Zone Magazine Issue 037 Spring 2023

Who is Harry and who is lemon8?
Harry is just me. I was baptised Henry, Carl,
Nicolaas, Jacobus Lemon but it's always been Harry. Lemon
is my real surname and its origin goes back to Ireland. In
Celtic it was Lehman, wich translates as good man. (Just
wanted to get that in there!!). It then was basterdized over
the years to Lennon and Lemon. From Ireland one great
grandparent Lemon went to the UK, then to Singapore,
then the offspring to Indonesia to finally me ending up in
Holland where I was born and raised. So that's a little bit of
family history here. I'm basically a remix myself with
Dutch, Indonesian, Singapore, Irish and German blood.
Lemon8 is a DJ/Producer and born at the end of
1992. Before that my DJ name was DJ Funkateer and I
played Funk, Disco and Rap.
Tell us about Model8, 30 years old
now, a track which is now
considered a classic Techno track?
Mobel8 was the first track that I've produced
myself. My debut called 'Touch Somebody' was produced
by someone else, though there's a remix on it that I did,
not knowing how everything worked. It was alright though.
But Model8 is what I consider to be my debut.
Model8 started as a remix of a track called 'The
Navigator' by the Tellurians of which one of its members
was Ferry Corsten. After the remix was done I've waited for
4 months and heard nothing back from See-Saw label
owner Hans Hermans (Who later started UDG and died in
2011) so I decided to make an additional remix and release
it on Basic Energy, a new to start sublabel of Basic Beat
Records. That additional remix became the most popular
version and is called Model8 - Lemon8 remix. It was
pressed in multiple colored vinyl records, the first one was
red. It was rereleased in 2006 or 7 on Richie Hawtin's Plus8
label. The greatest compliment came from Richie himself,
who said that this is what he intended to make when
producing Spastik. he collected all colors and even brought
them all with him when he was my guest at Nighttown,
Rotterdam. Model8 really was made with my Nighttown
basement residency in mind as it really reflects that energy
of the early 90's. It's still being played the world over and
gaining fans across generations. And the other day,
someone I know for 30 years and a DJ as well, only just
found out it was mine. The thing is that it was so far
removed from the Dutch tech and club sound at the time
that people just couldnt connect the Lemon8 from
Nighttown with the Lemon8 of that record. I guess that's
pre-internet for ya.
When you go into the studio, tell us
about your process.
get into the studio I'm easily caught up in it. It's just the
initial get up and go moment that can sometimes be
daunting. I always feel technology gets in the way. I've
always felt like that. I wish I could just think it.
However, I am a geek as well so I do enjoy the
technical aspects of it too. But that is holding me up rather
than being productive.
I Usually start with beats and drum programming
as that is the core of what dance music is about. Then a
bass line and I build from there. But sometimes it can just
be a particular sound too or an effect. The way a
compressor sounds on a particular instrument can be highly
motivational for example and I often throw away of what
I've had thusfar and continue with that sound. Of course
that way you can end up in an endless loop and that
happens often. The thing with house music is that it's
hypnotic and there are days that I hypnotize myself with
just that one loop.
So many pitfalls when it comes to producing.
Especially when you're all by yourself. Sometimes you need
to wake up and get out of your loop. It's like life itself when
you think about it right?
What gear is your go to? And tell us
about the equipment you use in the
studio.
I try to keep it as minimal as possible. I work with
Reason 12 for over 12 years now and what I like about it
most is that it resembles hardware. It actually looks like
having racks filled with equipment and synths. And you can
have a look at the backside, patch cables... so many things
you can do with it. I've tried Ableton Live which is really
popular among dance music producers but I just can not
connect it with music. It looks like a spreadsheet to me and
has no personality. To me at least. DAWs are a very
personal thing and since I started with hardware, Reason
comes closest.
I have three hardware synths left that I will
probably keep forever; First and foremost the Yamaha
AN1x. It's a Virtual Analogue synth and I think one of the
best synthesizers ever made, analogue or virtual. It still
inspires me to this day. It's on all my Inner Sanctuary
productions and remixes. Then I have a Korg Poly 800 II.
Don't use it at all really but it was my first and just can't
part with it. The third one is an EMU Audity 2000 module.
It's just so quirky and unique though I haven't used it for a
long time. Oh, and can't forget my MPC 2000 of course.
One day I'll pick it up again as soon as I find a solution to
my faulty zip-drive (!).
So yes, everything is mostly 'in the box. There's
nothing software can't do and I don't suffer from GAS
(Gear aquirement Syndrome). If anything, less is more.
It starts in the head most of the time. I really
need to create an urge or get inspired. That's not always
possible of course, especially when it comes to remixes and
deadlines. It's not really productive too as I have many
interests. I don't think of music all the time. But when I do