Loes Lee Interview November
Interviewed by Somsay.
Loes Lee Profile
Age: 30
Height: 1.76 mtrs
Weights: 67 kilo
Average heart beat per minute: probably somewhere around the 130-135 BPM, like the beats I play ;)
Fingernail lengths: average, not handy having inches long nails when you’re
working with records
Bed time: variable, from 22.00 till 10.00 hrs
Colour of hair: brown + I’m a complete dread head
Favourite Pop Song: Sixteen by Iggy Pop
Records: approx. 5000
Band: what do you mean?
TV Show: don’t watch tv
Monsters: Dracula
The Interview
Hello Loes Lee, how is it going with your DJing and production in the Netherlands at the moment?
It’s going good, I just finished off a couple of remixes for other labels and I’m now working on tracks for Moving Target again. I also set up a few new breaks nites in the Netherlands: the first project is called UWFO (meaning something like Your UFO). This takes place in an old factory in my home town Nijmegen and it involves a whole lot more than just musical artists. Painters, sculpturers, designers, actors and photographers everybody is doing their thing ;)
The second nite I’m hosting is Snakers in the Goudvishal in Arnhem. For the next party I invited UK’s leading nu skool breaks lady 10 Sui to come and play. And last but not least there’s In Progress in Mezz Breda. The first party will take place in January guesting Koma & Bones on TCR. So yeah it’s going good ;)
How did you first get into breakbeats?
I worked at a pirate radio station (Radio Rataplan) in my hometown Nijmegen, playing all music alternative and underground. The other DJs liked the funkness in my sound and asked me to come and play as a DJ in a nite club for students. There I completely fell in love with the digital funk sounds, released on labels like Ninja Tune, Skint, Mo Wax and Dope On Plastic. From there my sound developed to the breakbeatz I’m spinning now.
What places have you visited because of DJing Breaks?
I basically played all over Europe, from the North (Sweden) to the absolute South of Spain and Italy.
Where is your favourite place to DJ now?
Spain is very big for breaks and I love to play there but the South of Italy is very kool too. I dunno really, when I come to think of it I’m lucky enough to do a lot of great gigs (in Germany, London, Switzerland but also in NL) so I can’t name one fave place really.
Tell us about Kink FM and how that is going, and how that came about?
Back in the days I was producing records for the infamous Dutch label DJAX, run by Miss Djax. At that time Miss Djax was hosting a show on KINK FM radio (the one & only national alternative radio station in NL!) and when she got too busy to keep continuing doing so she asked if I was interested. By then I already had made a few guest appearances on her show so the peeps at KINK FM exactly knew my sound and they were up for it, so Urban Revolution was born.
December onwards I’ll move back with Urban Revolution to Saturdays between 19.00 – 21.00 hours Central European Time and I’ll be hosting a new show Circulation as well (from 21.00 – 22.00 hrs CET). Circulation is all about the beats and there are no musical limitations. As long as the music is strictly underground and highly electronic I’ll air it so one week you can expect a live-set by a techno wizard, the next week a high-speed drum & bass set by some bass heads.
When did you start Moving Target Records?
At the beginning of 2002.
How many releases have you done so far for Moving Target?
We are now promo-ing our 10th release which is by Italian producer Ajello and contains remixes by the mighty Elite Force and myself. I think Moving Target’s 9th release (Loes Lee & Meneater – Rolser Original mix + Future Funk Squad mix) is still available in the shops as we speak.
Are you the only female Breakbeat DJ in the Netherlands?
No there’s another female breakbeat DJ called Hepcat; good DJ too ;)
Tell us about your style of breaks that you are portraying with Moving Target?
There’s not really just one style – if I like the tracks I release em. My own productions are quite techy but German production wizards Don & Dirty for example produce a lot heavier sound but I think they perfectly fit on Moving Target too. Moving Targets 12th release will be by Matt from Dark Globe joining forces with UK tech-house big shot Kevin Swain and their sound is completely psychedelic so I can’t really describe the style of Moving Target – might be better to leave this up to the journos eh?
How is the Breakbeat scene in the Netherlands?
It’s growing but like every place else – except from Spain – struggling at the same time ;)
Do see your scene growing in numbers?
Yeah but slowly.
What does your production studio consist of?
Mac running Logic Audio plus tons of plug-ins, that’s it really.
Do you see a bright future for breakbeat?
To be honest I dunno and I don’t spend much time thinking about it, because--so I’ll keep pushing the sound whether it has a bright future or not.
From you experience, is breakbeat really growing globally?
It certainly has its ups and downs but I think it’s growing very slowly.
Tell us about your artists on your label?
Alright like I said before we signed up Matt from Dark Globe and tech-house producer Kevin Swain for a brilliant 12inch release on Moving Target. So watch out for I Found You (heavy psychedelic breaks with a classy eighties feel) and Mooncat (bouncing minimal hypnotic dirty tech house), Moving Targets 12th release (scheduled for release in Feb. 2004).
Other than that we have DJ Hal from London ready to release his excellent stuff (he also did some kool beats on the renowned 10 Kilo label in the past) and I recently signed up a young producer from Spain. His debut 12inch will include a remix by German favourites Sven Dohse and Dirk Wagner a.k.a. Don & Dirty.
Don & Dirty’s debut 12inch Riding Remix/Get Dum on Moving Target caused quite a stir in the int. breaks scene and I’m really proud to be able to announce their wicked follow-up Enemy Of Communication and Normaliza (Moving Target 011 – scheduled for release early January 2004). Then I have a killer track by LA based producer Kemek, whom I have worked with in the past already, which sees its life on vinyl accompanied by remixes by Moving Targets DeiBeat (Spain) and DJ Hal (London).
What was your favourite Djing gig ever and why?
I was really impressed with my first gig in Spain because I’d never seen so many peeps in it for the breaks as there. It was f***ing incredible!!! But I loved my gigs in London’s super clubs Home and Scala too, as well as gigs in Germany, Belgium, Italy and even Holland. Like I said before there’s not really one favourite gig but a few great experiences altogether ;)
What was your worst Djing gig ever and why?
I don’t really have one worst gig – I don’t really like to play empty rooms but unfortunetaly that sometimes happens so I pick that as my worst.
What do you think of North America?
I’ve never really been there so I can’t really tell. I do get stuff sent from US and Canadian labels like Muti, Moonshine, 2 Wars, etc. and I really like their shit
Will you ever get into scoring for film?
Never thought about it but I guess if the movie is good enough, why not?
Are you using mac os X or Mac OS 9 or a PC?
Mac OS 9
Words of wisdom to aspiring breakbeat DJs and producers?
Stay truth to yourself and your sound!
Loes
Moving Target/KINK FM, NL
www.loeslee.com
movingtarget.loeslee.com
www.kinkfm.com
