Interview With Fred Everything

What’s new in the world of Fred Everything at the moment, any releases coming up?

Lots... Just released my 5 years of Lazy Days mix compilation. I also have a new music coming out on Urban Torque, Buzzin Fly and Lazy Days as well as remixes for AtJazz, Matthias Vogt, Pezzner and Audio Soul Project. And let's not forget my Sample pack for Loopmasters!

You've released with OM Records, who are regarded as one of the world’s largest independent record labels. How did you hook up with them?

They started out by licensing some of my music for their compilation, hiring for to do remixes and playing for their various residencies worldwide. After that came the mix cds, the original EPs and Albums. It surely has been a long journey!

You also run your own label, Lazy Days. How is that going? Any new signings for 2011 or releases from yourself?

It's going great, thank you! We just celebrated the 5 years with a Sampler which featured remixes from the catalog by Crazy P, Greg Wilson, Art Of Tones and Ian Pooley. We have a healthy schedule ahead with artists such as Kruse & Nuernberg, Lance DeSardi, Atnarko, Pezzner, Shur-I-Kan and myself. 

What is it like running a label in 2011, is there a huge difference in how you approach the marketing of your releases from when the label was founded in 2005?

I started the label when things were already slowing down. Funnily enough, our first release sold 4000 copies on vinyl only and was licensed to a dozen compilations. Nowadays, numbers have shrunk but overall, the label is gaining momentum and popularity. It's just about finding ways to make it work rather than complaining about it.

Let's take it back to where you started. How did you get into Music Production? What was your first piece of kit?

I started messing around equipment when I was a kid. First it was recorders and tape edits as well as banging on my mom's kitchen drums (true story!). When I was a teenager, my friend gave me a mattel drum machine and I was making acid house with a Korg Poly 800, syncing the both of them the best as I could. I also formed a few bands and we had and AKAI AX-60 as well as an Emulator 2 and a bunch of other synths.

Now, what five pieces of studio equipment, or software would you say determines your sound?

I used to think that equipment define your sound but not so much anymore. I can get the same result using pretty much anything. For me, equipment has become more like grown up toys. I love the way they feel and the fact that they can take me to unexpected places sonically.

Here are a few essentials :

• MOOG Voyager
• Dave Smith Instrument Prophet 08
• Roland SH-09
• MPC 3000
• UAD2 Card (loaded with plugins) 

Being an in demand DJ, do you prefer playing to the crowds or being cooped up in the studio making the music?

I love both of them and I wouldn't want to be ask to choose. There's nothing like creating a new song from scratch but playing it in front of a crowd is where it's at! 

You recently created a sample pack for Loopmasters, how did you find this compared to creating musical productions?

I always wanted to do a sample pack and Loopmasters was my first choice. I had actually prepared a Blueprint before I got approached by Loopmasters but I ended up working on the whole project a lot more than I thought I would. A lot of work went into this and I hope It's gonna be useful for people. My goal was to create tools rather than already "chewed-up" material. 

When you made your pack, were you worried that producers were going to be sampling, or trying to recreate your sound?

It did occur to me when I was making certain hooks that I could see myself use in my own production but it's the nature of the beast and I'm looking forward to hear what people make of them!

Do you have any advice for the budding producers out there that are trying to make it in the competitive world of the music industry?

Be yourself and be humble.