Deep Teknologi
The Deep Teknologi camp leads off 2010 with a three track EP from T. Williams. DeepTek have been gaining a lot of attention of late with their must-have mixes on Soundcloud as well as being heralded by Fact Magazine as one of their 10 producers to watch this year. With tunes getting support from the likes of Ikonika, Brackles, Martin Kemp, Blackdown, MA1 among others; Deep Teknologi are setting phasers to stun and ready to decimate dancefloors all over the map in the oh-ten. To preview the EP tracks, head over to the T.Williams Myspace.
SEF: T. Williams and myself met years back when I was working in Uptown Records, Soho. We just hit it off from the start and have been good friends ever since.
Deep Teknologi came about a year ago after we became disillusioned with the way the music scene in London was becoming so we decided we would try and do something about it. The Garage / Grime era had declined badly and a lot of DJs moved on to Soulful House.
At the start it was great, it had that Old Skool Garage feel to it. Loads of great songs, great parties etc. But then the younger generation put their own spin on it and it there seemed to be a production line of poor music being made in our opinion. Plenty of nursery rhyme mc tracks over so - called “Funky” beats. We were not interested in it one bit and wanted to bring a harder edge back, with tracks like Anthem and Afrik as well as the tracks we play in our DJ sets from other producers. It seems to have worked so far.
BF: When did the tunes from the EP come together and how did you eventually land with Local Action?
SEF: The three tracks on the T. Williams EP have been around for a while and in my opinion were really tracks that got us noticed. Our first release was straight up House, which is cool but I’d be lying if I said it was cutting edge. There are thousands of amazing House tracks out there so it is extremely difficult to stand out from the crowd unless you know the right people.
Afrik and Anthem seemed to have struck a chord with new skool dubstep / house listeners and Local Action stepped in just as we were about to release them ourselves. There will also be another EP coming out on Local Action from us in the near future which should turn some heads.
BF: What else do you guys have in store for 2010?
SEF: Well to start off with we are launching our bi-monthly night L O G I K at the Russian Bar, Shoreditch, on the 12th of March. Beyond that we have releases both on our own imprint Deep Teknologi Records and Local Action. We are also in discussion with a few other labels to put some stuff out with them. We also have plans for a compilation release later on the year.
BF: I definitely owe it to Brackles for enlightening me to your label after listening to a recent Rinse show of his. Being from the States, internet radio streams as well as forums have been a huge part of discovering and keeping up with new music. Between your weekly Ustream sessions and Soundcould page and with networking tools like Twitter; the worldwide music community is more connected than ever. How do you think this helps you as a producer and DJ and what are, if any, the negatives of this?
SEF: Big shout to Brackles for letting you know! Without a doubt had it not been for the new age way of promoting yourself / music we probably wouldn’t be doing this interview because you wouldn’t have heard of us yet across the pond! It’s a great way to promote yourself due to the fact that people from anywhere in the world can connect with you and your music immediately.
However the best thing about all of the sites / tools mentioned is also the worst. They can easily be abused by those who are less interested in the quality of their music, and more in the amount they have to say about themselves. We try to refrain from talking too much about ourselves, as our motto goes “The Music Speaks For Itself”.
BF: First tune you ever heard when you just dropped everything and devoted a solid day to listening to it on repeat with your jaw on the floor?
SEF: Down on Me – Wookie
Producers like Wookie don't come along often, you can listen to almost any of his tracks from that era and they will still sound new today. A very rare quality in a producer and music generally.
BF: That Wookie track is phenomenal. Totally agree on that timeless element you spoke on, those tunes are still gonna sound fresh even another 10 years from now. Any American labels and producers you're feeling at the moment?
SEF: The whole DirtyBird movement is amazing. Really feeling almost every release on there. Claude Von Stroke is a genius.
BF: Incredibly well rounded label. Lastly and perhaps most important question...what is your #1 go-to Food spot that you could not live without?
SEF: There’s an Indian place in Shepherd’s Bush (West London) that we go to A LOT! It’s not the classiest establishment but I defy anyone to find me better tasting food and service for the price anywhere in Europe!
BF: S.E.F. thanks for taking the time and all the best to you and yours.
Deep Teknologi Mix: 5.0 - S. E. F. by deepteknologi
Be sure to give S.E.F.'s most recent DeepTek mix a listen above and show some love on the Soundcloud page. Keep it close to Bassfaced for an exclusive DeepTeknologi mix comin soon.
