Exclusive Interview: Cevin Fisher
Born in East Orange, New Jersey, Cevin Fisher has risen to become one of the World’s most respected & prolific master house producers and DJ’s who really broke-out on a global level in the mid-to-late 1990′s.
His progressive sound & innovative approach broke new ground within the industry, giving-up classic anthems like “Hands On Love” and “House Is A Feeling,” both penned for New York independent label Hardtrax.
After these early successes Danny Tenaglia encouraged Cevin to pursue a recording career full-time, and he committed himself in earnest to production in the mid-’90s. Singles such as “The Way We Used To” and “Shine the Light” followed, earning him significant international clubplay, although it was 2000′s “The Freaks Come Out” on the UK’s Subversive label that pushed him into the mainstream house stratosphere.
With “The Freaks Come Out” having recently seen a 10-year anniversary re-release complete with brand-new remixes, we took the opporutunity to interview Cevin and find his thoughts on a music scene that is very different from the era that made him famous.
FHM: Cevin – Your career is the stuff of legends! It is
a great honor to feature your voice in our digital universe here at FunkyHouseMusic.com. Let’s kick things off by first thanking you for all of your contributions to house music. Your voice and sound is an essential ingredient of the genre as we know it, and we hope you continue to create innovative work as you journey through this illustrious career. With that said, why don’t we start by discussing your new release ‘ ‘The Freaks Come Out (2009 Mixes – Pt. 2)”why should the readers be excited about this package?
CF: First off thanks for the compliments, I really do appreciate them, Its been quite the journey thus far. And of course I will try my best to keep
the music coming. The Freaks Come Out is celebrating its 10 year anniversary this year, and I’m very fortunate to be with a label like Subversive for so
long. Martin Fisher and Martin Jones the label honchos at Subversive decided to re-release The Freaks Come Out with a unique group of remixers:
Prok and Fitch, Tim Davidson, Anil Chawla, Eric Entrena, Nyan Narine, Darren Flecta, DC & JB, Sharp and Smooth. I really love the remixes,
And this year at the Winter Music Conference in Miami, I heard the mixes being played by a wide variety of Dj’s like Carl Cox, Roger Sanchez,
Victor Calderone, Boris to name a few. The package has been released in 2 parts and from what I hear there will be a couple of bonus mixes
released as well. So, there’s definitely a mix for everyone..
FHM: For the end of 2009, and looking forward to 2010, can you shed some light on how Cevin Fisher will influence dance music?
CF: Well along with my management and agents, my calendar is looking really nice at the moment. So, I plan on continuing to hit the road,
and sharing my music with the fans all over the world. I’ve been putting out tracks for a long time now, and I will continue to do so,
however, we’re spending a lot of energy putting together tours. I will most likely be doing some double header dates with my mates from the UK
Prok and Fitch. Who recently released a collaboration with myself and Prok and Fitch called “Mundo” and its a hot one, burning up the dancefloors now.
FHM: With so much competition and heat from existing and uprising brands in the digital MP3 dance music universe, what is your plan to differentiate your present and future productions? Do you still believe in the MP3 retail model via sources such as Beatport & Juno Download? Or has the blog MP3 sharing community caught your attention as a new methodology of popularizing an artist’s music (i.e. in other words giving it away)?
CF: Yeah there’s a lot of competition out there, and to me thats a good thing, the music business always has and always will be competitive,
because music is such a strong force. I just like to try and be as creative as possible when i’m producing music, and its always very challenging.
Its hard to hit a homerun everytime you step up to the plate. Knowing this, I just try to do my best. I’m always sponging and being inspired by
the music that I love and when i’m creating in the studio, I just try and let the production flow. In the end, I try to come up with something that
moves me, and chances are if the music moves me, then its going to move more people as well. I actually love shopping at Beatport and the other
Digital download sites. I was so amazed by Itunes, Beatport, Traxsource, Juno. The fact that you can buy music on line totally blows my mind.
There’s some real wiz kids out there. I get a lot of promos from different labels, and thats a good thing, I’ve always gotten a ton of promos.
I used to get them in the mail as vinyl promos, and I miss vinyl, but I don’t miss all of the space and clutter that I used to have to deal with.
FHM: Overall, what is your opinion on up & coming producers in dance music simply giving away their music through the blog-o-sphere, and allowing anyone to download for free? Do you feel this is hurting industry sales through pay-for-music websites? Is this a method you would recommend to a newcomer to the production world?
CF: I just wish there was a way to really police the music via the net, Its sad to me that a producer will spend so much time and effort in the studio, only to have
the music shared unauthorized, which definitely effects the sales in the end. For the newcomers, I would recommend being really careful when promoting your
music. Theres a small window in between the promoting of a new track, to the actual release of the track. You should try and give your music to credible djs.
and remind them to keep the track very exclusive to themselves.
FHM: Considering these new viral marketing techniques being implemented by up & coming producers ‘ the process of discovering and listening to new music is changing significantly. Shifting the attention to the listener/music fan, how do you feel they are being effected by this? Do you feel dance music is growing in popularity, or perhaps contracting since tangible products such a vinyl and cds are shrinking as mediums to hear music?
CF: Actually, I do feel like its growing in popularity. Theres a lot of music out there, but I still believe it takes time to come up with a project or track that has some staying power,
A track that can be played in clubs, video, radio, movies. These are the tracks that interest me the most and have an actual life. So at the end of the day, for me its still the same.
I get some labels that send me 3 or 4 tracks every week, and most of the time these are tracks that won’t work in my sets. Its unfortunate, but its just the way I select my music.
I do appreciate getting all of the promos, but we have to try and be really creative, to make music that makes some kind of statement, and has something to grab the listeners attention.
FHM: You’ve been ‘in the game’ since the early 1990′s if our research serves us correctly ‘ what experiences stand out in your career as the most memorable? If you don’t mind, share a story ‘most’ people haven’t heard about you’
CF: Yeah i’ve been doing this for a while now, I would have to say that from experience, you really need to have your act together, especially now with
the business being so competitive, theres djs everywhere. And everybody has a brand now a days. If your fortunate enough to get your music played and
fortunate enough to travel. Do the best you can, and don’t mess it up. In my career there been many ups, but theres also been quite a few downs too.
You need to really stay focused. At the end of the day this djing and producing is a business, and its really hard to travel into different time zones, and go
hard at every stop. You have a job to do, and you need to try to find a way to bring that energy and professionalism to every show.
FHM: What is exciting you about the dance music world today as compared to the past?
CF: At the moment, I am impressed with the technology being used in the clubs, the sound sytems, the lights,
the overall production used by some of the promoters and club owners, I was just recently in Japan at a club called Ageha,
And I felt like I had stepped into the future. The sound system was amazing and the lights just blew me away.
I’m also a resident at Pacha NYC, and I love how they change the feel of the club everyweek, depending on who the dj is.
I love all of the work that these proper clubs do, in preparing for the event. And I see that now more than in the past.
FHM: In your opinion, who is the most innovative, exciting dance music producer at the moment?
CF: Thats a tricky one, Theres some really great producers out there at the moment. But I would have to say i’m really
loving my mates in the UK Prok and Fitch, They turned in some really great remixes for us at Subversive, first with
“You Got Me Burning Up ” then ” The Freaks Come Out “. as well as the new project we have together called “Mundo”
So without a doubt they are tearing the dancefloors up, and so they get my vote.
FHM: Is there anything else you would like to share with the FunkyHouseMusic.com community?
CF: I’d just like to say thanks for all of your support over the years, and we’re going to try and keep the good music coming to you.
I have a few collaborations out right now with Prok and Fitch “Mundo” on Stealth Records, also a new one with Eric Entrena called “Dirty Games”
and I have a new one coming out with my mate Paul Harris called “I’m Losing My Mind” coming out on Big Love Records. Also be on the
lookout for a new A Different Dimension project with my best buddy DJ Kelee on Ggressive Recordings, And soon to be released a new Cevin Fisher track
called “Sexxx Machine ” on Subversive Records.
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