LAMP Weekly Mix #213 feat. Craig Williams

I am excited to present our next guest mix this week from Melbourne's own Craig Williams. Now a resident in Los Angeles Williams has made a name for himself over the last several years with incredible productions ranging from House to Techno to Acid and all the places in between. He has released again a few days ago with one of my favorite labels Motorik which is how I was originally introduced to his sound. He has other releases for Nurvous, Sweat It Out, Snatch!, NEST HQ and Food along with many many more. Most recently in 2017 you may have seen him gracing the festival stages here in the US for Insomniac Presents. In addition to that he is an ambassador for the music. He is constantly pushing the boundaries of where the genres can go and is very open about sharing his music making process to his followers. I git an oportunity to pick his brain a little if you want to check that out below. You will also find the complete track list. Thanks and enjoy.PZB: Hello Craig thank you for taking the time to put together an incredible mix for us. Our listeners are in for a treat this week lets start off and let them know what they can expect from this mix.Craig Williams: I made this mix thinking about pulling people in. It’s pretty much the same way I would play out. I definitely feel that you can show all your cards in the first couple of records. I also try and include either records that people haven’t heard possibly unreleased material from myself and my friends and older records that people already know.PZB:I have been following your career for quite a while and it is great to have you as a part of the series. I believe my first exposure with your music was with your releases with the Motorik label four or 5 years back. They have been a favorite label of mine and I have most of their releases. You have come a long way since your first releases with them and I was excited to see that your latest release just a few days ago came from their label. How was it to reconnect and work with the fellow Australian label once again?CW: I love everyone in that team. I was just down in Sydney Australia at the end of last year and I was able to hang with everyone and play a number of parties they were running. It was awesome to see how much they had grown. They have gone from hosting underground parties to putting on their first festival.PZB: One aspect of your career that I have always found admirable is your willingness to share information and to help educate fellow musicians through your social media platforms. You have= been a source of information and inspiration for me when it comes to hardware and synthesizers in addition to being extremely open about your process of making music. What motivates you to share all of this when many other musicians mostly keep it to themselves unless it is forced out of them?CW: I feel that the songs don’t come from the gear you have or don’t have. The ideas come from the person. I don’t mind being open about what i’m doing, I hope that it inspires others to create and share their music, art and what their other creative outlets might be.PZB: Your style and ability to bend the genres of house and techno to your will are quite impressive. From the Acid vibes to the more laid back and chill house vibes to the darker techno tones. Who would you say are some musical people past and present that have inspired you up to this point?CW: I pull influences from a number of people and places. It’s not always from electronic artists but making electronic music it’s hard to not get influenced by the music you’re listening to. Some of the artists I’m into at the moment are Dexter, Anthony Naples, Playgroup, Paranoid London and Artwork. I could go on but these are the people I have been playing in my sets.PZB: In addition to Motorik you also have had some stuff on GND records back in the past and some really great stuff in collaboration with some other Aussie favs of mine Jensen Interceptor and Go Freek. Any plans to reconnect on any productions with any of these guys coming up you can tell us about?CW: It’s a little hard sometimes to get on the same page/vibe as someone in another timezone, because of this I have slowed down on the internet collaborations. Living in LA is awesome though because so so so many people come through and so many people live here so I have been working with a load of great artists. Some of the people I hame material with are Amtrac, Josh Barry, Kim Anh, Vula (singer for basement Jaxx) Sluggers, Dj Pierre, Bot and Principle Pleasures.PZB: You originally came from Melbourne Australia but have been in located in Los Angeles for a couple of years now. What prompted the relocation?CW: My girlfriend (now wife) I was super burnt out from my last job and she suggested that we give America a go. I didn’t need to much convincing thats for sure.PZB: I have also seen you posted on quite a few Insomniac events last year and the year before. Can we expect to see more of you at more of their events this year? Any other exciting plans coming up that you can tell us about or a space we can watch so we can get ready to buy tickets and come check you out this year?CW: I have just started working with a new booking agent so hopefully we can start to announce what we have been working on.PZB: You seem to be a bit of a hardware collector. How many different synths would you say you own and what piece of hardware do you currently own you could not live without?CW: I have a few thats for sure. I do try and sell stuff if it doesn’t make it onto any songs. I’m also very lucky that I get to create samples and patches for a number of companies, so i get to keep the synths I make patches for. If I was to pick a desert island synth it would definitely be my original TB-303.PZB: What is the one synth you don’t have that you would love to add to your collection?CW: I would love to get a hold of the new CS80 clone “Dekard’s Dream”PZB: What is one thing you can tell us about yourself that is not related to music that your audience would find surprising?CW: I have ran three marathons 2 x LA Marathon and 1 x Barstow ultra (31miles)I was in the Army for nine years, half of that time i was a door gunner in black hawks I was a rescue crewman on the ambulance helicopter in Sydney AustraliaFor some reason I have seen all 264 episodes of Frasier and yet have never been to SeattlePZB: What is your favorite thing to listen to when you want to get away from all the house and tech stuff?CW: I listen to a load of stuff. We have a rule in my house that we can only buy records (LP’s) of albums we would listen to all the way through. Some favorites of the house are David Bowie - Low, The Acid - Liminal, Burial - Untrue, Portishead - Portishead, ††† - †††, Air - Moon Safari. Most of it is pretty chill.

Track List

Artwork - AcidlinesCajmere & Dajae - Brighter Days (John Made Remix)Bot / Craig Williams - Hot For You (VIP Edit)Tiga - Woke (Craig Williams Remix)Dennis Young, Robytek, Liquid Liquid, Sheild & Sal P - Now (Paranoid London Remix)Depeche Mode - Going Backwards (The Belleville Three Remix)KDA - Hate Me ft Patrick CashCraig Williams - Letcha BodyCraig Williams - Last Moment (McLean & Mai Remix)Will Clarke & Huxley - My Body????????? - ?????????Vakkuum - Speaker SoundsCraig Williams - Rawhide ft Louisahhh (Joe Far Remix)Zombie Nation - Gravity (Craig Williams Remix)