Since becoming a regular on blogs and in record bags back in 2010 with a new side project, serving as a platform for his urge to chop up soul and disco samples and morph them into house records - Fantastic Man has since become more than just a cheeky alias.
With his new label Fine Choice Records gaining momentum after just releasing it’s second 10″ vinyl only offering, Fantastic Man has gained worldwide acclaim in recent times with records for Jacques Renault’s Let’s Play House imprint, Kolour Ltd, Wolf Music and a couple of weapons for Melbourne Deepcast. He’s currently over in Europe playing gigs at places like Zoo Project in Ibiza and Boiler Room in London, but has found the time to put together number 94 of the series for us and answer a few questions.
You’re back off on your annual European expedition, How are the next couple of months shaping up?
Just hanging out mainly in London this summer/winter with a few gigs and trips penned in between. Good times all round.
Your new 10” vinyl only label Fine Choice has had its second release just hit the shelves.. tell us about the label, how did it all start and where to from here? Will it continue to solely release Fantastic Man material?
It was kind of an obvious next step for me in many ways. With Fine Choice in particular, I wanted an outlet for my more weird and (hopefully) wonderful Fantastic Man projects and doing so on my own terms. I also wanted to create something that was slightly sought after and collectable, hence the 10” vinyl format. I’d like to think that the music is also unique to the label (even though I’m only one release in for the moment) I think that element will reveal itself as the releases roll out.
You mentioned the Fantastic Man alias is going to become more of a thing going forward, releasing most of your original music under that name but continuing to do some remix work under Mic Newman. What do you think has led to that decision?
Yeah, that’s not really a concrete decision but it’s certainly panning out that way.
The Fantastic Man project was initially born out of heavily sampled ideas, which were completely different from what I had and was releasing at the time.
These days, creatively the lines have blurred so much, that I’m starting to confuse even myself, so I’ve been focusing on one thing at a time as I’ve never been one for multitasking.
I see you’re back playing with the Zoo Project gang in Ibiza again this month for the third year running, and at their Zoo Project festival in the UK in August – the forest location for that looks insane. What else can you tell us about the Zoo connection and that gig?
Sure, that ‘Zoo Project Gang’ are a pretty ripping bunch of humans, who run a pretty ripping weekly open air in Ibiza and now a festival in the UK in August. What else can I say, I’m just glad to be involved! It’s always been a highlight date on the calendar and now I have the festival to look forward to!
What have you come up with for this mix? Any exclusives?
One or two exclusives but generally just a bunch of tunes I like. Not necessarily a good representation of my DJ sets, but then again, this isn’t really meant to be.
What other music do you have coming out which we should keep an eye out for?
Yes, my next Fine Choice record (FCR002), which has just come out, as well as a follow up EP on Let’s Play House, due for September and another very special project at the end of the year, which I can’t quite announce just yet but am super excited about!
Tracklist:
1.You Were Better To Me – Geoff Lentin – CDR
2. Bit 1 (Nina Amnesia Remix) – Tornado Wallace – ESP Institute
3. Colourless Plastic (Chromatose dub) – Cage & Aviary – Golf Channel
3a. Bruce Springsteen – State Trooper – Columbia
4. All The Same – Vakula – 3rd Strike
5. Functional Love – Tyrex – Dolly Dubs
6. Tension – Fantastic Man – FCR
7. Naughty (Axel Boman Remix) Name In Lights – Free Association
8. As If – Max Graef – Melbourne Deepcast
9. A Daily Affair – The Mole – Maybe Tomorrow
10. Franz Underwear – Aero Dance – Tusk Wax
11. Dallas Evenings – Frak – Workshop