RS: How did you get started making compilation CDs?
JM: I received a weird phone call from someone writing liner notes at Rhino Records to review a list of songs a DJ had selected for their first ever gay circuit compilation. I told them that the tracks were more club music than circuit music (in those days there was a BIG difference between the two, unlike today). Apparently the people involved in the project agreed with my opinion and asked me to mix Circuit Party Spins. I had met Nick DeBiase through some mutual friends. He just phoned me up one day and told me he was starting a record company and asked if I wanted to mix compilation CDs for him. That's it.
RS: How many mixed CDs do you have out? How do you compile your mixed CDs?
JM: I have 18 mixed CD's. I bet that's a record for licensed CDs. It's hard to get licenses, so I basically hand in a list of every song I have liked to DJ with since the last compilation. That could be anywhere from about 30 to 80 tracks. We usually get approval for about 20 to 25 of those. I then make my final choice of about 11 to 13 tracks that appear on the final product. I actually mix the CDs using a software program called Wavelab. Some mixes I can do totally on the computer. Other mixes I do live. It depends on the rhythms of the tracks involved.
RS: How did you get started remixing?
JM: I got asked to do my first remix at the Winter Music Conference in 1996. Some guy sat down at my table and just asked if I wanted to do a remix. I didn't know how to do music production, and he didn't care. I said fine and the rest is history.
RS: How do you approach a remix as opposed to an original track?
JM: I like a remix to sound as close to the original as possible. I don't like to change the chords too much, and I like to use as much of the vocals as possible. I don't think it's my job to rewrite the song.
RS: What did it feel like when you first heard you remix being played by another DJ?
JM: I heard Dolly Parton's cover of "Peace Train" being played a T-Dance in Provincetown. I went right up to the DJ and freaked out!
RS: On the radio?
JM: I just didn't believe it. It was totally unreal that something I did on my home computer was being heard by thousands of people. I feel the same way about my compilations.
RS: What's your favorite unreleased remix that you have done?
JM: Taylor Dayne's "How Many." Everyone else did a hard house mix. I did a really pretty mix. It wasn't approved. I think there were about 15 hard mixes on the CD single. So much for variety!
RS: Is there an artist you would like to remix but haven't?
JM: I honestly can't say there is any one artist. I'm very honored to be asked by anyone to do a remix no matter how big the artist is.
RS: What has been your most difficult remix to do?
JM: "You'll Never Stand Alone" by Whitney Houston. The original was done at around 95 beats per minute. When I timestretched her vocals, she sounded like a chipmunk. One of Tony Moran's engineers showed me how to lay the original vocal on top to hide the sped-up vibrato. It took hours to do. At the same time, Hosh Gureli left Arista and the project got canceled!
RS: What projects are you working on right now?
JM: I'm about to start a remix of "Dreamer" with the original vocals by Livin' Joy's Janice Robinson. Janice just had a baby and wants to start touring again. I'm friends with her manager and I volunteered to do the mix. I've done 7 remixes in the past four months. They are all listed on my website www.julianmarsh.com.
Julian Marsh's new mixed CD Motorball Volume 2 is out on Centaur Records (www.centaurmusic.com) and features his original production of Pepper Mashay's "Lord Have Mercy" and his remix of Abigail's "Falling." For more information about Julian Marsh, check out his website www.julianmarsh.com
