Emmerald: What's the story of "Dust"? Did you have any idea that it would blow everyone away as it has? What do you think is
the thing about the song that captures the collective
attention?
Recloose: "Dust" is the track that exemplifies this album
in the sense that we took two very different sounds
and somehow got them to work together really well, as I was saying before. It is a New Zealand/Detroit hybrid and I think to most
people it's the kind of tune that is different but still makes you want to dance.
Emmerald: What are you tour plans to promote "Hiatus?"
Recloose: We are currently touring a live band here in New
Zealand and the response has been really positive. All the music has translated well into this band, even the old Detroit joints. It helps having some really smoking musicians! I'm also doing some DJ gigs in Japan and the states this fall. We're really trying now to coordinate live tours for Australia, Europe, Japan, and North America. We'll have more news of it posted on my soon-to-be-launched website-
www.recloose.com.
Emmerald: What remixes, projects, new albums are in the
works for you?
Recloose: The main focus is continuing with the live band, but I'm also working on new music for the next album. Quite a bit of it should feature Justin Chapman and Genevieve Marentette who contributed to songs from "Cardiology" and also appear on "Landed" from "Hiatus." These tunes hark back to a month-long session we did in New Zealand awhile back that resulted in some great collaborations among the three of us and the local scene. Also, I just finished remixes for Mark De Clive-Lowe and Bakura as well as a collaboration with Brownstudy aka Jason Hogans, my old buddy from Detroit.
Emmerald: Your past music efforts have sometimes been more sample based. Did you rely heavily on sampling for "Hiatus?"
Recloose: I still used a decent amount of samples but didn't have to rely so heavily on finding things from records due in large part to the musicians I had access to. In the past I was sometimes at the mercy of whatever samples I could find, but this time was freed up a lot more during the production process and could direct the musicians to play what I was imagining.
Emmerald: What do you look for in a vocalist? Do you
colloborate on lyric-writing?
Recloose: Occasionally I collaborate on the lyrics, but usually
not more than 1 line. I generally leave it to the
vocalist. I'm more involved in helping develop the
harmonies to go with the vocal lines, like in "Still
Beyond Me" and "Time is on Your Side." I try and
find somebody with the right vocal sound, but also
somebody with a good sense of melody who doesn't write
lines we've all heard before.
Emmerald: What's one of your best or favourite DJing
experiences and why?
Recloose: I had a great time at the 2004 Movement Festival in
Detroit. I got to close out one of the stages there. It was inspiring playing to a big hometown crowd, especially after being away for so long. Seems to reinforce the idea that you have to leave in order to
get love back home.
Emmerald: Aside from working on beats in your underwear, eating chips and smelling like an onion, what's a day in the life of Recloose like?
Recloose: Whoa… you got spy cameras in my crib? Actually that sounds more like bachelor days in Detroit. Now its pretty standard stuff really, bathe and feed the kid, drop him at school, bring the dog to the beach, then dig in at the studio…
Emmerald: The "Recloose" moniker tends to imply, well, a certain reclusive nature. Would that be an accurate description of you?
Recloose: I'm a homebody, I'd always rather be at home than
anywhere else really.
Emmerald: How has fatherhood changed your outlook on your career, if at all?
Recloose: Having my son Manahi has, as mentioned before, taken
up lots more of my time. So any time I have in the
studio is valuable and I have to make the most of it-- no time for tangents. I think its allowed me to
take myself a little less seriously when it comes to
music. I appreciate having fun with music more now,
which is how I came to do songs like "Mana's Bounce"
(his theme tune!) and getting dressed up and
performing with this live band.