Having teamed up with the ‘fresh’ Sunset Bros for the latest in the Kickin’ Hard series – a rather impressive number 11 – Karbouris calls me just before he checks in his baggage for his flight to Melbourne – one of his places for a little r & r – we start our discussion with a focus on his work as a remix artist. As someone whose reworkings are heavily sought after the world around, how does he approach the redefining of one artists work so that it aligns with his? The answer is fairly straight forward but hard to explain in words, however Karbouris tries as he explains, “Basically with remixes, I’ll get sent tracks from the label of the artists they want me to remix and I’ll do it to my sound.”
While in principal it sounds like a relatively easy prospect, the reality is clearly far from facile. When probed about tracks that have caused him momentary troubles, he valiantly admits, “There have been a few of them man. I’ll have to come back to you on that one.” Though troubles might not have remained at the forefront of his mind, the man who has reworked many a classic (from Kylie to Gaga and Delta, the list is endlessly diverse), picking out his favourite reworkings is a much easier matter. Almost instantly he barks, “The Fedde Le Grand remix,” before contemplating his reaction and adding, “or there have been a few that have into clubs around the world. When I hear them, I am just like ‘that’s mine.’”
Clearly a man who believes that music is essentially entertainment, it is apparent when studying the double album’s tracklisting that his earlier comment about the ‘fresh Sunset Bros’, that his own musical tastes lean towards the sounds the saw him soar to the top of his game in the first place. While current day classics Havana Brown’s We Run The Night, Marvin Priest’s Own This Club and Stanton Warriors Get Up set the tone of the Sunset Bros’ selection, Karbouris describes his own selection process thus, “for the album I just picked tracks I grew up with and worked with that sound then put them on the CD.”
“It is just a collection of favourites. I have different favourites every week.” As someone who eats and sleeps music, limiting himself to a short but sweet selection is far from an easy prospect. However, he has made a living doing so succesfully over the last decade and a half and in ways Kickin Hard 11 seems like a little bit of a retrospective return to the collection for Karbouris. Of his selected shortlist, he states “a lot of them are actually really old. It spans ’98 to 2007. A lot would have been played underground rather than on a mainstream level.”
“If you know the sound then you’ll know the tracks. If you are just getting into it then your ears will prick up.” Clearly aware that NRG may not have enjoyed the same crossover success as other dance styles, in undertaking a retrospective glance at NRG over the years, Karbouris is treating his followers to what could be described as a ‘best of’, while teasing and tempting new ears into the sound by plating up NRG’s finest moments in one very easily digested treat.
“I’ve just played in Ibiza. I always play at Eden and a lot of people come up to me and ask ‘what is this sound?’ A lot of people haven’t been exposed to it.” Clearly aware that NRG has not had the same level of mainstream exposure as say house, trance or drum ‘n bass, Karbouris is filled with a passion for the style which oozes into optimism. He realises that he is in the privileged position to be able to work within his passion and his enthusiastic approach will no doubt eventually reap its rewards. Yet, he does feel that there is potentially one major block in the avenue that he hopes will eventually relieve itself. “Whether the industry call it cheesy or not, I just don’t care because there are a lot of people who just love it. It is just one of those sounds. Whether it is cheesy or not, it does not matter. It is what a lot of people will have on their mp3 player.”
“It is what I really respect about Central Station, Universal and the other labels that distributed us worldwide, they just offered to work with us and allowed us to do a few compilations.” While he points to the industry for the slow growing mainstream interest, almost within the same breath he praises certain divisions for their undivided support through the years. With both the super successful Kickin’ Hard and Ultimate NRG as proof of NRG’s appeal, as if it to add coal to the fire, he adds “You would not believe they figures they used to sell.”
“I think it does have potential to hit the commercial scene. It would have to be slower. But if you listen to what is happening in the mainstream music scene now, they already have all the stabs and the synths we have been using all along. The sounds are all becoming very hip hop and electro in a way. They are now using bass lines we have been writing for ten years.” Clearly confident of NRG’s upward trajectory, Karbouris believes it is only a matter of time before more than just elements of the sound explode uncontrollably. With dance music now dominating the airwaves in the way Britpop and Hip Hop used to, it is just a matter of the right song or right artist to gain people’s attention. “I think that as the sound progresses it will grow. It will be like David Guetta, where all it will take is a mainstream producer to take it to the commercial level.”
“I would love to be able to take the sound mainstream. It would just take the right artist to work with, I would definitely like to have the offer of a big artist to work with.” Karbouris fars from rules himself out from being the man who may be able to instigate the crossover. He admits, somewhat feebly, “I should just get out there and make better use of some of the contacts I have. I have to just stop being so lazy.”
As a globally respected producer, Karbouris is no doubt in the position to put the feelers out to the right people. So if he could work with anyone, who would he opt for? “I’d love to work with Ne-Yo or any of those guys. I would be able to do a lot with them.” Though Ne-Yo is the first name that shoots to his head, he concedes “I would do it with Snoop Dogg or any of those guys,” in an admission that makes it crystal clear that it is not so significant who the exact artist is but rather that they have a profile that will help project the NRG sound.
“It is just going to take one song. That is all it ever takes. It wouldn’t be a big thing.” With NRG already so well established as a movement, Karbouris takes heart in the fact that the track has nearly been fully climbed and the ultimate reward may be just around the corner. So if he had to define the appeal of NRG – would he be able? “It is popular as it is just its own sort of sound. It is a real mix with NRG. There is some with vocals, which the girls seem to love and others with no vocals. There have been massive tracks that I have produced which have had massive vocals. But for example something like Royal Flush has no vocal. It is the most simple track you could ever expect to hear, yet it still has that real NRG sound.”
Though his ambitions as Alex K are more than crystal clear, Karbouris makes a surprising confession as the conversation draws to a close. “I do do other sounds too but NRG is what the Alex K sound is. It is that brand and that sound.” While he may be making the point that as with NRG, in his own career there is plenty more waiting to unfold, he notes, “The Alex K sound will always be that, but that does not mean that is all I will be doing.”
BY DAVID HUNTER
