Fine Cut Bodies

Kevin’s also has a collaboration with EK and MC Spee that suggests a real dance floor bomb, so keep your ears out for that! He is also working on a new remix for Tipper, and collaborations with Chris Carter (TCR) and Fink (Ninja Tune), busy as always…

Kevin was nice enough to take time out of his busy schedule to do an interview with us, and we are proud to present you with this interview!

The label was founded in 2000 when a CD was made by a few chaps called Naga & Amb. The easiest way to release that, was to found our own record label. But as one of the really few independent labels of Hungary, the label had to learn the way by itself, as there were no examples for us… But it seems now we are on the way and hope there are at least a few people who expanded their tastes while listening to Chi stuff. Currently we are thinking of going digital for our vinyl releases and try to start a series of internet only releases for free download, as we have too much good stuff nowadays. Do you know of the internet labels like Thinner (www.thinnerism.com)? Really nice minimal, dubby, clickhouse stuff just for free, and there are hundreds of these little labels… Maybe this will be the next step.

That sounds very exciting! When do you see the online portion of the label happening? Will this slow down your vinyl release schedule or replace it?
You can’t imagine how many really fresh-minded producers are in Hungary. We have too much nice material, so we will try to do this alongside the vinyl releases. And I think in some years vinyl sales will decrease enough to stop releasing vinyl. We are not vinyl junkies (althought I go to record shops 5 times a week), we are music junkies, so really don’t care about the format what carries music.

The releases on Chi are very eclectic, everything from downtempo/dub, techno/house, and of course breakbeat. Most labels stick with one genre, what is the motivation behind your diversion from the norm?
 The real question was, why should we limit ourselves to any genre? We are real genrewhores, so really we don’t care much about the tempo, rhythm patterns, etc. We are listening/playing/releasing music without limits… There is too much good music in the world to be silly enough not to listen/play/release everything we like. Our weekly night (Ablak-A-Dubra) with DJ Naga is our residency where we build up the night, so we have the possibility to play out everything! We had a lot of different guests also, from breaks DJs to house, minimal, experimental, downtempo. One thing what counts, the quality, as A-A-D is a brand in Hungary where people are coming because they trust our taste and not just for the big name artists… I just regret I don’t have more time to listen to lot of different things, and go deeper into other forms of art…

Speaking of which, are you involved with any other formats of art?
I would be really happy if I had more time. As behind all formats of art there is the same engine, the creativity, to build, create something. So it’s not too important if it’s visual, audio, etc. My silly problem is, I have a daily job, and have nights to play out (2-3/week), write music, run the label (alongside Lui, Amb, Naga, Rich, Hau, Lillu, …), booking other gigs, running our weekly night…

Chi releases are touching on more of the psychedelic, trippy side of the coin. Have you ever been concerned that might limit you to a smaller audience then other styles? ;)
I don’t know how trippy our releases are, but it’s surely not the in the main flow of the dancefloor-banging tunes. Certainly we know this, but we are more interested in music than how high we are on the charts… Those are mostly hype based things, send out more promos to lot’s of DJ Anybody’s and they will chart you (as a thanks) not depending on the quality. Certainly this does not mean good stuff can’t hit the charts, but be honest: breaks started to grow, because it started to be really schematic and recognizable for the bigger audience and more DJs.

Coming soon is the Cinetrip Workshop EP. This looks to be a very promising release, and also from some of the pictures, looks like a very good time while you were creating it. Tell us more about how it all came together.
Yeah, those tracks were done in a workshop. It was organized by some friends at Cinetrip, who are party organizers & a VJ company in Hungary. We are residents at all of their events and help compile the DJ lineups. They do really good parties in crazy venues such as Turkish baths, train museums, aqua parks, etc… so last may (2003) they organized this workshop countryside in a hotel, where 30 people went for a week. Without mobile phone coverage, without the internet, only with our studio setups, computers, and creativity… There were 3 or 4 different audio and VJ groups there and we were working together for a week on a show what was presented right after the workshop. Half live, half DJ sets 3 hours/groups. While we were working on the audio side, the VJs were working on their thing, recorded a lot of sessions, drew new animations, applied filters and worked out how to get in sync with us. It was a really great week with a lot of fun, a lot of wine (the place - Tokaj – is the most famous vineyard of Hungary), table tennis, and the Palinka, just ask Chris Carter ;) Other artists who were with us: Rich Thair (Red Snapper), Tipper, Addictive TV, and certainly the Hungarian guys including the Chi crew! http://www.cinetrip.hu

And what would you say that was your personal favorite moment of that workshop/event? Any crazy stories/moments to share with us?
We went into a wine cellar to taste different wines and shorts. At the end we bought 1.5 liter of Hungarian special shortdrink called Palinka, and back in the hotel we drank it in half an hour with Amb, Raster, ChrisCarter, and Tipper… you can imagine us after…. but I can’t tell more! We tried another silly short that had written “whiskey-like drink” on the label… That was really great when we presented our show on the final gig! Huge moment.

What is in the future for Chi Releases? Will we see a continued wide range of styles on the releases? Are there any new projects or artists that we should be on the lookout for?
We will definitely continue our way. Maybe we will try to widen our styles! One thing we don’t want to do is release DJ tools. We are always searching for new guys, fresh minds… Our artist roster currently has 8 signed acts, including the basis of Amb-DJNaga-FCB, the old members: Raster-Cord and the new guys who will blow up the floor: Ferocious Mullet, Flack.su and Molomekaniske. All of them will have an EP released in the next months, so everyone can check how different they are, showing interest from the dance floor bombs to the minimal stuff. We give a chance to all of the Chi posse to release not only the big tunes, but showcase their talent across the genres.

As technology is introduced and evolves, it affects the performing element and the composition techniques of the composer. What do you have in the studio, and how do you choose to present your art to the public?
I’ve built a small studio in my flat, and to give a chance to sleep for my girlfriend, it has soundproofing. I’ve a lot of synths & fx, but nowadays I work more and more computer based. I usually play out as a DJ, but currently working on a halfLive/halfDJ setup, so…

Very nice of you to provide soundproofing for your girlfriend…What are your favorite synths right now? Are there any new toys that you have your eyes on to buy for your studio?
I could tweak out some crazy samples from my Sherman Filterbank, but usually recycle everything to reprocess loops, create a lot of different samples and variations to find the best for my taste. I don’t have a real favorite synth or fx, I really like Ableton live, my Nord Modular, Waldorf MicroWave and my personal sample collection. While I’m working on a track usually have 10 times more samples that I’ve created for the track then what will be used, so a lot of really crazy sounds are collected…

How is the breakbeat scene in Hungary? You guys have some amazing lineups at your parties...
I think it’s healthy. A year ago Freeland played on our night openair-thursday, and we had more than 2000 people, so it should be! We worked a lot (booked lots of breaks DJs) on that in the last years and it seems now it has the basis for a good future. But to be honest, really don’t know how big the break beat scene is, as our nights are not exclusive break beat parties, so our crowd will come to the A-A-D parties without depending on if our guest plays breaks or not, they just know it will be great! They were there for Fink’s hip hop set, they were there for Switch’s house set, they were there for Shack, Chris Carter, Meat Katie, etc… and I’m sure they will be there for Ben Mono’s technoidjazz, or Serge Santiago’s, Paul Woolford’s electro house… as it’s healthy. Breakbeat.hu

 One of my favorite remixes you did was of Muddyloop’s Boomspot. I’ve always wanted to know…. what is she saying in that sample?!?!
Thanx, although it’s not a real dance floor killer track, and was pressed really badly… But to be honest I always hate my past productions, so… The first 2 Fine Cut Bodies tracks were released, because of a lot of good reactions and a license requests for a mixed CD, but I really wanted to reject their release. When I work on tunes then its okay, but as I finish something and start a new one…. I’ll feel that had bad production, lack of invention, boring, schematic! Not a good feeling, but helps me improve my skills track by track. The sample? It says: “***”...

You’ve been nice enough to give us some samples of upcoming tunes… tell us a little bit about them…
I’m really slow in producing, as I don’t have enough time, but these are some clips of past and current FCB stuff…

Thanks for the interview Kevin, are there any words of wisdom that you’d like to give the Nubreaks posse?
There is a plenty of really good music released in the world nowadays in breaks, and in other genres. So we at Chi usually tell everyone: “keep your ears open and enjoy music as it is, not just that genre in which scene you were dropped by your social life… those are just pseudo borders!”

CD - Quimby: Morzsák és szilánkok: Pedofiling /Beats In Silence remix/ (2001 – 014 080-2 - Universal)

CD - Jutasi: Good Morning Hungary – I Believe (2002 – Record Express)

CD - Jutasi: Good Morning Hungary – Naga: Nobogadjamin Hotep /Fine Cut Bodies rmx/ (2002 – Record Express)

CD - Chi Glassic vol.2.: Crash&Carry – various (2002 – CHICD003 – Chi-Recordings)

12” - Cup of Chi vol.1. - Deep Lack Of Balance (2001 – MFRPBB002 - Chi-Recordings)

12” - Dub Local Remixes vol.1. – Naga: Nobogadjamin Hotep /Fine Cut Bodies remix/ (2002 – CHI001 – Chi)

12” - Cup of Chi vol.4. - I Believe (2002 – MFRPBB005 - Chi-Recordings)

12” - Muddyloop: The Boomspot /Fine Cut Bodies remix/ (2002 – RR004 – Ritmic Records)

12” - Loes Lee: Territory /Fine Cut Bodies vs. Amb remix/ (2002 – MTR005 – Moving Target)

12” - Fine Cut Bodies: Trekk Far (2004 – CHI008 – Chi-Recordings)