About Fanu

Junglist. Skater. Samplist. Passionate DJ. Avid music lover. Breakbeat-o-holic. Those are some of the descriptions that fit Fanu. While living in the rather dark and cold North of Finland, he got into the jungle thing in the mid-nineties - soon after hearing some electronic music during the earlier years of the decade. Around that time, he also started experimenting with electronic music and sampling for the first time. "I lived in a small countryside town, where I didn't really have anything better to do. My friends exposed me to some early electronic stuff and I was blown away immediately. Soon I found myself trying to emulate the tracks I heard, sampling, layering and combining all kinds of different sounds." But it wasn't until he heard jungle that he knew there'd be no turning back: "It was so different! The beats, the BREAKS! The flow of that music was so different from all other types of electronic music I had heard. Every time I heard a breakbeat, I felt different. It sounded so much better than the average four-to-the-floor beat. Well, fast forward to today: I'm creating modern jungle and breakbeat music with aesthetics that come from the past," he says. "More often than not, in the music that I write, there has to be some of that same breakbeat action that I used to hear because what blew me away in old drum and bass and jungle was the mind-blowing syncopation. For me, the breaks were what made jungle what they were back then, and I'm after the same elements today. The drums are the backbone for sure!" Fanu's downtempo material resembles his jungle but still falls outside the traditional definition of jungle. "In downtempo I find endless possibilities for musical ideas: if compared to drum and bass, it has a bit more space for playfulness and limitlessness," he admits. "My biggest downtempo influence must've been the smokey 'triphop' I heard in the nineties. But basically, into downtempo I pour all my non-dnb influences - and repressions and frustrations, hah! In terms of ideas and soundscapes, I owe a great deal to Future Sound of London, Underworld, Dj Shadow, Dj Krust, Amon Tobin, and many more similar acts." "What's as important to me as the breaks in this music is what I call emotional resonance (he admits he picked that one from DJ Shadow); there is often this certain level of depth in the tunes that I find myself liking the most. Proper deep soundscapes...they're the shit! I know for sure that my surrounding environment - the dark, cold Finnish climate - had a huge impact on forming my musical creativity. I always found a lot of inspiration in the dark and cold. I wouldn't sound how I sound today if I hadn't lived there." [img]http://s13.photobucket.com/albums/a263/pistonquaker/newfanusite/Laru1_.jpg[/img] Fanu's unique style has definitely made an impact on today's drum-and-atmosphere-hungry jungle audience. Always a busy man in the studio, he has released music on Subtitles, Commercial Suicide, Offshore, Ohm Resistance / Columbia, Breakin', Warm Communications, Subtle Audio, Subvert Central, Thermal, Forestry Service , LoCuts, Soothsayer, 13 Music, Pauze, Darkestral, Pinecone Moonshine, Bonafide, Cyberset, and now he's concentrating on his own label, Lightless Recordings. You can check past and future audio on the discography section of this site. After releasing his works on so many different labels, Fanu started his very own Lightless Recordings to release of the kind of breakbeat-driven music he's passionate about: deep atmospheres and dirty fat rhythms. [img]http://s13.photobucket.com/albums/a263/pistonquaker/lovearm_.jpg[/img] To close the circle, Fanu DJs to represent the jungalism to the fullest: so far, he's been called to do do breakbeat reformation work in England (London, Bristol, Exeter, Liverpool), USA (Chicago, Washington DC, New York, Saint Louis, Seattle, Portland, San Fransisco, Jacksonville, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Raleigh, New Orleans, Fargo), Canada (Toronto), Hungary (Budapest, Pecs), Germany (Berlin, Leipzig), Holland (Amsterdam, Groningen, Utrecht, Hague), Poland (Warsaw, Rybnik, Katowice), Czech (Pardubice), Belgium (Antwerp), Lithuania (Klaipeda), Latvia (Riga), Estonia (Tallinn), Sweden (Stockholm), Austria (Wien, Graz), Russia (Moscow, Gornyi Altai [Wetluck 2007], Tyumen), Ukraine (Kiev), Bulgaria (Sofia), Italy (Codroipo), Slovakia (Bratislava), Ireland (Dublin) as well as his homeland, Finland (Helsinki, Tampere, Rovaniemi, Joensuu). "My main preference in old and modern day jungle is the breaksy stuff, but with regard to everything else, I've never placed myself in any mould as a DJ and I never will, as that's one of the biggest mistakes a DJ can make in the long run. I like to keep the set varied: I play different styles and switch between the moods. I think it's important to keep the crowd interested. I've always found the unexpectable DJs the best, and that's what I'm like myself when I'm behind the decks: lots and lots of mixing and blending going on...I like to keep pretty active when I'm out there. And you won't get any boring beard-stroking sets from me or you'll get your money back." Fanu is supported by Rane and Ableton, so he is doing his DJ gigs with Serato Scratch Live and live gigs using Ableton Live. There's been many 12″ releases and appearances, and the first Fanu album, "DAYLIGHTLESS", a heavy package of breakbeat music was released in July 2007 on Lightless in the form of a 2CD and a 3*12″ LP. Early 2008 saw the collaboration album, which is the result of the teamwork of Fanu, Bill Laswell, and a group of legendary jazz musicians: "LODGE". July 2009 witnessed the release of Fanu's second artist album, "HOMEFREE", a 3*12" package of nine tracks of the trademark Fanu style breakbeat music. What's next? Fanu's new album, "SERENDIPITY", is coming out on October 31. Watch the site for info soon. Also, he's put together a live set full of breaks, samples, and fat bass. In the lab, he is proudly using Ableton Live to create all kinds of crazy live action...so, get ready for some of that! Programming breaks, sampling things, coming up with original productions - that's what's happening. Some people love it, some don't, some don't get it, and some say he's doing what they all did over ten years ago. One thing's for sure, though: he'll be doing his own thing. You can also find Fanu on Facebook. Fanu is supported by Serato Scratch LIVE, Ableton Live, Waldorf and Ohm Force.