RS: Rock’s definitely a big flavor of your work but I’ve also noticed a lot of 80s influence. You’ve remixed a lot of 80s classics like “Mickey,” “ Der Komissar,” and “I Ran.” I’ve got to ask you, are there any other 80s records you’d like to take a shot at?
Nevins: I am working with Devo and Duran Duran right now, directly with the bands. I just finished a remix for Duran Duran called “Sunrise” that’s from a new project they’re working on and will be on the Queer Eye For the Straight Guy soundtrack. I also did an original record with Duran Duran which will be a Jason Nevins and Duran Duran record, and might be a Coca-Cola campaign for one of the big European soccer tournaments.
RS: Also in that 80s slant, what inspired the Michael Jackson sample for you’re “I’m in Heaven” record?
Nevins: No, believe it or not, there was a bootleg that was floating around that I loved, and they did a similar thing. I got the idea basically from that bootleg and I re-did it and recreated the whole thing and then wrote the lyrics myself. I came up with the whole thing, producing and engineering it from start to finish. It was a white label thing that I found and I turned it into something authentic and legitimate.
RS: So you wrote the song and then you found the singer for it?
Nevins: I was working with a local singer who did the original vocal, and I finished the track and I loved it. When the label wanted it, they basically asked if they could use their vocalist, which is Holly, and we met up and I heard her vocals and I said cool, let’s do this.
RS: That’s cool. She looks great in that video.
Nevins: Oh yes, not bad, she’s really nice, a very pretty girl and a really good singer as well.
RS: Where did the UKNY name came from?
Nevins: I made that up. They asked me for a name and I said hey, I’m New York, she’s British, how about UKNY?
RS: Speaking about pop tarts, your mix of “Put The Needle On It” is probably one of my most favorite records of the past two years. That also has sort of that rock feel to it, it’s just an insane mix. When you got that record, what inspired you to add the male vocals and to put so much in to it?
Nevins: Those male vocals are actually me. Just as I was going, it I felt like it could use something a little extra. The only person I know that has done that in the past is Roger Sanchez, he’s sometimes thrown his own vocal on remixes. It was a long time ago that he used to do that and I think that’s where I got my influence on that from. But to me it’s a lot of fun to take a remix and then start throwing something completely originally vocally on top of it, and although I’m not the greatest singer, I can come up with these cool little vocal things. I tweak the vocal, make it sound really cool and turn it into something else. Obviously you’ve noticed, which I don’t know if many people have, that it’s an additional vocal, it’s not really part of the song. So it just gives it a different twist and it makes it more of my record rather than just a solid remix.
RS: Congratulations, that was an incredible remix. Well, let’s talk a little bit about your production. You’re working on an album right now of original production for Radikal, what direction is that going in?
Nevins: To be honest with you, I don’t know. I did that record for Radikal Records and I signed with them as an artist three years ago, and they still haven’t put the record out.
So, I don’t know what’s going on with that to be honest with you, I don’t know when it’s being released. It’s an older project and it really does not reflect anything that I’m doing now.
Obviously I delivered an entire album and I’m not going to re-do the entire album, so it’s kind of a catch twenty-two.
RS: May I ask what genre that album is, is it more disco-y or,,,?
Nevins: No, it’s actually more I would say hard house, more hard house/techno trance type of thing.
RS: Hard house in the UK definition, not the US definition?
Nevins: I think so, in the UK definition hard house, I don’t really know. I mean there are so many clarifications and descriptions of what each style is, I don’t know what’s what anymore. So I just listen to everybody else and let them tell me what it is, I don’t tell anybody what I do, I let them tell me. But, I would say it’s more along the lines of the UK hard house trance scene.
RS: That would make sense, being on Radikal, like the Voodoo Serrano kind of direction.
Nevins: Exactly, it really fits in the format of Radikal’s sound. It does fit in with their vibe and sound, with the Voodoo and Serrano/Paffendorf style.
RS: In the studio, what’s your favorite piece of gear right now?
Nevins: Actually two pieces, the Korg Electribe MX and the Korg Microkorg