'Persevere' - Sunil Sharpe Interview

Hailing from Co. Dublin, Ireland, Sunil’s keen interest in music started from an early age with an eager passion for the most rambunctious beats from jungle to trance. Rave is in his blood and watching his performance in the Boiler Room creates an infectious atmosphere that would get you rave ready, even whilst watching from the snuggest of settings.

His legendary presence has been looming across the Irish scene for over 15 years, as well as producing techno with the same temperament as his sets for a decade now. Sharpe’s dj skills have catapulted him from local hero to an internationally renowned artist who is diverging into other realms of performance and has paired up with DeFeKt as ‘Tinfoil’, combining a force to be reckoned with. Despite his surge of popularity, Sharpe has remained one of the most humble and down to earth artists in the industry.

MOTZ catches up with the man himself regarding his new endeavours, demanding work schedule and the struggles young producers are facing today.

You are globally renowned for your eclectic and energetic DJ sets. What is it like to step outside of that to performing live shows?

Thanks, yeah it has been a different proposition playing live. Improvising with machines leaves a lot of room for error or for things not to go to plan, but it feels really exciting. When I dj I know how the records will sound mixed before I mix them together, but with playing live there is a lot more uncertainty. As I'm doing live sets with someone else too, it's a different dynamic again. Two pairs of hands are definitely more useful than one!

Yourself and DeFeKT have teamed up under the alias 'Tinfoil'. What caused you two to join forces?

I'm not sure exactly. We were friends for a good while already, and did speak about making music but never really tried it. Matt was getting back into techno a lot - one day I was up in his place, he had this nice loop going on his modular, so I stood up and went over to mess on one of his synths to layer over it. It was all quite random, but there was a pretty instant energy between the two of us jamming, and a little while later we had recorded our first track. It should have been called Foil 1 but on the record we named it Foil 2. Although many of our tracks since sound different to that one, it did feel like we had formed a blueprint that afternoon for the kind of sound we could make together.

You have exploded internationally in the last few years, both individually and with 'Tinfoil'. How have you adjusted to your new life regarding relentless touring, considering you still teach at Bray Institute and have other commitments back in Dublin?

Yeah it definitely has been an adjustment. When playing regularly in Ireland before, other than feeling tired on a Monday morning, I could settle back into work at Bray fairly handily. In recent times though and being abroad more, I found Mondays hard to continue with and have cut back to just one day during the week. I still take a lot of pride in the course though and get fulfilment out of seeing the djs develop there. As things can revolve more around travelling now, the ongoing challenge is to make during the week a productive time also. It's hard to be in first gear all the time but I don't juggle as many things as I used to, which helps. I think the trick is to not take on too many different things at once. Over time you figure out a pace that suits you.

As a female producer who studied in Dublin years ago, there was a small percentage of girls enrolling in music production courses. Have you noticed more girls taking interest in music production and DJIng in Bray Institute?

I’m really happy to say that the percentage has shot up this year, for the DJ course anyway. Granted it can fluctuate year by year, this year we have noticeably more; there are six girls in the class. Before there were years when we may have just had one or none at all, so I take it as a really positive sign to see a surge like that. In the early years, we may have had four or five max, but I found that interest did drop off for a while after that. Overall though, I'd say that I do talk to more girls in the scene nowadays who are deep into making music and DJing. There are some from here who are definitely going to make waves in the coming years. Actually if you go back in time, some of the best stuff being made in Ireland came from Americhord. I'm not sure why more didn't follow in her footsteps then, but either way, things are quite different now. Electronic music or techno isn't as much of a boys club as it was.

You have played plenty of gigs in underground havens within London, Munich, Paris and Glasgow, as well as your upcoming gig in Tresor, Berlin on Saturday. How does it feel playing in your hometown of Dublin compared to other European cities?

Dublin is still one of my top places to play without doubt. Our Tinfoil gig at Hangar and my recent set at District 8 are two of my favourites of recent years. The age range at events here is to me one of the defining characteristics about Dublin. I'm always appreciative to see a younger crowd coming through but am also impressed by the older ones who still make an effort to come out if it's a night they really want to be at. The true techno heads never retire, and I'm often reminded of that when I play here. In some countries there is literally no-one at the gig over 21 or 22. I know that probably is true of some nights here too, but overall I think there are more active older fans in Dublin than many other cities, which really adds to the atmosphere. It's something I experience a bit in the UK too. Irish crowds do take some beating though, us and the Scots are the wildest.

What are the top 5 records you make sure to pack in your record bag before a lengthy set?

I don't have an absolute top 5, but could maybe see myself needing these ones!

Surgeon - Breaking The Frame LP

Sterac - Sinosphere

Frankie Bones - Baseball Fury

i - Repetitive Digital Noise

ERP - Vox Automaton

A lot of young talented producers are moving away from Ireland to have a better chance of making it in the industry. Do you think it makes a difference where you are situated in order to have a successful career?

It depends a lot on the individual. If you're a hustler and believe you can make stuff happen in a big city like Berlin or London, then give it a go. It has definitely worked for some. For the most part though, I would say just honing your sound and improving your DJ skills, are still the key factors. There are advantages to being in certain cities though, that have a strong bond with electronic music. It can open the doors to working in a record shop, a distribution company, a booking agency, a cool club, or whatever. I definitely think it's advantageous to have experience in something outside of just DJing/producing, that is still connected to the music scene/industry. Whether it's the knowledge you gain or the people you meet or whatever, it can all help you on the way to establishing a career. Location can help for sure, but again, I think it's really down to the person. Quite often, people go to certain cities with no great plan of attack, other than making music and still figuring out how to pay the rent long-term. Not long later, they're back home. A move to another city should encompass a more ambitious plan I think, to take full advantage of the surroundings.

And finally, any words of advice for struggling artists?

Persevere. Often producers are in too much of a hurry and expect success too soon. This isn't four years and you're qualified and making money - sometimes it can take less time, but more often it takes more time. Many of today's new big names are thirty or forty-somethings who never thought they'd 'make it', but hung on doing their thing and were rewarded for it. You could be making great stuff but that sound isn't popular right now. So much rests on timing. Also, don't ever think that you aren't talented or can't be talented. The vast majority of 'talented' artists work hard to become that way. In my opinion the ratio of naturally talented musicians or producers isn't that high, most people need to just work hard at it to achieve results.

Lastly, and it's not to put a dampener on things - sometimes music isn't necessarily going to earn you a living you can rely on, but if you're cool with that and can accept that it may just supplement your income here and there, do try to look on that as a result too. Many producers work day jobs but still put out records and do gigs. In ways this is an ideal scenario too, as you aren't relying on music to make a living, which has been a slippery slope for many over the years who resorted to making and playing rubbish once the music trends started to change. It's a cliché, but be yourself. You'll like yourself more in years to come if you felt you were an original artist, and not someone who just followed the flock.

Sunil will be playing in Tresor, Berlin this saturday and in Corsica Studios, London next Friday.

Photo Credit: Omar O'Reilly

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