Bedrock and Minus young gun Joop Junior shares a full premiere from his very own THOG (The House Of God) imprint. With the backing of legends like John Digweed, Dubfire and Richie Hawtin, the rising producer has become one of the most highly regarded new talents in techno in recent years. His latest release only serves to cement that reputation. The Genesis 3 EP offers up two refreshing and powerful cuts. We’re very excited today to present a-side ‘Before God’ exclusively via When We Dip. What’s more, the Dutchman took a break from a busy schedule to run us through the release, the concept behind the label and the intricacies of playing live.
WWD: Where did the vision for the label come from?
The concept of The House Of God dawned on me when a friend and I were walking around this abandoned church in our hometown the Hague. The concept instantly fell into place and I started thinking of possibilities of how to incorporate the look and feel of those vibes into the concept of a label. I reached out to Renee Jansen if she wanted to curate artwork and shoot at the church, she did a great job translating those feelings onto picture. Her work is being used as the cover of this years releases. it took a while before everything worked out but I think we ended up with something cool which I think the music can relate to.
WWD: How did you find the reaction to ‘To Utter Anything’?
So far so good, it’s a bit of an eccentric track with the obvious and obnoxious vocal hook, so for DJs it’ll be a hit or miss. But most people seem to enjoy the track which is great. The vocal hook conceptualised in the first bits of recording and in most cases I tend to mute the vox when elements stack and the track finishes. With techno, a loud vocal can be too much. But to avoid the obvious, I decided to keep it!
WWD: What can you tell us about the production process behind ‘God Is’ & ‘Before God’?
I remember being interested in a more rock-esque vibe and going for a rougher edge and dissonant feel. (and all that in various states of caffeine intoxication) I started experimenting with re-amping synth recordings through real amps plus a variety of fuzz/overdrive/distortion pedals.
On Before God, I tracked the lead on my modular rig, and the other elements on a Korg ms-20. At first I used my own drum samples but at the final stage of the track I wasn’t happy with the digital feel so i decided to record an actual snare. Recorded with a pair of sm 57’s into ISA2 pre’s into a 1176 clone and a dbx160. It was pretty tricky to get it right, but a lot of fun to do!
The re-amping part of the synth lead was a bit of trial and error since the room housing the amp wasn’t treated and had a lot of resonances. The mics i used weren’t picking up the frequencies i wanted and i had a lot of phase issues. I ended up using a TLM-103 on an Orange Crush Amp. I actually used my vocal reflection filter to focus the sound down and mic’ed it up really close to get rid of reflections and exaggerate the proximity effect.
On God Is, I literally plugged in my Fender stratocaster into this gnarly (!!) fuzz box by Zvex and I ended up tapping and plucking the strings like an idiot. After recording for a couple of minutes I ended up with a 2 bar phrase which was actually useful and used it as the main theme of the track. All other elements were recorded with the usual suspects. This track is pretty obnoxious and I love to play this one out live!
WWD: I know you enjoy dipping out of electronic music and into other genre in your free time. Outside of techno, what have you been listening to recently and has it had an influences on your recent productions?
There’s been so much great music i’ve been listening to recently, I don’t even know where to start, and I’m probably going to forget the real important ones! (This whole internet thing is getting out of hand).
But to name a few, QOTSA, Kendrick Lamar, Slipknot, NIN, Travis Scott, Alva Noto/Diamond Version, Noisia, Deadmau5, Marilyn Manson, Oneohtrix Point Never, Dre’s Straight outta compton album, Kanye’s Yeezus and TLOP too actually. (I love that they sampled Mr Fingers on FADE)
WWD: In your eyes, how have you developed as an artist over the last two years?
I tried to step away from the too obvious influences i normally adhere to, tried to find my own identity and philosophy and how to incorporate that in the techno format. (hopefully!) The downside of all of this is not always fitting in with the labels you work with, but hey: I’ve never really fitted in…. (ha!)
I’ve also tried to open myself up to other influences i wasn’t comfortable with, remove sceptics and try to appreciate all kinds of music, hence the large variety of musicians in the list above….
In a productions fashion, i learned how not to be dependant on other people’s presets, samples and loops, and i’ve started taking bigger risks (which may or may not pay off) … I feel like our current collective search for success can result in a lot of bland music. (not ALL music though!)
WWD: You play live, do you find festival season ideal for your set-up?
With a limited amount of time while being surrounded by plenty of headliners it’s key to impress at festivals… for my music it’s about keeping the momentum and energy high, so to be safe i tend to keep the performance element and setup simple. I think the setup i have now is stable, roadworthy, and simple enough to work in any condition…
WWD: Can you run us briefly through your current ensemble of live gear?
Pretty much the standard live PA setup nowadays…
I’m sequencing with Live 9, with an apogee duet 2 as audio interface with 2 Xone K1’s as midi interface and a Maschine for live drum programming.
WWD: The one thing you’ve learned that has proved most useful to performing with a live set-up?
Less is more (cliché but true) don’t overload your DAW with plugins, and keep your laptop out of the sunlight (!!), you don’t want your machines failing on you in front of a crowd! i’ve been trough that before….ouch!
WWD: Where can we catch you over the coming months?
A lot of festivals in Holland this summer, but also heading to South-America and various cities in Europe… looking forward to it! 🙂
WWD: Before we leave you, what else can we expect from yourself and T.H.O.G in the rest of 2016?
I really hope someone puts out a smash on the label so we can $$$$$$ 😉
Release date set for March 7th, 2016.
Follow: @joopjunior // @thogchurch