Hip Shake Heartache is the name of the new album by Mazi (facebook, label, discogs) under the Chicago producer and DJ's production moniker Audio Soul Project.

And I love it - shamelessly, unabashedly, madly love it. I listened to it six times prior to interviewing Mazi, a dozen times more since. And though he disagrees, I think it's the best dance album I've heard in the last five years. The sounds range from disco to tracky, with vocals and without them, with irresistible melodies and stomping beats. It's at once an artifact of the House sound of Chicago in 2010 for future generations to discover and an instrument that will push the creators and devotees of the craft further than they're used to going.

FMR40-Audio Soul Project-Hip Shake Heatache by Fresh Meat Records

Not everyone in the world is a doctor or painter or chef, and I think it's a mistake to think you're a musician because you have 30 gigs of loops on your hard drive and a plug-in that randomizes acid riffs.

This is your first album since Community in 2001 - nine years ago. Walk me through the process of putting this together.

It's a long roundabout road I've taken to finish this album. I started on the business of writing the "sophomore" Audio Soul Project full length about three years ago, shortly after separating from my ex-wife. Around the time I completed what I thought could be the first few tracks of the LP, I quickly wrote a short story that would help serve as the "position of intent" from which the music would come. I wasn't thinking about writing a concept album but I did have some major events affecting my state of mind so I thought it would feel right to use these life changes as a source to draw creative energy from.

The only thing that survived from this first attempt at the album was the short story and this idea to use it as a guide post for the music. I began work on what actually became Hip Shake Heartache in January 2010. While working on the first tracks I got hold of my old college buddy Ernesto Perez - one of the most talented artists I know - and asked if he would illustrate my short story. I told him I was thinking of creating a comic book and a collection of songs that tie in with it. Back in school he was one of the first people who taught me how to spin, so he instantly loved the idea. While he worked on drawing the book I kept at the music in the studio.

Talking purely about the music, I didn't have an overarching style or manifesto for the tracks. But I did realize after writing a few tunes that this was a coming home for me musically. I've played with Techno, Electro, Minimal, Hard House, Progressive, Tech House, this and that...Now what felt right was making House Music - the real shit. It felt more "now" and "future" to me than anything else.

Everyone talks about "blending genres". This usually means digging out some softsynths and making a clone of "Blue Monday". You've actually managed to take Chicago roots - House, Disco, tracky stuff and vocal explosions - and craft them into a magnum opus.

I think you're being too kind calling it a "magnum opus". The album is a distillation of many influences tempered by my education listening to so much amazing House Music here in Chicago. I wasn't thinking about genres while writing the tracks. I had gone through a rough period and literally by dumb luck ended up in a better place than I could have ever imagined. I tried to tap into the magic of this experience, going from being down in the dumps to being creatively focused, happy and in love. What happened in my personal life was mirrored in my musical output. I don't mean to sound sentimental but as I found balance and happiness in my life I was also falling back in love with my musical roots. Hopefully the album is an expression of that.

"Good Inside" is something that is obviously going to go over like a thunderstorm among the soulful crowd and underground disco aficionados. But I have to hold out for "Have It All Dub" - you've got elements of '90s House with the string effect, the beats are pure 2010 and that dirty groove is primal by nature. These are my favorites. What are yours?

My favorites keep changing. If you would've asked me three months ago I'd have told you "Asha" and "Call of Grace" are doing it. Right now, I'm feeling "My Bluff" and "Have It All Dub". They both have this slick moody feeling that I really get down with in my DJ sets and they're about completely letting go of your day-to-day worries, allowing the moment to take over. They totally gel with my current state of mind. Of course Alexander East's amazing voice and Richard Gow's unmatched piano playing also help make "My Bluff" a track I can't get enough of.

The other thing I have to mention is what I believe I brought up in an review when it was released as a single. "Song for Fred" is dedicated to Fred Hampton. Maybe you can tell me about your interest here and why you were inspired to create this song.

It's a simple story. Last year I saw a film at Facets on Fullerton called The Murder of Fred Hampton. I highly recommend it. If you don't' feel like hunting it down in a theatre or on DVD you can watch it in parts on YouTube. (Ed Note: The audio's been disabled, it's on Google Video here.)

It could have been because of his message or just his caring and charismatic personality but I instantly identified with Chairman Fred. Seeing what a positive force he was for the people of this city and how disgustingly he was murdered while sleeping by the Chicago police affected me.

I remember walking out of the theatre and wanting to do something rash; something that would make noise and wake people up. It sounds na•ve but I wanted to call everyone I knew and tell them about this intelligent young man who had these great goals and was taking steps to achieve them and as result had been murdered by the authorities. It burned me up.

I wasn't a political revolutionary or a soldier of any kind so I did the only thing I could do: I came home and started working on "Song For Fred". I included this piece on the album because it's one of my favorite things from the Audio Soul Project catalog and emotionally it fit with the rest of the tunes.

Talk with me about the graphic novel.

The comic book is fiction with bits of reality thrown in for authentic "flavoring". The story absolutely ties in with the music. "Shadow Around Them" started from a drawing I saw Mr. Perez do for the comic, where the main character is seeing shadows form on the wall of his bedroom imaging what his significant other is up to. I named a couple of the tracks from the album after characters or situations from the plot.

The comic will be released in two parts. If you buy the vinyl you'll get it inserted into the record sleeves. If you buy the music digitally you can get both parts as PDFs on the album website, hipshakeheartache.com. Truth is even if you don't buy any of the music you'll still be able to either get the free PDF or buy the physical comic books on freshmeatrecords.com.

Let's step back for a minute and look at the business side, as you're the artist here but also the owner of the label. From my reading, Hip Shake Heartache will be exclusively on vinyl for two months before it hits the digital world, and I know you've recently launched a "vinyl only" line. Is Fresh Meat one of the many labels beginning to rethink the "Vinyl Is Dead" meme?

I run Fresh Meat with Nathan Larsen. For both of us, vinyl is still an important medium. We've always wanted to put out vinyl for no other reason than we love it. For the first 10 FMR releases that was a reality. In 2008 we were forced to stop because of economic reasons and early this year we were lucky enough to start working with Prime Distribution in the UK and have a deal set up where we actually turn a modest profit from vinyl sales. A big part of that has been this idea of doing vinyl exclusive releases. We've done one of those this year and it was the only vinyl release that sold out.

There are two advantages for us of doing vinyl only material. First we are supporting a dedicated audience - people buying House Music on wax today are a hardheaded and stubborn bunch, and I love them for it!

Second I hope we're building "street cred". Vinyl has a longer shelf life now specifically because the collecting audience is spread out thin across the world. So even if we sell out 400 copies of a record, it takes weeks for that to happen and all the tweets, FB updates, message boards and blogs writing about it create a buzz that you just can't get with a digital release that typically has a one week shelf life.

As a DJ, do you think music is cheap today? (I mean "cheap" far beyond the economic sense.)

The pragmatic answer to your question is yes but I want to believe there are people fighting to make the answer a resounding no! There are many quality artists in our corner of the music industry but unfortunately in an atmosphere where all it takes to be a label owner is a cracked copy of Ableton Live, a laptop and an internet connection it's easy to miss out on real talent.

I'm sure you get this all the time but I wish there were better ways to institute quality control in digi-music shops. In fact, it seems things are going the opposite direction. With sites like Bandcamp the "artist" does everything on their own, completely circumventing the label or what would traditionally have been music store staff. People bitch and moan because shops like Beatport have put in place policies that limit the labels they take on and shed others that make no sales, but I think that's exactly the right thing to do. Not everyone in the world is a doctor or lawyer or painter or chef and I think it's a mistake to think you're a musician because you have 30 gigs of loops on your hard drive and a plug-in that randomizes acid riffs.

House as we know it in the US is deeply rooted in the past - some might say suffocated by nostalgia for that brief mass-market period in its history. Having been part of those times, particularly with Gourmet and Afterhours, how do you keep from succumbing to nostalgia?

I've been thinking about this idea of House Music's relatively short history. What people typically think of as old, classic, new or futuristic makes little sense to me. What Todd Terry or Larry Heard or DJ Pierre or Carl Craig or Chez Damier or Ron Trent did for dance music 20 years ago was a quantum leap compared to what anyone is doing now. A hundred years from now people aren't going to talk about how Deadmau5 or Wolfgang Puck or Gartner or whatever changed the face of music. They will be talking about Frankie Knuckles, Kerri Chandler or Aphex Twin or Moby. Our music as a whole, all of EDM, is so young that playing a track from 20 years ago is not nostalgic if you're playing the right music. I could play a song from last year that sounds outdated now or I could play Mark Bell's (under the pseudonym Clark) "Christo" from 1995 on Planet E that is about 30 years ahead of anything that came out yesterday. I wish more DJs would play forward thinking, beautifully emotional dance music, and not just what they bought this week.

Your name comes up in a lot of artist bios. Ron Carroll credits you with "introducing" him to Europe, Olivier Desmet says that he learned A&R from you at Afterhours - and there are a lot more who have learned from you how to put what's in their head down on record in a studio. This is a tough business - do you feel like you've ever had your fingers burnt by being open to collaboration like this?

Of course there have been relationships with awkward periods. A miscommunication leads to temporary bad vibes or things are promised that don't actually happen. And I've had rough patches with people I've worked with in the past. But I'm lucky I suppose because these problems have always been overcome or just forgotten and I've had way more positive, fruitful experiences working with people than negative ones.

One thing I learn over and over again is that great music comes from opening yourself up and working with others. The risk of getting burned worries me little compared to the potential magic that comes from time spent learning and working with talented friends.

Hip Shake Heartache by Audio Soul Project will be released in a two-part vinyl edition - the first on November 1st, the second on November 29th distributed by primedirect - and digitally on Beatport January 5, 2011. A special website has been set up for the release at hipshakeheartache.com. You can also check out more at freshmeatrecords.com and audiosoulproject.com.