“I love DJing. I was a DJ first, and I still regard myself as a DJ first. The production thing has given me the opportunity to express all the ideas I’ve always had and never really had a chance to do.”
Graeme Sinden started off his career in the minefield that is the music industry as an A&R and promotions manager at Loungin’ Recordings. It wasn’t long before his eclectic and expansive acquaintance with all things melodious brought him to the attention of Dave ‘Switch’ Taylor. Switch led Sinden down the proverbial rabbit hole of production, acting as a Yoda figure to Sinden’s Luke Skywalker by prepping and preening the young Sinden’s talents and teaching him the technical tools of their trade.
“It’s really good fun taking something and completely twisting it, manipulating it and even changing the whole focus of it.”
“We just bounce off each other… working in the studio together we have a really good dynamic. I just pitch a few ideas to him and he’ll do the same, or I’ll just bring some tracks that I’ve been listening to and he’ll just go: ‘Wow! That’s amazing!’”
Their collaborative remix of Lady Sovereign’s ‘Random’ in March 2005 received a wealth of critical acclaim, culminating in a nomination for Gilles Peterson’s Worldwide Record Of The Year. The London based duo’s relish for remixing has went from strength to strength, with work commissioned by artists such as Bugz In The Attic and Basement Jaxx.
“It’s really good fun taking something and completely twisting it, manipulating it and even changing the whole focus of it.”
March 2006 saw the continuation of the Sinden/Switch alliance through the launch of Counterfeet, their very own record label. Their innate ability to get booties bouncing earned them a bi-monthly residency at fabric in the form of their Get Familiar club night, and copious gig dates stretching up and down the UK and further on into Europe.
Sinden blossomed as a solo artist with the release of his debut 12” ‘Sinden EP’ (Loungin’ Recordings) in November 2005. He has continued along the remix route with solo projects working with the likes of Trevor Loveys, Herve and Jesse Rose. He’s enthusiastic about branching out of remixing into writing his own tracks, and if his recent release with Count of Monte Cristal ‘Beeper’ (Counterfeet) is anything to go by, his solo career looks likely to go down as well as a hooker in a whorehouse. Not content to stop there, Sinden has taken his all singing all dancing act on air at Kiss FM.
Sinden’s influences are nothing if not diverse, incorporating styles such as Baltimore Club, Dancehall and Miami Bass. This is an artist who is refreshingly aware of his audience and his approach to production and performance reflects this. He places himself firmly in the Ronseal camp of dance DJs, who do exactly what they say on the tin; and you can’t help but relate, after all, it’s called dance music for a reason.
“I don’t want to be too abstract, I like to push it, I push the envelope on my music but you’ve always got to think about the dancefloor.”
