The American band The Dignity Of Labor, better known as TDOL, started in 1985, but when the band’s leader and mentor Kirk Taylor moved to another state, the band became just him. Kirk then released two albums, and had just signed with the record label A Different Drum, and had been planning a single since 2003 when he contacted me asking for a remix of his excellent song that I heard in its demo version, “XRV”.
I have been waiting since 2003 for the recordings to be finished so I could receive the vocals for the remix, which I received in March with a delivery deadline of less than a week, which I was fortunately able to meet.
“I got your email, thanks! Mix sounds good! …I think it’s a very good mix. Thanks so much for doing this remix.”
Kirk Taylor
He liked my remix and asked me to send it to Brian Hazard, who was responsible for the mastering, and its release was practically certain. But in May, Kirk contacted me apologizing for not being able to include my remix on his single, and like mine, other remixes had been cut at the label’s discretion. I was very sad, of course, and this is still one of my best works this year. But Todd must have had his reasons, and since my remix has already been mastered, it’s easier for it to be used in another way.
So at the end of 2004 I was working on my album Synthphony REMIXed! Vol.2 and since my remix hadn’t gotten a proper release yet, I asked him for permission to release them on my CD, which was promptly granted and ended up being one of the highlights of the album released in 2005.
- Virtual Server “Why (Would I) [Hajas 2K4 RMX]”
- Droom “Blood Culture [Hajas Arena Mix]”
- Real Life “Painless [Hajas 5T4T3 RMX]”
- Opium “Faked Emotions [Hajas Vladivostok Mix]”
- Tristraum “I’m Under No One [Hajas SWOS Mix]”
- New Concept “Station Man [Hajas NER Mix]”
- Anything Box “Clean [Hajas Hope Mix]”
- !Distain “Sex’n’Cross [Hajas Universal Mix]”
- Project David “We’ll Go On [Hajas Dark Mix]”
- The Dignity of Labour “XRV [Hajas Rio Mix]”
- Color Theory presents Depeche Mode “Sweetest Perfection [Hajas Sloth Mix]”
- Will Loconto and Steve Paul “The Last Good Day [Hajas Lost Mix]”
“Freddy Hajas is one of the premier remixers to explode upon the synthpop scene, mixing the likes of Iris and Anything Box. Freddy was rewarded for his spectacular work by Synthphony Records with a brand new remix album, Synthphony REMIXed! Volume 2, featuring all of his best mixes. Included on the compilation is XRV – Hajas Rio Mix.”
Kirk Taylor
