Starkey is Philadelphia’s foremost dubstep, grime and bass artist. His unique take on these sounds has spread around the world and has proved to be a massive hit wherever he tours. His work is always progressive, dynamic, and pushing the limits of sound technology; he has even trademarked his own unique ‘Street Bass’ sound along with a handful of other artists (think Hudson Mohawke and Rustie). His debut album for Planet Mu, “Ephemeral Exhibits“, was extremely well-received and the follow up “Ear Drums and Black Holes“, released earlier this year, was even more successful. Starkey is the co-owner of Slit Jockey Records and a member of the Seclusiasis crew. Despite his record affiliation however, he is best known for his productions full to the brim with futuristic crunk, hip-hop and elements of UK-centric grime and dubstep.
Starkey’s latest release, “ Space Traitor EP Vol.1“, is a 12 track album (13 including the NastyNasty remix) jam-packed full of exciting space-beat adventures. With a wonderful array of originals by Starkey accompanied by a killer lineup of remixes by extremely talented producers, you really can’t go wrong with Space Traitor. Check out some of the tracks included in the post and if you enjoy the album I highly recommend swinging over to Addictech and grabbing the full release. +Verb, a regular on SubSynthesis, has an absolutely gorgeous, melodic downtempo version of Starkey’s “Paradise” on this EP that is a total necessity for any true lover of his music.
Space Traitor EP Vol.1:
Artist: Starkey
Remixes by: Eygptrixx, ARP101, Ital Tek, +Verb, Rudi Zygadlo, Kaiser and Vocals from Anneka.
Release: Space Traitor EP Vol.1
Label: Civil Music
Duration: 49:27
Genre: Dubstep
Tags: Vocal • IDM • Heavy • Glitchy • Glitch Hop • Electro • Dubstep/Grime • Dope
Released: 2010-12-06
Tracklist:
1. Robot Hands
2. Playing With Fire
3. Holodeck
4. Paradise (Ft. Anneka)
5. Lenses
6. Robot Hands (Egyptrixx Remix)
7. Robot Hands (Kaiser Remix)
8. Paradise (Rudi Zygadlo Remix)
9. Paradise (ARP101 Remix)
10. Paradise (+Verb Remix)
11. Playing With Fire (Ital Tek)
12. Starkbot Beats: Space Traitor Volume 1 (Narration by Halfcast and Starkey)
Space Traitor Volume 1 Preview:
Favorite Track:
Starkey – Paradise (+Verb Remix):
Interview with Starkey:
Credit to Laizi of Data Transmissions for the interview with Starkey:
So, give us a bit of an idea of how you first got involved with making electronic music?
I was interested in electronic music or more experimental production from a pretty early age, but I really only started making my own electronic music when I went to college for music production. I got a PC and installed Acid version 1. I had a Korg N1 that I had running through the audio input on the back of the PC – no real sound card, just ran the audio out to the bookshelf speakers that came with my PC. My early tracks pretty much sounded like trip-hop meets Mogwai…I guess it’s not too far off from some of the stuff I’m writing still to this day.
I’m guessing that being from Philly hip-hop and RnB have played their part in sculpting your sound?
Yeah definitely. I went through a period where I really didn’t listen to much hip-hop and RnB though; I was really into indie rock and hardcore punk rock and all that. At the same time I was playing jazz and studying classical music as well, so my mind was elsewhere. But now I probably listen to more hip-hop than anything else.
There does seem to be a kind of sci-Fi theme running throughout your work and the space age sounds you create. Has the fascination always been with you?
When I was growing up I was all about Star Wars, so yeah. I think I’ve always been interested in science-fiction. My parents own the oldest drive-in movie theatre in the world, so I’ve always been around movies. The idea of looking at the possibilities of the future and technology has always interested me, so I gravitated towards those kinds of films. I’m also into a lot of concert electronic music and the experimental tape music from the 20th Century, and a lot of that material has a sci-fi theme running throughout it. People who are drawn to experimentation, I think, are also the type to think about what the future holds for technology, life, politics, basically what the world may look like in the distant and not-so-distant future.
The new release, Space Traitor Volume One, is a pretty hefty package – were the 12 or so tracks planned from the start or did it grow naturally?
This music was definitely written with the intention of putting together these 2 releases, but I wasn’t quite sure which tracks would make each release. I’m actually still working on Volume 2, so we’ve yet to decide on a tracklist. I think when you’re determining which tracks to put on a release, you have to think about which ones work well together. From the start, we all agreed that Robot Hands was going to be on the first volume, then we built the EP around that tune. Lenses is the only track that was around when I was compiling Ear Drums and Black Holes, everything else was written after I finished up that album. Lenses was one of those tracks that we thought about putting on the last album, but it ended up getting cut. I always liked the track, and it got a pretty good response when I finished one studio mix last year with it…so we figured, why not, let’s put it on the Space Traitor series. The way it’s turning out, Volume 2 will most likely be a bit more epic and “song” oriented than Volume 1, which I feel has a bit more immediacy to the writing. <ore “beats” than songs. But then again, Paradise with Anneka is on there, so I’m probably just making this up in my head. Haha.
With 6 remixes, from the likes of Kaiser, Egyptrixx, ARP101 and more, were these a group of artists you hand in mind from the start?
Yeah. When I choose remixers for my projects, I choose people whose music I enjoy, and I like to play out. Egyptrixx has remixed for a project on my label, Seclusiasis in the past… and Kaiser is an artist on my Slit Jockey label, so there’s definitely a lot of connections with my releases. Rudi Zygadlo also released an album on Planet Mu last year, and I did a remix for his Resealable Friendship single, so it’s always a family affair with the releases I do.
This is the second time we’ve seen you work with Anneka. How did you guys get involved with one another?
Well I met Anneka when I was staying with my friend, Ital Tek, in Brighton. But we didn’t start working together for probably a year or so after that. When I was working on Ear Drums and Black Holes, I was having a discussion with Mike Paradinas about vocalists to work with and her name came up. I heard the track she had done for Vex’d, and immediately was interested in working with her. She’s got a really special voice and writes some great lyrics. I’m a huge fan of hers.
Any other artists you’ve got in mind for future collaborations?
Well I just produced a track for Eligh’s new album Grey Crow called Suffocate. And we’ve been talking about doing a few tunes next year together. There’s a bunch of other things in the works right now as well, but nothing concrete that I can actually tell you about at this time. I love working with other artists and producers, so it’s definitely something I see myself doing more and more. I’ve actually been in the studio in London this past year writing with Guy Sigsworth. We’ve been collaborating on a few things together which are really exciting. We found that we have really similar tastes in music and I think when we’re sitting down to write together, there’s a different type of creativity that takes shape. I had always been used to working alone, so you’re kind of thrown out of your comfort zone at first. But once you get past that, it can be really exciting. I’m also collaborating with producer Aaron Levinson in Philly on a new artist project that’s more in his spectrum of experience, Latin music…so that should be really interesting.
Any current producers/artists you’re particularly rating at the moment?
There are so many, but I’ll just give you a shortlist. I know I’m probably forgetting people in here, but here we go. First off, obviously everyone on the Seclusiasis and Slit Jockey record labels… Kastle, DNAEBEATS, Stagga, Halp, Sduk, Kaiser, Mestizo, BD1982 and of course Dev79 who I run Seclusiasis with. OK here’s a quick rundown… Eprom, Slugabed, J-Sweet, Badness, Kozzie, Lex Luger, Tinie Tempah, Distal, Scratcha DVA, AC & Dell, Taz, Terror Danjah, Teddy, Ghetts, Kanye West, TRC… the list goes on and on.
Your tracks have always been well received here in the UK – any favourite spots to play out?
In the UK…I have a lot of fun in Bristol usually. I have a lot of friends there and the parties are almost always pretty lively. Last time I played Fabric I was in Room 1, and that was a lot of fun as well.
Do find any difference in terms of what’s well received over here compared to the US?
When I play hip-hop in the US it goes over a bit better in general, because in the US, hip-hop is the “dance” music. That’s the only thing I really notice, but then again, most people who know my stuff, know to expect that in my sets.
Your label, Seclusiasis, has been putting out some great stuff, by the likes of BD1982 and Kastle – how’s that going and what’s coming out in the future?
We’ve got a lot of great things planned for 2011, including some new material from Kastle, some new Street Bass Anthems stuff…it’s really exciting. On Slit Jockey we’re dropping Sduk’s debut album as well as a ridiculous release from Stagga amongst other things.
So, what’s Starkey got in store for us in the coming months?
Hopefully some exciting stuff. Haha. I’m really happy with what’s been coming out of the studio. In the immediate future there’s of course Space Traitor Volume 2 as well as a 12” for No Hats No Hoods that I’m finishing up.
And lastly, where can we find you playing in the near future?
I’m doing US dates for the rest of year… Miami, NYC, Philly, etc. But I’ll be back in the UK and Europe hopefully early next year.
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