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UTAH JAZZ VS. DANNY BYRD
 Utah Jazz
DOA: How does it feel to be so hot right now and what has given you the most pleasure this year?
Utah Jazz: It feels nice! I'm really pleased with the way things are going at the moment and good things always give you motivation to continue in the right direction and push things further. It's nice to know that (both DJ wise and production) people are feeling what I'm doing...
As for the most pleasure
action with Lady Jazz and broadband Internet porn! No seriously, I've just been pleased to be DJing and I'm pleased to see the reaction of my recent releases such as Runaway and my Roni Size It's A Utah Jazz Thing remix.
DOA: Yes! That remix is absolutely stunning! How did you come up with the idea to remix Its a Jazz Thing and All Crews Big Up and how did you approach the remixing itself?
Utah Jazz: I'm not sure really! I asked Bryan G if I could have a go at remixing 'Jazz Thing' as I'd worked out that I could take all the samples from the original record so I picked it out and started messing around with it. Then I flipped it over as I loved the other side too and a light bulb went on in my head! Fortunately the samples sounded really good together so I did 2 mixes - one with just 'Jazz Thing' samples and the other with 'All Crew's Big Up' samples mashed up together
My approach to the remix was to keep it as close to the original as possible but with an extra edge. I'd call it more of an update. As you know, I like playing older tunes in my sets but unfortunately these tracks are too slow so I had to do something with them for 2006 :)
DOA:Any other tunes you would like remix? Would you like to bring a new fusion of styles by remixing non D&B tunes?
Utah Jazz: Yes - I think it's really good to remix non D&B tunes and that's what I'd prefer to do. Some of the work High Contrast's done on non D&B tune remixes is great. Plus I think it's a really good way to become recognised in other scenes which is obviously good for your profile as a DJ
hopefully something will come up!
DOA: What tracks are you working on at the moment?
Utah Jazz: I've got 4 tracks on the go which are all more different to anything I've done before. If I can't make something sound different each time then I feel I might as well not bother! I'm working on a harder track, a dubby track and a couple of others with even more weird funk / soul samples than I normally use. I'm not really sure what my plans are with an LP at the moment - it's just a case of getting the right tunes together and seeing whether they'd be better as an LP or separate releases.
DOA: You really value happiness in life, what is happiness to you in music?
Utah Jazz: To get tunes done quickly that I'm 100% happy with! I don't spend more than 15-20 hours on a track, it's often less and I tend to lose interest if something doesn't come together which is definitely something I need to work on.
DOA: Let's talk about DJing for a while... You have been doing a lot of international gigs lately, so what was the strangest thing you've encountered on your travels?
Utah Jazz: I've had people waiting at my hotel to get autographs, which was pretty weird! Plus I've had people cry during my sets when I've played Runaway (Hopefully not because the mixdown's so crap!
DOA: What kind of emotions do you like to trigger in people during your sets? Do you have a special Jazz recipe for that maybe? ;)
Utah Jazz: Hmm - I'm not sure really! I've forever trying to create the 'perfect set' in my head and put that plan into action. You're unlikely to hear a Renegade Hardware track in one of my sets (unless it's a Usual Suspects tracks from 7 years ago) but other than that... I hope to create a set with something for everyone but I've kind of grown out of the really hard stuff and I don't really get it anymore. I appreciate its merits but it's just not for me. That said, I'd still happily play some Fresh or Pendulum tracks - anything as long as it's got some kind of groove, vibe, melody or feeling to it...
DOA: Are you trying to change any certain perceptions about drum and bass?
Utah Jazz: I hope that I do things in a way that havent been done before. The ultimate cuss for me is if someone said that my production style sounds like so-and-so. However, with the obscure samples I use and the way I use them, I'm really trying to create my own style and, to an extent, I feel I've achieved that. I'm confident enough now as a DJ to be able to play anything I want. I know I can play a set after anyone and still rock the house with tracks that people wouldn't think to play. I'm still drawing V / Hospital / Full Cycle tracks from 10 years ago. I hope I change some perceptions by not playing all the latest dubs and still get lots of bookings... it's all about selection for me.
DOA: What do you think is the best way to jazz it up with a lady? And what kind of inspiration do you get from your beloved Lady Jazz?
Utah Jazz: I get a lot of inspiration from Lady Jazz and the whole of my family. She really understands what I'm doing and what I've been trying to achieve for the last 10 years.
My brothers are really supportive too... no one's more ambitious than us three! My brother, Ben, is one of the most successful young product designers in the UK and my brother brother, Oscar, is a very well known graphic artist and we all feed off each other.
DOA: What are your plans for summer and what would you like to accomplish by the end of this year?
Utah Jazz: I'm DJ-ing at a few festivals across Europe including one in the Siberian mountains which should be a great experience plus I've got tours planned for USA and Japan. Other than that, I'm just looking forward to gigging each weekend (wherever that may be) meeting new people / promoters and working hard in the studio when I get the time. Erm, by the end of the year I want to be driving a Porsche and living in Hampstead. You shouldn't ask me questions like that because then I get too far ahead of myself and upset when it doesn't happen!
DOA: What do you like about DOA? Anything in particular that you find interesting? Maybe DOA drama? :)
Utah Jazz: Yeah - I really like DOA. I don't spend too much time on there but still probably more than I should. I often search to see what people are saying about my tunes or sets (which producers don't? :) but I never really seen anything bad said before (until now - when people think I'm an arrogant arsehole - ha ha!).
I think some of the DOA crew are a little narrow minded but then again, this is D&B we're talking about! Everyone loves their little niches within the scene and everyone loves the drama. Not meaning to sound patronising but I'm sure I would post a lot more and say the kind of things some people do if I wasn't a 'well known artist' and DOA was around 10 years ago.
I'm a bit too sensible for that these days! The funniest DOA member without a doubt is Jim Bergerac and I actually started an appreciation thread a few weeks back! Everything he says turns to gold and it's one of my personal ambitions in life to meet him.
I'm thinking about travelling over to Jersey especially to meet him and go for a pint of breda. I spent a lot of time in the Channel Islands during my childhood. Jim - will you have me?!
 Danny Byrd
DOA: Was it your unbending obsession with TV's 'Minder' that got you interested in making your own music? Perhaps you wanted to create an alternative theme tune for example?
DannyByrd: Haha. Yes I would definitely say the antics of Minder shaped my music career for sure, it is my life's ambition to meet George Cole, my other is to meet Timothy Dalton (the best Bond).
DOA: Seriously though, can you explain how you got into music in the first place... and then the progression to making your own?
DannyByrd: I got into music through the whole rave scene, mixtapes round the schoolyard business, and I was always mucking around with keyboards. I had a cheap Casio sampling keyboard that had 2 secs of sampling time and I would hold it up to the speaker and try and capture all those rave stabs off records like that T99 Anthatisia riff etc.
It just progressed from there, at our school we had a small recording studio with a copy of Cubase on an Atari, and a shit keyboard, and then I just kept on getting better kit, getting a better sound and learning about engineering. Nowadays its all about Logic 7 on an Apple G5, but when I did Changes, Do it Again and the Wishing Well remix I was on an Atari and a Akai S5000!
DOA: What was your first release?
DannyByrd: I think my first release was on DJ Ron's Picasso label. The tune was called Manhattan and was a massive buzz for me. I remember going down to London to Ron's studio/office with this great excitement! Big ups to DJ Ron, love that guy!
It was pretty much around this time 1999 that I got really fed up with D&B. I hate to moan and it seems that every artist says the same thing in every interview, but it all became noise around that time. I was absolutely in love with UK Garage, House and Soul and I really tried to incorporate this into D&B in a fresh way. I did a 3 track CD and sent it to a few D&B labels, but Hospital were the ones that got back to me and could see what I was trying to achieve. I remember that day going to the office to meet them, Tony & Chris, and Tony played me Round the Corner track and I just totally felt like we were on the same wavelength. This was also around the same time as J Majik's Love Is Not A Game, all these tunes were so strong and send shivers down my neck even now.
DOA: So you had a few releases on Hospital and then you kinda went quiet for a minute, what were you doing? Watching Minder?
DannyByrd: Haha mainly! I dunno the whole software thing messed me up for a minute, I found it hard coming from Hardware background, I just found I lost my way a little. But these things make you stronger I suppose, I would probably make about 3 tunes a year before, last year I wrote about 15! So Im def loving making music again and the DJing and I appreciate everything now
DOA: You're now teaching production to disadvantaged children in sub-Saharan Africa? Er, or is it Bristol?
DannyByrd: Haha! Yeah that is the day job, 2 days a week. I do love it! I teach Reason and Logic to about 70 students a week. Its good fun and keeps you on your toes production wise. It does get a bit much though, on a Monday morning at 9am when they are blaaaarrring out the Jump up tunes at full blast!!! Aaaaarghhhhh! Hehe, its all good though. Some great talent waiting in the wings!
DOA: Talking of talent, who's a new producer to watch at the moment?
Agent Alvin, this guy has a 12" coming on Full Cycle which is wicked! Submorphics from Detroit, Im also feeling Chino from Miami. Im probably forgetting some people but those stick out the most right now.
DOA: OK, now one of the prizes the lovely people at Hospital have told me to give away is a signed Danny Byrd sandwich... if you were a sandwich, what kind would you be?
If I was a sandwich I would definitely be a phat BLT! Proper Doorstep thick bread, 4 rashers of the finest bacon, fresh lettuce, tomato, and Hellmans Mayo with a dash of ground pepper. I have one for breakfast daily!
DOA: So what's next for the byrd? give me a run down.
Well I have Doghill coming out soon on NHS, plus a thing called Round&Round on Advanced, French Quarter coming on Liquid V, a remix on Spearhead, and another NHS single called Under The Sea coming in the winter time. My plans over the summer are to go to the states and work with various vocalists on stuff, see what comes out from that.
Forthcoming Dates:
June 16th Le Casino Paris
June 30th Fabric London
July 19th Signal Bristol
July 21st Herbal London
July 27th Elbow rooms Bristol
July 29th Hospitality Brighton
Aug 11th Lodz Poland
Aug 12th Sobot Poland
Current Top 10
1) Danny Byrd - Round&Round (Advanced)
2) Agent Alvin - Pick Me Up (Full Cycle)
3) Lomax & Kleer - Blazius (Critical)
4) CLS - Black&White (Med School)
5) Danny Byrd - Fresh89 (NHS)
6) Q Project - No More Heroes (NHS)
7) Xample - Bossy Rmx (???)
8) Random Movement - The Intersection (Dub)
9) Danny Byrd - Under The Sea (NHS)
10) Q Project - Behind Closed Doors (NHS)
Booking Details
Utah Jazz
AIM - utahjazzuk
email - bookings@utahjazz.co.uk
Danny Byrd:
AIM: dbyrdbookings
email: danny@cbasonline.com
MC Ruthless:
email: chloe@hospitalrecords.com
Competition Time!
Time for the competition, thanks to V Recordings and Hospital we have some excellent prizes to give away.
NHS97 Danny Byrd 'Soul Function' / 'Junction 18'
SPEAR005 Danny Byrd 'Rise Again' / 'Control Freak'
NHS109 Danny Byrd 'Dog Hill' / 'Fresh 89'
Hospital Sticker + pin badge pack
Hospital Slipmats
A BLT sandwich signed by Danny Byrd
LQD009 - Utah Jazz / Drumajik EP
LQD013 - Utah Jazz - 'Runaway' 12"
VRECSUK013 - Jazz Thing (Utah Jazz Remixes)
V Key chain
V Slipmats
for your chance to win, simply download and listen to both mixes (links below) and then complete the following sentence...
"I prefer the Danny Byrd/Utah Jazz mix because..."
Utah Jazz' mix - It's A Utah Jazz Thing!
Danny Byrd's mix - Actually It's A Danny Byrd Thing!
Utah Jazz Q&A by Exodus, Danny Byrd Q&A by Jeryl |
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Dogs On Acid > Comments > UTAH JAZZ VS. DANNY BYRD
06-05-2006 12:53 PM
x2 
Besides Ruthless is really nice on da mic!