I know that I have gone rogue for a little while here but I have returned to the grid to satiate your disco needs. And as a consolation present we have some new Viceroy material for you as well as a few questions he was generous enough to answer for us. But before we get to understand the man that is Viceroy, let me start you off with some warm up funk to brush of the dreary New England cold that is going on right now (I feel bad saying that while its 70 and sunny in Barcelona again). A couple of these tracks came as surprises to me solely for the reason of who made them. But I guess nowadays the idea of limiting yourself to one genre of dance music is just not an option.
Chuckie has been identified by his fans as a Dutch House and Electro House icon. But why not get funky every once in a while?? Check out his fun little 54 minute funk mix, I love it. It shows how interconnected the guy is amongst EDM sub-genres:
01. Coqui Selection – Dissko (Original Mix)
02. Marco Lys – Can’t Get Enough (Original Mix) 03. House Of Venus – Dish N Tell (Juan Sanchez & The Man With No Shadow Remix) 04. Blue Boy – Remember Me (Hoxton Whores Remix) 05. UAP – BiMac (The Cube Guys Mix) 06. Danny Serrano & Hector Couto – You Crazy (Original Mix) 07. Jay Lumen – Babel (Original Mix) 08. Chus Lamboa & Dani Del Rio- A Night In Chicago (Original Mix) 09. My Digital Enemy – Enter Floripa (Original Mix) 10. Makossa & Megablast – Soy Como Soy Ft. Cleydys Villalon (D-Nox & Beckers Remix)
Who's ready for some Kill The Noise?? Yes, you heard me. The savvy dubstep artist can boogie too. "Perfect Combination" is all the proof we need:
Download Kill The Noise Perfect Combinaion
Now for a more believable artist to be producing feel good types of records. Fire Flowerz new work, "Offensive Language" has a disco feel but much more vibrant than your typical smooth funk:
Download Fire Flowerz Offensive Language
Night Drugs, Oh Shit! Yea that's the artist not my words... but lets dance!
Download Night Drugs, Oh Shit! Everybody Needs (Night Drugs Re-Edit)
John Dahlback has always been much more of a big room house guy but I always had a feeling he could rip up a dance floor with some bright music like this recent single "Start Lovin You":
Download John Dahlback Start Lovin You
This couldn't be a Friday Funk post without some Treasure Fingers. New track from the man, you know it's good before you even listened to it:
Download Ladyhawke Black White And Blue (Treasure Fingers Remix)
As disco revives itself once again into relevancy through its new form, nu-disco, there have been some young artists carrying the torch and spreading the word of this awesome sound. Austen Afridi, or his stage name, Viceroy, is one of those rising figures demonstrating to the world that electronic music isn't just meant for dark places to dance until 5 AM (which is still great don't get me wrong). But it can also incorporate feel good music that makes you want to shed off the winter clothing and flock to the beaches. As a Trin alumn, he's exploded on the disco scene in just a year after graduation (must be feeling pretty boss going back to his fifth year high school reunion...). We were able to catch him for a second to get to know how this whirlwind of an adventure all came to be:
Vaya Con House: What got you into DJing and Producing? Love at first sight?
Viceroy: Music has always been a big part of my life. About 2 and
half years ago I started to become interested in EDM. I was studying abroad in
Rome and drunkenly asked the manager of this club the first week I’m there if I
can have a job DJing. Surprisingly
he said yes, gave me my own night every week, and told me to bring lots of
American kids. The next week I started learning basic DJ techniques with Ableton
because I had no idea what I was doing. The party was a hit. I started making
mashups. That went really well
during college then in February 2011 I got sick of mashups and started Viceroy.
The rest is history.
VCH: What equipment did you start out on?
Viceroy: In Rome I started with two audio tracks in the session view
of ableton one as A and one as B. I literally had no idea what I was doing but
somehow it worked. I now use CDJs with serato.
VCH: How did you find the sound that has pulled you away from
the pack today? What were the inspirations behind your sound?
Viceroy :I think the sound found me. I wasn’t always specifically
into feel good music, but I just kept being introduced to nu-disco and French
house and I realized that’s what I wanted to make. What sets me aside from the
rest of pack is I don’t label my self as a genre, but rather a season: Summer.
That way I can try a bunch of different genres and stay true to that feel good
summery style. Expanding your
markets is key in this day and age especially with all these new producers out
there.
VCH: You use a good amount of funky samples in your songs, how
do you find them and how do you know when one is going to fit well in your
track?
Viceroy: So I started out making sampled house music, which is fine,
but gets old. I now work with just synths, however, I just did a track with WhiteNoize
that’s sample based however I wrote a bassline and we played it on a vintage
jazz bass. Now if I told you where I got my samples that wouldn’t be any fun.
VCH: What is your producing process and when are you confident
that the song is finished?
Viceroy: I usually start with drums, then whatever comes to mind
next. I usually create the entire chorus before anything else then I strip away
from there to make other parts of the song. A track can take a few hours if an
Idea hits me immediately or several weeks if I’m struggling.
VCH: Like most guys I’m sure you have plenty of tracks in your
back pocket ready for release but are just waiting for the right time to
release them, does it ever make you anxious?
Viceroy: I have a single right now finished and a few more I’m
waiting on vocals for. You have no idea how anxious I am to release this first
single because it’s the most catchy/best thing I’ve done yet.
VCH: Is there a club you enjoy playing at the most? Or maybe a
certain context you enjoy spinning at the most (pool party, nightclub,
radiomix, etc.)?
Viceroy: I LOVE pool parties. It doesn’t get any better than them. They are outdoors in
nice weather, the girls are looking great, no rave babies in site, and who
doesn’t like to crush champagne at noon?
VCH: Looking back from Trinity did you ever see this rapid
success coming?
Viceroy: No not at all. I was planning on doing this on the side for
fun and didn’t expect this all to happen within a single year. It’s pretty
insane.
VCH: Do you think you’ll ever come back to Hartford and maybe
spin one night at a frat or maybe spring weekend?
Viceroy: You know I’d love to. I still will have friends there next
year, so maybe for tropical? Very
fitting for me right?
WORD ASSOCIATION:
Vinyl: classic
Summer: all the time
Disco: timeless
Macho Man Randy Savage: a true bro
West Coast: best coast
East Coast: my 2nd home
Hipsters: contradiction
Cinco de Mayo: cinco de drinko
The Future of Viceroy: no one knows
If you haven't listened to any Viceroy then shame on you. I'll forgive you though if you start by checking out his most recent work here on VCH:
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