This week we take a look at Chicago breakbeat producer and DJ Eric Janke, aka Yanix. With some incredible remixes released so far and a smattering of original material, the co-owner of Ridiculoud Records has been getting us hot under the collar at thisisbreaks.com. Below we have a little chat with the man himself and check out his latest progressive breakbeat remix of MDK's Interstellar Mission on Ridiculoud, available to buy now on at all good cyber record shops.
As soon as the tune starts you are hooked on the melodic uplifting arpeggiator flow with a piano and string breakdown to put a smile on a zombie's dead grey features. Tight production and smooth beats make this a must-have purchase for those who love the feelgood vibes.
I have also included one of my personnel favs from Yanix, his remix of Flashtech's Granulated, also available now on Digital Sensation UK. This one has rolling beats and undulating bass layered with hypnotic synths that will take you on a complete journey until the very end.
MDK Feat. Siegfried - Interstellar Mission (Yanix Remix) (sample) by yanixmusic
Flashtech - Granulated (Yanix Remix) (sample) by yanixmusic
For the people who dont know you, tell us about Yanix ...
Hey guys, my name is Eric Janke, or Yanix in the music world. The name came about when I was trying to figure
out a DJ name for myself. A lot of friends were calling me by my last name, Janke (pronounced yon-key) so I took part of my last name and mixed it up with the word ‘mix’ and got ‘Janix’ (I changed the J to a Y).
Most people don’t pronounce my last name right, so for obvious reasons, I went with Yanix. What a confusing story,
haha. Basically, Yanix is a DJ and producer that loves a wide variety of electronic dance music.
How long have you been producing music, and what made you start producing breakbeat?
I’ve been learning how to make music for about four and a half years now, but I’ve been into electronic dance music for a long time. I started off getting into trance music, which I still love to this day. I guess that’s shocking to some people, but there’s good and bad music in any genre, and there’s still a lot of good trance music out there. Eventually I started getting into other stuff, like progressive house, progressive breaks, etc.
I met Ghettface (we now run our label Ridiculoud Records together) at the end of my college days and I was blown away by the fact that not only was someone else into electronic music, but this guy was actually producing his own stuff! I ended up booking him at a local venue for a weekly show I was running at the time. I set it up so that he’d play the first two hours and I would play the last. As his set was ending, I just told him to keep going because I was just loving everything he was playing! So he got me into breakbeat, we became good friends, and eventually, he showed me what he was up to in the studio and introduced me to Ableton Live. Fast forward a few years, and here I am with a few releases of my own, something I never really thought would happen.
Tell us a bit about your background outside of music?
Outside of music ... hmmm, tough to come up with something! I’m just into so much music, it really does make up most of my life in one way or another. So when I’m not making mixes, DJing, working on remixes, running the label, and doing production work for my job, I guess I just enjoy taking it easy with my friends. I’m not a big party guy, like going out and getting trashed on the weekends, or anything like that. I’m a pretty chilled dude that just likes to hang out and share a laugh with good people. I’m still close with a number of friends from high school and college, so if there’s an opportunity to meet up, I always try to make it happen.
What other production can we expect from you in the coming future?
I got a remix coming out soon on Scarcity, which is more of a driving, peak-time track instead of the more progressive
style I’ve been putting out lately. I just started a remix for RUNE, and I’m thinking about doing another remix for my own label, Ridiculoud Records. Beyond that, I really want to start making some other music. I’ve always wanted to make, like trance and progressive house, so hopefully, if my production skills keep improving, I can make some proper tracks outside of breaks.
What is your studio set up? Do you have a weapon of choice on the nobs and dials?
I use a combination of Ableton Live and Logic Pro in the studio. I started off learning music with Ableton, but when I needed to upgrade my computer, I went with a Mac so I could use both Ableton and Logic, since I was always intrigued by what Logic had to offer. There are so many awesome plugins right out of the box in Logic, you almost don’t need anything else to start making music. In fact, my remixes of DiiSTORTiiON’s Dynamite and Deenk’s Move were made almost exclusively in Logic and with the included plugins. I’m a big fan of LennarDigital’s Sylenth1, so that always makes an appearance in my tracks. It’s probably my favourite plugin since it’s very easy to use and it just sounds fantastic. Logic’s own ES2 synth is another favourite.
I’m actually in need of some new monitors, and I’m still shopping around right now. So, it’s basically just my Mac, Logic, Ableton, a couple of soft synths, my small M-Audio Axiom 25 keyboard, Stanton DJ Pro 2000 headphones, and some sample CDs.
Name three breakbeat tunes that are blowing you away at the moment ...
1. MDK feat. Siegfried - Interstellar Mission [Ridiculoud]
2. Digital Breaks Foundation - Going Back (Ghettface Remix) [VIM]
3. East Cafe - How It All Began (Innuendo Remix) [DSUK]
Final words ...
Thanks for the interview! It’s pretty crazy seeing people supporting my music and asking for remixes. When I started out, I never thought I’d reach this point, so HUGE thanks to everyone for supporting my music in their shows
and for all the positive remarks I get on Facebook and SoundCloud. Here’s hoping for more exciting tunes to come!
http://soundcloud.com/yanixmusic
http://www.facebook.com/people/Eric-Yanix-Janke/100002021244868
http://www.youtube.com/user/noizyhorn
http://twitter.com/trancedeejay
http://www.ridiculoudrecords.com/
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