Gui Boratto
We interface with the São Paolo producer about his exemplary remixing
> Gui’s version of That Was Your Mother is like a textbook example of what a good remix should be: it retains the soul and mood of the original, while adding just enough new elements to make a completely new piece of music. We find out how the Brazilian techno connoisseur pulled it off…
What’s your approach to remixing? “The first thing I want is to have a completely different approach and give it a totally different result. Also, the harmony and melody’s relation… I must like the original song but I want to do something that will never compete with the original; and of course, preserve the ‘soul’ of the original composition. The most horrible thing these days is building one note techno and putting the original vocals on top. It’s sacrilege.”
How do you start a remix? “Normally I study the composition and understand exactly the harmony and melody of the original. Also study the arrangement, feel the vibe and finally I put the original files on the computer. Obviously, BPM and other details are very important and considered. Especially what kind of purpose the remix is made for. Afterwards comes the time for stretching, editing, merging process etc. Then it begins. Normally I like to start with the possibility of changing the harmony, so I can have a different ‘mood’ on the final result. I love to change the harmony.
“Once I’m confident with those important changes, I start the drums, pads, synths etc. Everything is important, but the basis is the foundation to a great remix.”
Do you have any personal connection with Graceland or with that track? “I’d chosen You Can Call Me Al but they sent me the wrong contract with
That Was Your Mother, a song I only briefly knew. I loved the possibilities to change pretty much everything.
“That mistake on the contract turned into a good thing. I really loved the harmony changes and the rest of the new arrangements I did. It’s so different to the original. That made my day! Even the original saxophone, (I used almost the whole original recording), sounds so different!”
That’s quite a different-sounding use of the saxophone part, though…
“I barely touched it! I know it sounds completely different, but that’s because the harmony I did is different – it gives a different ‘colour’ to the song. Different, different, different!”
Which remix are you most proud of, and/or which was the hardest? “I think Paradise Circus from Massive Attack’s Heligoland is my favourite. First because I recorded my own bass and tremolo guitars. The band liked it so much they wanted to have the stems of what I did. Especially the bass and the guitar I recorded. People are still asking me to play it live.
“The most difficult remix I’ve done in terms of skills, time and creativity was Love Etc by the Pet Shop Boys. The original is a shuffled song that I had to transform to 4/4 for a more club-oriented setting. To slice every one of Neil Tennant’s syllables with a few different timestretch algorithms isn’t easy, but in the end, it was an incredible result. Also, one of my favourite remixes.”
Is there anything you’d love to remix? “Many things. Blasphemous Rumours by Depeche Mode? Or Walk Away by Sisters Of Mercy…?”