RS: So you never envisioned yourself as a pop star?
Iason Chronis (Mason): No, we make electronic music. I'm a DJ and a
guess that is sort of being a pop star. When I was thirteen and
playing in a band it was a dream but it certainly turned out a
different way. Exceeder was never planned, it just happened.
Coen Berrier (Mason): No, but obviously we listened to a lot of pop
music growing up, and I think that's something that's always in the
back of your mind, something which you use – like the music you know,
and the music you come across, you use it in the way you make music.
There's always a little something there that comes from a club
background, like in the 80s. So I think it's been influenced a little
bit with pop.
RS: Were you involved at all with the making of the video?
Iason Chronis (Mason): No.
RS: Was the video what you'd imagined your video would be?
Iason Chronis (Mason): Well, we knew that when we gave them the green
light to do the mash up thing, it was a little bit out of our hands,
and it was fine. I think the amazing fans know what our sound is
about, and they knew how this came about. It was just a mash up of a
couple of gigs.
RS: Since then you've done some really big mixes, like on the Don
Diablo record.
Iason Chronis (Mason): Yes, we did that one and I think maybe about
twenty remixes last year, so we've been very busy with that.
RS: How do you maintain DJing and also remixing so many records?
Iason Chronis (Mason): It is a little hard. For instance, this
summer we weren't very productive because of all the playing. But
right now, for instance, I limit my playing until the weekends, so
during the week we can be together in the studio, and obviously
working together helps.
Coen Berrier (Mason): We have so many ideas, we're bursting,
overflowing, so we're always glad to take on a remix and maybe do
something a little different, something we wouldn't do in a record
we'd put out ourselves.
RS: What are some remixes you're working on right now?
Iason Chronis (Mason): At the moment we're doing a remix for Skint,
the UK label, for Gutterpmp by Noisia. It was a big breakbeat record
last year, and they're going to make it into a commercial track. They
want a remix from us, so that's what we're doing. But I think
afterwards we're going to limit the remixing for a while because I
think we've done enough. We want to save time for more Male tracks.
RS: So you have an artist album coming out in 2008 apparently.
Iason Chronis (Mason): Yes, it's going on a bit, but it's getting there.
RS: And what kind of direction will this CD be?
Iason Chronis (Mason): It will be very melodic, pretty poppy. I think
there's a lot of house influence in there, so it's pretty soft, music
to listen to. I think there are only five or six real dance DJ tools,
and the rest are all tracks to listen to at home or in the car. I
think it's friendly.
RS: You just releases a CD called "5 Years of Electronation."
What's the story behind that CD?
Iason Chronis (Mason): It's a mixed CD. I'm the resident DJ at
Electro Nation. It's in Holland, probably the biggest club, doing
electro and techno. I've been their resident for a long time, and
they're celebrating their five-year anniversary. I got the honor of
doing the mix, which is great because it's really nice to find the
perfect mix, what you really want to bring out.
RS: Is it harder to mix for a CD than for a live crowd?
Iason Chronis (Mason): Well, a live crowd is a spontaneous thing.
It's just created on the spot. But the thing with making mixes –
probably DJs have too many records to choose from. So it was kind of a
mind breaker to think about what will suit me, but will also suit the
sound of Electro Nation. And it still should be fresh, with records
that people probably won't know. So it took me a while to figure it
out, but I'm happy with the choices.
Coen Berrier (Mason): Of course it's always nice to do exactly what
you want to do. A performance in front of a crowd is more what music
is about, your musical performance on a stage. The minute you get off
the stage, the performance has gone. It's like a one-off thing, and
it's really nice. But the mixing is more like a painting. You hang it
on the wall, and you look at it later, and say, "Hey, that's where we
were back then." That's also nice, and I think both are good.
Iason Chronis (Mason): I think also, with the mix CD, you have
complete freedom, because you don't have the crowd reacting. A DJ set
will change and adjust all the time.
