INTERVIEW: Jacques Bon and Julius Steinhoff
reading time: 7 minutes
The Hamburg-based Smallville records has been one of the most influential record labels in the past 15 years when it comes to the deep, lo-fi, micro house. With two record stores (in Hamburg and Paris, both closed in the meantime) and more than 50 releases, Smallville hasn’t been just another record label but a community of incredible artists and friends sharing a passion for deep, delicate, raw, and warm house music.
On July 1, the well-known Hamburg-Paris connection will operate again, in the shape of the latest album ‘A Long Way’ by Jacques Bon and his studio partner, Drux. Daniel George, the newest member of our Delayed crew, had a lovely chat with one of the label co-founders, Julius Steinhoff and Jacques Bon, about everything Smallville and the album ‘A Long Way.’
Could you speak more on this connection between the Hamburg and Paris scenes?
JS: Our Paris – Hamburg relationship was initially set up through Hendrik Weber (aka Pantha Du Prince) back in the day, who lived in Paris around the time we opened the Smallville store in Hamburg. Hendrik started to stock some Dial records (run by Pete) in a local clothing store, where his friend Asha worked, and as the Smallville store in Hamburg was also kind of a Dial warehouse, we helped out a bit. Jacques came by this store in Paris coincidentally to surprisingly find some good records stocked. After Hendrik asked Jacques to help sell the records, this somehow became the very first very small shop-in-shop "Smallville branch" Paris. It worked well, and at some point, Jacques found a new spot for the records, so "Smallville Paris” was born. Jacques also lived in Hamburg for a few years and made some great tunes and records for the label. We got to be close friends. We also played together regularly at the Smallville Paris parties and invited DJs like Omar S or Jus-Ed to play in Paris for the first time ever.
There is a playfulness, humor, maybe even some irony, but also this melancholic sense expressed across Smallville artworks; what do you attribute this to?
JS: Stefan Marx is responsible for all the Smallville-related artworks, record covers, but also posters and flyers, etc. And, of course, this is his style that fits Smallville very well. He has the ultimate freedom to express himself – but of course, we are talking about artworks and potential covers and sometimes flip through his works together to find ideas. It's always a fun project to think about potential artworks, we also involve the artists to some point, but sometimes it can also be a surprise :)
How much interaction or discussion does the label have with its artists prior to release?
JS: It's always a steady process once a release is planned, especially when it's an album project. But as with Stefan on the visual side, it's always the musical artist's expression, and we as a label want to provide artistic freedom. Though I always advise if it's welcome or needed, I like compiling tracks together with the artists and finding a good way of building an atmosphere with the tracks involved.
Smallville output has slowed down a little bit in the past five years; what have you noticed from this reduction in releases?
JS: We never felt forced to keep up a certain number of releases per year or something, so it was ok to slow down a bit at some point. During the Covid-times, I also felt that our music needed to be danced to, which was mostly impossible; this generally slowed down everything. Besides, with the crazy production times in the vinyl business at the moment, it's not that easy anymore to be flexible release-wise. Everything needs to be planned very well and with more time for unforeseen happenings. Our shop in Hamburg closed down last year, too, and the whole process also sucked some energy, but here we are... And there will be more good things coming soon :)
Jacques, the release, A Long Way is a collaboration with Parisian studio partner Drux; what can you tell us about your dynamic in the studio putting this album together?
JB: As we shared the same studio, we started some tracks together, which worked pretty well from the beginning. The very first track we produced together was released on the Dial 20 years compilation. It seems to us that our skills fit quite well, Vincent being more focused on the sound design and the mix and myself on the composition and the melodies.
While I have my own guesses about how the Jacques Bon & Drux sound could be conceived, what are some ways you built the aesthetic of A Long Way? Was this a conscious, deliberate process or something more free-form?
JB: Even if we don't have exactly the same music tastes, we easily found a common direction and listening to each other's ideas felt very interesting. We used some analog machine recordings treated with some plug-in effects. The combination of our producing material also matches quite well as I brought some analog stuff like a prophet 600 and Juno 106 and some drum machines. Vincent had those UAD effects, a great soundcard, and nice speakers…
How much of A Long Way is built on improvisations as opposed to composition, or do you find the two processes inherently the same?
JB: I think we use both processes. Sometimes, we have a clear vision of what we want the track to be built and sound like, and sometimes it ends up being a different track than what we originally had in mind.
What are some important things to foster, outside of music and production, outside of the studio environment, that help enrich this collaboration?
JB: I think we know that we get along quite easily, we trust each other and most of all, we enjoy making music together a lot because almost every session we have gives an interesting result. We spend a lot of time outside the studio, too, with a nice group of common friends.
Was there some music that sticks with you or musical experiences as being important in the journey of creating this album?
JB: Yes, of course, I'm always very sensitive to the Smallville and Dial sound aesthetics, the Detroit and Chicago influence, and much other great music from many different music styles…
Smallville as a label, for me, sonically has always positioned itself as being built on a foundation of records that are diffused with warmth, space, and a particular prescription of vintage drum machines or samplers being abstracted, which work great in the club and also at home, how does this resonate with you in the context of A Long Way?
JB: It does, for sure. A pointed and unique sound aesthetic can be found throughout the whole album while listening – and there is lots of space and warmth. I was very inspired when I listened to the tracks for the first time around two years ago, so we are thrilled this will finally come out and share this experience with the world.
Could you explain some concepts you wanted to bring to "A Long Way" and what they mean to you?
JB: I'm not sure if there were some particular concepts, but it was maybe a way to escape those lockdown times even if we started to produce the first tracks before that. So perhaps you can see it as a journey that takes you a long way, haha I don't know :)
What I admire about "A Long Way" is that at the core, this is an array of different flavors and grooves displayed over eight tightly arranged cuts, and yet it doesn't feel disparate or hastily thrown together. Fuzzy and tender emotions are delicately interwoven throughout the entire album; how would you describe the narrative you want to portray on this album?
JB: Thanks a lot for these nice words. I feel like I'm not able to describe it better than you. :)