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Keith Thompson’un bu röportajı yaptığımız en güzel röportajlar arasındaydı ama İngilizcesini versiyonunu çıkarmamıştık.Yurtdışından takip edenemiz çok fazlalaştığı için orjinal röportajıda koymak istedik.

Keith Thompson hakkında bilmeniz gereken 5 önemli şey;

1-1-Kendisi dans müziğinin efsane vokalistlerinden birisi. Tam 23 senedir bu piyasanın içersinde! Kariyerine 1983 te DJ olarak başladı.1983 -87 arası yaptığı djlikte 1985′ten bu yana şarkı yazıp prodüktörlük yapıyor.House müziğin ilk vokalisti desek size? Tabiiki tanımadığı hatta neredeyse çalışmadığı prodüktör yok.Vaughn Mason, Marshall Jefferson, Todd Terry, Tony Humphries, Masters At Work, Scott Wozniak, Joe T. Vanelli, Lenny Fontana, Eric Kupper ve Mathias Heilbron bunlardan bazıları .

2-2-Keith Thompson klüplerde dinlediğiniz pek çok parçanında sahibi.”Can’t take it”,”Ma Foom Bey”,”Living on the frontline ”,Africa in your veins”,”İn What” ve Raze’in muhteşem klasiği Break 4 Love kendi parçaları.Break 4 Love 1988 senesinde piyasaya sürüldüğünde büyük hit olur 50 milyon adet satar bir sonraki parçası için Capitol Plak şirketi ile analaşır. Hayatta en sevdiğimiz ilk ragga house parçası ”Can’t take it” 1989 senesinde piyasaya sürüldüğünde house müziğe  yeni açılımlar getirir.Parçayı buradan izleyebilirsiniz.

3-DJ ve kendine ait radyo programı var. Aynı zamanda Waking Monster isimli plak şirketinin sahibi .
4-Marshall’s Party,İdle & Wild, Raze gruplarında müzik yaptı . Blaze‘in AİDS için gerçekleştirdiği ”Underground Dance Artists United For Life” projesinde de yer aldı.

5- Kendisi ile geçtiğimiz günlerde ,temsil ettiği Afro house, plak şirketi Waking Monster ve dans müziğin dijital ortamında artist olmanın zorluklarını konuşma olanağı bulduk.Yaptığımız en iyi röportajlardan birisi olduğunu düşünüyoruz.

Kym Sims,D’Bora ,Adeva,Ce ce Peniston ,house müziğin gelişmesini istiyorsak house müzik topluluğu olarak bu tarz artistleri desteklemeliyiz. Ama zamanla bu artistler azaldı çünkü

Keith Thompson’s numerous hits such as “Break 4 Love”, “Show Them Love”, “Can’t Take It”,”Only You”, “Gravity” and more have made him a house music legend. His engaging stage performance as well as his years of dedication to the music has shaped the industry and other artists’ careers. Only a few house music artist, producers, or DJs can claim to have sold 3 million units of their music and counting. Two an a half million with “Break 4 Love” alone. He is original version of “Break 4 Love” as part of the group Raze is featured in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas which has sold over 50 Million copies.
His current release, “show Them Love” with DJ Bob & N. Costantine, reached no.1 in Lebanon and with his performance on Star Academy (Middle East) it is still growing in popularity throughout the middle east and beyond. True to his ethic of collaborating with artists from countries where he has performed, his upcoming duet “Truly” is with Bulgarian super star, Maria Ilieva, which seems destined to equal success as his other releases.
With his record labels, Waking Monster, Monster Bang, and Thompsonic, he has launched or advanced the careers of many dj/producers and artists such as Black Coffee (South Africa), Phil Hooton (UK), and David Vendetta (France) – with the remake of “Break 4 Love”. Keith lectures and shares his industry knowledge on panels at music conferences internationally, including the WMC in Miami, SEEME in Bulgaria, SAE (School of Audio Engineering) in England.
Look for his album, Party Starter summer of 2009 which will include recent hit releases as well a new productions to get the party started

Kym Sims,D’Bora,Adeva,Ce ce Peniston , I think to make house scene stronger we need to support more artists like them.But in time the artists are decreased because of

a) House music artists do not sell well
b)They did put great tracks and albums but havent been supported from the house scene.
c)Major labels dont want to deal with them.
d) İllegal downloads ruined their careers …
e)Djs are the new stars .And their names are infront of singers like X dj featuring singers or X dj presents singer
Which one you think that was made as a mistake ,and what difficulties you are facing in dancemusic industry as a solo artist?

The answer in my opinion is a little bit of all of the above but more so, (e) DJs are the new stars.
Most of the names you mentioned are considered old school/ legends of house. There are current artist both female and male who are still making great contributions to the music. Unfortunately, they are under valued because too many artist can’t produce their own music and therefore are dependent on dj/producers to make the tracks. Which creates the DJ X featuring Singer X syndrome; all to promote the DJ’s career. In actuality, the credit should simply be the singer as “Artist” witht he DJ/producer credited as “Producer”. That’s the standard that has always been. Egos of modern house/club music has changed that. Thank heaven’s I produce and have had my record label for years so I don’t need to rely on a producer or label to get my music to the public.

The artists like D’Bora, Adeva, and Ce ce Peniston did very well in the Golden era of house. They were supported by the house scene. It’s just that by the mid-nineties the major labels that released their music didn’t think it was profitable enough. While Hip Hop showed more profit. The Indie labels that continued the music didn’t put enough promotional funds into promoting projects to a wide audience but just focused on small in crowd that may have created enough sales for the labels but didn’t make enough money for the artists. It also didn’t generate enough gigs for the artist. Therefore, the artist had to start releasing tracks with even more labels and producers just to make a living or keep their names out in the smaller markets eyes and minds. At that same time, club promoters releazed that djs were getting a following and generated crowds sometimes more than the artists that were booked. Besides, the artist would sing for half an hour while the DJ could play for hours and be paid less but with the same profit. So, began the rise of the DJ as the “artist/ featured presentation”. Then up and coming DJs realized that having a record released would get them gigs faster and if they had a star or a good vocalist on the track it made their name even bigger and increased their booking fee. That’s where we are today.

The illegal download market is just the final blow that has flipped the industry to a level where no one hardly makes money from the actual music. Only a few labels and producers via compilations and early downloads. Because after a month any release, it’s been copied and available illegally for all to download. The live performing and DJing is the means to make a living through your music today. So, the music and video has become a form of “free” advertising of your talent. Which you then use to get gigs to then show your talents to the audience. We are all still figuring it out and where it’s going.

Afrohouse music doesnt really have much sources to buy ..Afromediamp3. com and traxsource are the sources to get music from .As a label owner what are the next steps for Waking Monster?

It has always been that way regarding Afro house or most sub-genres; it’s a boutique scene that you are either into or not. Therefore, you seek it out and then know where to get it when you need it. When there were still record/ CD shops, one could always go to that section and find new gems. But yes, it is harder today. But with my label, we have a fan base that knows what we release and keep a look out for our music. As well as we send out newsletters and when it’s cost effective, we advertise in targeted markets (web sites, and magazines) to let our potential audience know what’s coming or out. My plan for the label is to continue releasing music we love but also focus on educating new of soulful and Afro house about our past releases. We’ll release several CD compilations of our past hits catalogue. All leading up to the present releases. So, a music lover can have all of our catalogue easily accessible. We’ll also utilize the social network sites more utilizing simple videos to expose the new product. It seems youtube even more so than even myspace is more important to young fans than anything else. So, we use what ever it takes to keep the music alive. And finally, we’ll be doing club nights around the world in select venues. The monster has awaken and isn’t looking to take over the world just claim it’s place in it.

Which producers you would like to work with?

I’ve worked with most of the producers of note in this industry so, there aren’t many. But I would like to work with Todd Terry and Kerri Chandler, Bart B, and Fedde la Grande. Outside of house I would like to work with Trevor Horn who made Seal famous. That’s it. Other than those, I can’t think of anyone because I produce and if I want a sound, I can sit down study it and get it.

With all illegal downloads , it became so hard to keep a label running how do you manage that?

Yes, it is. We struggle along because we’re lucky to be getting music from a variety of countries and sources as well as I have a large back log of music myself I’m releasing. So, if the other artists music don’t sell well, then my releases sell well and make up the difference. With long career, I have older hits that can be re-released which also help. Case in point, “Break 4 Love” became an international hit once again after my label Monster Bang re-recorded it and had remixes made. David Vendetta’s remix made it a hit and made him a star DJ/producer. It’s success helps the label stay alive. But the income from legal downloads is steadily decreasing for a variety of reasons. A lot of this current generation have never bought a CD or even bought a download. They only know the idea of getting it for free online. So, eventually, a label will go out of business or find another model for operation. i.e., get a sponsor or sell another produce in order to expose the music. Waking Monster will be selling our parties and our logo image via club apparel. But the monster will not be destroyed by this problem.

What are your plans for 2009 ?

My plans for 2009 is to take my exposure to the next level. In February I performed recent hit “Break 4 Love” and current hit “Show Them Love” on Star Academy in Lebanon which is the largest watched TV show in the Arab world (14 million viewers). I just performed in Abu Dhabi now scheduling summer appearances for the mediterranian area.

My release will be:
“Still Feeling You” on GKF Records (Italy)
“Only You” on Waking Monster (US)
“The Remedy” on Thompsonic (US)

All different in style but hopefully will move people.
I hope during this summer to finally performing Greece, Turkey, Cyprus, Morocco, Egypt; all countries where my music is massive but have not performed yet. Find out more at: www. wakingmonster. com | www. myspace. com/keithompson | www. keithompson. com

If people want to listen to my music, they can listen here at my myspace page or on my website, www. keithompson. com
but there isn’t a stream of all my songs to listen to only my radio show which includes some of my songs. Here is the link to the show:

http://www. jamlure. com/radio-shows/Soulful-Pump-1Hr.ram