Electro Alliance

From Jackal & Hyde to Dynamik Bass System, passing through Imatran Voima, Hydraulix or Ghosts In The Machine to name a few, Monotone USA has added in six years some of the best current electro producers to its list of hot successes. The up and coming “Lust. Love. Electro.” compilation reaches a superior step on Exzakt’s label history, touching both digital audience and vinyl junkies with a staggering tracklisting of exclusive material. Having taken a large part in the rebirth of the Miami Bass scene, unstoppable producer Larry McCormick goes back over this ambitious project and takes stock of his own musical career.

Nexus 6: In september, your label Monotone USA is officially releasing a milestone of a compilation titled “Lust.Love.Electro”. Some copies are already available at Electrowax. This project is no doubt your biggest to date and is already expected as a true hurricane. How would you describe it? What is your intension with the project and what is “Lust.Love.Electro”?

Exzakt: Lust. Love. Electro is a various artist mixed CD as well as 3 part vinyl release. The CD is mixed by yours truly and contains 17 tracks, 14 of which are unreleased to date. 12 of these tracks are also appearing on 3, 12” vinyl releases that will be released one at a time starting in September. A majority of the tracks were made exclusively just for this project. Lust. Love. Electro is meant to be a title that describes how I feel about the music.

N6: When and how did this project come to your mind? How long did it take to gather the material from all those artists? How did you convince them to appear on “Lust.Love.Electro”?

Exzakt: I have planned for many years to put together a project like this that would feature some of the top electro producers from around the globe. It took me about 3 months of non-stop work from the time I started the project. I did not want to use any material collected prior to this as I wanted this to be a fresh reference of electro music today. There was not much convincing that had to be done. Each artist jumped on board from the inception.

N6: To reduce this project only to a Monotone celebration would be ridiculous. I’d rather consider it as an aesthetic tribute to the current Electro sound ranging from old to new school. With real dancefloor ambitions. Am I right?

Exzakt: Yes you are right. Monotone is just a vessel for these tracks and artists. Monotone has taken on the identity of a label that embodies the sound of old and new while being sure to keep the attention of the dance floor as well as the minds of the listeners.

“PURISTIC ELECTRO”

N6: The tracklisting is insane. Most of the tracks have never been released before. 70% of the artists featured on the compilation are close to your label, having done at least one E.P.. But we can find newcomers to Monotone like EggFooYoung, Max Durante, Bassing Guild, Xerodefx and many more. How did you select them? Which were your musical criteria? Does it mean each of them will appear later on Monotone with a complete E.P.?

Exzakt:: Our fingers are crossed that we can get complete E.P.’s from all the artists on the compilation for the future. I personally enjoy the material from all these great artists and look forward to their future output. We release artists on Monotone which we feel have a vision of tomorrow and are dedicated.

N6: The compilation will be available first in CD format. Should we consider that the number of digital users has overtaken the number of vinyl fans?

Exzakt:: This and other Monotone releases are in the process of being formated into the digital realm. Do I think vinyl has been overtaken by the digital fans out there? I am not sure as of right now when it comes to electro. This is something myself and many other electro labels think about everyday. Personally I hope vinyl is always profitable enough to continue the tradition of this format.

N6: We never mentioned the artistical line of Monotone. How would you descibe it?
Six years after its launch, how is the label today? What were your best sellers? Do you intend to publish albums from your artists pool in a near future?

Exzakt:: I would like to think that Monotone is looked upon as a label with a sound that keeps alive the tradition of “Puristic” electro while moving that sound into a new era. Almost every release has held up well in the respective market at the time of release and continues to do so to date. We have plans to release more full length albums on Monotone in the future but for now we have are focused on building the sound and catalog with E.P.’s.

“SELFLESSNESS”

N6: Since our first interview in 2000 on atome.com, many things have changed for you on a personnal level. You launched Monotone, built up EA forum, opened electrowax.com e-shop and started a live-act career. Looking back, which project are you the most proud of? What are your electro and/or personnal motivations? Do you think you have all you could wish for? Is there a project you’d like to experiment later on?

Exzakt:: I guess you could say I am proud of all the projects I have worked on in the last few years. I have put so much time and energy into each one that it would be hard to select one that I can consider more important then the other. They are all different aspects that contributed equally to make me what I am today when it comes to music. Besides my live show the other projects have been just as much about Electro advancement as much as my own music. In order for Electro to grow us as Electro Artists need to work on the entire movement and not just our personal advancement. Recently I have worked on more projects that are in other genres so I plan on continuing this to grow as an overall artist.

N6: As an artist, label owner, shop owner and forum administrator, your point of view about the music industry is crucial. Which advices to avoid traps and disappointments would you give to people who want to start making their own music, label or starting their own shop?

Exzakt:: Selflessness. We see far too often people getting involved with music for their entire own personal gain. Results. A lot of people talk about what they are going to do but never really do anything. Dedication. It’s easy to buy a few records or throw out a couple records here and there but to really make a difference you need to go beyond what is normal. Finally, professionalism. If you want to be taken seriously you need know how to run your business the right way.

N6: Let’s talk about your sound. How did your music evolve from your beginnings till today? How would you define your own style?

Exzakt:: I feel my sound has grown over the years and finally got to the point where I can create my ideas at will. I was always searching for a sound I was comfortable with and I feel like I have it now. There is a lot more learning and experimenting to do but I comfortable with my style today.

“TRANSLATE TO A NICE LIVE SHOW”

N6: Who are the artists not featured on “Lust.Electro.Love” that you'd like to work with in the future?

Exzakt:: I was quite lucky to get most of the artists I wanted to get on the label with this project but the first name that comes to mind is Claro Intelecto. I spoke to him a couple times with thoughts for him to produce something for Monotone but we lost contact. I really enjoy his releases and would love to feature him on a future Monotone project. It would be interesting to get a track, remix or an EP from Dave Clarke, The Advent or Hacker.

N6: In october, you’ll appear along with Debonaire and Jock D on stage with an exclusive live performing. What could we expect from this amazing event? How did you hook up with Debonaire?

Exzakt:: Debonaire contacted me on MySpace a couple times and we linked up at his studio where we almost immediately started working projects. We have a lot in common with music and business so I think its a really nice fit for the two of us. In the studio we work really well together so we feel like this will translate to a nice live show. Along with Jock D who we both are working with on projects this should be a very interesting event. I look forward to it.

N6: In 2000, you were telling me that “The Electro scene in Florida is good but it could be better. With such pioneers as Scott Weiser and Todd Walker being from this area you would figure that you would have more of a true electro following but there is only a handfull.” Did the South Florida scene change since the last time we talked?

Exzakt:: Oh yes to say the least. In 2000 you could not find an all electro event at all. You would have some electro played by certain DJ’s from time to time but having an all electro event was not heard of. Now it seems like every event is run by electro with other music coming second. Electro Alliance I can honestly say helped in this transformation. Events like ‘Bang The Box’ which was the first Winter Music Conference event to feature electro, ‘Sex With The Machines’ which was the first event bringing Anthony Rother to the United States, & ‘Stay With The Force’ which was an Electro Alliance mega event.

N6: What are your forthcoming projects if they’re not top secret? When will you release “City Of Bass” on vinyl?

Exzakt:: “City of Bass”, “Speaker Breaka” and “No Disco” which is a unreleased track that appears on the CD of Lust. Love. Electro will be coming out on MON011. “No Disco” will also have a remix on the E.P. from Debonaire. The white label of this should be coming in the next couple months to Electrowax with final release sometime in the start of 2008. Finally!

N6: Few words to the electro community

Exzakt:: Keep the real electro alive!

www.exzakt.com
www.monotoneusa.com
www.electrowax.com

EXZAKT >LUST. LOVE. ELECTRO.

Compact Disc tracklisting:

01.EGGFOOYOUNG – HOCONUT GROVE
02.DYNAMIK BASS SYSTEM – FEARLESS COMPUTER
03.HYDE - DOMINATOR
04.DEBONAIRE & EXZAKT – FINAL IGNITION
05.MAX DURANTE – ELECTRON X - OCEAN DRIVE MIX
06.CHA-OS – EMERGENCY – BASSING GUILD REWORK
07.IMATRAN VOIMA – TECHNO SLUT – EXZAKT VS. DBS MIX
08.HYDRAULIX - STRESSBOXXX
09.BORIS DIVIDER – EXTINCION HUMANA – LARRY MCCORMICK MIX
10.LARRY MCCORMICK – NO DISCO
11.EXZAKT - FUTURESHOCK
12.DEXORCIST– CLANDESTINE WARFARE
13.GET IT BOYZ – ELECTRIC FUCK
14.KRONOS DEVICE – PRIME DIRECTIVE
15.XERODEFX - SYNAPTIC PRESSURE
16.UPROKK – N.E.O. HUNTER
17.AS1 – CLOUDS OF THUNDER

3 part vinyl series tracklisting:
MONOTONE COMPILATION ONE / PART 1 / MON013
LUST.
SIDE A
A1> HYDE – DOMINATOR
A2> DEXORCIST– CLANDESTINE WARFARE
SIDE B
B1> DYNAMIK BASS SYSTEM – FEARLESS COMPUTER
B2> MAX DURANTE – ELECTRON X - OCEAN DRIVE MIX

MONOTONE COMPILATION ONE / PART 2 / MON014
LOVE.
SIDE C
C1> KRONOS DEVICE – PRIME DIRECTIVE
C2> XERODEFX - SYNAPTIC PRESSURE
SIDE D
D1> GET IT BOYZ – ELECTRIC FUCK
D2> UPROKK – N.E.O. HUNTER

MONOTONE COMPILATION ONE / PART 3 / MON015
ELECTRO.
SIDE E
E1> EGGFOOYOUNG – HOCONUT GROVE
E2> HYDRAULIX - STRESSBOXXX
SIDE F
F1> CHA-OS – EMERGENCY – BASSING GUILD REWORK
F2> AS1 – CLOUDS OF THUNDER