Balance Selections 219: Made By Pete

Born and raised in London UK, Made By Pete is an artist who can count mavens of the electronic music scene like Damian Lazarus, Sasha, and Kolsch as big fans of his sound.

After confirming himself as one of the finest producers and DJ’s around, he has seen his work snapped up by taste-making labels such as Crosstown Rebels, The Soundgarden, Rebirth and Radiant to name but a few.

Made By Pete – Yourself is OUT NOW on HAWKINS

Balance Selections 219: Made By Pete

Tracklisting:

1. Made By Pete – Yourself (Original Mix)
2. Hermanez – Lockstep (Original Mix)
3. Solidmind – Paragon (Original Mix)
4. Ed Ed Ft. JJ Dawson – Higher Than Me (Stimming remix)
5. Husa & Zeyada – Wicked Self (Made By Pete Remix)
6. Perry Ferrell Ft. Jim Morrison – Woman In The Window (Red Axes Club Mix)
7. Made By Pete – Matriarch (Original Mix)
8. Nhii – Closer Ft. Shrii (Original Mix)
9. Krap Noise – Join Me (Original Mix)
10. Made By Pete – Dream Sequence
11. Made By Pete Ft. Tom Diesel – The Munich Affair

Balance Selections Q+A

Name: James Boore
Location: London, UK
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Alias/Producer name: Made By Pete
Labels affiliated with: Crosstown Rebels, Flying Circus, HAWKINS, The Soundgarden, Radiant, Selador

My last 3 releases:

Made By Pete – Yourself

Made By Pete X Savage & SHe – Walls Of Zion / Too Drunk To Dream

Made By Pete & Jem Cooke – I Am Not Afraid

What music did you listen to as a child?

My earliest memories of music derive from parties that my parents would have at home. I would be sent to bed by 9:00pm, but I would sneak out of my room and sit at the top of the stairs to eves drop on the shenanigans. Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Rumors’ is an album that they would always play and still to this day I can listen to it and immediately be taken back to those moments. James Taylor and Dire Straits were also on heavy rotation.

When was the first time that you realised that you liked electronic music?

The first piece of electronic music that really caught my ear was The Prodigy ‘Firestarter’. I remember seeing the video for the first time on “The Box”. Keith Flint was girating around in a tunnel with a green mohawk. It was really weird but also captivating. It was released in 96’ so I would have been eight years old at the time. I wouldn’t say that it understood what it was (or even if I liked it), but it definitely caught my attention.

When was the first time you saw a DJ in a club?

Ibiza… Cliché answer? It’s true though. I used to go on family holidays to the Island from the age of 14. By the time we reached 16 we ventured out to the clubs. Es Paradise was the first club I went to followed by Pacha later that holiday. Roger Sanchez’s Release Yourself was the party at Pacha. I came home from the holiday with the CD, Volume 3 I think. That was where the interest in DJ’ing really kicked in.

Which producers/artists/acts inspire you?

Honestly my inspirations change on a weekly basis. I’m often inspired by TV & film soundtracks, other DJ mixes and promos that I get sent. The producer in me tends to get inspired by sounds, vibes and emotions more so than full tracks or artists. I don’t intentionally listen to music I order to analyse or critique it, I just hear something that sparks an idea which often leads to new explorations in the studio.

What was the last album that you downloaded/bought?

Haelos – Full Circle

What is your current production and DJ set up like?

My studio feels like an ever-evolving organism, an extension of myself that is constantly changing with my influences. I love to use hardware in the studio because it gives me a physical connection with my music. All of my ‘happy accidents’ and best ideas have come from exploring with hardware. The Moog Matriarch, Sub 37, Vermona Perfourmer and a cheap Behringer MS-1 are all used regularly. That’s not to say that I don’t use software either. For synths, I prefer analogue. I have a nice collection so don’t feel the need to use VSTs. For sampler instruments and utilities, software is amazing. I’m using the Fabfilter bundle, Native Instruments Battery & Spetrasonics Omnisphere among others in most sessions. My DJ set-up is (as it has been for many years) Pioneer.

As my catalogue has grown, I’ve found myself playing mostly my own tracks and remixes in my DJ sets, that has led me to delve into the world of live performance. I recently picked up an Elektron Octatrack and Richie Hawtin’s Model 1 mixer. This is the hub of my live set and I am preparing & practicing to do my first live set in 2023.

What releases do you have on the horizon?

My latest release ‘Yourself’ has just been released on my label HAWKINS, with a killer remix from Wild Dark who I have been a big fan of for many years. The release has picked up some great DJ support from the likes of Bedouin, Blond:ish, Audiofly, Elif, Adam Ten, and Enoo Napa to name a few. Running my own label has always been a goal of mine but it takes a lot of time to do it properly. For now, it exists as a platform for me to release my own music in between working with other labels. Hopefully sometime soon I will have the resources to begin signing other artists and grow the label.

HAWKINS aside, I have an exciting release schedule coming up. I wrote a track called ‘Horizon Red’ with Zoe Kypri, which we have signed to Crosstown Rebels. Damian Lazarus has been playing it all over the world and the response has been phenomenal. I get inbox requests on a weekly basis asking about it which has never happened before. The I’m really excited about it. I can’t share a release date yet but If you want a sneak peak you can checkout this video of Damian Lazarus playing it in Italy. I also have new music coming on The Soundgarden (with Just Her), Flying Circus (with Tom Diesel), and Solaris (with Emanuel Satie) over the coming 6 months.

Where can we hear you perform?

I will be playing in Ibiza at Blue Marlin on 9 th September alongside Kintar for Summarians. You can also catch me in London in October with Ritual at Haugen and we will soon be announcing info on a three date India tour.

Tell us more about the podcast you made for Balance?

Curating a DJ mix is always a great excuse to go digging for new music, which is one of my favorite things to do. I approach recorded DJ mixes in a very different way to a live club set. In a live situation you feed of the energy from the crowd and things work in the moment that you wouldn’t have expected. But, they are in that moment… Only meant to be experienced once and only work in that context. For a podcast or guestmix intended for repeated listening, I always try to approach it like a story, with a view to having a predetermined begging, middle and end. This mix for Balance Selections features a selection of my own music (past, present & future) alongside some new unreleased demos and some favorites from the likes of Nhii, Red Axes & Stimming.

My Recommendations

The top track in my DJ wallet currently is:

A record from 2011 that I only recently discovered. A D-side from Matador’s Kingswing EP on Minus Records. The track is called ‘Korrado’ and it’s so hypnotic.

If I could recommend only one of my tracks for you to listen to it would be:

Probably my first collaboration with Jem Cooke called ‘Remember’. We have worked together on 2 other tracks since then, but ‘Remember’ has always been a favourite of mine.

If I could recommend only one track for you to listen to it would be:

Jose Nunez ‘Bilingual’ – This has been in my record collection since the very 1st week I started DJ’ing and remains a firm favourite that I reach for today. The way the vocal interacts with the groove has always intoxicated me.