1. Hi ewan,welcome to upfront & wax,would you introduce yourself to our readers.
G'day, I'm Ewan Jansen from Perth, Western Australia. I'm a house music producer and I run Red Ember Records when it's not on a 15 year hiatus.
2. How would you describe your sound and what inspires you from day to day in order to create such unique tracks ?
When I started collecting synths in the late 90's I was driven by pure discovery and adventure. Coaxing a cool sound out of a old inanimate machine that makes your heart skip a beat is pretty addictive. I might come home from swimming at the beach or fishing on the river and make some moody, watery stuff on a synth - it made real life and studio life come closer together. To this day it's still like my version of a diary - a space I pour my heart and soul into and then likely stick in a box for turn down day or maybe share with others if I'm confident enough to let it go. My sound usually defers to a general deep, housey moodyness i guess. It's usually chilled, but somewhat raw and put together in a more reactive rather than proactive manner. I don't really plan anything much and let whatever preferences my brain's got build up to freely call the shots on the day. I reckon analogue gear allows you to be more expressive with pre-existing ideas, but also often just sitting down with a synth can also usually brain-wipe a shit day, inspire a good feeling or memory and kick off a satisfying session. Most of my beloved music collection is the same as my gear - old and getting dustier everyday but it still has much inspiration to deliver and gives me a reassuring reason to get up in the morning.
3. 1997 your first record on red ember records with Justin zerbst,could you tell us more about this.
Well, we were both already making music on separate paths; Justin coming from an acid house influence and me from a rave angle i guess. Our musical inspiration converged when getting hooked on a strong scene in Perth that was already in full swing, driven largely by deep underground house and techno from Detroit and Chicago - music that really stuck it to you in the heart. Putting out the record was just a test really, I didn't aim to start a label per se - we really just wanted our stuff on a record and if we could sell a few at cost to cover the pressing that was a bonus. There was still one plant left in Australia but the concept of doing a minimum pressing of a 100 records was ridiculous on many levels, so the record was cut on poly-plastic lathes at King's Records in NZ. To our excitement some people dug it; they saw through the bad pressing and encouraged us. Those first 20 records really helped introduce us to a lot of good people and some life long friends which is more valuable than anything. For me especially, as It was my 1st year out of school and I was still trying to figure out what the outside world and what I was about.
4. Moods&grooves,Chalant music,Hardworksoftdrink,Adelaide soundworks,Inner Balance and Red Ember Records are all highly respected labels to host your productions,are we going to see something new in 2016 ?
The Adelaide Soundworks release is out soon and is a combination of unreleased tracks from early 2000's and some recent tracks. I'm really happy how it came together as they're all kinda quirky, moody orphan tracks that ended up making sense as a 6track EP selected by Simon, the label boss. It's the first time I've ever released on another Australian label so that's especially succinct for me.
Later in the year and leading into 2017 there should be another couple of new music projects surface that in different ways have been looong in the works. I've also completed a couple of remixes which might appear at some point in the meantime.
5.approximately how long have you been collecting records and hardware for ?
it was probably around '92 when i started to actually buy outboard stuff to daisy chain out of my Atari 1040. I do recall peeling a lot of onions for $4.50 an hour at my first job to buy a DR-550 and an 808 and then my first synth was a JX-8P and shortly after a 101. As far a vinyl records, I bought most of my stuff from around '96 onwards at a store called Purveyor/Complex records. Ben Stinga who ran it, did a Saturday night radio show too and it was pretty mind blowing - proper underground music from all over the world. All the greats like guidance, planet e, transmat were represented but also a whole bunch of music I learnt was self-released and was not only awesome to have on vinyl to but big clues on how distribution channels could actually work in reverse for a bedroom producer down here.
6.What exactly would be your favourite piece of hardware you own and does he/she have a name ?
Probably my jupiter 6. I bought it off this guy called David '3D' Ward who ran a big studio above a jewellery shop in east perth releasing handbag house for a while in the 90's. I had snuck into the main studio with one of his engineers to play around a few times so when he closed down I put my hand up for it. My father had a simple naming regime for family pets; the dalmatian was called 'dog' the terrapins were called 'turtles' and the budgie was called 'bird' so I guess if were to follow this tradition I would call it 'keyboard'.
7.being from a land down under how would you describe the scene in Australia ?
Considering we live under the constant fear of being punched by kangaroos, mauled by dropbears and bitten by redbacks I'd say we're a surprisingly relaxed bunch.
8.finally, if there was 3 records you could take to space with you what would they be ?
Wamdue Kids - These Branching Moments
Yokota - Cat, Mouse & Me
Kriedler - Kriedler
…of course I'd figure some way of stretching my baggage alocation for a few thousand more.
keep a sharp eye out for his next release due out this month !
We will leave you with one of our favourite tracks from Ewan.
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