T-Bone Talks EP050, AVA Festival and Boiler Room NI Debut

 

T-Bone talks EP050, AVA Fest’ and Boiler Room NI Debut.

 

Soundspace

So who is T-Bone?

T-Bone

T-Bone is my production alias, (I’ve probably had way too many over the years, truth be told), this one was kind of born out of necessity when Jonny Smyth and I started a studio project together and Bubba and Timmy just didn’t cut the mustard and I’ve decided to keep with it for all my solo stuff.

 

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Soundspace

Your label Extended Play is now approaching its 50th release, what’s in store for the iconic milestone?

T-Bone

Yes we are fast approaching the big five zero and in the lead up we are going to put out some of our strongest releases to date and building towards EP050 which is a very special 12 track various artist compilation of unreleased material which will concentrate on the core artists that we are keen to work with on the home front.

A statement of intent for the future I suppose with the main aim to highlight the wealth of talent on offer here, which in my opinion has never been healthier. We have already signed two superb tracks from Cromby & Chris Hanna for the project, so we are off to a flying start.

 

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Soundspace

Do you have plans to expand the imprint beyond releasing music? Regular Parties? Clothing Line?

T-Bone

Yes there will be more label parties soon and we have already done a few limited runs of EP tees, which disappeared like hotcakes, so this year we plan to do some sweatshirts, stickers & beanies for the EP faithful.

 

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Soundspace

You’re set to play Boiler Room on the 30th of this month, a proud moment for a veteran?

T-Bone

It’s great to be part of a line up representing Belfast and doing something I love on a well-respected global platform like Boiler Room has the potential to be very memorable and the broadcast is sure to introduce the city and it’s electronic music scene to a host of new heads.

 

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Soundspace

Extended Play have also teamed up with AVA fest’ to offer one producer a chance at an official release?

T-Bone

We absolutely love what AVA is about and their ethos is so similar to ours regarding celebrating local music and inspiring new artists to be creative that we both felt a competition to create an actual launch pad opportunity for a new artist was a great fit.

 

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Soundspace

You’ve been on the Belfast scene for quite some time, how does 2015 compare to the mid nineties.

T-Bone

I worked out recently that I played my first proper gig sometime around 1994 warming up for Glen Molloy & Carl Cox at Harmony in Kelly’s to a sold out out main room/barn (with a few thousand in attendance) which was a massive boot in at the deep end.

A few gigs followed at the Crescent in Belfast before receiving a great break by securing a residency at the Art College via David Holmes’s & David Anderson’s Shake Ya Brain and Tora Tora Tora parties, which were ridiculously good. To be schooled in such a great environment like that and then end up playing there was nothing short of mind blowing and it provided me with some of the best djing experiences I’ve ever had.

For me right now Twitch is prob the closest thing in the city that has a similar sense of anticipation and frequency of nights although we do now have a range of fantastic venues and promoters compared to back then with Aether, the Hudson, Nocturne, Beat BBQ and Misfit at Thompsons all being amongst my favourite places to play.

 

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Soundspace

Worst experience as a DJ?

T-Bone

To be honest there are too many to mention but anywhere with a shoddy set up is pretty unacceptable, there’s no excuse for broken equipment, shit monitors etc and it’s surprised me that clubs away from home can often be the worst offenders. If you want to get the best from a dj then creating a comfortable environment for them to play on is the one main essential.

I’m no diva and have no silly rider etc but provide a working set up for both vinyl and cd format with a decent monitor etc and you’ll generally get the best out of me. The booth in Yello is worth a mention as being one of the best I’ve ever played on.

 

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Soundspace

What’s the coolest thing in your house?

T-Bone

Apart from my family, I’d say my home studio, which consists of wall-to-wall records, a dj booth, my production set up, star wars paraphernalia, framed club art, books and more. It’s basically a proper man cave to escape into.

 

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Soundspace

Tell us something we shouldn’t know about you?

T-Bone

I have a massive ginger tomcat called Jabba (he is the same size as some dogs).

 

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Soundspace

Someone you think will explode this summer?

T-Bone

My money is on Slurrp.

 

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Soundspace

You actively share your love for Star Wars via social media, how hyped are you for the new film?

T-Bone

Thankfully I think I’ve officially passed over most of the Star Wars nerd status to my son. I’m honestly trying not to think about the new film too much but a return to the simplicity and beat up vibe of the originals would be nice. The last three movies were heavy on effects and pretty light on everything else.

 

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Soundspace

What does the future hold for T-Bone?

T-Bone

No more kids, haha two is definitely our limit. There will be loads more music coming from me this year, starting with a little recap/remastered album of some of my fav productions covering the past 15 plus years entitled “To The Bone”.

There will be loads of gigs and non-stop plugging of the artists and music on Extended Play. Generally just carrying on with the campaign to create global awareness of the electronic music scene in Belfast.