Bulldozer in the Raveyard: Jan Driver Makes Noise for Boysnoize

Bulldozer in the Raveyard: Jan Driver Makes Noise for Boysnoize

5 September, 2011 | 5.48AM

• Written by: Beatportal
• Filed under: Music News: boys noize, boysnoize, interview, jan driver

If you know Jan Driver mainly from his tough, gritty, electro-infused tech house releases for Made To Play and his own Grandpetrol, you might be caught off guard by the opening tracks of his new album, “Amatilda.” The grinding synths are decidedly Driver-esque, but the live rock drumming sounds like an outtake from a heavy metal studio session.

The rest of the record eases into more conventionally electronic percussion sounds, but there’s still nothing conventional about the album, which alternates between slow-motion juggernauts, corroded electro, Berghain-grade techno, club hip-hop and even a foray into dubstep rhythms. Released on the venerable Boysnoize label, “Amatilda” proves that there’s more to hard-hitting dance music than formulaic “bangers.”

We spoke to Driver about the making of his album, his work with Boys Noize and Siriusmo, and his fondness for overdrive and compression. Read on for the interview, and check out the full album here.

Jan Driver, “Dozer” [Boysnoize]

The drums on your new album are so big, so “live” sounding—where do you get them? Are you playing drums, sampling real drums, or working off sample packs?

I really like live drums, and when I have a drummer around, I often record some “side” sessions that I can use later. The drums used on the album were recorded after a drum session for a song that I did for a Berlin sports team. I had a few drum grooves in my head and after we finished the main recording of the day, I was singing my ideas to Sascha Bachmann, my favorite drummer. He added some breaks, we recorded them, and a while later I used parts of this session on my album.

Your tracks always sound huge; a title like “Gain Reaction” really says it all. How do you get your sound? Are you working with a lot of outboard gear, or do you do everything in the computer?

I LOVE COMPRESSION.

Sometimes I work completely in the computer, sometimes I don’t… I like Total Recall but I still have all this gear from the good ol’ analog recording days lying around, and depending on my mood, I let them tubes glow…

Jan Driver, “Amatilda” [Boysnoize]

“Amatilda," in particular, is really amazing, just in terms of its pure sonics. How was it made?

The song “Amatilda” just happened within a manic session that I did one night to see how my mobile setup was working out. It was one of four tracks I made that night and turned out to fit perfect into the album.

Tell us a little about the website for the album. The graphics are gorgeous… Who’s the artist? And will the series continue, or is it just leading up to the release of the album?

The artist is a friend of mine, Jan Stoewe, and I absolutely like his drawings! He likes my music and so we decided to do something together. There was no real plan or narrative string - it develops from picture to picture, just inspired by the music to keep it interesting for ourselves. It will go on for a while, and you’ll also hear a few songs or drones that are not on the album. So let’s see…

You’ve been working with Boysnoize Records for a year and a half or so; how did you hook up with Alex and his label in the first place, and what’s it like working with him? Did he have a lot of input on the shape of the album, or is he more hands-off?

Siriusmo hooked us up. I first remember Alex [Ridha, aka Boys Noize] rushing around my studio once to play Siriusmo and me some stuff he wanted to release in the early days of Boysnoize. From then we talked and met from time to time, and the idea of doing a release for BNR was growing slowly. After releasing “Gain Reaction,” we decided to make an album. Alex and my friends have been really helpful while selecting the tracks, as I had to choose from many different songs and styles to compile the album.

Jan Driver & Siriusmo, “Let’s Do It Together” [Boysnoize]

For the most part, the album sticks to 4/4 beats, but “Let’s Do It Together,” featuring Siriusmo, rides a more dubstep-inspired beat. Do you foresee doing more tracks in this style?

We just had fun. It’s always nice to play around with this and that groove or “style,” ‘cause it may lead to some nice “accidents.”

How do you find the scene in Berlin these days? Do you think there’s good support here for the kind of music you do?

I must admit, I might be the wrong person to ask, as I never cared much about “how the scene is.” Berlin is always changing and every decade had / has its own taste. I don’t know if there is good support for my kind of music, but it’s a very nice place to produce my kind of music.

Whatever happened to Grandpetrol? It’s been a couple of years since the label put anything out. Did you end the label, or is it just on hiatus?

Grandpetrol Recordings is asleep right now, but I’m planning to wake it up again and put out some fresh stuff again…. 

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