Yesterday I posted the first half of Eriq Johnsons great release “Guy who is a Girl”, today you get the rest. But first, read this exclusive interview with Eriq, which I did last weekend:

DJ Len: Hi Eriq, how would you describe your music style?
Eriq Johnson: You can describe my style as a mixture of Electro-House, Nu Disco and Funk. I try to mix strong beats with melodic parts. But the best thing is to listen to it yourself: www.myspace.com/eriqjohnson

DJ Len: Do you work more as a dj or do you play more livesets?
Eriq Johnson: For a couple of years I have only been playing live. In my opinion, its the best way to bring your music to the audience.

DJ Len: How does your setup look like?
Eriq Johnson: I travel everywhere with my Mac, a Arturia Keyboard, an Ableton Live Controller from Akai and a couple of other controllers effect machines.

DJ Len: Describe your typical stage performance.
Eriq Johnson: I always start with a pad- or string sound, to build up suspense. Then a minimal beat with a fat bassline kicks in, like in my track „Monique Perrier – Visage Impossible (Eriq Johnson remix)“. This has an enormous effect on the audience. Furthermore I try to respond to the audience to decide if I play a harder style or more house tracks.

DJ Len: What are your plans for the near future as artist? Which releases are planed, do you have big upcoming venues?
Eriq Johnson: I’m working on many remixes of various artists and labels at the moment, for example I’m doing remixes for PNAU, Moke, Näd Mika, Make The Girl Dance, Overthrill and labels such as Sony BMG, Universal, Boxon Rec and many more.

Furthermore, I’m working on a new project with colleagues from Russia and the Ukraine, which gets massive support from a Russian major label. At the beginning of this summer, I will fly around the world with my crew to produce a video for this projet – it will be exciting! Soon you can see a first preview on my youtube channel ;-)

In the short term, we have planned a couple of releases, which will be released on Plasmapool Rec, Dandykid Rec and Boxon Rec. Here’s a small preview:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txC6MIPOuSw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7v9HclihhA

The next big events will be the Sibdance 2010 in Russia and the Filter House Party in Kiev/Ukraine, where we anticipate over 5000 visitors.
DJ Len: What do you think, where will club music be in five years?
Eriq Johnson: I think, club music will be more minimalistic, probably going into the direction of The Proxy or Tiga. Styles like Electro and Nu Disco will shape the pop music scene.
DJ Len: Many people fear a slowdown in music innovations, do you see any big revolutions coming?
Eriq Johnson: Now we have many talented and professional musicians, from which you can expect new things. And there are many more boys and girls, who didn’t learn to make music, but who work emotionally with everything they can get their hands on. I think, we can expect many interessting stuff from them. Maybe its only a few tracks, but they could influence a new direction. If not, we have to hope for the French ;-)

DJ Len: When did you found your label musicheads.de, and why?
Eriq Johnson: That was in 2007. At that time, I tried to get my music to the big labels without success. So, I thought, why don’t do it yourself? And that’s, what I did. I told all my friends about it, and so the first releases already had big names on it. I have worked with great people like Matisse, Fukkk Offf, Plazma, Incognet, MoVoX, New Jack, Marga Sol and many more.

DJ Len: What are your plans for the label in the near future?
Eriq Johnson: Now we have a small break, because I need the time for my other projects. But in the summer you will see some pretty strong releases. Towards the end of summer we will organize a couple of parties in Germany, Spain, and if everything goes well, in Russia and the Ukraine. I would say, our label has a pretty good future ahead.

DJ Len: How many people are working for the label?
Eriq Johnson:We are five people. Natalie Aprille takes care of the contacts, advertisements and the financial part, MoVoX is our sound designer and working on the mixdown and the mastering. Then we have two designers, and of course myself, I’m the head of A&R and I’m the general boss – I run around screaming at my colleagues ;-) . Nonsense, we are a pretty good team ;-) .

DJ Len: Can you make a living from your music and your label?
Eriq Johnson: Yes, because I have many projects. Another example, which gets a great response from the audience is „Deeper Sublime“. Furthermore, I do composing, produce music for other artists, for commercials and now for movies as well. I’m sure you heard my music in the radio or on TV with another name on it.
I’m very satisfied with my job right now. And I want to say thanks to my friends and colleagues for that.

DJ Len: Thanks for the interview!

So, now lets listen to the last three remixes of “Guy who is a Girl”:

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Download Eriq Johnson – Guy who is a Girl (A.G. Trio remix) – dancendancen.com EXCLUSIVE DOWNLOAD

If you have read my blog carefully, you will already know the name of the Austrian group A.G. Trio. And if you already know their great music, you will immediately recognize this remix. Its a typical A.G. Trio track, produced at a very high level, dense and intense, and thanks to their many years of experience, they know how to produce a dance floor hit! Just listen to the break between 2:38 and 3:22, and you can imagine your audience going crazy. Electrohouse at its best!

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Download Eriq Johnson – Guy who is a Girl (DJ IgRock remix) – dancendancen.com EXCLUSIVE DOWNLOAD

DJ IgRock take on the original is propably the hardest one, stylewise. A sawtoothbass is driving the track forward, nice executed beats make your head nod in a 130bpm. A four-to-the-floor cowbell is keeping the breaks very aggressive, in short, this is a great track at the peak of your set. Two thumbs up!

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Download Eriq Johnson – Guy who is a Girl (New Jack remix) – dancendancen.com EXCLUSIVE DOWNLOAD

New Jack produced a Nu Groove version of “Guy who is a Girl”. Well executed, good ideas and nice melodies brought together. This version is the most grooving one, although to be honest, its not my personal style – but I’m sure some of you will love it!

Thats it, thanks for reading! Wow, 1145 words, my wrists hurt ;-)