QAlright Jesse, let’s get this out of the way first...how did you come about to be known as The Scumfrog?
ABeing the illegitimate love child of Yoda and Ron Jeremy, I went through life under many different aliases, just to keep a low profile. ‘Scumfrog’ is simply the one that stuck with people.
QYou’re an Amsterdam native and have been a resident of New York since 2007. Having grown up in such a hub of Europe, can you identify influences this had on your music?
AMy melodic influences definitely stem from European cheese (mainly those grand Italo-anthems from the 80s!) but my rhythms started to evolve once I landed in NYC. There is such a long history of amazing rhythms coming from the NYC scene through the years, that the production of the rhythm-part of a track was always much more important than with European producers who are generally satisfied with their beats as soon as a kickdrum and a hihat are programmed. (some exceptions here of course!)
QAnd now you’re in New York...what has this added to the mix for you?
AI lived in NYC for eleven years, and then moved on to the desert and mountains of New Mexico. I still visit NY a lot, and I will always consider it my home, but my everyday house is currently in a very remote place of the world, and I love it there!
QTell us about that special moment; when did you spin for the first time and what brought you to that point?
AIt was at a high school party. I was about thirteen and I went up to the DJ who was playing for us kids to request a song. Even back then, requests were clearly already annoying for DJs, so his reaction was to say “Well, if you think you know things better than me, why don’t YOU DJ”. I don’t think he expected me to take him up on that, but I did, and I lasted all of 3 records before he kicked me off.
QWhat point was it that you decided to turn your passion into your career? Did you have a clear idea of your sound when you began producing?
AI decided to turn DJing into a career when I became frustrated that being in a band didn’t get me laid, and DJing was a lot less work. (this was in the late 80s, so still before “DJ culture” and before girls thought that a DJ was anything you wanted to take home at the end of a night.)
QWho were your primary influences at that time?
ASonny Crockett, Prince, Ben Liebrand, Shep Pettibone and of course A.L.F.
QYour discography of collaborations and remixes is nothing short of stellar. Could you pick a favourite from such a lengthy list? What makes it that special track for you?
AMy favorite collaborations are the ones where I was actually in the studio with a great artist, rather than the ones where everything went through ‘their people’ and ‘my people’. I learned a tremendous about from my collaborations with Cyndi Lauper. She is a true creative force who knew very little about techno when we started working together, but she wanted to learn. In return she did not hesitate to show me her own (infinitely more valuable) tricks of the trade. Another great artist who is featured on my new collection of songs “A Place Where We Belong” is Jena Kraus. We recorded a song she wrote called “In The Moment” and the result is pure magic.
QWhat changes have there been to your production style over the past decade?
AHave there been any particular influences that have come into play over this time? I am influenced every day by everything around me. My move from NYC to New Mexico brought a considerable amount of light into my sound, whereas most of my productions from NYC were rather dark. I am very proud of the sound on “A Place Where We Belong” because the tracks on there sound current and fresh enough to be signed to labels such as Armada, 1605 and Floorplay, but at the same time it still has a real Scumfrog sound to it.
QYou really do have distinctive identities between producing and gigging. Can you tell us about a show that you feel was defining for you? In what way was it defining? And when was it, and where were you playing?
AA show is not a good show unless it defines me in some way or another. I mean, a good show is one where I take risks rather than play it safe, after which I realize I really don’t have to be afraid to play certain sounds or styles, because if you introduce them the right way, people will understand it, and love it. It’s very similar to slapping your partner in the face during sex.
QThere are so many elements in your live shows; instruments, vocals, samples and visuals – how did this all come about? What is it an extension of?
AWhen I started to do my first big shows in the early 2000s, and I moved from an anonymous DJ booth in the corner of a dark lounge to a giant stage with spotlights, I tried to come up with ways that would entertain the audience beyond simply mixing tunes. I wanted to show them that I actually have a stage background as a musician and that I feel comfortable with that. I think that especially on those big shows, it doesn’t hurt a DJ to put on a show. Deadmau5 tapped into that brilliantly as well in my opinion.
QYou’ve been a regular on the international festival circuit for years and have just played at The Burning Man; could you pick one out as the most killer fest that you’ve played? Where were you, and when was it?
ABurning Man exceeds the rush of playing any other festival in the world. Ask any DJ who can make the comparison (Carl Cox, Tiesto, Sharam, Bassnectar etc etc etc) and they will agree. A visit to Burning Man ought to be on everyone’s bucket list. Many of the tracks on “A Place Where We Belong” were written and produced with Burning Man in mind.
QAnd what should we be keeping an eye out for over the next 12 months? Any upcoming releases to look out for, and are you scheduled to tour? Tell us a little more about where that’s taking you and what you’ll be up to?
AMost DJs who also produce music release a bunch of tracks, and later mix them together on a compilation. I decided to reverse the process create a ‘perfect’ DJ mix, with tracks that did not yet exist. So I imagined an opening track and than made that track, and than I imagined what I would mix out of that track and started to make that track, etc etc until I had 80 minutes of original music. Halfway through the mix I felt I really wanted to hear Sting’s vocals, so I approached him to do a remake of his classic song “If I Ever Lose My Faith In You”. He agreed(!) and the result is on the mix as well. The full mix, titled “A Place Where We Belong” is available from my Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/ScumfrogArtist?sk=app_117784131649816 Once the mix was done, I started shopping the tracks on the mix to labels that I imagined would be suitable. Over the coming months, the individual tracks from the mix will be released on a wide range of labels from Armin Van Buuren’s Armada to Umek’s 1605; from Prok & Fitch’s label Floorplay to Mason’s label Animal Language.
QYou recently made the decision to leave your label and work independently; could you tell us a little about the background behind this?
ADon’t believe everything you see on youtube. It is all fiction. ☺ But I wanted to make an ANTI-promo-video because I am so tired of the generic promo videos of DJ-gets-on-private-jet, DJ-jumps-up-and-down-in-front-of-10.000-people, DJ-shown-in-hip-jacket, DJ-shown-signing-autographs, all to get the point across that you should like that DJ on Facebook. That formula may still be very persuasive for the 13-and-up demographic, but that is not really my crowd anyway. This is why I will never be the biggest DJ on the planet; I always have the desire to be misunderstood by the masses, even if it kills me.
QWhat artists are you digging in 2011?
AAnd who should we be on the lookout for in 2012? Too many to mention, but a few come to mind: Topspin and Dmit Kitz, Max Freegrant, Dino Lenny, Roy Rosenfeld, Carlo Lio, Patrick M, Liz Cirelli…and I probably forgot a few as well.
