Hello everyone and thanks for stopping by again! October was another quiet one for the industry but its really encouraging to see things have started to open up and nice to see the restrictions are starting to ease. Lets hope it will continue and then we can all get back to what we love and we can all get back to that dancefloor!
This month I spoke to Parisian don ‘Franck Roger’ and his legendary Real Tone Records amongst other things. I also spoke to 3am Recordings ‘Al Bradley’ who has provided us with an exclusive 3hr mix and then I’ve rounded off November with the track of the month which is courtesy of ‘Shacklo’.
Hope you enjoy, ill see you next month
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Shacklo – ‘Shall We’ EP (OOFF001)
‘Floorpiece’ kick off their new sub-label, ‘One Of Four’, with a monster release courtesy of Shacklo with his ‘Shall We’ EP. Shacklo provides us with 4 original cuts worthy of any dancefloor with support coming from the likes of Cinthie, Sam Haskin, Okain, Archie Hamilton and Clara Da Costa to name but a few.
This Sydney based DJ/Producer is starting to make waves and is certainly turning a few heads with releases already in the bag on OFFPath, Blind Vision and Rendr with forthcoming releases on the likes of Berlin’s ‘E-Wax’ and ‘Wild Circus’. This release is out now and is available at all the usual vinyl outlets! Head over to Floorpiece’s Soundcloud page for the clips and then bag yourself a copy of this lovely piece of wax.
Franck Roger and his Real Tone Records………are still the Real deal
This Parisian DJ, producer and label owner needs no introduction. Franck’s career stretches back to the late 90’s and he has established himself as one of the leading house figures of our times.
Growing up on a great diet of Motown, Disco and Reggae all thanks to his parents, Franck has been a household name on the Paris club circuit for years gaining international recognition first in the early 2000’s.
As both a DJ and Producer he has proven himself to be a formidable force, releasing timeless quality music every time by staying true to his house music roots. His label ‘Real Tone’ (along with ‘Home Invasion’) still today remains as one of the most influential labels amongst the house music community with heavy weights such as The Martinez Brothers, Dyed Soundorom, Maya Jane Coles, D’Julz, Burnski, Paolo Rocco having all released on the label over the years.
Franck has dedicated his life to music and in doing so has achieved a level of quality that is unsurpassed. His latest release is out now via my Midnight Social Recordings.
We caught up with Franck this month to see how he was doing during lockdown, talk ‘Real Tone’ plans, Paris Nightlife and a few bits in between.
Thank you Franck for taking the time to speak to us this month. How are you and how have you been during lockdown?
Well not that bad, for now I’m safe and healthy and doing my thing as usual every day in my studio which is in my house. Just missing to travel over the world, that’s what I really miss to be honest. Meeting people and spreading the good vibes yes ☺
As you’ve had no gigs since March, what’s been keeping you busy for all these months? One thing we have noticed are the sample packs you have been creating since lockdown? Tell us more about that.
I had to focus more on the release plans of my labels and I also had lots of music on Band camp which is a great income on top of the digital sales. I also created the sample packs from my own sound bank collection, homemade samples ready to use on your drum machine. This project is really helping me and helping people as they like the idea to get my personal sounds in their productions.
You can go to the merch page and you can also hear some demos I made with all those sounds. The idea came clearly when I saw this Covid shit coming and I was like, ok we will not play for a long time in clubs and I need to make a living with it. Here’s the link to my band camp page: https://franckroger.bandcamp.com/merch
Your lovely ‘Real Tone’ label had taken back seat of late but its been great to see it has made a comeback with some old favorites getting a new lease of life. What made you want to visit these again?
Well I thought it was the right time on top of this Covid shit (again) to propose to the new generation some of the Classics from the Real Tone back catalogue and for some of them giving them a new life with new mastering’s or remixes like we do with Jovonn EP which is working very nice! I also will be putting them all out step by step and ill see which one needs a new touch or they may come out has they are. Simple but timeless for some of them. All the back catalogue will be out digitally but we got time.
Like the majority of us, gigs have all dried up since March but I can see that Europe is starting to open up a little now. How is club life in Paris at the moment?
It’s dead again, we are starting the second wave which will be hard. Lots of little bars were open all the summer and many illegal parties where you can clearly see that everyone’s didn’t give a fuck. So yeah, we had fun this summer but now it’s time again to pay the bills. So, nightlife will be like at the prohibition times, people start to party at home because we cant go out after 9PM now on the streets. Crazy times
I know you have a remix out now on my Midnight Social Recordings (thank you again on the great job) but what else do you have coming up?
Plenty of releases and tracks! An album is also on the pipe which will not be House. It will be something totally different, even for me I don’t know how to class those tracks and songs.
Do you have another exciting projects in the pipeline you can tell us about?
See the Album ☺
Once we can get back to normal and clubs do open up properly (no seated affairs), what are you looking forward to the most?
I think Clubs unfortunately have to stay closed because wearing a mask and partying will never work. It’s the right time to take time for yourself, look back on what you achieved or what will be next. Except the fact that I’m not travelling and doing gigs I think it’s a great experience for me and I will not complain. We just have to accept it and wait for better days.
Describe 2020 in 3 words
Road to Nowhere.
Al Bradley and 3am Recordings
If you know your music, especially quality deep house music then you will know Al Bradley and his beloved label, ‘3am Recordings’. The label is now into its 17th year and has no plans of slowing down with a string releases already planned for 2021 and beyond. The latest vinyl only “Various Artists” EP is about to drop in December, rounding off another good year for this North of England power house.
Al has been involved with house music for over 20 years starting with regular trips to ‘The Hacienda’ in his hometown of Manchester in the late 80’s, moving through the northern club scene over the following years. Al has played all over the UK as well as playing in the US and across Europe with gigs at the likes of Sonar (Barcelona), Fabric (London), Culture Box (Copenhagen), Smart Bar (Chicago) plus Distrikt and 212 in his home town of Leeds, which have all being particular favourites for AL over the years. He’s also previously held a residency for legendary ‘Bugged Out’! at Sankey’s in Manchester, which was voted as one of the Top 5 “Most Influential Club Nights In The World” in a DJ Mag poll.
Al’s discography is also as impressive as his gig list with releases on some big imprints such as Nervous Records, Lucidflow, Bullet:dodge, Blue Orb and ‘I’ Records to name but a few. Over the next few months alone Al will have releases on labels such as Reflections of Yesterday (vinyl), Dragon Parade (vinyl), Call & Response (vinyl & digital), Rejekts (vinyl & digital), Bass Clef (digital), Movement Sound (digital), Hearth Records (digital), Jingo (digital) and of course his very own 3am Recordings.
Al not only stopped by to give us his top 10 chart of 3am tracks of all time but he has also provided us with his exclusive ‘3am’ only mix. This epic 3hr journey takes us through some of the label’s 17 year history with Al covering a bit of everything and not only did he do the mix on 2 x decks but he also took it onto 2 x CDJ100’s keeping it old school!
Al Bradley’s Top 10 3am Recordings Chart
1. LHK & Alex Moran – By Way Of B (Dub Mix 1)
2. Makka & Howard Sessions – The Mild Cigar
3. 2 Billion Beats – Babylon (Hohle Remix)
4. Atomphunk – Tighten Up (Si Brad & Atomphunk Dub)
5. Al Bradley – Kindergesicht
6. Carlo Gambino – Midnight Fakers
7. Lee Guthrie – Truffle Shuffle
8. Ciudad Feliz – How
9. Alex Moran – New Fish To Fry
10. Twisted Puppies – Disco Kicks
Head to the link here and enjoy!
