Nolan: you just can't beat the beautiful organic sound of the Hang

We're pleased to welcome you to our next guest, Nolan!

An artist of many aliases (Cypherpunx, Flip Fantazia, T_Mo and more), Nolan has just returned to the UK imprint Renaissance with the masterfully produced 'Hang Back'. Alongside the original are two standout remixes courtesy of Lehar and Santiago Garcia respectively.

We spoke with Nolan to find out more about the latest release, enjoy!
— Hello Nolan, a pleasure to have you with us today! How are you and where are you speaking to us from right now?
— Hi, I'm in my studio in Brighton on the South Coast of England right now.. It's where I spend most of my days in fact!
— We're pleased to be chatting with you following the release of your track 'Hang Back' on Renaissance. We have to agree with the label when they say that this one is perfectly suited to sunrises or sunsets at beach clubs around the world! What can you tell us about this track?
— WellIi sampled the Hang sound (with permission) from a CD Björk & Cinematic Orchestra's touring drummer and arguably the world's best Hang player Manu Delago gave me way back in 2006 which I dug up again recently during a studio clean up. You just can't beat the beautiful organic sound of the Hang!
— The release is accompanied by two super remixes, one from Lehar and one from Santiago Garcia. How were Lehar and Santiago selected for remixing and what were your reactions like when you first heard their remixes?
— Renaissance commissioned the remixes and they're both ace and take it in completely opposing directions, Lehar's is a proper club weapon!
— A label that's played home to your music numerous times now and one that makes a great fit too, what's it like working with Renaissance?
— Great. I love their art work and general direction. Also they put on some huge events which hopefully I'll get to play at too one day ;)
— Beyond your own productions under your many aliases, you are also a professional sound engineer by trade. What can you tell us about that and what's the story of how you first got into that?
— I first started engineering for other producers back in my London days about 15 years ago where I was paying ridiculous rent for my studio and so had to find other income streams to help pay for it. I enjoy working with other people and helping them realize their dreams of getting signed to the labels they love and so I am happy to help them finish off their projects to get them in line with the labels they're aiming for and whose A&R I probably also know by now. Then do full on mix down and master and then if the sound is right I'll always try to help them get signed and offer any other industry advice I can if needed too.
— What does a normal day look like for you and how do you split your time between your sound engineering and working on your own music?
— I also program the Brighton Music Conference with Billy and so that's my focus right now as the event starts on May 25th and there's almost 300 speakers so loads going on at the moment. Plus I also am mid way through designing a Degree in Electronic Music Production for WaterBear here in Brighton which is part of Falmouth University, and I teach there too. So with that and engineering for others and all the music I write for TV Sync companies like Ninja Tune PM, BMG PM, Deep East and Cavendish Music I'm pretty flat out here... Not sure where I find the time to write my own music for my other projects like Cypherpunx, Flip Fantazia and T_Mo really!
— In our interviews we often like to find out about people's early influences, which artists or styles had the biggest impact on you during your formative years?
— Going to the Haçienda back in the early 90's and hearing DJs like Frankie Knuckles, David Morales, Tony Humpfreys and the residents Graeme Park and Mike Pickering.
— Thank you Nolan, great to chat with you and congrats on the 'Hang Back' release. To round off, is there anything else upcoming from yourself that you would like to share with us?
— Lovely stuff thanks.. Yeah.. come to Brighton Music Conference next month and say hello! www.brightonmusicconference.co.uk