Stockholm's Markus Enochson
is at the cutting edge of a new form of soul music that infuses
classic soul with his techno- and electro-musical influences
and impeccible production skills. Enochson has been an integral
part of the house music culture in Sweden for years and his
own productions like "I Am the Road" and "Feeling
Fine" and collaborations with soul vocalist James Ingram
and the Masters at Work ("Lean on Me") established
Enochson as a leading house music producer. Working within the
underground house music scene, he has an impressive pedigree
as a producer, remixer and a DJ and has a reputation for genre
defying blends in his productions and DJ sets. Not one to rest
on his laurels Enochson's work has evolved and mutated over
the years, from the classic, New York-inspired house of his
first singles to the freer and more unrestrained elctronic-drenched
compositions of today. Enochson is constantly hunting for new
ways of introducing his version of soul. Today he lets his early
rave and techno influences shine through, coupled with broken
beats and R'n'B. This is a big jump and it was an awakening
for Enochson when he realized he could escape from the pattern
he was partly responsible for putting himself in.
With "Night Games"
his full-length debut on sonar kollektiv, Enochson has created
his own unique electro-soul sound. It was Louie Vega from Masters
at Work who came up with the idea of an album a few years ago.
Markus started off the work, but while doing it, he kept getting
new ideas that he didn't know what to do with. The pieces eventually
fell into place resulting in an album of heavy electronics blended
with deep soul, with strong influences from Detroit and 80s
electronic underground dance. "Nite Games" is largely
a reflection of what is happening today. It is a sort of soul-minimalism,
distilled from his years of musical experience. Nite Games is
house, techno, and broken beats woven together in a way that
only Enochson can.
"Nite Games" is the
first step in a new journey of experimentation and discarding
tired music formulas. His recent work which is minimal yet soulful
tech-house includes 'No Only In Sweden/Chord song' under the
Two Guys & A Dog alias and a remix of Demetrius Price "No
Holdin' Back" on Sweden's Raw Fusion label under his new
alias Audiobuff. Enochson is also busy finalizing production
of the full length debut of Cornelia. This is in addition to
his busy schedule as a globe-trotting DJ and in-demand remixer.
Mundovibes was fortunate enough
to catch up with the busy artist for this e-mail interview.
MUNDOVIBES: You
were born in 1975, near the peak of the disco and soul eras.
How strong an impact did this period have on you? What music
do you remember hearing as a child that shaped you?
MARKUS ENOCHSON: At home I was
brought up on more or less on a strict diet of soul music, mostly
ballads. I remeber specifically at an early age being in awe
of Stevie Wonder, Quincy Jones, Thin Lizzy and many more. Since
my father was involed in music for several of my early years
there was a lot of music around, intruments to play and people
playing and singing at home.
MV:
Your uncle was very formative in your childhood exposure to
music and electronics. Tell us about this.
MARKUS: My
uncle had a synth and studio store for many years in Stockholm
and I strongly remember my first visit to this store as a 5-year
old and experiencing a synthesizer for the first time. I was
truly amazed. This is one of my strongest childhood memories
and I truly felt that I wanted to be around synthesizers for
the rest of my life. Later on my uncle had this amazing home
studio with more or less all the goodies you could imagine and
I loved spending time in there when we were visiting them.
MV: We
all know that Marvin Gaye lived in Sweden. Was soul music popular
there?
MARKUS: Traditionally
Sweden is a rock country and I imagine Marvin came cause of
the women... although in Marvin's days it could have been different.
MV: You come
from a musical family, yet you pursued a different sort of musical
career. What made you want to do things diffferentltly
MARKUS: I think any kid wants to form an identity
in polarity of sorts towards your parents. In my way I started
listing to synth, the early body music and techno as my "revolution"
came about.
MV: When were
you first introduced to techno and house music what were your
impressions?
MARKUS: For
me techno and house came to my attention in the early '90s.
I went to raves and had a few live experiences in those early
raves. Cari Lekebush was in a way formentative in my musical
schooling as he showed me some tricks (we're form the same suburb)
and he lent me his id so I could get in underage to parties.
MV: How
did your musical career begin?
MARKUS: I did
a maybe ten live gigs during the period 92-96 and organised
a few parties. My first paid gig was in '96 and I started travelling
as a DJ the year before. Early on in 98-99 I had my first release
('Follow Me'), a vocal house track and I ran with that style
cause that was my first release.
MV: What
was your first DJing experience?
MARKUS: More
or less a disaster of sorts. I had to stand in for a friend
who was double booked. I didn't own turntabels and had just
done the occasional mix for him while he was chatting some girl
up. I remember that I was horrified and nothing went as I wanted
it to. It got better after that.
MV: When
did you realize that you wanted to produce dance music?
MARKUS: I realised
early on that i wanted music to be a part of my life and dance
music was not a term in those days. Eventually I was drawn towards
it because my interest in music and technology so in a sense
it came naturally. Muy soulful upbringing and interest for technology
MV: What
were your first experiences producing music. Did it come easy?
MARKUS: I remember
the first time I had a synth that could record something --
again it was natural.
MV: You
are well established as a DJ. What do your DJ sets encompass?
MARKUS: That's
a very tough question to answer right now. I try not to be linear
these days, I'm tryin to not be held back by myself and my own
ideas of what I think the audience might want and just go with
the flow. I recently started DJing with Serato
and its a godsend for me. I now find what track I want the moment
I know what I want. Before with CDs I was lost by too many pages
of CDs in the case. I still prefer vinyl and I bring what I
have not recorded for a gig that I think I might play. This
leads into the next question and this relefcts what I'm doing
as a producer these days as well as a DJ.
MV: You
have gone from producing classic-sounding house to a much more
varied and more experimental sound with a number of influences.
How and why has your music evolved?
MARKUS: I really
started out DJing and producing techno. House was also a huge
part from the get go and it was within house music I got my
break. In a way you can say that I grew tired of house and all
of its cliches and pastiches. I more or less did music oriented
around the soulful NYC scene for close to ten years and I grew
tired of it. When I started doing my album I realised early
on that it was time for a change. No more live bass, no more
rhodes, at least not for that album. In a way you can say that
the album was the start of something that has continued into
a series of 12"s and what also can become a new electronic
oriented album. I'm more interested these days of exploring
the combination of traditional song structures and electronic
soundscapes as well as al lintrumental electronic tracks. Also
I'm trying to develop other artists and working as a song writer
and producer for others. I'd like to mention Cornelia Dahlgren,
a Swedish gril I'm working with and we are close to finising
her album.
Cornelia Dahlgren
MV: You
have worked with Louis Vega and Kenny Dope of Masters at Work.
How does it feel to be working with them and how did this happen?
MARKUS: I got
to knew one of their bookers, Olli White in London, and we became
friends. This led into the collaboration with James Ingram because
he's been wroking with my father alot so I was sort of a facillitator
and a suggestor for the collab and also a co-writer for the
song "Lean on Me".
MV:
Your full-length album "Night Games" is a mix of styles
and of collaborators. Clearly, you wanted to mix things up.
MARKUS: I mentioned
earlier that I felt that the traditional soulful scene was in
a stand still, and alot of people are still standing. Other
people realised this as well, for instance Louie (Vega) took
to his roots and incorporated a lot of latin types of music
into house and I turned to mine, hence I brought into my soul
music a lot of electronica and early techno feel to it. I more
or less wanted to do electronic music but with a soul sensibility.
I felt that I was searching for something different rather than
repeating some tried and tired formula. The collaborations came
about in a very easy way. All of the people except James Ingram
were living in Stockholm at the time and we are all friends
so it was more of a collektive than anything else.
MV: How
did the songs and collaborators on "Night Games" come
together since you have so many sounds and voices.
MARKUS: Most
of the songs are collaborations between me and the vocalist
where I do the music and they do the lyrics. Sometimes we do
the melody line tothether and at other occasions the vocalist
does it all by themself. Musically I had a few tracks for all
the different vocalists to choose from and I wrote them having
the specific vocalist in mind. I had a clear idea of their vocal
range and style from before since I worked with almost all of
them earlier.
MV: Many
of your songs such as "Endless Dance", "Hear
Me" and "Love is on the Way" and have an uplifting
message. Do you want your music to lift people up?
MARKUS: I try
to think positive even when the chips are down. So I guess it
might shine through. "Hear Me" I wrote the English
phrases and "Endless Dance" me and Jocelyn were very
close with our minds and speaking alot of these issues at the
time.
MV:
" Night Games" has a sound that is both soulful and
techy. How do you balance between the machine and the soul?
MARKUS: I'm
part machine ;)
MV:
What impact do you want your music to have on the listener?
MARKUS: If
i could wish for something it would be that the listener would
try to immerse themselves in the music
MV:
What are the strongest "elements" to your music?
MARKUS: I mean,
its really not me who should answer this, but if I have to say
one thing that I strive for it's in how to combine an electronic
soundscape with traditional songwriting
MV:
Your work with James Ingram is very soulful and solid. Tell
us about working with him. Are you a fan of his?
MARKUS: I'm
a huge fan and I grew up with his music. My father Lars and
him have done a few collaborations. It would be very har d to
do somtheing unsoulful with James cause he's a very inspired
and soulful man. In a way I'm blessed to have been part of his
musical life and I've learned a great deal from him
MV:
What is your approach to remixes? Do you totally reconstruct
a song? What do you set out to do?
MARKUS: In
my opinion a good remix is a remix that truly takes the track
in a different direction and makes it into something completely
new. Remixes today are more often than not shit, I haven't heard
a good remix on a R&B track in many many years. In a way
I feel that the remixer should try to accomplish to make the
song/track his/her own and then reproduce the song so it feels
like an original.
MV: How
would you describe the music you are producing now?
MARKUS: Experimental
music. I was shackled by myself for so many years and I never
want to be in that situation again. It's almost like I wanna
be changing the script every other production tese days.
MV: You
have a strong interest in technology. How does this affect your
music?
MARKUS: I'm
constantly learning about new technology and old. So, in a way
I never want to stand still. Even if it's a mic techniquie for
kick drums or the latest plug-in I want to be on top of things
and during the years this has been my motto in studios. I never
was afraid to ask in these situations.
MV: What
are some of the irreplaceable tools you use to create your music?
MARKUS: Well,
I have to list a few things. The didrick de geer micrphone.
All of the vocals on the album, indeed all of the vocals I've
recorded since I got this microphone have been done with this
baby. It's truly amazing, built by a more or less fanatic guy
starting out with the capsule of the akg c12. Also, for drum
i use the mpc 60 mk II most of the time. I use logic as a daw
controling protools hd interface. Nils, my dog, is my constant
companion in the studio
MV: What
trends do you see on the horizon for dance music? What is inspiring
you?
MARKUS: Dance
music as well as all music has alot ahead in the terms of reorganizing
the business structures to fit today's community. Musically
I think today are really inspiring times. In a way I imagine
that house and techno has never been as close in 15 years or
more. This is truly inspiring.
MV: You've
been working with Chicago's Still Music with "The two guys
and a dog ep". Tell us about this.
MARKUS: "two
guys and a dog" are part of five guys and a dog which is
a way of naming all of us working in our studio complex. We
are doing different combinations and collaborations working
under this guise. We also have a myspace site and are doing
a few collaborative DJ sets and future releases and co-productions
and possibly a label. There is a future two guys and a dog ep
on miso music very soon.
Two Guys and a Dog ep (Still Music)
MV: What
projects are you involved with now?
MARKUS: Well,
finsihin g the album of Cornelia, a remix for tiger stripes,
the awa track is a part of tronic jams ep 1 on deeply rooted,
soon cpt beard is coming out on raw fusion and a secret bootleg
track that i'm sure will make some impact;)
Markus
Enochson website
Markus
Enochson myspace
Cornelia
Dahlgren website
Complete
Discography of Markus Enochson
Sonar
Kollektiv
Still
Music
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