Hailing from Philadelphia, PJ Geissinger has been performing as Starkey for only four years and has already garnered international attention for his energetic live/DJ performances and original sound. Starkey is co-owner of Slit Jockey Records and a member of the Seclusiasis and Trouble and Bass crews. In 2005, Starkey won both the North American and Mid-Atlantic “Laptop Battles”, in Seattle and Washington D.C. respectively. He was also featured in the Philadelphia City Paper’s 2005 Spring Music issue and awarded the Choice Award for “Best UK Grime DJ in Philly” along with Dev79. Following this success stateside, Starkey was selected by Vex’d as one of seven new DJs for Radio 1 leading lady Mary Anne Hobbes’ “Generation Bass” special and was the only non-UK DJ to be chosen.

Following up his 2006 debut Local Headlines on Werk Discs, Starkey’s latest album Ephemeral Exhibits was dropped last year on the world famous Planet Mu label. In the past 2 years, Starkey has had a string of vinyl, CD and digital releases on labels such as Peace-Off/Ruff in France, Dead Homies, Offshore and LoDubs in his home country of the US, as well as a porfolio of labels like Nonclassical, Dress 2 Sweat and Zombydub back over in the UK. Starkey took some time out for a few words with the ITM massive ahead of his first visit to Australian shores…

Dubstep is still considered by many to be a UK sound, with artists like Burial evoking images of dark rainy London streets, do you find living in the US influences your sound or is the area a music comes from not as relevant these days?

I know I’ve been quoted saying things like, once music hits the Internet it gets de-regionalised. I still stand by that quote. I think we’re constantly bombarded with this underground regionalised music, and good producers pull from all sorts of influences with their production. But, for me at least, where I live plays a huge part in my attitude towards music and how I produce. Philly is a gritty place. This de-regionalisation of music is the very reason why our Seclusiasis crew call what we do ‘street bass’. It’s just music that pulls from all kinds of influences and isn’t scared to be all of them at the same time.

One thing I find that separates your music from a lot like it in the dubstep/grime scene is your use of melody. What’s your background in terms of writing music? Have you had much experience writing for other genres?

Thanks for saying that… I’m all about melodies! So much dubstep, in particular, doesn’t have any melody. That’s the thing that people latch onto, they hum in their head. I’m also all about vocals. This next album I’m working on should have some a decent amount of original vocals on it. My background in music is all over really. I’ve been taking piano lessons since I was very young, like five or six, then picked up on woodwinds in school, studying classical music, then bass and jazz in high school and college. I went to college for production, so I did everything from recording bands to writing experimental electronic music.

Speaking of other genres, it’s obvious from your own music and your remixes that hip-hop is a major
influence on your style of production. What other music do you listen to while relaxing and do you find it also has an influence over your own productions?

I’m a big trip-hop and downtempo fan. That was probably the first electronic music I got really into. Early Tricky and Portishead... Alpha... all that I’m really into. I’m also into Frank Sinatra and Chet Baker as well. My musical interests are all over. I think everything I listen to, even the stuff I don’t particularly like, becomes some kind of influence.

You released your album on Planet Mu, one of the most respected electronic labels out there, how did that
come about? Did you get to “shop around” much? If so why did you choose Mu?

I had been sending tunes to Mu for a couple years actually. Then one day I heard back from Mike who runs the label. He was like, “we need to do a 12 inch soon.” Then the 12” turned into an album over a period of a month or so. Mu have such a great catalog… and to be honest, 2009 is probably going to be one of their best in years. They’ve got records dropping from Gemmy, Raffertie, Pinch and whole bunch of ther producers who I am really into. Plus hopefully my 2nd album in the late Fall.

Dubstep seems to have converted a lot of people. Artists like Drop The Lime used to play full on breakcore before ditching for a slower bass orientated sound. You yourself even show off breakcore sounds on your Local
Headlines record. Even in the UK DnB producers are making dubstep. What do you think it is about the sound that converts so many people?

I think it’s the heavy bass for most people. But for me I think it’s the experimentation within the genre. I mean… you can’t say what Joker does is the same as what Burial does. But for some reason, they’re both considered by the average club-goer as dubstep. That says a lot for a genre. Drop the Lime and I were both getting into grime about the same time. I definitely think it was primarily an East Coast US connection with the early Grime producers and MCs. That raw, urban gritty sound… we could connect with that. Plus in Philly, it was easier to convert people to the Grime music, because of the MC connection with hip hop… which is THE music of Philadelphia, period.

You have a vocal Grime track on your Corner Store EP. How did that collaboration come about and was it a
conscious decision to use a UK MC instead of someone from the US?

Xploder was just a cool guy who was down with collaborating on a tune. He did a few vocals for Slit Jockey, and for that tune, yeah, I guess it was a conscious decision to work with a UK MC over a US MC. But you’ll see on my next album that I’m also working with US MCs. For me it really doesn’t matter, as long as the MC has a good flow and has something to say. I’ve got a 12” of Gutter Music coming out in the next month or so… and that features Durrty Goodz, one of the biggest MCs in gGrime. Yeah, it was a conscious decision to work with him as well… because I really felt as though that tune would work well with a UK MC. I guess it’s sort of like picking out which synth to use on a tune… some things just work better in certain scenarios.

Get down to your local leg of Starkey’s Australian tour, featuring MC Halfcast and presented by VOID Touring:

Fri Mar 6th – Phoenix Bar, Sydney
Sat Mar 7th – Stepp Inn, Brisbane
Thu Mar 12th – Ambar, Perth
Fri Mar 13th – Higher Ground, Adelaide
Sat Mar 14th – Laundry Bar, Melbourne

For a taste of what he’s all about, check out Starkey’s appearance on Mary Anne Hobbes’ “Generation Bass” special…