Apes With Barrels: Living in the Getto

If you read Apes With Barrels, you'll know that we have ~~an unhealthy~~ a proud obsession with French House. Anything with that disco flavor gets us more excited than the first time gLAdiator laid eyes on Mila Kunis. That's why when we discovered J Paul Getto, we just had to lock them down for an interview. We're on a mission to expose the underground scene of disco house producers to the world, so without further ado, we are proud to present our interview with J Paul Getto.

Apes with Barrels: It's Friday night, so, naturally, you're gonna start it off at your trusty discount liquor store. What do you buy?

Tony: Hennessy and a bottle of OJ.

Maurice: I normally just look at Tony's bottle of Hennessy and get drunk.

AwB: Are you satisfied with your purchase on Saturday morning?

T: You mean Saturday afternoon?

M: Since I really don't drink, I am a light weight, the glare at the Hennessy doesn't give me a rough morning. So I am pretty satisfied.

AwB: Tell us about how you guys discovered electronic music. At what point did you guys fall in love with Disco House?

T: I lived in Italy in the early 90s so I was easily exposed to early House, it was all over the radio and was very hard to get away from. I was just starting to DJ and was hooked instantly. I was listening to early NY hip hop as well and I was very intrigued by how the beats were made and how they were using old music and re-presenting it in a new form. I was especially into De La Soul. Their producer at the time (Prince Paul) used samples for every element in his tracks. When I started hearing sampled based House music, it became my favorite type of music to play out and I probably spent every dollar I had on those type of records.

M: I really don't know if there was a time I discovered it. As far as I can remember I have always loved music. My earliest memory of it was when my cousin was playing house music he got from England when he used to travel. That was in the early 90’s. Most of the music I liked, I had come to find, that it was sampled.

AwB: Favorite DJ you've ever seen live?

T: That's a tough one. The first that comes to mind is Ian Pooley. Amazing producer and great live DJ.

Maurice: I don’t think I really have one. Each DJ has his/her place in my world. But I certainly consider Tiesto as being in one of my top 5. ;)

T: Oh man...

AwB: It seems that Disco House is popular among smaller producers with very few, like a Louis La Roche, breaking out. Do you think that the genre has any hope of gaining more prominence, especially with the arrival of Duck Sauce?

T: As you know, there is always trends in electronic music. Trends come and go. As of right now, smaller producers are making this music and the bigger ones that were once doing it, are digging through their crates again. We think that this genre will never go away. We all got distracted a bit! We are just doing what we love most.

M: I concur.

AwB: What do you guys use to produce and DJ?

T: We produce with Ableton Live 8 Suite along with various plug-ins. DJ with Serato and Technics 1200s. I'm still trying to convince Maurice to switch from CDJs...

AwB: How and where do you dig for samples?

T: Digging for samples has become a lot easier with YouTube! When we find something we like, we order the vinyl and sample it. The low end on vinyl using Shure needles is pretty amazing. We also just go to random vinyl shops (not many left) and buy $1/$2 records and go through them. We also use voicemails that are insanely funny.

AwB: Tell us about Swivel Hips.

T: The Swivel Hips project was something that was started around 2003 with another person I use to make music with. We made two white label 12s with it. We started using the name again in late 2009 the Shorties EP and Headlines EP. We got a lot of attention from a bunch of big name producers like MSTRKRFT and Armand Van Helden. Unfortunately, I had separate myself from the Swivel Hips name due to some issues with my old label even though I made 95% of the tracks!

M: For those who are starting out as a duo, I strongly recommend that you fill out paperwork. Don’t go into a business without that. It could save a friendship and your end of the deal. Now see, if Tony screws me over, I get his house.

T: I get his girlfriend.

AwB: What 3 other artists out there right now would you like to collaborate with?

T: (this won't come as a big surprise) Alan Braxe, Fred Falke and Stuart Price. We actually want to just watch them work!

AwB: 5 tracks everyone should listen to right now?

Nightriders - Hey
Geisha Twins - Love Situation (Go Go Bizkitt! Remix)
Ridney, Ghost of Venice & The Phantom's Revenge - Looking For You
His Majesty Andre - Diamonds
Armand Van Helden - Gandhi Khan

AwB: What can we expect in the near future from J Paul Getto?

T: We are in the process of setting up a new label "Fogbank Recordings" and our first release should be ready in late March. We have at least a dozen tracks ready to go and some amazing collabs coming up!