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Johnny Hooves has been enjoying a healthy profile as a Drum & Bass producer / DJ. His list of releases continues to grow. Most recently a single ‘Eye of the Beholder’ on Empathy Recordings, a remix of Double Negatives ‘Vegas’ on the same label, and a remix of Pitch Black’s ‘Please Leave Quietly’ on their Rhythm Sound and Movement compilation. His next single release is ‘Turning Point’, a mammoth roller set for State of Mind Music, and collaborations are in the pipeline with Concord Dawn, Trei, MC Lowqui and JPS.
But it’s the production of Johnny Hooves first full length LP that is expanding his focus outside the Drum & Bass genre. Along with singer Georgie Fisher (famous for her vocals on The Upbeats ‘Thinking Cap’) and MC Deziak, Hooves is drawing on what he calls his electronic music roots. Influences such as Massive Attack, Portishead, Orbital, Underworld, Burial, Trentemoller, Harmonic 313 and Martyn have flavoured a project that Hooves says is much truer to his own musical world than an album made up solely of Drum & Bass.
The LP will feature a cross section of Hip Hop, Downbeat, Dubstep, and Drum & Bass. Johnny Hooves draws his inspiration for such diversity from mid to late 90s albums where “Producers didn’t let the difficulties of marketing a multi genre album stop them from making a really good one”.
This may seem like a tall order for someone that has put so much effort into one particular style, but it is in Johnny Hooves less visible work that he exhibits his talent for multiple genres. Hooves was the drummer for Melbourne reggae outfit The Red Eyes, Soulster Josh Owen, and Roots artist Chris Cavill, and recently produced and engineered a full length album for the latter. His experiences as a session drummer, live sound engineer, and remixer have coloured a pallet much broader than your everyday Drum & Bass producer.
Needless to say, Johnny Hooves’ DJ sets reflect the same vivid music picture. His flamboyant mixing style promises just as unique experience in the club as on his album. V4.4
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