Knoxtronica Presents (JT Smith)- So lets start off by asking you're the basics for everyone. Whats your name, where your from, and what do you do besides music?
Starkey (Paul Geissinger)- My name's Paul, but pretty much everyone knows me as PJ. I live in Philadelphia and I pretty much don't do much other than music.... except I watch a lot of movies.
Knoxtronica Presents- I have been following you for a while now since I first discovered electronic music and saw you at Dexfest in 2010. Id love to know how you prepare for a live show of size like that and that kind atmosphere.
Starkey- I don't really treat it much different from my club gigs really. I've been lucky to get to a position in my career that if people book me, they know what to expect from my sets. I always give an energetic performance and play what I play. That's pretty much it.
Knoxtronica- I'm very interested about your sound you have that you like to call "street bass", what inspires that sound? Like what music influences that?
Starkey- Not all of the music I produce really falls under our "street bass" tag... but it's definitely a big thing for me and pretty much how I approach all of my DJ sets. Street bass is a term that Dev79 and I came up with to really just describe the kind of music we play, and our general attitude towards what we do with our company, Seclusiasis. We tend to mix a lot of vocals and mash up, hip hop, grime, dubstep... just lots of styles with good bass sound.
Knoxtronica- Where did you come up with that name Starkey and Starkbot?
Starkey- I've always been a big Beatles fan, and Richard Starkey is Ringo Starr's real name, so that's where it came from. I never really meant for it to be something I would use permanently... but it just kind of stuck. Originally I was using the name Aunt Jessica, which is a Magical Mystery Tour reference, but then that became a group that I did with two vocalists. So when they moved away from Philly, I had to come up with another name to use... and I just thought of the opening line of Magical Mystery Tour, "Richard B. Starkey and his Aunt Jessica were always arguing about one thing or another." That's how I came up with it.
Knoxtronica- With a lot of talent coming out of everywhere, what are some of your favorites right now and some people should watch out for?
Starkey- Well of course all the people on our labels Seclusiasis and Slit Jockey.... Sduk, DS1, Knight Riderz, DNAEBEATS, Kaiser, MIK, Mella Dee, Aquadrop, Distal, J-Sweet... too many to mention really. Music's in a good place right now. Swindle's killing it, so are people like Bassboy, the whole Family Tree crew... seriously too many to mention.
Knoxtronica- What gets you in the mood to make music?
Starkey- I don't really need to get in the mood. I'm always in the mood. It's frustrating when you go through periods where you don't think what you're making is very interesting.... but I pretty much force myself to persevere. Because of that, I've probably got 100 unfinished tracks that I think are terrible and no one will ever hear.
Knoxtronica- I know you played here in Knoxville at 90proof and Southbound, do you have any comments about Knoxville? What do you think about our city?
Starkey- Knoxville is cool. Fast Nasty is a homey and he reps Knoxville, so that's enough for me. I didn't realize that bootleg moonshine actually existed until I went to Knoxville.... so I definitely respect that. haha. The south in general is mad. It's a totally different world.
Knoxtronica- If you had your perfect show where would it be and who would you have play with you?
Starkey- Everyone I mentioned in the question where you asked who i thought was cool right now + Paul McCartney and Wings. And then Queen would show up........ plus Mogwai. Always Mogwai.
Knoxtronica- What have you been listening to a lot lately? Like an album, artist, new genre...
Starkey- I listen to my music probably more than anything else. I feel like I remember Aphex Twin saying that in an interview once before. But in all reality, when I listen to music that I'm not directly involved with... it's usually Billie Holiday, or Django Reinhardt, or Brad Mehldau.....something completely unrelated to what I do. I love good jazz.... so chances are that's what I'm listening to on my iPod.
Knoxtronica- Mica D'Alesandro wants to know what is your old rock band influences?
Starkey- There's too many to mention really.... but here we go. I'll give you the most expansive list of stuff I've ever enjoyed. All the post-rock stuff, Mogwai, Gospeed You Black Emperor, even early M83. Then people like Spiritualized, Radiohead, Blur, Shellac. Then I also played hardcore and punk in high school.... bands like Charles Bronson, Jasmine... the best french screamy-emo band of all time.... Devola, Man is the Bastard, Earth Crisis, Ivich, I-Robot, early Black Dice, At the Drive-In, Locust, Orchid, Candiria, NoFX, Crimson Curse.... list goes on and on. Ah... can't forget Joan of Arc as well. Sick. In particular Live In Chicago 1999 and The Gap. Those records are classic. Oh... and the late, great, Mark Linkous. Sparklehorse, in particular "It's a Wonderful Life" is simply amazing.
Knoxtronica- I am really excited for this show at The Cider House and see Street Bass in action. Thank you for the words and time, it was an honor and I hope to see you again very soon! Any last words for Knoxville?
Starkey- Not really..... just expect a crazy night. Going to be dropping loads of new music... so expect to get rowdy.
Starkey Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/starkeymusic
Starkey Website:
http://www.starkey-music.com/
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