Head of xenical https://xenicaltop.com/ xenical Dutch vinyl imprint Lessismore, the elusive Alexis Tyrel has been a solid presence in the underground scene for more than two decades as a clubber, a DJ and an artist under a variety of guises, including his darker techo alter ego Gideon. We welcome him to our podcast series with an hour long journey through deep emotive house & techno, with the odd classic thrown in for good measure.
Thanks for taking the time to record a mix for our podcast series, was there any special concept behind your mix, or tracks played form your own releases?
Thank you for having me. The plan was to play tracks from my upcoming album “Finding Transmat Enterprise” but planning is not always a great idea.
Where did you record the mix, and what equipment did you use?
I recorded the mix in the studio where I also make music. Nowadays I use Traktor, which has it advantages but also some impact on my old behaviour as a vinyl dj. I still miss having tracks in a big visual and physical interface.
Whats your thought process when picking out tracks for a podcast, do you pre-select the tracks, or just pick out the first couple and freestyle it from there?
My process when doing a mix is selecting music that is not already in the folders, combined with my own tracks that I like to play. When doing this, I am NOT focusing on the mix I am going to do, but more like would I wanna play this track in general. Then when starting to record I usually begin with some new tracks and than try to go with the flow. When in the mix, especially with new music, you can have great moments, but also moments that you think – this was not a great pick.
How do you compare playing in a club to recording a podcast, is there much of a change in your mixing style and track selections?
I think playing in a club is easier when nobody is recording it, so it feels more real. Doing a podcast is pretty difficult to me, as it has another function than in the club, people will listen to the music in a different setting, so for me it is balancing to more listening kind of music and something I would do in a club. Personally I think most dance music is to dance to, and not to listen while sitting down.
Whats stores or other places do you normally look for new music… is it all sourced online, or do you also pick up the odd bit of vinyl?
I think finding music today is a hard job. There is so much. To be honest I get a lot new music from friends. But I listen a bit to all portals, personally I like decks.de but they changed the website, not really digging the new one.
Could you tell us a bit about your most memorable DJ experience?
One gig always comes to mind. It was high school and at that time I was a hardcore dj. In the venue were 600 people, but within 30 minutes I cleared the room and there were only 30 people left. People had not expected hardcore but the organisation booked me. People were coming up to me play R&B and Tiesto. Sorry, I do not have it and would not play it. So people started leaving. At the end of the night as I was the last dj, the 30 people came up to me and thanked me for a great night.
What other projects do you have lined up, do you have any new releases or forthcoming gigs we should be watching out for?
At this moment I am focusing on studio work on the weekends, so doing gigs at this moment is difficult. But hopefully I can get ahead of the planning so I have more time for this.
The plan is the release 10 albums in the first part of 2018, it will probably take a bit longer but you never know. At this moment I am 4 finished. The first was Alexis Tyrel – I Know You Know I Know, followed by Gideon – Darkside Of The Sun, Gideon – Outcast From Darkness and than Alexis Tyrel – Finding Transmat Enterprise. After that I am doing two electro albums.
