After 20 years in music, Johnny Fiasco has become one of the most recognized producers and remixers in his local Chicago scene and well beyond. His latest project was producing Nectar Vol. 2 for Agave records, a rising house label from Orlando, Florida. The album is full of Latin Jazz beats and sultry salsa sounds that have been revved and tweaked for the techno and dance scene. Blogcritics is currently running a giveaway for Nectar, Vol 2.

Recently, Fiasco took a few minutes out of his busy schedule, before running off to catch a plane, to talk to me about the Nectar CD, the music, and his plans for the future.

You said you’re getting ready to go to the airport. Where you headed?

I’m headed to Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Fresno for the weekend.

For work, I assume.

Yes, it’s part of the tour.

Tell me a little bit about the new project, the Nectar, Vol. 2 CD.

Basically, it’s a compilation of 13 or 14 songs. As far as the music selection, it’s something you would play in your living room, something you would hear in a restaurant or a club. I didn’t want to get too crazy with it because of this whole electro frenzy that is going on within the industry now. I chose to stay sophisticated with the selections.

So far, based on the reviews we’re getting, it seems to be doing pretty well. It’s definitely a house per se.

Are there any plans to follow this up with a Volume 3?

I think we have three and four done already. We have pretty good producing DJs in line to come up with the next releases. It’s just hard to find someone who carters to such a niche market. Obviously, with minimal and electro being the mainstream right now, we want to cater to that.

Your early musical background started in rock ‘n’ roll, so how did you migrate toward what you call the niche sound?

The fact that I didn’t have to deal with six band members, coordinating band practices, and the whole alcohol/drug deal, that was counterproductive for me. I didn’t want the drawbacks. I wanted to stay focused on making music and when I was introduced to the computer to make music, I was like, this is it. Not that I put the guitar away at any point, but there is certainly a lot more programming involved as opposed to playing in a band with other people.

So everything you put together is actually… synthesized… as opposed to live musical tracks?

Yeah, but not even synthesized. Basically you bring the key players in to play their part, so you do still have both sides of it. And you can work conveniently from your living room couch or an airport lounge.