Who would have thought that jazz and techno would make such comfortable bedfellows? It’s an interesting combination to say the least, but thanks to figures like Germany’s Henrik Schwarz we’re increasingly hearing the two words said within the same breathe of each other. And according to Henrik, a good techno/jazz fusion means a whole lot more than throwing in a few ‘jazzy’ elements into a club track. Rather, it’s more an attitude of how you play things.
“Jazz for me means everything is possible at any time and also it is a spontaneous reaction to your fellow musicians and/or the audience – no more or less than that, he says. “So for me and my laptop this means I am starting at one point but I don’t know where the journey goes, like jumping in at the deep end. I find that quite exciting.”
His new album Live is in the shops, and ITM catches up with the man to discover the latest in what’s going on in bringing the two worlds of house and jazz together…
You’ve just released your ‘live’ album: is there still an artist album in the works?
Oh yes, it’s been ‘in the works’ for 3 years now. But for the last two months I’ve really been working on it, so hopefully everything will be finished by end of next year.
Recently Frank (from Ame) was talking about a new project involving yourself and Dixon as the ‘Innervisions Orchestra…’ What musical direction is this heading in?
Well, since we did our first single Where We At together, we had the idea of doing something more as an ensemble where each of us adds our special influences and roots. We have realised that we can work together quite well, so for the Innervisions Orchestra project we want both to produce a CD and put together an accompanying live show where we’d both appear on stage.
Jazz is known for its free form improvisational stylings. How does this relate to your live show armed with a laptop and various controllers?
There has always been quite a lot of confusion when it comes to the combination of techno/house and jazz. From my point of view there are two possible directions. The first one means you just add some ‘jazzy’ solos or elements to a house or techno track. The second one is more an attitude of how you play things. Jazz for me means everything is possible at any time and also it is a spontaneous reaction to your fellow musicians and/or the audience – no more or less than that. So for me and my laptop this means I am starting at one point but I don’t know where the journey goes, like jumping in at the deep end. I find that quite exciting.
What is the creative process like? I heard you work heavily in Ableton Live, is all your work done through plugins, or do you use the best of both worlds?
I am using plugins on one hand and also a lot of real instruments like Rhodes or piano or percussion or bass. I use the computer to extract and process interesting melodies and sounds from those real instruments. I believe that there are a lot of interesting things to discover if you combine both worlds.
Have you thought about losing the machines and going into a totally ‘live’ mode with acoustic instruments?
Yes. I am working on a project that is exactly that but it seems that it will take a while to set everything up properly. You need to find the right musicians for that.
To me, your remix for Coldcut Walk A Mile In My Shoes represents a significant shift towards ‘song-orientated’ house music. Is this something we can expect more of for your artist album?
Well, yes, I am trying to do that yes. I am trying to find a balance between club tracks and songs. Let’s see if it works…
How is your label ‘Sunday Music’ going? I noticed that SMR003 contained a link to download tracks in MP3 format, did you get many downloads? And as a relatively small independent label, what changes are you making to adapt to the new digital era?
There was a code on the vinyl because I was interested in how many people would download, and how much interest there was. I was quite surprised how many people downloaded. That means, of course, that there is a lot of interest in digital formats and of course as a label, you feel that there is a lot of change happening. Vinyl seems to get less important – sadly. For my label it is still quite OK to do vinyl, but I know many other small labels that are no longer able to do vinyl. It is getting too expensive to press records because you have to sell more than 800 copies to pay the pressing. It seems to be important to stay flexible. I don’t know what the future brings, but too much music is getting copied: that’s a problem for small and big labels. But I believe that people need music for their lives, so there is a need for new music that is going to stay and that’s the most important thing.
What new bands/producers are you digging at the moment? Are you being influenced by the modern sounds coming through in house music?
I am always trying to keep my eyes open in many directions: not only in house music. Many inspirations come from outside the club scene. I listen to a lot of old and new music. At the moment I love last.fm where you type one artist in and get a lot of other stuff out. If I find an interesting track I order the whole CD and see if there is more to explore.
Your remix for Mari Boine was one of my favourite records of the year. You’re known for remixing some quite obscure names, how do these remix projects come along?
To be honest, I don’t know how it works. At some point my phone rings and somebody has something to remix. If I like it and have time I do it. Of course if it is something from outside the dance scene, like Mari Boine, I find it especially interesting as there is a lot of potential to create something new.
Congratulations on the birth of your twins. How has this affected your lifestyle and musical perspective?
Thanks! After their birth I wanted to really concentrate on them for a while so I stopped most of my music activities for a while. That has been a good decision because I had time to think about many things and of course the little ones had a strong influence on this new perspective …
And when can we expect you down in Australia?
Hopefully soon! I am quite sure it will happen in 2008.
Henrik Schwarz’s album Live is out now through !K7/Inertia.
Underdog says...
Ok, so when is he coming?
Underdog says...
Ok, so when is he coming?