- Music
- 12 Mar 01
EAMON SWEENEY meets rising star DJ KORMAC
On May 3rd 2000 Kormac was crowned All-Dublin Inter-College DJ Champion at the final in the Red Box organised by RSR Promotions in association with hotpress.
Kormac succesfully came through the heats to top a talented pool of over 120 DJs. To date, Kormac has played in virtually every big club in Dublin. He honed his DJ skills during four months in San Francisco.
In addition to club work, he has been clocking up on-air hours on both Radio Caroline 102.5FM and Power FM`, and persistently puts in three to four hours practice on the decks daily.
"When I started, I wanted to at least try to be as good as the people I was seeing out," explains Kormac. "Initially I was playing drum 'n' bass, but I started to incorporate scratching and from there I started bringing in hip hop tecniques such as beat-juggling into jungle and techno, and exploring all these areas in between."
Indeed, bar notable exception like DJ Hype and Dave Clarke adapting hip-hop influences to drum 'n' bass and techno respectively, most dance music has been based on a one DJ equals one genre stalemate.
"If I went to a club and heard four or five different types of music I would love it, but most of the time it's just a variation on the same track. I would dearly love to touch on a live sound to what I do, because potentially the sampler is one of the most innovative tools ever invented. On a production level I use a lot of guitar which is something most producers have only touched upon. I want to play all styles rather than the one style of drum 'n' bass most DJs play where its hard to tell the difference. Most of the stuff I've produced is definitely dancefloor orientated, and I want to develop deejaying drum 'n' bass on three decks, which hasn't been done properly. However I'd love to also produce music that's free of dancefloor considerations."
It is no surprise to learn that Kormac's daring and innovative approach is bred from a gloriously divergent musical background.
"I only got into dance music by the back door and musically, Sonic Youth influenced me rather than any electronic act. They would be a main influence in that they totally abandoned all conventional tecniques, and that is an empowering and truly progressive way of approaching music."
Kormac has also been working with a spanking new band called Eightball.
"They only played their first gig last night!" he enthuses. Of eight tracks, I did three of them adding some strange effects from the decks. They are recording in Salt studios in Bayside with Frank Kearns (formerly of Cactus World News) and they are genuinely one of the most exciting things I've ever heard coming out of Dublin."
In addition to his ongoing sonic adventures, Kormac has one hell of a summer ahead of him. He has just been confirmed as one of only two Irish acts playing in the Metalheadz arena at the Creamfields festival in June. The arena will play host to some of the largest names in drum n bass including DJ Storm, Bryan G, Randall, Doc Scott and Goldie. He has already played with Fabio in the Kitchen, and is also poised to support the golden toothed big man of drum 'n' bass himself in June as a pre-Creamfields warm up. In the meantime, Kormac will be still be putting in the hours every day on the decks, fusing new sounds to thrill the summer.
Advertisement
Kormac Top 10
1 Fresh n Vegas - Ottos Way- (Metro)
2 Krust - Break Ya Neck- (Full Cycle)
3 Peshay -Places and Spaces - (Pivotal)
4 Dillinja & Lemon D (Valve Double Pack)
5 Moving Fusion - Atlantis EP - (RAM)
6 Tekniq - Sharkfood- (Moving Shadow)
7 Peshay vs. Special Forces- (Lethal Double Pack)
8 Bad Company - Champion Sound Rmx.- (CIA)
9 Kormac Carova - (Dubplate)
10 Lemon D - Two Techniques- (R&S Records)
For further details e-mail:
[email protected]