• Rene Amesz
• 25 Hertz Recordings, Extrema Music, Little Mountain
• 01.09.2007 ::: Words by Simon Jain

Few people have displayed the disciplined approach to producing that Rene Amesz has in the last ten years. Churning out a steady stream of his unique and dirty sounding tracks, the Rene Amesz sound has been destroying speakers all over the world and it looks like now, it is coming into its own at the opportune time.

Maybe Rene’s early career as a football player combined with his Rotterdam background had something to do with his work ethic. People from Rotterdam are generally known for their ‘get on with it attitude”. The “get yourself together and work hard to get out there” approach seems to be working well ! Young Rene was a promising prospect in the football world and considered a player headed for the A-team of Rotterdam’s finest, Feyenoord or even Sparta. Fate would deliver him a nasty injury, and in turn direct him into what he was meant to do; rock the underground!

His hunger for his own sound, based on phat beats, sick grooves and a unique approach towards arrangements and sounds h ave garnered him the attention of the industry elite as well as those on the dance floor. Rene often teams up with Peter Gelderblom when in the studio. Together they are responsible for tracks such as ‘Strike Me Down’ on Wally Lopez’s La Factoria Records, the mighty ‘You Make Me Climb The Wall’ on Sander Kleinenberg’s Little Mountain Recordings and remixes for Danny Tenaglia, Tom Stephan, D. Ramirez and Mark Knight just to name a few. In short, their work is a force to be reckoned with.

Independantly, his first EP on Deep Focus called ‘Courisha’ and the breathtaking ‘I like Sex’ her alded the young DJ/Producer’s rise to dancefloor notoriety and it forced d ance fans to sit up and take notice. Other releases that helped carve Rene’s signature sound were ‘I’ve been away’ on Lowriders Records and ‘I’m your Doctor’ on Nu Republic which crossed Rene’s sleazy style to bigger masses in 2005. From then onwards Rene’s career took a sharp turn upwards and forwards. Sander Kleinenberg’s imprint Little Mountain successfully released the fierce ‘Back into the Funk’ and lately we’ve seen a bunch of amazing releases come out on labels such as La Factoria, Stereo Productions, Extrema, DK records and Deep Records with remixes planned for Nic Fanciulli, Jamie Anderson, Muzzaik & Lexicon Avenue. More new m aterial is scheduled for a number of labels and some will find a home at his newly established label 25 Hertz Recordings.

His DJ diary is filling up with gigs where fans appreciate the sore muscles you can only get from dancing all night; after all, that’s what it’s all about, isn’t it? Success is glowingly around the corner – barely close enough to touch with the anticipation of what is yet to come.

Make no mistake, Rene is well qualified & eager to unleash his speaker sickness on the electronic faithful & his next stop is Toronto. We caught up with him sometime in the middle of his hectic schedule to bother him with a couple of questions.

Nocturnal: Your sound has been highlighted as one of the most unique over the last two years, with 2006 bringing you to larger dance floors the world over! What influences have shaped the way you create & craft your music?
Rene: Well, to be quite honest, these days it is my drive to fulfill my own creative ideas & thoughts; nothing has really influenced me per say. I just love funk! There are many artists, however, that I do admire a great deal & whose work I do enjoy; such as, Sander Kleinenberg, Booka Shade, Josh Wink & Trentemoller…just to name to a few.

Nocturnal: Football was your first love...how did you come about becoming a club guru?
Rene: I just love music, I always have. Sometime after my football aspirations my friends took me out & I was immediately hooked. What more can be said!

Nocturnal: Peter Gelderblom is your co-partner on many smashing singles, including the destructive "Climb the Wall", how did that partnership come about? What can we look forward to in the near future from this team?
Rene: Definitely destiny played a part there. When we first came up with the concept of writing together, I was basically in the clutches of a record company that had me creating music I simply wasn’t fond of. My heart was not there. He in essence, dragged me from that arrangement, which ultimately allowed us to create music together. Just after one year of writing & producing together, there was a flurry of interest in our stuff. The tunes we written were picked up by all kinds of people. More recently we have remixed Danny Tenaglia’s “Dibiza” on Stereo Recordings; as well we have a new tune called “Snap”, to be released on Chris Lake’s new label, Rise Music. Our next project that we are tackling together is Sebastian Ingrosso’s cult smash “Clic”. On the solo front, I just recently remixed a new Laidback Luke track on Size Records (Steve Angello’s label), & I just finished a remix for Mark Knight on Toolroom. Lots more to come!!!

Nocturnal: What moments in your career to date stand out as moments which uplifted your career?
Rene: There have been many already, but at this point I would say most definitely my set on the Club Space Terrace in Miami last Winter Music Conference, & definitely @ Ministry of Sound in London. Both sets incidentally were alongside Sander Kleinenberg, very awesome guy!

Nocturnal: What production or remix are you most proud of?
Rene: My new one I just did for my own label 25 Hertz Recordings, “My Favourite Barbie”, and a remix I did on Tease Recordings for Darren Mase’s “Take That Record Off”.

Nocturnal: Moving into 2007, what is on your agenda for the New Year?
Rene:I have much going on both in & out of the studio. I have remixes scheduled for Mark Knight, Sebastian Ingrosso & Nic Fanciulli. There are also full EP’s scheduled for release on Hot Kitchen Records, 25 Hertz Recordings, Rise Recordings, Little Mountain Recordings & CR2. My touring will take me into Norway, Turkey, Spain, Portugal, Hungary & Morocco.

octurnal: Lastly here are some quick shots:
Nocturnal: Favourite airport to fly into?
Rene: Kuala Lumpur - Malaysia.
Nocturnal: Most enriching gig you have played to date?
Rene: Space Terrace, Miami WMC 2006.
Nocturnal: The country you are most excited to play?
Rene: Poland.
Nocturnal: Most indispensable item you travel with?
Rene: My Playstation Portable.
Nocturnal: Your favourite cocktail to relax in the evening with?
Rene: No cocktails please, just pour me a nice glass of RED WINE.

You can catch this talent to be reckoned with right here in Toronto, January 11th @ Hotel Boutique Lounge, presented by Till The am, as part of the Connected DJ Series. www.tilltheam.com for reduced guestlist

• ::: www.myspace.com/reneamesz
• ::: www.reneamesz.com
• ::: www.extremamusic.com
• ::: 2007.01.11 : Toronto (CA) : Connected w/ Rene Amesz & Simon Jain @ Hotel