2008 has been the year of the house revival with Switzerland & Berlin leading the way when it comes to the basic groove. I caught up with one of the main players in the scene, Swiss deep house producer and label owner Agnès. to talk music, aliases, Switzerland and much more in one of the most down to earth and humorous interviews I’ve done in a long time.

Please tell us a little about Agnès & your sound.

Well, I’m that dude called Agnès, a few of my friends call me “The Ladyboy” but that is just personal… My sound is somehow called electronic dance music with influences.

You run a popular, deep Swiss house label - Sthlmaudio Recordings. What do you look for when signing new music & artists to your label ?

Yep, it’s true, I’m running Sthlmaudio Recordings. Well, 1st let me explain what the name stands for, it’s really basic, it stands for Stockholm, and audio means the sounds you can hear while playing our records… See really easy no ? Concerning new releases, well, it’s rather difficult I’d say but at the moment I think I’m really looking for anyone that has never done anything before and who I think there music is good to be released. I think that we’ve been through too many years of super Dj’s supremacy and that today everybody a little skilled can do a great track with very little. That’s what I’m after; talented, simple people. For example, we’ll release in the coming weeks a Full Length from new producer’s, a duo from Zurich called “Azuni” which are newcomers but their music is just so good. I want my label to be a place of the new in all it’s meaning…

Also your collaborated label 60sec which is run by you & Lee Van Dowski how would you say this differs as a label & (in sound) to Sthlmaudio?

Yes it’s true, we did the label with Lee, it was a rewarding experience but the industry got us down and we were all to busy to put the energy to makes things goes any further. You know sometimes it’s better to rest things where they are and move on further.

“Personally, if I could, I’d take new names on every record”

For those that might not know you have another house alias as Ray Valioso. Can you tell us a little about Valioso & how it differs to you as Agnes?

Haha yes, Ray Ray is my Real Soon character, Paul (running Real Soon) and I met a few years ago and Paul asked me somewhat a few years after we’ve met if I could maybe drop a record on Real Soon. I’ve tried and tried hard and came up with Einladung EP. I thought that the sound of that record had nothing to do with what I was doing under the Agnès moniker and so I came up with the Ray Valioso name. Sound wise, I’d say that Ray is a deep dude and that he doesn’t care much about anything else than a good cold beer and a cigarette or two. Furthermore, personally if I could I’d take new names on every record. Aliases is a cool thing, I really like names, it’s cool.

I admire the fact that your sound & remixes in particular are always evolving. Everything from deep meandering techno from remixes of Masaya, Pan-Pot & Livia Grozia to more pure deep sounding house from the likes of Chaton, Luna City & Niggemann & Poppcke. Is there a reason for this & do you (personally) prefer one particular sound to the other?

Heeeehaa, it’s funny because you know I’ve started to do another remix with that Chaton remix I’ve done on Sthlmaudio in 2007. At the time I didn’t knew what to do really but I wanted to do something different than the original track and well, I guess it is. There after it came pretty clear to me that I liked to remix things because I can just lay down anything I’d fancy at the minute, meaning that I can just do what I want which was somehow a feeling I didn’t have making “regular” Agnès cuts. That said I also think that my remixes are in general something completely rendered at my sauce, sometimes using one sample from the original sometimes all of them but always treated and rendered in the Agnès style, hopefully…

Over the years you have had a number of collaborations & remixes with Ripperton. Can you tell us a little about this all Swiss partnership & what you both look for (in the studio) when you get together?

Switzerland is very small and I think that we’ve never had a huge musical impact before. Lately though. things have changed and technology gave us all what we’ve ever needed to be in the musical landscape like any other country. Sure, Ripperton his one of my best friends. We spend many time together doing nothing, having fun, talking, phoning each other and supporting one another in any possible way and making music of course. I think that this is the key about us in Switzerland, we like each other, like Chaton, Ripperton, Dachshund, Quarion and so on. We really just want to possibly achieve the best and this in a peaceful way… But understand me right, we’re not a bunch of hippies sleeping all together in the same abandoned house; we’re just pulling at making things in the electronic musical landscape in Switzerland a decent thing.

Talking of Switzerland you guys seem to be leading the way when it comes to deep house. How is the Swiss scene & is it dominated by deep house or does it vary?

Well it all varies a lot. There is not just purely this or that all the way, it’s more of a mix of many things. Concerning house in its roots I guess that maybe the typical Swiss way for the last 20 years would have been to collect all the records without ever saying anything. The fact is that nowadays, we do music as well and maybe this comes out just now… This is just a wild guess though…

A little birdy tells me that your behind the vinyl only label Slowhouse Recordings & in particular behind two of the three releases thus far, those being Slowhouse 1 & 3. Can you set the record straight & if so tell us a little about Slowhouse, the sound & the idea behind it ?

I’ve never heard of Slowhouse, is that any good ? rapidshare links ????

When in the studio working on solo projects as Agnès or Ray Valioso what end sound are you looking for is there a formula to Agnès & Valioso or does it vary with each production?

Ohhh god I think that my only formula is that one; is it shit ? if yes = delete, else = why?, then = work more. I really work a lot, I’ve constantly got a beat running or something on the sequencer so basically I call my method “Working on Mistakes” which happened once in a while, and what you’ve got are the best mistakes I’ve done…

What’s a typical set up for you. Are you a Vinyl only man, Mp3, Live, or perhaps Traktor/ Ableton or a mixture of some or perhaps all ?

As I do both, Live sets and Dj sets, it really depends. Live wise, I was using analogue gear before but tend to drop it for a laptop set running Ableton Live. This mainly because of the fact that once or twice there wasn’t space enough for me to setup correctly at venues and also that we’re in 2008 and computers are part of our lives for more then a good decade now… And I’ve always been the one saying that the less is for the best… Dj wise, I use Vinyl’s and Serato, Serato is a really cool tool and enables me to play unreleased music a lot more easily then before. I think that we’ve got to live with our time. A lot of people are arguing with the later technologies but you know, to me it would make much more sense to actually talk about music. Concerning Serato, I prefer it over any other because it just does what it’s meant to do, emulating vinyl’s and it does it better then anyone else period.

And what are your feelings on Vinyl & its future ?

It is a cycle like many many things in life and today is just a corner we’ve got to take. It’ll all come in good shape and place I’m confident. My philosophy is that at the moment I’m enjoying the best of both worlds, on the digital end I could grab so much “oldies” I didn’t have a chance to grab on vinyl (which for some show up at discogs for some really indecent money) and vinyl wise I still really like to buy the records I want physically. Also, I’m only buying digital tracks and releases as full quality WAV files which to me is the only possible way to sound as close as possible to a real vinyl.

“I call my method Working on Mistakes, which happened once in a while, and what you’ve got are the best mistakes I’ve done”

Do you have any heroes in electronic music for example who might you look up to & say yeah you have influenced me & my music ?

For sure, I’ve got so many !!! I’ll name a few for you; Pépé Bradock, Maurizio, Biosphere, The Prince Of Dance Music, Dj Koze, The KLF, Inner Soul… I also enjoy many other music styles then the one I’m into, for example I really like things like Alela Diane, Tom Waits, Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Madrugada, Tindersticks, Icebreaker International, Global Communication and the list goes on and on… I also really enjoy all that older dub, things like Yabby You, King Tubby, Toots And The Maytals, Hugh Mundell… I think it’s a matter of peace of mind for me to listen to something else then “dance” music…

When your not deep in the groove, producing in the studio or running the label what do you like to do?

Honestly, I enjoy being home a lot, I like to have that home feeling, spending time at just being home scratching my legs, semi naked smoking a cigarette and enjoying a coffee, you know what I mean? Otherwise I’m always up for some nature ride up the hills and Switzerland is the perfect spot for that =)

What’s the next move for Agnes, can we expect more from Ray Valioso & Slowhouse & is there another album in the pipeline?

Huuu, Agnès is remixing; Ray Ray just did an EP on Real Soon and that last one you’ve mentioned I don’t know about… For the rest, I’m always continuing my quest for aliases and they’ll be some more new names and music for sure somewhere somehow…

Thank you & all the best. Joe.

Easy Joe, thank you for the opportunity to say shit haha, shiiiiiooooootttttt =)

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