Let’s talk about Sonny Wharton – Interview

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]A firm fixture in the House and Techno scene, Sonny Wharton has established himself as one of the finest DJ/Producers to emerge from the UK in recent years thanks to his releases on Skint, Size, X or on his imprint Whartone Records.

His unique and intricate production style has been strongly supported by BBC Radio 1. Sonny Wharton has made collaboration with X-Press 2, DJ Chus and Roland Clark and remixed a broad array of artists including Morcheeba, The Temper Trap, Frankie Knuckles or Fatboy Slim who once named Sonny as his ‘producer of the year’.

Now it’s time for our exclusive interview with this artist.[/vc_column_text][vc_toggle title=”At the beginning of June you have released a new single ‘Vice’ on Steve Angello Size Records, what has been the reactions on this single?” open=”true”]It’s been great and far exceeded my expectations for the single. I know as a club track it does the business as I’ve been playing it out a lot over the last 6 months and its always been one of the strongest tunes in my sets so I was quite confident it would deliver on that level, but then you never know how that will translate to a wider audience as a listening experience I guess. The biggest and nicest surprise for me was the support it’s received from Spotify putting it at number 1 on their Fresh Electronic playlist.

[/vc_toggle][vc_toggle title=”Can you tell us more about the creative idea behind this record?” open=”true”]‘Vice’ started life a bit of a secret weapon I made for my DJ sets – I wanted to create a track that really lifted the vibe and stepped the groove up to another level when I dropped it. To be honest I’m really quite proud of this track, even though it’s quite simple in its arrangement, as it always delivers when I play it.[/vc_toggle][vc_toggle title=”You are also well known for your sample packs. When and why you’ve decided, that you will start making them?” open=”true”]Loopmasters approached me about the idea of creating a sample pack for their artist series and this excited me a lot as a producer because it gave me the focus to just spend a lot of time making grooves and elements specifically for this purpose. It was fun and I got to explore a lot of different techniques within my studio. After the success of the first one we discussed the idea of the follow-up pack which was released late last year and I’m already working on a new one as we speak.

[/vc_toggle][vc_toggle title=”What are you using in the studio? Are you more hardware or software guy?” open=”true”]I’m running Logic and have been using this for years as this is the DAW I feel most comfortable with. I’ve had a few bits of hardware over the years but find I’m at my most creative using a fairly minimal setup predominately inside the box. A lot of plugins I use are already native to Logic itself so there’s only a few from elsewhere that I frequently use from the likes of Native Instruments, U-he, IK Multimedia and Sonalkiss.[/vc_toggle][vc_toggle title=”You also have your own label Whartone Records, how is it doing in this year?” open=”true”]Whartone is doing great thank you, it’s really come on leaps and bounds recently and I’m very proud of a lot of our artists that have come through. Along with the releases on Whartone and our sub-label Whartone Deep, we’re also developing a new management side to the label and expanding our Publishing roster. This summer we’re musically curating a lot of projects for some pretty cool indie brands as well as setting up a new event platform that will be launched towards the end of the year. It’s exciting times, to be honest, and I enjoy it a lot.

[/vc_toggle][vc_toggle title=”Any new names we should pay attention to?” open=”true”]Artists like Richard Knott and Paul Flynn always blow me away musically every time i hear anything they’ve made. Also keep an eye on Luke Stanger, Innerkey and Armitage.[/vc_toggle][vc_toggle title=”What’s your opinion on the streaming services? Do you see it as a future?” open=”true”]I think it’s a great thing – Spotify is by far leading the way and they really do support Artists which is great to see. It’s definitely the future.[/vc_toggle][vc_toggle title=”What do you think about the current state of the whole scene?” open=”true”]House music is in a great place right now – it’s all over the radio and TV and embraced the world over so this is great as it exposes it to new generations and new ears that can find their own path within it and hopefully take it forward another level.
[/vc_toggle][vc_toggle title=”You are also known for your releases on Fatboy Slim label Skint Records, can you tell us what is it like to work with a person like Norman?” open=”true”]Norman is one of my heroes and to have him even listen to one of my tracks is a dream come true so the support he’s given me has been amazing and something I’ll always cherish. Skint have always been great to work with and again I’m a fan of their label first and foremost so it’s always been very surreal being able to release music with them… I owe these guys a lot for all their help over the years![/vc_toggle][vc_toggle title=”Who would be your dream collaboration?” open=”true”]Fatboy Slim[/vc_toggle][vc_toggle title=”Your favorite artist at this moment?” open=”true”]OC & Verde
[/vc_toggle][vc_toggle title=”What your plans for the rest of this summer?” open=”true”]Main highlights for me are playing the main stage at Beats For Love Festival in the Czech Republic alongside Chase & Status, Fatboy Slim & Wilkinson and hosting my own Stage at Nozstock Festival here in the UK.[/vc_toggle][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Thanks a lot Sonny for answering all our questions. Below you can find his Soundcloud page.

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