Erol Alkan is lying in bed at home in London, he’s been struck down by a cold but is determined to keep his interview commitments for his upcoming appearance at Summadayze on January 6th. From his sick bed we talk about indie vs techno and the return of psychedelic music.
Erol Alkan’s most recent album is a compilation of his selection of techno tunes for I Love Techno, he’s just returned from the accompanying festival, ‘It was fun, it was big! It was a lot of techno’, he laughs, and proclaims ‘it’s a huge event with about 40,000 people!’
A techno compilation is a surprising release for a DJ best known for his work in the indie-dance cross over, Alkan admits that he doesn’t normally play a lot of techno tunes but describes the compilation as his take on techno.
Alkan first came to prominence running the indie club night Trash in London between 1997 and 2007. Though indie music was his first love he started to pick up gigs in other clubs playing more dance orientated music.
Soon he was also in demand as a remixer and producer often giving indie bands some danceability. Over the last few years he has remixed Bloc Party, Franz Ferdinand, MGMT and the Klaxons as well as a truckload of others. Alkan was also at the forefront of the mash-up craze, which may have reached its heights when he mashed Kylie Minogue together with New Order’s classic Blue Monday at The Brit Awards in 2002.
Alkan finds it surprising that he is now recognised as a dance music DJ,
‘My background and my history is in indie music, it’s quite surprising that I’m known for this dance music, I think it should be around the other way. I ran Trash for ten years, so indie is where I come from.’
Last year Alkan remixed local Perth band Tame Impala, a band that he has no end of praise for,
‘Tame Impala are fantastic, I think they’re one of the best guitar bands of the last five years. I think they’re going to eclipse their current level of success more than people expect. Kevin Parker writes great songs… he’s very talented and backed by a great band.’
Alkan agrees that recently there has been a lot of psychedelic music coming forth, a genre that he’s always included in his sets,
‘I’ve heard pschedelia in a lot of music, I suppose that the last few years there’s been a few bands that have made it a little more apparent. I think that’s because the bands are good and they get their point across.’
Erol Alkan plays Summadayze at Paterson Stadium on Sunday January 6, 2013.
Graeme Watson
