August Profile:Joshua Seamless + John Solskei as the Digital Arkitekts Label: Soulbreed Records Contact: Joshua Seamless + John Solskei Real Audio: Joshua Seamless Mix Real Audio: Soulbreed Sessions

How did you get started ?
As far as DJ'ing goes, both of us have been spinning for years but only recently did we hook up at a party here in Texas. We chatted back and forth for a while and realized we saw eye to eye on music. After staying in contact through email for several months we decided to coordinate together in production and have been writing music together for about a year now. We still spin out at gigs but have found ourselves doing more studio work than anything lately. Every once in awhile we'll break out of the darkness for a gig or two. As with most musicians, I'm afraid we are both addicted to those late hour studio sessions…

Who inspires you musically and why?
Too many inspirations to mention. There have been quite a few artists and DJs that have jumped out as us to help inspire our production. A few to name would be Steve Porter [Sunkissed], Alex Buchanan [Minimal], Terry Francis [Wiggle], John Digweed [Duh], but again, there have been so many influences that it is tough to pinpoint even a few. I guess it is safe to say that most of our influences are from electronic music. Producers like the ones above caught our attention right off because they are always pushing the envelope. Whether it's in the studio or behind the decks, we enjoy these types because they are the ones that are the most unpredictable.

How much have you changed musically since you started?
As far as DJ'ing, well yeah, you have to stay up with the current music if you want to be a contender. However, we've found also over the years that music does seem to recycle itself. So it's also important not to abandon one style of music forever because more than likely it will eventually comeback and hit you in the forehead. On the production side, honestly we haven't changed much. We haven't been doing it too long, but we initially jumped into it with a deep compass and it has pretty much stayed deep along the way. We've been writing for about a year now, so I guess we'll have to wait and see where we'll be a year from now. The deep tribally electro stuff is what is currently moving us and hopefully (in our opinion) will be moving the crowds for a while.

Name two of your favorite tracks.
Ha! You must be joking. Too many to name favorites. There has been a couple; however that have really jumped out at us. That Bellslut song by Mike G. on Dorigen (couple months back) in our book, is an absolute masterpiece! Another fantastic one is Minilogue's 'Deep Emotions' on Sog. Both of these would probably be categorized as progressive.

What was your favorite event to play at? And why?
DJ'ing at the Love Parade in Berlin. There were about 2 million people there last year and it is an unbelievable experience. Everyone is united and under one established groove!!!

What's the best thing about DJ'ing?
The ability to play the music you love and to unite dance floors with what you feel in your heart.

What do you think of the current state of the Dallas Scene?
Wow. If you would have asked us this a year ago it would've been a difficult question to answer nicely. But here in the last 10-12 months it has honestly picked up like a bottle rocket. Just this past weekend upon going out, friends of ours were actually complaining about having too many options to choose from. I don't think this has happened anywhere in Texas for quite some time. There have been many sprouting DJ's and artists that have picked up the Dallas scene and have turned it upside down (thankfully so). Not to mention the guys and gals that have been here through the thick of it all (you know who you are). So now would be a great chance to commend EVERYBODY on an effort well done. Still got a long way to go, but hopefully we'll continue to stride until Dallas gets the global recognition it deserves.

When is your next gig? Any residencies?
hmm… As mentioned above we have been doing more work in the studio than gigging out, we will be playing in New York in August at the Halcyon.

Do you want to thank anyone?
These people know who they are. All the folks who have enjoyed what we have been doing and who have encouraged us to stick with what we love doing most.

Do you have anything else to add?
Sure. Look for our upcoming releases by Digital Arkitekts on Navigation. 'We Play Music' should hit stores in October and from what we've been told by the label owner, Steve Gerrard will be doing a remix on this one also. We'll be working with some domestic labels in the next few months which unfortunately we can't mention because of legal issues, but definitely do look for at least a few new tracks to be released on UK and home-based American labels in the remaining months of 2002.

Also, we are in the works of establishing a new label called Soulbreed Records, which will showcase the type of music mentioned above. We're still working on the legalities but SB Records should be up and moving by the end of this year. So please be on the look out for new releases on this future label in record stores near you... And please do let us know of any feedback you might have on our website, www.soulbreed-records.com. It is currently under construction right now but you can at least go and here some tunes that we are currently working on as well as catching up with some events that we're currently involved in. Cheers!

Josh Seamless & John Solskei / Digital Arkitekts/ Soulbreed Records/ Dallas, USA