Gorge aka Pit Waldmann, answers to Melissa Jane Frost ahead of his performance at Rhythmatic at Cargo on the 30th July.
Q. Now firstly, your name is Pit Waldmann, Where does your DJ name Gorge come from?
A. I’m doing windsurfing for a long time and a lot of my inspiration for music came through this sport.There’s a beautiful surf spot in the USA called “Columbia river gorge” and i thought this name would fit perfect. So this was born in 1996 and still stayed
Q. The “8bit” label that yourself and Nick Curly run together recently celebrated its 5 year birthday, many happy returns! How does it feel to be 5 years old and still going strong?
A. First of all we never thought the label might get that known and have this support from all over the world. I think one of the reasons why we’re still successful is our open mind for all styles of electronic music. We’re always looking for the best quality of original productions and don’t build the label on remixer names. We put out a variety from deep to tech house but always not too up-tempo as Nick and I normally play between 122 and 124 bpm. The most important thing for us is the groove and something that makes a production special and shows the talent of the artist. It’s always hard to explain producers what sound we’re looking for. We always tell them: “it must be special and not heard 20 times before”. They should not produce for the sound of the label and play different music in the clubs. The profile of the artist should fit although with his dj or live sound.
Q. So what’s next for the label? Do you have any exciting projects or signings coming up that you can tell us about?
A. We just released a 4 track ep by Dave Pezzner and the next release is a summer vocal track from 2 guys calling themselves “Bunte Bummler”. Next releases will be by the italian “Giuseppe Cennamo” who already appeared on a various artist ep 2 years ago. In fall we planned another ep by myself and 2 or 3 other ep’s.
Q. What is your favourite club or place in the world to play at?
A. One of my favourites is definitely D-Edge in Sao Paulo. The vibe is great and people go crazy the whole night.
Q. I noticed that you played in Chile and Brazil recently – how was that? Is there a big demand for the “Gorge” sound in South America?
A. Well, South America is very big, but at all there’s not so many underground clubs and the scene especially in Brazil is more traditional and commercial. For example Rio has only 1 underground club which is very small and most of the parties are more commercial. The best scene is Sao Paulo. I’m going to Brazil 2 or 3 times a year and there are a couple of clubs booking me the last 2 years. I’m planning the next tour at the moment for November or January as we already have some requests again.
Q. Which country is throwing the best parties at the moment?
A. There’s no specific country with the best parties. Every country has his own scene and spots and every party is special in a way. The country where people definitely know the most things about the artist and the music he plays is the UK.I had good parties all over the world and can’t decide which was the best
Q. You’re a very prolific producer, but as well as your own productions you do a lot of remixes for people e.g. Ray Okpara, Milton Jackson etc, what do you prefer doing?
A. Well, i love remixing other artists when the original production is good. When i have a good original with inspiring parts or vocals i’m working fast and find a catchy line very quickly. The problem is there’s too many labels thinking a good producer can do “Gold out of shit” for money, but this is not possible and i stopped taking too many requests and concentrate more on original stuff. For the future i’ll do something like 5 or 6 remixes a year and around 3 ep’s and singles.
Q. You’re playing for the Rhythmatic boys on the 30th of this month.. When was the last time you played here in London?
A. Last time i played was the Jaded after hour at Cable i think. Great party with nice people. Now I’m really looking forward to Rhythmatic as the last time at the Egg was great!
Thanks again for you time and we’ll see you down the front on the 30th!
Interview by Melissa Jane Frost
Gorge mix for Rhythmatic: bit.ly/pjEUzw
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Gorge plays for Rhythmatic this Saturday over at Cargo:
Double Trouble Productions & Cargo Present
Rhythmatic Intimate Session
With
Gorge (8bit, katchuli)
Wesley Razzy (Rhythmatic)
Ceri
Eline De Boer
3PM – 3AM // Cargo London 83 Rivington Street, City of London EC2A 3AY
New website!!!: www.rhythmatic.co.uk
RA event: http://www.residentadvisor.net/event.aspx?270152
Facebook event: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=222336361134288
Entrance fee: free before 10PM // £10 after 10PM
For guest list please email us info@rhythmatic.co.uk