The man in question is Justin Vandervolgen. The name is even dripping in dance music dayglo.
Casual listeners may not know him by name, but they will know him by sound; sticky pulsating bass and hyperactive rhythms. The man in question is Justin Vandervolgen. The name is even dripping in dance music dayglo. In 2009 he dropped the mix to top all mixes with Try To Find Me Vol. 2. Vandervolgen, the master of the remix, is the architect behind such reboots as Inventions and I Love You, which had the masses at Meredith swaying in approval.
"I’m fulfilled if when I’m done and I like it and I’m excited to play it and give it to my friends," the native New Yorker says of his musical makeovers. Going to the studio with a clean slate helps produce the magic. Of his studio excursions he says there is "No plan, just to try to make something that I’m happy with." For this free-as-a-bird approach, it would seem his independent label status fits perfectly. He clarifies however, "If some label came along and wanted to give me a six figure advance, and complete creative control I probably wouldn’t say no."
So what inspired the sonics that have no doubt served as the soundtrack to many an intoxicated club experience? "I’m really into everything but I guess a basic generalization would be that my parents were into folk and rock, I got into hip hop then punk then reggae and then into dance music." Yeah and how about those fuzzy 70s porn vibes on the MBTM remix? "Like any other pre teen kid that didn’t have cable, I stayed up late on Friday and Saturday hoping to check some butts and boobs on TV, maybe the music sank in a little." Divine intervention you could say, if you want to stretch things a little.
California sound rebels Outhud kicked out experimental electro-disco jams for a decade and helped give birth to LCD Soundsystem (via former bassist Tyler Pope). Outhud was also the first major platform for Vandervolgen, who helped bring the chaos together behind the boards. From one boundary-pushing outfit to the other, Justin quickly jumped into the producer’s chair for festival faves !!!, starting with their self-titled debut LP and ending with 2007’s Myth Takes. He describes his time with both bands positively, admitting to have come of age during those crazy days. "I started in those bands a little bit before I turned 20 and I met most of them in the punk scene when I was a teenager, so they were some of the people I grew up with in a sense. Outhud ended when it was time, and I left !!! when I felt it was right."
The DJ/producer has been on both ends of the live spectrum, playing to both stadiums and tiny sweatboxes. "I think both are cool but right now I’m definitely more psyched on small jams. Like, really small, 25 to 50 people. Hard to make money, but super fun." Coming up he will be heading down to Melbourne, a journey Vandervolgen sounds excited to take. "Really looking forward, I’ve only been to Australia once before and I didn’t really see any of it all as there were no days off and had to do TV or radio promos during the day, was all a blur really."
Answering my broadly generic question about the direction dance will go in the future, he says "I really have no idea, I think though that probably until the world ends people will want to go out with their friends, listen to music, dance, drink and drug and have a nice time."
Justin Vandervolgen [US] plays the Mercat Basement on Friday March 25.
BY Andrew ‘Hazard’ Hickey