Interview With Live Act Saytek

Sayteks obsessive love of hardware sees him rocking up at clubs with groove boxes, synths, Kaos pads and various other noise mangling gadgets, weaving together a seamless mix of floor shaking electronics, then watching the floor go wild. He arranges, re-samples, tweaks filters, layers effects, triggers samples, mutes parts and mixes everything together on the fly, and has now incorporated the D16 Silverline 303, 909 and 808 emulation into the fold, as well as honing his laptop rocker credentials, through his use of Ableton 8.

With such excessive talents, its no wonder Saytek is headlining Ibizas freshest parties this summer (Channel Zoo/Zoo Project), is recording a second album for the Zoo Project, is set to release an EP on Timo Garcias fiercely independent house label Berwick Street, and a 12 on Tony Thomas tech house label Cubism, as well as starting two more of his own labels as an outlet for his improvised sounds.

All that on top of a schedule which in the past year has included running his own label Machine Func, peak time performances at underground carry ons like Liverpools mUmU, the London m_nus after party, Jaded at The End , Zombies Revenge and Circo Loco at Sankeys to name a few. And when captains of electronica like Laurent Garnier, Cluade Von Stroke, Carl Cox, John Digweed and Kevin Saunderson are supporting your productions, you know you cant be too bad at that, either.

We caught up with Saytek as he prepares to record his second Zoo Project album live from the Seal Pit, and find out what he's been up to since his last record crashed into the music with an audible boom.

Since the drop of your first album this year, Live from the Seal Pit, things seem to rolled along nicely for you, whats been a highlight in that time and how did it feel receiving such huge praise for your debut Live album?

The response blew me away, after all its just one of my live performances its what I do in clubs nearly every weekend. The buzz it created was beyond anything I could have expected. I have had so many great gigs since then it would be impossible to highlight a single one I still find it really hard to believe that I am now headlining all the top clubs after all these years of working at it my dreams are coming true!

You are now working on a second Zoo Project album, and are going to record it live In the Seal Pit on the 1st of August. How are things going with this and when can we expect it to drop?

Things are going really well I am currently in the studio creating loads of live material; I am looking forward to recording it in the Seal Pit although its also quite scary, one take and one chance to perform an improvised set thats going to be released as an album!!! As for a release date the album will be available to the zoo project mailing list as soon as its mastered and pressed Global release will follow a few months after.

Besides these albums you also have releases in the pipeline on Timo Garcias Berwick St Records and The Legendary Tony Thomass Cubism, can you tell us more about these?

Yeah its really wicked news I have been focusing so hard on my live show recently I havent really been releasing any productions. The first E.P on Berwick Street records is a collaboration between me and my friend Ben Gomori, its a 3 tracker which covers Detroit, Brazilian and deeper influences I also have a Remix of a Rhythm Code track coming out on Cubism on which I fused the original beats and sounds with a jacking tech groove a house organ and a 909 snare roll in the break down Off the back of this they have signed me for 3 more original E.Ps on Cubism. The releases are both on labels I really like and have already been getting a massive response from respected DJs.

Your live shows involved a massive array of equipment, can you give us a bit of a breakdown of whats involved and any new technological gems youve discovered lately?

I am still a massive fan of knowing what you have like the back of your hand rather than constantly updating equipment for the sake of it! I use classic hardware and sampling workstations which I love using there is something special about knowing a bit of kit intimately. I of course love Ableton too and using a combination of hardware and software enables me to perform exactly how I want. Two recent updates are ableton 8 and the D16 Silver Line which are 909, 808 and 303 emulation soft synths which are brilliant and a great way to get convincing Roland sounds in Ableton!

Who or what do you look to for inspiration both for performance and production wise? Whos doing it well at the moment?

I love music its a visceral thing, its hard to pinpoint the thing that makes a performance or a track special, but I think the most important thing is to stick with what you love and inspiration comes when it comes, sometimes at the strangest times. As far as DJ sets go Jamie Jones blew me away at Design in Swindon which was one of the most enjoyable UK dates I have played recently.

So last year you where the Zoo Projects resident live act and now you are being flown in and out as a headliner this is a big step in one year how does that feel?

It feels great, and even better to be recording the second official Zoo Album!!!

In 3 words what do you think it is that keeps people come back for more Ibiza madness?

The Zoo Project!

What else is on the cards for Saytek the next few months? What should we be keeping our eye out for?

Mainly touring with my live show but I will be doing loads of remixes and original tracks for quite a few labels, as well as re-launching my Machine Func Imprint and starting a new label 3rd Stage Recordings for music I love from established and up and coming artists I am going to be very busy!!!

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