Interview by DJ Mindcontroller, Feature Photo: Reesses Pix Redlab Radio, Photo 2: Peter Vincent
Mindcontroller: First of all, I just want to start off by saying that you’re a big influence. My older brother got me into techno and house. Probably about ’89, ’90.
Dyewitness: All right. Cool.
Mindcontroller: I’ve got to say that when I first heard your music, it was mind blowing.
Dyewitness: Was it the Dyewitness stuff?
Mindcontroller: Dyewitness in the early 90’s. I don’t know if you’re aware of it, but in LA we had large support of the techno scene. They would actually play techno at one of the biggest stations still to date here, Power 106. They do more hip hop now and stuff like that, but back in the early 90’s, they actually played great music. I remember hearing your tracks on there.
Dyewitness: I really had no idea that the early hardcore stuff, or the heavy hardcore, or whatever you want to call it, was really that popular. This is actually the first time I’m doing a Dyewitness show ever in LA.
Mindcontroller: That was one of my questions. I actually recall seeing you on a flyer maybe early ’94 or ’95, but it was a fraud.
Dyewitness: It was fraud. I never had any requests or any bookings from LA.
Mindcontroller: In the States, you never played as Dyewitness in the States?
Dyewitness: I don’t think so.
Mindcontroller: Okay, wow. Interesting, how did you get into the rave scene, techno music?
Dyewitness: From when I was a child, I was always playing around with tape decks and turntables, and fiddling around with cassette players and all that stuff. Gradually I got into mixing, and then I got a simple drum machine. I learned how to program drums. I started making mixes, recording it on tape, making loops and different things. I listened to a lot of electro stuff, but also hip hop stuff.
Mindcontroller: What came first, DJ or producer?
Dyewitness: Producer. In that time, there was no computers or anything yet. Everything was done by hand, so you had to know how to beat match and all that stuff. Mixing was then at the same time as producing.
Mindcontroller: How was Dyewitness formed? Secondary, what is the meaning of Dyewitness?
Dyewitness: It’s actually, I think it still exists today. I saw a commercial on … Probably maybe within the States or where … I don’t remember. It’s a spray that, if you get attacked or raped or whatever, it’s a spray that you spray in somebody’s face. It gets a thick layer of foam, green foam, so your face … And it gets stuck there for weeks, or a long, long time. The stuff is called “Dyewitness.” That’s how I also came up with the green monster.
Mindcontroller: I always thought that was maybe a fascination with extraterrestrials.
Dyewitness: No, no, no. It also had to do with Observing The Earth was the first thing. It was a good combination between the green alien and the green face from the Dyewitness.
Mindcontroller: To my understanding, it was a group prior, right? It was yourself and someone else, or is that misinformation?
Dyewitness: No. The Observing The Earth I did it completely by myself. Later, with The Future, I started working with Patrick and Cyclone and Trevor. Probably for that I did most of the work myself.
Mindcontroller: Was Dyewitness your first project?
Dyewitness: Yeah, it was.
Mindcontroller: How did that come about?
Dyewitness: Yeah, just messing around and just recorded something on a cassette tape. Actually, a friend of mine … I didn’t even bring it to the record store, but there was Midtown record store in Rotterdam. A friend of mine recorded what I was making and Midtown Records heard the tape. They were like, “Yeah, yeah. We want to release it.”
Mindcontroller: That was Observing the Earth?
Dyewitness: Yes.
Mindcontroller: Awesome. Let’s see. Let’s take it back even further. What was the first record you ever purchased?
Dyewitness: Probably I have a lot of old records but the one I can remember buying is Michael Jackson Thriller.
Mindcontroller: What was your first DJ gig or live PA? How was it?
Dyewitness: My first gig was in 1990, I think, with The Dead Kirks. It was one project on Midtown Records. One of the owners of Midtown, he had a project called The Dead Kirks. He needed somebody to go onstage with him for the keyboards and everything.
Mindcontroller: How was it? Were you nervous? Was it a big event?
Dyewitness: Completely don’t remember. It’s so long ago. It’s 25 years ago eventually. No, no. I always have been myself on stage, so I’m not pretending to do anything.
Mindcontroller: To me, the Dyewitness sound was so innovative, and to many, considered early hardcore. What inspired your Dyewitness projects?
Dyewitness: For me, it was never hardcore. There were some tracks that obviously were hardcore, but it was mostly a cooperation with somebody else making some hardcore, happy hardcore The Future is, I don’t know what but you wouldn’t call it, but it’s not even that hard, you know? It’s not like anything that came out of Rotterdam at that time because there was much harder. Inspiration was just records that I was listening to, all kinds of records that I was listening to when I grew up I sampled, or inspired me to make whatever I wanted to make. I never really cared for what others were making. I always did my own thing and if somebody wanted to call it hardcore, somebody wanted to call it house or whatever. Doesn’t matter.
Mindcontroller: Your current project DJ Misjah is night and day in comparison to Dyewitness. Would you ever consider revamping Dyewitness?
Dyewitness: Well, never say never, but I don’t see myself. Actually, I haven’t been producing anything since 2009. I’m way too busy with mastering and I don’t have that studio anymore anyway. I know everything is done in the computer now but it’s not how I like to work. No, I don’t think that’s going to happen.
Mindcontroller: Sadly, I’m sure. You’re going to break a lot of peoples’ heart.
Dyewitness: Well, you know, it’s a period in your life. First, I made the Dyewitness stuff. Then I was done with that, you know? I’m like, “Okay. Now this is a different phase in my life,” which became the DJ Misjah stuff. The techno after that, one day I was feeling like, okay, I’m done with this as well, you know? Then I started doing mastering, in 2 to 10 years or whatever I’m done with that I’m doing to do something else. As long as I do what I like, I don’t mind what it is.
Mindcontroller: Dyewitness or DJ Misjah, What’s your favorite DJ gig to date?
Dyewitness: For Dyewitness was Hanger 13 were always fantastic gigs in Scotland, but also had a lot of good gigs in Australia. As for Misjah, it was, I don’t know, Love Parade or Womp in Tokyo. So many. So many places.
Mindcontroller: I could imagine you guys are spoiled in Europe.
Dyewitness: Yeah, it’s all one big pile of memories and clubs and people.
Mindcontroller: Your current automobile you drive, make and model?
Dyewitness: Just a normal BMW. Nothing special, 320 diesel It’s a automatic. I’m lazy driver. I put it on cruise control and I steer and that’s about it.
Mindcontroller: Top 3 tracks of all time.
Dyewitness: Humanoid is in there for sure. Something from Joey Beltram, Thomas B Hackman was one of the tracks that was like, wow, what the hell.
Mindcontroller: What advice would you give to any up and coming producers?
Dyewitness: Make what you like. Don’t listen to what others are doing. Make your own shit. If nobody likes it, doesn’t matter as long as you like it.