RS:: So what kind of house do you think the girls go for?
Dennis Ferrer: I mean like I said, there's a time and a place for
everything. When I have too many of those records I think I've put
out, then I do a deep record to keep the natives from getting
restless. I think girl records have to touch upon an emotion or a
memory, that's the biggest thing. That's what's lacking in a lot of
our dance records is that nobody knows how to write and touch upon a
memory or an emotion. It's very difficult to do but those records that
had a theme really touched us.
RS:: That makes sense. Dance music is almost a machine where a
guy DJ makes the beats and then a girls is called in to write the top
line and sing. There's almost a disassociation there.
Dennis Ferrer: I think that's the problem with a lot of producers,
they just expect the magic to happen like boom, out of thin air. They
depend on a singer to write and not a lot of singers can write - just
because you can sing doesn't mean you can write. A lot of producers
just sit there and figure oh well, the singer's writing it. No dude,
you've just disassociated yourself from the whole project and you're
just a beatmaker. Nowadays you have to be more of a
producer/songwriter and follow the project through to make sure that
the vision that you had for the song comes through.
RS:: So this album with 11 songs, how long did it take you to
make the whole album from start to finish?
Dennis Ferrer: I've got a hard drive full of so many songs. These
were just songs that I pulled out to work on, my favorite ones. I make
things but sometimes it's just not the right time to release it.
Whether it's because it's stylistically the wrong time or because
that's not where I think I have to go for that moment in time and I
hold on to them. Church Lady is over two and half years old but it
wasn't the right time for that record. Louis was doing the really
percussive stuff and the percussion stuff was really big still. Once
I did "Most Precious Love" and all those other records, it was just
the right time.
RS:: Well, dance music is definitely of the moment. Where do you
see dance music going right now with most particularly the house music
you like?
Dennis Ferrer: Dance music's always evolving and it never stands too
still because everyone's always looking for the next angle and next
edge. This holds true for all kinds of music in reality, but dance
music seems to really go through this cycle very quickly. Right now
we're at that techy edge but that cycle is going to be done pretty
soon too. I think people just have to continue to push boundaries and
try new things. I loved it when we did African and we meshed it with
house. I loved it when we did Brazilian and we meshed it with house.
I think as long as you stay true to knowing who you are - you're a
dance music producer and you make the records for clubs - as long as
you can stay tuned to that thought then you make and mix anything with
anything. It'll make sense as long as it's not cheating and you're
staying true to yourself. I don't know where it's going to go,
because I don't know where I'm going myself.
RS:: You've worked with lots of vocalists over the years, is
there a vocalist out there that you'd like to work with that you
haven't yet?
Dennis Ferrer: No. I'm not big on using big names and stuff as I
can make a song regardless of who's singing it. To me it's about the
song and I use vocalists like instruments. You're not going to use a
horn where there's a violin needed. So for me, I just use vocalists
that kind of fit what I'm looking for and fit into a certain song I'm
working on. So the other way around, I've got to write a song with a
known vocalist and then try to fit a song to it. No, I don't like
that. I prefer to use a vocalist like an instrument, like somebody
would use a bass, use a guitar. That's what I'm looking for.
RS:: When you're working in your studio are you working in Logic
or ProTools?
Dennis Ferrer: I use Nuendo, the ProTools killer.
RS:: Is it mostly soft synths or using outboard gear?
Dennis Ferrer: I use outboard gear too. My favorite piece is the
Neve 1064 Mic Pre.
RS:: As a DJ, are you playing out a lot these days?
Dennis Ferrer: Yes, every weekend.
RS:: Do you use your live gigs as sort of a road test for new music?
Dennis Ferrer: Yes. I pretty much don't like playing my own stuff
but I will play something I'm working on maybe once in a while.
Although I know people come to see me and want to hear the songs I've
done, but after you've heard your song two thousand times in the
studio you're just about done with it. If you would have asked me
about five years ago if I preferred DJing or producing, I would have
said producing one hundred percent. But as I've grown into this I've
noticed that you need both. It's one thing to be in the studio and
imagining a crowd and another thing to be watching them react to a
certain beat, a certain sound, a certain break. These are things that
nobody can teach you.
RS:: Anything you want to say to all your fans out there?
Dennis Ferrer: A big thank you. Lots of love and a big thank you
from the crew here at Objektivity. I feel really blessed that
everybody's enjoying this album. I've got a new album coming up
pretty soon too, so be on the look out for that. I really don't know
what to say, it's just I've been blessed and it's because of y'all.
