k i l l e r POP

Discobelle.net has become the source for the hottest dj mixes and the latest leaked bangers from hip hop and dance heavyweights. What started as a small Swedish blog has taken over the world. We spoke with member Björn Jeffery about the 'Belle.

Who are the members of Discobelle?

When we had the Swedish site there was a bunch of us. these days there's only three of us that write on the blog. Martin, Niklas and me. Lately Kristian has switched teams to do a few events with us as well.

When did you start the website, and what inspired you to?

Discobelle.net started in January 2006. We had the mix series on the Swedish site which got a few spins around the internet so we thought we should write for the people that liked what we did. Not just for a few hundred Swedes. Also, there was some internal dispute with the guys from the Swedish blog about the amount of Dipset turning up. We were Pro-Dipset, and that's why we got our own blog.

Where are you located, for readers that don't know?

All of us live in Malmo/Lund which is in the southern part of Sweden, on the other side of the bridge from Copenhagen.

Discobelle seems to have a refined taste in party jams. How do you discover and select the songs and mixes you feature on your site?

It's the differences between our own tastes that creates the blend. Martin likes the electro stuff and especially the things coming out of France, Niklas likes Jim Jones and I'm a bit too weak for R&B. But most of the tracks we have in common of course. There's a gut feeling to it some how. And we pick up the tracks from forums, Myspace, blogs or it gets sent to us. We get loads of stuff sent to us.

I noticed a recent sort-of beef between Discobelle and Atlantic Records (with T.I. clearance) over, I believe, some Lupe Fiasco tracks? Could you explain that for our readers? Have you had any other legal problems over the years with your music posting practices?

It was Nah Right that had got into some sort of trouble and then we seconded the complaint. It was about record labels not getting the internet, really. Actually, Atlantic Records is one of the labels that have approached us in a positive way so there's no beef there at all. As for legal trouble we haven't had much. A Rapture-track that leaked a bit too early, and then some other track as well. Nothing big though, just people wanting us to take the track down. I think most artists/labels see that we do it out of love for the music.

You're planning a North American tour soon, correct? What stops have you decided on, and what will you be doing during the trip?

Well, we're trying to arrange it all but the flights are so fucking expensive that we're gonna have to get some sort of sponsor thing going on to break even. It was never for the money anyway - we just wanted to play records for people that liked our blog. But we can't really lose money doing it either. We're looking at the East coast and then up into Canada.

You also recently opened up a phone line to receive voice messages from readers, some of which you even post on the site. Where did that idea come from, and how has it been going? what are some of the wildest messages you've received?

Hm, I can't quite remember. I think we just wanted some sort of connection to Baltimore and then a Mike Jones-esque number. I imagine we thought of it while getting drunk, that would make sense. And we had someone sing something about sweet and sour sauce all over his body. That was a bit odd, I must admit.

You said recently that you like to push Scandanavian music on your North American readers whenever possible. Luckily there seems to be no shortage of crazy dance jams coming out of that region. Can you explain where this seemingly inherent knack for sweet jams come from?

Sweden has a history of strong music making. And I think a lot of countries do, as long as you pick the right artists. We're like curators really, trying to pick the best and most fitting tracks to expose to the readers.

For readers that may not know much about Scandanavian music, who are some of your favorite artists right now?

I like Juvelen and was really impressed with his performance last time I saw him. And on the hiphop side I'm always weak for Ison & Fille.

What's the next step for Discobelle?

I'm not quite sure. I hope this tour comes through. That would be excellent. On the blog side I think there's still a lot of people that would appreciate our selection. We can probably double in size within a few months.