Going In Deep With Sascha Dive

Sascha Dive does not care whether a record is 10 years old or 10 days. What counts is that the music is warm, deep and expressive. His label, Deep Vibe Recordings, melds the groove of American shores with the empiricism of the European club scene, keeping the dancefloor at its focus always.

Before he takes over Room Three with the Tsuba crew this Saturday, dive into the grooving mix he created for Juno: LISTEN HERE.

Firstly, can you tell us a bit about the promo mix you created for Juno?
I recorded that mix during a quite night at home a few weeks back. Instead making a slick Abelton mix I decided to do it the old fashioned way. I was using my Allen & Heath xone 62 (which I really like), two technics and one CD player. It's a really straight and groovin' mix, so I hope all the people at fabric will groove to that sound just as much as I did when recording it.

What are you working on at the moment?
I just finished a remix for Knarf Skipson, which will be out on Quint Essentials next year. I'm also working hard on my debut album, which I hope to release in summer next year.

How much of your focus is on producing for pure artistic expression, and how much is for the dancefloor?
That's a good question! Let's say this way: since I'm a DJ, most of my productions have a strong focus on the dancefloor. I guess that's just what comes out, when you picture a dancing crowd whilst working the knobs of your machines in the studio!

What producers were influencing you when you started to make music?
Oh, there are so many musical influences. The music that probably influenced me the most all comes from the USA, especially Detroit, the East coast and New York. It's that special kind of house sound from the mid/late 90's, which absolutely fascinates me.

Considering that both Detroit and deep-house sounds are so in vogue this year…how do you think 2010 is looking? In your mind, what ways can the sound develop?
Right now it feels like there's not as much good music out there as there was before. Most of all this so-called minimal/deep/Detroit house sounds all the same. There are unfortunately only a few labels and artists left making good music these days. You can fell that what they do comes from their hearts; has a lot of soul. Many just jumped on the train simply because it's the new hip thing. But it's not new at all actually. Good house music has been there since the very beginning of this whole culture.

Deep Vibes is joined by the likes of Oslo and Cecille as the purveyors of the recent ‘Rhein-Main-Neckar neo house explosion’ from Germany. What is it that you guys have in common, not in sound but in mind...?
The answer to this is pretty simple: most of us attended a good school! By attending a good school I'm thinking of our musical paths and influences; we have this great record store freebase records, the amazing club Robert-Johnson, Playhouse and so we all have this special house background. There's probably no other city in Germany where it's like this. On top most of us are good friends as well. The guys behind Oslo were starting the label just at the same time as i started my label Deep Vibes and during that time we've learned a lot from each other.

What are some of the challenges and joys of running your own label?
Honestly? The best part about it still is to hold the finished product in my hands, after all the work it took to produce it!

Can you tell us a bit about the two artists playing with you on the 7th, Okain and Kevin Griffiths – how did you meet them? What is it you appreciate about them musically?
I've never meet them in person, but I’ve been in good contact with Kevin for quite some time now. He's running the Tsuba label and I'm really a fan of their output right now. I did a remix for him and his label, which was quite successful.

Tell us a bit about the album mix you did with Reboot for Cecille Records, ‘From Frankfurt To Mannheim.’ It’s very popular here at the fabric office...
I'm flattered, thanks! The idea behind this compilation was to only use tracks, remixes and music from labels that come for our region (Frankfurt to Mannheim). Before we did this mix we had to choose which tracks we would like to use, of course. Since Frank and I have pretty much the same taste of music it looked like we have a problem in the beginning.. But then again, we had completely different technical approaches of how to do the mix and all was good again: I was trying to make it sound raw and give space each tracks. He is more the technical guy and put a lot of tracks together or made special edits out of them.

What is the Deep Vibes philosophy in sound?
Dark groovin' music.

Outside of music, what has influenced you in life to become who you are today?
Of course my parents, family and friends. But movies I think influenced a lot as well. :)