Between 2001 and 2006 King Unique released a number of rather legendary vinyls on rather legendary house label Junior (aka Junior Boys Own / JBO). Now in 2008 they’re at it again on their own Curfew imprint…

King Unique are bringing some of their classic tracks back to the future. “After eight years of remixing everybody else’s records we decided to let a few of our favourite producers take a shot at one of ours,” says Matt Thomas, “and then the idea just sort of snowballed".

Snowballed indeed, into an avalanche of old and new KU material. From an initial idea of a simple “Sugarhigh” remix package the plan has grown to encompass a complete online release of all KU’s pre-digital offerings recorded on the Junior label - accompanied by no less than three new tracks (“Hinode”, and three remix packages of the back catalogue.

Lending their considerable talents to the back catalogue remix project are minimal genius Gui Boratto; old Junior label-mate turned superstar DJ Nic Fanciulli; and rising new talent Sennh, who deliver three wildly diverse techno flavoured remakes of KU’s 2002 Essential New Tune “Sugarhigh”. Then the classic “Dirty” has been treated to remixes by Paolo Mojo and that man Fergie again,. Aah yeah J

As well as the new remixes the entire King Unique JBO back catalogue including all the original masters have been carefully dusted down and then re-mastered through a bunch of plug-ins that KU wished they’d had in the first place… The result is a couple of hours of pure undiluted club bombs exactly as they sound in the KU studio. From the debut dark-room anthem “Dirty” to the soaring prog classic “Sugarhigh” and all stylistic points in between, KU’s Junior releases were characterized by the relentless search for new beats, sonics and killer vocal samples. Just check out the cut & paste mash-up of “Music Please”, the proto electro-house blueprint “Lighters”, the siren/stomp of “Flashing Lights” and the techno-jungle hybrid “Curfew Time”. The entire KU JBO back catalogue will be released in early August on Curfew.

With such a highly talented gang of remix ruffians involved in the current King Unique back catalogue release project it seemed about time to catch up with these studio stars and quiz them about their involvement with one of the most influential dance production/dj outfits of the past 10 years, and get them to give out some production/remix tips…


Did you know the track from it’s original release or did you hear it for the first time when you remixed it?

Nic Fanciulli: Yeah it was a track that I played a while back when it first came out on Junior. It was a huge record at the time.

Gui Boratto: No, the first time I’ve heard it was when Matt sent it over.

Paolo Mojo: I knew it vaguely, but I have to confess it wasn't one of the songs I was too familiar with. Possibly an advantage as I understand it got rinsed a lot when it was originally released.

Fergie: Which track are you talking about ha ha :) I have been lucky enough to mix ‘Hinode’ and ‘Dirty’, ‘Dirty’ is the track that sticks out in my mind most. When I used to play harder edge music and do longer sets it was nice that I was able to play stuff like this.

Sennh: I didn't know the original track since I've been introduced to the whole techno/progressive/house/minimal producing not so long ago. So I heard the track for the first time when you guys asked me.


How quickly did you get a vibe on your remix?

Gui Boratto: Right on the first time. I loved the melody line and decided to do it. ;)

Sennh: Pretty fast. I listened to the original over and over again until I got this particular feeling about the track. Tracks that are written to some type of melodic degree are often more resistant to the wheel of time. They still sound fresh even after the coming and going of trends and fashions in music. With my remix I tried to capture the sound and iconic status of the original and translate it into a more techier cover. It was difficult coming to a point were I thought it was finished. I often doubted the freshness of my remix, because it refers so much to the sound of the past. But in the end it was the beauty of the melody that gave me the confidence of sending it in. I thought I found the right balance between the old vs the new, the beauty/esoteric vs the party-orientated.

Nic Fanciulli: I did about 5 versions of the mix. But then I think I finally nailed the vibe I wanted to get.

Paolo Mojo: Originally I took one of your samples and went for a basic sort of french kiss, chuggy loop business sort of thing. That came very quickly and you can still hear the remnants of it in the final mix. However getting from that point to the final mix, the thing I was finally happy with, took a lot of time. I play tested the various versions over a period of about 4 weeks and this was the most useful part of the process for me, in terms of finding what I wanted to keep and what I wanted to discard. I tend to find remixes hard work to be honest. I don’t take a lot of them on.

Fergie: The ‘Hinode’ remix came together quicker for me and Dave (Dave Robertson, production collaborator) but the ‘Dirty’ mix needed a number of takes and a few road tests which ended in us going back into the studio and totally re-writing the whole thing. We just wanted to try and get it right for the KU massive.


When you work on a remix do you prefer to include the original parts or are you happy to re-write the whole track?

Paolo Mojo: Most of my Dirty remix is original material, just with the vocal over the top in certain places. That's fine because the vocal is so iconic, it gives you an easy reference point to the original. I turn down almost every remix I am offered because they don't give you that strong reference point. I know that to make it work for me I'll have to reconstruct the whole tune and take more time than its worth.... financially and energy wise its usually time better spent on an original track.

Gui Boratto: I really prefer to use the original synth. Even when you recreate it, using the same synth, it never sounds the same. I want people to recognize the original inside the remix.

Sennh: It depends on the track you're remixing. Sometimes you just need that particular sound that defines the original. Without it, it just won't be the same. Re-writing the whole track can be liberating as well, and is great when you're looking for a different kind of vibe instead of staying close to the original.

Nic Fanciulli: I find that when I do a mix it’s normally a new record, with a few of the parts as sometimes I wanna try and create a new vibe. I was quite lucky with this as I managed to get the main riff from the original as the main groove.

Fergie: I think that it’s good to get a whole new groove going. But if it’s a track with a massive hook then I like to keep that in there in some way as there’s normally a lot of memories attached to tracks for people, it’s good to keep that vibe alive.


Any advice for people remixing the same track as yourself?

Nic Fanciulli: Just make sure you put your own spin on it. It’s also really important that you play it. I hear so many people go “I did this mix but I wouldn't play it”???

Gui Boratto: Not at all. Each one absorbs the music in a different way.

Fergie: I think you should probably ask the other guys that question as I’m quite new to all the remixing carry on :)

Paolo Mojo: Yeah. Dont f**kin bother. If I hear that vocal one more time I might commit a minor crime against humanity. Of course my ears are unfairly biased and no doubt it will continue to be an air puncher for a whole new generation of clenched jawed lunatics this summer.


What piece of software/hardware has had the biggest impact on your sound in the last year?

Nic Fanciulli: The Roland 808. It’s the main thing I use for my drum structure and a machine you can never get bored of.

Paolo Mojo: Andy Chatterley at Live TV studios. He's available as both a standalone product and a plug in.

Fergie: I come from a background of well…. I cant remember most of it to be honest… so for me getting into the studio and going to college to do an electronic music production course has been a massive turning point. We got stuck into Reason, Ableton and Protools ….I felt a bit like a child in a sweetie shop…just wanting to try everything out…. but it was Ableton and Reason that grabbed my attention the most. I’m still finding my way round but working with Dave in the studio keeps me right.

Gui Boratto: My Jazz Mutant Lemur.


If you could remix any tune at all what would it be?

Gui Boratto: ‘Sweetest Perfection’ from Depeche Mode.

Fergie: I would love a stab at New Order’s ‘True Faith’ or Depeche Mode’s ‘Enjoy the Silence’ two massive tracks...

Paolo Mojo: It would have to be something iconic and recognisable and probably not a dance tune. But I'm not going to suggest something because no doubt I'll forget, someone will read this and do it and then I'll kick myself.

Sennh: I guess I'd like to remix something almost impossible to remix. A classic piece by Eric Satie or a 60s hit like America's 'Horse with No Name'.

Nic Fanciulli: Wow, I can’t answer that as there are too many. But then again if I hear a great record I think it’s best to leave it alone.


Are you a producer who DJs or a DJ who produces? Or to put it another way, if you had to give one up which would it be?

Paolo Mojo: I was DJing in clubs before I was producing music, so I guess I was an instinctive DJ before I was a producer. But I couldn't really separate the two, they are inter-dependent on one another and I love the process of each equally... it all feeds into the same thing for me. Besides, I would just sit around watching DVDs and masturbating if I didn't make music in the weeks.

Sennh: I'm a producer who does live-acts and I definitely won't give up either of them :) Creating music is one of the most beautiful things in life, seeing a lot of people going mad on your creations as well. They're both great sources of inspiration and motivation, and I wouldn't want to miss out on one of them.

Gui Boratto: I’m a producer that produces. ;) I don’t DJ.

Nic Fanciulli: I enjoy travelling and playing so much, but then I also like sitting in the studio or on my laptop on a plane. But I couldn’t live without DJing.

Fergie: For the last few years I’ve been concentrating on building backbone in the studio and I’m just lovin it! So for me at this moment in time I would give the DJing a miss. I am enjoying the other side to the whole music scene…. I’ve played other peoples records for years so its nice to have it turned around for a bit.


Gui – you’re well known for using the latest audio controllers (like the Jazz Mutant Lemur and Monome) when you play live – do you use them in the studio too?

I’ve used the monome in the studio, but not these days. The Lemur is my baby. I love it. In the studio or live. In both situations you can do unbelievable things.

Ferg this year you’ve effortlessly shrugged off the old hard-house Fergie image and re-invented yourself as a techno production genius, numbering Sasha, Digweed, Dubfire and Stephan Bodzin amongst your fans. How did that happen then? :)

Well I have been getting the head down instead of getting the beer down…..so to be honest it all stems from there. I just really wanted to move myself forward, get stuck into the music and get my sound out there, its great to have these DJs supporting me as over the years I have played or just listened to their music so yeah its great to have them play my music and chart it.......


Sennh – there's a distinctive lush melodic sound to tracks like Two Week Holiday and your Sugarhigh remix, very densely layered interwoven chords and drones. Do you ever get lost in all these elements when you're working on a track or do you always have the final sound in mind?

I try to go into the studio as blank as possible when it comes to writing melodies. The melodies come naturally after playing and trying out some loops on a keyboard. They get shaped by repeating the same set of tones over and over again until I'm satisfied with the chords/melodies. After that I need to find the right sound that fits the melody. This can take all day, all week or sometimes a whole month, but it can just as easily take 4 minutes. It depends on the mood I'm in and how confident I am about the sound of the track as a whole. Sometimes I tend to lose the overview because I want to put too many ideas or melodies in one track. Then it gets all chaotic and blurred. Sometimes I record that sound to make it into a string or something. Just like on the Sugarhigh remix, the strings that you hear at like 4:30 they are a couple of different melodies playing together, but they turned out to be very chaotic. So I recorded them layered them a couple of times and took them through some effects and then you get this broad space-like chords that sound gorgeous with the main/lead melody.


Paolo – your Dirty remix and the recent releases on Oosh have gone for a very restricted palette – beats, bass and maybe one or two synth lines – do you find it easy to discipline yourself to keep it that simple or are we hearing the result of lots of weeding?

I think simplicity is the key to vitality, you just have to make sure the parts you do use are very strong - and you have studio skills to make them sound 'big'. Its almost a cliche, but really with dance music, you need to use your ears and 'feel' it to understand if it sounds good or not. In your remix, unlike everything else I have produced lately, it was a fairly involved, complicated track that went through several movements and had a lot going on. As I played it out in clubs it worked, but it wasn't working well enough for me...
I found that the extra bits such as the string section, a second bass line, some swooshy stuff etc just detracted from the energy of the track. So I just dumped it all. Once again, I think it was proved to be the correct approach. It’s still a fairly involved track from my perspective but I think it works much better as it sounds now.