Simon Doty

The Beacon Knee Deep In Sound, 2021

Canadian prog house prodigy Doty’s productions have become popular with a diverse selection of DJs including Carl Cox, Joris Vorn and Hot Since 82, who released Simon’s Ananda Project-sampling The Beacon on his Knee Deep In Sound label. We caught up with Simon to enquire about his audacious sampling habits, and discover more about his approach to music production in general.

The Beacon uses part of Gaelle Adisson’s vocal from Ananda Project’s seminal Cascades of Colour. It’s a brave move to sample such a beloved track!

“It was a really personal favourite for me. It’s not something I’d normally do, but I hadn’t heard too many versions of it out there. So I decided, ‘let’s just see what happens’, if it ended up being just something for me to play DJ-wise, that was fine. We were pretty lucky that we ended up being able to actually clear it.”

Was it difficult to license the sample?

“It was a little bit! We had a back and forth with King Street Sounds. I think something that probably worked in our favour is the pandemic going on right now and people need to make money. I think that it was a good opportunity for them, it was potentially coming on Knee Deep In Sound which is a reputable enough label, so I think it made sense for them to do it. I certainly wasn’t expecting any type of guarantee that they go for it, but it seemed to end up working out for everyone.”

In the video you mention you played the piano part in yourself.