Phonat
Tuesday, October 21, 2008 by Magro
A couple of weeks ago we caught up with UK producer Phonat for a couple of questions.CST: Firstly can i ask you to tell me a little about yourself?
Ok. I was born in Florence, Italy but I've been living in London the last couple of years. I am very very tall, blue eyes, curly hair. I like music, basketball, fast bikes and going out with friends for a drink or ten.
If you think you're the right girl for me please send me a piece of your hair via carrier pigeon.
Ah, I do smoke.
CST: How exactly did you get into music, and what sparked the creation of Phonat?
I started to play guitar when I was eleven (but now I still have the same skills as back then!), that's how it all started. But I got into computer music during my time at high school. Me and my mates had a hip hop band and I was supposed to be the producer.
CST: How did the name come about?
The name is a modified version of the tag I use to have when I was doing graffiti some years ago. I started playing around with letters to experiment different shapes and I came out with Phonat. I liked it so much that I kept it as the artist name for my productions.
CST: What artists do you find have a big influence on you and your music?
I'm a big AC/DC fan, Angus Young is definitely my idol. Lots of 80's stuff like Howard Jones, Toto, Mr Mister and so on. But the band that probably is the biggest influence is Daft Punk. So I make electronic dance music, with rock and pop hiding in the beats.
CST: Favorite artist of all time?
Seth McFarlane.
CST: You have a fantastic sound. But it's hard to place your music in a style/genre. How would you describe it?
I simply cannot! I could start to tell what it doesn't sound like but as you said its difficult to place it into a defined genre. I tried to fit into some specific scenes but I always end up doing whatever I want after a while. That said, most of the latest tracks I've released are quite housy and fidgety. But for the album I'm going to surf through many corners of dance music.
CST: How did signing to indie label MofoHifI come about?
Hal Ritson (The Young Punx) at MofoHifi also runs a breakbeat label called Heavy Disco. I got in touch with him 3 years ago cause I was into their sound and because I was doing quite a lot of breaks at that time I started to send him some demos. He and the guys at Heavy Disco really liked them so we started making some vinyls. Then I slightly moved into 4 on the floor stuff so we decided to release the new stuff via MofoHifi.
CST: What are Phonat's plans for the future?
I'm working on my debut album. It should be finished by Xmas. I'm also co-producing the new Young Punx album. Then take over the world.
CST: Any other words for our readers?
Don't mix pot with YouTube. You'll never get out of that spiral
CST: And last but not least Pepsi or Coke?
Pepsi. The 90's advert where amazing!
A big thanks to Phonat, check out a couple of his tracks.
Phonat - Learn To Recycle (Original Mix) (320)
The Young Punx - Fire (Phonat Mix) (320)
