Brendon Moeller Interview

This was the night when Moscow's Shanti club had it's 4th anniversary, and a special guest from NYC, Brendon Moeller, also known as Beat Pharmacy and Echologist, was keeping the festive atmosphere with his dub techno vibes.

So, how’s the night?
Great! Nice club, good people, good energy.

Basically you played dub stuff. Dub-techno, is that’s how you call it?
Yeah, I guess it could be called that. i guess we should probably try and avoid labels and pigeonholes at all times!

Okay. But it’s more about dub or techno?
I think it’s equal parts. The method is based around dub production, the sound is rooted in techno and the vocals are definitely on the dub-reggae tip.

And what are your personal influences?
Specifically at this point what’s influencing me to make this kind of stuff by artists like Rhythm & Sound, Vladislav Delay, King Tubby, Lee Perry, LKJ, Fela Kuti and Tony Allen, and so much more. I’ve been listening to a lot music that has a purpose, a philosophy, a social or political agenda. Dance music doesn’t have to be just a beat and just about getting off your face, getting drunk, there also can be some meaning and some thought, why not? Bob Dylan, Midnight Oil, the Last poets etc...

Right! Is it a kind of concept for Beat Pharmacy or it’s your viewpoint? Do you actually have distinctive concepts for Beat Pharmacy, for Echologist, for Brendon Moeller?
I guess Beat Pharmacy is what I spend more time with. The reason I basically had to make music under other monikers is as a result of record company politics. There is no specific philosophy behind the sound of each moniker, it’s more a necessity. I would be happy to record all material as Beat Pharmacy, but that would infringe on my agreement with Wave Music.

Okay, but Beat Pharmacy itself is three people who started the project or it’s basically you and other artists contributing to it?
It was my project and I just enlisted these people to be a part. It was never possible to make it a band because everyone is at the different part of the world.

What’s the story with Francois K? How did you meet him and how did you get the opportunity to release your music on his label?
I was working in a music distribution company in New York, and a friend of mine heard something I did and passed it to Francois and we started to exchange e-mails, and I guess after about a year of back and forth we discovered that we have some kind of musical connection. He is a very eclectic dj and I appreciate that a lot.

But he remains to be the main underground figure in NY?
His night in NY [in Cielo club] is definitely one of the most successful nights. Although it’s on the Monday night, the place is always crowded. I think the reason being is that people go there and they never know what they are going to get. It’s a night that’s just about great dub-inspired music. He’s got great flair and sensibility. I wish I spent as much time playing in clubs. I think a lot of what I produce at the moment is not necessarily club-oriented.

But for what environment is it then? Home listening?
Yeah, definitely. I just want to make something that really stands the test of time. I can play 10 minimal tracks and you’ll be hard-pressed to tell me who made them, because they all sound the same. I think originality is something people should be striving for more rather than acceptance. Usually it means you’re gonna get rejected a lot of times. You play gigs and people go like “what the hell is this?” But you keep pushing on and you try to bring people over to your side, you don’t completely say fuck you if you don’t like it. You convince ‘em that there’s more than just clicks and kick-drums.

In Moscow minimal techno is popular, if you actually call it minimal. Maybe the same thing happens in Berlin, because there is a big community there. When I’ve been to New York, I got the feeling that probably house of American labels like King Street Sounds, Defected and Strictly Rhythm is popular. But there is much more to do with hip-hop and rnb, not with club music.
There are little pockets where people are doing cool things but I wouldn’t say there’s any community like in Berlin or like in London with the dubstep scene.

But people around Francois K or Joe Claussell, don’t they form a community?
There is a community around Body & Soul. They just do what they do and people like it. They love what Danny Krivit does, playing disco, funk and soul, what Joe does on the jazzier tip, what Francois brings to the table. The Body & Soul parties are just like Deep Space, people come there to hear techno, or dub, or hip-hop, house.

I’d like to reach as many people as I can. I’d really like indie-rock kids to come across to my side, I like people who listen to jazz, to nu jazz to come across. I’d like to think that I’m trying to tap into a universal thing, especially with this new project where I draw from dance music, dub, jazz, afro-beat, and lyrically also.

You mean the new Beat Pharmacy album?
Right. It’s almost done.

And when would it be out?
Probably in the middle of the year sometime.

Any special projects there?
It’s the most conceptional thing I’ve ever done, I guess. There is a string that runs through every track. Other albums could be seen as a bunch of tracks I made, this album is more about 10 songs that have something to do with the same thing. Every track on the album features a vocal that falls in with the theme of the album, that being protest. We live in very politically charged times, as well as world filled with much injustice. I felt motivated to provide these vocalists with an opportunity to address social, political, spiritual or philosophical issues. The vocalists are Spaceape, Coppa, Damon Aaron, Paul st. Hilaire, Ras B and Infinity.


Maybe you have something to be released under your own name or under Ecologist?
Yeah, I also have an album coming out under Brendon Moeller [“One Man’s Junk”] which is straight of house – tech-house, jazzy house, some minimal. It’s coming out on Third Ear. And no plans on any Ecologist stuff, but I have a disco track coming out on Eskimo Records.

Can you name a few musicians who you pay your attention to and may recommend listening to?
There’s lots of good music happening. I’m digging Burial, Panda Bear, Deepchord, all the stuff souljazz releases, so much…

Don’t you think he’s a little bit mainstream? Comparing to Skream, for example.
Well, his new album has a bit of an rnb feel, but it’s an interesting take on pop-rnb. It’s still underground though. Who knows, next month we might here Timbaland with dubstep or garage sounding tracks. That’s how it usually happens.

Yeah, definitely, that’s how it goes! Any more new names to mention?
Oh, I’m actually paying more attention to old music – dub, reggae, jazz. Jazz is such a big genre, every step I take into it, I get impressed. I still listen to a lot of rock, because I grew up around the 80s.

What kind of rock?
I was always into UK rock like My Bloody Valentine, Sonic Youth, the more experimental line like post new wave. But now I’m going back and listening to James Chance and the No Wave music of late 70s, basically like glam rock with James Brown drum beats. There are so many influential bands that just passed by and people didn’t notice them.


Both Russian and English versions are available on Mixmag.info

Many thanks to Sasha Auerbakh for photos.