Widely recognized for his work as a member of renowned electronic music super-groups, Pendulum, and Destroid, KJ Sawka is undoubtedly one of the most illustrious, and respected figures in the industry today, with a unique ability to push the boundaries of dance music and foster innovation in the scene. To supplement his remarkable career, KJ has just made another noteworthy move with the launch of his very own label, Impossible Records. With a focus on Bass music, Impossible Records will be working to promote and showcase some outstanding tunes from burgeoning producers, as well as enable them to grow, and develop artistically.
KJ Sawka has also teamed up with esteemed glitch/bass music artist, ill.Gates, for an electrifying new remix EP, which has just been released on Impossible Records. Entitled Unsung Heroes, this EP consists of three distinctive, and inventive remixes in addition to the original track. A real treat for Dubstep enthusiasts, Unsung Heroes is a jaw-dropping coalescence of grimy synths and hard-hitting bass lines with discernible glitch and funk influences, which is also punctuated by intriguing vocal samples.
We were fortunate to have had the chance to ask KJ a few questions about this release, as well as the launch of Impossible Records in an exclusive interview that can be read below. The original mix of “Unsung Heroes” can be streamed and downloaded for free above via SoundCloud, and the full EP is now available for purchase on iTunes.
1. First, congratulations on the launch of your own Bass music label, Impossible Records. Can you tell us a little bit about what you have envisioned for this label?
“Thank you very much. My first vision started from my frustration with other labels. It wasn’t easy getting my music signed and when I did there were many hurdles that I couldn’t jump over and I was always feeling in the dark.
Secondly, I want to give the producers out there a chance to improve their music and have a better chance at getting their music to the world. There’s lots of talented musicians and producers that never get a response from labels. I wanted to change that. We look for musicians with big dreams that create great music, work hard at it everyday and have a positive attitude. And probably the most crucial thing was, my wife, now label partner had a vision that I was a record label owner and artist developer and that I was really good at it. So far, it has rang true.”
2. Renowned for your work as part of Pendulum, and Destroid, what prompted you to take the next step and launch this label?
“I have a lot of knowledge about every aspect of small productions to world dominations and it seemed to be the natural next step in my career. I’ve always been an educator and advocator of building a career in music. This is one of my ways to give back to the music community and also fully understand my own music career.”
3. You’ve just released a collaborative remix EP with ill.Gates on your new label. How did you guys meet, and decide to work together on this release?
“ill.GATES and I have known about each other for a decade or so. We finally got to meet face to face when he was on the Excision tour in Seattle a couple years back. We hit if off personally immediately. When both of our tours were over I called him up and we talked about how we could dominate the world together. Our collaboration was born right then and we immediately started working together. As ill.GATES says, “gas pedal!” “
4. Your music is an interesting conglomeration of genres and styles, how does this reflect your personal music tastes? Do you draw inspiration from non-electronic genres?
“Most definitely. Most of the melodic and beat ideas come from many years of listening to rock, jazz, metal, pop, dub, jungle and older electronic music. My all-time favorite is Phil Collins. “
5. Finally, can you tell us about any music you have in the works right now?
“There is so much music in the works. We just signed Stratus’s next EP, another KJ Sawka single with Miss Krystle. I’m working on our first 1 year celebration dj mix, featuring all the releases of this year. Loads of amazing new signed artists that we are working with to be released in 2016. A follow up to Unsung Heroes. The list goes on.”
Connect with KJ Sawka
https://www.facebook.com/OFFICIALKJSAWKA
https://twitter.com/KjSawka
https://soundcloud.com/kjsawka
Connect with ill.Gates
https://www.facebook.com/illGatesMusic
https://twitter.com/illGatesMusic
https://soundcloud.com/ill-gates
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