A Man With a Plan: Weiss Takes a Challenging Route To the Top

Weiss is a house music connoisseur who is leading Toolroom Records into a new era. With impeccable execution, the London-based producer has blazed straight to the top. Though, delving further into the history of the Weiss, it's clear the story is not so simple. His rise is the lesser told tale in modern electronic music. It's not the overnight rags to riches cliché dominating the main room but an account of determination, graft, and remarkable precision.

Emerging almost two years ago, four-track EP Weiss City Vol. 1 shocked Mark Knight's Toolroom imprint back to life. It was a much-needed dose of true four-on-the-floor house music. The raw, unpretentious sound took the label back to its roots and would eventually inspire a total overhaul.

Flash forward to the past twelve months; not only has the groove maestro been commissioned to bring his deft touch to the sounds of hit-makers like Marc MK Kinchin and Rudimental but he's also released an incredibly well-received solo EP Our Love and got down in the studio with tech legend Green Velvet.

With all this success, Weiss (pronounced with a 'V' not a 'W', take note Annie Mac!), it's hard to believe it was only three years ago that his career teetered on the brink of extinction.

After falling out of love with his previous project, Weiss was all set to pack it in. Thankfully his wife was having none of it. "I was going into the studio and I wasn't happy. Every day, I wasn't really smiling," he explains. "It got to the point where you chuck enough shit at the wall and hope some of it sticks, which isn't a good thing when it comes to music. It was a pinnacle point in my life, where I was like 'Do I want to do this anymore?' Thank god my wife said to give it one more chance and I did."

Weiss is a project that brings the producer back to the sounds that hooked him at 13-years-old. "I took six months out and just started making music that I love," says Weiss. "[I was] going back to my roots from when I first got into house music and I think you can hear that in Weiss tracks, the combination of the old school sounds and new age elements."

In light of his previous projects demise, Weiss strategized this time around. Fortunately, his previous exploits armed him with essential knowledge from both inside and outside of the studio. "With the music, all the techniques I've learned over the years made it a lot easier to start something fresh," he says. Throw in some savvy social media skills, a taste for artist management, and knowledge of key processes and he was onto a winner.

The Londoner proposed this new concept to the Toolroom family. "The timing was perfect with the kind of music I was making. I approached Toolroom with this fresh idea and together we came up with the name Weiss. We sat down for an A&R meeting and they said ' Let's see what we can do over the next two months.' I got ten tracks together. With the first five tracks you could see something was being developed and then with the last five it was like, 'Yeah now I got my style."

Weiss's minimal, groove centered blend is instantly recognizable and his fresh take on house music was instrumental in winning a coveted slot among Toolroom's Reset crew. The Reset campaign saw a recalibration of the label and a slimming of the roster. The focus returned to the essence of its creation—house music. As Weiss puts it, "it's all about a select few DJs, each artist with his own distinct style."

He goes on to clarify. "I produce my music around the idea that you let the groove speak. Not building it up with loads of percussion and weird noises here and there. My beats are quite simple, a lot of work goes into the mapping of the drums, but overall it's quite straightforward because I just want the groove to breathe."

His latest piece "Man Gone" is the ideal example, a more minimal cut than most expect from the label yet it still possess the elements to excite. "It's a real simple riff with the piano. I wanted something almost Moby sounding, so I had the vocal ready to go and after playing around with beats and stuff, within three hours I had the groove going."

Looking to the future, it's clear an album is in his sights, but there's no rush. "I'm building my contacts up with people, other artists, and some of their vocalists, but it's not the right time. I want to get to know more people in this industry that I want to work with first. I'll want to do some collaborations on the album." In the meantime, however, he'll continue to light up dance-floors across the globe, as more new music on Toolroom will arrive in the next two months.

At times, it has been a perilous journey for Weiss. However, his persistence has proven the key. He is now firmly rooted at the right-hand side of label boss Mark Knight and he's grown from a young pretender to an established artist in his own right. With the backing of a powerhouse like Toolroom the opportunities are endless and, excitingly, there's little evidence to suggest he can't emulate his mentor in the years to come.

Weiss is on Facebook // Twitter // SoundCloud

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