Kicking off the Q&A series at Top Billin!
We’re known for introducing new artists to the ever-growing electronic music world and now we’re bringing you up close and personal with one of the finest producers creating great music for you. And what would be a better way to kick off this series than with our buddies from Helsinki, Wolfhaus. These series will be a light read, yet giving you an idea who these people are and why you should keep an eye on them.
1) Go ahead, represent.
Marked Man: We’re Wolfhaus and we like to keep things deep and purple. Representing Helsinki, Finland.
Miro: Dodgy warehouse parties, early rave era, house and hip hop music until the cops come in to pull the plug. That is where our hearts lie.
2) Lay down some early influences.
Marked Man: The Bomb Squad production team with the P.E. stuff and Ice Cube’s Amerikkka’s Most Wanted: you don’t hear this any more, has anyone actually counted just how many samples these guys could fit on an album? Brilliant. Future Sound Of London definitely, Detroit techno too. Early MTV was really important also. Didn’t really matter if it was rock or hip-hop or whatever: if the song was good and had a dope video you’d dig it. The sound of the music video’s golden era is never going to leave us.
Miro: I have to say No face, for sure. I had heard of P.E. and NWAs Fuck the Police, but had not actually heard them yet, and this kid I knew had this cassette.. It was about these dudes standing on the porch, talking to a girls father, saying.. “No Face came here to fuck, possibly to get a dick suck..” To a kid that didn’t know english that well that was so funny, I can still remember it to this day! Also any video that had kick dancing in it, Bobby Brown, MC Hammer, Bel Biv Devoe, Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, Another Bad Creation, Kriss Kross, Technotronic, Salt-N-Pepa..
3) How about today then.
Marked Man: Bass music. Memphis rap. Hyphy. DJ Screw of course, rest in peace. Have to say we started before this whole “swag music” thing dropped although we love it. But yeah at the moment UK bass music is a big source of inspiration for us, still a lot of innovation happening there if you dig deep. What really drives us though is breaking rules. Club music especially repeats itself and alot of stuff doesn’t really surprise anyone anymore.. .That’s why we love to pick interesting stuff from whatever genre of music and combine them in ways that really shouldn’t work. But when it does, it’s just so damn refreshing to hear.
Miro: Check out Underground Resistance’s track Transition, it tells you why we love doing this: “There will be people who say you don’t mix this with that and you will say: watch me” .. that’s it: watch me.
4) How did you hook up with Top Billin.
Marked Man: I have a long history with the guys, right from the beginning. So when we started producing as Wolfhaus the TB guys heard some our tracks and wanted to release them. We started the “Dubbed & Screwed” mixtape series very early on and talked with Top Billin again when we finally got the first tape done. Took some time to produce 10 exclusive remixes for the tape but we’re really proud of it and thankful that the Top Billin guys also loved it.
5) Everybody has a turning point, what was yours.
Marked Man: Making it alive through the late 90′s and the early 2000 without any serious mental issues. After that a lot of people we partied with made the rational decision to get a real job, start a family and begin to nostalgize about “those rave and club parties we used to go to.” Meanwhile what we thought: f**k it. We loved the music and creating something new so much that we couldn’t stop. And we never will. Both of us tried sitting at an office job at one time of our lives… when you realize that you just cannot take it for the rest of your life it’s just better to change your life even if society looks down its nose at you.
Miro: True true.. I’m a self confessed weirdo. I had a strange experience this year, even on my scale, my shiatsu teacher (you heard me) told me of this ancient chant that would change my life for the better, if I did it every morning and night for ten days in a row. My life was kind of in the shits, bored out of my ass, no job, no girlfriend, feeling miserable, all I did was train brazilian jiujitsu. So I thought fuck it, what can I lose? I did it blindly, not knowing what to expect, if anything. And now… I’m living with a beautiful girl who supports me and encourages my music career, I’ve decided to give music a real go and it has really started to pick up wind, I’m training piano and music theory. They talk about how difficult it’s going to be, that hardly anyone makes it, blah blah. I’m more scared of being stuck in a job I hate for the rest of my life, than failing at something I love doing.
6) Name a shame track.
Marked Man: I’m going to name several. Justin Timberlake – Cry Me A River (indeed), Oasis – D’You Know What I Mean? (don’t know if you should really be ashamed of mentioning Oasis or not?), Rihanna – Don’t Stop The Music (Stargate production!)… Never liked really embarrassing stuff like 80′s hard rock, but I have a long history in “extreme” metal stuff in the 90′s and back then I had serious problems admitting that I even digged some Metallica tracks.. since they were pussies and still are.
Miro: There are songs I should be ashamed of, but am not. Here’s a few I am ashamed of a little bit. Whitesnake – Here I Go Again, Skid Row – 18 and Life, Boom Boom Boom Let Me Hear You Say Wayo – Outhere Brothers. Gotta say I also have an affinity for ballads at times and I’ll probably sing along to some old Bon Jovi and Bryan Adams. I feel a little dirty.
7) Do you like em Brown, Yellow, Puerto-Rican or Hatian.
Marked Man: I like to keep an open mind to all possibilities. Or maybe I’ll quote Biggie, the motherfucking rap phenomenom, on this one: I like ‘em young fresh and green. With no hands in between, you know what I mean?
Miro: I like ‘em petite, half Ghanaian, half Finnish and wee bit younger than me, name starts with a K.
8] My precious 12″.
Marked Man: Lots. I’ve been collecting vinyl since the early 90′s so there’s a lot of shit stacked on my shelves but also some real diamonds (and a couple of 12″ that would easily pay a month’s rent according to discogs). Some that hold a lot of personal value: Basic Channel releases, Choice – Acid Eiffel, a lot of early Rawkus releases, DJ Shadow – Entroducing and Preemptive Strike… What’s also cool is the collection of 12″ that we or our friends have done or appeared on during the years. It’s fun to listen to some of our early stuff on vinyl: I don’t think either of us have a clear memory of producing some of the tracks since we weren’t exactly clear-headed during those years. Those vinyl recordings prove that it wasn’t a waste of time though.
Miro: I sold my twelves. All I have left is mp3s and like ten vinyls. That’s our own releases and test presses, AX-008, Panasonics first release (Sähkö 7), Attica Blues Blueprint (love the cover art) and King Sunny Ades Juju music.
9) Your chance to promote what you got coming up next / in the future.
The Top Billin vs Wolfhaus – Sons of Asgard EP is out now and we’re
already working on our first Wolfhaus EP which will be the bomb!
There’s also been a lot of interest from various vocalists and we’re
going to produce some beats for these guys, excited to be working with
mc’s because hip-hop has been the single most important genre of music for
the both of us. And we have our minds on the Dubbed & Screwed mixtape
vol. 3: we’re going to continue the mixtape series, experimenting with
unexpected slowed down pop tracks in our own dubbed style, that’s
hella fun for us.
THANKS WOLFHAUS.
