I Heart the Music: Your Online Source for Live Music Reviews and Interviews in Toronto!

Ubiquitous Synergy Seeker (or USS) consists of one part vocalist/guitarist Ash Bucholz (“Ash Boo-Schultz”) and turntablist/hypeman Jason Parsons (“Human Kebab”). Don’t ask us where these names came from, just know that it IS an indication of how crazy and out there these two guys are! Having garnered acclaim through being “hearted” by Toronto radio station 102.1 the Edge, this duo have taken Toronto and Canada by storm. With the recent release of their album Questamation gaining more and more attention from music lovers alike, we felt like it was time to for us at iheartthemusic to delve deep into the minds of the duo and get serious about who they are…well as serious as we could get!

iheartthemusic: The past two years have been pretty nuts for you two eh?

Jason: Yeah, going from being left to obscurity, to how do you catch up, to how do you get bigger now.

iheartthemusic: That’s true. I mean you did win the CASBY awards last year!

Jason: Yeah it was amazing.

iheartthemusic: Can you pinpoint at all one defining moment for you in the past two years?

Ash: I was actually in Texas and that’s when I found out that our music was on the radio, but not even just on the radio but getting played like seven times a day!

Jason: Also the fact that he [Ash] was in a different place mentally doing some incredible things for himself and I was working in Alberta at the time; that in itself was a pinnacle! It is actually true that the little band that could, without major label support or any label for that matter, could actually still find its way into that realm. Most bands would think that you would have to sign with the four majors and spend all this money and stuff, but we just stayed positive.

Ash: We are in total alignment with the idea that if you truly love something, you let it go. You can push so hard and you can try so hard to make something work and at the time we both were just like “let’s just let this go man”. We were driving ourselves nuts.

iheartthemusic: I truly believe that if you are meant to do something or be somebody then you will and I feel like you guys are a true testament to that.

Jason: It’s like Ben Kowalewicz from Billy Talent has a tattoo on his collar that says never give up and when I saw that I was thinking that I didn’t know if I’d ever get that tattoo but he was basically saying  that no matter what happens, it’s going to happen- which is totally true.

Ash: I mean if we weren’t here having a good time and laughing and telling jokes, we’d be on a roof somewhere digging ditches and dirt.

iheartthemusic: But probably still having a good time and joking around!

Ash: That’s what just kicks our asses!  You know you can dream about something your whole life, but you have no clue what its going to be like until it actually happens. Its hilarious because I still wake up in the morning and my instinct is to put on my work boots but its actually like no, I get to put on these colourful shoes that don’t need to have a big hunk of steel in them because hopefully nothing is going to fall on my toes today!

iheartthemusic: And now you have the cash that if you ruin one pair you can get five more! [laughs]

Jason: [laughs] Exactly!

iheartthemusic: You have had such great success which, I’m assuming, meant that major labels were knocking on your door, so what made you decide to not go the major route?

Jason: We started  our own label basically. We realized that we had a good grip on a business model, but we also had a good manager and an excellent team behind us that we felt that we had found the pieces to start putting the puzzle together. Right now the puzzle is almost complete; we’ve taken it as far as we can take it now based on what we have currently. We financed the whole operation, made all the management and creative calls.

iheartthemusic: It must be nice to retain that control over what is ultimately your future success.

Jason: That’s the compromise you have to make. If that [signing to a major label] is your goal then that’s what is going to happen for you. Like Avril Lavigne signs with SONY in New York, but her only interest at seventeen years old was probably to be taken care of for the rest of her life and be an absolute superstar.

iheartthemusic: And where is she now? [laughs]

Ash: Actually I was listening to Avril Lavigne this morning in my kitchen on top of my fridge next to a sweet potato…I really should not have that sweet potato anymore. I’ve had it for a really long time and it’s got to go in the green bin. I have this habit where instead of putting stuff in the green bin, I just throw it out the window into my backyard. Like if I have a pit of an avocado, I’ll just think that that can just go in the bushes.

iheartthemusic: I feel like that is totally fine!

Ash: I don’t want to hit a squirrel!

Jason: I still have a problem that I can never number two outside. Even if I had to, I would just hold it until the next fifth wheel or something.

iheartthemusic: Far too much information for this interview! [laughs] So how has the process been from self-releasing your first album Welding the C://, to now having a label (your own) backing your recent release of Questamation?

Jason: Creatively, the process seems to work in Ash’s favour no matter how random it gets or how focused it is. The business side of it, which I’m more involved with and our manager, we just try to plug in as many resources and networks as possible for the three of us to make it all happen in sync. It is really hard to maintain deadlines when there is only three of you, but you are still trying to maintain that level of control and of course creativity while at the same time create future opportunities, play shows, do interviews, be places, try to live a normal life and be healthy. I mean it’s a balancing act!

iheartthemusic: And a lot of musicians definitely cannot do that.

Jason: No they can’t and its unfortunate that it happens, but we’ve been through enough emotionally already that this is kind of easy compared to that.

Ash: Yeah, when we were recording our EP, I was roofing for fifteen hours a day, six days a week and then bringing my laptop to work and I was on a roof covered in tar and dirt and it was like ninety degrees and I would have my headphones on thinking I’ve just got to finish this drum part because we have to get it done by tonight. So the process was a bit different because we were still under pressure with this album in terms of getting it out, but in totally different circumstances. It’s just one of those things where its like; life on the road is such a grind, but roofing seventy hours a week while trying to record an EP is a grind. So it makes us very greatful if anything.

iheartthemusic: I wanted to ask you about your “Laces Out” video. How did you guys come up with the concept for that?

Ash: I had been talking about the idea of this neo-vaudeville, so it kind of came out of that. There’s the circus thing, but then there is just randomness: question marks on parachutes falling from the ceiling, etc. Then we kind of put it into the hands of the production company after planting the seed and we showed up day-of and were just like “nice growth”.

iheartthemusic: So the dude in the video isn’t actually a guy that comes to all your shows?

Jason: Yeah we know him. The film company is called Brook Street Pictures and they are from Ottawa and they are incredible dudes. They did their first feature with the guy who played Freddy Krueger.

Ash: Because they mainly make horror movies.

Jason: But they were absolutely inlove with our sound and then came out for a bunch of shows and the director saw something that Ash was talking about and then through the phone between Toronto and Ottawa put together the storyboard and then we went to the Sound Academy and the production company hired like sixty people and it was a full-on production.

iheartthemusic: One thing that I found pretty cool with this new album was that you guys use something called a “z-card”. Can you explain why you decided to use it for your album?

Ash: The ironic thing about that is that I worked in a factory on a machine that made the z-card. I worked there when we [Jason] met during a time when I was not really that accessible or available to society. It’s okay though because Jay kind of helped guide me back to relating to the rest of the world which was really great. It was handy to meet a person to do that.

ihearthemusic: He’s a good husband eh? [laughs]

Jason: [laughs] Exactly!

Ash: Father, son, brother…

Jason: Idiot.

Ash: Yeah, whatever you want. Putz! That’s a good one.

Jason: I hate that word!

Ash: I know eh, who likes that word!? So when the album came along I was like “we should make something that is like a map” and then it kind of came back to where it started.

iheartthemusic: What’s on the horizon for you guys?

Jason: Hopefully we will see Canadians at their various post-secondary institutes in the fall!

When Kimberlee asked me if I was interested in interviewing Darude, my 12-year-old self shit his pants. When I was a kid, Darude was a legend, and “Sandstorm” was arguably one of the biggest hits of the ’90s.  So when I got the chance to sit down with the trance music star, I was overwhelmed by all the knowledge he wanted to pass on to fans and potential fans. Chilling in the green room of the Courthouse, the iheartthemusic crew sat down and chatted with the super producer about his past glories and what he’s got in store for us, as his career shows no signs of stopping.

iheartthemusic: Darude! How are you?  What have you been up to these days?

Darude: I’ve been doing pretty well. I released an album in the US and Canada in December. I’ve been touring for the last couple of years, 40 to 60 gigs or so. Most of them in the US, some in Finland, Dubai, Poland, Germany and places like that.

iheartthemusic: The album was actually released in Europe in 2007, right?  Tell me about the album.

Darude: The album is called Label This! and that name has a half serious meaning. There are a lot of people who strictly categorize music, and while it’s good to know what you like and what you’d call it, sometimes it’s really frustrating when people put things into small boxes. So, in a way, I kind of challenged people to categorize my music, because when you listen to the album it goes from commercial-style vocals and house to progressive and uplifting trance.

iheartthemusic: Being an established artist, does that let you experiment a little more?

Darude: Maybe so, but I feel that I just wanted to do something different. I don’t think the album differs that much from the earlier ones, it just has more variety.  The best feedback that I’ve gotten from my fans is that they can listen to it shuffled with the old stuff, so it’s not too different but it’s still a developed sound.

iheartthemusic: Well, you want to make an album that people can listen to on more than one occasion, not just when you’re out partying.

Darude: Right, and one of the things I did with the album that was different was, since my album Rush, I started DJing professionally. Before that, I did live shows. This album is made of my own tracks but I blended them as if I was DJing and it’s put together style-wise a bit more commercial with slower material and uplifting trance. And, like you said, I would love to hear from people that they’re not only hearing the tracks at the club, but at the pre-party, or doing their make up and hair, or having their first drink at home, and that’s one of my goals – to have my stuff listenable elsewhere.

iheartthemusic: In 1999 you had the biggest hit on earth.  Ten years later, you’ve still kept the momentum going.  How hard was it to follow a track like “Sandstorm”?

Darude: Well, to be completely honest, I haven’t topped “Sandstorm”.  The thing is – and this might sound ridiculous or arrogant – the song was more than just a hit record.  It was kind of like a phenomenon, if I can say that myself.  But I didn’t make that phenomenon, I made the song and then it kind of took a life of its own and it ended up being played at football games and Olympic events and stuff like that.

iheartthemusic: But how does it feel to have such an anthemic record that still brings out that emotion from people, and is still being used in ads and at sporting events?

Darude: Well, if I were a religious man, I would say that I’m really blessed.  There was a time that I was pissed off that some people only knew that one track, but these days I just think of it as a great thing.  For instance, if someone comes to the Courthouse tonight to hear that one track and listen to my set, then they get an updated idea of what I do and what I play these days.  That’s the main thing.  It doesn’t really matter what tracks brings people in because then you get a chance to reconnect and show them other stuff as well.

iheartthemusic: Do you think that people still want you to play your older material more than your new stuff?

Darude: In my sets, I definitely play the old stuff.  There are a couple of staples like Sandstorm or Feel The Beat, along with other tracks that I have on the side in case someone mentions them or asks for them, and I don’t mind it.  At the same time, I do try to push the new stuff as well.

iheartthemusic: So what do you have planned after this album?

Darude: Well, I’m already planning new stuff, maybe not a full album, but I think I’m going to start making single tracks and trying them out in my sets and see if there’s a good reaction.  I think I’m going to keep on using a wider variety of sounds, but I don’t think I’ll steer away from trance, but maybe collaborate with more people and incorporating more organic sounds.  I want to try and keep my basic sound but I learned a lot with this album about collaborating and co-writing, and I think that’s key in my future.  I think one of the reasons would be to get a wider fan base and attract more people from different genres.

iheartthemusic: Who would you want to collaborate with?

Darude: This is easy because I always say Madonna, either collaboration or a remix of her track would be great.  But there are so many.  There are brilliant singers that are unknown.  It’s just the angle you look at it.  If you’re releasing a single with a singer, it might be good to have someone unknown, and it could be as cool or cooler to bring out somebody new.

iheartthemusic: What do you think of the state of electronic music these days?  It’s gone through a lot of changes in the past few years.

Darude: It has.  After 2001, there was this whole ‘trance is dead’ movement going on.  Well, fuck them- pardon my French- it didn’t die.  Trance, whatever you mean by it, has been in the clubs since the 90s.  The thing about music is that there are very few genres that just die – they evolve to something else.  What I really like about the last couple of years is that very many genres have started merging.  Very few DJs these days play only one kind of music.  If you listen to someone play for 2 hours, they go from breaks to house to trance, and I find that very refreshing because when trance was at its peak, commercially, I think it started to go underground because of the saturation.  You could go to a big club and listen to a DJ spin the same style from beginning to end at the same BPM.  Now you can find electro and trance with guitars, rock with synthesizers and all that mashing up of genres and it’s very refreshing.  One of the bigger things was that a few of years ago when electro started to break through commercially with Benny Benassi, Fedde Le Grand and names like that, we’ve won over some ground from RnB and hip-hop.  I have nothing against RnB and hip-hop, but dance music has been such a little thing against big major labels that have been pushing hip-hop and RnB so it’s pretty cool that has gotten a much higher profile.

iheartthemusic: Absolutely, I think dance music has made a lot of great advancements in the last handful of years.

Darude: I think a couple of key producers have incorporated electronic sounds into that genre.  A track like Usher’s ‘Yeah’ has almost like a trancey synth line.  Producers like the Neptunes and Timbaland bring a bit of a European sound and brings it closer to North American listeners and then it’s easier for fans of RnB to jump to house and stuff, and it works the other way around too.

iheartthemusic: What’s one song you really enjoy playing when you’re Djing?

Darude: Right now, it’s Gareth Emery’s track called ‘Exposure.’ It’s not a traditional song where it’s a consistent build up, but it has a beautiful melody and it goes right to the beat.  When you hear it for the first time, you think “this is an OK track,” but when you hear it in a club… [head exploding motion].  When I play it tonight, if you guys are still around, come up to the booth and check out my goose bumps.  It gets me every time.

iheartthemusic: I assume your career will go on for many more years.  At the end of all of this, what do you want Darude to stand for?

Darude: What I want to keep doing is releasing tracks, coming out and playing and seeing the people’s reactions.  I don’t think there’s much of a difference between me and a regular clubber, I just happen to make music.  I want to keep my career going so I can do that for the people – make music and perform, but at the same time, I get at least as much back from them as they get from me – probably way, way more.

Do you remember when phat pants were cool and skinny jeans were ridiculed? When people went to raves to hear good electronic music to avoid the electric circus scene? It was an era in Toronto when DJ Mikey Mike first picked up a pair of decks. It was a time before the term ‘electro’ was in people’s vocabulary, when old school hip hop, breaks, and house records filled the crates: these were the days ‘sans’ Serato.

After a hiatus to focus on education, DJ Mikey Mike has reemerged as Status Disko, spinning an electrifying and high energy mix of electro, house, new disco and remixed hip hop that is sure to keep your fist pumping. After solidifying his technical skills on the 1’s and 2’s, Status Disko has shifting his focus to include his own production. Check him out at www.myspace.com/statusdisko and keep him on your list of DJs to watch in T.O.

You can catch Status Disko spinning this Saturday May 9th at State Theatre (College and Bathurst) as he opens for DJ Falcon of Daft Crew, at an event hosted by Electric Youth.

To help you get hyped for Saturday night, Status Disko has sent us one of his mixes for your listening and downloading pleasure. It can be found here….check it out because you won’t be disappointed!!

Track list:
Anti Matter (Destroy Disco Edit) – N*E*R*D
Wassup Wassup feat. Rye Rye (Crookers Remix) – Diplo
N.A.S.A. Music (LA Riots Remix) – N.A.S.A.
Crimewave (LA Riots Remix) – Crystal Castles
That’s Not My Name (LA Riots Remix) – The Ting Tings
Aerodynamic – Daft Punk
Floating (D.I.M. Remix) – Jape
Fresh Prince of Bel Air (Mustard Pimp Remix) – Will Smith
1000 Times Right Round (MSTRKRFT Remix) – Flo Rida
The Next Episode (Project Cyborg Remix) – Dr. Dre feat. Snoop Dogg
I’m in Miami Bitch – LMFAO feat. Pitbull
Love Lockdown (LMFAO Remix) – Kayne West
We are the People (Jimmy2sox Remix) – Empire of the Sun
I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance With You (The Twelves Remix) – Black Kids
Lights and Music (Moulinex Remix) – Cut Copy