Artist Profile – The Honeymakers (published in THE BRAG)
Yr moniker – what’s the deal?: We wanted a name that was in theme with SWARM, but at the same time a whole separate thing. When you think of a name and it just comes to you and you know it will work, then that is what you use.
What’s yr sound?: Vic generally plays the more upfront techno with lots of twisted samples and elements of the old school sound, Mel's sound combines a good helping of minimal, underground electro and always a funked out flavour to her techno. Our styles really complement each other - it is all techno but when we play together certain combinations of tracks sound really fresh and seem to take the whole set on an unexpected tangent. The HoneyMakers will be creating a fresh sound combining both our styles as will as some memorable tracks from the past and present and reworking them with sounds of the future.
When/why did you decide to take on the decks and start DJing: For Vic it was 1990, after collecting early techno records for a while, he realised he had quite a few records and just for the fun of it he gave djing a go, played a few pub gigs and instantly was hooked. On the other hand Mel has been totally immersed in the event production side of things for over 10 years, and done every thing except DJ. 'I always wanted to DJ, but feared being too nervous. Now my biggest regret is not doing it sooner. I started in February last year and apart from the very basics, I have learnt it all by myself - no lessons from Vic - I want to make my own mistakes and develop my own style etc.'
Best gig you’ve ever played?: Vic: It's a tough choice between some awesome warehouse parties in London and the early SWARM parties.
Mel: I really enjoyed our first back to back when we supported Chris Liberator.
And the worst?: Vic: Every set has it’s good and bad points, but from memory there was one set that stands out simply because of the conditions, outdoors on a farm, rain pissing down, lame ass excuse for a tarpuline, fear of electrocution whilst djing, you get my drift.
Mel: I look back and cringe at my first set simply because I was so overwhelmed by the sound system and nerves.
Greatest musical inspiration: Anyone that is making fantastic techno and pushing the boundaries - that is what boundaries are for. Underground Techno is such a great style in the sense that it takes inspiration from all other sub-genres of Electronica, it is ever evolving. Because of this I don't care who says it and how many times they say it is dead - TECHNO will never die!!!
How did the Honeymakers concept come about? We basically want to celebrate SWARM. Our parties are unique in Sydney and renowned worldwide. We want to push the boundaries, merge media and inject some freshness, keep things exciting and not stagnant.
You’re taking performance to a new level with the Honeymakers.. What innovations are you pioneering? Our setup will comprise of 3 decks, a laptop, 2 mixers, midi synced devices and effects plus a custom designed and programmed visual show.For us it is not so much that we are breaking any world records or pioneering a certain setup, because lets face it using decks with effects and drum machine etc has been done many times before . Our aim is to combine all the things we are working on creatively and incorporating turntables/live sequencing and effects seems like a great way to go. Visually SWARM has a look and is branded in a certain way, so including a visual element in our set will bring together our creative outlets even more.
Will you both be playing your own production or live tracks? Yes, we will be incorporating finished tracks we have written together, tracks Vic has released by himself and also alot of loops and patterns we have been working on. A lot of it will be totally random and live on the night.
If your music was a soundtrack for a film, what would it be about?: Sci Fi/ Doco combining the best of old school sci fi and all things SWARM past, present and future. There will be the perfectly timed Kung Fu scenes, a cast of thousands and huge mechanised insects and for Mel’s sake it would have to star Jude Law.
Outside of DJing, what pushes your buttons?: Vic is pretty much in studio at every spare moment, whilst Mel loves designing whether it be websites, graphics or fashion. We both also really love hanging out with our friends and family, just going to the pub or cooking up a nice meal, a nice bottle of wine and some great company. Also we live near the beach so walks with our son are pretty nice.
D.A.V.E. The Drummer Interview 2007
Where have you been touring of late? Any interesting places?
All over really , Brasil, the US, Canada , Spain, France , and of course the UK.
Which DJs and producers are inspiring you these days?
All kinds of different music is doing it for me these days , Sven Wittekind , Felix Krocher for the hard stuff , Fat Collective and SUF Collective for the pumping acid techno , Pratap and Cave for the Clubby Techno and Huntemann and Agaric for the electro house and minimal.
How’s everything going with Stay Up Forever? What have you been up to with the collective of late?
Everything is going ok , Hydraulix is still with them of course and going ok , Apex too
There’s been some great music coming out of the Collective recently check the new Raw or the new SUF(88) for example , and they have a great new website
www.stayupforever.com where you can now buy stuff as well as preview all the latest releases.
And your own labels Apex and Hydraulix (also under SUF) … how is everything going with these two beasts? Is there any new talent to speak of?
Some good new releases about to come out !
One with a very good friend of mine ( little ) Chris Redmond on Hydraulix 36 and Hydraulix 37 with the Blackout Audio team , Mark EG and Chrissi.
Exciting stuff !
Apex 19 looks like it will be me with Pattrix for another electro-techno stomper.
Can you tell us about your new electro house label Mutate-To-Survive? When was this set up, and what are your ambitions with this label?
I’m still trying to get it fully started to be honest , it’s not easy and I never seem to have much time
But the tracks are superb and pattrix is helping out now
So between us we’ll hopefully get it up and running later this year , I’m looking at Intergroove germany right now for distribution
I hope they take it , as it’ll be great to be supported by a german company , but we will see.
Clips of some of the tracks can be found on the my space site
www.myspace.com/mutatetosurvive
check them out there’s some good stuff there
I know you’ve been playing electro house for a while, and of course there’s the new label. Is this something you’ve long had a passion for?
I don’t know really it’s just another genre name for techno isn’t it?
It’s a bit slower than “normal” techno , but it still sounds like techno to me , so yeah if its techno then I’ve got a passion for it.
I like a lot of the german releases , and theres some fantastic minimal around , but the one thing I’m steering clear of is the “chart” electro house , which is taking off in a big way here in the uk
It is actually quite good ( maybe I’m just getting old!) , but I don’t want to get into that kind if thing
What have you got on the go production-wise at the moment, and in the near future?
Finishing a track today with a new producer shaun king, we had a great review for the first single weekend billionaire in mix mag so I’m pretty happy about the work we are doing together
What have you got in store for the Australia this time around?
A mixture of everything I’ve been into over the last year or so
All the different strains of techno really , but with a bit of energy and excitement !
Any chances of some electro house sets out this way in the future?
For sure I’ll be bringing electro stuff with me too and minimal , it’ll be a right royal mash up!
Top five tunes at the moment?
1.Raw 39 , Guy and Dj Redmond
2.Hydraulix 36 , me and Dj Redmond
3.Innova music , Dj Felix and J Nat , Fexta ep
4.Abyss Records , Cave , 6 bullets one barrel
5.Masters of Disaster records , Eric Sneo , Lets go Techno l.p.
Is there anything you’d like to mention that hasn’t been covered?
Please check out my websites
www.davethedrummer.net and www.myspace.com/davethedrummerhenrycullen
for updates reviews , new tracks , mind boggling mathematical equations etc etc etc ………..
So get your asses down on 07.04.07 to see the man himself in action!!!
We can't wait!!