Mac & Ali from the Low End Specialists have a bit of a chat with i:Vibes about everything thats been happening in the past, Danny Tenaglia, Alex Trebeck, and speeding down the highway at 100mph!

The Low End Specialists are a NYC based duo: long-time New York DJ Mac C, Sound Factory resident and regular guest of Danny Tenaglia at his legendary Be Yourself night at Vinyl; and Ali Geramian long-time house friend, underground producer & DJ. Their last production "Smoked Piece" was featured as i:Vibes tune of the week a couple weeks ago and has had heavy support from individuals such as Sasha, Digweed, Danny Howells, Danny Tenaglia and all the other top jocks.

Here they speak to i:Vibes in a rather interesting interview.

Ali: Just made it in time! I was doing 100 mph on the highway!

i:Vibes: Nice one Ali, a bit busy today?

Ali: just a bit (Haha)

i:Vibes: ok, then lets start

Mac: ok trebeck

Ali: sounds good

i:Vibes: ok

Mac: You know who he is right?

i:Vibes: Alex Trebeck?

Mac: yea

Ali: haha

i:Vibes: Haha yea, Jeopardy!

Mac: Nice one

i:Vibes: Is he retired yet?

Ali: No way

Mac: No idea, watched the show once

i:Vibes: haha

Ali: Lets go :-)

i:Vibes: Ok then, you guys have been putting out top quality tracks for much of the past few years , working on remixes for Danny Tenaglia, DJ Vibe & Rui da Silva's "Underground Sound of Lisbon" guise amongst others. How did this journey begin, and where has it reached now?

Ali: Mac and I were friends before we started producing together. He was DJing in NYC frequently and I was producing on my own. We realized that we had very similar tastes in music (tribal, deep house) and so it was very natural to get into the studio and collaborate.

As for the Underground Sounds of Lisbon Remix, Mac and I wanted to work on something that would get us notoriety off the bat and it so happens, that was one of our favorite songs of all time

Mac had the accapella, so we were just vibing in the studio one night, dropped it over the track and it sounded perfect. So we sent it over to DJ Vibe (1/2 of USOL) and he was blown away, signed it on the spot.

i:Vibes: Nice one

Mac: This was after id come back from the winter music conference and found out from DJ Vibe that they were going to have the track remixed, right? we knew they were gonna put out remixes, so we decided to do it and see what they said...

Ali: thats right, we weren't officially hired to do the mix

i:Vibes: excellent stuff

Mac: Yep, that's where it started.

i:Vibes: ok, so now we have an idea of how the remixing started, let's check out the production front.

i:Vibes: In November of 2001, Deep Dish played out the original mix, and more recently Sasha & Digweed pick up your "Smoked Piece" for their last Essential Mix, causing quite a bit of stir with to the listeners with your blend of tribal and progressive grooves. How did the inspiration come for that track and what are you own opinions of it?

Mac: Smoked Piece was the first original piece we did that we signed with Hydrogen records. At the time we were working on the record, we took a break, and listened to Junior Vasquez's mix of Wavespeech (the massive production from Pete Lazonby), which is where we got the inspiration for the hook and that's what really made that record move!

Ali: we were trying to make a record that we really enjoyed to hear out...something that would get the crowd really into it, once it was done we were very pleased with the results. We're just very proud of the support everyone has given it!

Mac: We had no idea people were gonna support it like they have though

Ali: Quite surprised actually...since it is our first original record!

i:Vibes: Definitely, it is causing quite a stir over in the UK and considered as favourites by many at the moment! Great track!

Ali: hehe thanx man

i:Vibes: With that being the first production for the Low End Specialists, can we expect to see more of the same in the upcoming months? or will you guys try a change in style?

Mac: well, we've done several remixes prior to Smoked Piece that have been different than Smoked Piece or "So Get Up". The remix we did of the Idjut Boys on Alola, Omid 16b's label was deeper and not as progressive / tribal as was the remix we did of Bullit's "Can't Go Back" for Hydrogen.

i:Vibes: is that the same Bullit as "Cried to Dream"?

Ali: yes, the same Bullit :-). Also forthcoming on Hydrogen

Ali: currently we have many remix obligations...once these are done Mac and I are definetely looking to experiment more in the studio, perhaps some vocal tracks as well.

Mac: Smoked Piece was a stormer, our biggest records will probably be the ones that are similiar in style to that, although im not sure what the longevity of this style of music is, as I think things are going to change soon.

our mixes of Fierce Ruling Diva's "You Got To Believe", 6400 Crew "Dub Me Sometin' Fresh" and our remix of Steve Lawlers new record are all similiar in style to Smoked Piece, big room oriented, crowd bumpin etc etc etc...

i:Vibes: Drawing on that point, how would you define the sound of music in play at the moment? And who, in your opinions are the biggest DJs delivering that sound?

Ali: Well, the style of the moment can be considered one big mashup of styles of electronic music and no sound is prominent right now.

Mac: DJ's like Digweed & Tenaglia, i mean they've been ground breaking for 10+ years and have helped guys like us make it to where we are...and now the past few years has given way to so much "new talent".

i:Vibes: Would you say that Tribal / progressive is a big part of that sound? or not?

Ali: Absolutely!

Mac: I think tribal has always been a big part of it and will always be.

Ali: Without drums...people wont move

Mac: You can't have club music without drums!

Ali: Exactly. And I see more melody being incorporated over tribal beats recently

Mac: Yea, alot of trancey elements being incorporated with tribal elements.

i:Vibes: Do you think that sound is predominant in the USA? Or is it a global phenomena?

Mac: I think its global for sure...people like Digweed, Howells & Lawler are probably the forefront of DJ's pushing this sound.

Ali: In order to keep sets fresh, you have to mix it up as Mac said, and you can't just be a tribal DJ anymore or just a trance DJ.

Ali: You have to be versatile...and bigger DJs such as DT, Digweed, Deep Dish, etc always being versatile, they will always be at the forefront of the industry.

Mac: Plus there is so much great music out there, that its really hard not to play a wide range of stuff.

i:Vibes: Although saying the global tribal and progressive grooves are stilll strong, what do you think about the currently surging European Trance and Techno sound?

Ali: Well, things move in cycles.

Mac: Yea id have to agree with Ali, this music is a big cycle.

Ali: people who "Trance is dead" are sorely mistaken now, because it is making a big comeback, but as we said before, its being mashup with other elements.

Mac: Whats hot and whats not changes from year to year

I think thats great though because it shows how much quality music is being produced in all the little genres of electronica

i:Vibes: How about opinions of Djs such as Armin van Buuren, Tiesto and Paul van Dyk? Who are big in the 'trance' world?

Mac: I used to really like listening to some of PVD's sets...although I don't DJ like that...i still like to listen to it.

Ali: they dont play in NYC as much as they used, especially Armin who rarely plays here, but they are extremely popular here.

i:Vibes: Speaking of playing sets out, are there plans for you guys to push your sound out and about in Europe? by playing a DJ set of your sound in Europe?

Ali: yes absolutely, with lots of tribal elements of course, after all we are from NYC! But expect a little bit of everything

Mac: yep, we're doing Portugal, Spain, Switzerland & Finland this summer and we're working on UK dates right now

We're about to do few dates on the west coast the week after next.

I think Greece also, we're planning something there and Turkey as well.

I'm trying to convince Ali to come and do Malaysia with me this time, i did it alone last summer, 26 hours flying...yikes!

i:Vibes: Great stuff, I think you guys would fit right in to a set @ Fabric or Bedrock in the UK

Mac: Yes, fabric is something that's being worked on, we hope that works out, as we've heard amazing things about the club.

i:Vibes: Playing around the world, facing new experiences and different crowds, have there been any memorable experiences for you 2 in the past? and where have been the best clubs you've played at?

Ali: well Mac has more international experience than I do, as I work full time I cant jet-set like Mac does!

Although playing at Vinyl in NYC is always a great experience.

Ali: the crowd is very well educated musically, and they are very responsive

i:Vibes: Ali: Any plans for doing the music thing full time?

Ali: Yep definitely! Soon enough I'm hoping!

Mac: Well for me, I'd have to say playing here in New York at Danny Tenaglia's weekly residency at Vinyl is really fufilling, hometown crowd, in the one of the best DJ's clubs...its really amazing...

Other than that Pacha in Portugal, I played there with DJ Vibe recently and it was amazing! The times I've been to Portugal to play have been amazing, but the most recent at Pacha blew me away!

i:Vibes: Pacha deliver quality nights in the UK, Ibiza and portugal.. they never fail

You guys mentioned Danny Tenaglia a few times and he's often considered the DJ's DJ and one of the most respected people in the industry. What's it been like working with him. How's he like, and have you picked up anything from him?

Ali: Well we've picked up alot from him. He has definately molded our style and listening to him when I first started clubbing, he was EXTREMELY influential.

I know Mac will agree with me on that

Mac: Yep, we got into this game because of him!

For me playing alongside someone I've respected my entire career for the past year and a half at Vinyl, has been worth everything.

i:Vibes: Have you guys thought of a collaboration with him?

Mac: well, we remixed a record of his he asked us to do over a year and a half ago

Ali: Yeah! And we worked together in the studio together on the remix as well! The track was called "Read My Lips".

My favorite cut off his DTourism album

I bugged him about the remix so much, that he was like, "Fine, lets see what you guys can do with it!"

And he liked it alot, but sadly we doubt it will ever see the light of day, but thats ok, it'll always be one our hidden gems!

The problem with that is when Twisted went out of business Universal retained the rights to all of Twisted's catalogue

Mac: So for them to put it out, they have to buy it back from Universal

Ali: Record company politics, but its ok, it was a great learning experience for us

Mac: And we did it for Danny to show him our appreciation for what he's done for us.

i:Vibes: The unreleased tracks always seem to be the gems

Mac: We've talked several times about a collaboration, but Danny is so extremely busy and in high demand, so who knows when that day will come!

i:Vibes: Nice, well hopefully somehow, someone will manage to get it back onto a release in the future!... how about Steve Lawler's "Andante", what can you guys say about that?

Mac: what can we say?

WOW!

Ali: We're really amped about the Andante remix, definately our sound, big room stormer and it has a long intro which I'm sure Steve will like for his sets!

Mac: We had met up with Diggers when he played in NYC with Sasha and we talked for a few minutes and he said he wanted us to do a mix for Bedrock, little did we know that 2 days later Bedrock would be asking us to mix Lawlers new record

We were shocked to say the least

Ali: We were shocked to hear that Steve has personally requested us to do the remix.

Mac: yea, we got a chance to talk to steve a few weeks back when he was in NYC, and he told us that, and we were really taken back, because it's really hard to fathom that people are really digging our music like this to be requesting us to do mixes for high profile artists.

i:Vibes: And a release is coming in July on Bedrock?

Ali: Thats when it is scheduled for, yes

Mac: Yea, they want to push it for the summer

i:Vibes: so what else is planned for remixing in the near months? and how about upcoming productions?

Ali: Remix wise, we have a remix of the new Flash record coming out on Addictive.

i:Vibes: Flash.. as in the the producer from Israel?

Ali: yup thats them!

Mac: We've completed 2 remixes for Yoshitoshi; 6400 Crew "Dub Me Sometin' Fresh" and Jah Scoop "Loch Dub"

Ali: Also a remix of the popular 90s house music classic, You Gotta Believe by Fierce Ruling Diva for React which should be coming out late summertime.

Mac: We just completed a remix of Vek "Can't Get It" for Pipeline records

Mac: Yea and the Fierce Ruling remix is featured on Satoshi Tomiie's Nu Breed, we're really happy about that, Thanks for the support Satoshi!!!

Ali: We also have a remix of Barbara Brown's Damello forthcoming on Desyn Masiello's excellent Alternative Route label.

So we expect many sleepless nights ahead, but its worth it!

i:Vibes: the follow up to Smoked Piece is aimed for completion when?

Mac: The follow up to Smoked Piece for Hydrogen, I think they want it around end of June, for the summer.

i:Vibes: For those budding producers out there, what can you recommend to those producers, who are hoping for success like you guys have done.

Mac: Considering we're still budding producers!

Ali: haha

Mac: Just keep at it really, Ali and I have built everything from nothing really, we gave something we love a shot, and it worked out. We couldn't be happier with where we are at right now

Ali: Well we can just say that stay true to your sound, make records you enjoy hearing out, and good things will happen from there

Mac: Yea, i think that was our biggest thing, we wanted to produce records that we would play out, and records that would make the club bounce! we're all about making "dance music" music for people to get down to.

i:Vibes: Many people ask, do you prefer the hardware or the software for your productions?

Ali: haha, good question!

Mac: There's better sound out of hardware, but there's so much possibility with software these days. With all the soft synths and what not you can do quite a lot

Ali: Exactly and not to mention the wealth of plug-ins.

Mac: we've gotten great sounds out of both our hardware & software, and I don't know any producers now that aren't using soft synths.

i:Vibes: and if you guys had to choose 1 piece of Essential hardware. what would it be? One that you couldn't live without?

Mac: a keyboard?

Ali: hmmm, would have to say....

Mac: I love the sounds in the Novation super bass station.

Ali: the Novation Basstation

Ali: ah Mac beat me to it!

i:Vibes: haha

Ali: We're still learning the ins and outs of using that synth, we haven't explored its full capabilites yet.

Mac: yep

Ali: Once we do...watch out!

Mac: theres a couple things i want to pick up that have wicked wicked sounds, so we'll see what happens

i:Vibes: People with new toys =)

Ali: hehe yeah, but our studio is pretty minimal, it's not about how much gear you got, it's how you use it. It's very cliche, but true.

i:Vibes: yep definitely... and your favourite tracks at the moment?

Ali: hmmm (looking through my records) ...
Mac: ummm lets see....Snap "Rhythm Is A Dancer" remix. It's off the fucking wall!

Ali: Anything by D Ramirez I guess. His sound is very similar to ours

Mac: Echomen "substance"

Ali: And anything by Barry Gilbey

oh! and Chab's mix of Autoporno!

Mac: John Creamer & Stephane K's remix of Yoko Ono's new track is really wicked

Mac: Peace Division's "Do You See Me" is also wicked!

i:Vibes: all time favourites??

Ali: Robbie Rivera - Feel This!

Mac: Danny Tenaglia "Music is the Answer"

Ali: also Laurent Garnier's remix of Elegia - Basic and of course USOL - The Lights :-)

an old school Vinyl anthem :-)

Mac: WORD UP!

i:Vibes: nice one !

Mac: that track is the bomb!

i:Vibes: i ought to check it out then!

Ali: now if I could pick ONE track that sums up our sound

Ali: it would have to be The Lights (by USOL)

Mac: yea probably, or Feel This

i:Vibes: and I guess, to finalise it

i:Vibes: What do you want to tell the readers.

Mac: Thanks for supporting us!

Ali: great site!

Ali: haha :-) Seriously though, excellent site especially the interview with Chab! That rocked.

Mac: yea its got really great stuff!

Ali: I have to run to school, haha thanx again!

Mac: See you all later!

i:Vibes: Thanks to Ali & Mac for this great interview!

http://www.lowendspecialists.com