“I’m in Chicago at the moment but I’ve been in the process of moving my stuff over to Europe,” he announces. “It’s been pretty hectic, to say the least, there’s so much going on right now. On top of all of that, I’m going to be touring all over for the next two months because my album has just come out. The response has been so great and I think it’s definitely taken me up a level. My main priority right now is to try and get as much original stuff out there as possible, more than I used to make, anyway. I’m keen to do a lot more collaborations with vocalists and I’m hoping to focus on creating actual songs as opposed to just club tracks. I think with this album I am on my way to achieving that.”
Some big names on the international circuit seem to agree with Fedora’s observation, including Miguel Campbell (whom the young producer refers to as his “amigo”) and Mark Farina (whom Fodera has previously supported). Even the global media have been quick to acknowledge Fodera’s world-class efforts, with Mixmag recently shining the spotlight on the producer and DJ Mag (Spain) giving him some coverage in celebration of the new album, too.
“Yeah, it’s been pretty crazy,” he laughs. “The year has definitely started off well. I’ve going flat-out with doing interviews and I’ve had a lot of online [publications] asking me to do stuff for them too, like mixes for radio and podcasts and things like that. I’m more than happy to do it because I’m so happy with how the album has turned out and the artists that I was able to work with – Cajmere, Dajae, Gene Farris, Amber Jolene… I’m really grateful for the experience because they’ve helped me showcase a lot of different sides to my musical abilities, but the thing that struck me the most was how easily and quickly and easily the whole thing came together. The tracks span across two years but most of them were done in the last three months, so they’re still quite fresh. The only reason some of the tracks are older is because I really loved them and I wasn’t able to stop going back to them, so I included them.”
Composed literally from all corners of the world – from Orange County, USA, to Birmingham, UK, to Adelaide – Fodera says his globe-trotting ways and involvements with overseas artists have proven to be enormously inspirational when it comes to his musical efforts. The proof lies in Moving Forward, a record that certainly shows off different sides to Fedora, but manages to remain a consistency throughout.
“You’re The One, which I did with Cajmere, was done in my hotel room in Orange County. It was my second collaboration with Cajmere and when I sent it out to him he was really into it right away. I did Make Me Feel with Deep City Soul – that was recorded in Birmingham, UK. That was such a fun track to make, it all happened in one session. Same with My Heart Is Singing, which was done with Dajae about two years ago while I was still living in Birmingham. When I sent it to Cajmere, he thought that Dajae would be perfect on it and I was so excited because I’ve been a big fan of her vocals for a while. Turn Down was made in Adelaide when I did a Beatdown Music Warehouse party and Gene was doing an Australian tour and we managed to get together.”
Despite all the international interest (not to mention the permanent European relocation this year), Fedora insists he will never lose touch with his Australian roots, and in fact, plans to return home for a tour in either late 2013 or early next year.
“The plan is to keep coming back once a year for a few months,” he states. “I’m always going to keep in touch with what’s going on at home. The main reason that I decided to move at all was because of my music. I’ve been overseas before and it’s just a fact that there is a lot more going on internationally in terms of house music – you’ve just got to do it if you’re serious about what you do. Australia has a really great house scene too, but you can’t compare a crowd of 300 to a crowd of 2,000 at a single show. You’ll have several house parties happening in just one European city, where as you’ll get just one house night in one of the Australian cities. I’m just at a stage where I have to move forward.”
BY PEPPER SCOTT
