Interview: Ivan Khatchoyan of Choi Records
25ThC loves 45s and particularly finding cool and unusual cover songs. Choi Records from Melbourne has been putting out some of the best funk covers going of tracks by Rick James, The Prodigy and now Daft Punk. The label has also been receiving support from legends such as DJ Nu-Mark. 25ThC caught up with head of the label Ivan Khatchoyan to find out more:
Choi Records has been going since 2015. Why did you start the label and what does it set out to promote?
I started Choi Records as an output for my ideas about what songs/genre and production style to shoot for. That’s about it. I was lucky it got some attention from the start, so I kept it going.
The label is based in Melbourne which is an amazing city. Can you tell us a little about the funk and live scene there?
I arrived from The States to Melbourne where my dad was/is living and since moving here, I can say that there is a super-vibrant music scene here. Almost like the NYC of Australia. The talent and different genres are too many to count. There are also many different size venues to cater to your bands needs size wise. Funk bands that have come out of Melbourne in the past 5 years or more include The Bamboos, Sasquatch, Cactus Channel, Fulton Street, The Putbacks, Cookin’ on 3 Burners, & The Traffic to name a few.
Your label releases are all on 45rpm 7” vinyl. I love this format and dj 45s regularly. What do you like about the format and why do you release singles in this way?
Well, initially I used this format to test out The Traffic’s first release. It was relatively cheap and small/portable too I guess. After the second release, it was obvious to me how much of a niche market there was for 45s! This vinyl format works especially well for instrumental funk/soul, and hip-hop.
The label is home to The Traffic, Fulton Street and Mayfield. Can you tell us a little about each of these bands and the music they produce?
Well it all started with The Traffic so, this band is mainly based on doing instrumental covers of vocal/riff based pop songs. Now that I say vocal songs, not all songs have been vocals songs like Bangarang, and Smack My Pitch Up. I’ve always loved drum heavy tracks through genre or mix style so that’s part of the sound I go for I guess. The players in this band are incredibly talented and we have a mutual love for the process of making these tunes sound as hard and intense as possible. Lineup is Bass (Yuri Pavlinov), Guitar (Kumar Shome), Trumpet/sax/flute (Alex Howroyd), Trombone (Jimmy Bowman), Baritone sax (Brett Evans) and drums/perc/production (me). After recording all the parts, this band has me sitting in the studio like a nerd/hermit creature, finally emerging with a huge beard after its done.. Love this process..
Fulton Street connection came about from my wife, who worked with the trombone player of the band, and she said I should check these guys out. This band has such an interesting funk and soul sound with a classic lineup of horn-section, drums, hammond, bass, guitar, and lead. So we chatted and I agreed to produce their LP and ended up putting their first single on Choi Records “Young People” CR-003. Fulton Street punches hard and can deliver the most sublime chilled soul groove ever. Power meets melting moments with these guys. Shannen (lead vocals) and Jamie Stroud (bass) co-write most of the songs and are gigging regularly. You should definitely check them out! Fulton Street LP – Problems & Pain is out independently on Bandcamp and streaming services!
Mayfield is a freaky band of quirky cool players and writers, we met around 5 years ago now. I joined second last to the current line-up. The overall band sound has elements of funk, hiphop, and soul/rnb and deep grooves. Punchy funk yet smooth. I produced the bunch of songs we were working on 3 years ago which turned into our LP Victim of circumstance and also put out a single ‘On The Ropes’ on Choi Records CR-004, which worked well! The main difference with this band to my others is the style of writing. It is quite deep lyrically and almost always has an actual real personal story to it. Kenny Justin Hall (sax) and Carla (lead vox) are the main lyricists in the band and they both have stories to tell. The line up is Drums, bass, guitar, keys, sax and lead vox. Our Album ‘Victim of Circumstance’ is available as vinyl on Bandcamp or on all streaming services.
On top of running the label you are a drummer and producer for the label and for The Traffic, Cookin’ on 3 Burners and Mayfield. How do you combine the dual roles and what hardware/software do you use to produce?
Balancing them all is a carefully honed juggling act over the last 29 years of playing in the scene here. My first love is drumming, but a close second is recording and producing. I get something different from each of these roles. I wouldn’t have it any other way.. it is chaos, but its exciting. The DAW I use is Cubase. I have used that since 97′ when it was for midi only. It has come a long way since and wouldn’t use anything else. From all the DAWs i’ve come into contact with, it has the most intuitive workflow. I say that, and firmly believe that ALL DAWs do the same thing. Its not going to make the music for you. The funny thing about the computer I use is that since 2008 I am still on a Pentium core 2 duo pc with 4gb ram. I’ve done so much on it and its only showing signs of not handling production loads. 😄 so i am about ready to jump to a much higher specs PC and plugins galore! can’t wait.
For hardware, I have been using the Focusrite L56 as my hub and putting my Api A2d, Universal Audio 710-4D, Avalon 737SP, Avalon 747, Empirical Labs distressor, all through it. Mics wise I use a Neumann 1972 U87, Rode classic Tube mic, and various ribbon mics for drums and horns. I also recently got the Neve 1073 DPX, RND 5211, RND Shelford CHannel and Great River MP2NV pres for some new studio flavors.
When did you first learn to play the drums and which drummers inspired you then and now?
According to my dad, I was always tapping on things. My dad was a keyboard player in a band, and so my folks would take me to the gigs and I would sit and listen. Year was 1980 and for my 10th birthday I was given a drum kit by Bedo my dads bandmate! A ludwig out of all kits. That’s when it officially started. I was first into heavy stuff of course; Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Motley Crue, and your rock bands. Quickly jumped to finding The Police and Stewart Copeland led me out of the rock and into Jazz and cross rhythms and I absorbed his love for African music. The world opened up then for me with fusion/jazz like Weather Report & Spyrogryra, which then quickly led to deeper Jazz like any Miles records and any band that had a drummer who led from the back. I’ve loved and still love Elvin Jones, Jeff Tain Watts, Jack De Johnette, Omar Hakim, Trilok Gurtu, Manu Katche, and Steve Gadd among the many. My fav drummers now include Chris “daddy” Dave, JDBeck Music, Quest Love, and Nate Smith to name a few. Always finding new drummers. always learning.
The Traffic have released some amazing covers such as Rick James ‘Super Freak’ and the forthcoming Daft Punk ‘Harder better…”. How do you go about choosing which songs to cover and how best to arrange them?
This band is a studio project band and only has played out a handful of times as its hard to get the players together. But as the producer I have picked out the song except for originals, which has been more of a collaborative process. Luckily the players I have are very supportive of the choices I have made and are happy for me to do what I think arrangement and production wise. The DAW is my “canvas ” and after all parts are in nothing is in cement until later and I have tried a few ideas out. I like to keep it open till the end in case some cool thing happens production wise takes it somewhere i didn’t think of initially. Hopefully 2020 sees us playing these songs out more.
You release your records initially on Bandcamp which allows you to directly connect with your fans. You are also very active on Instagram and Facebook. How has this affected the success and the promotion of the label?
The social media platforms have been initially integral to the rise of awareness of Choi Records and The Traffic. Now its less organic on Insta/FB and comes more from Bandcamp itself. I can’t speak highly enough of the Bandcamp back end. It is so intuitive and easy to use as a small independent label. Orders are very clear and they have a good way of getting people to know about whats being released with algorithms and selling charts. It’s huge!!!! I love talking with fans and happy to chat to them anytime. The connection is valuable to me cause the music is so personal and I put a lot in, so I really appreciate the feedback.
I recently saw on your Instagram a Beastie Boys covers band. Can you tell us more about that and when/if there will be any live show or releases?
No Releases. It is a cover band and we play around 35 of our favourite Beastie Boys tunes including Shadrach, Hey Ladies, Whatcha Want, Barrel of a Gun, Sure shot, Root Down, Sabotage and so many more. It is an absolute blast to play as I went hard on their material back in late 90s and now going back through everything again has been a joy. Hard work with all the stops and grooves, but that’s the flavour and character that makes it interesting in my opinion. We have another show booked at the Eveyln Hotel in Fitzroy Jan, 18 2020. Come down!
What advice would you have to anyone thinking about starting their own label?
Just do it!! Think of a name, have material recorded or concept of sound and go. Even if its not on vinyl 45 format, digital is fine. Main thing is have fun… and make you really like what your hearing and it has a vibe or something to it. Enjoy the process.
You can buy the latest release from The Traffic together with other Choi Records releases at the Bandcamp page – https://thetraffic.bandcamp.com/album/harder-better-faster-stronger-chasin-feels
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Interview by 25ThC.
