Hypnosis Recordings is a new independent digital music label emerging from Perth, Australia. The label is focused on releasing music ranging from dubstep and drum & bass to glitch-hop and break-core showcasing local talent and international heavy-hitters. Kmag caught up with the label owner James Burchett, aka J.Nitrous, a successful DJ and producer in his own right to find out more..

Tell us a about your background in music, how did it all begin?

I started studying and practicing music when I was 10-years-old, starting with the clarinet. From there, I moved on to playing drums, bass guitar and tried playing pretty much anything I could get my hands on. I was on music scholarships throughout high school as well.

The first real dance music that I really started getting into was hardcore and gabber. I think that I just really liked the energy that it had behind it. Then I discovered drum & bass through Bad Company's album Digital Nation. This is still one of my all time favorite d&b albums, no one really comes close to this now in my eyes.

Drum & bass was such a big part of my life for a long period of time, I was DJing a lot from when I was 16 at raves and some times some clubs. I discovered Spor and SPL when I got in to the heavier kind of d&b, they are still two artists which influence me a lot and I idolise in a way.

The first time I heard dubstep, I hated it! It was so boring and had no warmth or feeling to it. I couldn't quite understand what everyone was raging on about it for. Then I heard SPL's Hollow Point podcast and realized that that was the kind of music I wanted to make. I know of a few other artists who sit in the same boat as me and if it weren't for that first Hollow Point podcast, we probably wouldn't be doing what we are doing now.

Now I make dubstep and am slowly branching out to glitch-hop as well as going back to drum & bass. I've been collaborating with another producer from Perth, Killafoe on a lot of tracks and we seem to be on the right track at the moment. He's helped me out a lot over the last couple of years with music & production knowledge and keeping me slightly sane. I also make experimental electronica and autonomic style drum & bass under the alias Jamie Now which has been getting a great response from other producers.

You're based in Perth. Tell us about the scene and how much dubstep has grown since you first started DJing and producing...

Perth is a small city but for some reason our dubstep scene is one of the biggest in Australia. When dubstep first came about I think everyone thought it was a fad and nothing would really come of it. Perth was VERY drum & bass orientated a couple of years back and I think that the majority of that scene and industry didn't see dubstep as having any potential as a genre or scene for that matter.

There are promoters here who never gave up though like Someone Say Dubstep? and Knowledge Music. They were always bringing the big names like Caspa, Rusko, Headhunter and they just pushed it really hard and advertised in a smart way. Now Dubstep is on par with the drum & bass scene and I think it will be bigger in about a year's time. I am lucky to be close with some of the promoters in Perth and hopefully will be involved with putting on some awesome dubstep gigs with Inhibit and playing out a bit more this year and 2011.

What inspired you to start Hypnosis Recordings?

I keep seeing and hearing about artists not being happy with the labels they're working with or sometimes getting ripped off. It happens all the time and it's happened to me. The new digital labels that keep popping up are getting lazy and I think are just in it for the wrong reasons.

There is just an air of unprofessionalism in the electronic music scene and industry at the moment and I want Hypnosis to be some what of a shining light for artists making amazing quality unique music. If you're going to be in the promotional industry you've got to do it right!

Hypnosis Recordings won't just be focusing on dubstep and drum & bass, I want it to expand in to other genres and I will always be seeking out new sounds and vibes. I love hearing something that instantly makes me think, "Wow. I have no idea what this is but it's amazing!"

I love labels like Ad Noiseam, Planet Mu and Ninja Tune. They are all keeping it real and not focusing on one genre. There is so much more to life than one or two types of music.

What do you hope to achieve with the label?

For it to be successful and recognized as a label that does everything it can to promote it's artist's music and further their careers. In the long run, I want Hypnosis to become a big name known around the world like the labels I mentioned before. For Hypnosis to get instant association with unique electronic music and for it to be a label artists strive to be releasing through.

It's not life changing stuff and it has been done before but I think there is enough room and enough talent in the world for another alternative electronic music label. And I want to be a part of the madness!

What do you look for in a producer and tune that makes them worthy of release?

Be different! Don't try and replicate what everyone else is doing. It's great if you can make a Reece that rattles rib cages or bass sounds that knock the breath out of you, but it's how you utilize these sounds to make the actually music that is the key. If you have all these amazing sounds and patches doing their own thing all over the shop, it's obviously not music (yet).

I want music that will stick. Not another throw-away tune. I want melodies and harmonies intertwining with each other to make something amazing. Your production has to be 100% on point. It's very hard to get any where in the electronic music industry if all your music sounds like elephants conversing underwater. Each sound and melody needs to stand out and be heard as well as fit in with the vibe of the music.

You will be releasing tunes by several talented dubstep producers such as Boot and Droid Sector. Will Hypnosis venture into other forms of electronic music?

They certainly are talented. Both Tom (Droid Sector) and Tim (Boot) have been very supportive and helpful of me in the set-up stages for Hypnosis and I can't even begin to explain how grateful I am to them.

The first five releases are very dubstep orientated but I want to release all walks of electronic music. In amongst the dubstep there's some glitch-hop, drum & bass, experimental and chill-out (from HRX001-006). The sixth release will be a whole new game for me as it's the first experimental release. It features two electronica / downtempo tracks, two autonomic style drum & bass tracks and an amazing remix by Boot. If that does well and gets a good reception I'll be very happy.

I love a lot of different kinds of music. As long as it's not commercial electro trash I would consider it for a release.

Your forthcoming release is by Shakes and SPL. How did this connection come about and what is the vibe of the release?

I was lucky! The original idea was to do a compilation featuring lots of different styles of electronic. But in the end Seth (Shakes) and I saw this being a better road to take.

I discovered "the one and only" Shakes through Hollow Point. His debut release was a track called Surprise and it absolutely blew me away. It is so different to what every one else is doing at the moment. When I first got the feeling that I wanted to start a label I wanted Shakes to be a part of it in some way. He is the definition of what I want to do with Hypnosis; break boundaries, create new styles of music, change people's perspectives.

When I still had the compilation idea in mind, I was sending messages and e-mails to so many artists I almost lost track. Shakes was one of the first to get back to me and he has been helping me more than anyone with the label. The amount of knowledge and advice he has about the music industry totally astounds me. There are not a lot of people left in the world who would help a stranger with their life / business and do what he's done.

As an artist, Shakes is one of a kind. I honestly have never heard anything like the music he is making and I think that a lot of people will agree with me. I remember chatting to him a while back and asked how he made a particular sound and he said that he'd made the VST from scratch because he couldn't get the other one to do what he wanted it to do. I've never met some one who could do that. Shakes is one the most motivated musicians I've come across.

The track he is releasing with Hypnosis Recordings is called Trust Exercise. It's main influence is glitch-hop but it comes at you from so many angles you don't really know what you're listening to! It starts off super eerie, drops in to heavy beats and blows you away with immense synth work and insane bass sounds. The last third of the track is my favourite, it goes in to a very spun out 4/4 wonky beat with amazing vocals by the man himself. So good.

SPL is still in process of creating his remix of Trust Exercise so I am yet to hear it. He is excited to be involved with Hypnosis and to be remixing Shakes' music, which is great. SPL was the one who got me into dubstep and really inspired me to start my electronic music career so I am very honoured an excited to have him on Hypnosis' first release.

Hypnosis Recordings will be available on Beatport and other good online music retailers arriving in late 2010

Words: Megan

 

Shakes - Trust Exercise (Preview) by Hypnosis Recordings

 

Killafoe, J.Nitrous & Kira Annelies - Say You Need Me by Hypnosis Recordings

Related Links:

• Shakes Interview
• Introducing: Jamie Now
• New Label Profile: Infamous Recordingz
• Introducing: Zanetic
• Introducing: Dysphemic

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