Sare is a man that should need no introduction on this blog as we have posted about him several times before. In the 90’s he helped define Slovenian house and techno. Since then he has established himself as a producer and refined his sound as a musician. In 2010 he released a his first full length cosmic disco album, Tuscana Nights. He released his second full length album, Escape Machine, in March 2012, and it is undoubtedly one of my favorite albums from this year. Just last month he dropped a new EP, Bipolar Duality. This EP features three new tracks from Sare, as well as a remix by Casio Social Club. Check out the preview below:
We have had the pleasure of presenting some incredible guest mixes over our first year in operation, but this one could very well be my personal favorite. This mix is perfect for Disco lovers and House fans that like to swim at the deep end of the pool. It starts off with the Jay West’s upbeat Caribbean Disco remix of Jonny Hopkinson’s “We Live.” The mix begins to get deeper as it leads into what is probably my favorite track of the mix, Chas Bronz’s “Renegades of the New Age Funk.” If this doesn't make you want to move, you might want to check your pulse. Sare included an unreleased track of his, titled “Diamond Back (Part 4)” from his forthcoming Diamondback EP - due in October on Nang Records as 12" vinyl (in the form of a continuous mix) and digital (separate tracks). “Diamond Back (Part 1 and 2)” as well as “Diamond Back (Part 5)” book-ended Escape Machine. DB Part 4 leads into a dance floor destroying remix of Scandel’s “Just Let Me Dance” by Maxxi Soundsytem. The mix is rounded out nicely by Cori Josias’s funky synth bass backed Disco burner “Takin Straight.”
Sare not only provided us this incredible mix to share with you all, he was nice enough to answer some questions for us as well.Mix and Interview After the Jump...
DPC: First, we would like to thank you for taking some time out of your busy schedule to make DPC a guest mix and answer some questions for us and our readers. When making a mix such as this, how do you decide what tracks you want to use and the order in which they are placed?
Sare: My idea is always to make something that I would like to listen to if I heard it lets say on Soundclound, something I would play for having a background music or perhaps if I'd like to dance a bit :) In my sets I play what I've been liking lately. I listen to lots of music that you can not really put in a DJ set so I have to rephrase - I select the music that I've been liking lately and is DJ-able. Also I almost always put in some classics and oldschool stuff too. I place them in order in a manner for the following song to build upon the previous one, I try to create something with a beginning and an end, not just the middle part that goes on for an hour or so. A bit different as I would do it in a club.
DPC: In March you released your second full length album Escape Machine. We think it is brilliant and really showcases your skills as a musician and producer. What was your favorite part of making this album?
Sare: Thank you for the compliments. There was a writing/preproduction stage, recording stage and lastly mixing stage. It's hard to say which part I liked the most, I liked each part for some special reason. The preproduction stage was the longest and is the most relaxed as you usually gather all the ideas that you had in a certain period of time. You also look into yourself and try to find a way to tell a good and solid story in terms of sound and musical content. The recording stage is probably the most fun, recording and programing synths, toying around with drum machines, recording live instruments and such. The mix stage is probably the one that requires most of your attention. You have to decide what stays and what goes into a bin. What's good enough and what isn't. You have to solidify what you have written and programmed. Finalize the story and give it a unique sound stamp.
DPC: How did your approach differ from making this album compared to making the Biopolar Duality EP that you released last month?
Sare: In technical terms It did not differ all that much really, however the aim of the songs was different - this EP was released only a few months after the album... and album wasn't meant to be overly DJ friendly, it was meant to be for home listening, easy dancing, listening while soaking sun on the beach, while traveling and such... so I thought for Bipolar Duality EP I might do something more dancefloor orientated.
DPC: You use a lot of analog synthesizers in your music. I also saw that you were teaching a class on them earlier this year. Could you talk a little bit about that and how you got into creating music that involves analog synthesizers and sequencers?
Sare: I started making music about 20 years ago and at that time the only way to make electronic based music was to use actual hardware synths, drum machines sequencers and other hardware stuff. No computer based systems with integrated software synths was available back then. So you had to use that stuff. Pretty soon I got into a production job, while being at university I worked as a freelance producer doing production job for a few acts and for a domestic label as an in-house producer. That's how I learned all the synth and studio things. When computer based systems became strong and good in terms of sound I abandoned hardware stuff for a short while and did everything in software but I rather quickly realized that to me it just doesn't sound the same. It was not just the sound but also something tactile and tangible was missing so I went back to using mostly hardware. Computers and software stuff is good and very convenient so I integrate it into my work to get best results using things from both "worlds".
DPC: How you go about writing and recording the bass parts of your tracks. Do you ever play them on electric bass? What is your go to machine for producing bass lines that aren't played live?
Sare: Yes I do play bass guitar on my tracks. I'm not a good bass guitar player so I play simple ones and for more complicated ones I call in a session player. In both cases I always write the bass lines for the bass guitar myself. To me it's one of the most crucial parts of the song and the sound. Besides I love bass as an instrument, be it electric or synth bass. If you don't get the bass right you don't have the groove in your song. I think best synth bass is produced by any of the old Moog synths and Roland monosynths from the SH series. At least that's what I use as my synth bass.
DPC: Do you do many live/DJ performances these days? What should people expect to see if they go to a Sare Havlicek show?
Sare: My work as a producer doesn't live me with much time to DJ. However I do have DJ gigs, at the very moment I'm getting my set ready for a gig in Kiev, Ukraine. People should expect to see a guy playing music that he likes and tries to deliver it to the people in a set that gets them moving too. Simple :)
DPC: Do you have any plans of doing any shows in the U.S. in the near future?
Sare: I got an invitation to a club in Brooklyn so we are looking into getting more gigs to make the travel across the big sea worthwhile :)
DPC: Who sort of music and which artists have you been listening to recently?
Sare: Goldroom's stuff is rocking my boat at the moment, Andy Meecham's Monophonic vol.1 is regularly on my speakers lately too.
DPC: What would you say is your favorite dance move to bust out at the club or a show?
Sare: I am not much of a dancer. I nod my head to the rhythm of the beat and twitch a leg here and there, hahaha.
We want to thank Sare Havlicek once again for doing this quintessential Deep Disco mix that we know you all are going to absolutely love. Without further adue, we present:
*Special thanks to my buddy Brian Dempsey for helping contribute to the interview questions that we asked Sare.
thanks for the shout-out tyler! glad i could help!
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