The Funky Cat, Alien Sound System & Theracords Classics – Geck-O Interview

We bring you a fresh, new interview with the one and only Geck-O! Known for his time at QULT and experimental sound within the hard dance scene, he’s now proud owner of The Funky Cat. Bringing you fresh new tunes, crazy parties and lot’s of other trippie stuff! Recently he just announced his new album called Alien Sound System, which will be released on vinyl! Read all about the Theracords Classic sets, The Funky Cat, his new album and why he’s so addicted to cats!

Hey Geck-o, we are very happy to have you here today! We think it’s great to have some out of the box thoughts onto the scene. When looking back at this year’s festivals and events, which one was your favourite?
Thanks for having me! Phew, hard one to start off with… all the parties bring such a different vibe. Think I’m going to highlight my own party The Funky Cat – both editions – and Defqon.1 Festival 🙂 But I was lucky to find a dedicated crowd at more places.

[mixcloud width=”100%” height=”500″ cover=”1″ mini=”1″ light=”1″ autoplay=”1″ tracklist=”1″ artwork=”1″ iframe=”true” ]https://www.mixcloud.com/geckoNL/the-funky-cat-hosted-by-geck-o-12-02-09-2016/[/mixcloud]

Now that QULT stopped, which role played the QULT movement in your career, as well as in your personal life? How would you describe the music, produced under the movement of QULT? Which new doors opened after QULT stopped?
QULT gave me the perfect platform, back in 2013, to explore my experimental side when I wanted to broaden my spectrum. I had always done some side projects next to my hardstyle, but never got to do real releases and performances with it before. Quickly I grew to my role as front figure of QULT, hosting its radio show and being resident at its parties and hostings.

Being able to do this has been very important for my development as an artist, and I’m really thankful for that. Even if the concept was crucified at The Last Supper, it prepared me for starting my very own platform: The Funky Cat 🙂 Keeping the forward thinking melting pot of harder dance styles, but giving it my very own twist.

How would you describe your connection to Theracords? What does Theracords mean to you? How did you come in touch with Thera and all other members?
Theracords was my platform before QULT. Thera was my mentor for many years in the beginning of my career, giving me the platform to release my music and develop myself. I have always been very closely working together with Thera on the label, and it was awesome to see it grow and get recognized.

I feel like I’m repeating myself but this has been so important for me, it really shaped the rest of my career! We got in touch in 2008 when I simply sent a demo of mine. Great thing was that the other artists signed at the label were at a comparable level, so you would easily connect and help each other out, eventually seeing each other grow and improve. Great times 🙂

Recently you played a few Theracords classic sets together with DJ Thera. Is there more to come? Did you plan a small revival of the Theracords Classics? Can you give us a hint, where you will play the next Theracords Classic set?
Yesss for the second party of The Funky Cat I asked Pieter if he was up for doing a set together, after many many years, playing the stuff we used to make and play back in the days, when we performed together a lot. And it was amazing, that chemistry we had back in the days… it was no less now! I even dare say it works even better as we’ve both developed our DJ skills over the years. There is definitely a small revival happening right now.

I say: keep an eye on the Theracords Classics page on Facebook 😉 On the 22nd of October we’ll have a whole night of Theracords classics in Arnhem, NL. I will play both a solo set and a set with Thera, which gives us a lot of room to play many of the forgotten tracks. This one is for the real fans!

Why did you start to play Theracords Classic sets now? Why should people attend a Theracords classic set? Did you plan something more with the Theracords Classics concept?
When Theracords took a turn for the raw sound, and I took a turn for the QULT sound myself, our paths split. But now the present of back then has become the past, and we can look back at it, and come back at it, without it being in the way of our current paths. It’s the perfect time!

When thinking back of these classics, compared to nowadays music, what is the most significant difference? Can style be everlasting? If yes, which track implies this to you?A big difference is the approach to the sound. Most of the current hardstyle has a very indirect sound, it’s like a psychoacoustic illusion, giving you the idea that it’s really big and massive. If you go with this feeling, it’s amazing, but it’s still trickery of the mind. It’s not hard for real, it just implies to be, with delayed sub frequencies mimicking a huge impact.

So, the tracks we used to make back then, had a way more direct sound. Kicks that really hit you hard in the face 😉 Also if you compare the Theracords of then and now, it has all become much more serious, hasn’t it? We used to have more fun, making downright hilarious tracks. With our classics sets, we’re bringing back that humour to the stage!

Let’s check out some recent music. You have your own label, The Funky Cat, your own show and you organize parties under this name. What does The Funky Cat stand for as a brand, what have people to expect, when attending your parties and what can they expect from the music released under The Funky Cat?
To understand The Funky Cat, I think a quote from our graphic artist Marloes aka Mesloes will help out:

“I work with stories, with characters and narratives. This is why The Funky Cat is not just a logo; it’s a visual distillation of a personality, an entity, a character. The Funky Cat is a so-called Trickster; an archetype which can be best described as a character free from any boundaries. Tricksters stretch and challenge rules, emphasising that boundaries are illusionary by nature. In adjectives, The Funky Cat is playful, a little crazy, cunning and smart, theatrical, neither bad nor good, Cheshire-like and trippy. It’s some kind of alien/psychedelic entity, ungraspable, luring listeners into new realms of music by dissolving the boundaries between genres. Tricksters expand consciousness by showing you there’s way more to experience behind the curtains of normality.”

With the label, we think in feels, and not in genres. It’s just impossible to capture our music in that way. As long as the feels fit the label, the track can be released on it.

Another important point is our goal of spreading the music. We don’t want to form barriers for people to access the music. That’s why we make the music available for free, or rather pay-what-you-want, on our Bandcamp page. It’s a legal alternative to just get your music from the source in high quality, for free. Of course we’d still love you to throw us some money for it, so that option is available as well. But you having our music is the most important for us 😉 because of this, we want to be available in abundance, on all platforms, meaning you’ll also find us on Beatport, iTunes, Spotify etc!

Of course we also have to talk about your new album, called Alien Sound System! You announced the release this week, and it’s also available for pre-order! So, tell us more about the album, especially why you release it on vinyl?
Oh yes I’m very proud of this one! Right after I made my previous album A New Wave, released on QULT Records early 2015, I felt this was a very satisfying way of presenting my work. Just a few months after, I already started working on tracks for a next album! It was clear to me that the only right place to release this would be my own label. And one lesson I had learned from the previous album release, which was digital only, was that I really wanted to do a physical release as well this time. There was really a huge demand with the fans, and it felt like I had let them down with the first album on that point.

Then the question rose: vinyl, CD, or both? Doing both would have meant a big investment from my side, so I chose to go for one of them only. Eventually the choice for vinyl was pretty easy, as it feels way more special to me. A vinyl is an analog medium, with the music physically in the grooves of the record, making for a real different listening experience, also due to the different mastering of the music. A CD is just a carrier of digital music files after all, the experience of the music is the same as the digital files on your computer. Another big argument for me was the artwork. It just comes so much more alive on the gatefold sleeve we have with the vinyl, than it would on a small CD case.

How many tracks will it contain? Which kind of style will the listeners be able to experience?
The album will feature 13 tracks. The digital version will have a continuous mix and DJ versions of some tracks as a bonus. Where my previous album A New Wave really stood for the style I brought with QULT, Alien Sound System stands for the style I bring with The Funky Cat. It continues where I left off before, but this time we go a little deeper – and trippier 😉

Don’t you think many people won’t be able to listen to your album, since not everyone has the opportunity to play a vinyl? Will you ever release the tracks digitally?
No worries here, the album will be available on all platforms like Spotify, iTunes, Beatport etc on the 11th of October. I recommend getting it from The Funky Cat’s Bandcamp page, where you can pay what you want for the music 🙂 Also, if you can’t play the vinyl, you still have the wonderful artwork sleeve, which in my opinion is worth the price already.

Can you share some info’s about possible collaborations people can find on your new album?
The fun thing is… there are no collaborations on the album. It’s pure Geck-o production! Maybe, ff you take a step back, you could maybe see some of the voices I sampled as a collaboration. Some of these samples really shape the music on the album. It then however is no collab with the person behind the sample, but with the sample itself. But maybe we’re drifting off a bit here… 😛

Apart from the music, the big collaboration of the album is with Marloes Messemaker, who did the artwork. When you open the sleeve, you’ll find an extensive piece of comic art inside. To make this, Marloes really looked through the music into my soul, and produced a very personal story to accompany the album. It’s really amazing, and I’m very proud to feature her work on my album!

Credits to Mesloes: https://www.facebook.com/messloes/

Will it contain at least one hardstyle track or are your hardstyle days over? We remember your release “Oh!”, which was essentially different to your latest releases like “Tripper” – can we expect some new music in direction of “Oh!”?
There is one track on the album I would call experimental hardstyle myself – but the goal of this album is not to bring hardstyle, but to represent the alternative sound of The Funky Cat. That sound is still influenced a lot by hardstyle, though! I have some new hardstyle productions laying around, but I will release them in different ways. They wouldn’t fit on this album.

As for “Oh!”, that’s an interesting pick 😛 I still love to hear it, it’s very euphoric and heavy at the same time, even though the production sounds a bit outdated. Not too long ago you’ve heard some euphoric hardstyle from me like “Don’t Wake The Dreamer” and “Up There”, together with Frontliner. Also worth checking in this direction is “Sweet Sweet Love”.

Besides producing and rocking all those stages, what are your hobbies? Do you work as a full-time producer? Do you have family? How do you spend free weekends?
I really do the full all-round package with my music. I produce it, I perform with it, I run a music label, organize parties, host a radio show, do some mix and jingle jobs on the side, and of course all the marketing and administration that comes with it.

It leaves me little time to do anything else, especially because I love putting some much time into my passion, which I can happily also call my work 🙂 Because it’s so intense, I like to chill in my free time, listen to some calm or deep music, or go to parties with some deeper dance music. I’ve met most of my friends through the music, so I share a great passion with them and really connect on a deeper level.

What can listeners, fans expect in the future of Geck-o? Do you have some interesting news to share, besides your album announcement?
One big thing I’m really looking forward to is already coming in a week, at the 30th of September. I’m talking about the big launch of the music video for my track Tripper! We’ve started this crowdfunded project earlier this year, and I’m very happy that we can finally release it to the public. You’ll love it 😉 Keep an eye on my social media!

Thanks for having me, and see you all on The Funky Cat #3, 7th of October at P60 Amstelveen, NL and right after that at the Theracords Classics party, 22nd of October at The Dome Arnhem, NL! Greetz Geck-O!