Tom Stephan

Superchumbo, ChumboMundo, Star*69, Stealth

02.27.2007 ::: Words by Andrew Reid

Those that know their dance music will be more than aware of DJ/Producer, Tom Stephan AKA Superchumbo – a New Yorker whose dreams of making music in the big smoke led him to cross the pond in the early nineties. Within months of his arrival, Tom had already landed the prestigious warm-up slot for Danny Tenagliaat Ministry of Sound, and was soon hosting his own night at Turnmills and wowing the scene with his mix of high-octane nonsense!

Not long after that Tom’s alter-ego, Superchumbo was born – Superchumbo meaning Super-leaded in Portuguese – and the term adding “fuel to the fire” of dance music was given a whole new meaning. It was then that Tom’s breed of super fan, the ‘Leadhead’, started to appear and ChumboMundo was created giving something for the Leadheads to get high on other than gas!

Where most have died a DJ death amongst the constant influx of talent, Tom has remained a permanent fixture. And so it’s about time Tom returned to do what he does best, setting our ears and feet on fire, with his new compilation, ‘Let’s Go Chumbo ’– A double disc filled with “edgy, energetic, dark, dramatic, high octane, twisted, electro-tribal house music”.

Originally, released on Tom’s own UK label ChumboMundo, now in 2007, STAR 69 Records is excited to release this cd, ‘LET’s GO CHUMBO! By SUPERCHUMBO’ in North America. Since the 90s , Superchumbo has swept the world away by his unique sounds in production and killer DJ sets, gaining worldwide recognition and respect. Now Star69 brings you ‘Let’s Go Chumbo!’ a full blast tribal/electro/minimal drenched CD mix.

Tracks include the latest Superchumbo single ‘Dog’, the new Superchumbo remixes of Nitzer Ebb's ‘Control I'm Here’and Pet Shop Boy's ‘Minimal’, plus Ralph Falcon & Charlie Solana's ‘Control’, Kamisshake's ‘High Voltage’ and unreleased tracks from DJ Pierre and West London Deep.

Tom Stephan explains, "On ‘Let's Go Chumbo’ I've tried to recreate some of my favourite moments from my live sets and mix them with some brand new tracks and remixes and hopefully come up with something that's 100% chumbo."

Tom has been a busy man recently! He stepped up to BBC Radio 1’s golden decks to complete an ‘Essential Mix’, has been working on a track with the legendary DJ ‘Wildpitch’ Pierre, and has just finished a re-working of Nitzer Ebb’s ‘Control I’m Here’ released on Mutein November. This combined with the continuing success of ChumboMundoto his latest addition, the Radio Chumbo podcas t– A monthly affair of live sets, recorded at some of Tom’s favourite gigs, from Tokyo to Boston – Mr Stephan is unstoppable!

Come on all you leadheads! Let's Go CHUMBO!

Nocturnal: Your career really started when you were asked to play the warm up set for Danny Tenaglia @ Ministry of Sound. Does that momentous occasion seem like forever ago? How do you look back at that pinnacle moment?
Tom: It does seem like a long time ago now but then again I remember it like it was yesterday. I was incredibly nervous. It was the first time I played a room that size. I'm sure I played a terrible set, but I met Danny and Rob Distefano who both were very important in the development of my career.

Nocturnal: Your latest mix CD, Let's Go Chumbo, has been described as “edgy, energetic, dark, dramatic, high octane, twisted, electro-tribal house music". Is this all that people should expect from the mix? You also have some of your own tunes, favourites, and unreleased joints on there... what standout tracks should people really take notice of from the mix?
Tom: Is that all? Isn't that enough?? I find it difficult to describe music with words. One description may excite one person and totally scare off another. It's best to take a listen for yourself I think. Obviously I love all of the tracks on the cd or they wouldn't be there. But some of my favorites are: West London Deep "Affirmative" DJ Pierre "My Club" (both still unreleased anywhere else) and Tedd Patterson "Excerpts From A World Heartbeat".

Nocturnal: What releases and/or remixes should we be expecting from you in the near future?
Tom: I've just released a new Superchumbo project since the album called "Fall Out", which is out now on my label ChumboMundo. I've also just finished a collaboration with DJ Pierre called "Jackin to tha House" and am currently working on a project with Roger Sanchez and Kevin Aviance.

Nocturnal: What are your production weapons of choice? Mac/PC, software/hardware?
Tom: I'm a Mac man and I use Logic for writing and Protools and Ableton for editing etc. I stuck with hardware for years but then the soft synths got so good I couldn't resist. Native Instruments are my favorite.

Nocturnal: As have most, you're hooked up on MySpace. How have you utilized that community to further your reach? Have you stumbled across any old faces you had lost touch with?
Tom: I think Myspace is great. It obviously shows us what people really wanted in a website- more interactivity. I've met a lot of other djs/producers on myspace and yes,
a few friends from way back. The problem is now it's getting so big that I can't really keep track of it myself and of course there's more and more spam to deal with.

Nocturnal: In your opinion what other producers out there are really pushing boundaries or making a big impact on our scene?
Tom: John Dahlback. Oliver Huntmann. Martin Accorsi. Austin Leeds. Anton Fielding.

Nocturnal: You also have a relatively new label, ChumboMundo. How did the label come about? And what releases are forthcoming?
Tom: I started ChumboMundo as a home for Superchumbo productions. Basically- I wanted the freedom to release what I wanted when I wanted. The current release is a Superchumbo project called "Fall Out" and "Fall In" and the next release is from Tiny Stix and Anton Fielding and is also featured on Let's Go Chumbo called "Fever's Coming".

Nocturnal: As the digital revolution continues to grow, how do you see it impacting our industry going forward?
Tom: It's helped and it's hurt. It's amazing now that you can just IM or email a track to someone- burn it and play it out that night. It wasn't long ago that we had to make an acetate first! But of course file sharing has hurt our industry in a big way and we've lost a lot of great labels and record shops as a result.

Nocturnal: You've also created the RadioChumbo Podcasts. What is it all about and how do people get their hands on them?
Tom: Radio Chumbo is a free monthly podcast available on my website www.tomstephan.com and each month a live 1 hour set from a different club from around the world is featured.

Nocturnal: With the Conference right around the corner, what are your plans for WMC 2007?
Tom: I'm playing at Robbie Rivera's Juicy Party again this year. This will be my 3rd year and it's always one of the best parties at WMC. I'll also be doing a private party for Stealth Records. And soaking up some sunshine!

Nocturnal: Lastly here are some quick shots:
Nocturnal: CD, Vinyl, or MP3?
Tom: Vinyl for sound, MP3 (but nothing less than 320 please) for speed and CD for practicality.
Nocturnal: What's more likely... vinyl making a comeback or a non-trance DJ being rated #1 in the DJ Mag poll?
Tom: They're both pretty unlikely at the moment, but we can live in hope.
Nocturnal: Favourite travel destination for vacation?
Tom: Los Roques in Venezuela.
Nocturnal: Favourite travel destination for performing?
Tom: NYC or Tokyo.
Nocturnal: Favourite venue in the world?
Tom: Ageha in Tokyo.
Nocturnal: Most indispensable item you travel with?
Tom: Bose QC2 headphones. I can't fly without them anymore.
Nocturnal: Sex or chocolate?
Tom: Sex. No contest.
Nocturnal: If you weren't a DJ, you'd be a...
Tom: Film maker. Oddly enough, that's how I got started as a dj...

::: Related Links

::: www.chumbomundo.com

::: www.star69records.com

::: www.stealth-records.com

::: 2006.03.28 » Stealth Records WMC Showcase Photos

::: Essential WMC 2007