LAMP Weekly Mix #301 feat. Siege
We have a great string of Guest mixes to lead off our 300's. A big thank you again to Durante for #300. For #301 we have another amazingly talented Belgian producer Siege. Making waves with his release for Azuli Records back around 2015 he has caught the ear of many of the industries top labels. Most recently he has a two track EP on Nic Fanciulli's Saved Records, Mark Knight of Toolroom has put his stamp of approval on the artist and if that's not enough there is Simma Black, Glasgow Underground, Cr2 and so many more. The house blood runs thick through the veins of Siege. We have a full interview with Siege along with the track list over on the website as well so make sure to go over and check that out. Enjoy the mix!
PZB: Hi there Siege and thank you so much for putting this weeks mix together. Yours is mix #301 and we are really excited to have you with us on the podcast. What do you have lined up for our listeners this week?
Siege: Thanks for having me! Loads of music from myself including my latest Motion EP that just came out on Saved Records. Also a few records I’m really digging at the moment and all time favorites ;)
PZB: My first track I ever came across of yours was “Crunk” back in 2015. I think it is fair to say that was your breakthrough track that got people taking notice of you. How long had you been producing before that and what was it like to have a track like that get so much attention for the first time?
Siege: I’ve been producing for almost 10 years now! I made Crunk when EDM was really massive. It wasn’t really for me so I thought I’d take a different route and made something a bit more UK House sounding. Crunk was born – got signed to Azuli and did really well. I was really happy with that and it gave me the confidence to go back to my roots and make house music again.
PZB: Most recently you have a release with Saved Records the Motion EP. What can you tell us about the creative process for that release?
Siege: It’s been a really busy year for me and for some reason this resulted in a more productive year for me. Because I don’t spend as much time in the studio as I used to it feels like when I get in I’m much more productive. I wrote a batch of records in the first half of 2019 and Paradigm and Motion came from that batch. For both of them I started with the groove – as soon as I have a groove that I love I lay the arrangement out. I kept Motion as a groover and went looking for a vocal sample for Paradigm as I felt like it needed one! When I heard that Nic wanted to sign them to Saved I was over the moon as it’s one of my all-time favorite labels.
PZB: Additionally you have a track coming out on the Toolroom Amsterdam compilation coming out next week in preparation for ADE. Do you have any ADE plans for yourself that we should know about?
Siege: Yes defo! I love ADE – I’m heading in short and sweet from Wednesday till Friday. I’m playing an exclusive ADE show for Toolroom on Wednesday at Chicago Social Club and it’s gonna be a biggie!
PZB: Two of my favorite House and Techno producers coincidentally are from Belgium both of which who have done mixes for LAMP as well are Sacha Robotti and Kill Frenzy. I can add another in yourself to that list. Im starting to wonder if they put something in your water there. Who would you say are some of your musical inspirations growing up and in what way do they have any influence over the music you are producing?
Siege: Haha you know what I didn’t even know Sacha grew up in Belgium! It does strike me they both moved out of Belgium… I think Belgium has a rich history of influential electronic music artists but the scene as such isn’t well developed over here unfortunately. When I grew up I used to listen to Eurodance, all the Bonzai stuff and even Hardstyle as it was really big. I think this defo sparked my love for electronic music.
PZB: How often do you collaborate with others? What is that process like? Do you think it is an important or necessary part of being a musician in the house and techno community?
Siege: It’s been a while I’ve done a collab. However I love to collab with other artists. Always gives a fresh twist to your sound. When possible to actual get into the studio together that’s always good so you can bounce of each others energy – however if your both having a bad day it might just be a waste of time haha. So most of the time we just send parts back and forth so you can work in your own space. I don’t think it’s a necessity but if you like eachothers sound and it feels like the right thing to do just go for it. I actually got a big collab coming up but don’t think I can tell anything else about it at this moment ;)
PZB: You also have a Podcast called Undr Siege. Tell us more about that please. How often do you put it out and what is the format?
Siege: Yes been doing it for almost 2 years now I think?! It’s an hour and I do one every month. It used to be just a mix but since this year I changed the format a bit. The first 15 minutes I usually play records that really like but probably wouldn’t play in my sets because they don’t fit my sound 100%. The next 15 minutes I pick my top 3 records from that month and the last 30 minutes is a studiomix. In the future I’d like to switch it up now and then with livesets instead of studiomixes.
PZB: You seem to have a pretty healthy amount of touring experience. Where have been some of your favorite places to play?
Siege: Hmm that’s a difficult one! I always love to play abroad as I love to discover new places and other cultures. One of my favorite places is in Belgium tho: Fuse in Brussels is one of the best clubs around in my opinion. Apart from that my Ibiza residency for Toolroom this summer has been a dream came true and I really enjoyed that!
PZB: Our industry is constantly going through changes, and we as artists are competing for ears with so many others out there. On the other side, listeners are bombarded and overwhelmed with the amount of music out there. How do you try to connect with your audience, and what do you feel helps you stay relevant?
Siege: It sure is - however I don’t try to think too much about that stuff. My focus will always be the music. My main goal is to stay true to myself... I’m making the music I love and I would play in my sets and at the moment it’s translating well to other people too so I’m really happy about that. Obviously I’m also on all the social media to connect with my audience – but also in that area I just try to be myself!
PZB: As an artist it is important to surround yourself with other likeminded individuals. Who are a couple of your mentors and what is the best piece of advice you have been given by another artist?
Siege: My ex-manager Jacko defo thought me a lot! As for now I’m part of the Toolroom family and I’d say my manager Paul is my go to guy for advice. If I need A&R or industry advice I can always turn to Mark Knight too. He has soooooo many experience and his A&R feedback is always on point. Not sure if there’s a single piece of advise I’ve been given though.
PZB:What is your current studio setup like? If money were no object how would you build our your dream studio?
Siege: At the moment I’m running a Mac mini with Ableton on it. My speakers are KRK VXT8’s with the KRK Subwoofer. I have a simple midi keyboard and a NI Maschine Jam if I’m in need for some extra drums. I’m building a new studio at the moment and I’m defo getting new monitors and a bit more acoustic treatment to my room. If money was out of the question I would get massive build in speakers so my room sounds like a club haha. I would also get loads of outboard gear because they’re fun to play with. However I don’t think you need to have all that. With just a laptop, headphones and a decent amount of knowledge you can produce great records too.
PZB: Let’s say you’re working on a new tune and you’ve got the chance to program some remixes for the EP. If you could have your pick and money, time etc were no object who are some of you favourite producers right now that you’d want to have a go at reworking your tracks?
Siege: That’s not an easy question – how many can I pick haha?! I really like Mark Broom’s stuff. Darius Syrossian is on fire at the moment too. I’d love to hear the Hot Since 82 twist on one of my records. Also Andres Campo, Fer BR, Alan Fitzpatrick, Joris Voorn and Nic Fanciulli would be perfect contenders ;)
PZB: What is your favorite thing to listen to when you want to get away from all the house and tech stuff?
Siege: I have an urban and a disco playlist on Spotify here I turn to whenever I want to listen to something else. I love a bit of old-school hip hop and I’m a sucker for disco tunes haha.
PZB: Is there anything else coming up in your world that we should know or you want to tell us about that we should be keeping an eye/ ear out for?
Siege: Yes!! I’ve got an EP coming up on Alan Fitzpatrick’s We Are The Brave records later this month. It’s a 4 record EP and it ranges from house to techno so I’m really proud of that. Next month I’m releasing my Bigger Than Prince remix on Circus recordings. It’s been an honor to remix a classic like this and Carl Cox, Camelphat and Danny Howard are already playing my remix. I heard I’m on the remix package with an Alan Fitzpatrick and a Jamie Jones & Darius Syrossian remix which is absolutely bonkers!
PZB: Thank you so much for your time and the incredible mix you put together. Please keep us posted on future releases and we would love to see you in Los Angeles soon.
Track List
Siege - Motion
Basti Grub, Natch, Dothen - Oh Baby Dance (Prok & Fitch Remix)
Marco Lys & Plaster Hands - Who Dares To Believe In Me
Bob Sinclar - Feel For You (Siege re-rub)
Yousef & Harry Romero - Genesis
Carlo Lio - Coma Flow
Siege VS Cevin Fisher - Consciousness
Andres Campo - DaShit
Camelphat & Riva Star - Crystal Clear
Siege - Paradigm
Mark Broom - EFB
Siege - Robalo
Laurent Garnier, Chambray - Feelin' Good
Follow:
www.undrsiege.com
@deejaysiege
www.facebook.com/siege.dj
www.instagram.com/siege.dj