There is no questioning the monumental success of Technotronic’s hit single “Pump Up The Jam”. 2009 celebrates the 20th anniversary of what is undoubtedly one of the most successful and well-known dance tracks to date, one that has stood the test of time to remain popular to this day. To celebrate, Technotronic are touring again, with the original line-up of Ya Kid K (Manuela Kamosi, the vocalist on “Pump Up The Jam”) and M.C. Eric (Eric Martin). I got on the phone with Eric to talk about the past, the present and the future for the project and song that has sparked numerous remixes and countless party chants.

The question on the tip of my tongue as we begin our interview is one Eric must encounter on a daily basis. How does it feel to be one of the people behind a hit that has endured the charts and remained popular for 20 years?

“I guess it feels how it would feel for you, for anyone,” Eric says, “It’s a Godsend.  I have to add, you are extremely lucky if you’ve got a song or an album people still remember 20 years later… it’s just incredible. It’s a privilege man.”

Considering the basic catchiness of the track, was there ever a moment where everyone involved just knew they had a hit on their hands? What many people don’t know is that the original mix of the track was merely an instrumental, lacking the infamous chanting vocals that have crafted it into a sing along party hit.

“To be honest, it wasn’t really working as an instrumental,” Eric explains, “It wasn’t even close to the response we got when Manuela (Ya Kid K) put her vocals on it.”

“If you did hear the original, it wasn’t as refined – or as hard – as the vocal version.”

And it was when Manuela put down her vocals to the synthy house beat, Eric knew they had a hit on their hands.

 “When I first heard the track being mixed down, I thought ‘farrr… this is a killer’, you know?” Eric elaborates, “the reaction was crazy, DJ’s went crazy, it went out as a 12”, people were just lapping it up – we had to move it to a bigger label!”

With success this great, the pressure mounted to deliver on a follow-up hit. Eric explains that initially, the “Pump Up The Jam” album was very confined, very similar sounding.

“The actual album is like one instrumental, with different vocals on it!” Eric laughs, “We were too afraid to step outside the box from ‘Pump Up The Jam’.”
However, as simple as it was, at its core Eric says “Pump Up The Jam” was an experimental album, not knowing what style it was or wanted to be, but at the very least providing a guideline for future Technotronic productions.

We move the interview on to the group’s up and coming live performances at the Summadayze music festivals. Asking what crowds can expect can be expected from the Dance superstars, I note that fashion and music are not the only things to have changed over the past 20 years.

“We sort of bring a bit of both [old and new] to the stage, obviously with synths from back in the day – they’re the best anyway.”

Eric explains, “We run everything through various programs like Ableton, with a few boosters to our visuals and a few cool little software applications to trigger samples and loops to do interesting things on the fly.”

Not wanting to get too deep into the details of the show and without wanting to spoil it or give too much away, Eric assures me it will be great.
“We have live musicians, I might pick up the guitar for a bit... it just kinda builds from there really,” he says with a chuckle.
“It’s definitely high energy and it’s definitely well put together!”

And with that, our interview comes to an end. With promises of an eclectic live show and with a hit track 20-years strong to back up the claims, Technotronic is going to be one truly unforgettable act at the Supreme Court Gardens on the 3rd January. It’s an amazing feat to have a song as popular as “Pump Up The Jam”, as relevant and well-known amongst people in their 20’s today as it was back in 1989. When people talk of ‘timeless’ tracks, “Pump Up The Jam” will always be one of them.

Written by Cameron Myles.
Photo by Julian Castaldi.

Technotronic will be performing on the 3rd January at the one and only – Summadayze!