Call it part 2 of our impromptu Fool’s Gold double feature! Simply one the greatest dj’s out there, A-Trak is also a talented producer, the man behind Fool’s Gold (along with Nick Catchdubs) and a Twitter specialist. It’s interview time, let’s go!

Who is A-Trak?

My name is Alain. I’m from Montreal, the city of bagels. I’m a DJ, producer, label owner.

You just put out your Fabric mix, how did you select the songs for it?

I just went through the songs that I play in my sets and asked a few friends to send me some new stuff. I know that it can be tricky to license songs for a mix CD, a lot of them get turned down. In this case there was also a time constraint: they started licensing the songs in mid-December, then everyone left for Christmas and New Years break and I had to record the mix the first week of January. So I wasn’t going to be able to go back and forth with the tracklist. What I did then is I submitted a list of 50 songs and actually they were able to clear most of them, and then from that list which was quite varied, I picked about 25 that I thought would make a good mix.

What ingredients make a great mix?

I think the most important thing is pacing. Your listener should never notice the time passing by. You want to capture his attention from the start but also don’t want to go too hard too fast. And actually the pacing on my mix is a bit unusual, I didn’t use the easy formula. But I think that’s what gives it character. Of course another important ingredient is the quality of the songs. They should be original and have some sort of common thread, or a direction as a whole. Ultimately you want your listener to associate the mix with some sort of feeling, so that they’re drawn to listen to it again whenever they want to conjure that feeling.

What were 2008 higlights for you?

Highlights of 2008 for me were my Boys Noize remix, “Shake It Down” with Laidback Luke, my “Running Man” record for Nike with the “Say Whoa” single, Fool’s Gold tours and seeing the label continue to grow at an alarming pace!

What’s up for 2009?

This year will see the release of the Kid Sister album which I produced, a couple of new A-Trak singles as I start working on my own album, and some A-Trak headlining tours. On the Fool’s Gold side, we’re still releasing our steady stream of singles every month, and we’re preparing our first official CD release: a Fool’s Gold compilation this summer.

How do you manage your label today with industry/economy crisis?

To be honest the economy hasn’t affected us that much. We operate on a smaller scale and people still want good music! The only cases where we see a difference is when dealing with corporate sponsors, their budgets are tighter and more companies are going under. But our usual operations are unaffected. As far as the state of the record industry, I think it’s a great time to start a label when the institutions are crumbling because we can make our own lane! It’s an even playing ground for everyone, and art is prevailing.

How do you see this industry changing in the next 5 years?

I’m very curious to see if record stores will continue closing, if CD sales will continue to decline, or if there will be a new balance reached. But as far as record sales, surely the digital side will continue to develop. Will there be a subscription-based model or will the iTunes model stay dominant? Hard to tell. Synchs will no doubt become an even bigger part of the industry. As far as artists and labels, labels will surely continue to want in on the whole brand equity of artists, but they’ll have to make more efforts to add value to whatever they expect to take a cut from.

How do you see today’s electronic scene with everyone having music software & a Myspace artist page?

I love the fact that it’s an even playing field. It’s not elitist anymore. The quality of the music defines the elite now, not the circumstances.

How important is the internet for you today?

The internet is the most important tool to us nowadays. I get all my music online, including promo services from the labels. I promote all my music online, I announce my tours, and the internet fosters a community between artists as well as with the fans. I’ve been DJing for 12 years so I’ve seen all of this change. It basically made all the resources available to everyone. It forces us to be hustlers!

You’re a Twitter specialist, what makes a good tweet and who are the people whose tweets must absolutely be followed?

Haha, I can’t even tell you how many interviews I did in the last couple of days where I’ve been asked questions about Twitter. I think a good tweet shouldn’t answer the obvious “what are you doing?” question. I like when there’s an element of comedy or mystery. Spare me the traffic reports, people. You know who’s the funniest guy on Twitter? Alchemist a.k.a AlanTheChemist. Noreaga is also very funny. Diddy is on fire right now. Shaq is very entertaining. Brian Eno is… interesting. Some prominent journalists are less bright than you’d like to think.

Do you deejay with vinyl, cd or mp3/wav?

I play mp3’s with Serato. It’s crazy how all clubs have gotten so used to DJs playing either Serato or CDJ’s that they don’t calibrate their sound system to vinyl anymore, and if you try to play a record half the time you get crazy feedback!

Smoking or non smoking clubs?

Non smoking is the way to go.

FAVORITES

Newcomer?

Aeroplane

Food?

Carbonara

Club?

Studio B

Movie?

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Hotel?

Mondrian in LA

Restaurant?

Diner in Brooklyn

Airline?

OpenSkies

Music gear?

Logic

Album?

Beastie Boys “Paul’s Boutique”

Book?

Proust “Un Amour de Swann”

Gadget?

Not the most original but I love my iPod touch

T-Shirt?

Sixpack Gaspirator

Shoes?

Jordan 3

Cap?

Cmonwealth New Era’s

Fool’s Gold Fairtilizer profile
Fool’s Gold website
Fool’s Gold Myspace
Fool’s Gold Twitter
A-Trak website
A-Trak Myspace
A-Trak Twitter