Greg David talks to our resident DJ Stonedog about the new Volume single “No I Won’t”, recording with Singapore Pop Icon Olynn Saleh and the future of his new label Volume Up records.

Pop-Artistry: Volume resident DJ Stonedog

GREG DAVID: Let’s start with yours and Volume’s debut single “Rainbows”. How did that come about?

STONEDOG: It really just started as a fun little thing to do with my friends. I never imagined it would even be released, let alone become such the hit it has. As an 80’s kid, I grew up with the Eurobeat sound of UK mega-producers Stock, Aitken and Waterman who even to this day are a huge influence on me. Doesn’t “Rainbows” sound like a S/A/W song to you? Anyway, they produced some of the biggest hits of that decade like Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up”, Bananarama’s “Venus”, “You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)” by Dead Or Alive and all Kylie’s early hits like “Better The Devil You Know” and “I Should Be So Lucky”. I had noticed there were new, modern-sounding bootleg remixes of these hits appearing all over the internet and I searched them out because I wanted to play them in the club. I chanced upon a young, Japanese bedroom producer Yu Katsuragi aka Willie2400 posting these amazing remix videos up on Youtube, so I approached him and asked if I could play his mixes at Volume. Of course, he agreed and was thrilled his stuff was actually going to make it into a club.

STONEDOG: Eventually I commissioned him to remix 2 tracks exclusively for Volume. Bananarama’s “Love In The First Degree” and “Toy Boy” by Sinitta. Both of which I played in the venue a lot when I first got them. Some of the regulars might even recall hearing them. For everyone else, you can download them both, along with all his other awesome remixes on his website.

http://williw2400.sakura.ne.jp/english_index.html

STONEDOG: Soon, we got to the point where we wanted to do an original song. I’ve been songwriting since my teens and way back in high school my compositions would be performed by classmates who could hold a tune or play instruments at many school assemblies. My final year yearbook was filled with well wishes from my peers saying I was “destined for the music biz”. At the time I was chuffed, but I thought they were mad (laughs). Anyway, so Willie and I decided to work on a song together and the end result was “Rainbows”- and yes, it really IS about the gay rainbow pride flag. See for yourself in the official music video.

GD: So, I gotta ask- why don’t you sing on your own records?

STONEDOG: The funny thing is, I can actually hold a tune! When I write a song, I first have to record a vocal guide demo for the singer to follow. So yeah, there are bootleg versions of me singing “Rainbows” and “The Flow” floating around somewhere. God help me if they ever leak on to the internet! (laughs). Having said that, I used to be in all the school musicals as a kid and I’d always land one of the lead roles. However, I just don’t feel my singing voice is suitable to do what I want the songs to do. But don’t be surprised if I end up doing backing vocals or even lead on future tracks! For now though, I have to approach the work as professionally as possible, so from a producer point of view, I take into consideration who is the best person for the job.

GB: And that would be Olynn, right?

STONEDOG: Absolutely. Doesn’t she have the most amazing voice? She is so uber talented- I’m envious! Sometimes I question even if she realizes just how great she is. But that’s Olynn. She’s very down to Earth and of course, she loves hanging out with gay boys!

Rainbow warriors: Olynn Saleh & DJ Stonedog

GD: So how did you guys wind up working together?

STONEDOG: Through a mutual friend, Noh Ghani in Singapore, who I hired as a recording engineer for a TV jingle I was working on. He helped me cast her. She is in a pop/rock band called Shaggies and they are super popular in Singapore. She often does studio session work for TV commercials etc and that’s how we came to meet. So when I approached her about the “Rainbows” project she was skeptical at first because dance music had never really been her thing, but I guess it took the producer in me to show her that her voice works perfectly in this genre too.

GB: And it was after you recorded “Rainbows” that her star in Singapore really began to rise, correct?

STONEDOG: Uh-huh. Not long afterwards she entered a Reality TV competition called “Live The Dream”. It was kinda like “American Idol” and it was a huge ratings winner over there. She eventually made it all the way to the Final 4 and consequently became a household name. I was so proud of her!

GB: The new single “No I Won’t”. Tell us about the story behind it. Is it autobiographical?

STONEDOG: No comment about the autobiographical part (laughs) but I will tell you that when I decided to take another stab at this music lark, I knew I wanted to do something very different to “Rainbows”, which is cute and kinda cheesy. I wanted to take a different direction and make one of those songs that just screams OTT diva anthem. So I looked to artists like Deborah Cox, Angie Stone and Whitney Houston for inspiration. Gay boys love those self-empowering female-driven songs and I think “No I Won’t” certainly ticks those boxes. The lyrics are very, very sassy in a ‘talk to the hand’ kinda way. I would like to believe in “No I Won’t” as the “I Will Survive” anthem for a whole new generation. Drag queens will definitely be all over this shit!

Gold digger: DJ Stonedogs pumps up the Volume.

GB: And about your label, Volume Up records- what’s the vision?

STONEDOG: Part of the motivation behind re-launching our website was to make Volume’s music more accessible. Not just to our community here in Hong Kong, but also abroad. Releasing our own singles does wonders for Volume’s image and certainly impresses the journalists around town. I mean, Volume is the first nitespot in the city to launch its own label on their website. It’s something I’m immensely proud of. For now, we have “Rainbows” and “No I Won’t” on the site, but there will be more to come with the hope to release new tracks every few months.

GB: Will the next Volume single be a DJ Stonedog track?

STONEDOG: Most likely, no. I’ll be working on it behind the scenes, but the beauty about what we’ve created here is that it opens the door to more Hong Kong and Asian artists to promote and share their music. Right now I am developing 2 new artists and have a few more in mind I’d like to work with shortly afterwards.

GB: New artists? Wow- exciting! A new gay icon, perhaps? C’mon- spill!

STONEDOG: Without giving away too much, I can hint that one of these artists will get a massive amount of attention from the press put on them. This artist is a one-of-a-kind rarity and something Hong Kong has certainly never seen before. I’m excited that this person will break some big ground and become an icon this city can be proud of. The other, I’m pleased to announce is Andy Josh Lim, a finalist contestant on season 1 of Singapore Idol. He has an amazing voice. It reminds me of Craig David.

GB: Any final words?

STONEDOG: I guess all I really can hope for is that the gay community get behind us initially and download the Volume singles. Without their support we can’t really move forward with future releases. And of course, every new artist we break provides positive role models to represent our community in the mainstream media. We need more visibility and we need leaders in this city who can bring to light the issues that we hold dear to our hearts- like equality. So, yeah- buy the songs and support your community, guys!

GB: Thanks so much for your time.

STONEDOG: My pleasure.

Volume’s new single “No I Won’t” is available now on this site.