K_Series aka Jon Langford has been in and around the scene for more years than most of us have had cheese and tomato sandwiches. Having been one half of the amazing Knuckleheadz project and spending time in the house of Tripoli Trax, he has brought joy and laughter to many young clubbers, dizzy with the hedonistic spell cast of over them by hard dance!
His K_Series project is all about rewriting, reprogramming and reworking anthems of a by-gone era, retrofitting them with some serious RPM and some even more serious bass lines and kick drums, and deploying them on the modern day dance floors with devastating results.
If you’re not familiar with all the K_Series weaponry then a rough guide to the inspiration behind the tracks is as follows, and we do say rough as it’s more than likely some trance spotters will put us right....
K1 — Go
K2 — 1998
K3 — Perpetual Motion
K4 — Papua New Guinea
K5 — Communication
K6 — Punk
K7 — Airwave
K8 — Sanctuary
K9 — Flowtation
K10 — Fiji
Ladies & Gentlemen… welcome Jon Langford to the party!
You & Steve Hill are known for your wardrobe full of alter ego aliases. How come you have so many?
K_Series [Jon Langford]: Mainly for the different styles that we produce under. It makes the division between styles easier and less confusing.
What are the production characteristics of each of your aliases?
K_Series [Jon Langford]: They are roughly as follows:
Mr Bishi: Bouncey hard house
Neon Lights: Vocal hard trance
Knuckleheadz: Hard house
K_Series: Hard trance re-workings
Flashheadz: Hard trance
The K_Series is in double figures now. When you first started the project was it just to rework a few anthems or did you have the entire series mapped out?
K_Series [Jon Langford]: Initially it was just for one or two ideas, but they proved to be popular: so popular that I decided to continue the series! I never map too far in advance for the releases, I just get moments of inspiration.
Just for the licensing and sampling experts out there — how do you skip round the use of such classic track samples and riffs without paying huge licensing/royalty fees?
K_Series [Jon Langford]: None of it is sampled, it’s all re-played. I pride myself on trying to get the lead sound exactly right, not just the melody line. I do pay publishing to the original writers, which as a cover version is what they are due.
So how about giving us an inside track on what K_Series tracks are coming up?
K_Series [Jon Langford] Sorry, I don’t like to give that information out!
OK which K_track has been the one you’ve had the most fun working on/playing out?
K_Series [Jon Langford]: K7 — ‘Airwave’ was one of my favourite and one of the most fun to do. I’ve had a bit of fun putting different acapellas over it for the exclusive mixes.
Where is the K_Series production studio and how long each day do you spend slaving away over tracks?
K_Series [Jon Langford]: The K_Series studio is in my house. I spend most evenings & weekends in there working on projects.
The Basic Autumn Ball is honoured to have the first ever performance of your live PA. Are we just going to see a pure K_Series play list or will there be some sneaky inclusions from some of your other aliases?
K_Series [Jon Langford]: I’m glad to be playing at the Fridge and I will certainly include a few of my other aliases in the show, but it will be hard trance based…. and uplifting!
The likes of Lab4, K90 and the Nu Energy Collective has quite a substantial stage set up. What sort of kit list do you have for your live PA?
K_Series [Jon Langford]: Technology has moved on so much that you can simply run a whole set off a laptop and a couple of keyboards. I’ve never had lots of hardware, I’ve always worked from a G5 Mac. But my G4 PowerBook will be my workhouse in the show.
Is it solely you that works on the K_Series productions or are there plans to work on any collaborations?
K_Series [Jon Langford]: Steve Hill assisted me with K6 — Punk’d. But as a general rule I work on them myself.
The Digital download revolution is upon us. Are you for or against the development of digital online access to tracks?
K_Series [Jon Langford]: I’m caught in two minds really. My main business is selling vinyl and at the moment no digital download site comes close to the units I can sell on vinyl. It’s another medium that will grow in time, but at this moment it’s not a threat to the 12”.
Have you made K_Series tracks available for digital down loads?
K_Series [Jon Langford]: Yes, Tidy Digital has K1 — K6 currently available.
Numark has just announced the release of its latest piece of equipment, the iDJ; essentially a mixer for 2 iPods. Do you think this will work and is this a sign of things to come?
K_Series [Jon Langford]: Possibly… but it’s not vari-speed is it? Sasha is already using Ableton live in his sets and running everything from his G5 iMac… I can see that taking off, being able to add things on the fly to a mix. The iPod Mixer looks more like a fad to me!
You’ve been in and amongst the scene for many years now. What for you have been the biggest changes?
K_Series [Jon Langford]: The hard house scene becoming harder and harder was one thing that has killed it off, it was offensive, non-melodic and did the scene no favours. The techno and psy trance influences are not helping the scene either. But some fantastic new talent is rising like Technikal, MDA & Spherical, D10 & Andy Whitby.
When was the last time you played the Fridge and are you looking forward to getting back there?
K_Series [Jon Langford]: Blimey, it’s been some time since I played at the Fridge, I’m certainly looking forward to dropping in though! lol!
From: Andy Ton 8th Sep 2005 17:00.09 Can't wait to see/hear this one
From: DaveFrayneon 8th Sep 2005 17:33.17 I think they are equally rubbish!
LOL - Nice to put a face 2 your name there Jon
All the Best Mate
From: Nick Basicon 8th Sep 2005 19:14.12 This man is a lengend and has accomplished more in the last few years than most artists will acheive in a life time! Tomorrow night is all about the K_SERIES.....
From: PEDRA ~>> DRUM TRAX <<~on 9th Sep 2005 06:53.07 "psy trance influences are not helping the scene either" f**k agree!!!!!!!!!!!!!
From: JC-TAKTIKALon 9th Sep 2005 10:16.47 BRING IT ON!
From: hayley_blackwellon 12th Sep 2005 19:53.48 'The hard house scene becoming harder and harder was one thing that has killed it off, it was offensive, non-melodic and did the scene no favour' Hardhouse Rocks!!!
From: hayley_blackwellon 12th Sep 2005 19:54.07 'The hard house scene becoming harder and harder was one thing that has killed it off, it was offensive, non-melodic and did the scene no favour' Hardhouse Rocks!!!
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