August

Artist of the Month: Monolythe

01) When each of you guys started producing music and Djing, did you pass through a music production and Djing course, or was it entirely self-taught? And how long did it take to reach the professional level?

Luis: In my case no, never had a production course only a synth programming workshop with Rob Papen in Holland. Actually I learned most of it myself, digging in to manuals, internet etc.
All my life I been in one or other way in the music industry so some things came attached. I will say at least 4 to 5 years to come to this level.

Joy: In mine, I started playing guitar and keyboards when I was teenager and used to be a keyboard player in a later known rock band in Mexico. After the disruption of the band I became more interested in synth programming and electronic music production. I was Djing as well, just for the fun. I've never took lessons for any of this at the time, I think I’ve learned in the process by working and sharing stages and studios with some producers and Djs.

 

02) After years of releasing music with other record companies, you decided to open Big Alliance Records under the supportive umbrella of Straight Up!, what was the vision when you did so? and could you say that same vision still remains after two years of opening doors?

Monolythe: Well our aim has been always to have our own platform for releasing our own material and also from new and established artists, but through this time we have been fascinated discovering new artists and building very nice relationships, now is time to go back to our main thing which is Monolythe.
So basically nothing changed we are just enjoying the process.

 

03) Not too long ago the first "Big Alliance Nights" event took place, which you co-organized/promoted and played at with Co-Headliners "Olivier Giacomotto" and "JELO", will you tell us about the chills and thrills of this event? When is the next one taking place?

Luis: That was a big night, having JELO, Olivier Giacomotto and David Asko was incredible, from Techno, Tech House to Electro house beats, was a night to never be forgotten, people were enjoying the music in a very enthusiastic way so we were very happy.
Next label night is set to October 2010

Joy: All I can say is that it was an interesting experience to work with these guys and we've had a great time doing it. Can't wait for the next one!

 

04) As music producers you opened the label with three outstanding releases, "Siberia", supported massively by Djs and fans World Wide, Break it (EP & Remixed versions) and The Move. Now this last one took place six months ago, the question is now obvious, when will we see new material of yours coming out on Big Alliance?

Monolythe: Actually yes and very soon, we are working hard on the new tunes, now that we are more relax in terms of the operation of the label, thanks to Straight Up! we can now focus on our productions.

05) Let us talk about "Crank it up", a compilation carefully selected by Monolythe, what's the format it will be released, is it going to be mixed/unmixed, can you give us a small spoiler of whose music is going to be included, or at least what can the fans expect from this album?

Luis: Well this compilation will be released in digital format and on demand CD's.
To give you some heads up the compilation includes artists such as Dada Life, JELO, Digital Freq, Autoslide, Costello, Quaver, Monolythe & Dan Thomas to name a few.
The compilation is unmixed and we are sure you will play it from beginning to end.

Joy: Actually we tried to put a nice selection for all those Djs who really like to play louder tracks, there comes the name of the compilation.

 

06) We've heard rumors that you've been collaborating in the studio with a luminary of the Electro House, we don't want to speculate who *coughs* JELO *coughs* is, so we'd prefer if you'd tell us how true this is and if 100%, when will we see the promising result of this effort?

Monolythe: Well it is true, during the Big Alliance night, we had the chance to sit with JELO in the studio to show him some stuff, and as a result we decided to collaborate in a forthcoming Big Alliance release including a Monolythe original and a JELO edit.
We know that JELO has been banging the tune in his gigs. We will give more info when is appropriated.

 

07) As if it wasn't enough with your single releases, you've also brought amazing talented artists to your imprint such as Radio Jack, Quaver, United Chemical, Phat Franco and The Banger Bros, not to mention the impressive remixing list of artists such as Lazy Rich, Alex Mind, Autoslide and JELO himself, can we expect more from these guys in the future?

Monolythe: Sure we believe in long term relationships and this is just the start, in conjunction with Straight Up! we are developing a very interesting approach to this, we know our artists and remixers will love what we would bring to our growing Big Alliance family.

 

08) What artists would you like to bring to Big Alliance Records that you haven't and why?

Monolythe: Well there is a long list of artists that we admire and want to bring to the label in the future like for example, Adam K, Wolfgang Gartner, Alex Kenji, Manuel de la Mare to name a few, the reason is simple they make kick ass music.

 

09) You've released amazing singles, you've remixed hot artists lately, you've organized/promoted your own events, bringing nightlife to your fans World Wide, in other words you have done so much within such small time frame that the next question will sound almost implying. When will we listen to your first album?, and we are not talking about compilations, but the real deal.

Luis: Well that is something that resonates all the time in our minds.
What I can say is that we will fully concentrate in our project so we can provide quality productions in a more constant basis, so basically you guys will hear more of our work and time would tell about a album.

Joy: Yeah for the moment our priority is to produce a lot of tracks, and when the time comes an album.

 

10) We've come to the end of this feature interview, last words for your fans before we part ways?

Monolythe: We really want to thank all the fans that have been supporting us through all this time and invite them to keep doing it, this is just starting and there is lots more to come, we love what we do and it's for you guys.

Peace and respect

Join us on Soundcloud!

There is no doubt Soundcloud has become a very popular tool to share music used by pretty much every Producer, Label and Dance Music fan out there, so at Straight Up! Music we are catching up with the extravaganza.

Please follow us at: www.soundcloud.com/straightupworld

We will be previewing exclusive content and upcoming releases from all our labels there so be sure to be the first one to peak it out!

New 4Play Trax Website

4Play Trax has been around for quite awhile and currently has over 50 releases available in stores so it was due an updated new look to give it a 2010 fresh start.

Starting with the new logo, now with a new full website for all the fans to keep up with the latest news.

Please be sure to check it out and bookmark it on your favorites!

www.4playtrax.com

Special thanks to Syrup Design for the fantastic work on both the logo and the website, check out more of their work at: www.adropofsyrup.com