After making his name as a DJ and producer extraordinaire, Klaus moved to Sydney in 2003 to start his label Title Fight. With award winning producer Dopamine on board, the label is going from strength to strength. ITM’s Pete(SignalDrivers) chats with Klaus before his upcoming Ministry of Sound Maximum Bass Tour…

ITM: You’ve been doing your thing for a while now. Tell us about your move from the UK to Australia in 2003.

Klaus: Well I think everyone knows why I moved here by now, so how about I give you run down of how I found it, now that I have been here a while? The move has been a really positive one for me, inspirational you might say! I have met some wicked mates and the move allowed me to concentrate much more on my music and getting Title Fight up and running without the distractions of a big city like London. Musically I have had to adapt as a DJ and that’s been a challenge, albeit a very nice one, and this adaptation has passed across to my productions as well. I now feel I have been accepted as a part of Australia’s dance music scene, and that’s been important to me. As well as running a business I like to help out people if I can, that’s the way the UK breaks scene has always worked, so getting to know the scene and the people involved in it in Australia has helped in that department. People are not afraid to give me a call or post a question for me on the inthemix forums and ask advice on production and vinyl manufacturing; it’s made me feel like I can truly call Sydney home!

ITM: What are the benefits of being based in Australia as opposed to the UK?

Klaus: Basically it’s a life style choice. I’d be lying if I said the Australian scene was the best place in the world for a producer to live, because all dance music fans know the European scene is always going to be the centre for cutting edge dance music, that’s why the top Aussie acts all head overseas when they are trying to make it big ! But for me it’s enabled me to relax a bit more and spend much more time being creative, I don’t have to worry about building my name abroad, I spent years doing that before my move here, so now its all about the music, working with Dopamine, hanging with my mates in Sydney and enjoying the company of my wife.

ITM: Where did it all start? Take us back to when you where just a featherweight.

Klaus: It all started in London in the 90s really, the end of acid house, the start of the hardcore scene and early jungle, that’s where I got the bug for dance music. During the week I’d go see bands like Green River Killers, TAD and Acid Reign, punk and metal bands, then at weekends go get messed up listening to Ellis Dee, Ray Keith, DMS, Mickey Finn and Sasha. In those days the scenes were not so split, everyone played a similar sort of style, but it was the emergence of jungle techno which really grabbed my attention. I spent years involved in the scene, hands on, working for labels while I developed my production skills. Then in the late 90s the whole breaks thing kicked off and lots of people I knew from drum and bass started to write this twisted shit, just at a slower BPM, and I was hooked!

ITM: What’s your edge? What does Klaus do that no one else does?

Klaus: It’s all about having your own sound. I have spent many hours developing and perfecting the ‘Klaus Sound’! I’m respected because that sound is original; I never try to copy someone, what’s the point? My production is something that makes me stand out as well, the way I get my music to sound on a big system is something that lots of the scene’s main dons always tell me they love about my material. You can listen to it on the hi-fi indoors or in the car, but it will never do it justice until you hear it in a club at 4am, dancing like a nutter!

ITM: Who is the most influential person in your life and why?

Klaus: Musically it’s Dopamine, he has giving me a real kick up the ass this past 6 months. He has that special something when it comes to breaks and that has forced me to lift my game as well. Every time he delivers a tune, I know I’ve got to match it to keep the high standard on the label. Other then that it’s my wife; she keeps me in check and puts a smile on my face everyday.

ITM: How do you compare the scene here in Australia to other places around the world?

Klaus: The scene is still tiny here compared to Europe, but it’s healthy. More and more people are trying to produce tunes, which is great because my biggest complaint has always been that there’s too many DJs and not enough producers. Australia needs producers to carry the scene forward, develop its own sound, otherwise it just copies the UK.

ITM: Your label has secured the services of the award winning Dopamine recently. Tell us about what we can expect from your label in the future.

Klaus: So much good music coming this year! Dopamine, myself and the labels other main artist, Psure, have all delivered some cracking tracks. I will also be introducing two more new Aussie artists to the label, Jono Fernandez and Q45, both of whom have an outstanding knowledge of dance music and are writing some killer tunes. The label will also be pushing its online sales with exclusive tunes only available from the Title Fight online shop. I’m sad to say it, but vinyl is dead and as a business you need to move with the times and adapt, so I want to be amongst the first breaks labels to move in this direction. We will still be doing vinyl for the foreseeable future, I’m just preparing for the long haul! The label will also be continuing the successful Title Fight nights around the country, with the Ambar, Perth being the latest addition to the already wicked list of clubs the label plays host at.

ITM: Besides the main man Dopamine. Who else is leading the way in breaks at the moment?

Klaus: Too many [to list], but I think Psure is going to be one to watch, he is only 20 and already his productions are formidable with lots of plays from the likes of Elite Force and Meat Katie, all the plod steppers! The Autobots, The Breakfasterz and Ctrl Z are others that are doing it for me at the moment, I would not really play to much of their material, just not my style, but they are pushing the scene forward which is what it’s about in the end.

ITM: Title Fight was nominated in the Breakspoll awards last year as the best breakthrough label. What’s going on in the Title Fight corner?

Klaus: Hard work mainly, I run the label all by myself, so as well as holding down a busy international DJ schedule and production career I have to deal with all the label business as well. It’s hard work, but rewarding, so I would not swap it for anything in the world! I might try and find someone to help me out this year, but we will see.

ITM: Your label seems to be innovative and pushing the edge in terms of discovering new talent. Tell us about the Title Fight competition.

Klaus: Well I just wanted to encourage people that want to make breaks to get in their studios, or wherever they make music, and have a goal, something to aim for. The basic idea is that me and the guys on the label will pick one track for those submitted for release on the label. The package will include remixes from all the artists on the label and will get a full vinyl release on Title Fight. Hopefully it will encourage people to actually try and finish tunes and not just mess around. If we hear something we like, but it needs a tidy up and mix down, then I’ll do that before release.

ITM: Heavyweight, Title Fight… a lot of boxing references?

Klaus: It actually all comes from my dad, he was British champion five times in Freestyle Wrestling, not the stuff you see on the TV, Hulk Hogan and all that, but proper old school stuff. He went to the Commonwealth Games, World Championships, missed an Olympics because of injury. The nick name ‘Heavyweight’ came from my days on pirate radio in London, and it just stuck, the rest of the idea’s for the label have been a mixture of my dad’s influence and using boxing themes as a guide. It’s branding, if you have a strong brand, people pay attention.

ITM: What’s your favourite thing in your studio? Besides your punching bag picture of the Queen of course.

Klaus: It has to be my Apple Mac, not crashed once in 2 years. Apples are just so good for multi media software packages. PCs are great for games and internet, but Windows is a bitch to tweak and get right for music applications. Lots of people use PCs and all I ever hear is them moaning, I switch my Mac on and I’m working! Actual favourite studio equipment though… it’s my Sherman Filter Bank, just makes things sound twisted!

ITM: What can we expect from your upcoming tour of Australia?

Klaus: Bass heavy madness, lots of drinking and watching a fat man bounce around like an idiot behind the decks!

‘Maximum Bass 2’, mixed by Klaus ‘Heavyweight’ Hill, is out now through Ministry of Sound/EMI. The tour continues to wing its way around the country in April, you can catch him at the following venues:

Sat 1st Apr – TBA, Launceston
Fri 7th Apr – Syrup, Hobart
Thu 13th Apr – Siroccos, Burnie
Sat 15th Apr – Velvet Underground, Cairns
Sat 16th Apr – Platinum, Gold Coast
Fri 21st Apr – Bustin, Wollongong
Sat 22nd Apr – Sandbar, Merimbula
Fri 28th Apr – Academy, Canberra
Sat 29th Apr – The Embassy, Townsville