Techno is generally seen as a pretty serious genre. It seldom has the humour or sense of unadulterated fun that styles like house, hard dance or breaks can have. It’s good to see then that someone’s had the balls to push the boat out a bit and try creating a strain of techno that’s a little bit more along these lines. The name’s Bootek, and the general idea is techno bootlegs of tracks from house, electro or any other genre that fits, with an emphasis on chunky, funky beats and basslines. Stuff to wiggle to. “Party techno” some are calling it.
The man behind Bootek is hard dance DJ/producer powerhouse Phil York. He continues to work alongside other hard dance and electro artists and engineers like Chris Hoff, Colin Barrat, Greg Brookman, Gaz West and Jay Pidgeon, creating everything from light groovy techno to full-on, crunchy, distorted schranz. Bootek tracks have found their way into the record boxes of massively respected techno DJs like Chris Liberator, Detroit legend DJ 3000, and Space DJz member Ben Long (who has included several Bootek tracks on his new Exposicija CD), as well as other DJs from DJ Dan to Judge Jules and Eddie Halliwell.
Kutski’s show on Radio 1 recently featured a live Bootek showcase (see the link at the end of the article for another live mix), and with dates across the world for the rest of the year, it seems this accessible style of techno could get much bigger over the coming months. We spoke to Phil to find out more about the project.
How and when were you first infected by dance music?
Oh God, many many years ago in my teens listening to very early house tracks like Todd Terry and when the whole hardcore revoultion kicked off in ‘94-’95, then it was reinforced by many nights out clubbing when I hit the age of 16 or so to a huge variety of DJs from Guy Ornadel to Mauro Picotto to Judge Jules to Roger Sanchez.
When did you start producing as Bootek, and how long was it before you started making tracks that you were really happy with?
About 4 years or so ago. I was probably more happy with the early tracks that we did at the time as the more I grow and develop the Bootek sound the more critical I become of the tracks that I produce - but saying that I am really happy with the series as a whole. I think its very diverse which was the whole aim of Bootek - to not stick to one genre of techno
What have been your personal favourite productions so far?
The ones that stand out for me personally are....... Bootek 8 A – ‘Pump Up the Jam remix’ / Bootek 10 A - Salt & Peppa - ‘Push it remix’/ Bootek 16 A - Moby ‘Raining Again remix’ / Bootek 18 B – ‘We Are Your Friends’ / Bootek 25 B – ‘Ghostbusters’ (just for the banter more than anything else!) / Bootek 27 B – ‘Where's Your Head At remix’ and Bootek 30 B – ‘Injected With A Poison remix’
Who would you say your key musical influences are in terms of techno?
I really like the tracks being put out by the likes of Chris Liberator, D.A.V.E The Drummer, all of the early Hydraulix releases and some of the BXR techno that came out years ago. It’s hard to say the key influences as we put out releases from groovy all the way through to schranz but personally I prefer techno with a good beefy kick drums and lots of rapid distorted percussion
What have you got in store for 2008?
Lots of new releases, a new sub-label called Bootek DJs which will all be fully legit covers (as opposed to bootlegs) licensed to use on compilations, lots and lots of touring including dates at Dance Valley, lots of UK dates including AWsum vs Kiddfectious at Ministry of Sound, Coloursfest, as well as tours of Canada and Japan!
And finally, what do you say to people who what you're doing with Bootek is just a gimmick?
I'd say get yourself along to Ministry on the Bank holiday and decide for yourself. There simply isn’t anyone else doing 4-deck showcases mashing up remixes of classic tracks live in a techno style, so I hope we have created a gap in the market for a fun party techno set that even those who aren’t into techno or the harder sounds can come along and enjoy!
Check out this exclusive Bootek promo mix to see what all the fuss is about:
http://www.twistededgemedia.co.uk/clients/philyork/bootekmix.html
The Bootek LIVE showcase features at AWsum vs Kiddfectious @ Ministry of Sound on Bank Holiday Sunday 25th May - check www.franticuk.net for updates.
Contact
rick@hardtimez.com
for Bootek live showcase bookings.