Jody Wisternoff: Westward pioneer

Jody Wisternoff, along with his compatriot in melodic house and progressive Nick Warren, have both proved hugely successful in their respective careers as DJ/producers over the years – but together, they’ve been the source of something even more special. We’re talking about Way Out West, who’ve proved to be one of electronica’s finest acts over the years, and after a five-year wait they’re finally about to release their new album We Love Machine. ITM got it’s hands on a copy, and we can confirm it’s something pretty special indeed, and destined to be remembered as one of the year’s finest electronic releases.

One half of the duo Jody Wisternoff arrives in Australia this weekend for a DJ tour to coincide with the release of We Love Machine. His heritage in progressive and underground house is a solid one; he’s released plenty of excellent solo club work in the five or so years since the duo’s Dont’s Look Now album, but it’s safe to say we can expect plenty of new Way Out West material on the upcoming tour. ITM has a chat with Jody about what we can expect…

Your new album with Way Out West will be out pretty soon, finally. I’ve been listening to it over the past week and really digging it, plentyof blissful moments in there. What’s the journey been like for you to get it finished?

Thanks very much, glad you like! The journey, as always with albums, has been a lot longer than expected, but a most enjoyable experience. I actually only just did the final, final mixdown the day before I left for Greece recently, and I’m pretty sure it’s 100% completed now ( sigh of relief).

Each album from Way Out West is somewhat of an opus, and there’s usually a bit of distance between each release. Do you feel the pressure to really hang around and nail it in the studio before you let it out there?

Yeah, there’s usually about a 4-year gap in between albums, but during this time you must remember that I began my solo career which has spawned three singles and about 10 remixes, written tons of tracks that didn’t make the grade, took time off due to hearing issues, became a father, and have been travelling almost every weekend. Also, it’s not like 10 years ago when there was less distractions and you could just get on and make music. What with Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, AIM Skype etc etc… The actual music process almost seems secondary sometimes. But yeah, in answer to your question, I really wanted to make sure we were 100 per cent happy with the results, and this is only really possible if you live with tracks for a while.

It’s quite a beautifully textured release, more so than ever before. Did that require a really perfectionist approach in the studio?

Thanks! I think this could be because we have been working on our vintage synth collection over the last few years. Some of the beauties we are lucky enough to have scored include the Jupiter 8, Prophet 5, Macbeth M5N, Rolland sh5 and Octave Kitten. Real tasty bits of proper analog goodness, which really help to colour the sound way more than if you just use VSTS.

There’s a laidback element to it, but there’s also a few club anthems with tracks like Future Perfect and Jupiter. Did you see it as important to include a few tracks for the dancefloor in there?

I actually think this album is way more dancefloor than Don’t Look Now. The majority of the tracks are 120BPM+, but this is just the vibe we are on right now. We also decided to go with a male vocalist this time, for a nice change, and Jon Mendelsohn who features on three tracks has done a really good job I feel.

Electronically, it’s got kind of a psychedelic thing going on and the whole ‘Cosmic Disco’ influence shines through a bit. What was the go here?

Again, we’ve both been really influenced by that kind of sound lately. A lot of the people making this kind of music have really cool analog synth-based studios, and when you are playing round with a load of crazy old machines the sound does tend to get rather psychedelic! Soulwax, Chemical Brothers etc, people like this have inspired me heavily.

Looking back over your past couple of years, apparently you had to take a bit of a break from dance music due to health reasons. What was the story here, and were you ever considering not returning to dance at all?

I basically got tinnitus after a gig in the summer of ‘06, and it knocked me sideways! Normally the ringing would fade a day or two after a gig, but this time it just kept getting louder and louder. It also seemed to alter my way of hearing for a while, I was picking up strange resonant harmonics from everyday environmental sounds, so studio work was impossible. I basically had to take about six months off, and as a result was also battling depression. Since then I’ve just got used to the sound, and I don’t really notice it unless I’m in a quiet room, and even then it doesn’t really bother me. Tinnitus retraining therapy really helped, and of course musicians earplugs when DJing is a must!

Outside of Way Out West, you’ve had a very consistent career as a solo producer with many a fine progressive release over the years. How much do you separate the two projects, and try to maintain a consistency for your own solo stuff?

Cheers! To be honest, the two projects are very much intertwined. A few of the Way Out West tracks actually started out as solo ideas, but I realised that in order to complete the album I had to focus. With Nick’s involvement and input, I like to think the sound goes to another place, which is the Way Out West sound. For me, it’s about balancing the two careers, and making sure I put equal amounts of effort into both.

And finally, what can we expect from your DJ tour? A fairly Way Out West heavy set, or will the focus be more on your own solo stuff?

Both really. I’m playing out and testing a bunch of new Jody Wisternoff tunes which will see the light of day soon, and obviously the clubby Way Out West album tracks. Check my Way Out There and Intensified shows or podcasts for a taste of what’s to come, lots of hot stuff around at the moment.

Jody Wisternoff tours for Way Out West’s We Love Machine:

Fri Aug 21st – Empire, Brisbane
Sat Aug 22nd – Shape, Perth
Fri Aug 28th – Brown Alley, Melbourne
Sat Aug 29th – Club Club, Chinese Laundry, Sydney