My Interview with NEN's Hot Noise

Salt Lake City's Hot Noise aka Jeff larson enjoys showing the kids in Utah how it's done, when it comes to getting down with one's bad self. We're all forever grateful to him, for bringing the scene into Salt Lake and showing Utah what it means to rave. On Thursday, February 18th with his friend Kidplastik, he showed us why we love NEN. Serato + Hot Noise = beautiful chaos on the dance floor!

To the beginning for the folks who aren't to familiar with you, talented boys. What is NEN?

Never Eat Neon is a collaborative project between me and my good friend Drew Taylor a.k.a. (Kidplastik). We met a few years back through a mutual friend of ours, I had just moved back to Salt Lake City and had began to DJ at a few nightclubs around the city. Our friend had been out to a few of my shows and mentioned that Drew had pretty similar musical taste. I was pretty excited to hear that since there weren't very many people I knew of that were playing that type of electro in SLC at the time. We met up and formed NEN shortly after.

Who is Hot Noise?

A guy that likes to play records haha.

What would you say influences NEN's sound the most?

Wow, well, I would say that we are both influenced by lots of different music, not just electro, and a lot of different genres make it into our DJ sets. Drew and I have similar tastes in music, but there is a lot of stuff he will play that I wouldn't ever think to. That is one of the most fun parts of DJing in a Duo and putting a show together, the fact that each individual brings there own style to the table. I get so amped when I hear Drew play something I would have never thought of playing and vice versa. We both try to do something unique when DJing together, and it's a lot of fun to see how it all comes together and translates on to the dancefloor.

On thursday February 18th, what would you say the goal was for NEN?

Thursdays show was something Drew and I had been talking about and planning for awhile. We just wanted to put together a crazy show, and invite some of our close friends to come play a party with us. In the end that's what it's all about, good music and good friends. Big thanks to Muscle Hawk and Corey Bolo for playing the show with us, both are extremely talented at what they do, Corey is one of the only DJs in Salt Lake that I know of, that still plays all Vinyl DJ sets, and coming from a vinyl background myself, I have mad respect for his skills on the turntables. Muscle hawk are good friends of ours as well, and I think those guys are producing some of the best original electro to come out of Salt Lake.

What was the theme of the show, I and many others noticed all the cool visuals and shots of guns!

There wasn't really specific theme we were going for, we just wanted to add some elements that were lacking in previous shows, and I think that the right visuals can take any show from good to amazing.

What inspired those specific visuals?

Drugs haha J/K. I don't know really, Drew was more of the mastermind behind those visuals, that dude comes up with some wild shit.

Should we expect more at future shows?

Oh definitely, each time we play we always try to up the production value of our shows. I think it keeps people coming back, just because they don't know what to expect, except for that it will be even bigger and better than the last time.

What feeling do you want to evoke, out of the room when playing your set?

One thing that I hear people say to us a lot after a show is how high energy our parties are. I love to hear that, because that is exactly our intention. Both Drew and I are pretty animated on stage, We just love to get into the music, and I think that that vibe is definitely felt by the crowd. If we have to scrape people off the walls and the ceilings at the end of a show, then I've felt we have done our job properly haha.

What was your favorite track to drop that night?

Hmm that's a tough one, there is so much new music I'm amped on right now. If I had to pick one track I would maybe say the new remix that Fake Blood did for Noah and the Whale. I love everything that guy produces.

Did any of the tracks get a reaction you hadn't expected?

Sometimes I'll drop something in a set that I feel is pretty obscure, and I'm not too sure how the crowd will react to it, but I'm usually pleasantly surprised at how well those tracks are received. That's why I love playing shows in Salt Lake. Kids are just amped to hear new music, and as long as it is good, people will get into it. That's probably my favorite part about DJing, is digging really hard for that one track no one else is playing and then sharing that with people and seeing them enjoy it.

What was your overall feeling with the night?

I felt it was a crazy night for sure, Drew and I planned the night with the intention of making it more like a show, instead of two dudes up there DJing a party. You can go out to any nightclub any day of the week and see that, so we wanted to make it special and different, ya know, give the crowd their moneys worth. I feel we accomplished that. I also have to give a big thanks to Chris Wright and the rest of the crew at Urban Lounge for working with us on putting this show together, all those guys are great to work with and handle everything very professionally. Definitely one of my favorite venues in Salt Lake City.