|
HKClubbing.com caught up with Chris Fortier before his visit on the 18th October to Hong Kong to find out more about his global travels and how he is currently getting on in the studios.
Was there ever a point in your career where the constant travelling had a real negative effect on you?
I don’t think there has been any real negatives to the constant travelling? There are a few obvious things like being jet lagged a lot, but that isn’t too major. The only thing I wish I could have more time with is to work in the studio. With all the traveling it is tough to keep on a production schedule. But with all these things, you just try to do your best to manage it all. Besides, all the traveling is worth it when you play good gigs.
When producing, do you already have a idea of what the track is going to be like? Or do you simply let experimentation dictate the way the
track builds?
It never is one set thing. I think I get inspiration from all different things. That could mean hearing a melody in my head and then building on it. Or the same with using a vocal or sample like that. I just try to vibe things out with what I have in front of me and just go with the flow. But there are definite times when you have the whole track in your head and you just go in and go from a – z in one movement.
What's your favoured kit to produce with? Do you also engineer your own tracks?
My main keyboard is a supernova, which I love. I like all the available sliders and knobs to manually manipulate. This makes it easier when you are jamming on something. As far as an engineer, I do most everything on my own now. When I first started making music as Fade, I worked with a partner and he was an engineer, so I was covered then. But I was learning everything we were doing and now eventually I am able on my own. I still use someone to mixdown my tracks of late, just to get some fresh ears. But I am sure I wont be using that much anymore either.
What's your best memorable gig worldwide and what made it so?
I have had many great gigs and I think it is difficult to pin point one. Some of them have been amazing for different reasons too so it is hard to compare. I love playing places like Mexico City, Lima, Buenos Aires, Athens & Montreal and of course New York. But I will say that the last time I was in Hong Kong, the gig was really wicked. The vibe was great in the club. That was a definite highlight.
When travelling to play, you're obviously restricted to whatever the
airline deems permissible for weight restrictions. How do you go about
selecting music to take with you? Do you always think that you've made the best possible choice?
I manage to work really well with a box to a box and a half of records. I all depends on the length of sets I am doing. When it starts getting to be over 6+ hours, you definitely want to have more records. But I am pretty realistic with records that I have revolving in my boxes at any given time, so I have learned to be efficient too. I do have quite a few double-sided records as well. And with more cds creeping into my sets, that adds even more musical possibilities.
What artists are due for future releases on FADE records? Are they always celebrated producers or are you constantly on the look for future talent?
We have some really cool things coming up the rest of this year and next. Right now we have releases coming from Morris & Shylock, Desent, Steve Porter and also myself. As well as we have brand new artists such as Chris Micali, Woven, Motive feat. Abagale Fisher and Scott McFadyen. I think they are all exciting new talents and I am very excited about the unique sounds they are bringing to the table for themselves and for the label as a whole. And yes, generally I have picked up tracks from people that haven’t really done much or even anything at all before. It is something I take great pride in and much effort in to help these artists launch themselves out there.
Where do you see FADE records in 5 years time? How will you aspire to achieve this?
I would hope that the label is still in a healthy place. I feel pretty confident about the future and I am taking steps now to embrace all the new avenues we can go to get our music out there. It is an interesting and somewhat puzzling time for labels. But the main focus for me for the label is to put out interesting and diverse music and keep our sound moving in a positive direction. The way this is going to happen is just to make sure to pay attention to what is happening around us and be ready to take advantage of opportunities as they present.
Superclubs are dying left, right and centre worldwide with smaller clubs being the once again favoured places to go. Do you consider this to be a good or bad thing?
I think at the end of the day, it will be a good thing for the music and the music lovers to go back and re-discover why they are into the scene in general. There are still some big clubs out there and even some new ones coming out soon. It is a certain degree of management that is needed too. The sky opened up very big and a lot of these clubs reached big. Some too big and it didn’t work out for them. For me, I just want to play good gigs, no matter what the size. I think we all want that. Just to enjoy the music and atmosphere for what it is and what it can be and just have fun!
|
