RS: So how do you discover the hot new remixers and producers?
Hosh Gureli: The same way I always do, I usually get a CD. People don't think that A&R guys don't find people from just getting CDs in the mail, that theory is just not true. This guy Dio, who I think is going to be a huge star in the remix production game, I found from a Michael Jackson bootleg he sent me. I don't get out as much as I used to the clubs but when you hear a track like I did with Thunderpuss' mix of Billie Myer's "Kiss the Rain." I didn't know who they were so I tracked them down and that's how the remix of "It's Not Right, But It's OK" came about. It's about being fresh, having something that doesn't sound like everybody else but it sounds like "wow, that's hot." I love "Hollaback Girl" with the "Hey Mickey" marching flow especially when it counteracts with the guitar in the first verse. All music has been done before, it's just a matter of taking what's done before and flipping it into a new way that sounds fresh and exciting.
RS: Great quote. Among the producer remixer community you are known for doing numerous callbacks. What inspires you to maintain
such a hands-on approach with club remixes?
Hosh Gureli: Working for Clive Davis and seeing that he's so particular and little things do make a difference in the end. I find that you have greater success when you perfect the details. Jason Nevins came to me and said I want to mix "Since You've Been Gone" and I said OK but we've got to do it this
way. Particularly with the rhythm dance version, which is the number one record played on KTU and six weeks at number on the Dance Radio Airplay chart. When he first delivered that to me I said that the kicks were too hard in your face, go listen to a Gabriel and Dresden record and bring your kick down but keep your trademark guitar sound. He did it and a couple of recalls later he had a great record. I've been doing this for a long time and its a lot of fun when you can have the success like we have with Since You've Been Gone.
RS: What's been the most challenging remix project that you've worked with?
Hosh Gureli: I would have to say Whitney Houston's "My Love is Your Love." Between Thunderpuss, trying to give them a shot again and it
didn't exactly come out the way I wanted it to and Jonathon Peters, who had a great mix but it needed a lot of work and we spent months on it, but in the end both did come out great. You're always at the mercy of how strong the original version is.
Another challenging record I did was for BMG Strategic, the Johnny Vicious mix of Will and Grace. We had a great bitch record with the chorus saying "bitch, 'hoe" - words that were biting but yet not over the top, that would have attracted a lot of attention. Deborah Messing from Will and Grace had just had a child and she said she was sorry, but I've just had a kid and I just can't in my right conscience have me being part of a record like that.
