S. R. Krebs Q&A (Her Majesty’s Ship)

SBYour new single Grey Skies EP has just been released and comprises of four tracks numbering in different styles. Can you describe the influences that are behind each of the tracks?

Well, for Grey Skies…..Leo came to me with the blue print of the song and I instantly fell in love and we actually wrote it very quickly. The influence/inspiration was really just me trying not to commit suicide. I mean I was in such a dark place and really needed something hopeful, one golden thread to hang on to. For me when I hear it, the song has this Bruce Springsteen Americana influence that I was brought up with, so it has this nostalgic feel, something that reminded me of home which I desperately needed at the time. A contemporary of mine said how much he loved this song because it was so simple, which is hard to do these days, to just write a beautiful pop song that is heartfelt and completely unpretentious. I had no idea that this is what we did but in retrospect I totally agree.

Talking to Yourself, is a really spécial track for me. I mean, it is funny because I wrote it on the guitar, two chords I think A and G,I don’t even remember, about a person I had not even met yet, sort of a song about a ghost lover, my sweetheart twin, true mirror. Then I put it in the hands of Leo and Mike and they turned it into this glorious monster of an out of this dimension dance track.

Big Shot was written by Mike and I think the sentiment of this song is about how quickly the business we work in can turn on you. One day you are on the top, it is all champagne and gold chains and everybody wants a piece of you, to the complete opposite where suddenly everything you produce as an artist is questionably bad, where you are walking down the street and nobody gives a shit about who you are or that you are an actual person, I mean aside from being an artist and that like everyone else you need to eat, and sleep and pick out great outfit for the day and get on with it and not feel like a complete waste of space. It really is a fuck you to all that, a real cheeky way of saying nope, not gonna play that game.

For losers…..Oh well that song was really influenced by just always feeling like an outsider my whole life, especially in Paris where let’s face it, everyone is so fucking cool, or everyone thinks they are so fucking cool. You know I don’t exactly fit in. I never feel thin enough or rich enough or fashionable enough. So I guess it is about that, and in a weird way it is a love song about two people who are tired of each other and only see the “loser” in the other person where they once saw a winner or champion. It is sort of a desperate cry to get back to a place where they can believe in each other again. Give me black leather tonight is a way of me saying what can I do to save us?

Can you tell us about the making of the video to accompany Grey Skies?

No fucking idea. I woke up one day with this lovely vidéo made by parallell in my email and I was like cool. This is beautiful.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZwxQVBkUiw

Why did you make the move from America to Paris in 2008, how would you describe the city in 2014?

Oh like every fairy tale, I fell in love. I fell in love with a man and the city. I came here on tour with some friends and never left! I never thought I would end up in a place like Paris. Being from Mississippi, as a young girl I never thought about making a life in another country. New York, yes, California for sure, but living abroad just seemed like too big a dream so….. Just imagine, a girl like me with nothing but a guitar and a few silk dresses all the way from Mississippi! Sometimes I don’t believe it myself. It really is a fairy tale. Where do I begin about Paris? I love it just as much as I did when I arrived, if not more so now. When I came here I really did not know anyone or about the culture or history of the city so I got to expérience it like a newborn. I spent the first three years going to a lot of parties not being known really as a singer, just as so and so’s weird drunk American girlfriend. I basically stayed inside with the curtains drawn watching a lot of movies, creeping around Bellville, playing my guitar and getting stoned. I think Paris is the same as it was when I arrived, the only difference is that I have changed.

You first joined Slove and released the single Flash. How did you join the band and what made you decide on doing this solo project?

I met Leo Hellden at a party one night through a friend. I told him I was a singer and that I was having a show and that he should come. So he came to my little folk show, you know just me and my guitar on stage, and thank god I was not wasted or nervous because he really saw something in me. He said he was working on this project with a friend, Julien Barth (plasir de France) and he thought my voice would be perfect. So just another case of being in the right place and the right time with the right person. And really ,the whole reason there is a solo project is because of Leo. He just felt the world needed to hear more than a guest spot on an album and offered to produce this project. Voila! And that my friend is how the cornbread crumbles!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ehv3tv_RO4

Can you tell us about your relationship with your record label Her Majesty’s Ship?

Harmonious, organic, and pleasurable.
I am really lucky to work with them. Charlotte and David are the other reason there is a solo project! They have believed in me from the beginning and stayed with me during hard times when I was an impossible person to be around. So,yeah it is cool. They are giving me more than a fair shake.

How would you describe playing your music ‘live’ to people?

The completion of a song for me is being able to perform it live. This is when I feel least alone and most loved, by strangers, friends, and myself so obviously I enjoy performing live as often as possible. It is a brilliant exchange of energy. Suddenly I am a vessel and so many intangible magical things pass through me and I hope I transmutate all that heartache and joy to the audience. If I fail at this then I am in the wrong business.

s2What’s the balance like between the House/Techno clubs in Paris and the live clubs/ bars?

Oh well let’s see, I don’t get out much unless I have a show….So…I am kind of clueless about the techno or bar scene here and really could care less. Is that bad? If you had asked me this a few years ago I could answer in confidence, but now……This question doesn’t have much significance to me, and I feel kind of uncool that I can’t answer it adequately.

Which artists/ musicians are you biggest influences? What is your favourite Gallery in the city?

From the formative teenage years I would say Tori Amos, P J Harvey, The Smiths, Dead Can Dance,This mortal Coil, Pale Saints, Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell. Who influences me now? Owen Pallett, Lloyd Cole, Yesway. The list is long. As far as art galleries in Paris, Air de Paris is grand, Crève Coeur, Kamel Mennour…….I really admire all these places. Totally fresh, what they are doing.

What are your plans for the future?

Well, I am looking in my crystal ball right now and I see a lot more collaborations with artists I admire, releasing my first full length album, touring America, taking piano lessons and French lessons, getting a personal trainer and maybe a big beautiful shaggy dog named Bosun? Visit my momma on the Gulf of Mexico and drink beer and eat a bucket of fried chicken on the beach?
Sounds good non?

https://www.facebook.com/srkrebsmusic
https://twitter.com/SR_Krebs
https://www.facebook.com/hmsrecords

https://soundcloud.com/her-majestys-ship/sets/hms012-s-r-krebs-she-like-1

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Reviews:116

Julian & Der Fux
Hin Und Weg EP
J.hruza Records

JHR614Good to see the confidence of five track’s worth of quality music making the grade on this release. Without You opens with a Talking Heads styled guitar lick and then proceeds to jam undulating electricity all over it. There is something so effortlessly funky about this yet it’s offset by almost melancholy vocals and delicate piano chords which help define this captivating production. Hin Und Weg continues in the similar vein although expands the sense of melody along with brooding synth lines. Magic String plays on the shuffling funkier elements of their style to great effect. Unglaublich is next with almost Yello styled vocals taking centre stage alongside a very dramatic conclusion. With the tougher Durch Die Stille finishing off this first rate EP.

release: March 21

https://www.facebook.com/JulianUndDerFux
http://jhruza.com

https://soundcloud.com/julianundderfux/hin-und-weg-radio-edit

SR Krebs
She Like Remixes
Her Majesty’s Ship

Cover remix S.R. KrebsOriginally released last year Sarah Rebecca Krebs AKA S.R Krebs icy cool vocal gets remixed with three new takes on the song. Beginning with Ewan Pearson’s excellent eighties inspired version which takes its cue from euro-disco and even comes complete with fretless bass sounds. However this doesn’t merely replay the past but adds a very contemporary sheen to the striking vocals. Hiem, then give a much tougher rhythm with attacking basslines and punctuating synths that again works particularly well with the vocal. Moscoman, provides the final mix and again plays with synthesised atmosphere’s to lend it all an epic feel.

release: April 14

 

https://www.facebook.com/srkrebsmusic
https://www.facebook.com/hmsrecords

https://soundcloud.com/her-majestys-ship/sets/hms012-s-r-krebs-she-like-1

Thomas Leyh
Contact
Who We Are

WWA002For the labels’ second release Berlin based DJ/ Producer Thomas Leyh delivers three tracks for your pleasure. Ironically starting with Goodbye which places a yearning, slightly uncomfortable vocal over pulsating stabs and bass. But the real standout happens next with the title tracks’ sumptuous, dark bass and commanding piano coming together in an enticing arrangement. Do It Now ends on a lighter set of notes coupled with a more playful sense of melody that draws you gently into its way of thinking.

release: March 31

https://www.facebook.com/Thomas.Leyh.Musik
http://www.whowearemusic.de/www.whowearemusic.de/Home.html

https://soundcloud.com/whoweare/thomas-leyh-contact-snippet

NTFO & Karmon
Diynamic069
Diynamic

3516-180339_600Great two track release from the always tasty Diynamc imprint, although I’m slightly late with reviewing this, good music always keeps. First off is Metropolis which lives up to its name with all the tension of the city twisted into a dramatic electronic landscape that suitably hints at a classic Kraftwerk synth lines in the process. Next, Composit picks up the pace with tough, brooding bass accompanied by a brutal kick drum and shimmering synthesisers which cumulate in a gorgeous breakdown of the elements. Both tracks are in the region of eight minutes long and both worth every second.

http://www.beatport.com/release/composit-ep/1258545
http://www.diynamic.com/news/detail.php?nw=59&title=Composit%20EP

https://soundcloud.com/diynamic-music/sets/diy_069-ntfo-karmon-composit

Rock It, Don’t Stop It – compiled by Sean P
BBE Records

Sean P’s excellent compilation of the not so obvious from the early days of Hip-Hop/ Rap makes for inspired listening. Plus, you also learn something about the music into the bargain. There was always something more playful and even funkier with this era, but then after all if you’re taking your cues from the likes of Chic and Kraftwerk then it always would be. Consisting of ten tracks which sound like they could only have been recorded between 79 and 83 you get a real feel for this great party-time music. There are a number of standout cuts, though you can’t help but like the boastful Rappin’ Partee Groove by Rappers Rapp Group, the life affirming Cat Claw and the Better Love Crew’s The Golden Rule, and representing the ladies the brilliant latino percussion fuelled Oh, Yeah from the The Jackson Two.

http://www.bbemusic.com/releases/BBE174CDG/Sean%20P%20-%20Rock%20It,%20Don%27t%20Stop%20It#.UzBxk864XTo

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Reviews: 76

VQ024Clarian
Chemical Gardens EP
Visionquest

Set your speakers to stun as this latest release from Visionquest will surpass your expectations by moving forward into 2013 with a bang. Clarian is one half of Footprintz who alongside Guy Gerber has produced the opener Claire which fuses eerie atmospheres together with haunting voices and crisp drums to sound somewhat epic and emotional. Destroy, She Says follows with timeless Beach Boys harmonies feeling golden, as always, against melodic electronic riffs that bizarrely sound just like they were made for each other – you can but dream. Renaissance continues the same mood inducing reaction, as Remove Control turns it upside down with further dancefloor energy with likewise Through Your Mind feat. Spaceman adding Acid tweaks into the mix. U (Unfinished) then returns to moodier electronic wizardry to complete this very aptly titled Chemical Gardens EP.

Release: February 25

https://soundcloud.com/guygerber/claire-clarian-guy-gerber

https://www.facebook.com/ClarianNorth

http://yourvisionquest.com/

 

Underneath-The-Pines--VinylThe Deadstock 33s
Underneath the Pines
Gomma

This has been playing my head for a time now. There is in fact something about Underneath the Pines that I can’t quite pin down. Although, needless to say that Justin Robertson’s latest single (under his Deadstock 33s guise) plays beyond irresistible, indeed it’s the sheer distinctive quality that he lends to his vocal, alongside the tastefully funky electronics, that defines its very own space and time. Put it like this. The House Mix is on repeat. Excellent remixes come from a breakbeat fuelled Ewan Pearson, and a Chicago referencing Disco Bloodbath both of whom only add to the sensory pleasure. If this sounds appealing then listen out for his forthcoming album: The Pilgrim’s Ghost in March.

release: February 11

https://soundcloud.com/justinrobertson-deadstock/a1-the-deadstock-33s

http://thedeadstock33s-justinrobertson.com/

http://www.gomma.de/

poolPool
Flex EP
2DIY4

Pool’s follow up to their debut for the label is in ways perfect Pop music: its got melody, lashings of cool instrumentation, which along with a razor sharp edge sounds little short of magnificent. Flex leans on Indie for sure with awkward guitars and grinding bass feeling breezy while its playful vocals embrace you in a happy sort of melancholy way that’s particularly appealing. Aeroplane provide the remix, and they don’t disappoint either, transforming the rhythm into something altogether European with bright keys and buzzing chords competing with bouncy Disco bass. Botox is the second original composition and has gentler, more endearing melodies despite its title, which Stimming then re-imagine as intoxicating Deeper house with twisted bass and shuffling drums.

release: February 18

https://www.facebook.com/PoolOfficial

http://www.2diy4.de/

 

Lil_Mark_A_Side

Lil’ Mark
Pulling Strings
Electric Avenue Records

Memoir’s low-slung chugging groove is situated somewhere in Acid drenched bliss. And things only get better when the deep bassline hits. Backed up by an array of classic sounding drums and deadpan Organ this is all about building mood and your anticipation, which it does expertly via its undulating Acid. Label head J Cub’s Deep Dub does just that with tougher drums and punchy keys eventually giving way to warm pads and hints of enticing vocal on his fist-rate remix. But back to the title Pulling Strings which ups the tempo alongside a Yello styled euro bassline that sizzles with energy to round off this notable release.

released – Feb

ruary 18 (Vinyl only)

http://eclecticavenuerecords.wordpress.com/

 

BVRDD085_DIGISLEEVE_600Mauritzio
Let It Go
Black Vinyl Records

Entering their seventeenth year Black Vinyl’s latest release delves once again into guitar inspired, soulful rhythms which this time feature the unmistakable vocal of Old Bastard. Part One of the package sees the smooth melodies blend into neatly shuffling percussion on Mauritzio’s Original version. However, try N’Dinga Gaba’s remix which highlights the voice  lifting it over bouncier tribal infused grooves, that are then accompanied by an instrumental for good measure. Mauritzio also explores further Jazzy aspects on his two remaining versions to focus your attention on the versatility/ quality of the music.

release: February 11

http://www.traxsource.com/title/200395/let-it-go-part-one-feat-ndinga-gaba-remix

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Reviews:17

                                                             

Sean Danke

‘Breath/ Leeks’

Something Different Records

Always good to start at the beginning as Jesus Pablo and Di Riviera celebrate their brand new imprint with this from Sean Danke. A name no doubt many of you are familiar with as the Reykjavik resident delivers what could suggestively be called techno at a strident tempo to match. However there’s something particularly infectious about the repeatedly disturbing voices and their accompanying syncopation as generated by Breath, can’t quite put my finger on exactly why but then that’s part of the appeal. Martijn remixes with typical flair and imaginatively pitches down the mood, although as it turns out with no less intensity with plenty of funky sequences on offer. Leeks, feels lighter in comparison, the piano helps, and spans nine minutes of invigorating danceable music. Philipp Ort then remixes the piano with added sparkle and layers of chords into warmer atmospheres to finish off round one. 8

release: 25 Oct 2011

http://www.facebook.com/somethingdifferentrecords

 

 

Tracey Thorn

‘Night Time E.P’

Strange Feeling Records

Night Time made perfect sense the second time I played it. Firstly because it’s an XX cover and secondly as Tracey Thorns consistently distinctive voice sounds so very right on this version, which also features a certain Ben watt on guitar and backing vocals alongside Ewan Pearson’s tasteful production. Next, Swimming gets reworked via an excellent re-tweaking of Visionquest’s remix from last year by Pearson. You know you’re in the company of future genius here as this sublime arrangement of fizzing electronic melody sits stunningly with the vocals, and the pay-off is well worth waiting for.  Emotive sounds and swirling atmospheres continue to compete for your attention on Charles Webster’s versions, which both hit the mark just as you would expect from him. 9

 release: 31 Oct 2011

http://www.strangefeelingrecords.com/

 

Darkness Falls

‘Alive In Us’

hfn music/ Fake Diamond Records

This band – there are two of them – have been appearing on the radar since their debut e.p was released last March. Danish duo Josephine Philip and Ina Lindgreen make the kind of noises which you could argue fit autumn like a glove, with pleasantly melancholy songs and sixties musical references – slightly Velvet Underground – floating in a certain direction on the first half of the playlist. You can picture the accompanying film and the scenes therein, which like reading books is just what you want. Produced by Trentemøller tracks such as The Void have the guitars feeling big and twanging while the electronics are wired into swirling moods and so on, conversely tracks like Josephine feel entirely haunting and epic. Paradise Trilogy II sees playful toms and chorus-like vocals combine with searing string sounds that are eerily reminiscent of one Ennio Morricone  – the finishing version III has whistling too . Timeline lifts the sense of melody into dirtier, funkier territory and proves to be one of the best tracks on the album, which as time plays on both the tempo and intensity lift into jumping up and down moments ending up at Hey! This may be a taste you might like to acquire. 7

release: 24 Oct 2011

http://www.myspace.com/darknessfallsmusic

 

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