INTERVIEW: The Freemasons’ James Wiltshire shows how the masters do it and explains why the world has gone ga-ga

By Matthew Jenkin
See Full Interview (www.newsshopper.co.uk)

Having collaborated with some of the biggest names in pop, including Kylie and Whitney Houston, The Freemasons are not to be confused with a rather secretive society of the same name.

MATTHEW JENKIN attends a DJ masterclass with one half of the dance music duo James Wiltshire and speaks to him about making the music to make you go oooooooh.

TIME stretching, swing and pitch. Confused? After attending a masterclass on remixing and music producing with The Freemasons I was a little too.

The hour long class with James Wiltshire – one half of the dance music duo – was not for the uninitiated, but as a fan I couldn’t resist seeing a master at work.

Despite my initial bewilderment, the event at The O2’s British Music Experience was a fascinating insight into the music I love to listen, dance and fall over drunk to.

For many attending the evening it was also a chance to ask questions and learn about the profession which has given The Freemasons hits such as Uninvited, Love On My Mind and this year’s Heartbreak (Make Me a Dancer), featuring Sophie Ellis Bextor.

The pair are also famous for their remixes of chart-toppers including Kelly Rowland’s Work, Whitney Houston’s comeback single Million Dollar Bill and Beautiful Liar by Beyonce and Shakira.

Speaking with me after the class, James explains how he and partner in crime Russell Small choose which songs to turn into floor-filling dance hits.

He said: “For remixes, the songs come in and we decide whether we want to do it. It’s really that cut and dry.

“We’ve turned down probably three times more than we’ve actually done.

“I have always loved some of the more retro sounding vocals. I’ve got a big thing for Amy Winehouse. I love that jazzy style of singing.

“There are some brilliant new singers coming through at the moment as well. But the list of people we’d like to work with goes on forever.”

Chart success is not their main priority, James explains, and it is more important to make tracks which people love.

However, the lacklustre chart performance of Kylie Minogue’s fourth single The One, which The Freemasons helped produce, left them feeling more than a little peeved.

“It did bother us, particulalry when we found out it was slated as her first single from her last album X,” James said.

“The record company had it on their list to be the first single. Unfortunately there was that and another one in the running and the other one won.

“So that did quite upset us, but most importantly we knew that she loved it and it was one of her favourite tracks on the album.

The fickle nature of the music industry has meant DJs have had to work constantly to keep up with current trends and advances in music mixing and producing.

James says their new album of original material, which will be released next year, will take them in a new direction.

He said: “We have had to change dramatically what we do because thetype of house which we were a part of doesn’t exist anymore.

“I don’t want to go down the tech route and I don’t want to make a dance music album. I want to make an album with great music and songs, but it’s taken a while to redevelop everything.”

“It will still be up-tempo but there will be some down-tempo stuff as well.

“We want to just make a really good album, but we will separate the dance mixes because club music now does not fit in with album music.”

The flamboyant arrival of one pop diva in particular has left many producers shaken and scrambling just to keep up.

“Dance music is going to change dramatically,” James explains.

“The Americans have mixed dance music and urban music together and come up with their own particular sound.

“Urban producers are trying to copy dance music because of Lady Gaga.

“She has been the biggest cultural explosion.

“Nobody in America had heard it before, mainly because of the differentiation between the urban clubs and the house clubs over there – there’s such a cultural difference.

“In this country it’s going to be fascinating because there’s some brilliant pop records coming through next year which a much deeper nature than there has been recently.”

So with the whole world literally going ga-ga, the world of dance music seems to be teetering on the edge of oblivion, waiting for a new wave of superstar DJs to infuse club music with their own new brand of head-spinning beats and melodies.

And perhaps it will be The Freemasons who answer our prayers to the god of disco. Your worshipful followers are on their dance weary knees with bated breath.