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THE ESSENTIAL MIX WITH THE SHARP BOYS Broadcast 04.07.99 : 02:00 - 04:00 |
This
week’s Essential Mix continues the Mardi Gras theme with resident DJ’s of the
legendary Heaven, and the Trade mental all-nighter … it could only be The Sharp Boys.
As well as remixing the likes of Jamiroquai, Britney Spears and Tampera, they run Sharp
Recordings. The boys took a well-deserved break from the studio to chat to the web site
about their careers as remixers and top international DJs.
You are more commonly known as remixers but you are really busy DJs, where do you play?
Stephen:
We are resident DJs at Heaven on Saturday night and Trade on Saturday night/Sunday morning. We do tend to play all over the place though, we played in Manchester last weekend and play regularly at the Ministry of Sound. Internationally we have played Japan, Hong Kong and South Africa four times. We are off to Rio later in the year and have played places like Italy loads of times. Although we are better known for our remixing, being DJs is a secondary thing that we have got a more involved in, in recent years.
Are you surprised that your DJing reputation is not as high profile as your remixing reputation?
Stephen:
We are a bit reluctant to push ourselves just to increase the popularity of our DJ names. Your Tall Pauls and your Paul Oakenfolds do tend to spend the whole weekend playing at different clubs and travelling up and down motorways all weekend but its not something we would enjoy doing. We do get asked to do a lot of clubs but because of our commitments to our own clubs we often refuse. Besides, we hate the motorways. We are really lucky in that we have our residencies and don’t feel the need to play so many gigs.
How would you describe your sound?
Stephen:
Well, I think that Mixmag had it right when they described us as sounding like Armand Van Helden with a bottle of poppers up his nose. He is super funky at the moment but the harder stuff he used to make really did have a big influence on us. A lot of his stuff consisted of just two or three notes in the bass line and a really distinctive kick drum, but it would be so effective. Similarly, we use just a couple of notes in our bass lines, the simpler it is the more effective it can be.
When did the pair of you team up?
George:
We have known each other for seven years. We met at a Sunday nightclub called ‘FF’ that I used to pop into. We teamed up and got on really well. He wasn’t DJing at the time so I taught him a few tricks and we first DJed together at Gay Pride four years ago.
What was the first Sharp Production?
George:
The first thing we did was called ‘Sharp Tools Volume 1’. We had no real idea of what we were going to do; we had been signing up records to our label and just thought we would give it a go. We went in and recorded the track and got a few acetates cut. We gave them to Tony De Vit and the Trade lot and it all took off from there.
How did you get your first remix?
Stephen:
When we were getting the track cut an A&R man from MCA records was there at the time and he heard it. He liked it and asked us to remix a track called ‘Gonna Drop A House On That Bitch’ by Urban Discharge. After that lots of offers came in and it really took off.
Who do you aim your mixes at?
Stephen:
Originally we aimed for the gay underground, when we did mixes we really wanted them to be records we would play ourselves. We still stick by that and would never do a track that we can’t play. It still has to be accessible to the Trade crowd.
Have you ever been tempted to drop the minimalism and go for a full on pop production?
Stephen:
We don’t have a problem with pop music, we both like pop music and will probably make pop music at some point, but we can hardly satisfy the crowd with the amount of stuff we do now so there is no need to change what we do. We do mixes of pop acts and have just remixed the Vengaboys. Todd Terry remixed Sash and you don’t get more pop than that, do you.
What is your favourite remix?
Stephen:
Well it tends to change all the time but I think the Britney Spears thing is my favourite at the moment. We did it a long time ago, long before it ever became a hit and it just seemed to work so well. We’ve just remixed the new Jamiroquai single and that is certainly one to watch out for, we put a lot into the track and we are very happy with it.
George:
My favourite mix is ‘East Anglia’. It was one of our first remixes and although it was a bit long it really worked for us.
Who are your DJ heroes?
George:
Well in an underground sense I would say Malcolm Duffy, he has been for about the last ten years. He has done some really good stuff for our label under the name ‘Hip Hoperation’ and ‘Instronormal’. All the Trade DJs, they are like a family and there is no bitching whatsoever, no one tries to stand on the others feet. We also had a lot of respect for Tony before he passed away. Internationally we like Roger Sanchez, DJ Sneak is incredible, Armand Van Helden in the early years. At the moment though I would have to say that DJ Lottie and Smokin Jo are hot.
Mardi Gras weekend must be pretty hectic for you. Give us a rundown of what you are going to be up to.
George:
All weekends are pretty hectic for us but Mardi Gras in particular will be. We are playing in the Trade tent between five and six in the afternoon, we then have to go on and do our radio show. Our Essential Mix follows that. We then play Heaven and finish off playing the seven till ten shift at Trade on the Sunday morning. It is hard work but is always great to play. For us it is like New Year’s Eve.
The Track Listings....
The Columbian Drum Cartel - ‘We Have The House Surrounded’ (Sharp Recordings)
Jac & Ginger - ‘StoneJam’ (White Label)
Phunkie Souls - ‘Tha' Music’ (Defected)
Jean Philippe Aviance - ‘Useless’ (Sharp Razor Remix) (Subversive)
Jordan Fields - ‘Can't Get Enuff’ (US Catalyst)
Family Jocks vs A T Mendoza - ‘Summer Song’ (Italian Train)
Pussy Blue Thousand (Acetate)
Met Life - ‘How Do You Feel’ (Sharp Recordings)
Jamiroquai - ‘Supersonic’ (Sharp Razor Remix) (Acetate)
Basement Jaxx - ‘Miricles Keep on Playin’ (XL)
The Sharp Boys Feat. Kenny C. - ‘Raise The Alarm’ (Azuli)
Paul Johnson - ‘Get Get Down’ (Defected)
Sneaker Pimps - ‘Low Five’ (Dronez Dub) (Clean Up)
Junior Cartier - ‘Women Beat Their Men’ (White Label)
Ron Carroll - ‘Soundz’ (Afterhours)
The Gatekeepers - ‘To The Club’ (Ultra)
PJ - ‘Happy Days’ (Sharp Funky Mirrorball Mix) (De Con/Defected)
Soul Grabber & The Stickmen - ‘Hey Bryce’ (HRK Sound Division)
Pet Shop Boys - ‘I Don't Know What You Want Bit I Can't Give It Anymore’ (Morales Dub)
Capacity Unkown - ‘Capacity Unknow’ (Tronic)