the world over. After releasing his first records in 2002 on Cookin’Music, Sian quickly cemented his status as one of the most prolific newcomers in the genre, which in turn lead to a series of releases on labels such as Bedrock, Soma, Dirt Crew Recordings and Poker Flat Recordings amongst others. So yeah, he’s not what we could call a small-timer. Next on his list is the release of his debut album Before Silence, a very special LP that drops end June on his own Octopus label. Comprised of over 1000 separate parts, Sian merges both his own tracks as selected remixes from befriended artists, with the result being a very original, dynamic and trippy album. We recently hooked up with Graham to get to know more behind the conception of the album, his summer plans, and much more…
Hi Graham, thanks for taking the time to talk to us. How’s life? Hey, sure, it’s my pleasure. All is fine. I’m actually on a plane back from London at the moment, surrounded by drunk people. I played Fabric last night, which was totally superb, one of my fav gigs this year. The Wetyourself guys run a really out there clubnight. Also had a great time in London in general. Took the day off and visited some museums etc. The city always amazes me.
Let’s talk about your upcoming album Octopus first. The album has been composed of parts from your own tracks plus remixes from others. How and when was this idea conceived? Basically, I felt the album format doesn't really fit for techno, so I wanted something that felt unlike a longplayer or a typical live set. When I DJ it's quite expansive and with cut up/live edit techniques, jumping around within tracks and using loops, so this was a perfect and logical way for me to make a cohesive collection of tracks fit into each other. It was a daunting project, but I think its important to look at these new ways of messing with formats and re thinking releases.
Can you reveal how you worked on the material? When did you know a track was finished? It was made out of 1013 parts from my own new tracks, plus my favorite remixers files meshed into one mega session. Finding the parts that worked with each other and complimented the flow of everything was difficult as tuning can differ and tempos have to be re matched.The session spans everything from dub to heavier techno, so this was a challenge too, getting the builds to work nicely but with the atmosphere of a continuous album journey.
Given the fact that the album’s content has been created from lots of parts, it must have been a serious job to produce it. How long did it take to create the album as a whole? It was about a year in the making in total, as I had started lots of new things and wanted to then deconstruct them further, mixing those parts with the rest of the sounds. Yeah, it really was a challenge, the most technical project I have done without a doubt! So many hours getting it right and reworking the fx sections and fades. Considering most albums are a collection of straight tracks, running in order, doing it this way the tracks blend and form part of each other, resulting in something new from the sum of the parts. I really see formats differently now from doing this, and would like to tackle single formats and mix cd ideas in new ways soon too. I’m working on that!
Before Silence was recorded in Dublin and Barcelona. Why did you choose to produce the album in different cities? I’m always between places it seems and am very comfortable that way. In fact a lot of the original ideas were written in transit. I love doing that. Getting ideas together in the limbo zone between two places. They are both home cities in a sense. I guess it has influences from both: The hot, sleazy and hedonistic feel of Spain and the cold more precise, clear technical aspects of Dublin. The cities give me things I need too, the full on melting pot of Barcelona and the focused and genuine realness of Dublin take equal credit for my personality!
The album features a batch of remixes too. How did you came up with the final list of artists for the remixes? At the start I made a wishlist of who I’d like, expecting a couple to be down, and everyone said yes straight away. So I ended up with this big masterlist of everyone from Carlo Lio, Ramon Tapia, Secret Cinema, Joel Mull to the edgier ones like Terence Fixmer, DVS1 and Donor & Truss. So the album and singles really benefit from this input and variation. It feels "right now" to me. Super sharp and eclectic and an interesting ride, I hope for the right listener too. These are all artists I really admire so much. I have tried and tested their tracks for ages and was always surprised by what they did. I feel stoked to have these guys on my stuff, on my label you know? A real honor and reward for the hard work and hustle of doing this project. When I play the remixes lately it reminds me how much this remix culture of interchanging parts and files is so exciting... a very new style of collage and re interpretation.
Before Silence will appear on your own label Octopus instead of a more experienced major. Why is that? What has been the main idea behind the conception of the Octopus label, and how do you see the label develop in coming years? Yes, I was so happy about that. I felt having this project, with all the superb people onboard, on my own new imprint was a real bonus. It’s a very new label and most artists are somewhat scared of working with new labels, with no track record, so this was a great opportunity to show what we do. Its a true indie label too in many ways, primarily in that a lot of our approach is quite a punk DIY vibe. Like we have total control (and sometimes run riot) with whatever artists, tempo and graphic style we see fit. We handle everything from making the music and graphics to shooting press photos, so the label a has very consistent image. Really definite, simple and to the point aesthetics help us keep that identity strong. We feel like total products of our age and are very interested in the social media and spread technologies emerging now, so this infuses the label with a very immediate, forward thinking vibe too. I’m focusing solely on the imprint now and will mostly release there. Likewise for all our new artists, which builds a sense of "crew" and a communal thought process which can help shape everything for the future. Our next releases include things from raw and young talent like Calculus and MCBZ, to classic sounding remixes by well known guys like Losoul and Funk D’Void. Without giving too much away we have some pretty fresh projects, based on the new roster additions and my own ideas.
Now that the album’s finished, what are your plans for coming months? Any Ibiza action scheduled? I’m playing quite lot over the summer, around Europe initially, then Canada, USA and South America from August onward for album tour. I’m sure I will end up in Ibiza during these months at sometime and of course we have our main Sonar bash on the traditional Wednesday 15 of June. This year we have Kaiserdisco, Kenny Larkin, Xpress 2, Paul Woolford and loads more, plus we will do a daytime party on the Saturday 18th with Carlo Lio, Konrad Black, Oliver Huntemann etc, which I’m doubly excited about. We will also host a boat party at the Exit festival in Serbia in July and Australia and Asia tours are in planning at the moment too, which should follow later in the year.
What music outside the electronic spectrum do you listen to? Any recommendations? I personally think most music nowadays is 'electronic." I mean look at the influence of techno on the charts, from Lady Gaga to Puff Daddy. Im one of the few who could say they listen to pretty much all machine made music. It just feels more 'right" to me and i really love music made digitally. Since my childhood i have been into pop, dance or chill-out stuff that's largely created with synths and samplers, So those sounds are pleasing to me instinctively. I’d recommend some bands that fuse these elements with beautiful vocals well though, such as Bear in Heaven or The Walkmen. They somehow sound modern and exciting whilst still keeping that innocent and introspective atmosphere of early indie.
What more can we expect from you in the future? At the moment I just finished a remix for Timo Maas, which is a slow and dark techno tune and also a remix for Fergie's album. A slightly more deep techno and percussive thing. These will come soon, followed by some more Exquisite Corpse singles, my collaboration with Calculus. Apart from that I am tied up with preparing, DJing, touring and running the label for next 2 months. After that I plan to work on several new projects including a new take on the mix cd and alternative formats for release, but I don't wanna give too much away!
Summer’s obviously going to be hectic. What do you do to relax? I’m vowing to do more kayaking, snorkelling and trekking about this summer. I haven't had time over the last while to do these things I dearly love and now its essential to make space for them. I’m always squeezing in activities when I’m traveling for work, so any chance I get I’m in the water and up the mountains. I see these things as real perks of doing what I do. I mean, when people take you to their country and show you around or give you an opportunity to see a wild part of their world, it's a big plus.
To conclude, any final words of wisdom for our readers? I am afraid wise is something I can not call myself and nothing seems to be definite or to be taken for granted in this climate, but I would say: stay in school, eat your vegetables, work hard and don't give in to the man.
That’s it. Watch out for our review of Sian’s Before Silence, live soon!
