The ever-effervescent DJ Haus is a busy man. An increasingly prolific producer, alone and via collaborations like Trumpet & Badman with DJ Q, he also has three labels – Unknown To The Unknown, Hot Haus Records and Hot Shit Recs In Effekt – plus a Rinse FM show, a busy YouTube channel full of rare vinyl rips and a full DJ diary to occupy his time. With various releases of his own music coming up on Crème Organization, Clone and Rinse, as well as tunes by Marcus Mixx, DJ Stingray, Legowelt, DJ Octopus, Steve Murphy, Palms Trax, Cassius Select, Palace “and much more” due through his labels, we felt lucky to get him to stand still long enough to not only put a show together for us, but tell us about the ethos behind what he does – illustrated by a pick of five records he’s put out, and five that inspire him.
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“The underlying thing with UTTU is about accessible but slightly… well… odd club tracks. This isn’t for music that you’d sit down to listen to, it’s for things I can play when I DJ. People say to me “oh, you only release club tracks” and I say “uhhhh, yeah, that’s the point of the music. It’s a dance label, for music for dancing.” I don’t like to say “party music” as that kind of demeans it, but stuff that suits a really raw, natural style of mixing, and stuff that makes people dance. I’ve been DJing a lot more out in the club recently, and it’s really got better and more focused because of that: I don’t just like a record and put it out any more, but I spend a bit of time with it, get to know it, get to know the reaction it gets, and that lets me think about what kind of artwork it should have and how it should be promoted.
“Predominantly now it is a house label. But you don’t want to listen to the same thing over and over again, do you? So somehow I try and fit into the spirit of early or classic house, where a load of different styles were what made up house music itself, rather than actually SOUNDING like classic house. I like to be able to play something that’s quite garagey like DJ Q, next to something really raw like a Legowelt track, next to Ford Foster, Body Jack, DJ Vague, Willie Burns, Matrixxman & Vin Sol – who are all in one way or another sort of oddball house. Personality is important, now that we’re in a time where anyone can make a house track, what links all these people is that they all have personality and that shines through in their tracks: each one is the only person who could make the kind of track they do!”
Five records that make Haus work:
DJ Emanuel “Untitled 3”
I first heard this on a mix by Daan Groeneveld (one of the best DJs in the world), and had to swap some pretty rad shit to get an ID on it..
U Know & the Drill “Stackin Papers”
Everything about what’s going on in Utrecht is great – hold tight my slap funk Gs… and look out for the next UKTD EP dropping on UTTU real soon.
Reese “Inside Out”
I have this on green vinyl and it plays inside out from the centre to the edge… maybe that’s why it’s in this list.
DJ Naughty “Fanta Scienza (Dedicated to Armando)”
My boy Arun Verone plays this a lot and I had to jump on his shit… I mean, this is just fucking perfect
Trackman & Lafonte “Pacific House”
Yep i’m 200% about dat life.
Five records that make Haus proud:
Alias G “I Can’t Get Out The House”
I have released 2 records by ALIAS G, one of my fav ever artists. He has a show on chicago cable TV and makes kind of videos like this one for his house trax… this one is about he’s locked in the house and can’t find his keys. He’s a hilarious person, sometimes we talk on the phone, and he’s a proper Chicago G! The real deal!
Legowelt “Vision In My Mind”
I made this video myself – well when I say made, I ripped some footage from YouTube… I used to spend HOURS finding some funny shit on YouTube.. and I can’t remember where this footage is from.
DJ Haus “Addicted 2 Houz”
This is a cool homage to Odyssey film productions, my friend Johnny Woods made this mash up of various 80s animation VHS tapes he collects, most of the footage is authentic vintage shit, none of your usual YouYube rips… U know we got the professionals on board for this shit.
Marcus Mixx “Rub It, Don’t Go So Fast”
The first record I put out on UTTU was Marcus’s “Use Your Mouth To Love Me (Teeth Mix)”, but for some reason the music video we made for it isn’t online anymore – so this is another one of his videos… which is just as good.
Murlo “Adder EP”
What can you say about Murlo… absolute G! He did the animation and cover himself plus made a record that sounds like The Jungle Book.
– For more on our Unknown To The Unknown broadcast, head HERE –
