Hi friends!

Today we have something really special for you guys: On our trip to Amsterdam last month we went to the 24 Hour Party @ Studio 80 and after dancing all night (and day) long we managed to get a DKDNZ exclusive interview with Dirtybird label-chef and house-guru Claude VonStroke (aka Barclay Crenshaw) after his excellent 3 hour DJ Set.

Nuff said – here it is:

- Hi Mr. VonStroke we had a blast during your set! It wasn’t hard to see that you had a great time tonight aswell...
Yeah, I usually find my “people” in the crowd and just hang out with them and see if it’s going ok.

- You played a lot of different genres tonight, is that a key element to a great show?
Yeah definitely, but you have to try and keep it in chunks. Don’t switch the genre after every track. Got my ghetto section, my techno, my “freaky” section…  But some of the hip hoppy stuff didn’t work so well this time, the crowd just wanted ravy melodies.

- What else do you think is important to get the crowd going?
I play edits. I mash up drums, ghetto stuff, acappella etc.

- Why did you start producing in the first place?
Well I was already into Drum’n'Bass, when I saw that my friend Justin signed a track and I thought “I can do that”. Then I made that documentary about some well known DJ’s and how they became famous. But I ran out of money and couldn’t afford the soundtrack – so I had to produce my own tracks which, in the end, just sounded like the ones from the DJs.

- Before producing you were already DJing?
I had radio shows in high school and college, but it wasn’t like mixing, more like radio. Then I was a Drum’n'Bass DJ called DJ Tree.

- What are your favorite producers right now?
I don’t have “favorite” producers, I usually just play the tracks I like. (laughs)

- Well, I hope so! Can you still name a few?
Frankie, Sasha Braemer, Justin Martin…

- Justin Martin is signed on your label, Dirtybird. What was your motivation to launch your own label?
I moved from Detroit to San Francisco, all the labels there featured “Deep Vocal House” – well, enough said, I just had to start my own one.

- Ok last question, will you come to Zürich this year?
I went last year, I played at the Hive-Club I think. It was hard to get the Swiss people going i remember (laughs).

While playing a strange and yet unknown version of Claude’s Track “California” (featured on his current Album “Bird Brain”) suddenly the CDJ refused it’s duty and the sound went mute. Of course the people went crazy and started to whistle and shout so Claude started a new track and threw the corrupt disc into the crowd… and guess who catched it!

The mysterious track turned out to be the Julio Bashmore Remix which will be released on May 17th the “Bird Brain Remixes – Final Chapter”. It’s quite similar to the original but with smoother drums and that crazy, minimalistic Bashmore touch. We don’t know if it’s the finished version (“EQ1″ on the CD) but take it as a preview for the final release. Check it out:

Claude VonStroke feat. J Phlip – California (Julio Bashmore Remix)

Here two other tracks we would love to share with you:

Malente & Dex – Habibi (Julio Bashmore Hamilli Remix) – another great remix by J.B.; recently released on Malente & Dex’s “Habibi (Remixes Part 1) EP” on Exploited.

Claude VonStroke – Beat That Bird (feat. Justin Martin) (Riva Starr Re-Chunk) – a more fidgety kinda edit, of the awesome original, by Riva Starr; Released on “Beat That Bird Remixes” on Dirtybird

Enjoy!