Munich-based DJ and producer, Christian Prommer, has been at the forefront of the jazz, techno and house scene for pretty damn long and is doing a stellar job. After a long stint in the electronic music scene with nu-jazz outfits, Fauna Flash and Truby Trio, Christian rediscovered his drumming roots and has since worked with a couple of professional musicians to perform and record epic house and techno tunes in jazz arrangements, releasing two albums – Drumlesson 1 and Drumlesson Zwei – just for the cause.

Drumlesson 1 was a fantastic album. What inspired you to remake house and techno tunes using live jazz instrumentation and arrangement?
I started off making music with drums but I left it in the ’90s and went on to program dance tracks. Then not too long ago, I decided to go back to my instrument and see what happens: that was after DJ-ing in Japan and playing ’60s jazz records next to Detroit techno. I noticed the arrangements of both genres were almost the same and there was synergy. It was that night that I also rediscovered “Strings Of Life” again and then I met this amazing piano player and everything just came together. The recording was done but left around for two years until the Jazzanova guys went crazy about it after I dropped the track at one DJ gig. A single was released for it and it did well. Then the rest happened…

You must be really happy now, to be able to go back to your musical roots of drumming.
I am really happy. Your mind progresses and you are a different player not because you practice more but because you look at music differently. Same with DJ-ing and remixing because I am still learning even after 15 years. That’s why I call it Drumlesson. I am still learning from the musicians that play with me and I am still a student in my field. The more you know, the less you know.

Read the rest of this interview in the June issue of JUICE, now available at these spots (and at all major book stores and news stands for $4).

www.myspace.com/christianprommer

Text: Wayne Lee
Image and interview courtesy of: Zouk

Between them, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Beck share enough individual accomplishments to last a few lifetimes: the French chanteuse’s been heaped with acting awards and musical plaudits galore (her dad’s name is Serge, after all), while the other guy is your resident musical genius, responsible for one shit hot, multi-styled body of work. And now, here they are, pooling together those resources for IRM, on which Beck writes and Charlotte sings songs of death, heartbreak and hell. Yes, these two apparently share more than just accolades, but also, some pretty sweet rapport. But we’ll let Charlotte and Beck take it from here…

So how did you two hook up?
Charlotte Gainsbourg: After my last album 5:55, I wanted to go in a different direction and surprise myself. I’ve wanted to work with Beck for a very long time. And together we formed a real working chemistry.

And how did you stumble upon that chemistry?
Beck: The initial process was to try and feel my way through the dark until we both found something that had a resonance to it. I’d talk to her about what she was thinking until there was an osmosis between us. Just being in her presence and feeling her personality would influence the way I wrote the songs for her. The whole idea was that I would be a conduit to make something that felt like her.

Sounds like you got to know each other pretty well…
CG: Beck never once “directed” me. The sessions were more like a workshop with things happening all the time and we were reacting spontaneously to them. He was so enthusiastic that he made me feel more confident about myself.
B: She’s finding her own voice now and learning more about the whole process of making music. I think she’s really got a lot to offer the music world. There are all kinds of layers to any person – but definitely to Charlotte Gainsbourg. She’s very rare.

You can read the rest of this interview in the June issue of JUICE that’s on sale right now (only $4!) at all major book stores and news stands.

www.charlottegainsbourg.com

Text: Min Chen
Image and interview courtesy of: Warner Music

Not just the ethereal frontman of Icelandic post-rockers Sigur Rós, or the pensive half of Riceboy Sleeps, Jónsi Birgisson, it turns out, also has a wild side. And you can learn all about it on his solo debut, Go, a multi-coloured and extravagant wonderland of strings, falsettos, stomping percussion and pop choruses, all of it taking wing alongside Nico Muhly’s arrangements and Jónsi’s own ecclesiastical delivery. Spectacular stuff that apparently, is also fierce to annoy the neighbours, or so says Jónsi…

So how did you get started on Go?
It was easy to get the album going. For some weird reason, we stopped getting newspapers sent to my house. I also have no television and I don’t listen to the radio, so I got blocked out from the world a little bit. It was quite nice. It was good to have a break from everyday atrocities whilst recording the album.

The album sounds really detailed and intricate.
Yes, there are a lot of layers, details and a lot of stuff happening… I did a lot of overdubs in my apartment in Reykjavik: I sang all the vocals in my living room, in my kitchen. Alex and I also did a lot of samples, handclaps, stomping and stuff at my home.

Did your neighbours enjoy that?
Usually people in Iceland like Sigur Rós, but I’m probably neighbours with the only person in Iceland who hates me, my voice and what I do. I can’t do anything at home! He stomps the floor like crazy, but it’s funny. As soon as I start playing piano or singing, he cranks up Barry White or Justin Timberlake! I can hear it through the floorboards so I have to stop making music. But I’m moving soon, so that’s good.

Neat. And finally, will you leave us with a powerful message?
Everything you do in life is definitely connected to the way you think. The thoughts you have in your heads are projected on the environment, and in what you do and how you live. I’m a quite positive guy and I think if you think positive then, “the force is with you”, basically.

The rest of the interview is in your June issue of JUICE, out now at these spots.

www.jonsi.com

Text: Min Chen
Image Photographer: Lilja Birgisdottir
Illustrator: Inga Birgisdottir
Interview courtesy of: Warner Music

Gentlemen, welcome to your Topman summer: the sun is out, the grass is green and the air is crisp with style. Indeed, fit for both the street and the summer festival, Topman is outdoing itself with yet another hot and chic season. Comfort and play come together in a heatwave of loose cuts, light fabrics and friendly shades – all of which as easy on the eye as on the shoulders. So don’t sweat the small stuff – roll-up those pant legs, stick on those sunglasses, lay back and play it cool, because with clobber like this, you sure are.

The Topman High Summer collection is now in-stores at ION Orchard, Wisma Atria, Bugis Junction, Marina Square, Parkway Parade, Raffles City Shopping Centre, Tampines 1 Mall and VivoCity.

Be fashion forward! Simply spend $150 nett in a single receipt to become an F3 member and enjoy year-long perks!

www.topman.com

Photography: Ivanho Harlim & Shysilia Novita
Styling: Min Chen
Assistant: Hazel Tan
Models: Eric B and Zdanek Z [ave]

Warren Fischer and Casey Spooner make music, dance, fashion, film and photography under the moniker, Fischerspooner and do it like sex on legs. Fusing fine art and pop culture into one tasty blend, these geniuses present their craft in different spaces around the world, from art galleries to concert halls to seedy clubs and once made the genre of electroclash (wonder what happened to that?) a big thing. With sold-out shows around the globe, it was a nice to have Casey down for a DJ set at Zouk for its 19th Anniversary party and also for a chat with us.

Why the four year gap between your last album and your latest one, Entertainment?
It just takes us a long time, two years to get a record out, typically. We finished Odyssey and then I worked with The Wooster Group on their production for Hamlet and was really busy with that. And I only could just start writing for Entertainment right after I was done with all that. There was also a delay due to the turmoil in the music business. It was like two years of business - that’s what takes up a lot of time. I would like to work faster.

Does Entertainment have an underlying theme? And if so, can we consider it a concept album?
Warren thinks its one of the most consistent lyrical writing I have ever done and how it worked was that I generated lots of snippets and gave it to him and he’d pick and choose the ideas he wanted. He’d curate everything I was working on and he was the one who was seeing all this thematic things coming together. On this record Shakespeare taught me that it’s really exciting when you can have rhythm and form and rhyme and get across an idea. And if you can combine the formal and the conceptual together, it works.

For the benefit of our untrained eyes, could you give us a description of your new live show (titled Between Worlds) and how it ties in with the album?
For this show, I wanted to make something more enigmatic – mysterious in a way that even I wouldn’t understand what it meant. It has lots of dance and lots of videos. We videotaped every rehearsal since day one and that material is in the show. So you see us going through the process of building the show, in the show. I wanted to do a performance that could work for a depressed economy so we embraced a raw and stripped down aesthetic.

After 12 years of working together, has your working dynamic changed?
It’s different because we’re busier. When we first started, we didn’t have anything to do and we’d just hang out and talk and work. Now we are very busy and we have completely separate lives so we don’t have the kind of time we used to have. In a way, we don’t need the time that we used to have because it’s like a relationship where once you know somebody that well (creatively), you don’t need to have lengthy discussions. We can work more quickly with less communication.

Read the full interview in your free June issue of JUICE, now out at these spots.

www.fischerspooner.com

Text: Wayne Lee
Image and interview courtesy of: Zouk

It all started with a move to London (doesn’t everything?) in the ‘90s for Macedonian pals Marjan Pejoski and Sasko Bezovski. There, invigorated by English couture, streets and air, the duo birthed KTZ, the label that’s been all of colour-mad, print-demented, cut-crazy and fashion-frank – not for one moment will you be bored. Now more than a decade old, KTZ counts the likes of Lady Gaga and La Roux as part of its cult, as its imaginative and individual vision endures into its Spring/Summer ’10 range – where the tribes of Papua New Guinea meet Studio 54 (who wudda thunk it!). As the collection made its way down the recent Audi Fashion Festival catwalk and into the Blueprint Emporium, we joined Sasko on the KTZ playground…

Are you happy with how far KTZ has come so far?
Yes, thanks to people like Lady Gaga and Björk, we’re getting a lot of followers and I feel confident that we’re in a good direction. We want to bring some more colour and variety into people’s wardrobes ‘cos at the moment, I feel the young generation is really missing that. That element of fun is always in our collections.

And we’re noticing a fusion of tribal and futuristic elements on your latest one…
That’s a good description! The inspiration came from the tribes in Papua New Guinea and we wove that into the modern world. We took the Papuans’ jewellery, look and make-up, and brought it into the world of Studio 54, New York. It’s this interesting vision, like Grace Jones goes to Papua New Guinea. The key aspect has always been fun, which is really what makes us different.

KTZ for the future…
We just want to keep things as playful as possible and keep bringing it closer to the younger audience, especially the one JUICE caters for. We always bear in mind this youthfulness to keep it fresh in every season. So we’re always learning.

Read on and see more of KTZ’s latest collection in the June issue of JUICE, now out at all these spots.

www.kokontozai.co.uk

Text: Min Chen
Images and interview courtesy of: AFF and Blueprint

You may know this guy from The Beta Band, or King Biscuit Time, or Black Affair, but right now, Steve Mason just wants to be known as Steve Mason. He’s cutting back on all the crap and instead, is plainly and honestly offering his solo debut, Boys Outside. On it, the sound is stripped back, his voice is intimate and as always, his songwriting is excellent - surely it’ll move some part of you. Here’s what Steve had to say about it when we last spoke…

Hello Steve, how are you keeping?
Well, I have a documentary crew filming this interview right now! I have a camera in my face and I feel like a superstar!

Wow, are you gonna come across as one?
I might come across as a real tyrant and bastard! (Laughs)

Oh, come on. We know you’re good, like your solo debut. Intentions for that?
I think I wanted to make a record that was much more than what I was known for and that had modern kind of elements. It’s a step forward from what I had done before, definitely more poppy and instant, but hopefully with a bit of depth and emotion in lyrics…

Why’s this one released under your own name? Is this the REAL Steve Mason we’re hearing?
Um… I think I just had enough of different kinds of names and projects and stuff. There was a time a couple years ago when I had a thousand MySpace accounts, different names and different styles… and I just had enough of that. It just confuses people and no one hears what you’re doing. I just wanted to be me and to do honest album.

It does sound really hopeful and uplifting…
Yeah, I think there are parts of it that are quite sad, but you still want people to go away from the record feeling uplifting.

How did Richard X end up producing for you? It seems like an odd combo.
I think I always wanted to work with a pop producer even from Beta Band days. I always try to put leftfield music together with pop elements. So instead of being 10 minutes long, a song could be three minutes long and loads of people would like it. And the music I make now isn’t as crazy and experimental, but I still like the idea of someone experimenting in a pop format. Also, the last two records were produced by myself and I don’t like to produce myself - I’d rather concentrate on the music.

And do you reckon your songwriting process has changed since The Beta Band?
I don’t really know. I think it must’ve done but I don’t really know how. I’m older now so I like to think that I’ve matured a bit. So maybe it’s just that I’m a bit more grey around the edges!

www.stevemasontheartist.com

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

Simon Rix, he who plays a mean bass guitar for Kaiser Chiefs, was in town just a while ago to helm the decks of Home Club. Before that happened though, we did a little research on Simon, only to find that his Wikipedia entry is, sadly, a stub. Yes, info on this dude is scarce, but never you all mind. JUICE to the rescue: we caught up with Simon and got him to fatten us up on knowledge, so now, his Wikipedia page can look something like this -

www.kaiserchiefs.co.uk

Text: Min Chen
Interview courtesy of: Home Club

Placebo has been around: 15 years and six albums – interspersed by line-up changes, drugs, eyeliner and hit-making – are testament to that. But no, Brian Molko and co. aren’t currently lolling about their rock star mansions and toasting themselves; instead, Placebo remains a highly functional, recording and touring outfit with its feet still planted in musical ground. And how do they do it? Bassist Stefan Olsdal tells all.

Are you happy with your latest Battle For The Sun?
Yes, I am. I think we accomplished what we wanted to do, which was to make a big guitar record and something that offered up a bit more hope than the previous record, which was quite a dark record. And it was much more focused making it, ‘cos we did the whole thing in two months when previously, we’ve been known to spend up to nine months on a record… which can drive you insane!

What keeps the band motivated after 15 long years?
Well, this is kind of our ticket, you know? It’s a relationship that’s still working for Brian and me. There’s still that ambition to write better songs and keep on developing – there’s always that niggling feeling that there’s more to be done. And I suppose as long as that’s there with us and we’re not getting stagnant, we’ll keep on doing it.

Lastly: what do you reckon keeps Placebo together?
The blood that pumps through our veins! (Laughs) Well, I supposed my relationship with Brian. We started out quite young so we didn’t really have many responsibilities and we were quite naïve in our ambitions. Obviously, a lot of that’s changed in terms of our lifestyles, personal situations and in the line-ups, but the core is still there. It’s such a big part of our lives that I can’t see my life without it right now.

The rest of the interview is in your May issue of JUICE, now out at these spots.

www.placeboworld.co.uk

Text: Min Chen
Interview courtesy of: Riverman Bangkok

SAY WHAT?
Having been spitting beats since the age of six, Killa Kela’s all about spreading the good vibe on beatboxing – so far, he’s done stints with the Scratch Perverts and Rock Steady Crew, been championed by Pharrell Williams, and released countless mixtapes and albums (Amplified is his latest) to much love. And for his rock solid chops and spirit, Kela’s often acknowledged as the world’s finest beatboxer – and damn straight too. But we’ll let him take it from here…

Tell us how you got round to beatboxing.
I started when I was really young. It was one of the first things I did and it was quite habitual as well, ‘cos I was just doing it around the house when I was six or seven. I would copy my dad who played the drums and it wasn’t really a musical thing – it was just a habit. I guess it just found me…

And what was beatboxing’s appeal for you?
I’ll be honest with you: its appeal is knowing that I can do it and that I’ve got a talent. I never aspired to be anything, although I was tenacious and hungry and I wanted to do something. I got into hip hop when I was only about 11 or 12 and for me, rapping was too competitive ‘cos you had to have a certain talent. Then there’s DJ-ing, where you had to spend money on equipment. Graffiti: I loved it and I did it for a bit but it was too dangerous – ha! And the breakdancing… I used to eat too many burgers! Beatboxing was something I could do that got me accepted in a world that I loved, so that was it.

Let’s also talk your newest album, Amplified – what were your intentions?
Amplified is a departure from what people might think of me as a beatboxer. I always describe what I do as multi-vocal because I adapt the beatbox to other disciplines, so when I went in to do Amplified, I just wanted to be honest in the songwriting, vocalling and sound effects. And at the end of the day, it’s just gotta be good music. I’m just really proud to present something that I can call my own.

Kinda like putting beatboxing in the spotlight?
Yeah! I remember back when I was first starting in the UK, kids would always walk away from shows saying, “That band was good and those records were good… oh and remember that beatboxer?” They never remember my name! It took me ages to develop my name as a beatboxer but now, I have a definitive live show to introduce a new generation to something different in beatboxing.

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

www.killakela.com

Text: Min Chen
Photography: Roy Lim
Interview and photo-op courtesy of: Zirca