Way Out West was formed when the production talents of Jody Wisternoff and Nick Warren joined forces in 1993. This partnership has over the years been responsible for a string of some amazing releases and live sets. Now five years on, and with the third Way Out West Artist Album soon to be completed their partnership is stronger than ever.

Jody, who has returned to Australia on a number of occasions over the past few year, was back over the New Years period playing in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, so we took the opportunity to chat with him after his tour to see where things were at (and how they went).

Do you feel your DJ’ing is becoming a priority or is production still an important part of your musical life?
Jody: Production is still the number one vibe, though I have been pretty busy DJing over the last year (2002). Due to the nature of the UK club scene, most of my work has been abroad (mainly in America). The traveling obviously cuts into studio time, but despite the jetlag, we've made great progress on the new album. If it wasn't for the success of our production work, I wouldn't be DJing internationally anyway.

What can you tell us about any upcoming remixes and productions?
Jody: Production wise, the 3rd Way Out West Album is shaping up very nicely. Slowly but surely... as far as remixes are concerned - pretty quiet. Sattva (‘Echo of Silence’) on Xplosive Records should be released soon. And there are a few more things in the pipeline, but the main focus at the moment is the WOW Album.

Can you give us any details of the exclusive Way Out West track that is to appear on Nick Warren’s forthcoming Global Underground release from Iceland?
Jody: It's a gnarly, dirty, grimy, grubby little number. Very powerful and trippy on the dance-floor. Not a typical WOW vibe, substituting our usual atmospheric chord progressions for relentless, menacing riffs. The funny thing is, the version Nick has included on the global mix is only the demo version. It was without a name at the time, so I left this up to Nick's discretion. Only by checking the GU website did I discover the chosen title ('Fistfucker'), and to be honest I couldn't have picked a more suitable description myself...

Despite being a veteran in the industry, are there any artists or DJ’s that still inspire you to this day?
Jody: Many artists inspire me to the maximum. There's some fantastic underground electronic music being made, as well as very strong pop music. A lot of the break beat stuff is dope right now, and great progressive house records can still be found (you just have to search a bit harder). The production quality of dance music is at an all time high due to the Protools/Logic revolution, though I feel melody needs to make more of a comeback.

It seems like a fairly rare occurrence for you and Nick to DJ back to back, and as you work so closely together, I would expect to see it more, what are your thoughts?
Jody: Nick and myself have done quite a few back to back's in the past. Last year we did a tour of North America together, and it was a wicked laugh! We'll definitely get on it again.

How did your Australian tour dates go over the festive season and was it all that you imagined this time round?
Jody: The Australian gigs were fantastic. I only ended up playing 3 dates, but they were all good. Australia is still one of the best destinations worldwide, and I can see myself living there at some point in the future.

Did you spend much spare time away from music in your trip to OZ?
Jody: I really enjoyed chilling on the beach in Sydney, and shopping in Melbourne. I was only in Australia for about 10 days, so didn’t have enough time to get out into the wild. However, I’ll definitely be back as soon as possible...