In a world of unicorns and strawberry shortcakes, Major Lazer is a Jamaican commando who fought in the “Secret Zombie War of 1984” and lost both arms in combat (this is pretty LOL stuff). In real life, Major Lazer is the collaboration of two of dancehall, reggae and electro’s biggest brains today - Diplo and Switch – who with appointed “Hype Man” Skerrit Bwoy, lay mayhem, madness and some pretty sharp tunes on the dancefloor. Diplo explains.

Your album Guns Don’t Kill People - Lazers Do was produced in Jamaica. Was it a good place to do a record?
Yes it was! This year, we have been doing lots of stuff in Jamaica and I still work there for other projects too, not just Major Lazer, like I DJ there quite a bit and was just there trying to finish Santigold’s new record. I have a good relationship with some studios there too. Actually, it was more difficult to work with the first album than it is now with the second. With the first album we were working from scratch with the songs. Now with the second one, we have established a fan base and a lot of artists want to work with us. Makes it easy.

Great parties in Jamaica?
Not really, since the studio is out in the woods. But it’s good like that – when you are isolated you can get more stuff done. But we are often in Kingston too and there is a lot of great energy there!

Nice. And you are doing a new album with Major Lazer right now?
Yeah, we are going to do like 20 albums before we are done….

How does Major Lazer make the world a better place?
If not for our existence, there wouldn’t be shows like tonight’s and the world will be a bit darker. I’m really just happy to be here.

Read the rest of this interview in the September issue of JUICE, now out at these spots.

www.majorlazer.com

Text: Heidi Lahtinen
Image and Interview courtesy of: Zouk

With a bit of dance and a bit of rock, Manchester’s Delphic has ended up with a clever and catchy alt-dance hybrid on its hands. You may like it, but Kitsuné liked it even more to sign up the band and endorse its aforementioned debut. Produced by Ewan Pearson, Acolyte is a shimmering thing that displays a true knack for organic instrumentation and dancefloor dynamics – nothing the Factory itself would kick out of bed. On the occasion of its first gig at Zouk, we got Delphic’s synth-ster, Richard Boardman, to show and tell.

Hey Richard. Have you also been paying attention to all the talk about Delphic?
We don’t listen to the talk really. Subsequently, we are unaware if people are saying good or bad things about us.

They’re only saying good things, trust us. So how about a bit of background on Delphic?
We formed Delphic in 2008. We had always enjoyed performing music and had played in bands as kids for a number of years. However, we always felt like we were chasing someone else’s sound. Delphic was the start of us trying to find our own voice.

And you did so on Acolyte…
And we are very proud of the album. The recording process was long and arduous and took the band to breaking point several times, but we feel we’ve made an album, rather than a collection of songs.

Then how would you describe the idea behind your debut album?
It was to find the perfect mix between euphoria and melancholy.

And if there’s one lesson you’ve learned from Delphic, it’s that…
Not everybody works in the same way you do.

Read the rest of this interview in the September issue of JUICE, now out at these spots.

www.delphic.cc

Text: Min Chen
Image & interview courtesy of: KittyWu Records

When Danny Masterson is not making his way around Hollywood’s backlot (you might remember him as Steve in That ‘70s Show), he gets his hands dirty dropping wax as a one of LA’s hippest DJs. That’s DJ Momjeans to you, the indie-electro punk who’s been starting parties all around the USA, sharing stages with Steve Aoki, and apparently, working on his own sick remixes. And after all that, he gets to go home to Bijou Phillips. So if anyone knows anything about getting sh*t and schedules sorted, it’s he.

How’s it going, Danny?
Well… I’ve been shooting a film called The Rooster with Carla Gallo and getting ready to start a new TV series called Playing With Guns. Music-wise, I just finished the sickest remix of Broken Social Scene’s “All To All”.

How did you get into DJ-ing?
I’d built a good vinyl collection and started doing a night in the late ‘90s in LA at 3 Of Clubs. It was two DJs going back and forth to see who could play the worst (amazing) songs to get people dancing. It was definitely one of the first open format nights in LA. We’d go from Whitesnake into The Fat Boys into Milli Vanilli. It got popular really fast and began my DJ career.

We understand you’ve also had a bit of fun with your DJ handle, like didn’t you used to be called Donkeypunch?
When Puff Daddy publicly announced his name change to P.Diddy, it inspired me to take the next step in transforming my DJ identity. So I announced that Donkeypunch was dead and now birthed as DJ Donkeypizzle. That had me laughing for a few years. When I tired of that moniker, I opted for an old joke of ours… the Momjeans.

And when you’re not Momjeans or Danny Masterson, you are…
A Wiffle Ball extraordinaire. I’m also pretty good at shampooing my hair and I can sleep on airplanes.

The rest of this interview can be read in the September issue of JUICE, now out at these spots.

www.myspace.com/djmomjeans

Text: Min Chen
Image & interview courtesy of: Indochine

In but a few days, the Gilles Petersons’ Worldwide Festival Sessions will be kicking off at Zouk. On its third run on our shores, the festival now takes the form of intimate club sessions and continues to boast a stellar line-up of cutting edge talents - from the mutant beats of Dorian Concept, to the electronic folk of dOP, to the party jazz of Jazztronik, and to the hip hoppin’ pulse of Lefto. Then of course, there’s the legend holding it all together: Gilles Peterson, who lends his name and fine taste to the festival proceedings. We got him to talk us through whatever’s happening on the WFS stage.

Hi Gilles. You must be excited about Singapore’s third edition of Worldwide!
Very!

What will Worldwide’s partnership with Zouk mean for the festival?
A solid base, a classic venue, great audience… and Dom Perignon.

What do you think has kept the festival fresh over its five years?
Luckily, music keeps me fresh and people keep making music to satisfy my ears. Some great DJs bands and parties happening and this festival is here to reflect that.

And what does the festival mean to you?
It brings together like-minded music fans who are bored of the standard DJ sets and want a bit of live action to stimulate their needs.

Anything in particular you’re gonna do when you’re back in Singapore?
Meet some beautiful crocodiles and eat pepper crab till the sun rises!

Gilles Peterson’s Worldwide Festival Sessions take place on 27 and 28 August at Zouk. One-day tickets are priced at $30 each (incl. two drinks for all outlets) and two-day tickets are priced at $50 each (incl. four drinks for all outlets). There are no pre-sale tickets. Go to www.worldwidefestival.com and www.zoukclub.com for more.

Text: Min Chen
Image & interview courtesy of: Zouk

Just so you know, the electro beast is still very much alive and well. And in Digitalism’s case, it’s also still worthy of voluminous replays and maybe the odd pogo. Since gaining its nutso following in 2005, the German pair has given us hot little digits like “Zdarlight” and “Idealistic”, and imaginative remixes, before espousing Idealism on their 2007 debut. Granted it’s been a while since Jence and Isi emerged with a new production, they’ve nonetheless been touring the globe with their DJ tags on. We copped an earful at Zouk last month, where Jence and Isi allowed us to hitch this ride.

So what do each of you do exactly in Digitalism?
Jence: You said something good yesterday, what was it?
Isi: Jence cooks and I’m like the food-taster.
Jence: Yeah! I just create ideas and we talk about how we want to continue before we work on something…

What’s one important thing you’ve learnt from Digitalim?
Jence: How to play live! (Laughs) No, when we first started and people put us on as a live acts on festivals, we just didn’t know what to do. We came from a DJ background and now over the years, we’ve managed to turn into this live band that DJs when we’re not playing live. And we’ve taken all of this stuff on board while we’re working on the new album. It’s more about this live aspect than it was before.

And how about a tour of your Hamburg bunker?
Jence: You don’t get to see anything in there – it’s total darkness until you switch the light on. So it’s very isolated and you can do whatever you want in there. Which is pretty inspiring, since you don’t get to see the daily business outside and it doesn’t matter if it’s winter or summer. It’s kind of timeless.

What’s the word on your next album?
Jence: You know, I wanted to make a T-shirt because everyone, including my parents, keeps asking how the album’s going and blah blah… I wanted to make a T-shirt answering all these questions so I don’t have to talk.
Isi: There’s a cool T-shirt that I saw that’s like, “F**k Google, ask me”. But for us, it will be, “Fuck the album, wait”!

The rest of the interview can be read in the August issue of JUICE, available for free at these spots (and for $4 at all major book stores and news stands).

www.thedigitalism.com

Text: Min Chen
Image & interview courtesy of: Zouk

It took just one song, “Wonderful Life” - which obviously grew from the fertile ground between Depeche Mode and The Lexicon of Love - and it’s accompanying video to land Manchester duo Hurts on everyone’s radars, while benefitting the pop world with a cool, sartorial touch and tenor. But more than just a picture of black & white elegance, Theo and Adam have since delivered on yet more synth-pop gems, “Blood, Tears & Gold” and “Better Than Love”. Now, let’s hope they’ve also got their suits pressed, because the big time waits for no one. Here’s Theo with an internal report.

What was the intention behind forming Hurts?
We had been a lot of bands before, but with Hurts, the main intention was to be honest and be who we wanted to be. We like emotional music and we thought that’d be something that’s quite brave to do… And yeah, it was a lot of different things, but Hurts is mostly just a way for us to be us.

Were you surprised at the attention you got on the back of that one song (“Wonderful Life”)?
Yeah, because the whole plan was really to say as much as possible with as little as possible. We didn’t want to give too much information away so we just put out that one song and video. And somehow, people got interested in the mystery of it. But since Hurts is just the two of us, we spend enough time together to not want to do it for other people.

So are you as serious and mysterious as your image would have us think?
No, that’s not us. Oh, maybe slightly, though we’re less exaggerated versions. But at the same time, when you write pop music, you write yourself as a certain kind of person – you’re different. And we’re brave to say that this is who we are. It’s also important that the music is visually represented properly.

The rest of the interview can be found in the August issue of JUICE, available for free at these spots (and for $4 at all major book stores and news stands).

www.informationhurts.com

Text: Min Chen
Image & interview courtesy of: Sony Music

Ellen Allien is just one woman, but in her past two decades on the Berlin techno scene, she’s done enough to merit her own empire. She’s taken on roles from DJ/producer to record label owner (BPitch Control) to fashion designer – on all counts, putting her great taste, sensibilities and confidence to good use. Even amidst a schedule involving her fifth album Dust, her latest fashion collection AND a tour of the world’s clubs, Ellen apparently also manages to find time to make out with her boyfriend… and deliver us the following life tips.

Berlin calling
Berlin has been a big inspiration for me in my mind and heart. When The Wall came down, it was a very huge and critical social movement that really changed my mind. I’m very close to the city because of this and it changed my life in how I see the world, like something could change from one day to another and that you can believe in something. Berlin really taught me a way of life. I could live anywhere else, but Berlin now is the right place to be a DJ and a woman.

A woman in a man’s world
I’ve never had problems as a woman and a DJ in Berlin. Earlier on, I did face some challenges and in other countries as well, but now not so much… because I’m too big! I’ve done too many things!

Planet Dust
On my latest album, I’m singing songs about my life. I wrote the lyrics before I made the music, and the lyrics are about pain, love, meeting my boyfriend in a club… “Sun The Rain” is about falling and getting up, an optimistic feeling. Another track is about an after-hours club in Berlin from where I spun for 38 hours! And another track is about playing in one of my favourite clubs in Barcelona, where I have my residency: how I feel after the party, in a cab going to the airport after sleeping for only a few hours. When you wake up after that, you feel between two worlds, between the sky and the earth… The album’s like a diary of my emotions as a DJ and as a woman, and it’s between daytime and nighttime, I would say.

Between jobs
Of course, I work a lot but everything is about coordination and time management. And any free time I have, I’m kissing my boyfriend!

Read the rest of this interview in the August issue of JUICE, available at these spots (or for $4 at all major bookstores and news stands).

www.ellenallien.de

Text: Min Chen
Image & interview courtesy of: Zouk

Boasting collections as fun and bright as her personality, and pieces as colourful as they are whimsical, it’s hard to miss out on a girl (and label) like Yovia Jogia. Currently a Fashion Communication undergraduate at LaSalle, Yovia busies herself with the occasional styling job and being part of LVMH Visual merchandising team, while also lining up sharp menswear statements for her eponymous label. We got her talking.

What sparked off your interest in fashion?
I can’t think of any better way to express myself other than through fashion. I hope to bring this emotion to everybody through my designs.

Describe YOVIAJOGIA in three words.
Strong, spontaneous and quirky.

Do you have any inspirations that remain constant?
Inspirations come and go. If a particular idea comes, it has to be strong enough to sustain my process of documentation and development.

Why menswear?
I personally find menswear a lot more interesting as compared to women’s. I get to play around with volume, shapes and also inject a tinge of femininity in my collection. But though I designed them specifically for men, my clothes are versatile enough to be styled on females.

Text: Hazel Tan

Deep, trippy and groovy bleeps come as effortlessly to James Zabiela, as do the most gnarly and obscene beats – all of it pushing tech-house into sonic spheres previously unheard of. Until now, of course: James’ work now spans heaps of remixes and encompasses some monster world tours. His stunning mixes for Renaissance have also been cheered on, including the latest one for the Masters Series, entitled Life. James rode Zouk’s decks last month, and just in time for us to approach him with some life-sized questions…

There’s been a lot of good things said of your Renaissance mix, Life…
And I’m really happy with it too. I’m not always happy with the mixes I’ve done, like the first one I liked, but the second one not too much. But this one, I’ve been having a good feeling about it.

Why’s it called Life?
Um, that sort of just came about because Renaissance’s theme for their artwork was Africa. And I thought they were going to put a zebra on the cover or something, so I might as well just call it Life! I also watched a lot of David Attenborough’s Life series documentaries – which inspired Joel Einhornon’s narration – and went around with a microtrak recorder. I decided the mix should be really loose and fluid…

And then you decided to give it all away for free at your shows. Why?
It was just a way of thanking the people who come out to support me. And every time I go out, I always see more people at the shows, but I don’t always see more in CD sales. And since people are going to steal the mix anyway, I thought I should be the one doing it. But my main concern was ensuring the artists on the mix get paid, so we’ve worked hard on the licensing and with the club promoters (who add a pound or a dollar at the door). It’s like a legal loophole, but that allows more people to actually hear the mix.

So what’s your favourite thing about DJ-ing?
It’s just the feeling of being able to share music with people. I’ve always wanted to since I was young – like there’s always a track that I really want people to hear. You know, when you’re young, you make mixtapes… It just comes from that. And it’s great to be able to do it as a job.

Read the rest of this interview in the August issue of JUICE, available at these spots (or for $4 at all major bookstores and news stands).

www.jameszabiela.com

Text: Min Chen
Image and interview courtesy of: Zouk

Many have attempted to define Matthew Dear’s sound, but few have succeeded in cornering his diverse beats into a specific genre. And it is no wonder why the alias-happy DJ requires no less than three outlets (False, Jabberjaw and Audion) to express himself musically. His 2003 debut, Leave Luck to Heaven, was a journey through a sparse funky-house landscape while his second, Asa Breed, was something completely unrelated, incorporating afrobeats, some of Brian Eno’s good stuff and taking it into shape-shifting new heights. After a three-year hiatus, Matthew is back with Black City, which promises to be exactly what the title suggests.

What can we expect from that Black City?
It’s going to be really dark and moody yet somewhat playful. It’s also got a lot of vocals going on so on the whole it’s a really atmospheric experience.

Why have you three pseudonyms (False, Jabberjaw and Audion)? Which one’s the real you?
I’m the real me! (Laughs) The other three are all pretty different, each a whole new entity on its own. Audion’s the dark and sexy one, Jabberjaw is a little eccentric and possibly wonky, while False is sort of like Richie Hawtin’s step-sibling. I also have my own band, Matthew Dear’s Big Hands, which is a full three-piece band that dabbles in electro-indie stuff.

We’re also amazed at how you’re still so spritely about music after sticking around for so long…
There are so many trends and genres around nowadays to the point that it’s easy to lose track, but music sounds a lot better than ever before, with the advent of technology merging with music. I think it can only get better from here.

You tend to revisit artistes such as David Bowie for inspiration. Are you still living in the past?
Yes and no. I get inspired from the past, but I am also actively seeking out components from the present to fit into my music as well. It’s a very organic process that flows very naturally for me.

Read the rest of this interview in the August issue of JUICE, available at these spots (or for $4 at all major bookstores and news stands).

www.matthewdear.com

Text: Fiona Chen
Image & interview courtesy of: Zouk