By ThinkInElectronic / Tuesday, December 23, 2014 / No comments /
Interview || Get Down With John Gibbons
JOHN GIBBONS – INSOMNIFIED INTERVIEW
1. Could you tell us a bit about your
musical background? What led you to begin DJing, producing, and composing music
in the first place?
I began DJ’ing while still in school, in fact my
very first gig was as stand-in for a DJ who didn’t show up at a school disco at home in Ireland. I still
remember the incredible buzz that I felt from being on stage from the first
time and from there I managed to work my way up the ladder into better and
better gigs over time.
I always had an interest in
production and dabbled from a young age also but really began to take it
seriously after ‘Beautiful
Filth’ broke
through into the mainstream and crossed over to the Irish pop charts in 2008.
At that point I realized that production was about to become a whole lot more
than just messing around on my laptop!
2. Where are you originally from?
What is the music scene of your hometown like?
I’m originally from a small town in Ireland called Carlow.
While the music scene is tiny, as is the case in any provincial Irish town due
to sheer lack of population, as a nation Ireland has always punched well above
its weight in musical terms and I got an invaluable grounding in the skills
required to properly DJ (as opposed to simply playing a pre-determined set as
is the case with so many performers now) while playing in local bars and clubs,
equipping me well for the career that has followed.
3. What can you tell us about the
experience of DJing with some of the elite in the industry and your interest in
music production?
I remember being blown away by the
initial experience of playing alongside DJ’s whom I had looked up to and idolized growing up, the
likes of John Digweed, Armin, Tiesto and many others and it’s still a huge thrill to consistently
play alongside the industry elite and be considered a contemporary as opposed
to a fan. I’m
very lucky in that regard and would never take for granted the opportunities I’ve received to date.
As I mentioned earlier, music production
became serious from 2008 onwards and huge influences for me in this regard
would have been Tony de Vit, Corvin Dalek, John Digweed, Yomanda and almost
anything that was released on the ‘Manifesto’ label. I still consider ‘Manifesto’ to be the best dance label of all time, particularly in
terms of capturing the essence of what dance-music is all about for me, ie.
eliciting a variety of emotions and feelings in the clubber or listener.
4. What life experiences and/or
events inspired the writing and recording of your upcoming collaboration
"Get Down" with Mac & Gannon? Is this your first single on Insomnified?
Yes, ‘Get Down’ is my debut on ‘Insomnified’ and is very much inspired by my feelings with regard to
world events and in particular the militarized subjugation of the so-called ‘free’ West we are currently witnessing on a frightening level.
The track is written with forceful, almost dystopian, high-impact moments and
sugar-coated with contrasting melodies in order to reflect the present
Orwellian/Huxley-esque societal juxtaposition with the double-entendre vocal
deliberately placed to mirror both sides of the metaphorical coin, ie. the
global control structure and ‘we the people’.
Mac and Gannon have been a dream to
work with, we have a similar musical vision and work ethic and I firmly believe
the have a massively bright future as artists, hence my keenness to work with
them.
5. How did you find out about
Insomnified? Is their utilization of global & territorial resources
/ listenership the reason you went with the label in the first place?
I’ve been a close follower and supporter of Insomnified for
some time now, having first stumbled across label boss Magnetie through her
release ‘You
& Me’ on
the label and despite offers from a number of other high-profile labels, a
combination of their musical ethos, distribution clout through Black Hole and
attention to detail with regard to maximizing the potential of each release
made Insomnified the perfect fit for this release.
6. What can you tell us about some of
the tracks you have featured on your Soundcloud page?
My Soundcloud page offers a diverse
sample of some of the tracks I’ve released over the past few years and includes solo
tracks, collaborations and a variety of styles. I also includes some of my more
recent cross-over tracks which have charted in Europe over the past 18 months,
in particular ‘All
I Need’,
‘Colder’ and ‘Feelings’, which have helped open many recent doors for me in the
music industry and have inspired the direction of my debut artist album which
is pending.
7. What is your favorite social
networking platform? Why?
On a personal level I love Twitter
for its condensed simplicity and the speedy way it allows me to keep an eye on
and interact with both those whom I choose to follow and my own followers. It
has really broken down the boundaries between artist and fan which I think is a
great thing!
In terms of pure music Soundcloud is
great, although they really need to take a closer look at the back end that
constantly flags tracks erroneously for copyright infringements – it gets very tiresome having to have
my own tracks reinstated!
8. Who are your biggest musical
influences? Why?
Queen for their groundbreaking
versatility and showmanship which tore up the rulebook in terms of what was
acceptable to a mainstream audience at the time, Judge Jules for his incredible
ear for uncovering diverse and groundbreaking dance-music spanning decades
always focusing on creativity above all else, as well as tirelessly championing
new talent and Tupac Shakur for inspiring me to make a statement with music as
opposed to always pandering to the bottom-line.
9. What are your favorite activities
or hobbies outside of music?
I’ve a huge interest in the law and have studied it
extensively for years. It fascinates me how the law is used by the parasitic
professional ‘elite’ to chevy the general populace into
doing things that go entirely against our natural instincts, when in fact it
can be used to protect us from a wide-range of social ills and financial
malignancies. I regularly practice as a lay-litigant and it has genuinely
changed my world-view and on a macro level, my entire life and allowed me a
heretofore unimagined level of real (as opposed to illusory) freedom. I
recommend the study of law to everyone. While initially intimidating, it’s a hugely empowering journey.
10. What does 2015 hold in store for
John Gibbons? A full-length release perhaps?
Next year marks the release of my
debut artist album and the continued roll-out of my ‘POWER’ tour concept which has been in testing at various global
events since 2013. I’m
extremely excited about the coming year and believe it will be a
career-defining twelve months. Watch this space!
CONNECT
John Gibbons
Paul Gannon
Karl Mac
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