Tune In Crew - Interview in "Big Up Magazine" (Germany) , October 2009
First, introduce yourself and what you do in the studio
Greetings we are Chris, Harry and Xavier, musicians, producers, and
most of all music lovers! Producing implies that the 3 of us compose
original music, record and play all the instruments in our own Studio
in Strasbourg, France.
We also take a lot of time and care in creating, arranging and mixing
the sounds we use, as we always make sure our music sounds powerful,
and make sure to harmoniously melt familiar and unheard elements.
Whether we do Reggae, Dancehall, Hip Hop or R&B.
Finally, we like to take part in the artistical direction of the
singers, helping them to build their songs, find interesting melodies
and harmonies, and most importantly to make everyone’s energies
converge to do the best song possible!
When did you found Tune in Crew , how and why ?
We started to play together a few years ago, brothers Harry and Xavier
on guitars, and Chris on Bass. We got to know each others with the help
of a common friend from university.
It’s our shared interest in Music, especially Reggae, and our desire to create, that brought us together.
We first had in mind to form a band, then got to try our first
recording efforts with very basic studio equipment… it just developed
step by step to become Tune In Crew!
We chose this name because it’s a general music term evoking radios and
sound system, and we wish that our music make the people want to come
in and stay tuned! In the same time it pays tribute to Reggae classics
such as Gregory Isaacs or Coco Tea’s songs “Tune In”.
Your ways into Reggae? What inspired you to start such a crew?
Reggae has been in our lives since early teenage. We all got caught by
Buju Banton, Burning Spear or Sizzla recordings that somehow crossed
our paths. Then we went to listen, watch with care, and further meet
the Jamaican musicians playing in every concerts at “La Laiterie”,
Strasbourg… this is here on stage that you get the vibes at its best!
Also, we were curious and learned about the creating and recording
process in studio… the idea of building our own team came as a logical
follow-up.
It led us to listen as much Roots as modern productions, and to work
and practise, also being influenced by US Hip Hop/ R&B music or
even others, which is easy to hear particularly on our Remixes
(available in free download on our myspace page).
When did you start operating as a band / which other musicians are you playing with?
Playing in bands was the first way for us to do this music, we all had
several experiences on stage way before the Crew got formed. As we
first focused on developing our production work, it was only in 2008
that Tune In Crew went on stage.
We’re working with an additional drummer from Paris, and started this
live collaboration as backing band of the great singer Bushman. At some
point of their tour, Bushman's band couldn't make it to a French
location, so we were called to filled in at the last minute! This was
wicked vibes all the way, getting to share with this talented artist,
playing his best songs as well as Peter Tosh’s classic hits! We keep in
touch with him now, if Bushman has the opportunity to tour in Europe,
he wishes to do it with us.
Since that great experience, we did a couple more shows with others
artists such as Echo Minott. We’re definitely looking forward to
touring again with Bushman and other singers.
First steps in production... where did you struggle, what did you expect different?
Music production is just full of surprise! There are so many aspects to
learn and handle, from getting the best sound out of our studio
equipment, to understanding the rules of music industry… there isn’t
much of a “by-the-book” way to go into it. It involves so many
different meetings, requires reasoning, patience and actions. It takes
determination and authenticity to make quality music and get it heard,
as well as an open mind to make things forward. Struggle is one part to
be resolved in each step of this process!
How do you look at the global crisis, also touching the music industry?
The word “crisis” refers to a time where decisions must be made. Such
crisis happen when certain ways of doing appear not to work anymore. Of
course it contains threats, but it’s also a time when we can explore
different ways of creating, producing, promoting… and thus contribute
to bring a new momentum, so long as it is maintained to a certain
constancy, where everyone pull weight in it together.
How did you choose the artists to start working with?
It’s all about meetings, “real” or by internet! Omar Perry, that we met
when he performed in our area, was the first who got to hear and
directly put faith in our music. His inspired songs “Spiritually” and
“Ready for the world” were recorded in a short time period, so we
agreed together to release them.
Dynamq is also an artist we’ve been communicating with since 2007, he
contacted us when he heard our riddims, so we did Gregory Isaacs’s
tribute “Once ago” as a promo track, and then of course the brand new
“Reggae feeling” which is starting to mash up the dances and radio
stations worldwide!
Our most recent linking is the singer GoldenChyl (GC), who recorded
crazy vocals on our “Blame it” Remix (Jamie Foxx)! He is a great
artist, who has already been Grammy nominated for his work as
writer/producer on songs like Shaggy’s “Church heathen” or Elephant
Man’s “Five O”.
Those kind of close connections encourage to share musical ideas and build good songs.
In the same state of mind, we are preparing even bigger things for the coming times!
Tell us more about your first releases.
Back in 2007, our first release were the songs “Spiritually” of Omar
Perry and “Petite soeur” of Abdi, both on “Little Sista” riddim. With
small means of promotion and some help, we got to get those solid songs
heard, allowing to develop more projects.
We were then contacted by California label Itation Records, so we
composed, played and produced several riddims that they released,
starting with “World go round” Riddim featuring Sizzla, Pressure,
Turbulence... and recently Delly Ranx album “Good Profile” featuring 4
of our productions.
During the following year 2008, we started to develop and showcase more
music by Remixes, then came “World go round” which took us a step
beyond, being largely played internationally and especially here in
Germany!
The way of going international, how came that?
Thanks to internet, independent producers like us can spread their
music easier. Besides, our music is definitely not French-songwriting!
The fact of working with international artists, and that our style and
music speaks to people from New York, Strasbourg or Costa Rica, that’s
the point. Thus we’ve been getting support and radio plays on BBC
1Xtra, Hot 97, Irie FM…
It’s the same when it comes to collaborations. For example, as long as
Itation records got to hear our music, we were able to build this
project without the distance being a problem, and with the involvement
of singers from different locations such as Jamaica or Bermuda. As long
as the music could circulate, we all were able to make the “world go
round” !
How did you get to know artists like Sizzla ? Ever been to Jamaica?
Never been to Jamaica yet. Same here, we’re living in a time where you
can reach people from far away and build something together despite the
distance. Also, we had the opportunity to meet a lot of artists coming
on tour in Europe.
There are many ways to make a connection and work on a song, the more
we can communicate and be close to the singer is the best of course,
but above all the greatest passport is good music!
Going there would surely be interesting, but our music go there
already, which is the essential! It shows that each and every cultures
get richer from one another, on a constant roundtrip.
You are located close to Germany. Do you have contacts ?
Of course!
Germany is a great Reggae nation, we’ve been enjoying it from going to
parties there, to working with artists. We are thankful for the support
that numerous German DJ’s have been showing regarding our music. The
press has been open minded and welcoming as well, and we’ve been
attending many times to events such as Summerjam, which help a lot
Reggae popularity.
We work with SoundQuake to distribute some of our productions. Based on
that link, their artist Cornadoor became part of our recent “Little
Sista riddim” selection. He came to our studio in Strasbourg to work on
and record his song “This one”, which ended up among the 1st on German
Reggae Charts! This was a great experience of collective work.
We produced the song “puppet master” on last Uwe Banton’s album “Rightful place”.
So far we’ve also been in touch with others reknown labels and Sound System, such as Silly Walks, DeeBuzz, Sentinel…
Which local artists do you support?
As we’ve been saying we don’t question the location much. The main goal
is to produce great songs, in good conditions alongside talented
artists. It happened with singer Abdi from our town Strasbourg, who did
an excellent tune on “Little sista” riddim.
On another level, we make contribute different kinds of artists with
who we love working, like our fellow sound engineer Eric Gaultier, from
Strasbourg too.
What can we expect from you in the future ?
We have several tracks to be released in the near future. We’ll mostly
take it into a more Dancehall/ Club orientation, but won’t forget to
provide some more Reggae still! So the aim will remain to bring
different flavours with each of our releases, and support artists in
who we believe, those we already know and those we’ll get to meet!
Also, we definitely wish to go back on stage and tour, hopefully coming to spread the vibes here in Germany.
We keep our eyes and ears open to the world… as Omar Perry said we are “ready for the world” !