RS: What's going to be the first single or the first single
being produced, being released from the album?
John Graham (Quivver): Well the first single from the album,"Dancing
in Dark Rooms" was actually released last year so that wasn't a single
from the album at the time. "Surin" was the first single from the
album and that came out in March/April. "Chasin a Feeling" just came
out and then we're going to release "2 Notes 'N' A Beat." We just had
some mixes done of "2 Notes" which are going to be released in a
couple of weeks.
RS: Who did the remixes of "2 Notes"?
John Graham (Quivver): Jay Lumen, Jeff Kazell and Joey Modus, and Jason Short.
RS: Joey Modus did a mix – he's from here in Nashville. How
did he get involved?
John Graham (Quivver): Kazell's been a friend for years, since I first
started coming over to the States maybe like eight to ten years ago.
He wanted to do a mix of Two Notes and then Joey was coming over to
work with him so they decided to do it between them
RS: "Chasin," that's a drum and bass track which kind of takes
you back to your roots.
John Graham (Quivver): Yes, that's what I started out doing years ago
which was called jungle or whatever back in the day, under the name
Skanna. When we started the Quivver project, I was still doing Skanna
at the same time and then gradually the Quivver thing became a lot
more successful and they were getting a lot of remixes and ended up
starting that, so I kind of lost touch with the drum and bass scene a
little bit. I was intending to get back in to it for a long time and
then I just thought since I was doing this album, it was a good time
to maybe try and throw a drum and bass track together.
RS: Another thing that always freaks me about the UK guys is
there's always thirty-five different names. Why is it that you record
so many different names, so many different projects?
John Graham (Quivver): Well at the time, Skanna was originally a drum
and bass project, then I met up with an old friend from school and we
started the Quivver project. Quivver was originally two people and
that was in a different direction and so that was a different project
completely. Then I did one collaboration with my friend in Willesden
and we called that Tilt, and the first single was pretty successful so
we ended up doing ten more singles and a load of remixes as well. So,
most of the different names are just from different collaborations or
whatever.
RS: Boz Boz is your own record label. Why did you start your own label?
RS: What inspired you to start your own record label?
John Graham (Quivver): When record sales went crap about 2000/2001, I
thought there was no point signing a deal with another label just to
give away fifty percent of the profits when they weren't selling any
more than a couple of thousand units anyway. So it made sense
financially for me to start my own label and it was basically the huge
drop in record sales that prompted that.
RS: With the transition to BeatPort and other digital download
sites as the main revenue source, it seems like you really don't need
the label behind you as much.
John Graham (Quivver): No, not at all. It's a lot easier to run the
label these days when you haven't got to worry about dealing with
record stores so much.
RS: Are you touring a lot these days?
John Graham (Quivver): Yes, I did a really big South America tour all
through July and then I'm doing some dates in the States and back in
the UK. I'm going back to Europe next month to do a couple of dates in
Hungary and Russia and the UK. So yes, I'm trying to tour as much as
possible. I've still got a lot of stuff to do in the studio as well
so I'm not out every weekend at the moment but yes, I'm still out
there DJing when I can.
RS: With this album, are you going to tour with you singing in
addition to DJing or is it just going to be strictly a DJ tour?
John Graham (Quivver): No, it's still going to be just a DJ thing. I
don't really feel comfortable with busting out the mic halfway through
a set.
RS: What's next for you after this project?
John Graham (Quivver): Well there's a new single actually, which is
not part of the album, which I've just finished called "Is There
Anybody Out There," which I'm looking to put out in January and to
get some remixes done on that. So that will be the next single after
the album, and I'm working on another album of songs that I've been
doing for years. I'm also working on music for film The Taking of
Pelham 1 2 3. It's a remake of a 70s film, it's about a guy who
hijacks a New York subway train and it stars John Travolta, Denzel
Washington and James Gandolfini.
RS: Anything you want to say to your fans out there?
John Graham (Quivver): Yes, go and buy the album.
RS: And where can they buy the album?
John Graham (Quivver): Beatport, Amazon, and select record stores.
Posted October 13, 2008
