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Interview: Michel Pollen aka The Pitcher
24 August 2009 498 views Comments Moe
As promised months ago, we can finally present you with the Michel Pollen interview. Exclusive to Core Magazine and The Harder View, for the first time in his career this brilliant producer gives the public an impression of what drives him to become one of the greatest. In due time, a full translation of the Q&A this article is based upon will also become available here; the version posted below can also be found in Core Magazine.
Michel Pollen: hardstyle, behind the scenes
Fusion Records is one of the leading labels in the Dutch hardstyle scene these days. With artists such as Zany and Donkey Rollers and, on sister label Superplastik, The Pitcher and Dozer, anyone slightly into heavy bass or uplifting melody cannot ignore the company’s high-quality releases. However, as many fans as they may have, it is barely known that behind all these aliases is one man: Michel Pollen.
“I never did like discotheques and going out”, he explains his reasoning to stay out of the limelight for most of his career. Except for a single liveset at Q-BASE 2006 he has never performed on stage, and even interviews are rare. In fact, this is the only one you will find. “I’m happy if I can just go to bed at a normal time in the weekends. It gives me the opportunity to focus on production completely during weekdays. At daytime.”
Clearly, Michel Pollen is not your average run-of-the-mill DJ/producer, who flies around the worlds on weekends, only to spend all weeknights in the studio, and weekdays in bed. In fact, when he first started the Donkey Rollers project together with Raoul van Grinsven, aka Zany, they agreed on making it a live act. Yet the idea of having to go on stage worried him too much, so again he decided to remain in the studio, out of publicity.
Still, he needed a face for his own productions. After a few releases as The Pitcher, he found Luc van Veghel prepared to serve as a DJ under that alias. “Merely producing does not bring in the big cash. So I had already started producing for DJs like Jesselyn and Dozer, known as Tony at the time. Most DJs simply like to spin their own productions, so this way the Pitcher productions simply get in the picture more. I think the public does not really care about who is behind the music, they just want to see an artist perform. However, with more and more people trying their hand at production, interest does seem to be on the rise.”
He tells us he does most of the Pitcher and Dozer productions completely on his own, though taking into account the feedback he gets from Luc and Tony. The Donkey Rollers and Zany tracks, however, are a different story. “There are only a few people with whom I can cooperate in the studio. Raoul is one of those few. We do most of the Donkey tracks completely together, and we do not have set tasks. We always get the best results when we have to fight about who holds the mouse and who gets to edit. Raoul and I are well-matched and I think that bit of competition in the studio gives our tracks that little bit extra.” Surely, the way their cooperation pays off, he cannot be wrong about that.
So Michel cooperates a lot, albeit with just a few people. A few people who, like him, happen to be very good at what they do. Still, the Fusion crew met through what is seemingly pure coincidence. “I first started producing at a professional level in Coen Noordendorp’s studio. He is the real owner of Fusion and I owe him a lot.” Fusion and Superplastik are both sublabels to Freaky, a label that also runs a record store. In the back of that shop, there was Michel, working on club and trance tracks at the time. At the counter, Raoul. “We are very different as persons, he must have thought me an odd character at first. But in the studio, there immediately was this chemistry between us.” Jowan also worked at the Freaky shop, where regular customers included DJ Tony. Zany introduced MC DV8 to the crew, who in turn brought along Luc van Veghel. In the meantime, Fusion and Superplastik were created to accommodate the guys’ ever-harder productions.
Aspiring producers may want to know what has led to such a success story. Pollen’s favourite studio equipment include a Sony DMX R100 mixer and two Access Virus Bs. “I never use softhsynths. Contrary to that, I use the Cubase Quadrafuzz in just about every track. I have always been a fan of AKAI samplers as well.” He also has somewhat of a retro passion: “Currently I am quite proud of the most recent addition to my studio: a Neumann U87 microphone from 1969, older than I am, haha. I cannot actually tell you if it sounds better than a new one, I just like the idea.”
Everyone starts out somewhere, though. Like many DJs, Michel’s career started on tapedecks. He was featured on Dutch radio a few times and got to know Ruud van Reijen, producer of Twenty 4 Seven, a Dutch dance project. Taking Ruud as an example, he decided to start producing, and his brother bought him his first sampler. Later on, a lot of inspiration came from films: “I always like to work a kind of theme into hardstyle, as it lends itself very well to that purpose. However, I don’t want to mindlessly rip samples from films, even though they often inspire me. I try to create my own vocals and sounds as much as possible. Listen closely to Animated Audio, for example: I used a recording of a cutting pair of scissors in it.” You didn’t hear that one coming, did you?
Though he says that to him, producing is a more than fulltime job, Michel likes to get out and relax at times. “These days, you may often find me in the woods, mountain biking, camera strapped to my back. I also like to paint and I am currently writing the script to a graphic novel with a friend.”
Back to the area of music, the future of his Superplastik label is looking bright. With the addition of Noisecontrollers under various aliases, a new cooperation is taking form. “We have started work on a Noisecontrollers-Pitcher track, but it will be a while before that is released. I have also been working on some tracks with Raoul but they will probably be released on Fusion. Besides all that, I like to work with good vocalists such as MC DV8. Unfortunately, they are hard to find, but I also enjoy incorporating vocals in different ways, like I recently did with Serenity.”
As much as he does in hardstyle, it is not the only style he focuses on. Leaving projects such as Silverblue in the past, he now very much enjoys working for – oh yes – Kim Leoni. “I write the songs with Brane Kovak. They are dance-oriented but have some extra depth, primarily because of Brane’s lyrics. I would also like to create something in the style of Wheatus – Dirtbag once. So carefree, laidback…”
As Michel likes to say: “Enjoy the music, and enjoy the music, and here’s something to think about: Enjoy the music!”
BRON: http://www.theharderview.com/interview-michel-pollen-aka-the-pitcher/
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Geplaatst op 25 aug 2009 19:57 
Michel maakt de platen (voor the pitcher, dozer, werkt mee aan donkey rollers, zany, en nog meer), Luc draait ze alleen.
, misschien verander ik van mening als ik 'm live hoor..
Leuk om te lezen!
