South London-based producer and DJ James Fox delivers the next instalment in our fledgling mix series.  A journey through the deeper echelons of bass tinged house including an exclusive first listen of his remix of ‘What Matters’ by Hackman & Bluto, forthcoming on Deadplate in the new year.  To accompany the mix we caught up with James for a short Q&A.

CM. What's your name? Where you from? What  you on?
JF. My name is James Fox, I'm originally from Manchester but I currently live in South London.  I'm on nothing stronger than a flat white.

CM. What would say are some key influences on the development of your sound over the past five years?
JF. I suppose the key influence since then was moving to London - there's a unique blend of music here and you just absorb it when you go to clubs or record shops or listen to the radio or whatever.  I've also got (a lot) better at using the tools I make music with...!

CM. In my recent interview with Donga I asked about him about Dubstep.  Did the whole Dubstep thing influence you, your music or your production style in any way?
JF. I was pretty late on Dubstep really; although I had heard bits and pieces that I was feeling, for whatever reason it took me a while to hear it in the right environment (big speakers, dark room) so by the time I was able to appreciate it properly, it had already peaked. I can definitely identify with certain aspects of that classic Dubstep sound (deep vibes with lots of space, lots of bass) so I kind of wish I'd paid more attention at the time really.

CM. For me your track ‘New Jack Swing’ has a Metro Area vibe to it.   Are you a fan of that groove driven Detroit sound? If so, can you give a few personal favourites?
JF. Interesting that you say that, I'm a massive fan of Metro Area! I'm not an authority on Detroit at all, but if we're talking house music that's raw and soulful then these are all favourites of mine:

Norma Jean Bell - Dreams - Peacefrog
Dennis Ferrer – Transitions - Defected
Jill Scott - I Am Soul (Roy Davis Jr Remix) - JMR Records
Chez N Trent - The Choice - KMS
4th Measure Men - Given (MK Dub) - FXHE

CM. When you released ‘New Jack Swing’ on Well Rounded last May. It garnered support for DJ's across a variety of different genres.  Were you surprised by the broad appeal of that release?
JF. Yeah, I really was.  I wrote it really quickly just messing about in the studio, but when I passed it to a few well known DJs and they all caned it, I thought I might be onto something.  People still come up to me now and talk about how they love the track; I've heard stories about it getting a rewind at Outlook festival this year which was pretty cool - can't think of many other deep house jams that get rewinds!

CM. What was the starting point for that track?  Did you find the vocal first and build the track around it or vice versa?
JF. I think I wrote the chords first, then I was flicking through my acapellas folder and it just clicked.  Then I added some simple drums and bass.  The whole thing was finished in a few hours.

James Fox - New Jack Swing [Well Rounded Housing Project]

CM. If you were able to work on a music project, where money was no object, what would you like to do and who would you work with?
JF. I probably have at least one horrendously overblown concept album about something or other in me.  Let's say it would feature Rhythm & Sound on production, Andre 3000 & Beth Gibbons on vocals and the RZA on beats.  I would play the triangle.

CM. When you're not DJing, producing music or working.  What do like to spend your spare time doing?
JF. I've been trying to force myself to get back into reading books rather than wasting all my time on the Internet. Currently going through the works of Cormac McCarthy, on 'Blood Meridian' at the moment.  That and sleeping.

CM. Your Controller mix features an exclusive premier of you remix of the Hackman & Bluto track 'What Matters' (Forthcoming on Deadplate).  How did that hook up come about? When does that get released?
JF. I met Alex who runs Deadplate (as well as the excellent Daily Street blog) earlier in the year; I did a guest mix for the site and that seemed to go down pretty well, so he asked me to do a remix for his new label.  I think it should be out early(ish) next year.

CM. You described this mix for Controller as a 'deeper selection'.  What inspired that decision? Are there any deep house producers you're particularly feeling at the moment?
JF. It seems as though recently without really thinking about it I've been buying and making music much slower than before - 126bpm feels far too fast now.  There seems to be a lot more space and groove when you go slow.  I also wanted to make a mix that would work on headphones as well as it could in a club, and this is the result.  At the moment I'm really feeling people like Soulphiction, Axel Boman, Floating Points, Behling & Simpson, Genius Of Time, Maxmillion Dunbar, Nick Hoppner, pretty much anything on Rush Hour, etc.

CM. What other releases have you got coming up?
JF. My remix of Jack Dixon & Robin Card is due out very soon on TAKE Records (audio below). After that will be the Hackman remix early next year, then we'll have to wait and see - hopefully some original stuff, including a few interesting collaborations I'm working on right now.

Jack Dixon & Robin Card - Leave (James Fox Remix)

Tracklist

1. Radiohead - Little By Little (Caribou Remix) - Ticker Tape
2. Maxi Miil  - To The Next - Rush Hour
3. Nicholas & Simoncino - Unknown - Quintessentials
4. Radique – Pharaohe - Musique Risquée
5. Nebraska - Ras El Hanout - Rush Hour
6. Gadi Mizrahi - Oh Love - Spectral Sound
7. Behling & Simpson - Left Behind - Futureboogie
8. Genius Of Time  - Houston We Have A Problem - Clone Royal Oak
9. Andreas Saag - The Message (Summer Mix) - Rebirth
10. Mic Newman - Recorded In The Garage - Murmur
11. Trickski - Point Zero - suol
12. Steffi - Yours (Dub Version) - Ostgut Ton
13. Steffi  - Yours (Acapella) – Ostgut Ton
14. Shonky - Korg M1 - Spectral Sound
15. Untold - Bones (Joe Remix) - Hemlock
16. Hackman & Bluto - What Matters (James Fox remix) - Forthcoming Deadplate
17. Beaumont - Tokyo - Kinnego

Stream via Mixcloud  | Stream or Download via official fm

You can find more mixes and productions by James Fox on his soundcloud page