Artist of the Week: Konrad Black

Artist of the Week: Konrad Black

23 July, 2007 | 1.28AM

• Section: Music News
• Written by: Terry Church

“Holz shit. zo, i äm in the effing dj booth of Privilege in Ibiza about to play while hijacking somebody’s internet hook up to send this! iäm on a German computer hence the weird characters,” wrote Konrad Black, Beatportal’s Artist of the Week.

The 31-year-old Canadian producer and DJ is currently one of the hottest producers in electronic music having turned in one of the biggest remixes of the year with Snax ‘Honeymoon’s Over’ (check his tunes in the player below), so it makes sense that he’s a busy boy.

We chatted to Konrad Black via a dodgy net connection from the DJ booth of Ibiza’s biggest club to find out more about his past.

How did you get hooked on electronic music?

“I guess it would have been when I was a little kid listening to my dad play Boney M ‘Nightflight To Venus’. I thought the vocoded character was a Cylon from Battlestar Gallactica, which at the time was one of my favorite TV shows.

“I would turn the lights off and listen to that track over and over again. I guess it was the combination of spooky evil robots and music. I’ve never looked back ever since!”

Why did you decide to start making electronic music?

“Because I effing love it that’s why!

“After getting involved with DJing and hearing so much more in the music than before I learnt to spin, I wanted to get even closer to the music by learning how to produce it.

“If I get involved with something, I have to get to its core and throw my two cents in, therefore writing my own music was the next step from playing records.”

Which artists and producers have been your biggest influences?

“The people who have inspired me in the past all have a common thread running through their sound.

“People like The Rza, DJ Premier, The Maurizio, Rhythm and Sound and Basic Channel’s records, Plastikman’s ‘Consumed’, Wendy Carlos, Tangerine Dream.

“I could go on forever. There is a definite theme brewing in that list.”

Where do you see electronic music progressing musically in the next 12 months?

“Well, as with everything, whatever the prevalent trend at the moment is, expect the reaction to start brewing.

“So I think we’ll see a move to more percussion-based minimal. Minimax house ya heard!”

What’s your favourite club in the world, and why do you love it so much?

“That’s a tough one. I have to say one of the Berlin clubs, because the city is an urban paradise due to its lack of restrictions.

“The Berlin clubs are very special. Panorama Bar, Watergate, and now Weekend with its rooftop terrace - you kidding me? Craziness.”

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• Check out Konrad Black on Beatport