Deepsky aka J. Scott Giaquinta and Jason Blum, having just released their top notch album "In Silico" talks to i:Vibes about View from a Stairway, the WMC, their productions and what not.

Hailing from Los Angeles, J. SCOTT GIAQUINTA and JASON BLUM, the electronic production duo that make up DEEPSKY, are New Mexico natives who have produced world-class music that has impacted dance floors and stunned armchair listeners alike for almost a decade. Their style and dedication have pushed them to the forefront of progressive dance music. Even their earliest recordings for the seminal independent label Fragrant Records (which helped jump start their career as well as those of Christopher Lawrence and Sandra Collins) remain well loved and highly sought after by DJs and fans alike around the world, and their relentless, high-energy live performances have garnered critical acclaim throughout the North American continent.

Hi there guys, thanks for taking the time to do an interview with us.

- How about giving us a little background on the two of you.. how you met, your initial influences, interests, and other related things?

Scott: Jason and I met back in 1992 in Albequerque, New Mexico through a mutual friend that lived in the dorms with me when we were in college. Jason played in an industrial band and I was making music more along the lines of synth pop.

Jason: Our mutual friend was actually my partner in an industrial band I was playing in during the late 80's and early 90's. We all threw some parties together, decided that promoting wasn't for us, and concentrated on producing music.

- Your latest album has been seen as a big mixture of tracks and a general trend towards a more breakbeat style, with vocalists Saffron doing Smile, and the beautiful breakbeat laid trance track Let Me Live.. How do you see the general dance industry evolving in 2002? Any particular views on the album?

Scott: Yeah, we definitely were striving for a more eclectic sound. What we didn't want to happen was for us to be pegged as just a trance act so we tried to go for a more diverse collection of music on, what really is, our freshman attempt at an album.

Jason: The industry is losing some of its creativity, I think, in its pursuit of mainstream acceptance. When you look at groups like ATB and such, you see that there's a formula which will make you a lot of money and get you worldwide acceptance pretty rapidly. Unfortunately this sort of music tends to shy away from experimentation, which is really the concept at the core of creativity. With "In Silico" we were trying to appeal to the fans who have stood behind our progressive trance roots for years, and still branch out into different genres and try our hand at new styles and concepts. If we wrote trance forever I think we'd get bored and disillusioned pretty quickly.

- Marc Mitchell recently remixed your "View from a Stairway" how did you come across Marc, and what did you think of the remix?

Scott: Marc has made some legendary music over the course of the years. He is half of Sunday Club & Human Movement, two names that still reside in my record box. We actually met him through the progress list on the internet and have forged a friendship with him ever since. When he heard "View From A Stairway" he loved it and so we asked him to remix it for the single. When we got the remix back we couldn't believe our ears. It was the most amazing remix anyone has ever done for us. The original of "View" has probably gotten the best response of any song on the record thus far, and so we think the combination of that and Marc's remix will be the makings for a summer smash.

Jason: I'm in total agreement with Scott here--Marc's remix is truly outstanding. It combines all of the elements that made music in '97-'98 so great with the polish and style of contemporary production. We've both been big fans of Marc's work for years. "Traveler's Theme" by Human Movement is a certified classic that won't ever leave my record box, and his remixes of Art of Trance's "Kaleidoscape" and Jean Micheal Jarre's "Oxygene 8" are both incredible works and illustrate his skill as a remix artist. When Kinetic asked who we wanted to remix "View From a Stairway", neither of us hesitated in selecting Marc for the job.

- Both of you have obviously had a bit of experience overseas and all, how does it compare to back home? as in the crowds, the reactions, and party goers? And How about the UK? which has sometimes been denoted as the place of convergence for all dance music?

Scott: Actually, we've never played off of the American continents. We've been all over America, Canada, Mexico and even to Peru and Panama but never to play across the pond.

- WMC is coming up.. any surprises that we should be aware of? Anyone you're hoping to see out there?

Scott: Nothing that I know of. We'll be showcasing a white label of "Ride" with the new Ryebot remix, but thats about it. This year is a bit more of a vacation than a work week.

Jason: And that's a welcome surprise in many ways--it'll be nice to get on a plane without 500 pounds of gear for a change!

- Your production style recently has sometimes been linked to Way Out West, Hybrid, et al.. Any impressions on Way Out West and Hybrid as they've been deemed as a couple of the best producers out there.. How about a collaboration with them? Possible?

Scott: Well, I'm sure this comes as no surprise but Hybrid is one of my favorite producers, as well as Way Out West. I don't know about any collaboration with them in the foreseeable future but we have talked to Marc Mitchell about a possible collaboration for the next record.

Jason: It's possible. We have a lot of ideas about the next album, and there are quite a few people we'd like to collaborate with, probably more than we can fit on one CD. The Hybrid and WOW guys are certainly on the list... but it's a long list and it's full of talented people. We'll see what happens.

- Whats your all time favorite tunes.. Both your own productions and just in general?

Scott: Well, I'd have to say that my favorite Deepsky tunes are "View
>From A Stairway," "Until the End of the World," "The Mansion World."
As far as other peoples productions, I'd have to say anything that Andy Page is involved with and anything that Dead Can Dance does.

Jason: My favorite tracks off of "In Silico" are "View From a Stairway", "Metro", and "Until the End of the World". A couple of other all time faves are "Addiction" and "Testure" both by Skinny Puppy, "Perfect Kiss" by New Order, "Cico Buff" by Cocteau Twins... so many more, I really could go on for pages listing tracks that have had a profound impact on me.

- You've worked on and with everyone from Carl Cox, to BT to Energy 52... Are there any figures out there you particular want to remix or work with?

Scott: Like I said earlier, I'd really like to work with Marc Mitchell, but I think I'd also like to work on a vocal track with Toni Halliday from Curve. Also, there is this guy in Los Angeles named Ryeland Allison (www.ryebot.com) who is probably one of the best producers I've ever had the honor to work with. We definetly wanna try and get him on the next album as well.

Jason: As producers, Marc and Ryeland are certainly at the top of the long list. I'd like to see Toni in the studio, as well as Elizabeth Frasier, or perhaps Siouxsie Sioux. Frasier's voice is simply astounding, and Siouxsie just has such a unique sound that I think the combination of her vocal style with modern dance music would be fascinating.

- Anything else you'd like to add to that?

Scott: Make sure to check out www.deepsky.co.uk. The new site was launched about 2 weeks ago and it really turned out great. We're always adding the latest news and information as well as pictures of our live shows and the fans at them as well.

Thanks to Deepsky for this great interview!