Interviews

It's a pleasure to sit down chimney side with Hifi Sean on the week he releases his magical EP "Waiting for the Sun". Here the highly respected producer, DJ, and former Soup Dragons frontman, takes us through his mood boosting new music amongst other things.

Please introduce yourself to our readers.

I am Sean Dickson aka Hifi Sean.

Where are you based currently?

East London in Bow.

What is it you love most about the city in which you live?

The access to many cultures and the huge diversity.

How is the health of the club scene where you are?

Where I am standing it looks pretty healthy to me although I could really do without phones on the dance floor. They are fun killers for me.

What has been a highlight of the last year for you Sean?

Last year I made 2 albums with a project I am part of with the singer David McAlmont. The albums are called DAYLIGHT & TWILIGHT. We released them within 6 months of each other.

One was to capture the feelings of Summer hence released then and one to capture the darker months of Winter also released then. TWILIGHT also includes a co-write we made with my good friend The Blessed Madonna. It was an idea we had to create that comedown moment on a solitary beach where you could hear your heart beating to the rhythm of a drum.

And what has been a challenge this last 12 months?

Trying to make and release 2 albums in one year! It was a LOT of technical work in the studio let alone the songwriting to start with -all crammed into 12 months. 24 finished productions and all the others that never made the cut.

The other big challenge has been dealing with the music industry and how it was not set up to accept two finished albums within 6 months from one artist. It opened up a lot of unnecessary challenges. It felt like we threw a massive spanner in the works. The PR machine does not like too much musical content in too short a space of time.

Tell us a little about your label Plastique and its history?

I started the label to be a portal to release anything I am remotely connected with. Please check my Bandcamp page for many exclusives and a huge cross genre of music you may have never heard before.

I made a conscious effort to make the label non-genre specific but over time it has became more an electronic based collection.

Give us an overview of this incredible track and the mixes?

I wanted to make the most positive, the most uplifting, the most euphoric track I could muster. I was walking my dogs one morning and this nursery rhyme style phrase kept going round in my head and I rushed home and started to write it. Musically it's taken me a year on and off to get it where I want with all the right musicians and singers. I was in no rush as I just wanted to make for myself the perfect sounding record and basically just get what was in my head nailed.

How long did it take to come together? Did it take long to take shape?

I worked on it on and off for over a year. It is how I work sometimes making a track and then leaving it and revisiting it. It sometimes gives me a clear view if it is as good as I remember it being and anything becomes apparent that needs to be focused on.

Did you have a vision initially of what you wanted to create?

Yes it had to all be live instruments to start with and then I would take those sessions into the digital realm and start chopping them about and having this giant live played sample library so to speak and arrange the track all from that.

Do you like to take time - after you have made a track – to leave it alone and evaluate later?

Yes like I said above it gives me that clear indication if it really is as good as I remember it being.

I need to get that tingle inside when I hear something to know I am onto something good. No tingle…..no track.

Was it obvious to you when the track was finished? Or could you tweak it forever?

No I am good at knowing when to stop now. I need to capture the roughness to give it an edge. I have in the past rinsed the life out of something by too much over production, but this had to sound edgy and have a euphoric feel and the only way to do that was to throw caution to the wind and not over work the situation. Mess around with it but keep the liveness fresh.

Are there other artists or musicians that you would like to shout out on this release?

I think this track was heavily influenced by recently watching the Sly Stone documentary by Questlove. Sly was one of my first and big musical loves ….still is. The complete melting pot of cultures and influences and genres thrown together by him is exactly where my head is at.

Watching the doc made me realise I adore euphoria in a track where it feels like the track is celebrating itself. That sense of high of the uplifting of the track and moment it captures. And let us be honest we need a track like this right now with the state the World we live in. Tracks where you want to 'church clap' along are always a winners in my books.

Who are the icons that inspire the music that you make?

Too many to choose but Sly Stone, Bootsy Collins, Patrick Cowley, Martin Rushent, Giorgio Moroder. The list could go on forever.

What artists do you follow currently? Who do you think is putting out great sounds at this moment?

Looking forward to the new Tame Impala album dropping soon. Always ingenious production skills and sonic tapestry to get lost in. I actually this week just bought Kevin Parker's new instrument he has designed called Orchid. Arrives in a few months so excited to mess around with that in the studio.

What was the last record you purchased?

Silent Industry by Silent Industry

What is the perfect setting for this track?

Sunrise or sunset. You choose as it is perfect for either.

If this music was picture what would it be?

I am chronically colour blind. I have issues with orange and yellow. I would want this song to be the brightest orange melting into the brightest yellow (or vice versa).

What can we expect next from HiFi Sean?

More journeys into my music meandering. The excitement is even. I do not know where I am going next!

Check out the latest release from Hifi Sean.