Names: Greg & Nick

Deekline & Wizard Interview

Ez Deekline & Wizard, big ups man for taking some time to answer a few music
related questions. How do you feel at the moment with your brand new album
out now - 'BACK UP, COMING THROUGH'? Also, where is your album release
party going to be held at?
Deekline: looking Forward to playing at Matter in the O2 Arena this Friday.  It's the London Launch party for our Album!!!!
Wizard: Very Pleased that our product is soon to hit the shelves. It's been a long time coming and such a great feeling


The new album incorporates allot more musical instruments with several new
singers in your songs. Can you please explain your direction and sound in
this wicked master piece of an album.
Deekline: I guess we've matured a lot since our first album "Breaks, Beat's & Blondes", and this has been reflected in our music.  This Album is a lot more musical and would perhaps appeal to a greater audience.
Wizard: We wanted to create an album that was a pleasure to listen to from start to finish & I think variety is very important.  That's why we used a combination of different Vocalists and Musicians that could all add their own flavour to the project.

How do you meet up with your vocalists, do you meet them at parties? Please
tell us about the vocalists on your album.
Deekline: Well Both Yolanda & Topcat featured on the first album, we met Yolanda through friend's when we were in Bristol playing at parties. I've always been a fan of Topcat and the Congo Natty sound from back in the day which is why we hooked up with him.
Wizard: Other vocalists include DJ Assualt. We've bumped into him many times over the years playing at clubs across America, he's one of the booty bass pioneers and we're big fans.  We've worked a lot with him over the last 2 years and it was important to us that he was present on this Album because his music has been a big influence on our sound.

What’s your favourite track on the new album?
Wizard: I have different favorite  tracks at different time's.  but at the moment it's a track called Time (which is a hidden track at the end of the album) It's actually a hip-hop track with amazing vocal performances from Yolanda & Wunda

What’s your favourite original track and remixed track that you touched so
far in  terms of quality in music production?
Deekline: My favorite remix has to be the Prodigy's "Outta Space" Because it's by one of my favorite dance Act's and the mix was a huge success that even the Prodigy we're playing it at the end of their show.
Wizard: My favorite DW original  track has to be "Woah" The mixdown absolutely destroys any club system when we play it out.

How did you mates first meet up in the first place?
Deekline: I met wizard when my record label (at the time) put me in a big recording studio to work on the follow up to "Don't smoke the reefa"
Wizard: Yeah it was a tune called "Don't eat the Vagina"

Your constantly putting out all sorts of wicked breaks and beats, how does
the creative process work in production? Do you work in one studio together?
Deekline: We have a studio that we share but sometimes we'll both work on ideas in seperate locations and then come back together.  Other times we'll just work from one place
Wizard: Yeah there is no secret formula to getting something finished.

What are your standards for production Monitors in your sound studio?
Wizard: Yeah, people will tell your speakers are the most important part of the studio but to make a great sounding record there are a million other factors involved in the process.  I have 3 pairs of speakers from little PC speakers on a minijack to expensive Genelec & mackie reference monitors.  We also check our stuff on ipod and car stereos + home hifi's and club systems.  If you can get a good balance where your music sounds good on each system then that is usually the key to getting it right!!


What is your musical backgrounds? Did you, go to a musical or a sound
tech school of any sort? Do you play any traditional musical instruments?
Deekline: I got into collecting records from an early age and then played in pirate radio before setting up my own record labels and moving into a production role
Wizard: Yeah i studied Classical guitar for 10 years, got into rock & metal and got a job at a recording studio at the age of 16.  From there i worked my way up the ladder from tape op to, assist engineer, engineer, programmer and then decided to set my own studio up where i could produce records for other people.  Origionally i wanted to work with band's but found the creative side of dance production a lot more fun.
 

Do you think knowing music theory helps you or do you just go by your ears
and heart when producing your wicked beats?
Wizard: Well i've worked with people who have no idea of music theroy who go on to make great records so it's not essential; However i do believe that the more skills you have in your field definitly gives you a advantage


What type of music did you chaps listen to when your where kids and as teens
growing up in the UK?
Deekline: I used to listen to Nirvanna, red Hot Chilli Peppers, rage against the Machine, Public enemy, 2 live crew
Wizard: I use to hear a lot of music that my dad would play like Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, Cream & The Who


When and how did you dudes get into production?
Deekline: I brought an akai S3000 sampler and would make tunes with my friend's in the Garage.  After the success of "Don't Smoke" I used the cash to build up a bigger studio and wen't from there. 
Wizard:  Well i had 4 of the biggest studio's in london at my disposal when i was engineering for people as a freelance engineer so I'd go in at weekends to use the equipment and try out idea's


Are you guys old school ravers or what?
Deekline: Yeah well being from london we could be called a lot of things
Wizard: I had a stage where i was going out friday-Sunday with no sleep like most people but luckily i didn't get trapped into 1 scene.  I'd go out to House, Garage, Jungle, Hiphop and i'm still doing the same thing now haha



What does your studio consist of?
Wizard:  All the usual boring stuff that people don't really wanna hear about.  If you wanna proper look there's a 1 hour DVD of Us on computer music this month and you can have a guided tour!!

What are you using to produce nowadays? Logic audio? Live ? Cubase?
Deekline: Mainly logic
Wizard: Logic & Protools for recording & Arranging plus Ableton for live shows and getting ideas together

What is your favourite Compressor and eq software plugins?
Deekline: That's more for Wizard to tell Ya
Wizard: I'm a big fan of Waves plugins.  I think they're the best out there allthough at the end of the day it's still only software.  It may be just me but i still prefer using the real things.

Any weed in your studio? Or are you straight and clean?
Deekline: Nah my body is a temple
Wizard: I find it a bit counter productive to work and smoke at the same time.  I'd just end up putting the nintendo Wii on and playing games instead lol


Is a highend and expensive sound converter necessary for production today,
like an appogee sound card? What type of sound card does the mighty Deekline
& Wizard have in the studio?
Deekline: Tell us wizard
Wizard: Yeah i guess we've got the top end of soundcards A digidesign 192 and Protools HD3 rig.  Yeah not cheap.  I bought it so that i could easily transfer sessions that had been done at other recording studios around the country to my own.  I can cater for pretty much any session done on an Apple mac.  However it's not important if you're only gonna work on your own productions. Apogee make a good 2 in 2 out high quality converter that would be good for 90% of producers


If you were stranded on an island and had a portable record player with
enough batteries to play one last track...which track would you choose to
listen to?
Deekline: Sitting on the dock of the Bay - Otis Reading
Wizard: Castles made of Sand - jimi Hendrix


WWW Links:
Deekline: www.myspace.com/deeklineandwizard
Wizard: www.myspace.com/thelondonpunks