KRIS MENACE
While we were at Ministry for Wonderland, I had the opportunity to sit down with the lovely Kris Menace to chat about albums, prison and pot-belly pigs…
by Liz Cirelli
W&R: So Kris, thanks very much for taking some time out to have a little chat with me…you have an album coming out soon, can you tell us a little more about this?
Kris Menace: I dunno, you tell me…haha, only joking - sure - it will be coming out in March on Compuphonic and will include some remixes, unreleased tracks, some new tracks and some tracks that have already been released. It’s going to be a triple CD compilation.
W&R: Ooh! A triple CD! Fantastic – can’t wait to hear it! Tell us a little about how you found music.
K: Well my Father was a record collector – he loved music from the States, so I grew up with a lot of this music - RnB, Hip-Hop, Funk, and so on. My sister took me to a big rave in Germany – she was supposed to babysit for me, but she wanted to go to this concert so she took me. I dunno how, but she managed to get me in – I was really young! It was like nothing I’ve ever experienced before in my life – it was like being in hell!! The music was so cool though – so cool! Soon after that, rave became big in Germany and I got really into it. There was no techno in Germany back then – it was all rave. I was really influenced by both my Father’s record collection and this experience…in fact I started to make music soon after going to that rave.
W&R: How old were you when you first began making music?
K: I was 14 when I released my first record, then I started to produce other artists. I started DJing, but there was nothing but vinyl back then. I found just playing vinyl quite boring so I gave up DJing and started promoting parties. I soon also found that I didn’t enjoy this very much either, so I just decided to make music full time – and this is when the Work It Baby label was born.
W&R: So what year did you set up Work It Baby?
K: I set it up in 2002, and the first releases were very successful. I really tried to concentrate on the UK market as I feel people here are more open-minded than anywhere else in the world, especially for music. The label was developing fantastically, and it was then that I released Discopolis.
W&R: Love that tune! How was it made?
K: It was made really quickly. Lifelike came over to the studio and we just messed around. He left the studio and I finished the tune in about 2-3 hours. I sent it to him and he really didn’t like it – I thought it was gorgeous, but he really didn’t like it! I was just going to release it on Work It Baby, but then it got picked up by Alan Braxe and he released it on his label.
W&R: Now a little bird tells me that you’ve been to prison…is that when you first started to hear Fred Falke’s music?
K: Haha…who is this little bird? I must find him and have words with him – only kidding…funnily enough, that’s right. I was in jail for marijuana and while I was there I saw a video called Vanity Nine, which featured a track by Fred and Alan Braxe. This was the exact music I made before I went to jail, so I wrote down the names of these guys and when I came out I looked them up on the internet and worked with them in the studio – it was destiny! In fact, the guy that did the Vanity Nine video also ended up doing the video for Discopolis!
W&R: Brilliant! Now tell me…what are your favourite synths?
K: I really like the Jupiter 8 because you can do some really crazy things with it and it sounds really warm. There’s also the Juno 106 which I still love…I love them all! Oh hey! Here’s Fred [Falke walks in ]! Come here & sit down…talk to Liz about your new release on that crappy Work It Baby label – haha!
Fred Falke: Haha…no no…it’s a fantastic label! So yeah, we’ve been working in the studio in LA for a year now – Kris has written some arrangements for a philharmonic orchestra – it’s going to be massive I think. There’s no title yet, but I think it’s going to be ready next year.
W&R: Are there any artists that are up & coming that you guys are both really excited about?
K & F: Savage is massive – in Japan he’s half god! His next release on Work It Baby is fantastic. There’s another guy on Work It Baby called Charlie Fanclub who’s also really cool.
W&R: So what are the next Work It Baby releases?
K: Next is the Charlie Fanclub release - Nightbreed EP, then there’s a release from Jaunt, then there’s the new Fred Falke, then Savage. Some really cool things coming up. We’ve also just had Moonbootica join the label who are really big in Germany. We’re hoping to push them a little more internationally.
W&R: I’ve heard you have a house pig…what’s its name?
K: Poomba. He’s now just turning 6. He’s the size of a medium-sized dog – he’s a little black pot-belly pig.
W&R: Is he not smelly?
K: Haha…noooo – pigs are very clean, they are even cleaner than dogs.
W&R: I never knew that! Do you bathe it like a little doggy?
K: Yeah – once a month, with some baby shampoo.
W&R: Ah man, that’s so cute…do you take him for walks?
K: Not anymore. I used to, but then I stopped – and once you stop, they get out of the habit, so I’m not able to put him on a leash anymore. If I try, he goes totally mad.
W&R: And does he sit on your lap when you watch TV?
K: Yep, he comes up and sits on me when he wants a cuddle and I scratch him everywhere and give him hugs.
W&R: Aww – thanks so much for that Kris!
K: No problem – thank you!
