FULLBARR

What the DJS Say

Deep Space Orchestra - Quality stuff! Loving both the OG of Circle and Vince's remix, and Commodore is cool too.
T.Williams - Very nice.
The Revenge Both mixes of Circle are good for me ... thanks.
Midland - Circle and Commodore for me!
Huxley - the original mix of circle is fucking badboy. great work.
Christopher Rau - Tight!!
Dj Deep - Very nice record, Vince Watson's remix is awesome!
Moodymanc - love the warmth of the original of circle!
Rio Padice - Awesome, "Circle" is absolutely on of the best tracks that I've heard in this period. Thanks for the music.
Brothers Vibe - Love it man!! Will play :)
Appleblim - loving the vince watson mix, but also Doors, top gear
Ed Davenport - lovely warm tracks! doors will kick it - thanks!
Glimpse - FUCK ME THIS IS REALLY DECENT !!!!!! Great great raw tracks right up my strasse thanks XXXx 'Doors' is in the box
Kasper - Vince Watson remix is very cool! Thanks!
Kate Simko - Commodore is the one for me, thanks!
Ethyl - this is great. Samaan is going from strength to strength and of course Vince brings the heat


Bouyed by the last edition of their vinyl-only series, Fullbarr return for part four, and instantly trump Luke Solomon’s Ultrasound with a superb EP from Samaan, arguably the brightest star from their tight roster of production talent. The label may only be stepping into its third year, but Arthur Barr’s mighty work ethic has been admirably matched by his ear for distinctive four-four, and a wide-ranging releases from Matthias Vogt, Area, Jan Tenner and Gliesers have given the imprint a much-deserved ‘one-to-watch’ epithet coming into the new year.

Taking a tougher direction from his Detroit Memories EP late in 2011, the Belfast producer’s trio of tracks begins with Circle, ushered in with a growling, pulsing low pad that explodes into a percussive techno journey, complete with loopy, analogue bassline and classic synth notes piercing the mid-range, bathed in pads. Doors is punchier still, snares slapping over the almost sub-bass throb, while warped stabs percolate the middle of the track and pads flow through the breakdown to dream-like effect. Scottish techno stalwart Vince Watson weighs in with a classy remix of the title track, heading deeper with a loopy chord progression and layered melodies that show why he’s released on the likes of Planet E and F Comm. Closing out an outstanding EP is Commodore, a modern take on acid house, fusing Chicago with England in a warm, organic house trip.

4clubbers review WORDS: Guy Hornsby

Now Immer aka Geert , is a lovely chap, producing some really solid mature beats, Iam looking forward to working with this darling this year on several projects. I caught up with him were he talks about sucking dick, his production set up and his forthcoming EP with San Soda on Fullbarr......


For people who dont know you, how is Immer?
Let me see, as you've seen in the question, my strange name is immer. im a normal chap from Eindhoven
a small city in the southern part of holland, im 23 years old now, did art school, and im working full time now because i cant live off of music

Your from Enidhoven, tell me about the city, culture and music scene?...
Over here in Eindhoven there is not really a big scene, we have a small club called Kitsch, that is rocking Eindhoven in my genre
we had Terrence Parker, Mosca, Hector Moralez and have some others coming up like san soda
Im sort of resident over there. Apart from that there are a few parties in the summer and through out the year organised by Minstens a few friends of me that did some crazy parties
the only thing is Eindhoven is still too small to give loads of parties and big parties it has to be under 500 people most of the time to get a good ambiance

Has the city inspired you in any way??

Eindhoven is quite industrial and modern, It was build on Phillips and DAF Trucks, 2 big Factorys, so the city gives some Detroit influences for me.

When did you start producing music, and what on?

I started producing in my jackin' days, when i listened to switch, solid groove, jesse rose, jason hodges and some more. In the beginning that music scene was quite innovative for me, but after a little while it all became sort of random and generic for me. That was a point i thought it might be the time for me to give it a try and see if i could bring innovation and new sound with my wide interest in all sorts of music.
I started in reason making some jacking stuff, but i was quite busy with school/work at that time and in some kind of way i couldn't get my groove exactly how i wanted to. I made a few tracks but because my taste in electronic music was developing i couldn't produce what i wanted to. So i decided to get more into music again and start sorting out what my real taste was. When started to discovered tech house deep house and dub house i realized i was at ease. At that time i got hold of Logic and started producing again, that was about 3 years ago. I'm still using it today although I'm discovering re-wire with Ableton because of my other gear i use. I got with a good friend of mine some gear combined and we use a Roland MC-303, Yamaha DX7, Juno -106, Korg Delta and a Novation Bass Station and when it's finished, record it on tape and i'm pretty much done.

How has it developed into what you do now?

I think it started to develop when tech house really got hold of the scene over here in Holland, i got bored with that music really fast and that turned out in my productions. I got quite deep and producing on various BPM's between 105 and 120. As I'm right i haven't even come over the 120 until a few months ago. Because jacking music was mostly based on samples, i wanted to do more synth stuff. I still combine sampling and synths today as we speak but i have to say that I'm more satisfied when i finished something that is mostly synths and self played (so no loops etc). I started using analog vintage gear for producing some time ago as I really love the sound of it, it has gotten me to think more about my sound and electronic music in general. I accidentally start to make my drums sound quite bad over compressed or just out of place. Atm I'm getting more into a bit faster music and more party music, although i think it will always be still quite deep and dark, at least for my alter ego Immer.



Tell me something funny?

I'm saving money to get myself a TR-909, because i think the swing in that babe is just the best and than i haven't brought up how sexy that machine is. But i discovered a quite funny comment on Youtube under one short film on YouTube, it says;

The 9 Is. The. Machine. I will live in a box and suck cock for money before I'd sell mine. PERIOD.

Pretty nasty yet again quite funny if you ask me.




what are your influences/inspirations both musical and none musical?

I think you're always influenced by music you know and who your grown up with . Apart from that i had a time during my ''producing career'' that i did not want to hear new electronic music i liked nor just any new electronic music, just not to get influenced by that or inspired by it. Now i past that period a half year ago or some, and I'm trying out new inspiration stuff. I got a good friend of mine that is really into 90's house and he has got a amazing vinyl collection of it. So when I'm over at his place and we spin some records i always get some input out of it. Apart from that Eindhoven has quite an industrial history and i like to express that in my music as sort of Dutch Detroit dark an deep house music. It's a mixture of all kinds of things

how do you go about making a track/ whats your thought process?

I do have some ideas up front what I'm about to make. Mostly i try to get an idea in my head what kind of ambiance or feeling i want to express or what mood I'm in. If thats sorted I mostly just start building and ad some bits and bobs here and there. When I'm halfway through I always have a point where i need to stop and listen over and over. Starting with the whole arrangement so far so i can edit some pieces, after that some particular moments. This period in my process lasts at least for 1 hour (most of the time a bit more haha). When I'm satisfied with that and if the groove has gotten my chair to almost collapse i move with the arrangement. This maybe strange way of producing will be done all over again when the arrangement is finished. Apart from that I cannot really explain what my real thoughts are or how the tracks are done. It's some sort of rush I'm in when i make music and the rush is always different.

whats the favourite studio snack?

That has to be a combination of nice rolled dutch weed joint and bag of ForestFruitRed Cadilacs. I'm not sure if its know abroad but it's an ace sweet to eat.

What have you got coming up...??

As I said before my Frozen Data EP has just come out on SheWolf, apart from that I'm having my own EP on FullBarr. And i'm very pleased that San Soda is doing the remix on it. After that there will be a track from me on a VA EP (vinyl only) on Courtesy of Balance Recordings. That is everything so far that has been confirmed. I do have some requests for remixes and some labels that approached me to do an EP for them but as I had some bad experiences in the past with releases which i rather not talk about, i'm a bit picky and hold back before i agree with anything. But that doesn't mean i don't want to release stuff, just keep your eyes open for my tracks or just have a look on my Facebook page or soundcloud once in a while.

Tresor.Cast #003 by Vince Watson - Tresor Berlin

Samman a talented young man from Belfast alreay gaining props from across the electronic scene after only his thrid release , all of which have been with fullbarr. Expect big thinks from this fellow!!..I caught up with him earlier this week...




You have spoken to me before about your uncle being involved in the scene, is this how u got into techno?

Yes my uncles, Maurice and Jim Chadwick, are responsible for introducing me to electronic music. They were into the "scene" in the late eighties/early nineties and frequented David Holmes' infamous "Sugar Sweet" and "Shake Yer Brain" parties. During this period they collected a lot of records. Their collection entailed UK electronica from the likes of 808 State and Orbital, Chicago House from Frankie Knuckles and Armando and Detroit techno from the Belleville Three, Robert Hood and Underground Resistance. When I was about 14/15 and got a set of turntables I started playing all this stuff. I began to look for new, underground electronic music and found out about sites like Juno that had fresh stuff coming in everyday. It escalated from there really!

What other influences have you taken on board?

Another big influence for me would have to be Shine in Belfast. When I was starting to go out, around the age of 16, I hated all the commercial clubs and used to drag my mates here as it was really the only place I knew of that played decent electronic music in Belfast. Back then I seen the likes of Derrick May, Plastikman, Michael Mayer, Derrick Carter, Chris Duckenfield, Matthew Dear, Robert Hood, Surgeon, Ben Sims and many more. Seeing these heroes locally was a treat. Not to forget their then residents: Timmy Stewart, John McIvor, Mark Bell, Phil Kieran, Simon McDermott, Nik Muzka and a few more I've forgotten.



[samaan live @ One, 40 minute set]

You run a night in Belfast , tell us about it?..


Yes I co-run the "One" parties in Belfast alongside Graeme Morrison and Michael Bustard (recently added). Reason for One initiating is basically because we wanted to bring artists to Belfast that we loved. We were growing out of the bigger clubs as our music taste matured. At the time they were also just booking the same djs year in, year out which became a bit tedious. They also weren't bringing fresh talent over so we decided to just give it a go. Thankfully it was well received. We recently launched our site too: www.oneelectronica.com

On a whole what is the scene/clubs like over in Belfast?

For the size of Belfast and the hideous licensing laws/club closing times for clubs (3am), the scene is great. Theres a lot happening, the crowds are among the best and always really up for it. Smaller promoters, like ourselves, are bringing guests over on almost a weekly basis now which is great to see. Really healthy scene atm.

You have just completed your 3rd release for Fullbarr in the studio what do you use?

I try to make as much of the track from analogue gear as possible. It gives tracks that warmth in frequencies digital cannot touch. Some stuff I use: 909, 707, Juno-106, Nord lead, Jupiter 6, Moog Phatty, 303, Korg legacy and Nexus VST's for pad layering.

How do you go about producing a track? thoughts and processes?

I generally start with chord progressions or leads and build the track around them. I'd record the MIDI of the progression or lead pattern in and fire through a few synths and their banks to find a sound I like. I'd then record about 7 or 8 minutes of audio in from the hardware (with me tweaking all the parameters).

whats coming up over the next few months for you?

You'll have to wait and see!


and finally tell us something about you that would come as a suprise?

Nothing. I'm a boring c&*t!

Click on Pictures Enlarge



[mixmag, march 2012]




[data transmission,feb 2012]



[teshno.com, feb 2012]

Kristan Caryl is a freelance music journalist, staff reviewer at RA, regular contributor to DJ Mag, Mixmag, The Independent and most importantly of all, his own www.teshno.com blog. I caught up with him and gave him a taste of his own medicine.

For those who don't know you, introduce yourself…

I’m the sort of person who spends an hour thinking of a smart answer to this question, can’t, then spends an hour depressed at how thick they are: a stoner with time on his hands, basically.

Being that you’re a freelance writer, I imagine that means you can spend all your time working at home - are you a house husband? If so what’s your killer meal?

I am, or will be once I’ve gotten married in August. I literally do everything around the house. It’s fine though. I feel guilty that I basically have the best job ever and that my wife-to-be has to go out and manage a restaurant for a living. She does cook though. Fiercely well. Plus I have a touch of OCD about order and cleanliness and that, so I’m totally OK with the fact I ‘need’ to have a cupboard just filled with dust cloths and cleaning products.

To answer the second part of your question, my killer meal would probably be a steak with cyanide in, that way at least her last meal would be a good one. Weird question though, man.

At school were you good at English?

Yup! Didn’t do it past GCSE though. Didn’t want to be a journalist until about 5 years ago. Got jealous of a mate who had his name in the Uni paper next to a review. I didn’t even read music magazines at the time. Anyway, I penned a few Kerouac-style wordy wankfest which got into print, then emailed Mixmag saying “look, I did this, let me write for you”. Incredibly I got commissioned for a club review 3 months later then went round everywhere else saying “I'm a journalist, can I write for you?”

I didn’t have even a single day’s work experience, evening course, relevant degree, anything. On top of that I had only just got into electronic music... it’s quite incredible in the 21st Century there aren’t laws preventing people like me from doing things like this.

Tell me a bit more about your musical influences

This is the question I always wonder how I’d answer when I ask it. Unfortunately for you that still doesn’t mean I have a good one for you. I grew up happily listening to my parents’ Motown. Had a spell 16-19ish getting balls deep into System of a Down, Incubus, Chilis, Tool (fucking Tool!!) Deftones… that kinda shit. Then I grew up, met my now best mate who was older and into house music. It started when I fell in love with Renaissance’s Mix Collection Volume 1 by Sasha and Digweed, then got into fabric CDs and have been exploring the underground house, techno and bass scenes with childish excitement ever since. To surmise, I’d say I like deep, warm, imperfect grooves. Check teshno/teshcast for proof.



Tell me something funny…

Your mum’s so fat her blood type is ragù.

Outside music, what are your pleasures?

I’m an unapologetic food snob and am hesitant around anyone who isn’t. I need my 5 a day. We spend most of our money on food or eating out. I also love bongs. And our 5 cats (it’s fine, really). And vinyl. F1 and football also take up quite a bit of my schedule (watching, of course, not doing). I’m also now old enough (at 28?) to say, I think, that I get pleasure from tending our modest garden in the summer… grow your own kids, it not only smokes better, it’s cheaper, too!



[from left to right:arthur, zip, seth, elvis, daphni]

I’d imagine, like DJing, there are many wannabe scribes wanting to make a serious living out of writing, could you offer any tips to said aspirants?

Don’t fucking email me asking for my contacts you dick. If I can blag my way in, any idiot can. I will say if you’re struggling to get replies/work, though, soz, but you must be shit. Do summat else.

Could you tell me the best artist you have interviewed and why. And... if you dare… who is the worst....

Nico Jaar was good, plenty to say and not just stuff made up on the spot, stuff he’s clearly been thinking about for years with no punches pulled. Not many people are bad, really. Most people have something to say. Just like me in this interview. Pure bull shit. I mean, if someone is shy, they’re shy; that’s how they are, that’s how you have to write it up. You might just have to work a bit harder to get stuff out of them. Or make it up – that’ll show the inconsiderate bastards.

Have you got any tips for the next producer /DJ?

Next DJ/producer I interview? Bring a book, my questions can get quite long winded and, most of the time, I give so many sample answers to make sure the question has been understood that there’s nothing left for the interviewee to reply but ‘um, yes’.

Seriously though, it’s amazing how many people seem to think you’re just out to make a cunt of them… only you can make a cunt of yourself, buddy!

And finally, your guilty musical pleasure…

Michael Jackson was definitely guilty of something, and I don’t mean illegally good records…

Jockey aka Cambridge producer Johnny Davies had one of the first release's on Fullbarr, I caught up with him recently to ask him a few questions.


Tell me about your early years, instruments and development into electronic music?

My early years were spent playing the violin, piano, percussion and singing. I had a fairly hectic lifestyle. I sang semi-professionally for the Jesus College Chapel Choir in Cambridge, rehearsing 5 times a week and touring around the world. On top of the choir rehearsals I had violin, piano and percussion lessons. It was a very hectic life with every spare second outside of school being completely consumed with music. Around the age of fourteen my voice broke though, and I stopped singing in the choir. This left me some free time in the week, something I had not experienced before, and it was around this time I started to get interested in writing electronic music. At school we had some Atari 520ST computers and some Roland XP-10 synths. I started to play around on these and would attempt to re-write as faithfully as possible, all the electronic dance songs I would hear in the pop charts. I went to a posh school and had led a very sheltered life and at this stage I had no real concept of underground music. However as my teenage years progressed and I rebelled a bit more, I gradually became aware of the scene and by the age of 18, following a trip to Fabric to see Tyrant I was obsessed with house music. That first night, Tyrant at Fabric, was by far the most important night of my life.

How has your production evolved , what do you use ?

Equipment wise, I just have my laptop and a midi controller. Everything else is software. So my kit hasn't really evolved much over the last five years, except for buying faster laptops. I am finding that I work faster with time as I know my software better, and I always try to figure out new interesting things to do with the software I have. For me, the most important piece of kit is actually the monitor speakers and the room acoustics. I have about 5 different pairs of speakers, ranging from expensive studio monitors to the cheapest of hifi speakers, with everything else in between. These are all controlled by a switch box, allowing me to hear what my mix-down will sound like on a range of different speakers. And the room acoustical treatment is essential too. Bass traps, and absorption behind the speakers, deflection behind the listening position.




With other known successful artists from the area, has living in Cambridge inspired you in any way?

I think Cambridge allows you the space to breathe. Its a very soft gentle existence here. No gangs, violence etc. Just allows me to be myself and walk around the city with my head firmly up in the clouds. Also the city is beautiful. Really beautiful. Some of the colleges in the university have been around for about 800 years. The architecture is stunning. At the moment I still have my day job, which is working on the punts in Cambridge. From here I get to spend my days floating past the most beautiful of the buildings as I push tourists up and down the river. The whole mix of serenity, beauty and peace is the ideal environment to allow creativity.


As a young upcoming artist what are your thoughts on the music industry as it is now?

No thoughts. I used to procrastinate loads about the download thing, the piracy issue and how I was going to 'make it' in this industry. Nowadays I don't give it any thought. How do I even define 'making it'? All I concentrate on is writing music and trying to craft my skill as best as I can. I don't give the rest any thought. I run a party called The Fuss with a couple of mates locally, which gives me an outlet to play and perform my music, and I get asked to play other gigs across the UK but I don't actively self promote or worry about where the next gig is coming from. I have found for me that music is a lot more fun if I don't worry about these things and just enjoy the process of writing music and trying to be the best I can be.

Tell me some inspirations.

The best and the worst experiences in life. Love and loss, highs and comedowns, birth and death. I find inspiration in the extremes of emotions we experience.

Tell me something funny?

I told a group of tourists the other day that the Wren Library in Cambridge was the last building in the country to be built before Isaac Newton discovered gravity, and as such was the last building to be built from the top down.


What has been your biggest personal success so far with music?

Hmm, difficult to say really. There is youtube footage of the Belleville three (Atkins, May, Saunderson) playing a remix of an Onionz track I did with Jim Masters (which was basically a complete new track) to around 50,000 people at Awakenings festival, Amsterdam. That was quite a buzz seeing that. I think my biggest personal success so far though would have to be writing a piece I called Hand Shoe. It was such a personal piece of music for me to write, and I think it is the piece which comes closest to capturing the emotions I was trying to portray.



You have a track on Fullbarr as part of cool VA EP as well another EP planned and we spoke a bout an album before December, what else have you got coming up?

I am finally biting the bullet and signing with a manager/booking agent, so I am hoping for some more gigs this year. I have been playing quite regularly at The Egg in London, and at my own party as well. Release wise I have a few things in the pipeline, including an electronica EP on Endemic Digital to be released over the next few months. The album for Fullbarr will be my main focus though.

posted by Fullbarr Digital  # 14:07 0 Comments

A super energy filled live set from last weekend pit together by our ace Hans Berg, well worth a check all original material .....

also his very recent interview with me on the fullbarr blog HERE

A couple of recent reviews from UK online Music Mag Data Transmission

Samaan - Detroit Memories

If you’re on the lookout for that track that’ll take you away, like many claim but fail to do, 'Detroit Memories' could be the one. Not just as a reminisce to Motor City glory days, but the way dream-weaving synths prioritise the welfare of your precious headspace...and then comes fierce acid techno telling you to snap out of it. Pot-boiling acid demanding that you man up and jump down from the clouds, it’s a bit cruel from Samaan Vahid really, but you can’t argue with the Belfast up and comer’s believing of angels and demons becoming bedfellows. Excellent transitions from smooth into rough, with Mark Broom’s remix a non-believer in niceties once his throb and thrust has taken over – all of his recollections of The D, sounding more like suppressions trying to take away the pain, are taking the jugular for ransom and never letting up.

About Samaan’s softer side...here it is setting up shop on 'Pixel Planet', not an 8-bit block-buster of moves but post-epiphany acid ambience with old skool hi hats rat-a-tatting and chords hitting the snooze button. A little meaner on the inside but otherwise just as composed in its rubbing of temples is 'Ya Feel Me'. Asking you to jack responsibly upon consumption, it’s the door-hammering bassline that suggests there’s a bad egg at the track’s root, Samaan getting anxious like a firebug on Guy Fawkes Night. An all-round A+ acid exhibition, and you’re glad Samaan is telling both sides of the story, going greedy for heady heights and rumbling rock bottoms in his recollections.



Luke Solomon - Ultrasound

A headache when it comes to classification, 'Ultrasound' is central to four tracks of pleasing pickles. A gentle giant puts farty breakbeat bass plus head-hunting vocal and spooked choristers on one side of a dancefloor scrimmage line, against Pong-playing blips, aquatic percussion and gentle piano nudges on the other. Both sides are likely to swap positions at any time. Much lighter and less chaotic than some of its inventory tells you, an assortment of technological spins, acid rolls, bongo beats, Balearic contact and more are the tip of the mishmash, the Music for Freaks fundamentalist throwing in synth selections whenever they’re on offer in a half-improvised, conversation-interrupting spread around as well. Solomon has his house in order, with a lot of love to give.

A similar cupboard full of contradictions is opened for the '1.2 Horn Version', a jazz-techno smorgasbord beamed up with trumpets trying to fight gravitational pull; 8-bit pulses are called upon, and Solomon again arranges synths when the time is right. Deepness giving off druggy symptoms, it’s off-the wall, punch-packing in places, playful in others.

Swiss big cheese Kalabrese lounges a little more, an outing from Sacha Winkler that you imagine once upon a time had a career peddling sleazy red light jams, but now has a happier outlook on life, the backing singers breathing more easily thanks to the sensible kitsch taking control. Or by another categoriser’s definition, deep electro house. LoSoul is another happy chappy with a grubby lil’ wormer funking though the night, beginning as a tastily taut garage beat – not as dedicated a hoarder as Solomon, but he likes a spot of bric-a-brac nonetheless. Peter Kremeier applies a stinger of a breakdown made to make you jump from your seat, though any chair occupation throughout will be limited.

Labels: Data Transmission, Deep house, luke solomon, samaan, techno