Interview – DJ Noir

This year has been a year to scream about for Rene Kristensen, known in the music world as ‘DJ Noir’. Over the last few years, he has gone on to achieve ‘Upfront Deejay Of The Year’ and ‘Producer Of The Year’ amongst many other awards for the DDJA!

Noir’s fans range from music masterminds such as Pete Tong, Roger Sanchez, Carl Cox and more recently; Jamie Jones. He hit the big time in 2005 with his hit ‘It’s All About House Music’ and in late 2007 he went on to create his now highly successful and sought after label- Noir Music. He has been producing tracks that gain the upmost respect from the elite of World Class DJ’s and with over 10 years worth of production perfection; this is a guy who knows exactly how to please your ears.

BBM managed to catch up with DJ Noir for a little chat about what he’s been up to.

Hello, DJ Noir, or should I call you Rene? Please tell me if my voice goes into slow motion, the internet seems to be having an off-day….

DJ Noir: Hello Frankie yes that’s cool; I’m good thank you and you? Oh and what if I like slow motion?

Ahh well, then we don’t have a problem. What have you been up to this week?

DJ Noir: I was in Athens last week, playing a great gig, then I had a couple of days at home and then I arrived in London about 12 hours ago ready for the DJ Mag awards.

So how do you feel 2011 has been for you?

DJ Noir: Well, the year started out really tough. I don’t think the whole music industry was suffering but I feel that the music I love, the deep house was suffering from the commercial take over. But it has got better through the summer and the rest of 2011. I just believe in what I like and hope for the best.

Well obviously the crowds love you at the minute. So where’s your favourite place or crowd that you have played to?

DJ Noir: A gig I played at Turnmills just before it closed down has to be a favourite. That place was such a legendary club. I played the closing set and they asked me to play for 20 minutes whilst the security had to literally push the crowds out. That was one of my first big experiences in London, and was very cool.

Your tracks such as ‘Africanism’ have a tribal/carnival sound. What lead to you this?

DJ Noir: I always start completely from scratch. I’m a musician, I don’t program my melodies, and I play them by hand on keyboards. ‘Africanism’ is tribal as this is what sounded right to me at the time. Onto the new track ‘Around’ it has a totally different vibe again; the best tracks that I do are the ones which write themselves.

As for the huge response to the big tune of the summer- ‘Around’- Jamie Jones for instance playing it at the DC10 closing parties more than once! How did it feel to have a breakthrough?

DJ Noir: It is an amazing feeling, especially as the vocal tracks are the most difficult. I don’t think I knew it at the time but with the support of people like Jamie Jones and Seth Troxler it gets hyped. I have definitely been feeling the love this summer.

Within the track ‘Around’, what’s more important? The vocals on the track, or the deep clubby sound which loops through the Solomun remix?

DJ Noir: For the vocals, I instantly thought of Haze. You do collaborations like this and you live Worlds apart; you inspire each other and this made the vocals important. Then Solomun got his hands on the track. He had actually had a period where he had writers block and felt he couldn’t do good music. Then one day he listened to the song. This inspired a whole new era for Solomun. ‘Around’ really kicked that talent and he made a real difference for the record. It has gone into a new direction and works better in the clubs. It doesn’t have all the layers of the original making it more direct for the crowds.

Are you progressing away from the deep house or keeping your signature sound?

DJ Noir: I’m working on my album right now and the tracks are sounding a little bit 80s, leaning towards the sounds of Depeche Mode and Soft Cell. I sit down to make music and it all ends up sounding like deep house- maybe because this is obviously where my heart is.

So who’s inspiring your sound at the moment?

DJ Noir: Solomun is doing some great stuff. Detron and then also Maceo Plex with his deep house versus disco vibes. I also get inspired by pop music such as Adele, Radiohead and of course my biggest idols- Depeche Mode.

I agree, Depeche Mode all the way. So who would you tell our readers to listen out for?

DJ Noir: I would tell people to listen to Larse, who is having great success with his track ‘So Long’. A year ago he had a great track called ‘The more you want’, but nobody knew about it. It was just about getting his music to the right people; people like Seth Troxler and Jamie Jones who really push your music forward. He is now number 3 on the Overall Chart on Beat Port which is commercial but great for deep house.

That’s an amazing result. So what’s the next big move for you?

DJ Noir: This weekend I am doing the final testing of my single, which is out in January. I did two versions, one of which sounds a little like ‘Around’. The other is a mixture of the Subb-an and the Solomun remix, the vocals are by a guy from Berlin- Richard Davies. He sang on a track by Trentemoller but no one really knows about this guy. I visited his Facebook fan page and there are only 300 fans – I’m going to change that.

So 2012 is going to be a big year for you?

DJ Noir: Hopefully yes. ‘Around’ will get a re-release and Defected may push it to the commercial side of the industry with some new remixes. Perhaps just give it a new twist. I’m releasing more singles from the album too.

That sounds like an amazing year to look forward to! So Rene, what’s the most embarrassing single you have ever owned?

DJ Noir: One of my own singles never got an official release. I sampled Paul McCartney and the Wings track -‘I Love You’. For the first time in history, Paul McCartney actually cleared the sample for use but it never got a full release. I’m a little embarrassed by the song but hey, Paul McCartney listened to the track and liked it which can’t be bad!

Oh come on, that’s not embarrassing! How about a track you bought when you were younger?

DJ Noir: Yeah, all the bad stuff from the 80s – which is actually pretty good- and pretty bad. The Kylie Minogue’s and the Rick Astley’s.

Yeah the guilty pleasures sometimes are the best. Well thanks so much for your time DJ Noir have a great evening and all the best for 2012.

By Frankie Salt