It is Tuesday night at WNYU, New York University’s longstanding student-run radio station. The time is 10:25 pm. Beats In Space is about to air in five and Tim Sweeney is behind the controls – business as usual. As he prepares to air the show, Sweeney looks more like a rocket scientist gearing up for take off than the smooth talking DJ he’s known to be. In this shoebox of a studio, he darts back and forth from desk to desk, pressing panel buttons and testing EQ gains, then rushes between the computer, then to the turntables and back. Finally, he sits down, takes a deep breath, and presses play. It’s show time: “Beats in space here on WNYU.89.1 FM,” he says, leaning into the mike, “Here with your host, Tim Sweeney, thank you for listening…”
Since launching Beats In Space in 1999 – in the same basement we are sitting in this evening – Sweeney has barely missed one week (he’s up to 591 episodes). What started off as a small show that aired during the “wee hours of the night,” Beats In Space arguably stands today as one of New York’s most popular radio shows for underground dance and electronic music. As a true music aficionado and serious crate-digger, Sweeney’s free-form, “back to basics” approach to DJ craftsmanship (play anything and everything) is one reason for his show’s long-running success and widespread appeal. Over the years, Sweeney has also hosted an impressive – and extremely versatile – roster of DJs, from cutting edge producers and live bands to legendary DJs and hotly tipped talents. Andrew Weatherall, DJ Harvey, Damian Lazarus, and Todd Terje are just a few of the well-respected guests who have graced the show.
While Sweeney’s resume is certainly one to swoon over (he interned with Hip Hop producer Steinski, worked for DFA Records, and was the soundtrack supervisor for Rockstar Games), it seems like he’s on a roll more than ever. In addition to being an in-demand DJ from Japan to Moscow, London to Berlin, Sweeney is making big waves at home, too. After two years in the works, he’s bringing his famed show from the airwaves to the shelves, with his eponymous label, Beats In Space. The first release hits the streets this week, introducing French newcomers, Paradis (made up of the very talented duo, Simon Mény and Pierre Rousseau). This two-tracker is an eloquent combination of mellifluous slow House and deep Techno, each complete with dreamy French vocals a la Paradis. This tasteful debut no doubt sets the stage and raises the bar high for what already looks like a promising label underway.
And to top off all this exciting news, Sweeney will be celebrating the 12-year milestone of the show with a blowout festival on Sunday, September 25th, 2011, featuring a heavy line-up of New York Disco all-stars. Ahead of the fest and the launch of his label, it was our pleasure to catch up with the very amiable Sweeney for an in-depth interview, and a sneak peak behind the scenes of the show.
halcyon: You know, a couple years ago I met your doppelganger at the Marcy Hotel one night. I went up to him and said, “nice show dude,” and he was like, “what show?”
Tim Sweeney: Really? Wait who was it?
h: I have no idea, but I’ve made the same mistake twice with the same guy. Anyway, it’s nice to finally talk to the real Tim.
TS: Yeah, I have a lot of doppelgangers. I always get that, although usually people send me pictures of girls and say, “look, it looks like you!” And I’m like, yeah, thanks…
h: Well this was definitely a dude! Anyway, let’s begin, shall we? Tell me, what do you usually do before your show (aside from dining and wining at nice Italian restaurants like tonight)?
TS: Usually Tuesdays – today – is a “preparing for the show” day. I usually go record shopping during the afternoon today, or Mondays. After that I listen to all the promos, then all the digital stuff, and then I’ll make CDs of what I might play for that night’s show. Then I go through my records, look through my vinyl, check through what I want to play for the show that night. Once I get that together then I’ll send out some messages, on Twitter and Facebook, and on the Beats In Space page. I usually get here an hour early. Sometimes I’ll listen to more CDs that I made, or the records I brought. I’ll go into the secondary studio and I’ll listen through more stuff. Recently I’ve been trying to think about what I want to play and in what kind of order. I don’t do that for DJ sets when I’m playing out. I’ve been into making some themes for some of my past shows, and it’s been fun for me to do that. So at home I think, how are these things going to work together?
h: What kind of themes are you talking about?
TS: Well, last week I had been dealing with a lot of rain, so a few of the tracks at the start of the show were about rain. I did one show in June that was on the Summer Solstice, so I [my theme] was all about the summer and the sun. I thought out that one way ahead of time and what I was going to play. So [on my show] I can’t really think of playing in terms of DJing at a club, which is all about getting people dancing. I mean, I want to be “deep” with the DJ sets and in the radio show. But even more so I want to have connections with things – songs about love, or songs about hate – whatever – its fun for me to have some sort of little theme going on.
h: Where do you do your record shopping during the day?
TS: My standby that I usually go to on Tuesdays is A1 records, you know, a bunch of old things. I love halcyon though! A1 is easier for me because it’s in the city, and it’s right nearby the radio show. So, sometimes I’ll just go to A1 and then come here, or have dinner, and then come here. Other times I’ll come here really early, then go back home and listen to things. I also like Academy Records nearby and go there. I do order a lot of stuff online from Juno and Phonica, places like that.
h: Where do you find your obscure music? You have a lot of rare, weird stuff.
TS: Most of the obscure stuff is just by going to A1 records, and just listening. It’s been a part of my routine to go there and listen to stuff. I’ll spend a couple hours and go through the bins. I know all the guys there, and I’m like, “hey is there anything you recommend? Pass it on.” Then I go through the bins and see what looks interesting. And, otherwise, friends tell me ‘oh you should check this out’. I haven’t done it recently, but I was in this phase for a while, where I looked for music on Youtube, where you look at one track, listen to it, and then on the side bar there are all these other [tracks]. I haven’t done that recently, but I did find that it’s a really good way of finding stuff. Then I would go and buy all those records off Discogs.
h: Everything is so accessible these days. Do you feel like people’s DJ styles have changed over the years because of this “easy access” to music and finding out about it?
TS: I definitely feel that people’s tastes are broader now. They aren’t playing just one genre or style. But maybe it’s getting boring that people are playing so many styles. You have to change that around. With the radio show, I like having many different styles because I’ve been doing it for twelve years and I’m going to get bored playing the same thing, every week or listening to the same thing, every week. So sometimes, I feel like playing something weird, or something slower or whatever, and that’s just what I want to do, you know?
h: Seems that doing your own thing has been to your advantage, so far. Speaking of which, congratulations on the launch of your Beats In Space label, which debuts this week with a release by a French duo, Paradis. And along with that you have a festival coming up, too. So tell me, if you were to write an article on yourself and all the exciting things you have going on, what would your introduction be like?
TS: I don’t know – I hate talking about myself. I mean it’s funny because I announced that I was going to start a record label two years ago. Now I’m finally getting it going, and yeah, that feels awkward. But now I have this stuff to put out and we’re doing it. I have four releases right now, and I want to do a record a month if I can do it. It’s so hard with the record business now because no one really buys records these days. It’s just so hard! And I want to have really nice artwork for the records too, and that’s another cost. But I like going through my records and seeing something that looks cool. So, that was important for me for it. Hopefully that sets Beats In Space apart and makes it something people want to pick up. For example, maybe people want to buy it for the cover.
h: Long live album art! It’s a dying craft, unfortunately. Why did you choose Bjorn Copeland from Black Dice to make the artwork for this first release?
TS: I knew his work. Black Dice runs DFA and I loved his artwork even before then. I was always picking out books that he would put out of artwork and I have always been a really huge fan. So I thought it would be amazing to get him to do something. I’m still putting together the artwork for the second one. For the third 12’’ inch I have this artist from Japan called (name) and he makes these really distinctive black and white drawings. They are really cool, I like them. He’s worked with Crue-L Records from Japan before, and he also did an album for Beck, too. I met him on this last trip to Japan, and he’s a super nice guy. So I’m psyched about that.
h: I understand that Paradis – the duo on the upcoming Beats in Space release – sent you a promo of these tracks, and you liked the music so much you decided to sign them on to your label. You must get a lot of demos and promos sent to you, so what was it about this particular demo that really struck you and made you think ‘I need this on my label”?
TS: It sounded different from what I usually hear. Firstly, it wasn’t a Disco edit – it was songs that they had done. They sing on it and it didn’t feel cheesy to me, maybe because it’s in French, so I don’t know what’s going on [laughs]. When I listened to [the demo] I knew that it was something I would play on the radio show and that I would have fun playing out. So, I liked that it worked well with playing on the radio show and playing out too. This is their first [release] ever so no one knows about them. I really like starting off the label that way with something [or someone] that no one knows about. Once I [started] playing their release out and seeing the response for playing it out that got me excited too. I was like ‘yeah, this is going to be fun to do.’
h: Two years ago you were going to launch the label with releases by Tensnake and Azari & III. What happened with those initiatives?
TS: They both kind of blew up so it became kind of harder for me as a smaller label to do something. I still talk to both of them so maybe something will happen in the future. We’ll see!
h: I’m sure you know that there is another Tim Sweeney running around who is apparently the co-founder of Epic Games. What do you do when you are not running around traveling, DJing and running Beats in Space? Are you really an Epic Games co-founder?
TS: The funny thing is, is that I worked for Rockstar Games before, which is a video games company. And then there’s another Tim Sweeney that wrote books about the music industry. That’s so weird! What is it about Tim Sweeney? I definitely spend a lot of time on the music, and radio show and things. Now I’m trying to find artists for the records, which I really enjoy because I like collecting art.
h: Speaking of visual art, I noticed you have a very sharp eye for visual aesthetics – your Beats In Space T-shirts are very stylish in a contemporary way. Have you always been interested in visual art, and what kind of other artistic mediums influence you?
TS: Definitely. I really like design. Kevin O’Neill is behind the website, the design of the logo and everything for BIS. I think he’s a genius. Now, with the new BIS label, he designed the backside for it, and the front is going to have this little sticker over the top so it looks like its a cut out. You can take that sticker off and there’s a place for it on the back of the sleeve if you want to leave the cover artwork just by itself. You see, I don’t have any writing on the covers of these. I want to try to do it without having the band name or a really big placement. I have these pieces of artwork and I want to leave them alone but I thought, “there’s got to be a way for people to tell which is a BIS release.” So, [Kevin and I] are trying this out and seeing what happens. Also, I love going to museums, and checking out artwork, I love going to the movies. I watch tons of movies – and not just on planes, but at home – either I order from Netflix or I love going to movie theaters and watching stuff, getting inspired by that, reading books.
h: Right, I see you are reading Life by Keith Richards.
TS: Yeah, it’s really good.
h: I read in a recent interview with you by Autobrennt that you would really like to focus on production these days. What kind of music are you cooking up?
TS: I’m still in the sampling mind frame so right now I’m listening to records, finding little bits and pieces, and seeing how things can go together. I want to make music I can play out and have fun with.
h: When did the Disco and House bug hit you? You used to play a lot of Warp and Ninja Tune music in your earlier shows.
TS: I think the [Disco and House] started when I was working with DFA, which is around 2001. And yeah, from ’99 to 2001 I was working with Steinski, who is a Hip-Hop guy. At the time I was definitely influenced more by Hip-Hop and Funk. When I worked at DFA [the guys there] were telling me about their Disco records, old House records, or Post-Punk things so I was kind of soaking it all in. When I was working at Rockstar Games, I was just buying all this music and researching all this stuff. Then I was getting more into Techno and other genres – just trying to find as much as I can. I just like talking to friends who know about music and finding out about things, especially if they’re into one genre. I still think there is something from somewhere that you’re going to like. Everyone says, “I hate Country music,” for example. But at Rockstar Games I had to make a country music station and I found stuff that I really loved. Maybe I’m not going to play it out, but I’ll listen to it at home.
h: How has running Beats in Space influenced your musical taste and approach to DJing?
TS: For me [the show] gives me a balance. I’m not always playing in huge clubs or playing out for people dancing. I don’t always have to listen to dance music. Yes, the show is focused on that, but it doesn’t have to always be that way. You can play things that you know wouldn’t work on the dance floor but are really pretty or really nice and people really need to hear it. You can do that on the radio show. Like I can do a set of Post-Punk music – or anything weird, like Krautrock. You can’t really play that out in Ibiza, or somewhere like that, you know? And I think some DJs get too focused on that main room sound. Their whole livelihood is around that main room thing. I like that I can come back to this. I can play those bangers on the radio show if I want to, but sometimes you get sick of carrying the same stuff.
h: Is there one record that never leaves your bag?
TS: No, I’m always switching through records. My CDs stay a little bit longer, but I’m always making a new CD for the radio show every week, phasing things out and putting new ones in.
h: I was listening to your show with Nicky Siano earlier today. I liked the interview on that too, he was getting really political and that kind of conversation really brought out his personality, I think. What other stimulating interviews have you had in the past?
TS: Harvey is always crazy when he comes on. He kind of takes over and he loves talking. It’s always very memorable when he comes on because he’s a character. Juan Maclean is always super funny and having him on the show is like having my brother on. The same goes for Brennan Greene – like having my brother on. I like those kind of interviews, you know? I like meeting people about half an hour before the show, get acquainted with them, and feel comfortable with them. I don’t ask too many questions because I don’t want to repeat anything when we go live. It feels awkward when you repeat yourself.
h: That’s a good approach. Anyway, looks like we have to wrap things up. You’ve got a show to host! So my last question for you is what’s next? Tell me about the festival this Sunday, September 25th, and the next Beats In Space releases coming up.
TS: The Beats In Space Festival [this weekend] across the street from Williamsburg Hall of Music. It’s an outdoor lot and I [booked] a lot of New York friends to play: Matthew Dear, Juan Maclean, DJ Nature from Golf Channel Recordings, Metro Area, Rub N’ Tug, Kim Ann Foxman, Blondes (who will be performing live), and myself, DJing.
As far as the Beats in Space releases – the first two are from Paradis. The third one is from Lauer, who is from Germany. He’s also part of the Robert Johnson and one half of Arto Mwambe. I have a Backwards remix on that one (who is DJ Kent from Force of Nature, from Japan). Then the fourth release is from this guy, Secret Circuit from LA. – Eddie Rushey who was half of the Laughing Light of Plenty with Thomas Bullock. So yeah, those are the first four right now, and I’m talking to some other people as well.
h: Sounds great. Good luck with everything, Sir Sweeney.
Beats in Space can be heard every Tuesday night at 10:30pm on WNYU-FM in NYC or online at wnyu.org past shows, playlists, and musch more can be found at beatsinspace.net
The Beats in Space 12th Anniversary Festival takes place on Sunday September 25th, 2011. Full info is here
RSVP here
