Habersham is unlucky – his big arrival was just at the tail end of the progressive era when DJs could get very big indeed. He'd made all the right moves – a string of big releases on labels such as Bedrock and Audio Therapy, his own label (Lobotomy) and even his own digital download store. Fast forward a couple of years and the Atlanta producer might have scaled back his ambitions, but unlike many of the genre's fly-by-nighters, he’s still making quality music in 2007: ‘Outside the Box’ might be the wonkiest release to come out on Audio Therapy ever. He’s also doing it for others, recently releasing a sample pack for aspiring musicians titled 'Sound Theory'. RA checks in with Habersham to talk restauranting, DJing and finding a place to dance in Atlanta.

How is electronic music in Atlanta these days? Is dance music happening there?

It’s happening, but it’s mostly on a commercial level. Ironically some of the best DJs on the planet live here, like the Warm Art crew, Soco Audio, Numinous, Diagnostik Crew and other scattered musical geniuses such as Prefuse 73 and Richard Divine. Despite these talents it’s not the easiest thing to find a good night out in Atlanta that isn’t trance or hip hop.

You were heavily involved with mp3 download store EDMDigital, which went under just as other stores were starting to boom. What do you think was the main reason for its demise?

I’d like to clear the air on EDMDigital and everyone’s involvement. This was originally a joint venture among three entities and eight friends. As one major partner left, it dumped all this weight on the others’ shoulders, and of course everyone’s lives were turning upside down at the same, which left us little time and effort to devote to what was originally a side hobby and passion. Make no mistake, we never collected any personal financial gain from the company, and in fact they still haven’t settled up with me for my own personal sales through the site. I have tried reaching out to the rest of the gang for well over a year now but to no avail.

The bottom line is we grew way bigger than we had originally expected or intended. And by the time this became apparent, we also realized it was virtually impossible to continue, so we cut it loose while we still could, to try save what little face was left. I have no bad feelings toward anyone involved. Luckily I was privy to a lot of personal events in everyones’ lives that, in my eyes, would have knocked anyone in our shoes down.

So where do you buy your music these days? Do you still buy vinyl?

I don’t buy vinyl anymore, probably due to a lack of turntables and DJ setup at my place for a couple years now. I’m buying a lot of music from Kompakt, Bleep and of course Beatport.

Many of the labels you previously released on, including your own label Lobotomy, have ground to a halt or now or become digital labels with fairly erratic release schedules. Is having your music released on vinyl still important to you?

Vinyl releases these days are very important, but in my opinion they aren’t anything to necessarily get hung up on. Lobotomy is doing digital releases only, and by the same token we are still meeting the same numbers in sales whether on vinyl or just digi downloads.

You know, one of the difficulties when starting joint ventures with anyone is that means more people to accommodate and more people to rely on, and when this is the case only so much of the outcome is in your hands, no matter what you try to do to salvage it.

Blueprint is on a hiatus right now mainly because Brett’s personal life and mine have become so varied and hectic. Brett has just had a baby and starting propelrecords.com and these days I have my hands tied full-time running a restaurant, although I still try to crank out tunes and projects and travel!

What kind of restaurant do you run?

It’s Italian with a contemporary twist. We have excellent pizzas and pastas, but we delve into some different entrée directions.

What's the best dish on the menu?

If by ‘best’ dish you mean most popular, I would have to say any of our varied Tilapia specials, but if you’re asking my personal favorite, well that depends on the day.

"Expectations become limits that you are tied to. It’s better to just make the maddest music and the maddest statement you can, and the rest should follow suit."

How important to you is having this other focus, the restaurant, outside of music?

Well for a few years I was living, or rather struggling, off the back of music, and to be honest, when my father told me he would be stepping back from the restaurant, I was a little wary of the amount of pressure this would put on my life. So I’m in a unique position because this restaurant has been built up by my parents from practically nothing into what is now an Atlanta institution for twenty years, but frankly I couldn’t be happier devoting a full-time work week to the restaurant, our lifeline.

And contrary to what I was wary of originally, the best part of having this restaurant is that it takes pressure off my music and me, and in fact has given me more freedom to be as creative and experimental as I like in my music and art endeavors.

Is making a full time living from music no longer a priority for you then?

It used to be a priority for me, but honestly I’ve learned from having many expectations, because those expectations become limits that you are tied to. It’s better to just make the maddest music and the maddest statement you can, and the rest should and shall follow suit, all in due time.

Recently you’ve been namechecking producers like Robag Wruhme, Loco Dice and Anja Schneider. The club tracks on your 'Outside the Box EP' on Audio Therapy has an aesthetic that has more in common with those producers than other artists on that same label such as G-Pal. So is Germany where it's at for you as a producer?

Germany and Europe has always been a hotspot for all forms of art and music, especially electronic. I was watching some interviews yesterday with Robag Wruhme, DJ T, M.A.N.D.Y and Booka Shade from Get Physical and I saw what I really want to work towards here in Atlanta, which is starting a base, or headquarters for all forms of flourishing artists. This has given Germany a much stronger presence because they are able to push nationally what Get Physical or Musik Krause, for example, are doing under one umbrella. I have heard that Trentemoller and co. are doing the same in Denmark, creating an ‘institute’ if you will, dedicated towards pushing its core group of artists and friends forward. I think if we are to get anywhere in this world, we have to work together to do so, not compete and try to out do for pride.

German sounds have traditionally had overall an eerier, moodier tone to them which is something of course I love and can relate to. So yes I do draw a lot of influence from that region and its artists, and perhaps even more importantly its technologies such as Ableton and Native Instruments which are programmed and distributed from Germany, which of course probably plays the biggest part in why Germany is a hot spot and always will be.

Two years ago, you told RA that you always judged your own productions based on feedback from Australian producer Phil K. Is Phil K still as an important to you these days or do you have a new yardstick?

Of course for me a great compliment is for Phil to support anything I do, not because of his name or reputation, but because his ideologies are the kind that need to be taught in peaking schools (as scary as that may sound). The difficulty is that both Phil and I always played diverse types of music, so from one month to the next we could be playing identical records and then completely different ones. I don’t really have a yardstick anymore – rather, I am my own yardstick I guess.

Dave Seaman recently had a rant about the labeling and general sub dividing of dance music used by the press, but most people I think agree that genres are a necessary evil. You also try to avoid being tagged as a certain type of DJ or producer. How would you describe the music you make or play in concrete terms to someone who's never heard it before? What's a good reference point for your music?

I think you are correct to a large degree, however please consider this concept: While we are quickly approaching a world of globalization, in other words as all socio-economics are converging, and will continue to converge, so will our music, and so clearly defined genres will eventually break down and disappear. As artists influence and inspire each other, so do other artists who listen to them and so on, while this happens eventually everyone will start influencing everyone, leading to a musical common ground.

In my opinion, what draws an audience to see an artist perform (DJ or however he/she presents their art) is that unique experience, which only that particular artist can bring to the table. Why would I want to spend what little free time I have to see “x” interchangeable DJ/artist play interchangeable music respectively?

The music I make and play would best be described as dirty underground house music with broken beats and broken sounds.

"I’m at the point where I feel like I’m not living up to my potential if I rely on and play other artists’ music. "

Your bio says you're moving into doing live performances. What's your conception of live performance in electronic music?

I’m at the point where I feel like I’m not living up to my potential if I rely on and play other artists’ music. I feel a need to present my vision of what a live performance is to my audiences, and that includes not only audio performance, but complete visual performances as well, a full sensory experience. We now have the technology to perform in ways that just weren’t feasible before, not without a fifteen person entourage. But now it is possible for just 2-3 people to create a full performance.

Have you started performing live yet? Are you performing existing tracks or creating them on the fly in a more improvisational manner like on the mix you made using your 'Sound Theory 01' sample pack? What's your set up?

When I created the sample pack, it sent me in a whole new direction and opened me up to an infinite amount of ideas and possibilities. One of which is a project I’m starting with Patrick Campbell and Cary Longchamps, known as The Ones With Many Faces. In this performance the concept is to never write complete works of music, but rather to create albums of sounds and loops, all of which will be reconstructed as a live show, on the fly and constantly changing and evolving. Cary will bring a visual element to the performance, much in the same way Patrick and I will be contributing the audio. Using completely original and mindblowing visuals, we will be reconstructing and mangling everything you see and hear live, never to be repeated twice.

For personal performances I will be doing a combination of the previously mentioned school of thought while combining more whole elements of my songs and remixes. Never expect to hear the same thing twice. I’m not the kind to push play on a preprogrammed arrangement and party the night away. I’ll be back there, sweating bullets and working my computer(s) until they catch fire!

Do you prefer to produce music or play it out?

I love them both, and both are necessary to me. One feeds the other and vice versa.

What are your current top five labels at the moment?

Cadenza, Poker Flat, Warp, CHI and M_nus.

Is there a label you haven't released on yet that you'd love to get a release on? Have you sent them one of your unsigned tracks?

Border Community, Cadenza, Crosstown Rebels, just to name a few. To be honest I haven’t had a chance to write any original stuff that isn’t set for release before I write them! It’s been very hard for me to catch up doing remix after remix and the Sound Theory project. You better believe I’m working on some madness for the aforementioned folks—tell them I’m coming please!

What are the last three tracks played on your iPod/MP3 player?

Squarepusher – Hello Everything: this man never ceases to amaze me. Yeah, it takes a couple listens through to get into his headspace but once you’re there he doesn’t let go.

Tipper – The Seamless Unspeakable Something: Start to finish, hands down the best technically produced album I’ve ever heard, and as usual a neverending source of inspiration just when you think it’s all been done before.

Thom Yorke – The Eraser: This album is one of the most important ones to me of the last few years, it taps into emotions the likes of which I’ve never felt before.

Finally, what releases have you got coming out in the next few months?

I’ve completed a remix for Son of the Electric Ghost to be released with the original and Lawgivverz remix on Addictech (which I featured on my Kiss Mix). Also, I’ve just completed a remix for Fine Cut Bodies and Chris Carter to be released on Chi Recordings. I’m also currently working on a remix for Speculum and several others.

I’ve been working on some new madness for an EP or two out in the next few months, possibly on Border Community or another label in the same vein. I also have to remix the winning entry in the original track competition that's being run in conjunction with the Sound Theory 01 sample pack. And my album will be complete soon! Please stay tuned for it, it’s going to be midtempo nonsense.