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Interview Boris Dlugosch - German House Producer

Author: Benedetta Ferraro @ SKRUFF
Friday, June 1, 2001
German house producer Boris Dlugosch co-owns Hamburg label Peppermint Jam, whose biggest and best known hit was the 1998 Ibiza anthem Horny (by Mouse T). Boris has been associated with EMI dance label Positiva for some years, releasing Hold Your Head Up High in 1997 and was also involved in the production for Spiller's massive hit Groovejet. His new single Never Enough, featuring Moloko's Roisin Murphy, is hotly tipped for Eurowide chart success this summer.

Moloko Return the Favour to their Saviour (Boris Dlugosch)
When German house producer first remixed Moloko's Sing It Back, as an unsoliticited ('spec') remix, the band themselves had just been dropped from their major label deal and appeared certainties to slide further into indie obscurity. Todd Terry too, had already completed a paid-for version of the track, so Boris ended up agreeing to donate his own version for free. 4 years on (and zero royalties later) Moloko are one of the biggest bands in dance culture, and singer Roisin Murphy is a fashion icon. She's also recently returned Boris' favour, singing on his own new single Never Enough. Benedetta Ferraro chatted to Boris this week.

Skrufff: Until you re-mixed "Sing It Back", Moloko appeared to be at a dead end, how did you come across them-
Boris Dlugosch: "I first heard of Moloko when I went to their ex label's (Universal) offices to pick up some new records, which is what I do as part of my job normally. I took a copy of their album and when I listened to "Sing It Back" was completely blown away. It's funny because that famous riff that I used for the re-mix, came only once at the very end of the song, and I was wondering, how could they have not exploited better such a catchy riff- When I went back to the studio I played around with all the different parts of the song then went back to the label and asked about their plans for future Moloko remixes. I was stunned because they didn't have a clue who they were."

Skrufff: What happened next-
Boris Dlugosch: "I contacted their English label (Echo) to obtain the original parts of the song, so that I could work on a remix. Then I went back to Universal, who told me that Moloko had just been dropped and they had nothing to do with them anymore. Eventually I got back in touch with Echo again who told me they 'kind of liked' the mix, but they had already spent so much money on a Todd Terry re-mix of the same track, that they had no budget left. I believed in the music so I accepted the job for no money, and in return I asked if Roisin could write a song for me in the future. When she heard what I did with "Sing It Back", she loved it so much that she accepted my offer straightaway. The negotiation still took a very long time, but in the end everybody was happy so we did "Never Enough".

Skrufff: And you didn't get any royalties at all from Sing It Back-
Boris Dlugosch: "No. No royalties, nor cheques, not even a re-mix fee, which is pretty much a standard procedure. Nothing apart from the beautiful track Roisin wrote for us, "Never Enough". Actually she did send me a thank you note and she always made sure to mention my name in every interview she's done since, so there's nothing I feel bitter about."

Skrufff: Roisin has a fine, original voice but is well known for her toughness, how easy is it to work with her-
Boris Dlugosch: "Well she is tough, but we both have a lot of respect for each other. For "Never Enough" for example, she brought her lyrics to my studio in Germany, but because she wasn't happy with the recording, decided to take it all back to England, and re-record some of the vocals in her own studio. We've had three recording sessions after that in both countries, which is quite unusual, since you normally do one session, get the vocals done and that's it. She knows exactly what she wants, which is very helpful since I'm not a singer nor a songwriter, so it's useful that she know
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