DJ Hyper: Marriage, Money & Becoming Fatboy Slim- I'm Not Interested
Author: Benedetta Skrufff
Monday, May 24, 2004
Though British breaks don Guy 'Hyper' Hatfield continues to position himself firmly in the leftfield of today's mainstream pop world, he's increasingly remixing its biggest central stars, including manufactured popsters Sugababes and US pop icon Pink. Not that it means he's selling or even making him a fortune in the process, he insists.
"If the record company is sure that the record will sell a certain amount of copies, they'll fork out the money for a top producer, for an underground one there's always less money involved even though the artist will gain more credibility," he explains.
"Sure I make more money remixing these type of artists, but it's nowhere near the thousands you're thinking of- unfortunately."
Chatting to Benedetta Skrufff this week about his upcoming mix album Wired, he's actually a picture of contentment, clearly delighted to have recently got married at the tender age of 27.
"People may think that 27 is young to get married, but in comparison to our parents' generation, couples would have had two kids by then," he points out.
"I now live in a cottage in Oxfordshire with my wife and my cat, our surrogate child, and that's the non-glamorous side of what I do. I love my job, I travel everywhere all the time, but I really wanted a grounding and a real home life. I met the right girl, she's older than I am and it was just the right thing to do, because I knew she was the right girl almost straight away. I'm not scared of the commitment," says Guy.
Skrufff (Benedetta Skrufff): The press release for Wired describes your new mix album as 'a live snapshot into the world of breaks', was it an easy compilation to put together-
Hyper (Guy Hatfield): "Well, yes and no. It was quite hard because I can be extremely fussy when it comes down to selecting the tracks. Many of the ones featured are new and exclusive, which is very important to me since I've made my name from the previous compilations I have done. I also wanted to use this album as an introduction to my production catalogue, hence many of the tracks are either my own records or remixes I've done for other artists. I also wanted it to work well as an album you can listen to as opposed to just being a 24 track dance floor record. A lot of thought went into it, I had a clear idea of where I wanted it to go so in that respect I wouldn't say it was easy; no."
Skrufff: Breaks is currently getting loads of media attention, what's your assessment of the scene right now-
Hyper (Guy Hatfield): "It's been happening for years to a greater or lesser degree, but what I like about breaks is that it hasn't fully blown up in the media in the same way electroclash did a year or so ago. Thank God it's grown organically, the same way drum & bass did in the past, and it will keep on gaining popularity because it still has an underground following, and for that reason too will never go away. There's always a danger that if it becomes too commercial it will lose its appeal and there's also that possibility if it crosses over, but at that point it will be good to have some recognition for all the work we've been putting into it."
Skrufff: Could working with superclubs for example, damage breakbeat's longer term future-
Hyper (Guy Hatfield): "I don't think so, I personally like to play in big clubs. I think the term 'superclub' isn't relevant anymore anyway because a lot more clubs are taking more risks with their bookings. Fabric for example, should really be classed as a superclub, yet they keep on booking underground DJs. As long as the DJs play good music, I don't see big clubs presenting a danger, I think instead they can help to raise the music's profile."
Skrufff: After all nobody wants to play i Tags