News

Seba live mix plus Q&A

September 25, 2009

We caught up with Seba for an insight into his latest projects.

Secretly operating from the island of Ingaro, just outside Stockholm, the Swedish mastermind has been doing his thing for well over a decade, weaving breakbeats through musical soundscapes in the way that only he can.

Q. Since your album at the end of last year, you've recently linked with Kirsty Hawkshaw for a couple of projects including 'Devotion' and a remix of one of her tracks. Will this be an ongoing partnership and do you have any other upcoming collaborations in store?

A. I have some new material I’m working on with Kirsty right now, but no actual release date. We’re also doing downtempo, non d&b tracks too. The track I remixed for her is called “Face to Face”, and was originally a trance track made by Elucidate.

Q. Back in the early 90s at the start of your career, you were releasing breakbeat/techno tracks under the name Sunday Brunch and later as Forme, with Jesper Dahlbäck. Are you still making different styles of music?

A. I don’t do much music other than d&b these days. I’ve done a “listening” album with Robert Manos last year on German label Mole called Angel Road. My heart is with d&b and I think it’s a style of music with room for expression.

Q. It's pretty clear that you don't allow yourself to be easily influenced by trends and prefer to stick with a classic sound, in both your productions and DJ sets. What do you get inspired by in a musical and creative sense?

A. Everyday life, things I see on the news, other peoples’ music… I get inspired by a lot of different things. But what is important to me is to have a musical identity: this is something that kept me alive through all these years. I don’t really follow trends in general. I would never wear a baseball cap that is too big for my head just because it’s trendy, I’ll stick to the trucker cap that suits me better :)

Q. You've kept the Secret Operations back catalogue very tight, with only a handful of select artists other than yourself releasing on the label. Are there any new artists that you'd like to bring onboard?

A. I’m always willing to put out good music on Secret Operations but I can't really explain what direction I want the music to be. I have an idea what I want the label to be, but it’s too abstract to explain. I think it’s better to go looking for tracks rather than looking for artists when you run a label like mine. At the moment, I’m going to focus on my own work on Secret Ops, but I’m always willing to release anything that suits the label.

Q. The 'Beats Me' compilation CD featured your collective collaborations with Paradox and Robert Manos. Will you be working together again soon and do you still have plans for a full length Seba & Paradox LP?

A. I met Dev Paradox in Poland in August and we discussed a possible album collaboration in this winter. I’m trying to lay out groundwork for another Seba album, so I need to focus on that first. It’s been a long time since we done anything together, and I really miss working with both Dev and Manos.

Upcoming releases:

Seba's remix of Naibu - Fireflies is forthcoming on the 'Internal Affairs 2 LP' (Horizons)

Polar - High Voltage (Seba Remix) - Warm Communications

Seba - Pressure Point b/w tba - Hospital

Out now:

Seba - 34 Alpha b/w Devotion feat. Kirsty Hawkshaw - Secret Operations

Kirsty Hawkshaw 'Face to Face' (Seba remix) exclusively on mp3 here

Check this brand new Seba mix on RBMA Radio, recorded live at DnB Sessions in Kiev - thanks to Andriy/FunkMasters!

Seba - As Long As It Takes - Secret Operations

Ill Logic & RAF - Complex Identities - Bingo Beats

Sabre - Global - Subtitles

Seba & Kirsty Hawkshaw - Face To Face