The chance to sit down with Peter, part of the production duo NC-17, for a full-length interview proved itself near impossible. Keeping up with the manic pace of the Canadian's day is just plain daunting.

A full time job, a wife, MMA training, and studio-time both solo or with partner Korosiv are only a few of the many dedications and talents the gentleman possesses. So, we spent about a week or so chatting via email, and they've given us a free tune to go with!

Having made a name for yourselves as solid producers & performers in the past few years and doing a number of interviews for outlets all over, are there any questions you've not been asked?

Well, no one has ever asked us who our favorite 90s action star is and of course that would have to be Van Damme. I mean, how can you go wrong with Van Damage? The Muscles from Brussels? Whether he's playing a Cyborg Soldier, a long lost twin brother, or a street fighter, you can always count on Van Damme for a good laugh.

How do you put your sets together? CDJs Vs vinyl Vs laptops? Tracklist beforehand? Drop some science on us.

We've been on CDJs literally from the first day they came out. I remember being one of the first people I knew who bought a pair of CDJ 1000s MK1s, close to ten years ago. I actually first read about them in Knowledge and thought "Wow, this is amazing!"

At that time I was [spending] close to $300 dollars month at Scratch Free (one of the few Toronto cutting houses). The very next day I put plans in motion and when my credit card showed up in the mail I went straight to the only store in the city that stocked them. I think I paid close to $2000 each. It was such a cool feeling when I cracked open the box for the first time!

The crowd's reaction was really interesting to see when I setup for my first full set with the Pioneers. At that time the only format was wax, so playing sets only on a digital format was a really new concept and was pretty frowned upon by the vinyl purists.

As time went on it became more acceptable, but for at least a few years people weren't having it. It's good see people that don't care about that kind of stuff anymore. Now more and more people are picking up digital formats, especially with constantly evolving gear like CDJs and Traktor/Final Scratch.

As for tracklists, we never walk in with a defined list before we play. We have an idea of what mixes work, but we'll never walk into a night with things planned out completely. Every night we play is different, so every crowd we play is different, and we like to be versatile for the situation we're in.

You've been known to play quickly and aggressively, what is it about performance that drives you so mad behind the decks?

Every time we play we want to have the set of the night. We want to impress the crowd each and every time we're out. We never walk into a set thinking 'Ok were just gunna play some tunes'. We walk into a night thinking 'Ok we need to steal the show and play the set that everyone is going to remember at the end of the night'.

Both of us are really competitive as well, and it plays a huge factor in how we play. It's not so much an aggressive competition, but it's fun and we make sure our sets are on point. We really get into it. When we're DJing we just can't stop moving. Feeding off the crowd when we get people moving really inspires us. One of the best feelings in the world is pulling off a crazy mix that nobody is expecting and hearing the whole crowd go "whoa". That's a huge rush for both of us. It makes our sets really quick and aggressive for our full slot. It's a work out for both us and the crowd.

Your discography is constantly growing, so how much time are you spending in the studio on beats? Being a production team, is scheduling or proximity an issue?

We work many different ways. Most of the time, Shawn drives to Toronto from Ohio and stays the weekend. We're usually able to pump out a tune in that time. Unfortunately Shawn can't make the trek every weekend, so we've been doing some collaboration via the internet lately.

Sometimes I will start a tune, sometimes he starts a tune, and we'll go back and forth with the files. Shawn uses Cubase and I use Ableton, so we bounce individual stems to work on. That's pretty much how we do collabs with other artists as well.

Getting love for the music you're writing is rewarding, but have you come across any drawbacks to your commitments in the scene?

There are some, but the main thing for us would be the number of friends we've lost, because of our dedication to DnB. Both of us have had the same problem. Spending so much time in the studio, DJing all over and promoting really puts a strain on our relationships with friends.

When you're in the belly of the beast you sometimes lose track of what's going on around you, and friendships can suffer because of it. I spent birthday weekends working on tunes in 2007 and 2008 when I could have been out with friends.

Shawn has had a couple relationships suffer for the very same reason. Getting into a creative process and feeling so passionate about your craft sometimes overpowers the other things in your life. I think we've gotten much better at making time for our friends and family, but there was a point when no one would see us for ages.

Having reached the #3 spot on Beatport with your last single on Viper, and a lot of attention surrounding your new release on Hardware, what other tunes of yours should we really be looking out for?

We have a bunch of stuff coming out at the moment! We have a forthcoming EP on Nemesis, a single on Big Riddim Recs, a single on Mix n Blend, another release on Viper, a single on Subculture, another EP coming on Proximity Recs, and a ton of stuff that we can't announce yet. Expect a lot of stuff coming from us in the near future. We've been very busy.

Thanks for the beats! What can you tell us about this remix you're giving away?

This is a remix we did for AK-1200 to help promote the Big Riddim release we have coming on his label Shocker/Bug Spray. The tune is an AK-1200 classic and has been remixed before by the likes of Dylan and some others as well. It's kind of a mix between the original and Dylan remix but with a dancefloor touch to it. Not your traditional NC-17 tune but def a fun tune, always goes off on the dancefloor and has great DJ support as well.

Craziest story from the road. No censorship. Name names.

Easily the time we played a festival in Quebec City. It was right out of a bad horror movie. I will never forget.

Our GPS took us out on a secluded dirt road, it was way the hell away from civilization, dark as fuck, and we (myself, Shawn, my wife, and one of the local DJs, who was no bloody help) had no idea where we were going.

Road conditions got worse and worse until we were basically on a rough little bike trail in our SUV, going up a steep hill covered in trees with only the high-beams showing us what was up... Everyone was freaking out, there was no reception on our cellphones, and I've seen courses lighter than this on rally courses!

The GPS said we were just a minute from our destination, but was directing us up another super steep hill so we got out of the car to survey the situation. We were all scared shitless and didn't know what we were going to do, but the very faint sound of shitty house music was our salvation.

We got back in the car and conditions got a bit better, we finally saw some people and felt relief that we weren't going to die out in the woods like a bunch of tourists in a horror flick. We finally showed up and I was pissed, I wanted to punch the promoter in the mouth for not picking us up and avoiding this whole ordeal, it could have gone so wrong so easily.

Eventually some dude with a thick French accent pointed to the main stage, and as I walked up fuming I see the promoter is full-on wearing a Scooby Doo mask while he's playing. We all just busted out laughing, had a killer set that night, and the promoter never knew how close he was to getting knocked out! Getting home was pretty crazy, but another paragraph for another day...

You guys won 'Best Internet Radio Show' in addition to 'Best Local DJ' at the last Toronto DnB Awards. What about that experience was most meaningful to you?

It was an honour! Shawn and I weren't expecting it, I don't think either of us have ever won anything in our lives, let alone for our musical achievements, so it felt really good to get some acknowledgement from our peers.     

What's next for NC-17? Any other aliases or projects we should be looking out for?

Right now we really want to get our own label going, so keep your eyes peeled for Grindhouse Audio. We've been meaning to do it for awhile, and it's been something Shawn and I have been thinking about since day one. We hope to have it going by year's end, so be on the look-out! Make sure you catch The Grindhouse every Sunday on Bassjunkees.com

Words: Ty Dubcomm

 

AK 1200 - Fake NC-17 remix by knowledge

 

• NC-17

Related Links:

• Review: Theory, Toronto
• Savage Rehab Guest Mix
• 86 (Nov 2006)
• Cubist Presents Colours Recordings
• NC-17 Launch Grindhouse Audio

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