Tape remixes

My first ‘studio’

To make these ‘pause tapes‘, I used the cassette-recorder and turntable of my parents. The process was as follows: I would record a piece of music (a sample) from a vinyl record on tape, pausing the tape once the sample had finished. Then rewind the vinyl record to the beginning of the sample and un-pause the tape to record it again. By repeating this process many, many times a repetitive sequence was created. Combining different samples from a vinyl record, created new, original compositions with just a cassette recorder. Making tracks like this was magical, I felt like a real producer in my first studio!

Jamming!

I was not so much interested in ‘mixing in the beat’ or creating nice sounding music, but inspired by the freedom of sampling, the freedom to chop and combine any sound in any way,  and the new form of music that created. My focus was on raw improvised creative jamming and producing an overwhelming stream of sound. That passion never left me and is still one of the driving forces for my work today. 

The first time I heard the effect of sampling was on Duran Duran’s number one hit single ‘The Reflex’. At the end of the chorus the vocal was chopped to create this weird ‘Reflex-fle-fle-fle-flex’ repetitive sound that I really loved and wanted to re-create. My first tape mixes were therefore created with this record (that I borrowed from a primary school class-mate and never gave back. Sorry Claudia).

Turntable and a cassette recorder

Two cassette recorders

In 1985 I won a radio cassette recorder in a cartoon drawing contest organized by the local supermarket. Since then I used that radio cassette recorder instead of my parent’s turntable. This gave me the freedom to use any sound, like songs recorded from the radio or home made sounds.

Tracks made with a Midi Set

Late 1986 I bought a ‘Midi Set‘: a turntable, radio and double cassette deck in one. This felt like a real instrument, a real studio! This set-up made remixing music and sounds much easier. Read more about that on the project page.

DVJ

Remixing pop music and using that cliche aesthetic and those over-produced, big budget images and sounds to create a hardcore creative experience is a passion that never left me. My DVJ 1.0, DVJ 2.0 and DVJ 3.0 shows are based on that same concept. Since 2003 I make my work with my own produced instruments only, limiting my creative process at first. This made the DVJ 3.0 set sound very similar to this 1986/1987 pause tape hardcore remix style. The Hardcore madnesS, Fort Ebo goLd, Violent Entertainment, LLib LLik and other early Frame Drummer Pro tracks, also have this raw, basic aesthetic.