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Music

Cyril Hahn: "Raw Cut"

After dropping off his latest track we caught up with Cyril to chat run-ins with Windows OS, R&B favourites and working with PMR.

Having kept your ears close to the vibrations of web based dance music, you’ll be well aware of Cyril Hahn and his contagious reworkings of R&B classics. Tracks like his “Say My Name” refix sent everyone into a massive synchronised shuffle and it pulled in over two million YouTube views in the process.

“Raw Cut” is the B-side from his upcoming release on PMR Records – also home to Jessie Ware and Julio Bashmore. Building on a bedrock of sturdy electric piano movements and Nile Rodgers-esque guitaring, it sounds like electronica made from a cloud’s eye view. After grooving to it repetitively for way too long, we then caught up with Cyril to chat run-ins with Windows OS, R&B favourites and working with PMR.

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Hey man, where are you making these beautiful R&B rejigs?
It’s definitely something I do at home. It’s where I started out and I haven’t really moved into a workspace although it’s definitely something I've been thinking about lately to separate the two. So far it’s been good.

What equipment are you using?
It’s fairly simple. I was able to upgrade a bit more lately but when I started out last year all I had was a really shitty Windows Vista laptop and a MIDI keyboard. That’s how I did the first couple of remixes. Only last year I got a MacBook, which was definitely worth the investment, and now I have a bunch of old synthesisers.

Macbooks are so much better. I can see why you jumped ship from Windows...
Sometimes I need to grab old stems from my laptop and it takes forever to start up. It’s awful. But, it did me well. It’s like a love/hate relationship. No hard feelings.

So is this an affair?
No, it’s more like an ex-wife that I'm never going back to.

Gotcha. Do you prefer hardware or software?
In theory, yes. The sound is definitely better if you use a true synthesizer but then there’s the convenience aspect of VSTs and when I'm on the road I'm able to still write without having to rely on heavy machinery. I don’t think that one is better than the other; they both have their pros and cons. Yeah, that’s true. What is it about R&B vocals that you love to manipulate?
A lot of it was that R&B vocals were so readily available when I started out and wanted to make a bootleg but didn’t have any contacts for vocalists and stuff. It’s a very convenient way to make remixes and songs. But it’s not that I'm only interested in R&B acapellas. That was just how it started. For originals, I definitely want to branch out more. So how do you feel about artists then using the same songs and samples all of the time. We seem to be hearing a lot of Aaliyah and Cassie lately.
I think especially within the last year or so, it’s got a bit annoying. It’s definitely overdone. That’s why I'm really trying to find original acapellas rather than sampling the old classics. It’s hard to find a sample that hasn’t been sampled. I think it’s because someone will download an acapella pack from a torrent and they’ll have the same sounds on them. I think that’s one of the main problems. Which R&B artists do you reckon need some more recognition?
Obviously Shy Girls, but I'm bias because I've just worked with him. I really like Inc. but I think they’re getting pretty good exposure at the moment. Inc. are amazing. How did you first reach out to him to do “Perfect Form”?
It was after the first time I heard “Under Attack” and I was in love with it. I thought if I could have his vocals it would be amazing, so I told that to my management and the next day they said he was down. So the next day me and Dan from Shy Girls started emailing back and forth and throwing around ideas. I’d never done collaboration in that sense before but it just worked really well. I’d love to work with him again. I have his new EP. It’s so good. Damn, I want a listen. In terms of albums of the last couple years, do you have an album that has really influenced you?
I’d say the Holy Other album from last year. That’s an album I'm still playing on a regular basis. A lot of Mac DeMarco. In my own time I don’t listen to that much dance-y music, that’s more what comes out when I produce. In ties with what I used to like, honest, lo-fi stuff. PMR are one of my favourite labels of the last few years. How have they helped you out with the release?
It was crazy when they showed interest in signing me. It was after I did the Jessie Ware remix and they were really stoked on it and asked for originals. It’s been really good. It seems like a family and all the artists are super nice. They supported me with finding vocalists as well. It’s just good to be backed by somebody because when you’re on your own you get a totally different response from everybody. That’s just how it works.

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Are you working with any other vocalists at the moment then?

No, I’ve been playing out quite a lot so August is when I'm back home again and I just want to produce and get as much good stuff done as I can. We’re reaching out to some people at the moment but I can’t really tell you anything that’s not set in stone.

That’s all good. Finally, how is your live stuff progressing?
It’s been pretty crazy in the sense that I only started playing live shows just over a year ago. I feel like I'm still learning a lot and getting better with each tour. I’m also getting more used to it. It was pretty strange for me to be the centre of attention because that’s something I've never aspired to be. I still get nervous but I'm a lot more used to it than I used to be. I have some friends that help me out with visuals and I'm just trying to improve it with each tour to make it more interesting.

Cyril Hahn releases Perfect Form/Raw Cutvia PMR Records on October 7