Lil Louis is an internationally renowned artist, producer, DJ, songwriter and author. One of the founding fathers of House Music, Louis’ “French Kiss” is the best selling dance single of all time. He has produced and written/co-written for many prominent artists including Jay-Z, Lil Kim, Babyface, Donna Summers and Louie Vega, and in the last year added “author” and “playwright” to his resumé with the release of his book A Man’s Diary and performance of the play of the same name.

In this interview, Louis talks about the origins of “French Kiss”, the thousands of bootlegs and covers of it, his future plans and more!

Source: 5 Magazine

Lil Louis for 5 Magazine from Czarina Mirani on Vimeo.

Born in Detroit and raised in Chicago from an early age, Rees Urban aka DJ Urban has released more than 80 original productions and remixes in styles ranging from Deep House to Acid, Techno and Ghetto. His music has appeared on Kne’Deep, Underground Construction, Dance Mania, IHR and his own imprints Bunchlox (with Karl Almaria), Public Housing and Jackin’ The Box.

In addition to the video interview, we have not one but two tracks for download from Rees showing a couple of his different production styles.

Source: 5 Magazine

MP3: DJ Urban: “Stateway Gardens” (5 Magazine’s Anniversary Project)
MP3: Rees Urban: “Rumba Lengua” (5 Magazine’s Anniversary Project)

Rees Urban for 5 Magazine from Czarina Mirani on Vimeo.

James Curd began DJing at 15 and formed Greenskeepers in 1999 here in Chicago. As part of the critically acclaimed Greenskeepers, James has released four albums and his music has been released on Classic, OM, Farris Wheel and Aroma records. The Greenskeepers’ track “Lotion” was also possibly one of the first viral video hits of the pre-YouTube age, garnering over a million plays.

In this video, James talks about his first ever DJ gig, skateboarding in Medusas and the formation of Greenskeepers.

Source: 5 Magazine

“Mona Lisa” (Ron Carroll & James Curd Mix) (5 Magazine’s Anniversary Project)

James Curd (of the Greenskeepers) for 5 Magazine from Czarina Mirani on Vimeo.

If you don’t know who Tensnake is you’d be forgiven for thinking it was a name for new heavy metal band or magician with a weird serpentine routine. He is in fact neither of these things, but actually the super cool German producer responsible for a plethora of disco and early 90s inspired remixes and productions that people are currently sucking up like an icy cola on a summer’s day. Presently, he’s riding the wave of hysteria that surrounds his most recent production ‘Coma Cat’ a track that is leading the way to the new sound of the 90s revival which is clever, innovative and inspirational.

Here he tells us about his background, his influences, his ultimate DJ line up, why he owes Resident Advisor a pint and why he is so excited about his new album…

Source: Defected PR

Tensnake – In The House Interview

A wonderful interview and a wonderful track from a truly wonderful man. Ladies and gentlemen: Frankie Knuckles.

Source: 5 Magazine

Frankie Knuckles: “Chicago Theme (La Sonata di Fascia Bassa)” (5 Magazine’s Anniversary Project)

Frankie Knuckles for 5 Magazine from Czarina Mirani on Vimeo.

CZR has been steadily producing music since 1990 on labels such as IHR, Moody Recordings, Simple Soul and Nocturnal. Most of his tunes have such an appeal that they’ve been heavily licensed – it’s pretty rare to look up one track that didn’t appear on a half dozen comps, including DJ International, Ministry of Sound, Underground Construction and Subliminal.

In this video, CZR talks about the people that influenced him, being on top of your game skill-wise and Chicago’s better breed of DJs.

Source: 5 Magazine

CZR for 5 Magazine from Czarina Mirani on Vimeo.

Free Download Of The Allstars – “Time To Get High” – Produced by CZR for 5 Magazine’s Anniversary Project (Courtesy of Chi City Records)

If anyone tried to keep track of such things, Paul Johnson would most likely carry the title as the most prolific House Music producer in history. The admirable efforts of fans to catalog his huge library of underground EPs, edits released and unreleased and official productions on his page at discogs.com really doesn’t even scratch the surface.

In this amazing interview, Paul goes deep: from his beginnings as a teen in 1982 listening to the Hot Mix 5, scratching from Steve “Silk” Hurley and Farley Jackmaster Funk, rumors of his releases under other artists’ names in the 1990s and the cold science of making a beat.

Source: 5 Magazine

Paul Johnson for 5 Magazine from Czarina Mirani on Vimeo.

Fifteen years ago a burgeoning electronic band from Paris asked party promoter Pedro Winter to be their manager. That band was Daft Punk and that promoter is now Busy P. Since then, Winter has started a record label (Ed Banger), launched the mega-career of D.A.N.C.Eers Justice and parted ways with Daft Punk to focus on nurturing the careers of his label artists, which now include the likes of Feadz, Sebastian, Uffie and DJ Medhi. On his way to play Volar on August 6, his third show in Hong Kong, Busy P took some time out to talk to Andrea Yu (Time Out HK) about *itties, robots and alter-egos.

Source: Time Out HK

Busy P – Time Out Hong Kong Interview