Nivek Tek Interview

What happened to the old Yumm Yumm stars, Sugar B. and Candy Wrapper?

Unfortunately, we sort of lost touch with them, we tried to keep in touch for awhile, but haven't really heard much from either of them, we believe that they are both still pursuing their careers in the entertainment industry.

We always wish them the best.

I believe that the original Yumm Yumm was probably the most sugar-pumped bubblegum act ever! The costumes are so bright and funky (I love Sugar B's wig lol). Did you have the costumes designed/made especially for the project?

LOL...Thank you. I really liked our original look too..that wasn't a wig Sugar B was wearing, it was real cotton candy...};-)

Well my goal was to follow in the footsteps of the then current, bubblegum dance movement, only we wanted step it up a few notches, like a more pumped up Aqua, but on a sugar high...LOL

Yes the costumes were designed by Jesselyn (Sugar B) and myself.. Jesselyn actually sewed them by hand herself...

We wanted a very bright and colorful, Japanese - styled video game look.

Would you be able to reveal to us the titles of Yumm Yumm's unreleased songs? =)

Well, at this point I have about 50 to 100 songs written in the bubblegum dance style, but the only ones that I can talk about now are from our unreleased demo EP Whole Lotta Fun.

There was "Boom Boom , Bang Bang, Happy Day (original version) & Ready Freddy.

Also if you caught any of our live performances, there is Disco Space Cowboy too.

Will you be releasing the old bubblegum mixes of Yumm Yumm songs in the future? I for one would LOVE to see them officially released, they're fantastic!

Thank you, If we do, we will probably not release the older versions, they will be more updated.

Even bubblegum, which is really just a form of sweet and sugary pop, needs to evolve, and so does our sound.

The original versions had their place, at the time, they are far too outdated sounding for release now.

Yumm Yumm has a new look, a new direction and a new attitude!!!!

We have a bunch of tricks up our sleeves.. stay tuned!

Was there an original music video for the traditional bubblegum version of Happy Day? (I see that it is mentioned on the Whole Lotta Fun LP here). If so, I don't suppose you could show it to us could you? (Hehe)

LOL.. well, I wouldn't exactly call it a video, it was more of a filmed photo shoot. It was very cheaply made, and quickly thrown together. It was only to be used as a promotional tool to introduce the band to record labels, who might possibly be interested in releasing it.

I played the villain, E-Villain at the time, and even I was cut out of my own video... but it was a lot of fun to make.

So to answer your question, I don't even have a decent copy of the video myself, ....so I'm sure our rare demo CD with the video will be a collectors item.. I'm sure somebody has it and will eventually put it up on Youtube, and then we can all have a laugh.

By the way, another reason that video wasn't officially released was because the rapper (Candy Wrapper) wasn't what we were looking for, and so we replaced him after the video, but he did appear in the video.

Zach mentioned to me that you have a real-life copy of the Blue Monster album. Was there a working title for this album? And if it is at all possible, would you be able to send to Bubblegum Dancer a scan of the album art for inclusion on the Web site?

Ahh Zach ( Dirty- Z,) he's a really great and very talented young guy, we just started working with him on some projects of ours.. you will hear him on our Super Duper Christmas CD..if you buy it.

Oops..I think Zach misunderstood me. I have a copy of the album, but only on CDR, no pictures or anything unfortunately.

I tried to contact Blue Monster several times a few years back to see if we could help get things back on track, but their hearts were not in it anymore.

They promised to send me some copies of the CD's, but then decided not to I guess...???

The vocals from the 2007 release of "Happy Day" sound very much like the vocals from the 90s version. Are they the same?

No, We used the 90's vocals as a reference for the 2007 release. But we wanted the vocals to sound like the original, but more fresh sounding.

We were lucky to find talented singers and great sound engineers who were able to keep the authenticity of the original Yumm Yumm sound en-tact.

It's a bit difficult to find vocalists that look and sound the part, but somehow we always manage to find the best!

Would you be able to reveal to us a little bit about the new Super Duper Christmas release? What can bubblegum dance fans expect to see in this release?

Well, I can't tell you a lot, because there are some really BIG surprises in store, but what I can tell you is that there will be a VERY limited edition (only about 100 copies worldwide) official CD single with a bunch of mixes, 2 versions of the music video, and an extra special Christmas surprise!

It was really only intended to be a promotional and digital release, but we had to give a little something to the fans.

So as soon as it's released in November, you better get out there and get your very own copies and get your special Christmas surprise!!!!

After "Super Duper Christmas", will "Boom Boom Bang Bang" be your next big single release? =)

Hmmmmm..this is a surprise, even to us.. we really don't know at this point.. Let's see how Super Duper Christmas goes.

The more records we sell, and the more successful Yumm Yumm becomes, the better chance of an album coming out sooner.

So please tell everybody to go out and buy, NOT download , Yumm Yumm's CD's.

If everyone truly supports Yumm Yumm then who knows what could happen in the future =)

Are you planning to release an album in the future? If so, do you know when this might be?

Yes, an album has been in the works, but we do not plan to rush it, we will be taking our time, and seeing how everything goes first with the releases of "Happy Day" and now "Super Duper Christmas".

What is your favourite Yumm Yumm song?

That's a tough one, but I'd have to say "Super Duper Christmas". I really love that song! I KNOW you will too!

It's very traditional bubblegum Mitch, the way you like it, but there's some updated mixes for the fans who enjoy our new, harder sound too.

What is your favourite bubblegum dance group?

Hmmmm that's a really tough one too, there were so many great ones, it wouldn't be fair to choose just one. I am very thankful to Me & My and Aqua, for getting the ball rolling for all of us.

Do you remember what got you into bubblegum dance music? Who was the first artist you ever heard?

Well, as a child I always liked the sweet and sappy, sugary pop music my parents played in the car on the oldies station.., and I really loved songs that told stories and were really catchy, like Dion's hit from the 50's/ 60's "Run Around Sue"

I still smile when I hear that song to this day.. It makes you want to sing along and dance around, that is the feeling we wanted to create with Yumm Yumm.

I remember the first "bubblegum" dance band being Me & My.

I remember "Dub I Dub" well , because I used to know their manager John Aagaard very well, who incidentally became Aqua's manager too.

I remembered when I was the Head of A&R at a record label in NYC, he introduced this new band called Aqua to me, and I guess the rest was history.

The song "Boom Boom Bang Bang" was also covered by Blue Monster. Were you planning to give this song to the Blue Monster project at song point?

Well actually I was living in Sweden for a short time, and at the time I was introduced to this brilliant young producer called Adam Edelmann.

Adam was working on this concept project called "Blue Monster"..

I really wanted to work with Adam, together we laid down a few tracks for Yumm Yumm.

Blue Monster's producers really liked the track and asked if they could re-record it for their album, but using the Blue Monster voice instead, as Anna Clara from Blue Monster's was already on a few of the tracks I recorded with Adam.

Anna was a perfect fit for Yumm Yumm, but we already had our own vocalist, who we are quite happy with, plus the fact that Anna was very busy being in Blue Monster, so those tracks, at least at this point, were not ever released.

There was a deal with a Japanese company that wanted the album with my song "Boom Boom, Bang Bang" but we couldn't agree on the terms, so it fell through.

So my song "Boom Boom, Bang Bang" was never legally or officially released in any form. It is not a cover, it is an original track I wrote especially for my project Yumm Yumm.

Incidentally , we hired Adam for some mixes on Super Duper Christmas.. They are awesome! It was great to work with him again, we will be working with him a lot more in the future too, I hope =)

What is your favourite bubblegum dance song?

All YUMM YUMM songs...LOL, just kidding... You know, that's a very difficult question too, so many great ones, I could never choose just one..

What do the Japanese symbols mean next to the official Yumm Yumm logo?

Very simply.. "Dance"

Have you seen any bubblegum dance artists performing live? If so, who, and please tell us a little bit about their performance. :-D

Nope, the only bubblegum dance act I have ever seen perform live was Yumm Yumm, and we were quite good, I'd have to say..LOL

Do you have a sweet-tooth? What is your favourite candy?

Oh yes, ask anybody who knows me..I have a BIG sweet tooth.. I LOVE candy and sweets.

I love chewing bubblegum, I do it all the time, all different flavors, it's good to relieve stress. I'm really just a big kid at heart!

I love candy like Starburst's and Milk Chocolate with caramel and nuts..mmmmm That question is making me hungry....

Did you provide the male vocals for the Yumm Yumm songs?

Yes and no, yes on the original unreleased demos, but not on the official releases.. It's really Yumm Yumm.

Has the single release of Happy Day had the success that you had hoped for?

Well, not the world wide smash hit it was designed to be, but we feel the world doesn't really know Yumm Yumm yet. I think once people actually see and hear Yumm Yumm, anything is possible...

We have high hopes. We have a great project that is fresh and constantly evolving, and we know is a HUGE success waiting to happen.

We know the music industry is all messed up and backwards right now, but we have something really great here with Yumm Yumm, and it's only a matter of time before the whole world knows and LOVES us!

We think that our fans and websites like yours, are very instrumental in Yumm Yumm's success.. because after all what would Yumm Yumm be without the support of our fans ..right?

What are some of your expectations and dreams for Yumm Yumm? Where do you hope to see this project in a few years from now?

We don't really expect anything, to be honest...

We'd like to just do our thing, make more music, more videos, sell more records.. Get our album out there, tour.. ya know, the basics.

As I said before, once Yumm Yumm really gets out there, who knows what could happen.. the skies the limit!

We also want to concentrate on our many other dance music projects that we promote through our dance music video promotions company Import Sound & Vision (www.importsoundandvision.com) but more importantly, we want to keep developing great new dance projects on our label ISV Entertainment (www.isvent.com)

Check out our other projects like Groove Enforcers or DJ Rad Feat Zoe, though they aren't bubblegum like Aqua or Yumm Yumm, I think you will really like them too!

I like to produce and write many styles of dance music, like Hi-NRG, eurodance, hard dance (hands up), house and trance, but I will ALWAYS have a special place in my heart for bubblegum dance!

Thank you so much Nivek! It's very exciting to talk to you.

Thank you, the pleasure was all ours...

Thank you again for your time. :)

You're welcome, thank you for having me. Please drop me a line when you post this interview. A BIG shout out to all Yumm Yumm's fans..We LOVE you all!