Features

Fanu

I first heard Fanu's (AKA Janne Hatula) single Paranormal Apachetivity in 2004 and have been a fan ever since. His patented blend of drumfunk, downtempo, and atmospheric sampling harks back to the late 90s DNB scene, and draws comparisons to some of my favourite artists like Paradox, J. Majik, and Photek.

After meeting him in San Francisco after his show at Il Pirata, we became friends and continued talking for the past two years. I recently had a chance to sit down and interview him for Knowledge. What follows is our unedited interview, as well as his All Fanu Mix Vol.6...

First of all, where did you get the name "Fanu", and what does it mean?

When I was a kid, I had this funny friend who gave people nicknames based on the weirdest things. I recall having a sticker with a pic of an elephant that said "HappyFant". I think he made Fanu out of that... haha!

Do you feel Finland is a good environment for making drum & bass music?

Well, if dark and cold times get your inspiration going, I'd say it's very good. I've always found it inspirational. Also, the nightless summer nights are amazing, as well as aurora borealis. That's insane!

You're one of the few lucky enough to see aurora borealis... can you describe it for those of us who've never seen it?

I've always said it's like God painting bright green lights on the sky with quick brush strokes. It can be super quick at times. It's really surreal and breathtaking. I've heard some people find it scary. I don't blame them!

Who are some Finnish DJs or producers that we should be on the lookout for on the international scene?

I'd mention Trisector, LAOS, Physics, Defence, and of course Resound and Muffler.

Two of your vices are coffee and skateboarding... how easy is the access to either of these in the Finnish countryside during winter?

You can get good coffee anywhere, for sure. In fact, Finns are among the top coffee consumers in the world. Skateboarding's harder as the outdoor season is quite short: I'd say it's around five months, so you gotta try to make the best out of it while you can. Other times, it's indoor skating.

You've been running your own label, Lightless for the last two years, what have the positives and negatives been for you?

Positives have been getting my own material out and owning it myself 100%. Negatives, well, can't say there's been much negative stuff going on. Maybe I've come to realise that sometimes things don't happen the way you'd expect, but you always learn, and that's life.

I haven't released that much, to be honest: I've released two full-length Fanu albums and five 12"s. There's more coming, slowly yet surely.

Your graphic art is phenomenal! It matches the feel and mood of your music perfectly... a great example is the screaming mountain from Daylightless. Who does your graphic design, and would you mind giving them a plug?

Khoma did all the art for all the releases but the last one, and I'm super grateful to him for that. He's so damn dope. The art for the last release (the last Fanu album, Homefree) was done by Lonekink aka Mark Tarnashinski. He rocks big time, too. He's also done art for the monthly dnb night that my friend, Trisector, does.

Your roommate is the producer, Trisector. Do you two ever influence each other?

Maybe not on the conscious level. Oh, actually, I just finished a remix with a growling, neuro-ish bassline, and that's definitely Trisector influence there, haha! And we crack lots of stupid dick and fart jokes. And he always kicks my ass when we play NHL10 against each other. The bastard!

What is your day job?

I teach English as a private teacher and every now and then I also work as a substitute teacher.

How old are your students, and have you ever played them your music?

Their ages vary. Especially my private students have been of different ages. I don't think I've ever had the nerve to play them my music. They'd probably think I'm a total freak (well, they probably think so already).

I've noticed in your personal info and other interviews, you regularly mention David Lynch's Twin Peaks as an inspiration for your music. What is your obsession with Twin Peaks?

I don't know. It's the total "otherness" that runs through all his works. In my music, I've always been reaching for that certain otherness, so I guess it's experiencing that that fascinates me.

What equipment (hardware and / or software) do you use in your home studio?

These days it's very simple. Mainly Ableton Suite 8 running on a MacBook. I use Akai APC40 to play Ableton... I LOVE it!

I also have a Soundcraft desk from the 80s, where I sum things: atmos/beats/bass go on their dedicated channels, so the mix won't get too mushy (I never learned how to ram all that in one stereo channel and make it work, laptop-soundcard-producer style).

Then, I also use an M-Audio Trigger Finger every now and then. What I also dig is an old cassette tape deck, where I record stuff sometimes for extra dirt and to get rid of some digitalness – if you know what I mean. I luuuuuuuuuv that old analog sound with a little (or a lot of!) gain and crud, hehe!

There's also an old, rugged Kawai rack EQ in my set-up that I've only used for sick distortion. A sturdy Akai s5000 is still around, too... super nice for beats, and its low-pass filter sweep sounds highly sexually 90s.

One of your gifts seems to be working with vocal samples. You're mixing ethereal, otherworldly female vocals and dark ominous movie samples and they just fit so perfectly! When producing a track, do you have these in mind beforehand or are these added after you have the main melody and drums laid down?

I never have much stuff planned beforehand. Usually, a little loop / theme / riff that I create starts feeding my imagination, and everything just revolves around that. I may even come up with the track title very early in the process, which may help working on the track as well.

How do you keep your drum samples sounding organic?

I tend to use organic-sounding breaks and / or drum samples from the get-go. I've never been the biggest fan of the drum machine-sounding drum hits, although I must admit they certainly have their place in the contemporary electronic music.

As for chopping, I just chop each and every hit that the drummer played... then I do some re-arranging and try to go for natural edits: sometimes I even "proof-read" the beats at a slow tempo, thinking, "Would a drummer play like this?" as at a slow tempo it's easier to realize if you have some unnatural beat-slashing going on.

I know you've been experimenting with doing live PA using Ableton Live... how's that going and when can we expect to see you perform live?

Well, I can't say when it's going to happen, but it certainly will. I'm slowly yet surely working on lots of live stuff, and it's going to be hella eclectic. Half dnb – if that! - and lots of other stuff. Lots of beats and all that. You know me.

Recently you were featured on the Finnish drum & bass and dubstep compilation, as well as the Cycom - Rudebwoy remix for Alphacut's upcoming 20th anniversary release. What else is in the future for Fanu and Lightless Records?

Well, there's some other remixes in the works at the moment: for Pinecone Moonshine, for example, and then I'm also remixing this cool soul / pop vocalist, Dawn Joseph... going back to the roots with that remix: quite Danny Breaks-esque, hip hoppy, proper cut-up beats on that one. I should get Lightless going again sometime soon: I want to release something by Trisector at least.

Will we ever see any more SaunaSamurai / FanuSamurai releases?

Haha, no! That was an alias that wasn't even invented by me. It got created on Subvert Central by Dan ESB if I recall its birth correctly. So the nickname kinda stuck for a while. I'm releasing all as Fanu now.

Thanks for taking the time to answer these questions and recording the Kmag mix when I know you'd rather be out skating! We look forward to hearing your next releases!

My pleasure, bro! Always nice to work on stuff like this. And, haha, believe it or not, I'm laying down these last words while working as a substitute teacher in Finnish class, working on a caffeine overdose and dreaming of getting off work to do some skating as well as some beats later on, yo!

Fanu presents: the All-Fanu Mix Volume 6 by Fanu

Homefree (from the album Homefree, Lightless Recs. 2009)
And I Find Her There (from the album Homefree, Lightless Recs. 2009)
Green Grass, Small Clouds (from the album Daylightless, Lightless Recs. 2009)
DJ Trax - Semiconversational [Fanu remix] (Audio Buffet digital release, 2009)
Champagne - Good Times [Fanu remix] (Bonafide001 12", 2010)
Cycom - Rudebwoy [Fanu remix] (forthcoming Alphacut 12", 2010)
Jiva - Paramatma [Fanu remix] (forthcoming Pinecone Moonshine 12", 2010)
J Dawn - 3 Years On [Fanu remix] (forthcoming on Ramshackle Music, 2010)

"This is a mix with eight tracks, all of which are my own productions. Actually, the mix is the sixth installment in the All-Fanu Mix series that I've been trying to keep up. Three of the tracks are non-dnb and the rest dnb, of course.

"The first two tunes are from my last album, Homefree, which came out in the summer of 2009, and the third one from my album, Daylightless, from 2007. Both albums were released on my label, Lightless Recordings. The DNB bits are remixes for others. Tracks four and five are already out, and six to eight are coming out this year on various labels.

"This is the kind of stuff I've been playing as a DJ for several years and will be playing live in the future, so get those bookings coming, haha! For more mixes and audio of my stuff, check out www.fanumusic.com. Peace out, ya'll, and enjoy the summer!"

Words: Thomas Reece
Photography: Liisa Kemppainen

Mantra by Fanu

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