Kyle Hall Mix

The latest guest mix, comes from Detroit Wunderkind Kyle Hall, a prodigious young talent with a genuine flair for classic mid-Western house and techno. With a recent Hyperdub remix for Darkstar under his belt, and his own record label Wild Oats, alongside releases on FXHE, Kyle's doing pretty well for an 18 year old. His mix is a thrilling ride through the more jacking and soulful elements of house music. Interview after the drop.

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The electronic music scene in Detroit seems to be based on the idea of heritage. The older guys still hold a lot of sway. You are often hailed as a bright light of the scene. Are there other people of your age coming through the ranks and picking up where the older guys have left off?

Yes there are a few other people aside from myself. One of them being the nephew of Techno Pioneer Juan Atkins. His name is Aaron Atkins, he has been working on quite a few really dope electro tracks lately that have caught my ear. Check out his myspace page. Of course The Quran he’s actually featured on the new wo-30000 on the track Lax Adrenalin. He’s continuously working on very interesting music. In addition to those guys, the kids I teach at Youthville (a Detroit after school program) show some promise especially this one kid who's 12! OMG hes on his way to being a beast on the Beats his name is Reuel Walker . Its crazy because hes actually quite skilled its scary one of these days I'm going to make a Youtube video of him throwin down on the beats. Trust Me this Kid is SICK! Detroit has much young growing talent for real.

Your meeting with Omar S seems to be by now legendary. How has his influence shaped your artistic development?

Omar has influenced me in a since when it comes to the approach to sound and making songs. Omar is very much an out of the box type of guy when it comes making music hearing him do what he does just furthered promoted my experimentalism in my music. He was also one of the people who supported the idea of me starting my own label.

You've already set up your own record label, an impressive feat for someone of your age. How does that differ from producing and DJing. Is it something you enjoy?

Running a label pretty cool. You have control over every decision made with a release but with control comes the cost. How it differs from producing and djing is that you are thinking about an overall end result of a package as opposed to when your producing your thinking about the song you are working on. Running a label is very much about materializing a vision you have in your head to your medium of choice.

You did a remix for Hyperdub. How did that come about?

The remix I did for Hyperdub came about through me getting in contact with a guy from Warp. This same guy also works at Hyperdub. So through that person Darkstar contacted me about in doing a remix for a new track of theirs. I said yes and went to work.

In your opinion, can house and techno fully interact with dubstep?

Yes I do definitely feel that House and Techno can fully interact with Dubstep. If you listen to artist like shed and Martyn that fact is made evident. I feel a lot of the stuff I’m hearing in Dubstep has very close qualities to the sounds that are in my head. Dubstep seems to me as a genre that is very much connected to many forms of electronic music. So for me I feel right at home with much of the stuff. Some of the music that is categorized as dubstep I don’t know if I would have made a separate genre if the name dubstep didn’t exist. A lot the music Could be house or techno and Hip Hop also.

You've mentioned that you are into 4x4 garage. A lot of the music coming out of the UK that used to be called garage now has a much housier flavour. Do you think there is a natural correlation between the two?

Yeah easily. I think that whole genre is a melting pot of sound and to include house into that pot is not surprising. House is what really came first and has had a lasting affect on dance music so naturally elements from that would be infused into garage music. So the correlation makes plenty since to me.

You also work under the name DJ Kase n Point. Is there any difference between the two personas?

Yes. Originally Kase N Point was intended for hip hop production but on and off in Detroit I would use it as a Dj name. So I decided to do a mix cd under that name. Sometimes Kyle and Kase cross paths but in the future I plan on them to be separate. Kase N Point will have some projects out that will really distinguish his personality from Kyle Hall.

You come from the home of Motown and your music places you firmly within the history of soulful music in America. Is that something that is important to you, tracing a line from the past and onwards into the future?

Yes it is important acknowledge and honor that but honestly I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about it. I’m trying to do new shit that is connected as little as possible to my for fathers. I want people to think of me when my music is heard not Berry Gordy.

Aside from you and your friends, what are the kids listening to at the moment that is really shaping the musical consciousness of America?

It really changes every month it seems. Last time I checked though it was Oj the Juice man and Drake. Though I think Kanye has really shaped the musical Consciousness in America. He introduced a kind of European flavor to American "Hip Pop music". That and old school mismatched hipster 80s gear. I think in a way Kanye has opened the doors for more unconventional music to be accepted by the normal commercial realm simply because its different. So essentially today in America kids just want to be all Hipster and Different so that means anything that can be placed in the category of hipster and different has a chance commercially, which could potentially include the entire dance music world. SO GOOD 4 U$ LOL! Kay stay payed!