Constantly bombarded with emails and tweets about 'Are You Sef from Deep Tek' I've ran out of patience!! 1st of all this Sef aint even good looking like me (No Homo)!! So I've gone out and asked the question on many peoples lips 'Who Are Deep Teknologi?' 'What Do They Even Look Like' 'Are They Even Real?' - They are real and S.E.F. explains all....
S.E.F.: (Chuckles) Iv been S.E.F. since birth mate, I don't know how old you are!! I think I've got a few years on you, (Yeah RIGHT!!) you can blame my parents if anything..
SK: Oh so now thats now that established, we can crack on, tell us who are Deep Teknologi?
S: Well, its myself and T.Williams.. I would say we are the head of Deep Teknologi, we are the main DJs. T. Williams is the main producer and I handle the visual side of things. Beyond that we are a record label, DJ outfit, video production outfit, we do club nights.. basically we do all sorts involved with music.
SK: You do a lot! So how you and T.Williams link up to form Deep Teknologi
S: I've actually know T.Williams for about 10/11 years. We was involved in a different genre of music in a different time of our life's. I meet him when I was working at Uptown Records, at the time he was under the producer name 'Dready' and had a track tearing up the grime scene called 'Invasion' the thing about him is that he was so cool, as most producers who came into Uptown used to be really up themselves. We kinda just struck up a friendship from there, we was friends whether it was music or not. We decided to link up about a year ago after previously working on stuff individually and it doing really well. It just made sense really and we haven't looked back since.
SK: Wow, I mean I only came across you on your interview on the MA1 Show on Rinse FM (Saturdays 5pm-7pm GMT) so only since 09.. Your very young.
S: Well, yeah probably about 2 or 3 months before you heard that interview on Rinse. In terms of how long we have been involved in music, its been a hell of a long time. I mean T. Williams has been producing since the age of 13, Deep Teknologi is our new baby.
SK: Ok, so what exactly is the Deep Teknologi Sound and explain in no more than five words
S: Well, it's definitely Deep, Hard, Cutting-Edge, Fresh and Dynamic
SK: Your record label Deep Teknologi Recordings, whats the concept behind your releases?
S: Well at the moment we have three other producers Don Morris, Zander Hardy & J. Bevin on the label and we are always looking for more producers, if you feel you have the right material for our label get in contact with us! In terms of a concept, I guess its about keeping it different and new. We find that a lot of people find a formula and keep on hammering that sound with like 5 or 6 tunes. I don't see us that doing that because we go so many producers and their is so much material stocked up that we don't really have to keep on repeating sounds. It's about keeping it dynamic and fresh, the one thing that will be consistent is the quality.
SK: So you guys being Deep Teknologi and yet having a lot of different producers on your record label isn't that a bit confusing to people?
S: Well the motto of Deep Teknologi is that the music speaks for itself, so it's not about me, T.Williams or anyone else involved, what we are trying to build is a brand which you can associate with good music, good club nights and good video production. We not interested in personality really, we more happy with people thinking its good rather then exactly what it is.
SK: Right so the music you do create, what programs and tools do you use? What's your studio set-up like?
S: Pretty much every one in the camp uses logic and various plug-ins. Don Morris uses cubase, he is slightly different in how he makes his style. Everyone also has their own equipment they use at home. When we want to finish stuff off, we work out of a studio in Wembley with pretty much everything we need hardware and software wise.
SK: Right so let talking one of those creations from your studios 'Anthem'. It's be doing a lot across club land, in both UK Funky and Deep House scene.. You, however have some interesting thoughts about it.
S: Well It actually wouldn't be our favourite track!! It's has done very well to the point where it's actually been signed alongside 'Afrik' and 'Flooring' We was about to release it ourselves but because of the interest its had, it's now been taken up by someone higher than us and hopefully it will get that extra push it needs. It's definitely a track that has helped to put us on the map. It's definitely not rubbish, but it's definitely not our personal choice of material!
SK: I remember once you was saying about it being on your myspace and you getting messages about actually sending out the track to various people. That sounds like a big part of why it's even out there!
S: Well yeah, we put it up there, we put it on a couple of CDs, then we gave it to Scholar-T and he played it at Persona (Every Sunday, Fridge Bar, Brixton) the reaction it was getting was amazing, literally every week it was tearing down the roof! He would give us this feedback and from that everyone started asking for it, but not just UK Funky DJs. All manors of people from Sinden to Kode 9 and Ikonika, that introduced them and others to our sound because 'In Da Groove' was our first release.
SK: So it's about giving out some promo to a few DJs and trying to make sure your getting feedback from those DJs if they play it.
S: Without a doubt but don't expect to give it to a DJ and expect it to be the biggest thing out there the day after they play it. 'Anthem' has actually been circulating for about a year now, it didn't happen overnight and nothing that we have done has happened overnight. It may look that way but in the background we have been working hard to make sure that things are ready and proper.
SK: So who are you guys working with and who else would you like to work with?
S: We are currently working with our extended family members Cooly G, MA1, Ben Westbeech, also Tayo and a guy called Clipz. We would like to work with Claude Vonstroke, Dennis Ferrer, Quentin Harris but really we willing to work with anyone so long as the quality is of a standard.
SK: So what is happening in the near future?
S: We done a track with Terri Walker, which has been getting a really positive reaction from the few who have heard it. It may come a surprise to some people as it's not hard as say our normal stuff but yet we not planning in putting ourselves in a box of a certain sound. We like all styles of house really but what we make now is not necessarily what we will make next year. We are launching our club night also called LOGIK, a bi-monthly event down in The Russian Bar, Shoreditch. It's gonna be cheap to get and do not expect to come in and hear the top 10!! The DJs have free rain to play whatever they want, so long as it's quality. We we have big names there and others who we just like. We also looking to expand the more visual side with things like Cooly G TV and other projects.
SK: So what about Deep Teknologi TV!!!??!!
S: Well we would be stupid not to because we have the capabilities but really like I said we more interested to make the music do the talking. You will see more of us though. Up until recently people didn't know what we looked it..
SK: Yeah man, all the pictures I see of you guys are the back of your heads, level 1 trims and new era hats!! I'm like what do this guys look like!
S: (Laughs) It's not about us, its about our music.. We not interested in being celebrities, letting everyone know what we doing, eating or wearing!! Eventually people will know who we are but for the time being we keeping it low key.
SK: So what producers are you feeling outside your camp and extended family?
S: We could be here all day!! You got me on this one!! I do like Joy Orbison, Zinc and Geeneus though but really I like anyone that is making music a good quality.
SK: Ok, so let me put it to you this way, what was the last track you got and you was feeling, who was the producer of that?
S: Marco Del Horno from Rinse sent me something by the name Kappa Kappa, when I heard that I was yeah this is BIG!
SK: So what about DJ's also, who are you feeling besides the camp and extended family?
S: Some fake Sef.. He aite!!
SK: (LAUGHS)
S: I went Rinse & FWD the other night and heard Chef, he was brilliant, he had one of the best sets on the night. I know I'm being biased but my boy El-Kapitan, I love Zinc but there is so many good DJs though with the electronic ages DJs are using different tools to be innovative and exciting.
SK: So what is your favourite track right now?
S: (Opens Serato Playlist) My favourite tune right now don't even have a name!! It's a Breach (aka Ben Westbeech) remix of a Sizzla track. That tune is doing it for me.. It has so much energy!
SK: New producers, what advice would you give them into making some success from their material?
S: Just keep on it!! Don't be down hearted if a DJ dont play your track. Also don't think your shit don't stink!! You need to be humble. Know it takes time also, there is rare people who come through the door who make their first track and bang its amazing straight away. That's an exception to the rule rather then the rule. It's about taking your time and making sure that your stuff sounds quality, you cant expect people to play something that you wouldn't play yourself. Just because your friends says it's amazing... that might not nessacarily be the case. Don't copy anyone also, try find your own sound.
SK: Where do see yourself in the next 3 years?
S: Hopefully continuing to do what we love and progressing really
SK: Any goals??
S: I don't really wanna say, i dont really know, whatever comes along comes along. As long as we doing it and doing it well then we happy...
SK: Ok so tell us something interesting and unknown about Deep Teknologi
S: Well it's not really unknown but I DO HATE ARSENAL! T.Williams loves them
SK: Boi! Must be intense in the studio after an Utd victory, do you guys take a break from each other??
S: Nah, but I do have a big mouth!! I wind him up so much now, I think he don't care, he has given up!! Apart from that I dunno really!! There are aint any skeletons in the closet
SK: If you wasn't doing music or videos, what do you think you would be doing
S: I would be doin either music or video!! (Lol) Maybe football but when I started doing videos, I was doing football anyway. So yeah I've been fortunate to be able to be able to what I've always to do in life and I thank Allah, long may it continue
From Left To Right - T.Williams, S.E.F., Cooly G, Ben Westbeech, DJ MA1
SK: What been your best moment so far in the one year of Deep Teknologi?
S: Getting in FACT Magazine, being named one of the top ten producers to look out for this year. Seeing the reaction of our tracks when we play out also, it's like the best feeling!
SK: On the FACT Magazine, how do you feel about that. Do you have any added pressure living up to the billing of being a top 10 producer to look out for?
S: Not really, I love it!! It's an honour! We don't feel like we have to do anything different to what we've been doing anyway, just carrying on as we are.
SK: So is there any special tools you using whilst DJin?
S: T.Williams prefers using CDs, I do like Serato but do feel its still not 100%. I feel tighter using CDs than Serato because Serato still does make mistakes. It's not an excuse but I just think it's not 120%. I recently got a new midi controller for my samples n loops for Serato, I don't really like touching the computer, I wanna feel something like im actually using records or CDs, I don't want to be pressing buttons on a computer.
SK: So apart from your night where can we catch you spinning?
S: Well you can catch us at Grammophone and Matter end of the Feb. On the same night as our night we are also playing Coronet for a night called Together. In May we playing in a car park...
SK: EY!!!!!???!!
S: Yeh!! We playing in a car park and the line-up is UNREAL!! London hasnt seen anything like this for a long time. Keep your eyes wide open on this one!
SK: What your thought on Sound Cloud?
S: It's amazing, it's instant, you can see very quickly if your stuff is working or not. We definitely on the new age of promoting music, so myspace, forums and ustream.. we down for it.
SK: What about people ripping your music from these sites?
S: Good luck to them! We own the copyrights so it's not really a problem. It's inevitable that these things happen and you cant really stop, so the industry should look at ways to embrace and make money from it because looking at selling records.. those days are gone.
SK: So where can we find your material?
S: Our previous release, you can find our stuff on places like iTunes and Juno. We have recently signed a couple of deals, so our stuff will be literally everywhere. So for DJs we talking, Traxsource, Beatport, DJDownload to name a few. So of our stuff has been signed by another label and that will be available as a vinyl n digital download.
SK: Right, the link ups and progress is very strong.. Is 2010 Deep Teknologi's year?
S: I certainly hope so! If it finishes the way it started, we will have a great year, not just for us though, the music scene in general because it's lonely at the top and you will have a hell of a lot of people trying to bring you down.
SK: How you feel about the scene you play in? Is it getting received well?
S: I can't speak for other events, but without a doubt where have been playing the reaction has been amazing and the people are quite open minded to new stuff.
SK: So really the music that you and producers you circulate with create music for the 'open-minded'
S: Yeah, I think so, people got bored, like too much of the same thing was coming out and people wanted a change. You kinda need that period where stuff gets kinda crap, so better stuff can come around and I think towards the end of last year and now, the stuff has got a hell of a lot better.
SK: Anything happening abroad for you guys?
S: We hope to be going to a festival in Morocco and their has been interested from Europe but nothing concrete, I'm pretty sure you will be hearing us abroad in the near future though.
SK: Do you have many followers outside of the UK?
S: Yeah we have a nice amount, it's funny because our first followers to message us was from Japan. Since then it's got quite big, stuff like Sound Cloud gives us the change to check who have been listening to our stuff. We had someone from Eastern Europe check us out.. I cant even remember the name but it was the last place on earth that I expected!
SK: So what is Deep Teknologi's biggest strength and weakness
S: Whooaa.. Our strength is a our Unity.. Someone would have to point out our weakness!!
SK: Thanks very much Mr S.E.F. all the best for the coming year!
S: Thanks Bro, Peace!!
More From Deep Teknologi:
Check Out Deep Teknologi 5.0 A Brand New Mix
Buy The Reality Check EP by Don Morris On Deep Teknologi Recordings Right Here
Check Out Forthcoming Productions From Deep Teknologi On Their Myspace
Join Their Fanpage on Facebook
Follow Them On Twitter
Catch Deep Teknologi Every Sunday on UStream At No Specific Time Right Here
