They are a phenomenon in the electronic music industry. James Taylor and David Brun Brown have been here for so long. 'Snowboarding In Argentina', their debut which was so forward thinking and futuristic at that tıme, is still fresh and cool since 1998, when it was released. We are talking about more than ten years ago and Swayzak is still pursuing being one of the biggest names and brands in the contemporary electronic music industry.

From now on they are going to release their music under their own label. They liscenced all their recent work back from !K7 Records and they will have a series of re-releases to prove their timeless efforst which will make all fans more than happy. ‘Snowboarding In Argentina’ is one of the most important LP’s in the electronuc music history and if you lend an eye now and take a listen, you will still think it is as fresh as it gets. Like it was made just yesterday.

Swayzak is not very happy with what’s happening currently in and around the music industry. They stay distant to MP3 thing and they want to be real towards their audience. Here we start with a 2009 re-release. Swayzak sound is timeless, never ending. Good music is good. As simple as this!

We are again ready for ‘snowboarding’ with the melodic and intense sound of Swayzak. We are ready to go to Argentina! David "Broon" Brown answered my questions regarding the 2009 celebration of Swayzak and 'Snowboarding In Agentina'.

We are again going "Snowboarding In Argentina"! What do you feel about this essential album of yours nearly 10 years after?
Still relevant album, good tracks people need to hear! We made it full of innocence, now we know the music business and are not so innocent.

What is the exact purpose of this re-release?
We had the opportunity to re-issue as we got the rights back after ten years. We feel the music never got the audience it should have, and now we can be happy it is out again, and we are in control of it! We hope people hear it and think ‘wow’ this was made in 1998 and still sounds like it was made yesterday, but if they don’t think that then hey ho…

What other things are you up to? You were silent if we exclude some remixes?
Yes pretty silent, new tracks coming, remixes, podcasts. we are in no hurry. I don’t really like this current MP3 release trend, we wait until things are a bit healthier for a new album, these things take time. But we have relaunched our label 240 volts. A 4 track EP out soon.

It is also the first release of your own label Swayzak Industries. You were a !K7 artist for a long time and now what will be the main focus of your industries?
Swayzak Recordings is our label, we licensed all our music to !K7 before, but now we don’t need them. !K7 need us more than we need them. Sorry to say the state of the music business is very poor.

What other releases and labels do you like these days?
Mojuba, Styrax leaves, Radioslave, Ostgut Ton, MDR, Modern Love, 240 Volts / Serieculture…

B12 crew also releasing their 90's vinyls on CD and it seems that the music, 'Sheffield/British techno revolution' is again praised, again popular. Is it that the new generation is getting aware and paying attention to the real old music or just a fashion 'come and go' thing?
I think B12 were in the same situation as us, Warp owned their catalog and now they got the rights back. Also it’s about self satisfaction, like an unfinished business. The music goes round in cycles and now it’s 20 years since Warp began. So they celebrate LFO, Aphex,etc...

What about your opinions on current techno and minimal scene? Do you find it reproductive and clever?
Clever and reproductive, not really… It’s 4/4 house music, it's never that clever really. Clever is Steve Reich or Philip Glass. So maybe Ricardo Villalobos is clever for his style, Richie Hawtin is very clever for Minus and the money they make. Generally it’s ok scene all a bit Berlin based really.

I prefer to be in London. Britain has a rich history in music, as for the scene, some good stuff, some average and some bad, as with every scene. It all went a bit crazy for minimal, and nobody really knew what minimal was, they just liked to think it was minimal. But actually it’s Trance and it’s shit!

When will you come back to Babylon, Otto or in Istanbul?
When they invite us, we will come..

What would you like to say to your Turkish fans out here?
Hello, thanks for coming, see you next time. I really like İstanbul, always good fun!


Interview: Christopher Çolak
25 April 2009


We praise you with an exclusive set from Swayzak recorded live at a gig in Umbertide Italy. Download it here!