Three weeks before his gig in Slovenia we talked to Chris Finke, a well known UK based DJ and producer, about his plans and expectations and also about his previous engagements. Chris was a witty conversationalist and told us many interesting facts, but due to lack of time we couldn't ask him everything you might want to know so we hope to extend this interview upon his arrival to Slovenia. And we are glad to finally have him back!
People who closely follow techno music today know you as the co-host of the famous Split radio show. Why did you start this project in the first place?
Ben Sims and I started the radio show as an extension of our parties. I used to be a radio DJ and Ben had done a lot of pirate radio stuff so it was just natural that we started the show. We are really pleased with the way it comes out - we hope it sounds good and play a really wide range of music on it, and in our demo section we have helped new artists sign to labels so we are quite proud! We now get thousands and thousands of listeners, and the show is syndicated on FM and internet stations all over the world. Plus you can download it from www.splitmusic.net
You opened your own label Flux Recordings a while back and now you have started SPLIT records with Ben. Can you tell us more about what’s in store?
Yeah FLUX is back on track now after we had to change distribution and we have some great stuff coming up, from Joey Beltram, Ben Sims, Mark Broom, Paul Mac and of course myself, plus some new artists as well. SPLIT RECORDS has just started up and for that we are taking old classic acid house and techno records and doing new remixes of them. The first is A Guy Called Gerald's "Blow your house down" and we have remixes from British Murder Boys, Freaks, Smith & Selway, Paul Mac, Ben and me, and for the next one we are doing a Phuture track. I am currently finishing my first solo EP off, plus I have remixes for Pure Plastic/Rue East, Ignition Technition and loads of house and acid house stuff so it’s all very exciting!
You are also resident at the Atomic Jam club. What does the club mean to you?
Atomic Jam is an institution in the UK – it’s 11 years old and I have been a resident for 4 years. Things have changed but the crowd is always really good and it’s just a really fun place to be. A big rave!!
Do you play different kind of music when you are out of UK?
Yeah to a degree, yes. I play much more of a mixture of music in the UK and I tend to change the tempo of the music a lot which means I can play all sorts of stuff. When I play abroad I tend to get booked for full on techno clubs which means that I have to play techno sets. I have started to play more acid house sets in Europe which I want to do more of, but I definitely won’t be playing minimal at any time!! YUK!
You've visited Slovenia three years ago. What has changed in your music since then?
When I was last in Slovenia I played much more tribal techno. These days tribal doesn’t work so well for longer periods in a set so I mix it up with chicago stuff, acid, dark stuff all sorts really to keep people happy and if something works well then ill keep going on that till I need to change it.
So what can we expect from your gig?
Good question!!! The way I play depends on a few things - the set up, the style of music, my mood, the mood of the crowd so I won’t know till I get there. Sometimes I play on 3 decks and do hip hop stuff, sometimes I do more "blending" and longer mixes etc. depending on the night so lets see what happens....
And what do you expect?
I haven't played Slovenia for a couple of years so I don’t know really but I have friends that come here to DJ all the time and say it's cool so I’m hoping we will have fun :)
Many UK deejays just love playing here. Any special reasons for that, or is it just the air?
Eastern Europe has always been a big favourite place of mine to play - the parties are usually excellent and the people so friendly and up for the party that you can’t help but like coming over! I really do love it here.
And for the end - a short message to your fans over here...
See you at the bar!!! :)