B.K.R Interview

Simon Baker has been cooking up dance floor treats for over a decade, wracking up a legion of fans including 20:20 Vision, Playhouse, Fina, Murmur, Kompakt and Last Night On Earth. Having mixed up varying flavours of house and techno, in 2015 the London-based artist launched a new B.K.R moniker to focus on techier sounds.

Already starting 2017 with a No.1 in Mixmag's Big Tunes section, he joins us at Egg LDN for the Eastern Electrics Launch Party this Saturday April 1st alongside Joyce Muniz, Deborah De Luca, Wehbba, Francisco Allendes and more.

With just a few days to go (more info and tickets here), we had a chat about his re-brand, working with Jamie Jones and never letting a good pun go unused...

Tell us about your roots, did you start off as one half of The Liptrick? Where you also a resident at Asylum in Leeds?

Yes and yes…The Liptrick started in 2004, way back when. We had a biggy hit which got my name on the ladder. I was a resident at Mint Club for Asylum for many years after that, in which time I built my Simon Baker production and DJ name.

Simon Baker and BKR Projekt; what's the difference and why did you decide to rebrand?

I had released all over the place with Simon Baker. Everything from deep house albums on 20:20 Vision to more tech house stuff like 'Plastik' on Kompakt and Last Night On Earth. I got some new studio equipment and decided after ten years it was time for something new and fresh and just concentrate on one sound. BKR Projekt is my label name, B.K.R is the new production name for this stuff. It’s more techy/techno vibes than before. It’s a new path, albeit my mum wouldn’t be able to tell the difference, but I can! I'll leave the deeper stuff to Simon Baker going forward.



You recently got track of the month in Mixmag with 'Bubble & Squeak', which was a collab with Jamie Jones. How did this project come about and where was it recorded?

We are long term mates, but I hadn't seen him for ages. I had one of his drum machines and last year he asked me to bring it back, so when I did we played around with some stuff for about an hour in his studio. We came up with that idea and I went off and tweaked it and that was that. We have done two or three collabs over the years and they have all come together really quickly. We discussed doing another last week actually so watch this space…

Are you a fan of the delicacy bubble and squeak? From touring, do you have a favourite dish that particular to a country or region?

Ha, not really thought about it. It wasn’t food related but I do like a trip to Mexico for some real Mexican fodder! No bubble and squeak there.

Recently you picked four funeral tunes. What four tracks would you chose for a more euphoric occasion like finding a pound down the back of a sofa?

Oh, that’s a hard question, I’d be here all day. Took me ages with the funerals. I was back and forthing for days. If I found a £20 in the back pocket of some jeans that would give me more inspiration to be fair!

Have you ever submitted a Top Thirteen chart and called in Baker's Dozen (or B.K.R.'s Dozen)? Can we persuade you to do it?

I actually have another alias called Bakers Dozen. I did something on Pokerflat under that name, as well as a big piano thing on Matt Tolfrey's edits label called 'Piano Lessons'. So it has actually been done in the past, one step ahead!

Finish these sentences:

This exact time next week... I will be mixing down and mastering music. I have an audio engineering business on the side mastering and mixing peoples' music which I love doing! I'm a bit of a geek like that.

This exact time last week I was... traveling to Leeds for a gig.

One thing you won't know about me is... I am back at college part time studying some alternative medicine.

What's next on the metaphorical horizon?

More B.K.R music, more study, living a happier life and generally take care of myself!

Describe the rest of your day after finishing this interview?

Presently I'm sat on my mate's villa terrace in Ibiza doing this Q&A, after which we're going for some lunch at the beach. Happy days!