Disco Pogo Issue 2

DANIEL AVERY +

90s Jungle/Ashley Beedle/David Holmes/Donna Summer Eddie Chacon/Erol Alkan’s Trash/Flesh at The Haçienda/Honey Dijon Hot Chip/I. JORDAN/Laurent Garnier/Lou Hayter/Ron Trent/TSHA

I. JORDAN +

90s Jungle/Ashley Beedle/Daniel Avery/David Holmes/Donna Summer Eddie Chacon/Erol Alkan’s Trash/Flesh at The Haçienda/Honey Dijon Hot Chip/Laurent Garnier/Lou Hayter/Ron Trent/TSHA

Viva Acid House

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supporter at discopogo.co

ISSUE 2 / 2022

CONTENTS 4 Editors’ Letter We meet again.

8 First Person

There’s always a good time to release deep house records claims Anthony Teasdale.

10 First Listen

Harold Heath dabbles in a bit of ‘Original Pirate Material’.

12 First Person

Clubbing is good for our wellbeing says Erica McKoy.

14 Club Culture Book Publishers

Because sometimes you need to read about dancefloor culture.

18 Bradley Zero

Straight outta Peckham (by way of Leeds)…

22 Eddie Chacon

The best comeback since Elvis. Would we lie to you?

38 Honey Dijon

The house star rages against the machine.

44 Malcolm McLaren’s Boom Box

136 Ron Trent

The house legend on what is and isn’t house.

144 90s Jungle

The incredible story behind ‘Duck Rock’’s amazing sleeve design.

Get the jungle fever with the music’s origin story.

52 TSHA

Vinyl confessions of professional nerdery. And vibes.

The album to brighten up this winter comes courtesy of TSHA.

58 30 Years of Artificial Intelligence

156 Record Filing

164 Donna Summer: ‘State of Independence’

When electronic dance (not dance) music got its A-levels.

It was 40 years ago today.

66 Trash

It’s a load of old bollards, we’re telling you.

82 Daniel Avery

When The Haçienda went Queer amazing things happened.

When London clubbing became the centre of the universe again.

We discover the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth behind his new album.

168 The Haçienda 174 Flesh

185 The Archive

94 Tresor

Green vinyl – no, not the colour.

A celebration of 30-plus years of Berlin techno in photo form.

The Neptunes, Nightmares On Wax, The Haçienda Auction, Top 10 E Tunes.

30 Kerri Chandler

104 I. JORDAN

‘The Man With the Red Face’ by Laurent Garnier.

26 Environmental Vinyl

You think you’re house?

34 Jonny Banger The satirist raver.

One of dance music’s best new artists puts a donk on it.

116 David Holmes

The Belfast producer feels like a 20-year-old again. Here’s how…

126 Hot Chip

The 10-legged groove machine just get better with age.

202 How I Made…

208 Crate Digging Lou Hayter knows the importance of tunes.

216 My House Is Your House

Don’t ever say Ashley Beedle is lazy.

224 Where Are They Now?

Dave Angel is proof that you can’t keep a good man down.

228 Have You Ever Ridden A Horse? By Special Request… Paul Woolford.

232 Parting Shot

Aphex Twin. In McDonald's.

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Editors’ Letter When the first issue of Disco Pogo started landing

There’s also a sense of shared friendships, the

on people’s doormats (soon moving to their coffee

power of dancing and growing older, if not

tables - so many stylish coffee tables) we have to

disgracefully, then with a sense of optimism

admit we were slightly nervous. We felt we’d

rather than dread. And this is perhaps best

produced something substantial, but you never

exemplified in the power of love. The love of music,

really know how it’s going to be received. So, when

of people, of sharing a dancefloor with strangers…

the overwhelmingly positive posts started going

right now, love is most certainly what we need.

up across social media - and we were pleased to see our publication on a number of poolside sun

So, what else is in? Courtesy of Richard Norris, we

loungers, mercifully without any sunburned

go back to the 80s and reveal the fascinating

torsos - we were blown away by the reaction.

story behind Malcolm McLaren’s ‘Duck Rock’

We’ve also been chuffed to see Disco Pogo pop up

album and its memorable sleeve. Balearic Mike

in record, magazine and coffee shops across the

recounts the enduring legacy of Donna Summer’s

world - from New York to Barcelona and Los

take on ‘State of Independence’ and we uncover

Angeles to Milan. We even have a stockist in South

jungle’s origin story in the 90s. Staying in the

Korea. We are truly thankful.

same decade, former NME dance editor Sherman writes his first feature in years as he recalls the

What that has meant of course is the pressure of

birth of Warp’s influential ‘Artificial Intelligence’

following up that first issue with something just

compilation and explains why he was banned

as good – if not, hopefully, better. Think of it as the

from the guitar-obsessed paper’s stereo.

magazine equivalent of the age-old ‘difficult second-album syndrome’.

But it’s not all about the past. Our cover stars, Daniel Avery and I. JORDAN are two of dance

So, here we are. Issue two. Much like the first issue

music’s most important contemporary artists.

we’ve tried to keep the mix of articles – and

Both features offer illuminating insights into

artists featured – as broad as possible. If you liked

what it means to be creative in this day and age.

what you saw first time around and have come

TSHA, Jonny Banger, Bradley Zero and Lou Hayter

back for more, or even if you’re reading Disco

also bring the modern flavours.

Pogo for the first time (if so, welcome), we’re pretty sure your listening habits will reflect such

As for experience and endurance – some old

an all-encompassing state of mind. It’s certainly

favourites including Kerri Chandler, Ron Trent,

an ideal mirrored in our subject matter. Our goal

Laurent Garnier, Ashley Beedle, Dave Angel,

is to celebrate the best leftfield electronic and

Honey Dijon, Hot Chip, David Holmes and Eddie

dance music of all shades – and sometimes to go

Chacon bring plenty of that. Rounding everything

even further and wider than that. Across a variety

off, Johnno gets out his Haçienda bollard and

of features there’s an explicit acknowledgement

Harold Heath has a peek into the murky world of

from those interviewed of music from across the

record filing.

board. We think this is important. So, much like a great line-up at one of the There are other shared themes too. On numerous

country’s top electronic club nights or festivals,

occasions, the DJs, producers and bands featured

we like to think issue two has something for

refer to not taking what they do for granted. This

everyone.

is often born of experience – but it’s a notion some of the younger artists recognise too. More than once, the phrase “this is the best job in the world” is uttered. Likewise the idea of community. Listening to music – whether that be cutting loose on the dancefloor or soaking up the sounds at home – allows people a sense of community. It provides people – of all ages – with an identity. A tribe. This shines through in the fantastic deep dive features on Flesh, The Haçienda’s monthly Queer bacchanal, and Trash, Erol Alkan’s Monday night shindig that took London clubbing by storm in the late-90s and early-00s.

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Viva acid house!

Jim, Johnno and Paul.

ISSUE 2 / 2022

Editors In Chief Paul Benney & John Burgess Editor Jim Butler Art Director Chris Jones Print & Production Harriet Jones Writers Ben Cardew, Manu Ekanayake, Paul Flynn, Sean Griffiths, Harold Heath, Richard Hector-Jones, Mark Hooper, Tara Joshi, Tracy Kawalik, Felicity Martin, Erica McKoy, Balearic Mike, Jacob Munday, Richard Norris, Gemma Samways, Sherman, Anton Spice, Jonas Stone, Anthony Teasdale, Julia Toppin, Emma Warren, Steve Yates Photography Theo Ammann, Teodora Andrisan, Mark Benney, Tilman Brembs, Wolfgang Brückner, Jake Curtis, Adam Dewhurst, Joe Finch, Lydia Garnett, Vanessa Goldschmidt, Pooneh Ghana, Ricardo Gomes, Bob Gruen, Steve Gullick, Adam Hampton-Matthews, Alice Hepple, G.V. Horst, Rob Jones, Simon King, Benno Krähahn, David Lake, Bazil Lamy, Chris Lopez, Tuca Milan, Pav Modelski, Ro Murphy, Nicole Ngai, Sarah Norris, Eddie Otchere, Jon Shard, Robin Stanley, Oliver Wia Thanks Erol Alkan, Cally, Gary Crowley, Adam Dewhurst, Nick Egan, Colm Forde, Nick Haeffner, Lauren @ Modern Matters, Nathan Thursting, Ron West Cover photos Daniel Avery by Vanessa Goldschmidt I. JORDAN by Lydia Garnett Design Jones Design Create Published twice per year by Disco Pogo Ltd Distributed by MMS London All distribution and stockist enquiries: info@discopogo.co All advertising enquiries: info@discopogo.co discopogo.co instagram.com/discopogo.co facebook.com/discopogo.co twitter.com/discoxpogo First Edition 2022 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in, or introduced into a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without prior written permission of the publisher. Printed by Spectrum Printing, Cardiff. ISO 9001 Certified (Management), ISO 14001 Certified (Environmental). The paper used for this book is FSC Certified from sustainable sources and Chlorine Free.

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GWENNO Tresor

THE ORIELLES Tableau

HEAVENLY REMIXES

The Pink Album

Live From South Channel Island

HEAVENLY REMIXES

Andrew Weatherall Volumes 1 & 2

UNLOVED

MILDLIFE

Volumes olumes 5 & 6

EYES OF OTHERS

Bewitched by the Flames • 10” EP

WORKING MEN’S CLUB Fear Fear

The Vinyl Countdown. Anthony Teasdale describes the thrill of releasing his first vinyl record in nearly 20 years the UK’s version of the blues, while Radio 2 has more references to ecstasy than an Irvine Welsh novel. And deep house – the soothing sound made famous by Larry Heard – has become the de-facto concentration music for headphone-wearing laptop surfers in a million cafes worldwide (the only place you won’t find it is in nightclubs). I wrote the chords to ‘Deep In NW5’ in 1996 on a £50

FIRST PERSON

keyboard in a shared flat in Finsbury Park. Charlie Hall, DJ and Drum Club member, had already signed another of my tracks, ‘A Question Of Logic’, to his MC Projects label and paid for me to write a B-side in a studio in Kentish Town, London, NW5. By the end of the session, I knew I had something special. ‘Deep In NW5’ kick-started my musical career and gave

When they reach middle age, men often seek refuge in

me the brackets after my name all DJs need to get gigs.

hobbies. Some head off to the allotment to grow

It led to me making records for Soma, Sunday Best and

parsnips and drink tea from tartan flasks. Others join

Alola – while Weatherall asked me and Omid 16B to remix

local history societies and start dressing like Jeremy

Two Lone Swordsmen’s ‘Rico’s Helly’. I even had a remix

Corbyn. Me? I pour all my spare creative energy into

on Strictly Rhythm! The only thing that would have made

making esoteric (don’t you dare say ‘boring’) deep

me happier was playing in goal for Liverpool or

house records.

snogging Kathy Lloyd.

And while I do these for my own enjoyment, this

Back to 2021: after our initial conversation, Tam and

activity has led to something surprising: the release

I talked over Messenger and decided on a release date

of my first vinyl record since 2004 (which,

of early-mid 2022. He also asked if I had any new stuff

coincidentally, was on Bugged Out!, the label of the

that would accompany ‘Deep In NW5’.

people behind this magazine). How this came about says a lot about the longevity of

I did. Over lockdown, and with plenty of spare time, I got really into home music production. While I’m as

dance music, the power of social media and what’s

much of a sucker for a Roland 808 drum machine or Juno

possible when we make use of today’s technology.

106 keyboard as the next ageing producer, I’m also a

In 2021, a chap called Tam Fallan messaged me on

bit OCD about stuff clogging up my tiny flat. Thus, I

Facebook. Tam is part-owner of Opia Records/Euphoric

make everything on my laptop using a phenomenal music

State, a deep house/techno label that also puts on

program called Logic.

parties all over Europe. He and his partner Jorge were

I delivered four more tunes – all bangers, obvs – to

fans of my 1996 track, ‘Deep In NW5’, a 12-minute

Tam, and within a month, we had a name for the EP,

deep-houser regularly played, among others, by Andrew

‘Decades Of Deep’, beautiful hand-painted artwork and

Weatherall at his Bloodsugar club night at the Blue

a confirmed May release date.

Note in London. Would I, asked Tam, be interested in licensing it to Opia so they could release it on vinyl? Would I? Of course I would! There’s something very ‘2022’ about this. Chicago house records from the

Then one sunny afternoon, just before ‘Decades Of Deep’ hit the shops, Tam turned up with a finished copy: a shining slab of vinyl – complete with irresistible new-record smell. Today, as I slide it out of the sleeve, once more,

late-80s are played in clubs full of people who can’t

I’m in that crowded flat in Finsbury Park 26 years ago,

even remember the 2010 World Cup, never mind acid

working out a chord progression and wondering where

house. Drum’n’bass, now in its early 30s, has become

this music thing will take me. Though this time around, I know the answer: not as far as I’d like, but far

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What will Harold Heath make of The Streets’ ‘Original Pirate Material’ as he gives it a first spin 20 years after its release? were compared to The Specials. And just like The Specials, Skinner excels at finding the universal in his low-key observations of everyday life. Side note: I get that I’m late to this, but ‘Around here we say birds not bitches’ is a great line. Next track gets a bit aggro, then the following one, ‘Geezers Need Excitement’, starts strong with a flurry of smart, interlocking wordplay set to a moody synth beat, but it sounds like they got stoned and forgot about the chorus until the album was due to be pressed

FIRST LISTEN

and had to knock something up super-quick. See also ‘Don’t Mug Yourself’. Is this half-finished, don’tcare aesthetic part of The Streets’ appeal? Because to my Streets-virgin ears, they throw away a few chances at really good songs by including choruses that sound like they were bought in a pub car park from a bloke off craigslist. Is this like punk, celebrating

For a music writer, I have substantial holes in my

amateurism, glorifying the shambolic? Also, I have

music knowledge. I’ve not listened to much of seminal

another question: regarding instrumental track ‘Who

UK duo Autechre, influential hip hop outfit the Wu-Tang

Got the Funk?’, is this The Streets’ equivalent of when

Clan or, I’m ashamed to say, techno pioneer Pitbull.

The Beatles would include a novelty track for Ringo on

And in 2002, when The Streets dropped their acclaimed

their albums?

‘Original Pirate Material’, I was in the first flush of

Aside from that tingly bass moment in the opening

my music production career, such as it was, and

track, album highlights include ‘Same Old Thing’ which

single-mindedly ignored every 2000s non-house club

absolutely slaps at top whack, and most of ‘Weak Become

trend, including dubstep, electroclash and minimal

Heroes’. Most? Yes, most. As I listened to this for the

techno.

first time, all the praise for Skinner as a keen-eyed

Anyway, I’ve got a note from my mum to give to my

chronicler of British life seemed deserved. He

teacher that explains it all. However, as ‘Original

perfectly describes that slo-mo, E-glow shared

Pirate Material’ celebrates its 20th birthday this

experience of a debut pinger, the naive piano line

year, it seems like a good time to finally check it

matching his eyes-wide-open, loved-up tone. But after

out. Always up to date, that’s me.

setting the scene so pitch-perfectly it suddenly gets

The synthetic strings and tasty minimal 2-step beat

super awkward with a worthy shout out to umm, Walker,

of ‘Turn the Page’ kick things off. Mike Skinner’s

Oakenfold, Holloway (poor old Trevor Fung never gets

unmistakable accent is right up front in the mix, his

his due respect in this narrative, does he?) and

flow simultaneously languid and relentless. When the

recovering psychic energy-node Danny Rampling. Clunky;

bass comes in halfway through and triggers some goose

needs an edit.

bumps, I’m sold. I even gave it a rewind and we’re only

So ‘Original Pirate Material’: a great debut album

on track one. I’m a sucker for a set of ponderous

with some genuine goose-bump moments and a couple of

chords and a delayed-drop bass-line, who isn’t, right?

fist-bump moments too. Flawed, as all decent art is,

‘Has It Comes to This’ is next, a soft-focus easy-

it’s uncompromising, authentic, charismatic, and a

garage paean that is strangely affecting, somehow

little too (deliberately?) ramshackle for my tastes in

tapping into an emotion-triggering frequency via some

places too. But I love that these tales of love, music,

clicky UKG beats, plinky piano snippets and wandering

scoring herb, eating chips, being skint and timeless

sub-bass. When the vaguely ska-flavoured rhythm and

weekends getting high listening to UKG have been

trombone licks à la Rico Rodriguez of ‘Let’s Push

recorded, so that long after we’re gone, the future

Things Forward’ drop, I suddenly get why The Streets

will get to hear them.

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dance, shall we?’

‘So let’s put on our classics and we’ll have a little

Erica McKoy wonders whether clubs should be prescribed to support brain health?

On a biological level we have to suss this out, and what happens when we go from potentially unsafe to safe is where things get interesting. We’re taking in signals of whether these are our kinds of people? Our brain is figuring out whether this collective dons their clothes like us, or whether we’re connected by

FIRST PERSON

age, race or sexuality? The first thing clubs give us is a sense of community. And when that sense of community is established our ability to tap into the benefits of these dimly lit spaces, with powerful sound systems opens up. At times the club offers us physical intimacy, whether it’s as simple as the dewy arm of our fellow

During the pandemic I missed the dance-induced sweat

dancer as they brush past us or a tender hug from a

that happens in rooms lit blue and red or fields that

lover, when consensual it’s great for reducing stress

turn into Meccas for music devotees who pilgrim from

levels. But something less noticeable that the club

the city for days of play. Two-stepping, hips-moving

gives us is mental intimacy – where we feel mentally

and synchronised hands raised above heads. The DJ is

stimulated by what’s around us and we subconsciously

our conductor – DJ to dancer; dancer to DJ. All feeling

mirror each other because we feel empathy. We clap

safe and free.

together and our heart rates quite literally sync in

One day, whilst strolling past a building the vents were puffing out a very specific smell… a mix of booze, sweat and lavs. It was an essence I knew all too well

these environments. Nightclubs offer us quick moments of intimacy with groups wider than our own. After establishing safety our parasympathetic

without hearing a single sound – the club was open! As

nervous system kicks in, our heart rates and breathing

a DJ, but also as someone who is fascinated by

slows down. The darkness of these spaces allows us to

wellbeing and health, I missed the club as a space that

lose our inhibitions and feel more confident, so as

cultivates joy and it got me thinking: could the club

we’re racking up our 25,000 steps dancing, our body is

be prescribed to support brain health?

releasing dopamine and endorphins, and our ability to

The title is a little salacious, so let’s start by

become more compassionate for our fellow dancers

defining mental health which I want to preface as

increases. The darkness can help boost self-esteem –

different from mental illness. Mental health is

even if it is just for a moment.

something we all have; it’s how we think, feel and

Finally, another reason an otherwise plain room with

carry ourselves. It’s about our emotional and social

a bar becomes more exciting when lit with colourful

wellbeing. It ebbs and flows. Fluctuating between the

lights, and pumping music is because of the discovery

highest joys and states of awe to feeling low and

that happens. The dancefloor allows us to learn about

stagnant. Sometimes we buzz somewhere in between. When

ourselves. We lose track of time and the focus zooms

thinking about this I see this as no simple fix for

into the sensation in our body. Music sounds louder,

poor mental health, but rather something that could

and colours appear brighter as the senses become

help keep wellbeing bouncing in a healthy state.

restricted. It’s a moment to connect with how we

Communal listening is intuitive and dates back

physically feel in our body, which isn’t often

millennia. The club is just a different environment for

encouraged. But beyond that we discover friendships

the same experience, except the stakes are high because

and new music.

we don’t know the intentions of the people around us.

So although the club may appear to be a simple space, in healthy doses, it could serve as a restorative

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sanctuary in amongst the woes of adulthood.

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Dancing About Architecture? It’s time to celebrate the new breed of publishers documenting club culture… Some people use the dancefloor for dancing. For others, it is source material. Back in the 1990s Rainald Goetz wrote about the techno dancefloors of reunified Germany in his literary novel ‘Rave’. In the UK, Boxtree’s Backstreets series published novels born in dark nightclubs including 1995’s ‘Junglist’ (literally written chapter by chapter after nights out by Two Fingers and James T. Kirk). The following year Boxtree published ‘Raise Your Hands’ by Geraldine Geraghty in which techno-obsessed misfits kidnap a girl who loves handbag house in order to convert her to the true gods of Basic Channel and UR. Jeff Noon sucked Manchester dancefloors of the same era into his drug-soaked alternative reality novel ‘Vurt’. The poets have had something to

There were contributions from poets

say over the last few years. In 2019

in ‘Flashback’, Rough Trade Book’s

a delay to the music. There was Martin

Robert Gallagher, previously frontman

ultra-creative response to the

James’ ‘State of Bass’ and Matthew

of Galliano, published a tiny run of ‘The

Blackburn raves and DJ Dave Haslam

Collin’s ‘Altered States’ in 1997, and

Dance Floors of England’. The titles tell

has used poetry-sized formats for his

‘Energy Flash’ by Simon Reynolds and

you everything you need to know:

collectible Art Decades books. The

Jane Bussman’s ‘Once in a Lifetime’ in

‘Shaka v Fatman’, ‘Bar Rhumba in Dub’,

pulse continues to be picked up.

1998 (a young me helped Jane with

‘2:47am Corsica Studios’. Kayo

research by doing a few of the

Chingonyi has consistently referenced

exactly what the pulse feels like

interviews). Sheryl Garratt's

histories of club culture – he also DJs

because he’s been part of the

‘Adventures in Wonderland’ and Bill

– and Belinda Zhawi aka Ma.Moyo

dancefloor body that generates it for

Brewster and Frank Broughton’s ‘Last

captured a specific moment in

decades. First at Sub Club in Glasgow,

Night A DJ Saved My Life’ (now updated

late-2010s London with her venue-

and later at early-90s Bristol club

and reissued by White Rabbit)

inspired poem ‘Passing Clouds’. This

night Ruffneck Ting – which along with

appeared in the final year of the

poem was shaped on dancefloors

the Atmosphere fanzine handed out

decade. It took a while longer for the

including Steam Down in Deptford –

outside raves became the catalyst for

biographies to percolate, and there

which also appeared in a scene in

his first publication.

have, of course, been plenty of other

Caleb Azumah Nelson’s award-winning

books on the subject.

novel ‘Open Water’ – and ended up as a

the South West,” he says, “so I could

track on Footshooter’s brilliant 2021

write and talk about this amazing

album ‘Southside Hymns’.

music and devote a whole magazine to

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Colin Steven of Velocity Press knows

“I wanted to do an Atmosphere for

Images courtesy of Velocity

Non-fiction focusing on the UK’s acid-inspired dancefloors appeared at

DJ’s second book, reissues of Martin James’ ‘State of Bass’ and acid house novel ‘Trip City’, new books on instrumental hip hop (Laurent Fintoni’s ‘Bedroom Beats and B-Sides’) and Nottingham’s DiY Soundsystem (‘Dreaming in Yellow’), and a book on Junior Tomlin’s flyer art. Next they’re publishing ‘Members Only’, which collates club membership cards in a high-end coffee table book. “I couldn’t have set up Velocity Press it.” Knowledge was his response and it

Pat W. Henderson’s novel ‘Decade’.

if it wasn’t for Knowledge Magazine,”

went on to be an essential part of

Vision lasted until 2009, when financial

says Steven. “It came from

drum’n’bass culture, selling 40,000-

realities halted Knowledge’s run as a

dancefloors; it’s come from club

50,000 issues at its height.

print publication.

culture.”

He became a book publisher when

A decade later, in early 2019, Colin

There’s something extra powerful

Brian Belle-Fortune dropped by the

Steven was made redundant from the

about books that relate to culture

office. “He’d done ‘All Crews’ in ’99, did

corporate job he took post-Knowledge.

made by people who experience

a couple of thousand, it sold out, he

“I was looking for a way back in. I

racism, homophobia or other

didn’t want to self-publish again, so he

missed it. Eventually the penny

discrimination. It assigns value to

approached us. He said something like:

dropped: people want to read

something that most of society doesn’t

‘You do words, I do words, let’s do

interesting stories about dance music.”

consider valuable – and Steven has

words together'.”

By the end of the year he’d published

been around long enough to

Matt Anniss’ history of northern bleep

understand the realities.

Steven republished Belle-Fortune’s now-iconic book in 2004 under the

‘Join the Future’ and has now released

name Vision Publishing, followed by

nearly 20 titles including The Secret

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“Jungle was considered disposable, not proper music,” he says. “Now it’s firmly part of dance music culture. It wasn’t always like that. People who’ve done their time know what’s important. They understand what’s worth preserving.” Zak from Dance Policy is deciding what’s worth preserving at a grassroots level. He’s the 24-year-old, mostly anonymous, figure behind the Manchester-based magazine dedicated to clubs, music and community, with illustrator Jamie Brogan. Their work will undoubtedly

through the problems that are

workshops, movie nights, exercise,

inform future documentation of

expressed when we gather to dance.

political action, as well as club nights

“Nightlife is still seen as a nuisance

then the perception could be

people tell the story, or when he and

rather than an extension of culture,”

completely changed. The whole point

his crew make their own books.

says Zak. “But people are beginning to

of Dance Policy is to show different

He’s a good example of why we need

see the value of places that are more

avenues for people to go down. What

people to publish from the dancefloor,

than just party spaces, like Gut Level

are the things we can change, dictate,

whether they’re starting out like

or Partisan Collective.”

and instruct in the community? That’s

Dance Policy, or if they’re decades

These days he’s considering if the

what it’s for.”

deep like Velocity. We need them so

word ‘club’ is even the right word for

that we can think and explore our way

the spaces he loves the most. “The

dancefloor culture are in safe hands.

word is a bit tainted. If we can have

We just need to wait for them.

these spaces for people to do talks,

EMMA WARREN

16_DISCO_POGO

The next generation of books about

Images courtesy of Dance Policy

today’s club culture, either when other

DJ Pippi & Willie Graff Follow Your Dreams

islandman Godless Ceremony

Jacob Gurevitsch Yellow Spaceship

Troels Hammer House of Memories

Music For Dreams 20 Years: The Sunset Sessions Vol. 10

Rheinzand Atalantis Atlantis

Kenneth Bager Late Night Symphonies

Hess is More Ibojas Sange

Residentes Balearicos Residentes Balearicos

Zero To Hero Rhythm master Bradley Zero has taken Peckham. This time next year he’ll be a millionaire…

“It could be seen as a brave move,”

up and slept in a sleeping bag on that

ponders Bradley Zero, as he thumbs

sofa in the corner for three days. Fair

through his vast record collection,

play to him, that’s putting a shift in

transplanted from his front room to

isn’t it?” Jumbi may have come together

Peckham bar and restaurant Jumbi.

quickly but the idea to open

“But where better to have them than

somewhere like this has been

here? Where they’re being played and

permeating in the 34-year-old DJ’s

appreciated, rather than at home

mind for a while. Working in bars since

where loads of them are going

his mid-teens, (first in his native Leeds

unlistened to.”

and later in London) Zero has always

It’s a Tuesday afternoon in August

loved the environment and mix of

and Zero’s enjoying a midweek gap in

people a good watering hole can

his busy schedule which has seen him

create. On his travels as a DJ and

play everywhere from Peckham’s Gala

record digger, he’s discovered a fair

Festival and his own Rhythm Section

few establishments that combine his

nights at fabric and Colour Factory

love of music, community and seriously

this summer, to Circoloco in Ibiza and

good sound to great effect.

Kala in Albania.

“I’m not the first person to put a

borrowed from fellow NTS resident Ruf

record collection in a bar and I’ve

Dug), a d&b subwoofer, an E&S DJR 400

DJ schedule, he’s found time (just

taken bits from all of those places but

Rotary Mixer and a Roland RE-201

about) to open his own listening bar

hopefully it’s got my own stamp on it.

‘Space Echo’ effects unit, a piece of

and restaurant in Peckham, the

It’s funny because a friend of mine

equipment used on countless dub

South-East London neighbourhood

came by recently and said: ‘Bradley,

reggae records and used in Jumbi to

he’s called home and been a key

you’ve just recreated your front room

fill the silence during record swaps on

creative player in for over a decade.

in a bar!’”

the one deck.

And on top of a busy international

“We had a month from getting the

Aside from his vast record collection,

“It’s still a work in progress,” he says.

lease on this place to opening the

the Jumbi one-deck set-up features a

“But I feel like we’ve created a really

doors,” he says. “My dad came down

custom Technics 1210 from Isonoe in

nice, pressure-free, environment to

from Huddersfield to help us set it all

London, vintage Rogers and Tanoy

play music in. The record collection’s

speakers, (purchased in an auction at

kind of like an altar and the fact that

the BBC Wales studios in Cardiff and

you’re not facing out to a crowd or

18_DISCO_POGO

Photos: Rob Jones

form the centrepiece of his brand new

elevated when playing is a really

the hearts of London clubbers for its

happened twice a month and was

important part of it.”

stripped back and unpretentious

usually me plus one other DJ, and nine

Over the last decade, he’s been

approach to nightlife and providing a

times out of ten, you hadn’t heard of

creating his own musical ecosystem

focal point for a growing dance music

them.”

which began with the Rhythm Section

scene in Peckham.

radio show (first on City Radio in

“I came to London to study Fine Art

While the parties in the pool hall were never about the big names, they

Peckham from 2009 and on NTS since

at UCL originally,” he explains. “And felt

did give a leg-up to everyone from

2012), grew to include the Rhythm

immediately at home in Peckham when

Jayda G and Shanti Celeste to Chaos in

Section parties a few years later

I moved here. There were all these

the CBD who all stopped by to play

before morphing into a record label in

exhibitions going on and the odd squat

shows relatively early in their career (“I

2014. Housed in Canavan’s Pool Club in

party or day rave, but I wanted to start

call it the ‘golden era’ now,” he laughs.

Peckham, the Rhythm Section parties

something that happened on the

“Everything was so simple.”) and also

were the first thing to bring Zero and

regular and served the community. It

his crew to wider attention, winning

was £3 entry before midnight,

DISCO_POGO_19

segued nicely into the Rhythm Section International label and Zero’s own career as an in-demand DJ. The first release on Rhythm Section International came in 2014 with Al Dobson Jr.’s aptly titled ‘Rye Lane Vol.1’ and since then the label has been home to records by everyone from Session Victim and Jordan Rakei in his Dan Kye guise, introduced us to south London MC Pinty and the low-key and jazz-inflected house of New Zealand sibling duo Chaos in the CBD whose track ‘Midnight in Peckham’ became something of a late-night anthem. “That Al Dobson Jr. record was the perfect way to start the label,” says “Rum’s got a really complicated

Zero. “Because it had a bit of

go, whether that be into a record label

everything that was to come in it.

office or a big company, I find not

history, linked to slavery and

There was that downtempo hip hop

many people look like me. I want to

colonialism,” he says. “And recently

vibe to it, a touch of that Detroit sound

make sure I know when I’m being

we’ve noticed a lot of small boutique

and a lot of organic percussion and

bullshitted or taken advantage of.”

rum brands popping up and presenting

jazzy samples. It was dancey but super

The influence of his Dominican

this Afro-Caribbean identity, but

roots is one of the threads that

invariably they end up being owned by

runs right through Jumbi (the name

white people pretending to be Black.

record label, radio presenting and

is Dominican creole or patois

We felt there’s people trying to cash-in

DJing has earned him comparisons

describing a mischievous spirit that

on an Afro-Caribbean identity and

with Gilles Peterson, and like Peterson

likes rum and causes mayhem and

found that disconcerting, but rather

his easy going nature is coupled with a

disruption) and his next project,

than just complain, we thought we

steely focus and drive.

alongside Jumbi co-founder Nathanael

should offer an alternative.”

low-slung and meditative too.” His musical palette and trifecta of

“I did an MBA (Master of Business

Williams, is to start a rum brand to go

Administration) during the pandemic,”

alongside the Caribbean-themed food

he explains. “Because the higher up I

and strong influence the venue takes from Caribbean culinary and sound-

20_DISCO_POGO

system culture.

We’ll drink to that. SEAN GRIFFITHS

Once More With Feeling Remember Eddie Chacon? You will do… “I didn’t want to make a clichéd

surprising, given that it was produced

we’ve landed in the music industry is

comeback record like ‘Eddie Chacon

in collaboration with John Carroll

people now can go down the rabbit

Sings the Hits of Motown’ or anything,”

Kirby, whose CV includes Ocean

hole of Spotify or Apple Music and just

says the man himself, smiling ruefully

alongside other contemporary heavy

find their own lane. And as it turns out,

at the thought. “I couldn’t bear the idea

hitters Solange and Blood Orange.

people are far more interested than

“I just thought his work was sublime

gracefully and not do music anymore, if

and I jumped at the chance to work

that was all that was to be available.”

with him,” says Chacon. “I wasn’t sure if

just the narrow lane of pop music. And that’s good news!” Of course, Chacon knows all about

he would want to work with me,

youthful appeal – Charles & Eddie’s

returned to his native California

because I’m a guy in my mid-50s who

1992 debut album ‘Duophonic’

following a triumphant festival season

hadn’t made music since the 90s… I

garnered no less than three Ivor

in Europe, Chacon comes across as

mean certainly there were more

Novello awards for songwriting – and

affable, sanguine and at peace; a man

obvious choices he could have made!

spawned the international über-hit

relaxed in his own skin. Which is exactly

But we really hit it off and thank

‘Would I Lie to You?’

the mood that infuses his midlife

goodness he thought it was a really

masterpiece, the don’t-call-it-a-

interesting thing to work with

Milk’, the duo disbanded – and one can’t

comeback album ‘Pleasure, Joy and

someone my age, who wanted to

help but wonder whether the weight of

Happiness’, released in 2020, a full 25

make the kind of record I was

such a huge hit was a burden…

years since his last album, as one half of

interested in making.”

Talking to us via Zoom, having just

the 90s soul duo Charles & Eddie (with

A significant part of that record’s

After a 1995 follow-up, ‘Chocolate

“You know, it’s such a high-class problem to have,” he laughs. “You’re so

Charles Pettigrew), hit the shelves.

appeal is a refreshing, seen-it-all-

incredibly fortunate, in the difficult,

His subtle, nuanced, reflective

before realism that challenges and

competitive world of music, to have

collection of songs, delivered with all

reverts the usual soul clichés (‘You

the annoyance of a huge hit that is so

the savvy and self-awareness of a

never meant to hurt me, you were

gigantic it will haunt you for the rest of

world-weary 50-something soul

hurting yourself…’ – from ‘Hurt’). It’s an

your life! I was never one to ever find a

veteran, has gathered a slow burn,

album that adds the perspective of

shred of unhappiness from that

word-of-mouth success, with some

age and experience to a youth-

extremely fortunate situation. It’s my

high-profile cheerleaders (“Gilles

obsessed market.

nature, I’m an extremely optimistic

Peterson has been really supportive,” Chacon enthuses).

“We live in a society that worships youth – and why not? Youth is

person.” Instead, he puts their eventual split

incredible and it’s such a beautiful

down to the sheer exhaustion of

nods to Shuggie Otis, Marvin Gaye and

part of our life,” says Chacon. “But I

promoting and performing that

Sly Stone at their most circumspect,

wanted to do something that you

ensued. “We never really decided. I

there is a knowing retro feel to his new

would have to be my age to do. So

think that we always felt there was

work – but in a way that sounds

rather than being intimidated by

this safety net, where at any point we

completely relevant and now. It often

youth, I thought it would be wonderful

could call an attorney and say: ‘Hey,

feels reminiscent of the interludes on a

to lean into my life experience. I

Charles and I want to make a record

Frank Ocean album spun out to their

thought, I’ve got nothing to lose –

again – go get us a record deal.’ And

logical conclusion – which is hardly

there’s a lot of things I want to talk

there was a certain comfort in that,

about, and I’m going to allow myself to

which probably made us lazy, as the

do that. I think the upside to where

years went by.”

With its pared-back production and

22_DISCO_POGO

Photos: Bennet Perez

of that. I would prefer to just bow out

DISCO_POGO_23

“It’s a brevity of life thing. We know that life is short, and by the time you’re my age, you want to do things that are authentic and that you can be proud of.”

“Yeah. I’m more interested in creating work where I can look myself in the mirror and like what I see,” he explains. “But I think by the time you hit my age, hopefully I think we all come to that conclusion. It’s a brevity of life thing. We know that life is short, and by the time you’re my age, you want to do things that are authentic and that you can be proud of.” So, is there a sense of redemption from this new flurry of activity? “I felt like it was a closure record at the time that I made it – I didn’t think that anyone would ever hear it! I wanted to create a record that fulfilled the culmination of a life’s work in music – create something that really for me was almost an investigation into what happens to a person’s talent as they never returning to music in any

become older? Does it become more

been talking about making a record

professional capacity. “I dabbled, but I

refined like wine? Does it deplete as

again when, in 2001, he received a call

didn’t dabble seriously. I didn’t want

you get older? These were unanswered

from Chris Frantz of Tom Tom Club (for

to put my name on anything, because

questions that I had. So, I was really

whom Pettigrew had become a full,

I’m so proud of the work that I did

curious to make a record at this age

signed-up singer-songwriter) to say

with Charles in the 90s – I thought

and see what happened. Where am I

that his former musical partner had

that they were very special records

with my talent? I’ve been doing this my

passed away from cancer. “That was

and I didn’t want to do anything that

whole life, since I was 12-years-old, and

so incredibly sad,” he says. “And also it

would spoil the beauty of that, or the

I wanted to know where I am as a man

ripped that safety net away from me.

memory of that.”

in his mid-50s?”

In fact, Chacon reveals they had

And now I was confronted with myself

Which is why the new material

Thankfully, he continues to answer

– and frankly I have issues with my

comes as such a perfect riposte to

those questions, with a new single,

self-confidence. I didn’t really know

that self-doubt. “Well, yeah. I’m

‘Holy Hell’, preceding an album that he

how valid I was as an artist on my own,

certainly a late bloomer, I’ll give you

promises will expand on the ‘bedroom

or if I had anything to offer as a solo

that!” And despite a lifetime in music

soul’ feel of his solo debut.

artist. And I struggled with that.”

that began as a 12-year-old in a

“I think it’s a nice addition to the

garage band with childhood friends

sauce – ‘let’s have a little more of this

had built a successful career as a

Cliff Burton (later of Metallica) and

spice’ –and you hope the sauce

creative director and photographer

Mike Bordin (Faith No More) – “I started

becomes a little more complex while

and had all but reconciled himself to

out as a little rock’n’roller!” – he was

retaining all those familiar elements

never really intoxicated by the

that you love about it.”

trappings of fame.

MARK HOOPER

In the intervening years, Chacon

24_DISCO_POGO

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Environmental Records In 2007, artist Katie Paterson cut the

heat, wrapped in card and plastic, and

removing some of its joy? In his book

sound of three Icelandic glaciers onto

flown around the world. And yet, for

‘Decomposed: The Political Ecology of

three records made from frozen

most record buyers, the origins of their

Music’, Kyle Devine calls this a form of

meltwater. Played simultaneously on

ingredients are opaque, the labour

“musical exceptionalism” – the idea

three turntables, they took just one

involved often obscured, and their

artistic expression should somehow be

hour and 57 minutes to melt

disposal largely ignored. Just as

exempt from scrutiny. As a former

completely. This was the same year

figures about melting ice caps can feel

editor of a music magazine, I saw how

that vinyl sales began to climb once

detached from their effects, so do

the rhetoric of the vinyl revival imbued

more, reaching five million albums in

sales statistics abstract the industrial

records with a form of sacred purpose,

the UK and almost 42 million in the USA

processes that drive them. There are

a tangible manifestation of culture

in 2021. The message that we are living

few industries on Earth where the

and meaning. Questions of

in a climate emergency doesn’t need

year-on-year increase in the

environmental impact registered as

spelling out, but as far as records are

production of petrochemical-derived

little more than surface noise.

concerned, perhaps the medium does.

PVC is celebrated as it is in music.

It's no secret that records are made from polyvinyl chloride under intense 26_DISCO_POGO

Clearly, this is a complicated issue.

For Adam Callan of Earth/Percent, an environmental fundraising charity

How do you talk about music’s

co-founded with Brian Eno, these

relationship with the climate crisis and

questions are long overdue. “The whole

resource extraction without also

industry is going through a reckoning

Images courtesy of Earth/Percent, Key Production.

Are you sure you want that on 180g vinyl?

commercially available bioplastic 12-inch, featuring new music from Michael Stipe and Beatie Woolf, with the aim of both raising awareness and championing a potential alternative to polyvinyl chloride. Described by co-founder and CEO Marc Carey as a “recipe”, the bioplastic compound (PLA) is derived from plant sugars and mixed with an organic filler and masterbatch to make it both durable and, ultimately, biodegradable. Rather than require wholesale changes to pressing infrastructure, of finding itself as quite a dinosaur in a

no illusions about the compromises at

the bioplastic pellets can be poured

modern age,” he says. It's an unusual

play. “Scratch the surface and there

straight into (some) existing machines.

position for a scene that likes to style

are two sides to everything,” she says,

With a per/record carbon footprint

itself as progressive. Founder and CEO

pointing to shrink wrap – often touted

roughly a fifth of traditional vinyl,

of music manufacturers Key

as a simple measure to cut plastic

Carey says it even requires slightly

Production and long-time

waste – as having big implications for

lower temperatures to press, which he

sustainability advocate Karen Emanuel

the number of damaged records that

estimates could save pressing plants

agrees: “Go back 20 years and no-one

will end up in landfill. Without the

10-15% on their energy bills.

was even thinking about these things.”

systems and infrastructures to make

This is beginning to change.

them workable, the success of vinyl

product that comes from the

recycling processes will be as mixed as

petrochemical industry?” he asks.

Buoyed by the concerted efforts of both manufacturers and consumers to improve practices, Key Production now

the quality of the pellets. Rather than mitigate the impact of

“Why would you carry on using a

Of course, even a bioplastic record has two sides. Where the feedstock

actively encourages pressing on 140g

PVC-derived vinyl, an organisation

crop is grown and how much land it

rather than 180g vinyl and offers a

called Evolution Music is taking steps

uses need to be transparent. PLA is not

range of choices to its customers, from

towards replacing it altogether. Earlier

as immediately recyclable as PVC and

“eco-mix” re-used PVC pellets to

this year, they collaborated with

recyclable card. But Emanuel is under

Earth/Percent to release the first

DISCO_POGO_27

“The whole industry is going through a reckoning of finding itself quite a dinosaur in a modern age.” Adam Callan, Earth/Percent

requires specialised conditions to biodegrade. In landfill it can take hundreds of years to decompose. And how do they actually sound? “This last pressing that we did was 95% of the way there,” Carey says, with plans to reach what he calls the “holy grail” within months. Carey is bullish about its prospect. At a recent trip to manufacturing event Making Vinyl, he came face to face with the PVC pellet industry. “One of them shook my hand and said: ‘We're the people that make real vinyl’.” Carey pauses. “OK, good luck to you mate.” It’s an interesting question. Is it really the PVC that makes records special? While vinyl attracts most attention, both Carey and Callan agree that a reckoning with streaming is also not

this so that if people do ask: ‘Is this OK?' there is a coherent answer.” There is no single answer. Instead,

Crucially, none of these organisations are interested in making people feel guilty about buying

far away. Data collected by Devine

there are options. Key Production

records. Instead, they are focussed on

suggests that greenhouse gas

offers eco-friendly alternatives and

changing systems and offering

emissions from recorded music are

carbon balancing. Earth/Percent

solutions so better decisions can be

now significantly higher than they

advocates for a 1% donation from

made about how music is produced

were in the plastics era. Even the most

artists towards environmental causes.

and consumed. Decisions where its

excessive estimates suggest that vinyl

Evolution Music’s bioplastic compound

extractive and polluting elements are

records now account for less than 0.1%

will be an option at some major

not swept under the carpet but

of global PVC usage. Streams, however

pressing plants by early 2023. Non-

acknowledged and challenged, and the

intangible, exert their own pressure on

profits like Julie’s Bicycle are

sense of shared purpose that makes

the planet, as do the largely

mobilising environment awareness in

music such a galvanising art form can

disposable, lithium-powered devices

the creative sector and Music Declares

play out in more intentional ways.

from which they are accessed. “It's

Emergency has become the voice of a

something we'll have to grapple with,”

movement pressing for change.

Callan adds. “It's all the more reason that the industry should get ahead of 28_DISCO_POGO

“I think we will see a point where

“It goes further than using the right card,” Emanuel says. “It's the way you treat your staff. It’s what you do for

everyone is engaging with one of these

your community. It’s best practice in

organisations as per what is appropriate

every way you can.”

for their business,” Callan says.

ANTON SPICE

OUT NOW

JIMMY EDGAR "LIQUIDS HEAVEN" Leland Whitty "Anyhow" Jonah Yano "portrait of a dog" RARELYALWAYS "Work"

Out Of This World Kerri Chandler hasn’t just got the whole planet under a groove, he’s conquered space too…

30_DISCO_POGO

The young Kerri Chandler.

Club culture is in Kerri Chandler’s

sponge. I’ve had some incredible

blood. His dad was a DJ and

people showing me how things work.”

broadcaster in New Jersey, where Kerri

father, who tragically died after being

Numerous relatives were also DJs,

hit by a car in 2017: “A lot of what I do is

musicians or sound technicians, and

still inspired by him,” Kerri says. Other

everyone had turntables. Even his nan

mentors have included Tony

had decks in her bedroom. Kerri has a

Humphries, Merlin Bobb, François

an apprenticeship as a sound engineer

childhood memory of being dispatched

Kevorkian, David Morales – who

at Atlantic Records, the label that

by her to the local record store to buy

provided “big brother conversations”

released his debut single, ‘Super

‘Jam on It’ by Newcleus on 12-inch.

and schooled him in the art of mixing

Lover’/’Get It Off’ in 1991. Both are

with reel-to-reels — and the late, great

sublime house tracks that still stand

that damn cool,” he says, laughing.

Frankie Knuckles, who also “gave the

up today, as do most Chandler

Small wonder, really, that Kerri

best hugs on the planet”.

productions. And there have been

“Even now I can’t believe she was

His dad Joseph DJing.

Talking via Zoom from his house in

many — he lost count a long time ago

New York, Kerri reckons that: “Growing

but there are more than 3,000 singles,

into his dad’s bedroom — his parents

up, I must have played every main club

remixes and EPs listed on Discogs, plus

had separated — to practise on the

in New York and New Jersey.” These

four albums. You’d never realise it to

turntables when he wasn’t around.

included Jersey hotspots such as

listen to ‘Get It Off’ — all warm pads

One day his dad, Joseph, caught him

Zanzibar (a suburban, straighter

and sweet vocal snippets before the

and, realising how accomplished his

version of the Paradise Garage with a

sound of a needle being ripped off a

son had become, began taking Kerri to

world-class Richard Long sound

record introduces a tougher jackin’

DJ with him in clubs. Thirteen-year-old

system), Club 88 and Club America,

groove — but the track was a tribute

Kerri would stand on a crate so he

where he was the resident and where

to teenage Kerri’s girlfriend Tracy, who

could reach the decks while Joseph

the young Queen Latifah and Whitney

had been raped and murdered by a

passed him records to mix from labels

Houston hung out; as well as

jealous ex who was subsequently

such as Salsoul, Prelude and

Manhattan’s Sound Factory, Red Zone,

convicted and jailed. The needle rip

Philadelphia International, as well as

Tunnel, Shelter and the Garage itself.

symbolised that traumatic event, and

European imports by the likes of

(True fact: one of his less starry gigs

the change of groove the fact that

Giorgio Moroder and Kraftwerk.

came in the mid-90s, when he did a

Kerri’s life would never be the same. It

guest mix on my Saturday night radio

was an abstraction of course — but

timing was dead on as a kid. I knew

show on Sheffield’s Groove FM – a

the process of using something horrific

how to cue things up, how to beat-

former pirate station that rejoiced in a

to inspire a thing of beauty helped

match, and how to run double copies

temporary legal license for four

Kerri to grieve. “She was my heart. I

to extend the songs. I wasn’t playing

glorious weeks. If the two-deck,

couldn’t imagine life without her. And I

around — I wanted to be taken

four-channel-mixer setup on a rickety

thought, this is how I’m going to

seriously.”

table seemed basic compared with the

express myself from now on, because

booth at Zanzibar, Kerri didn’t show it:

she loved it [house music] so much.

he played a blinder.)

Every single song I’ve done since then,

became a DJ himself. As a child in the early-80s he’d sneak

Main photos: Joe Finch. Archive photos: Courtesy of Kerri Chandler

The most profound influence was his

grew up in the city of East Orange.

“I’d make it seamless,” Kerri says. “My

Word spread about his precocious talent, and Kerri became a clubland fixture before he’d even left school. “I

It was inevitable he’d start making

was always the kid running around like

music too. He’d learnt to play bass

a crazy person, sucking it all in like a

guitar and piano as a kid and served

they all have a story.” DISCO_POGO_31

Kerri and his dad, Joseph.

clubs into temporary studios — finally a solution to the “touring all the time” problem. The process began in 2018 and would have been completed faster but for the lockdowns; Chandler spent his time at home learning how to edit in Dolby Atmos: the album is available in this format on platforms such as Apple Music, Tidal and Amazon. Venues he recorded in included the Ministry of Sound and Printworks (London), Knockdown Center and Output (New York), the Warehouse Project YouTube). He’s even sent a recording of

(Manchester), Club Qu (Berlin), the Rex

“I’d say if you can find a way to get

his seminal deep house hit ‘Track One’

Club (Paris), District 8 (Dublin) — the list

your thoughts onto a record, and other

into space from a transmitter in

goes on. He would plot up in the clubs

people can relate to what you’re trying

Norway.

during the day with his laptop and an

What makes a great house record?

to express, and it’s heartfelt —that’s what makes it great.” A gentle, equable, affable soul, Kerri is a lifelong audiophile whose eyes acquire a certain gleam whenever the

“I’ve always joked that I could get so

assortment of keyboards, sequencers,

much more done if I cloned myself,” he

drum machines, effects and mics, and

says. But his output is so prolific, it can

turn the soundcheck into a studio

seem as though he already has.

session, with singers and musicians

Then again, maybe not: it’s been 14

dropping by to record live. Each club’s

subject of music technology crops up

years since he last put an album out

sound system served as monitors,

in conversation, at which point you’d

— a gap he attributes to “touring all

meaning he could “tune each song to

better strap yourself in because, boy,

the time”. Now the wait is over with the

match the club… Monitoring is

does he know his stuff. He built his

release of his fifth album, ‘Spaces and

everything for me, how music

home studio — and his other home

Places’. Over 24 tracks he has skilfully

translates in a room is the most

studio, and his other other home

woven elements of disco, soul, funk,

important thing."

studio — and routinely constructs and

Latin, Afrobeat, dub and jazz over his

customises mixers and effects units.

trademark powerhouse house beats.

at the top. What advice would he give

His soundchecks at venues are so

There is an extensive guest list of

to anyone starting out now? “Do the

thorough, they have their own noun:

musicians and vocalists — Kerri also

one thing that’s just you. Don’t try to

Chandlerisation, a process that often

sings and plays keyboards — part of

follow somebody else’s thing. Add to

entails retuning and rebalancing the

his “extended family” of long-term

the scene, don’t just take from it. It

entire sound system. He creates

collaborators. Singers such as Troy

never used to be about being the big

holograms of singers performing

Denari, Bluey Robinson, Sunchilde and

DJ guy. We were just trying to bring the

classic house tracks, which he uses for

Lady Linn, and musicians such as Italian

whole scene up. We supported the shit

gobsmacking audio-visual DJ

sax player Mauro Capitale and Patrick

out of each other. It was always let’s

performances (check the footage on

Mangan (two-time all-Ireland fiddle

make this group together, let’s do this

champion, no less) are among them.

thing so the entire city can have

The tracks were recorded on the 32_DISCO_POGO

road by turning the world’s finest

He's been a DJ for 40 years and is still

parties — and we can all be part of it.” JACOB MUNDAY

The Bootleg Boutique Jonny Banger’s subversive Sports Banger label has gone from bootleg heat-pressed tees to turning heads in high art and fashion...

Sports Banger operation now though and the brand’s show at this year’s London Fashion Week became one of the most talked about events of the week (singled out by everyone from Vogue to The Evening Standard). The brand has just signed a deal to produce a Sports Banger book with publishers Thames & Hudson and has hosted Mega Raves everywhere from fabric to Glastonbury this year, with line-ups featuring the likes of Mella Dee, Klose One (who shares the Sports Banger studio space and originally coined the name Jonny Banger), Jay

“You just couldn’t write it could you?”

designed as a show of solidarity with

laughs Jon Wright, more commonly

striking junior doctors in 2015, the

known as Jonny Banger, as he settles

T-shirt was nominated for The Design

DIY ethos from work experience stints

into the sofa of his Tottenham studio

Museum’s, Design of the Year award

at record shops and plenty of time

and lights the first of many Marlboro

in 2015 and has taken on extra

spent on the rave scene learning from

Lights to be chain smoked over the

meaning as our National Health

his ‘elders’. By 2013, he’d just quit a job

next hour, and begins to recount his

Service has come under increasing

in record distribution in London and

journey from mischief making T-shirt

threat of privatisation and had to

was “skint, eating noodles on his sofa”

bootlegger to respected artist and

deal with the strain of the Covid-19

when he decided to make himself a

fashion designer.

pandemic.

T-shirt as a birthday present with

Carder, Artwork and more. Born in Colchester, Banger learnt his

If you’ve been within a mile of a

Then there’s the upside down

club, festival, gig or party in the last

Reebok logo, or the classic Sports

ten years, then you will have seen one

Banger branding, or more recently

working class girl being dragged

of Sports Banger’s omnipresent,

the white T-shirt simply emblazoned

through the mud by the media and

subversive, T-shirt designs. There’s

with the bold capital letters state-

men in power,” says Banger of the

the now iconic NHS tee, with the blue

ment ‘SOLIDARITY WITH STRIKING

T-shirt he designed in support of the

NHS logo flanked by a cheekily

WORKERS’, and recently worn by

N-Dubz singer who, at the time, was

borrowed blue Nike tick. Originally

actor Samantha Morton during an

facing a charge of supplying Class A

interview on ‘Good Morning Britain’.

drugs after falling prey to a sting

The tees are just one strand of the

“I just felt it was a classic case of a

operation by the tabloid press.

Images courtesy of Sports Banger.

34_DISCO_POGO

FREE TULISA emblazoned across it.

another similarly hostile tabloid media

“And I was running to the post office

Banger wearing the T-shirt, and with

backlash and soon, with the tees

every day, trying to keep up with all

some cash borrowed from Artwork –

popping up everywhere, Jonny needed

the orders that were coming in.”

who he’d first met just three weeks

a name for his burgeoning business, so

previously at Snowbombing – he printed

with a cheeky nod to Sports Direct,

mischievous and tongue-in-cheek

a load more tees up and flooded that

Ralph Lauren’s Polo Sport line

strain running right through the

year’s Lovebox Festival with them.

(Banger’s rarely seen without his

Sports Banger brand, there’s also,

trademark Ralph Lauren cap and

almost always, a strong political

back of a car,” he explains. “But no one

Reebok Classics on) and the sports

message too.

bought them so we just dished them

shops he’d been obsessed with as a

out and all the artists ended up

kid, Sports Banger was born.

Quickly, people started to notice

“We were trying to sell them out the

wearing them onstage.” Next came a Team Nigella tee as TV cook Nigella Lawson faced down

“At the start I was just running it all

While there’s clearly a strong,

“I hate the term activist or activism but at heart, I’m a raver and the government has always been rave's

on a hand-me-down smartphone Nick

arch nemesis,” he notes. “There’s

from Dusky had given me,” he says.

collective values and a duty of care with rave and that doesn’t end when the rave finishes. You apply that to your wider life.” On top of the NHS tee and recent T-shirt in support of striking workers, the phrase ‘FUCK BORIS’ has been seen plastered all over the torsos of 20-somethings and teenagers at clubs and festivals for the last few years, courtesy of Sports Banger, while during the pandemic, Banger created ‘The Covid Letters’ project, which encouraged children to express their feelings on the letters sent to every household by the government during the pandemic, with the results eventually being shown at the Foundling Museum and printed as a book. “Activism has all these connotations of being ‘worthy’, but I love to engage people who would never usually engage with something like that,” he explains. “I don’t like shit which ain’t fair and I don’t like hypocrisy and I’ve got my way of calling that out.” With the runway shows, Banger’s work has become increasingly experimental and abstract. His Tottenham studio (dubbed Maison De Bang Bang) is littered with new work and pieces from previous collections, including three giant Union Jacks he’s turned into Grim Reaper-style capes and titled ‘The Three Stooges’ (“I walked past them taking the flags down on Oxford Street by chance and was literally stood at the bottom shouting: ‘Give them to me,’” he says), a dress mimicking a bottle of Lucozade, which DJ and producer Eliza Rose recently wore on the press shots for DISCO_POGO_35

her number one single ‘B.O.T.A. (Baddest Of Them All)’, and a postman’s outfit which Skepta famously wore on the ‘Top of the Pops’ Christmas Special in 2015. “It was five days after the postal strikes had happened so I dressed him up as a postman to do ‘Shutdown’,” laughs Banger. “Obviously, his album is a first class stamp with his face on

being “something that everyone

quite specific London scene but has

and it was on right before The Queen’s

should have and not just for the rich.”

grown to be something everyone can

speech so there were all these little

It’s also grabbed the attention of

understand, relate to and get.”

references in it.”

‘Brass Eye’’s Chris Morris who came to

With record label arm Heras (named

the 'Covid Letters' exhibition and

after the company who make the

the attention of multi-disciplinary

‘Spitting Image’ co-creator Roger Law,

fencing you see at festivals), plans for

artist Jeremy Deller who worked on

who has opened up his vast archive to

a tenth-anniversary exhibition, plus

the 'Covid Letters' exhibition with him

Sports Banger. Both, perhaps,

talk of making the brand a little less

and recently told The Guardian that

recognising Banger’s place in the

UK-centric with their next collection,

Jon reminds him of Victorian designer

pantheon of British satirists.

Wright’s got a clear vision of where he

It’s this work which has captured

and philosopher William Morris, recognising their shared belief in art 36_DISCO_POGO

“You see five-year-olds wearing our

wants to take Sports Banger in the

T-shirts and then you see 85-year-olds

next decade. No time for sitting on the

wearing them and everyone in

sofa eating noodles anymore, then.

between,” he says. “It started in this

SEAN GRIFFITHS

Arooj Aftab Gilla Band Osees Sunset Rollercoaster Ty Segall

JUST LIKE HONEY Photos: Ricardo Gomes Live photo: Ro Murphy

Honey ‘Fucking’ Dijon is a survivor. As a Black Trans female artist, she’s fought hard for acceptance. And to this day she continues to fight for the Black and Queer roots of house music to be celebrated. Her new album, ‘Black Girl Magic’ encapsulates all of this. But most importantly, it’s about love. Because, as she tells Tracy Kawalik: “The one thing you can’t kill is love”…

another in Amsterdam called Back 2 Black. She’s also curating a monthly residency at Berlin’s Panorama Bar called Jack Your Body featuring heritage artists and up and coming legends. “I’ve always been one of these people who thought: ‘It’s better to have your name above the door than on the flyer.’ What I’ve always tried to do across my career is be a role model for female-identifying POC to own the narrative instead of letting someone else decide their worth. So, with my parties, I bring up-and-coming talent, more women, more POC and Queer people so that we can do that. Back 2 Black is about celebrating the roots of house music and being inclusive of everyone. I don’t think that when you’re celebrating one thing, you’re excluding the other. With house music, it didn’t matter what colour or gender or what sexuality you were. It was about the music. But I also want to make sure that people of colour are recognised as being the forebearers of this culture that so many of us around the world enjoy.” Honey Redmond, aka Honey Dijon, was born in Chicago, raised on a diet of the Isley Brothers, Patrice Rushen, Phyliss Hyman, Shalamar, Donna Summer, George Benson, Marvin Gaye and a wealth of Black music thanks to her parents’ record collection. “Like every middle-class African American family, music was non-stop,” she says. “There was music when we went to the grocery store, music when we cleaned the house, family parties, picnics, BBQs; everything was music.” She became the in-demand selector at her parents’ basement parties, unaware of what the future would hold. “They’d let me play records for an hour before my bedtime. I loved the vibration of sharing music with other people. It was instant gratification and an energy transfer that was so immediate.” At the same time, her love affair with music was growing; she was also pouring over magazines and discovering

“I consider myself a professional athlete because there’s no way that I could do my job to the best of my ability if I

fashion at her uncle’s tailor shop. “Music and fashion have been integral to my development

wasn’t taking care of ‘the machine.’ I call it ‘the machine.’ It’s

as a human being since I was a kid. I was just born to do

me, my physical being, and I have to make sure it is buffed,

what I do, and I say that with humility. I don’t say that with

shined and in working order to do what I do. I like to show

arrogance. It was just my path. A passion turned into a

up and give 100%. I don’t just stand there and put records on

hobby, a hobby turned into a craft, and that craft turned

like I do at home. I come from a school of DJing which is very

into a career.”

physical and emotional. I like to connect with the

At 13, Dijon got her hands on a fake ID without her parents

dancefloor. When I end a set, it’s like I’ve had sex 50 times in

knowing and started carving out a name for herself on the

two hours!”

underground club scene. She cut her teeth and came to age

From day one, Honey Dijon has been operating at maximal

during the birth of house music on the south side of Chicago

levels. As a DJ, she’s reached stratospheric fame while

as the genre was rising to a fever pitch. “When I started

producing records and remixes for upper echelon stars like

going to clubs, it was literally Black and Latin Queer culture

Beyoncé. She’s played a staggering list of pulse-racing sets,

and very underground,” she recalls, lighting up. “It was the

festival slots, and headline gigs from Glastonbury, Coachella,

beginning of a subculture. It was a cultural movement. That

and DC10 to Berghain, Smartbar in Chicago and KOKO, and

first memory of stepping inside was like a spiritual

her influence grows with every show. All while keeping her

awakening. My world expanded. It was the feeling of

focus locked on her mission to spread love as a multi-

excitement, fear, ecstasy, joy and freedom. It was pulse-

hyphenated creative, Transgender spokesperson and bring

racing, thrilling. My love of fashion came from seeing how

the dancefloor back to its radical roots.

kids used to dress to go clubbing. Clothing was used as a

When we speak, she’s gearing up for a move to London

language to tell people what music you listened to, what

this autumn and working with the estate of Jean-Michel

club you went to, and what record store you shopped at.

Basquiat for her fashion line with COMME des GARÇONS:

You found your tribe through the clothes and the club scene,

Honey Fucking Dijon. She’s proudly beaming about an

and I’d found mine.”

upcoming four-day party she’s throwing during Paris Fashion Week at Badaboum called ‘Baum!’ followed by

DISCO_POGO_39

40_DISCO_POGO

She became a club dancer, amassed a diverse collection of records and musical influences from new wave, acid house, Detroit techno and beyond; and formed a longlasting friendship with Derrick Carter, who became a mentor. “I didn’t DJ in Chicago! Are you kidding?! My best friend was Derrick Carter! I grew up in the second wave of house music with some of the best there were ever to do it. I was around the DJ Sneaks, Green Velvets and Mark Farinas. I would try and play, and Derrick would say: ‘Get off my turntable. You sound horrible.’ When you have one of the best DJs in the world telling you that you sound like shit, you think: ‘Well, ok, I guess I can’t do this.’

“I’m so happy that I never really took in other people’s limitations and instead just continued to persevere and do things my particular way. I felt like I’d already heard no a bunch of times, so I had nothing to lose. I can’t be put in a box. I’ve never been able to. There are no labels for me.”

Dijon made the jump to New York in the 90s, during the heyday of tastemakers Ron Hardy and Frankie Knuckles, who diversified the genre. Not long after, she was introduced to Danny Tenaglia and independent dance label

know what to do with you. You’re better off doing your own

Maxi Records and found the courage to bless the decks.

thing!’ Looking back, all the things that made people tell me

Dijon remembers the difference between the two cities: “I

no are the things that make me who I am. I’m so happy that

wasn’t hearing music like it was presented in Chicago. It

I never really took in other people’s limitations and instead

was borderless in Chicago. In my experience clubbing, you’d

just continued to persevere and do things my particular

hear new wave with early acid and jack tracks, booty house,

way. I felt like I’d already heard no a bunch of times, so I had

and disco loops. When I moved to New York, suddenly it was

nothing to lose. I can’t be put in a box. I’ve never been able

like you went to this club to hear ‘tribal house’, you went to

to. There are no labels for me.”

this club to hear ‘deep house’, you went to this club to hear

Dijon kicked down plenty of doors so the new generation

‘vocal house’. I thought, well, that’s not how I like to hear

wouldn’t have to. By 2017, she released her debut album, ‘The

music over the course of my night, so I just started DJing

Best of Both Worlds’ and had become a vocal advocate for

out of necessity.”

Trans rights and awareness, speaking from her experience

At the beginning, she turned to Chi-town house legends for guidance. “I used to have apartment parties in Chicago, and you couldn’t come to the party unless you brought

as a Black Trans woman DJ in dance music on television and at the MoMA PS1 museum in New York. “Sometimes people don’t realise that no is the best lesson

something,” she laughs. “Derrick, Mark Farina and other

you can have. Because no one knew what to do with me, I

heavy-hitters on the house scene would always bring

had to make it happen for myself. I don’t rest on my laurels. I

mixtapes. I kept all those mixtapes, and when I started

don’t think I’ve made it. I think I can still grow as an artist.

DJing in New York, I studied them with forensic attention.”

The more I DJ, the more I make music. I think I get better at

Dijon was making a name for herself, gaining traction in the New York scene, and transitioning simultaneously. While she was stepping into her power and the most authentic

it. I still have a lot to learn. It’s not like it’s a destination, and I’ve arrived. This is a continuous journey.” Her forthcoming second album, the cosmic masterpiece,

version of herself, her unique look and inability to be defined

‘Black Girl Magic’, is a 15-track lesson in energy, attitude,

presented a series of obstacles.

healing, protest, community and most of all, a love letter

“At that time, there was no visibility for Trans people, and the only places I could DJ were in gay clubs. But I wasn’t

from one dancer to another. Having been a professional club dancer myself at the

playing pop remixes. I was a house DJ. That’s where I come

same age as Honey, the freedom of expression, sharp

from. So, I wasn’t playing commercial enough music for the

accents begging for hair whips, hip twists and wrist flicks

gay clubs, and straight promoters wouldn’t book me

or lava-like basslines, jazz and vocal breakdowns and sassy

because they thought I was too commercial. It was really

spoken word across the album strike a chord.

hard. From my upbringing, I always played genres across the

“I still approach my DJing from the point of view of the

board. Now that’s celebrated. But back then, it didn’t work

dancefloor. I instinctively know where to go with the music. I

like that. They wanted you to stay in your lane. If you’re a

know where to take it up and take it down. I know how

techno DJ, then you played techno all night. If you were a

thrilling that tension and release feels because, thankfully, I

house DJ, then you played house all night. I never was that. “

spent so many years clubbing. Dancefloors can unify people

She continued to hone her skills, clocked underground clout and eventually diversified her skills by teaching herself how to produce from her bedroom with a cracked version of Ableton. On her come-up, she reflects: “I had to create my own

in a way that governments and religions can’t, and I stand by that shit 100%.” On ‘Black Girl Magic’, she showcases her magnetism with collaborators of the highest order enlisting artists such as Channel Tres, Eve, Pabllo Vittar, Josh Caffé, Mike Dunn, and

space. And this is no disrespect to any other artist, everyone

Dope Earth Alien. Shining a spotlight on a new generation of

has their lane, but I was never this pretty thing that you

Queer people and people of colour to “keep this culture in

could market or some blokey person that you could fit into

the conversation” was one of the driving forces of ‘Black Girl

anyone’s agenda. I remember a meeting with my manager before I met my current one, where they told me: ‘We don’t

DISCO_POGO_41

“I know how thrilling that tension and release feels because, thankfully, I spent so many years clubbing. Dancefloors can unify people in a way that governments and religions can’t, and I stand by that shit 100%.” comes with a handful of demons and a plethora of toxicity. “The most personal song for me off the album is ‘It’s Quiet Now’. Every time I play it, I get super emotional. Luke Solomon wrote the lyrics of that song for me because of the pain I’ve endured trying to date as a Trans woman of colour. And the amount of shame and fear, toxicity and secrecy that you deal with. It’s about all the toxic relationships I was in and finding the tools to navigate out of that. It’s about knowing when to leave the table when love is no longer being served.” One swipe through Dijon’s Instagram, and you’ll see her empowering trademark hashtag ‘Be the Thing That You Wish to See,’ advocating self-acceptance and the importance of not giving a fuck what others think. So how would she define that to the next generation of creatives Magic’, alongside paying homage to her sonic lineage and how she first experienced the music of her hometown. “We started writing the album in early 2019,” she explains.

following in her footsteps? “Stop looking outside of yourself for validation because everything that you need is on the inside. You don’t need

“But after 2020, the pandemic, then we had Black Lives

anyone else’s approval for your existence. We’re always told

movement, then Trump. The concept, the artists I worked

to look outside ourselves for validation, be that beauty,

with, and the meaning of the record took on a more

money, power, status, fame, or love. At the end of the day,

personal angle. This album was created during a time when

you can have all the money to run away from things, but

love was needed more than ever. So, this ‘Black Girl Magic’ is

you’re still going to find yourself. People fall out of love,

about love, self-acceptance and sexual freedom. They are

people change their fucking minds, and who are you if that

still trying to take away everything in the world that makes

happens. At the end of the day, you have to like yourself

it beautiful. But the one thing you can’t kill is love.”

more than anyone else can like you.”

As a producer in 2022, Honey Dijon has aligned herself with

As the interview comes to an end, Honey excitedly talks

some of the strongest female artists of our time, including

about taking pottery classes when she gets to London,

Lady Gaga, Neneh Cherry, Madonna and Beyoncé. She

going to vegan cooking school, and learning silkscreen. She

produced and co-wrote two records for Beyoncé’s chart-

reels off the records she currently has on rotation which

topping ‘Renaissance’ and remixed lead single ‘Break My

range from Eurythmics to Steely Dan and Fleetwood Mac to

Soul’, all acting as a sonic masterclass in the history of dance

Kendrick Lamar.

music culture and an unapologetic celebration of Blackness. “I got to put so much of myself into it. It’s a really deep

“When you do anything as a cultural person, you have to live life,” she concludes. “You can’t do it from an ivory tower.

record. I mean, she knocked it out of the park. Working with

You have to walk the walk. I love being out in the world,

Beyoncé… she’s from another planet.“

experiencing different cultures, listening to different music,

Possessing otherworldly gifts herself, when asked what

watching how people walk, talk, and move. I’m so honoured

her proudest achievement is, she answers candidly:

to work with artists that I love. You asked me earlier what I

“Survival. I think the fact that I’m still here as a Trans

thought my biggest success was, and I said survival. Well, I

woman of colour, that I didn’t get murdered or had to sell

always remember telling myself I just want to wake up

drugs or do survival sex work. That I can still get up every

every day and create. It’s the process that thrills me. The

day and make a living from my craft. Not many people can

main thing I’m looking forward to in the future is the next

make a living off their passions and what they love, and I’m

album I’ve already started working on. As for the message I

lucky that I get to do that. So, I think my biggest

want to send, ‘Black Girl Magic’ holds a lot of inspiring,

achievement is just still being here.”

uplifting messages from powerful icons, but mine is that I’m

It’s a hard truth to hear and even worse to conceive that the reality of being a Trans woman of colour in 2022 still

a proponent of joy. When you hear my music, dance, fuck, party, drink, jump on your Peloton like I do, whatever. If I can make someone have a little bit of joy from my music, then

42_DISCO_POGO

I’ve done my job.”

Honey Dijon

Black Girl Magic 3LP & Digital Out Now

K C U D ROCKER MALCOLM WAS A

In the early-80s, one album – and in particular its mesmerising sleeve – helped bring hip hop to the UK masses. Featuring visions of a punk country and western band, dreams of David Bowie marrying Dolly Parton, mixing square dancing with rap and a little help from Keith Haring, this is the story of how cultural provocateur Malcolm McLaren, assisted by a bunch of innovative former art school students from Watford, took a beatbox and boom! shook the room. Richard Norris reveals all… “That’s a duck rocker! You can take it for a walk, you can

“It wasn’t the original,” says West, still bemused by the

take it anywhere. It’s got wheels on it, it’s got wing mirrors

piqued interest. “The original was lost by Malcolm in New

on it, it can receive radio stations from all over the world!”

York. He got me to make an exact replica, which he used for

Malcolm McLaren in conversation with Molly Meldrum,

promotion. One day I liberated it from his office in Denmark

‘Countdown’ TV show, Australia 1983

Street, and it ended up in the attic for years. All the recent interest got me thinking I should make a couple more.”

In December 2020 British designer and technician Ron West

Cut to the present day. I’m looking at my own Duck Rocker.

went into his loft and took a picture of an ancient beatbox.

It’s also an exact copy of the original, using the same Sanyo

It had clearly seen better days – it was shorn of its cattle

boom box. The mirrors, leopard skin fake fur, graffiti and

horns and graffiti lettering – but it was still instantly

lights that made it so distinctive are all there, as well as

recognisable. It was the boom box from the cover of

details like a teddy boy flick-knife comb and a miniature

Malcolm McLaren’s ground-breaking ‘Duck Rock’ album,

spirit level. The one new update is Bluetooth, which, when

which had been hiding in his attic for nearly 40 years.

connected to the 40-year-old speakers, packs one hell of a

West posted a picture on the internet, posing the knowing question: ‘What’s this lurking in the corner of the attic?’

punch. And if you want one yourself, he’s thinking of making a few more.

Suddenly, all hell broke loose. “It went mad,” says West today. “People told their friends, then a bidding war

The story of one of British street culture’s pivotal moments,

started.” Was this the original ‘Duck Rocker’? And how come

however, begins almost a decade before the emergence of

it was languishing in a dusty attic in suburban England?

hip hop, graffiti, turntablism and breakdancing these shores. After a foundation course in Winchester, West went

44_DISCO_POGO

to Watford Art College in the mid-70s, specialising in

Photo: Bob Gruen

Malcom McLaren, replete with his distinctive Buffalo hat, deep in the Appalachian Mountains, Tennessee.

46_DISCO_POGO

Photo: Sarah Norris

Ron West (left) and Richard Norris with the latter’s boom box.

“Malcolm had this idea that he wanted to persuade Dolly Parton and David Bowie to get married. He thought it made perfect sense, as they were on the same record label.” Nick Haeffner

The Clash at Barbarella’s in Birmingham, next thing (Clash manager) Bernie Rhodes is giving us a lift back to London. We thought he was going to tell us to stop following the group around. Instead he told us his manifesto for The Clash, and said he’d like us to design the single cover for ‘White Man In Hammersmith Palais’!” Eventually, West, Cally, and Egan formed a new band, the Tea Set. West had finished his course but opted to stay on at Watford. “I got loads of job offers as a designer,” he says, “but I wanted to be a pop star! I carried on at college, working as a technician, playing in the band. I’d sometimes go missing for two or three weeks to go on tour.” The Tea Set recorded a Peel Session and put out a few singles. They toured with The Stranglers and the Skids and supported Iggy Pop and The Clash. Unfortunately, things started to fall apart. Their album was shelved, and singer

graphic design. He took up bass guitar and found plenty of

Egan was soon missing in action, as he was beginning to

people interested in combining art with music. Wire formed

work closely with a new collaborator – one Malcolm

at the college, and West started playing with original Wire

McLaren.

member George Gill in the Bears, alongside Martin ‘Cally’ Calloman. Bears drummer Cally was in the same Watford Art School intake as graphic designers Pete Barrett and Nick Egan. These fledgling design students would go on to create

“Malcolm said to Nick he wanted a kind of punk country and western group,” remembers West. “So we got a band together featuring me and (Tea Set guitarist) Nick Haeffner and began to rehearse.” “Malcolm had this idea that he wanted to persuade Dolly

hundreds of classic album covers between them, for

Parton and David Bowie to get married,” recollects Nick

everyone from Dexys to Tricky to Bob Dylan. They currently

Haeffner. “He thought it made perfect sense, as they were

have nearly 800 sleeve design credits between them on

on the same record label! He then decided that if that

Discogs.

couldn’t happen, he’d put a band together in that spirit.”

Art school life was highly inspirational, recalls Cally, thanks

The band started rehearsing with a singer called Jane,

to staff including poet, printer and publisher Hansjörg

inspired by cassettes Malcolm gave them. “He was a diligent

Mayer and artist Peter Schmidt, and visiting lecturers

researcher,” explains Haeffner. “He gave us tapes with

including Brian Eno, Mark Boyle, Gavin Bryars and Eduardo

tracks like Johnny Burnette’s ‘Cincinnati Fireball’ on them,

Paolozzi. “There was an absence of closed doors, which

alongside country tunes you might have known if you were

came with a great deal of challenge,” says Cally. “We were

from an older, Irish, 50s generation. Things like Skeeter

confronted with different ways of seeing things. Hopefully

Davis, or this beautiful creaky Appalachian fiddle song that

our own. The removal of assumption, of approval, of limits,

Malcolm wrote words for. Malcom had been listening to

really worked at Watford.”

these folk archive recordings and was inspired by them.”

The students flew fast and high, taking opportunities

McLaren was particularly enamoured with a Folkways

wherever they could. “We had a fanzine called Confidential,

records series he’d found in a Paris library called ‘Dances of

and we’d go to labels to get records to review,” explains Nick

the World’s Peoples’, which featured a global selection of

Egan. “One day at Phonogram, they said: ‘Sit here and wait,

dance music alongside an illustrated history of the dance.

we’ll send someone to meet you.’ We thought we were going

Its woodcut illustrations were later used by Egan for a

to be kicked out. Cally was trying to nick the gold records

Westwood/McLaren show. The idea of ‘Duck Rock’ was

off the wall. These guys came out, introduced us to Seymour

taking shape.

Stein from Sire Records, and said: ‘You guys are punks,

Unfortunately, the new band’s rehearsals weren’t going so

aren’t you? We’ve got a group called the Ramones, who have

well. “Malcolm turned up after six weeks and was appalled,”

a single coming out called ‘Sheena Is a Punk Rocker’. We

says Haeffner. “He fired the singer on the spot.” The band,

want to do a T-shirt to go with it, and we want you to

now called She Sheriff, got a new vocalist called Pip and

individually paint splash each one of them.’ So we took the

worked towards their debut gig, at London’s Barracuda

T-shirts, and painted them on the train, ripping up bits of

club at 1 Baker Street in April 1982. On the night, the band

newspapers and sticking them on the shirts with paper and

were decked out in full Westwood/McLaren regalia from the

tape. It was terrible, we didn’t know how to present design

new Nostalgia of Mud collection, including the famed

work yet. We did most of the T-shirts and dumped the rest

Buffalo hat recently sported by Pharrell Williams. Their

in the Thames. One of them recently fetched $18,000 at

songs included a track called ‘I Want To Be A Buffalo Girl’. It

auction as it’s so rare.”

didn’t go down too well. The NME’s Mark Cordery didn’t

More design work started coming in. “Nobody

mince his words, writing: ‘Their harmless hoedowns may

commissioned us, we’d get it by association,” says Egan. “We

make a hit single or two, but I’d say Malcolm has lost his

were in our first year at college, with absolutely no track

touch, if not his marbles.’

record. We’d go up to people and ask: ‘Why don’t you let us do your record cover?’ One day we were fans, going to see DISCO_POGO_47

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“Trevor asked him if there was a demo? Malcolm pulled out a 78rpm record of Honduran dance music and said: ‘Here you go, there’s the demo.’” Ron West

something special for the inner sleeve. “I asked Ron West to customise the boom box. Ron was the guy that could fix anything. It was his idea to put the lights and antennas on, he came up with the colours, and Malcolm wanted the horns on it. I could have done it, and stuck it down with glue, but it would have fallen to pieces! Ron was the right person to make it practical, solid and creative. He did a great job.” “I went completely over the top with it, covering it with anything I could lay my hands on”, says West, smiling. “The aerials came as a job lot from a junk shop, the mirrors and bars came from a motorbike shop. I painted Dondi’s lettering onto Perspex, sprayed it, and cut it out at college. When Nick saw the finished thing, he was amazed. He showed it to Malcolm, who said it should be the front cover.” West didn’t stop at the one boom box. “I did probably three or four, that were given away as prizes,” he says. “I did one for Gary Crowley, among others.” Aged 19, Crowley had just been hired by Capital Radio and started hosting shows

“Malcolm rang me up and said: ‘Look, you can stay, the rest can go’,” says West. “We did a couple of demos, with me and Tymon Dogg (The Clash associate) on violin.” One single

including Tuesday Club and Magic Box and took his beatbox on the first Wham! tour. “Malcolm came on the show and did me these most

came out, but the reaction was lukewarm. “He was so pissed

amazing jingles’” says Crowley. “He also appeared at our

off with the She Sheriff thing, he said he was going to get

last Tuesday Club show at the Lyceum, with the Bluebells,

the best people around him and do it property.”

Bananarama, and Nick Heyward. He gave me a Buffalo hat

“I was there when he met Trevor Horn”, says Egan. “Trevor

to wear and tried to teach the audience the dances. They

asked if him if there was a demo? Malcolm pulled out a

looked at him quizzically… they were waiting for Nick

78rpm record of Honduran dance music and said: ‘Here you

Heyward to come on. There was a little bit of booing. But

go, there’s the demo.’ To give Trevor credit, he went: ‘Alright,

bless him, he gave as good as he got.”

I’ll go with that.’ Malcolm wanted to mix square dancing and

Audience confusion was to be expected in 1982. Cut up and

rap, and I couldn’t see how they worked together. He said

collage had a long history within the avant-garde, one that

square dance is an instruction: ‘Take your partners by the

these art schooled designers and provocateurs would have

hand’, and so is rap. ‘Everybody put your hands in the air’.

been well aware of, but in a wider context, and certainly

That was genius. ’Buffalo Gals’ wasn’t like any song you’d

within popular music, these mix and match layers of ideas

heard before. It was totally random, there’s no verse/chorus,

were new and radical.

no structure with it.’ The ‘Buffalo Gals’ video and the ‘Duck Rock’ album were,

“The album cover reflected that,” says Egan. “If you put a poster on the wall, someone comes and writes on it, then

particularly in Europe, the first time people had seen

someone sticks another flyer on it. It didn’t matter if

graffiti, breaking and hip hop on record and TV.

Malcolm’s name went off the side, as he told me, this was

When it came to the album artwork, frequent New York trips were proving inspirational for Egan, who

just one square from a much bigger painting.” This kind of creative, collaborative blend would become

commissioned Keith Haring to add his distinctive style for

standard in dance and electronic music, thanks to incoming

the album’s backdrop and master graffiti writer Dondi

technology like the Akai sampler and the MPC, however

White to create the ‘Duck Rock’ lettering.

‘Duck Rock’ was years ahead of that curve. Its musical

“We were sitting in [old school New York restaurant]

travelogue predated the marketing-led rise of ‘world music’.

Howard Johnson’s in Times Square, me, Malcolm and a guy

Its use of 105.9FM’s World Famous Supreme Team radio show

called Terry Doktor, throwing round ideas,” says Egan.

as a linking device was truly inspirational, and in ‘Buffalo

“Malcolm had been to South Africa and saw these Zulus who

Gals’, Duck Rock had a worldwide hit single and video that is

were using spoons as jewellery, he’d been in central America

continually referenced and sampled to this day.

and seen customised cars, and New York had the boom box, so that’s where the ideas came from.” Egan tracked down Haring and White in a haphazard manner, racking up a $20,000 hotel bill as he searched the city for them. “There were no cell phones, no internet, you

Forty years later, the Duck Rocker is back. Nick Egan commissioned West to customize one for the recent Style In Revolt show in Beijing, the first street style exhibition in China. There’s talk of a London show at Saatchi Gallery. “I’m glad to see that Malcolm is getting credited as being at

just had to keep going to the clubs to find these people”, he

the forefront of street culture,” says Egan. “It’s one of those

says. “I started to get the vibe much more. I went out with

things that is so iconic and has hung around for so long. It’s

Dondi one night, to do writing on the subway car sidings. We

been put in the album cover hall of fame and is in the

went over this fence with dogs barking. I watched him tag a

permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New

train. It was the scariest thing I had ever done.”

York. It was so impactful.”

The sleeve was coming together, however Egan needed 50_DISCO_POGO

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Here Comes The Sun TSHA’s eagerly anticipated debut album, ‘Capricorn Sun’, hits the sonic sweet spot every time. A dizzying blend of leftfield electronic production and pop-savvy hooks, it will see her vertiginous ascent continue unabated. Gemma Samways finds the London-based producer in reflective mood as stardom takes hold…

Just back from an intense US tour and staring down the

Montreal and This Ain’t No Picnic in Pasadena. Her most

barrel of a 12-hour commute to ION Festival in Albania,

recent US stint included a four-date support slot with

Teisha Matthews was crying in the bath when her fiancé

Flume, playing 10,000-seater venues including Colorado’s

finally decided to intervene.

legendary Red Rocks Amphitheatre.

“He was like: ‘I’m gonna call your manager up and tell

“The only way to know what your limit is, is to try it,’ she

them you can’t do it,’” the Ninja Tune producer better known

laughs, refreshed from her enforced break. “You know, how

as TSHA recalls, speaking over the phone a week later while

many hours you can actually go without sleep. How many

en route to DJ at The Warehouse Project alongside

flights you can do before your body is absolutely fucked

Disclosure. In the end, she cancelled her show at ION, as well

– that sort of thing.

as at Beckenham Place Park two days after, where she was

“I mean, it doesn’t matter whether you’re an artist or a

scheduled to perform at a Black Coffee-curated all-dayer. “I

manager – in the music industry there is no work/life

was at breaking point, physically and mentally,” she explains

balance. No one switches off. But some people are

matter-of-factly. “Jet-lagged and depressed and struggling

absolutely fine with non-stop travelling and late nights.

with insomnia.”

Maybe that’s because some of those people are prone to

By her own admission, summer 2022 has been a steep

doing drugs, but I'm not someone that does that. And I'm not

learning curve for TSHA. Honouring touring commitments

even a heavy drinker so it’s not like I can go around

from before the pandemic, plus the slew of new shows

propping myself up. Plus I suffer from anxiety anyway, so

booked off the back of her exponentially growing fame, the

these conditions just make that a lot worse.”

London-based producer has spent the last three months

The way TSHA tells it, this “mini-breakdown” has served

zigzagging across the Atlantic, her circadian rhythms in

as a line in the sand. Going forward, she’s done with

utter disarray. As well as shows at Defected Croatia and

unrealistic touring schedules, “even if [promoters are]

DC10 in Ibiza, she’s DJed Lollapalooza in Chicago, Osheaga in

offering loads of money.” It’s an admirable outlook, even if you get the sense her resolve will be tested quite regularly

52_DISCO_POGO

once her excellent debut album drops.

Photos: Nicole Ngai

Created over the course of the last three years – with selected songs plucked from previous EPs ‘Flowers’ and ‘OnlyL’ – ‘Capricorn Sun’ is a deeply empathetic house collection with an unapologetic pop sensibility, and balances boundless ambition with huge crossover appeal. Ahead of its release, seven of its 12 tracks have already been singles, with the acid-laced euphoria of ‘Dancing in the Shadows’ recently named ‘Tune of the Week’ and playlisted on daytime Radio 1. And yet, for all her commercial clout, TSHA has made no concessions artistically. The results are impressively wide-ranging, incorporating everything from Brit Funk-inspired breakbeats (‘Power’) and sitar-flecked downtempo (‘Time’) to Malian griot music (the Oumou Sangaré-sampling ‘Water’). Unifying the songs is TSHA’s refreshingly open-hearted outlook, implicit both in her emotive melodies and in her collaborators’ soulful lyrical contributions. That symbiotic relationship is particularly evident on ‘Sister’, an uplifting house track featuring sweeping, Eastern-inspired strings, and built around the refrain: ‘Feels like I’ve just woken up/ And I was always waiting for us.’ It was inspired by meeting her half-sister for the first time, having only become aware of her existence mid-pandemic when their estranged father got in touch. ‘Anxious Mind’ is similarly revealing, seeing singer Clementine Douglas unpicking a panic attack. So is the melancholic, Moderat-esque ‘Giving Up’, which features TSHA’s fiancé Mafro, and was reportedly inspired by a rocky patch in their relationship. Balancing out the shade is a lot of love and light, perhaps best demonstrated in the intimate interlude that opens the album. ‘You’ve gotta have the mandem help you up,’ her close friend Sophie giggles conspiratorially, in a voice note sent during lockdown. ‘That’s what I’m doing to you, hon.’ Looking at TSHA’s achievements, you might think she’s the last producer in need of a pep talk. Since making her debut with the ‘Dawn’ EP back in 2017, her productions have been endorsed by pretty much every major electronic music publication going. As a DJ she’s shared bills with everyone from Four Tet and Bonobo to Maceo Plex, and she currently runs a bi-monthly show on Apple Music called Jackfruit Radio. At the start of this year she curated her own acid house-heavy ‘fabric Presents’ compilation. And that’s before we even get to her remix work for J Balvin, Foals and Lianne La Havas, or her recent collaboration with Diplo and Kareen Lomax on ‘Let You Go’ – currently sitting at 15 million streams. Not that TSHA ever really stops to take stock either. “I just

family were outsiders. That was one of the main reasons I

keep forging forward,” she shrugs. “It's like I'm on a pre-laid

first fell in love with the idea of London, because the one

path and I'm just following it. And you try not to feel the

time I went I saw so many different races and people from

highs because the higher you go, the lower you fall.”

different cultures. I was like, that's where I need to be.”

You could say that TSHA has been in survival mode for

With brothers six and 14 years her senior, TSHA got an

most of her life. Born in Fareham, just outside of

early musical education via the oldest, Colton, who DJed

Portsmouth, she was raised by her mum, after her father

garage, house and jungle at local parties and used to

left just before her birth. Much of her childhood was marred

practise mixing in the middle of the living room. Later

by racist abuse, which she blames on the small-town

struggling with addiction, he sold off his decks when TSHA

mentality of her peers, as well as in wider society.

was in her early teens, though he kept hold of his records,

“Lots of horrible things happened, lots of bullying,” she

ultimately gifting them to his sister years later. Meanwhile,

explains. “I was one of a few brown kids in school and my

at the encouragement of her middle brother, she began

mum was terrorised for having mixed race kids. The whole

experimenting with music production using a cracked copy of Reason, and by her late teens she was DJing local hip hop

54_DISCO_POGO

nights in Fareham.

“I read a lot of stuff about house and rave culture... I fell in love with the idea of these spaces where Queer people and people of colour could be free to be themselves.”

It was hip hop that led TSHA to London, to study Dance: Urban Practice at the University of East London. Introduced to house dance via one of the elective modules, she fell in love with the history of house music while researching an essay. “I realised there wasn't any literature on house dance, but

to create a community that’s accessible, open-minded, and radical.’ “That's why I love the house music scene and all genres of dance music and club culture,” she enthuses. “They’re basically safe spaces for people to be themselves. And that's

they had written loads about house music and its history in

why with Jackfruit I’m aiming to be as welcoming and as

Chicago and New York. So, I read through a lot of stuff

liberating as possible. Because I definitely didn’t grow up in

about house and rave culture and that really sparked my

that kind of space, and I wish I had.”

interest. I fell in love with the idea of these spaces where

By extension, TSHA’s very visible success will help pave the

Queer people and people of colour could be free to be

way for more female POC producers and DJs. Indeed, she’s

themselves. Clubs were the places people came to let loose

already helping the next wave of dance talent by helping

and not feel under attack.”

mentor as part of Pete Tong’s online DJ Academy. “The more women the better,” she nods. “Because I've definitely

She’s made inclusivity her manifesto for Jackfruit Radio, as demonstrated in the show’s official description: ‘TSHA aims

DISCO_POGO_55

“I want to write another album and create a great live show, but it’s all about prioritising my mental health and happiness... making music is where I find my joy.”

experienced more incidences of prejudice around me being a woman than me being a person of colour.” For the most part that prejudice has reared its ugly head

“Signing with Ninja Tune is still the thing I’m most proud of,” she reflects. “It’s beyond what I ever wished for or dreamed of. All I really wanted was to be respected by my

via misogynistic comments left during live-streamed shows,

peers – that was my main goal. But to get to Ninja Tune –

but there have been in-person incidences at particular

and to get there quicker than I could have expected – that is

parties too. “I had thought the dance world was super-

my personal biggest achievement.

inclusive, but in those very male-dominated spaces you just

When it comes to drive, TSHA is a self-proclaimed

don’t feel welcome as a woman. So the more safe spaces

perfectionist. It’s the reason ‘Capricorn Sun’ is such a neat

that are created, the more women you’ll have at parties as

title for her debut, even if deep down she doesn’t really

well as on line-ups.”

believe in astrology. According to astrologers, the sun in

TSHA got her own start in production after dropping out

Capricorn equates to “an intense drive for achievement

of university. Honing her DJ skills with Melody Kane of BBC

that never lets up – a personal standard of excellence, even

1Xtra, she started putting together and sharing an eclectic

if the rest of the world settles for mediocrity.”

array of mixes, while making money on the side as an events

So what is TSHA aiming towards? “My ultimate goals are

DJ. And though she’d already begun making house music,

probably not what people think,” she smiles. “Obviously I

her shift towards production happened in earnest after

want to write another album and create a great live show

seeing Bonobo play Brixton Academy in 2017. Little did she

for fans, but really it’s all about prioritising my mental

know that two years later, her song ‘Sacred’ would be

health and happiness. Because making music is where I find

selected for Bonobo’s ‘fabric Presents’ compilation, or that

my joy.”

by 2021 she would count him as a label mate, having

With that TSHA signs off to get prepped for the first of

switched from sister label Counter Records for the release

three sets at this season’s Warehouse Project. “Enjoy the

of the ‘OnlyL’ EP.

rest of your Saturday!” she trills, adding with a laugh, it is Saturday, isn’t it?”

56_DISCO_POGO

Synths and stuff. But mainly synths

SIGNALSOUNDS.COM

175 Howard Street, Glasgow

BACK TO THE FUTURE The release of Warp’s ground-breaking

This science of samplers, sequencers and computers, linked together with drum machines, synths and whatever else you could find, allowed producers the ability to produce their own final product without having to go through the usual artistically restrictive filters. Welcome to the future. I was manning the controls of NME’s dance section at a time when dance music was first sweeping across the country. The paper was still a powerful force in British music and had become pretty much a full-on indie-paper covering Morrissey’s every breath, so it was really hard to get electronic and dance music taken seriously despite electronic pioneers New Order being regulars on the cover, Madchester and the genre-splitting ‘Screamadelica’. Dance music was making its way across Europe as the underground bubbled overground, but if it wasn’t on Creation it was usually seen as throwaway club music

‘Artificial Intelligence’ compilation

lacking authenticity by a lot of journos at the inky weeklies.

in 1992 was a watershed moment for

who was just really into the music and who kept moaning

electronic music. Not only did it help turn on a new generation of listeners to electronica, it went some way to legitimising the sounds to a

I wasn’t a trained journalist, I was the editorial assistant to editor Danny Kelly that the paper wasn’t covering the real action. I fell into it all by accident really because I knew about the records and what was going on in a world that most of the paper was oblivious to. It seems crazy now thinking back to how it was, but ‘dance’ music was rather sneered at by segments of the

reactionary, indie-obsessed music

industry early on – there would often be comments about

press. Sherman should know, he was

only having to press a few buttons to make the music. At

pushing dance music while ‘at the

thought it hilarious to dance around me going ‘bleep, bleep,

controls’ at the NME. He looks back at

bleep, bleep’, and at one point I was ‘temporarily suspended’

this pivotal release, and examines its significance today…

the paper, one staff writer, an ardent Nick Lowe fan,

from constantly playing tunes on the office hi-fi. Prior to forming The Dust (later Chemical) Brothers, Tom Rowlands’ Ariel visited techno towers to play me their single ‘Rollercoaster’. They were adamant they couldn’t leave me their only copy but eventually had to because of my

It’s not going to be long before an artist can make an album, film, CDI and CDO in his or her

‘blocked status’ on the stereo. Tom, I still have your record. So it became a bit of a crusade as I genuinely thought it

own bedroom for a few thousand pounds,

was scandalous that so much great music was being

advertise the ‘product’ to hundreds of thousands

ignored. ‘Artificial Intelligence’ would be among the records

of people directly via the computer networks

that helped change minds and mark a new era.

and sell directly to them. This will completely cut

Occasionally the odd sign would appear that hinted

out the need for the usual trek around the major

towards new offshoots for techno. ‘Altair IV.1’ by States of

entertainment companies looking for finance

Mind on Plus 8, along with two 12s by the unknown Infamix

and could lead to things getting really

– later to morph into B12 – being early markers in 1990. The

interesting.

release of The Orb’s first post-clubbing chillout album,

Extract from the original 1992 press release for

‘Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld’, in April 1991, helped

‘Artificial Intelligence’

slow everything down and space everything out, designed, as it was, to be consumed in one piece. Later that year

Speeding out of the late-80s and into the 90s,

Network put out the brilliant ‘Mood Set’ EP by Xon; an

new technology was enabling musical fences to

atmospheric trio of tracks that shuffled and skittered with

be frequently smashed down. Electronic music

a deep mechanical funk that was more for the mind than

had been on the rise since acid house (and the

the body, so I described it as ‘armchair techno’ in my review.

acid) had kicked in and now it was splintering off

The Black Dog and Irdial Discs had been working in a

in new directions as it bleeped and sub-bass-ed

different dimension for a couple of years and there wasn’t

its way out of bedrooms across the country. With

really a genre that could hold them. True to form, Cabaret

a few basic machines you could make music in a

Voltaire were posted on the frontline, their ‘Body and Soul’

brand new way, create brand new sounds and

album and EP releases ‘Colours’ and ‘Easy Life’ being among

beats that inspired brand new ideas, the results

those remote viewing the future. In the autumn of 1991,

of which flooded into the record shops weekly.

Aphex Twin released his first single ‘Analogue Bubblebath’. It was played by both Colin Dale and Colin Faver on London’s

58_DISCO_POGO

Kiss FM, both of whom had a huge listenership regularly

‘Dance’ music was rather sneered at by segments of the industry early on – there would often be comments about only having to press a few buttons to make the music.At the paper, one staff writer, an ardent Nick Lowe fan, thought it hilarious to dance around me going ‘bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep’, and at one point I was ‘temporarily suspended’ from constantly playing tunes on the office hi-fi.

DISCO_POGO_59

Black Dog Productions ‘Bytes’

Polygon Window ‘Surfing On Sine Waves’

tuning in to hear the latest imports from labels like DjaxUp-Beats, Eevo Lute, Planet E, Underground Resistance, Transmat, Metroplex, all spun alongside new British labels like GPR, Radioactive Lamb, Rephlex and the cityscape cinematics of B12, who hailed from Barking in Essex, but shrink-wrapped their releases to appear Detroitian. Out of all this a new kind of hybrid techno was emerging, one that wasn’t really for clubs and which wasn’t just

you listening to our tapes?” for the label to pay attention.

ambient but balanced somewhere in-between. It was more

Like most electronic labels at the time, Warp were driven by

textured and organic, sometimes slower in pace, sometimes

12-inch singles directed mainly at clubs with perhaps the

more abstract and it explored new structures. It was miles

odd track that didn’t quite fit the dancefloor making its

away from the clattering breakbeats and hoover noises of

way onto a B-side. The concept of the ‘dance’ album hadn’t

rave and revolted against the quick turnaround and

fully taken off yet.

disposability of the white label fashion. Independent of each

Essential to the ‘Artificial Intelligence’ story was the

other, all these people had tuned into the same wavelength

opening of Fat Cat record shop in London’s Covent Garden

and were all now speaking a new electrical language.

in 1991. If you lived in the capital and were into techno and electronica, inevitably you would discover this one-stop shop for all your drum-machine related needs. The racks of

“Ed from The Black Dog came down and said that his distributor was going to

the small basement space in Monmouth Street would be filled with fresh releases coming in from the States, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium and across the UK.

melt down all of his unsold records

It could only squeeze ten or so people in at best and on

and could we sell some? We said:

Fridays and Saturdays it could get so rammed you’d have

‘Yeah, we can probably sell the lot!’”

to overflow into the even tinier office where you might get

Alex Knight, Fat Cat record shop

into a chat with Tony Thorpe and Neuropolitique’s Matt Cogger. Those who couldn’t get into the actual shop would line the stairs yelling down for the records they wanted as they were played. Björk would regularly visit, Kevin

“There was no ‘scene’ as such,” says Steve Rutter, who,

Saunderson would be in, Andrew Weatherall, Alistair Cooke

alongside Mike Golding, was making futuristic techno

from Back 2 Basics, Infonet’s Chris Abbott, Colin Dale,

influenced by the first Detroit wave of producers and

Richard D. James... It played a key role in the development

releasing it on their own B12 label run from a fax machine

of UK techno and electronica, acting as a hub and a

behind Rutter’s sofa. “It didn’t exist. As we went on we

meeting point for many of those active in this slowly

hooked up with Steve Stasis and Kirk Degiorgio and that

building movement.

was it for our little group that liked this music. Four of us!” Autechre’s Sean Booth and Rob Brown also felt out on

“Without knowing it we created a space for that community to connect with each other and realise they

their own as, “Warp didn’t really get our music initially.”

weren’t isolated,” co-founder Alex Knight recalls. “We felt

They’d been sending tapes to the label for two years only to

that we were on our own initially, we had no idea that there

receive standard record company rejection letters in

was all this other stuff happening until we opened in

return. It took a combination of LFO’s Mark Bell hearing an

Monmouth Street. Ed from The Black Dog came down

Autechre demo tape playing in the Warp office and telling

within the first couple of months of us opening and said

them they should put it out, and Booth ringing label

that his distributor was going to melt down all of his unsold

co-owner Steve Beckett and asking: “Why the fuck aren’t

records and could we sell some? We said: ‘Yeah, we can probably sell the whole lot!’ That was one of our earliest

60_DISCO_POGO

connections to that scene.”

B12 ‘Electro-Soma’

F.U.S.E. ‘Dimension Intrusion’ and was therefore a bit nervous of it. For me though, it was this element of anonymity that was the music’s great Along with The Black Dog, the B12 boys and Akin from

leveller. It didn’t have to play by the rules of the rock

Irdial, Grant Wilson-Claridge of Rephlex would turn up with

industry. Thousands of working class kids were going

a box of records on the label he had started with Aphex

raving in clubs, warehouses and fields every single

Twin, and which they had tagged ‘Braindance’ as a

weekend. There was a fast output of records that came

reference to the music’s psychedelic qualities.

and went and often included little or no information about

“You’d have people dropping cassettes in for us to pass

who made the music. And what the artists looked like

onto labels like Rephlex,” says Knight, “and then Grant

wasn’t that important because the people making it didn’t

would come down with a new release by the kid who gave

want to be pop stars or on TV.

you a cassette a few days earlier. So it felt really organic.

Throughout early ’92 more labels began to appear like

Everything felt brand new and every week you’d get

beacons on the horizon: Evolution, set up by Tom Middleton

surprised by something that blew your mind.”

and Mark Pritchard of Global Communication, Applied

In January 1992 there was a breakthrough when I managed to convince the paper to do a techno issue. The

Rhythmic Technology (ART), Rephlex, Infonet and Radioactive Lamb. Alongside artists like Neuropolitique,

closest NME had come to a dance cover was nearly two years previously when it flirted with the idea of showcasing Andrew Weatherall at the time of his James remix of ‘Come Home’, but the outraged Power-Pop Police soon blocked this rebellious notion. However, following LFO’s success the previous year, including a pause-button moment when they had appeared on ‘Top of the Pops’ with their debut single constructed from Morse code bleeps, electro rhythms and warehouse

“‘We’re having a meeting for electronic music people.’ There were some names: A Guy Called Gerald, Cabaret Voltaire. The Black Dog... I think Kirk [Degiorgio] was there.” Steve Rutter

rattling sub-bass, it was decided they would grace the front page. But when the photos appeared and Mark Bell and Gez Varley were posing with burning guitars, it felt a bit gimmicky, like the paper was portraying some sort of

Kirk Degiorgio and In Sync, there was a wealth of music

confrontation between dance and indie when the reality

created that was becoming more complex, expressive,

was nothing like that at all. But hey, it was a leap forward.

filmic and diverse. It only needed a jolt to bring everything

LFO were on the cover. Techno was on the cover of the NME.

into focus. Steve Rutter remembers the moment it did.

This was major, and it became a massive talking point. Dave Balfe, once of the mighty Teardrop Explodes and

“One day a fax came through which said something like: ‘We’re having a meeting for electronic music people.’ There

now owner of Food records (Blur/Jesus Jones), rang editor

were some names of who were invited – A Guy Called

Danny Kelly and demanded that he sack me! Red from

Gerald, Cabaret Voltaire. The Black Dog were invited. I think

laughing, Danny waved me into his office to listen in while

Kirk was there.”

Balfe, who was apoplectic on the other end of the phone,

That meeting of futurists in a Shepherd’s Bush pub in

ranted something about me being a really bad influence at a

early 1992, was a pivotal moment in the development of

musical institution and that the NME was no place for dance

‘Artificial Intelligence’ and the kinetic effect it would have

music. ‘Off with his head!’. Just another day at the office.

on electronic music as a whole. The time was right, Steve

There were definitely a few at the paper who appreciated dance music and some would go to clubs, but generally the

Beckett and Rob Mitchell recognised it and planned to make Warp synonymous with electronica.

‘world’s biggest selling music weekly’ couldn’t handle the ‘Faceless Techno Bollocks’ of it all. It didn’t understand it

DISCO_POGO_61

Speedy J ‘Ginger’

Autechre ‘Incunabula’

For the uninitiated, it acted as a portal into this new digital world of pictorial instrumentals, introducing Autechre, The Black Dog (I.A.O.), Aphex Twin (The Dice Man), B12 (Musicology), Richie Hawtin (UP!), Speedy J and Alex Paterson to a much broader audience. And even though the Rutter continues: “They’d reached out to everyone, but we

music was mostly made by British artists, it turned a lot of

didn’t know who was behind it or what it was. I can’t

people onto the sort of spacious, Detroit-led sounds that a

remember if it even said Warp on the fax. But they did it.

lot of deeper techno was built on. But to counter the often

They had an idea that this electronic thing was going to be

deadpan sci-fi side of the music, the tongue-in-cheek

big. They were really clued up, especially Rob, he saw

sleeve featured a cyborg reclining in an armchair, spliff on,

something which none of us really did. He was clued up in

letting go to the sounds of Kraftwerk, Pink Floyd and the

the art of the possible.”

first Warp compilation ‘Pioneers of the Hypnotic Groove’.

Sean Booth also recalls sensing pressure in the air. “There

The original sleeve was conceived with The Designers

was common ground there because we all knew this was

Republic, a name now twinned with Warp. Its co-founder

already a thing. So they felt comfortable doing ‘Artificial

Ian Anderson, a self-taught graphic designer, remembers

Intelligence’ because they knew they were plugging into

how the sleeve needed to convey the sense that it was

something that was really real. Dance music was out of

listening music.

context, people were listening to it at home, but that wasn’t

“Because electronic music was intrinsic to everything we were doing,” he explains, “everything about the image is saying when you get home, this is what you chill out to.

“Because electronic music was

That there’s enough in this music to listen to. There was a lot of talk at the time about heritage and where it was all

intrinsic to everything we were doing,

coming from. At that point there weren’t many reference

everything about the image is saying

points so people looked back to things like Pink Floyd and

when you get home, this is what you

Kraftwerk, kind of a stoner thing and for student bedsits. I

chill out to.”

liked the idea at the time although it wasn’t something we

Ian Anderson, The Designers Republic

really loved, but in hindsight I really like it and I think it’s really iconic now.” The album marked a shift in perspective in the music press as the connections with Kraftwerk and Floyd

weird, we’d grown up listening to dance music on Walkmans

enhanced the realisation that this was a home listening

and boom boxes. We were too young to go to clubs so the

experience. Once they recognised that students were

whole listening to electronic music in isolation was dead

getting heavily into electronic music, they had to pay more

familiar to us already, even before the rave scene.”

attention. Basically, ‘Artificial Intelligence’ justified some of my rantings in the NME office.

The release of ‘Artificial Intelligence’ in July 1992 was a future

“We didn’t have much idea that other people were making

shock; the spark that ignited, and united, this new movement

this music until the album came out.” explains Booth. “We

of electronic artists. Warp had been on the bleep and bass trail

were listening to a lot of Black music like hip hop, Juan

for the previous two years, but this album collected the music

Atkins and people like Smith & Mighty, Unique 3 and Arthur

into a new futurist manifesto. As a concept, it demonstrated to

Baker. We were heavily into electro and just saw our music

a wider audience that the machines were just tools people

as a linear continuation of it, so when we heard it we

were using to follow their feelings, that they could be used to

thought it was mostly inspired by electro and was just a

create as much emotion in this music as in any other.

further development.”

62_DISCO_POGO

first. It didn’t connect immediately.

Steve Rutter remembers being unsure about the album at

Various Artists ‘Artificial Intelligence II’

into live performances and back again and where the visual side was often equally important. Clubbers flocked to see all these new artists like Aphex Twin, The Black Dog, Autechre, Psychick Warriors Ov Gaia, B12, Higher Intelligence Agency, Orbital, Sun Electric, Biosphere, Ultramarine and countless others who were all now out on the road. The founder of Herbal Tea Party, Rob Fletcher, recalls the initial difficulty in tracking down all these new artists and DJs. “I would basically look on the back of sleeves or get phone numbers off labels to ring artists or agents. I’d go to clubs to meet people then hang around the booth at the end of the night to talk to DJs. I didn’t really see electronica as a separate genre. I just saw a massive amount of leftfield dance music whether it was ambient, Detroit or progressive. Techno was a broader word back then before it started going into very defined, separate genres.” The crowds would often comprise the spectrum of night people.

“When me and Mike first heard it I don’t think we

“It was a total mish-mash” Fletcher says. “You’d get

necessarily thought all of it belonged together. Our music

ravers, people from the festival scene, scallies, students,

at the time was just us trying to copy Transmat and Detroit

clubbers who also went to The Haçienda. It was a total mix

techno, whereas the other guys on the album were doing

and I wanted the vibe to be like that, loads of different

something a bit different. I wasn’t sure that it all fitted

music and people coming together.”

together. I thought it was a thing of beauty, but I didn’t really understand what was going on because I thought for a long time that our music wasn’t really anything, it was just what we did because we liked it.” Down at Fat Cat, the album became a best seller. “We sold the album for years and continued to sell it because it became one of those classic albums that everybody wanted,” says Alex Knight. “A lot of the people on that record were in the shop all the time and were friends of ours so it always got

“The whole techno scene was a global phenonmenon from Detroit to Europe to Japan. Everyone was friends. No one remembers any of that now.” Sean Booth, Autechre

pushed. We felt proud because it felt like our little community on that record. I feel privileged to have been part of that.” The attention ‘Artificial Intelligence’ brought to electronica and the confidence it now gave other artists and labels to

Sean Booth also remembers a time when dance music

plan full albums, was furthered at the end of the year by

was a uniting force. “In the early-90s it was a global thing

the release of Aphex Twin’s seminal ‘Selected Ambient

and all about being together. The whole techno scene was a

Works 85-92’ on R&S. It sounded utterly different to

global phenomenon from Detroit to Europe to Japan.

anything else. This was partly enabled by Richard D. James’

Everyone was friends. No one remembers any of that now.”

penchant for stripping back bits of equipment to improve

The album itself also went onto birth a series of releases

them, soldering in new components and removing others in

under the Artificial Intelligence umbrella – these included

the vein of experimentalists like Throbbing Gristle and King

Polygon Window’s ‘Surfing on Sine Waves’ (another Aphex

Tubby to create unique sounds from customised machines.

alter ego); Richie Hawtin’s ‘Dimension Intrusion’ (released

The rock press gradually embraced James for his

under his F.U.S.E. pseudonym) and Speedy J’s ‘Ginger’. The

entertaining and lurid tales more than his skills as an

final release came in 1994, with the ‘Artificial Intelligence II’

electrician; that he lived in a bank with a recording studio

compilation bookending the series perfectly.

in the vault, that he owned and drove a tank, pulled songs

Techno and electronica was beginning to spread and

from lucid dreams, once played a show using sandpaper

would ultimately become an integral part of some of the

and a blender, that he was paid four grand to remix

major festivals. When The Orb headlined the NME Stage on

alt-rockers The Lemonheads but didn’t bother listening to

a special Saturday night at Glastonbury in 1993, so many

the original and instead returned one of his own old tracks

people wanted to be part of the experience that the gates

which was then not released. Some were possibly true and

had to be shut and the field locked down. When new press

some maybe not. Possibly maybe. We should hope the

darlings Suede had headlined the same stage on the Friday,

mystery of the Aphex Twin remains eternally unsolved.

it looked like a fan club turnout. Orbital carried on the task

Throughout 1993 electronic music exploded and seemed to

the following year to push techno home at Glastonbury and

shapeshift weekly. New artists, labels and clubs sprung up

in 1995 the festival pitched up a dedicated dance tent. Now

and as more electronic acts began to play live, nights like

it’s a whole Dance Village.

London’s Megadog, Manchester’s Herbal Tea Party and Birmingham’s Oscillate put on events where DJ sets melded

DISCO_POGO_63

“Just send them what Midjourney AI came up with (in 45 seconds) asking it to imagine ‘Artificial Intelligence 3’ LP :)”. Steve Beckett

And so, 30 years on and the past’s future is now the

Messages went out along back-channels for anyone with a

present. ‘Artificial Intelligence’ has more than stood the

decent copy they could loan. My copy was too battered, but

test of time but, equally, so has much of that early techno

I managed to locate one from an old friend, one Alan Gray,

and electronica which captured the energy, dynamics and

once a founding member of Glasgow’s infamous Rubadub

freshness of the period. All the other artists, labels, shops,

record shop (still a lighthouse for electronica in Scotland),

clubs and DJs are of equal importance to the story of

but now head of the Scottish chapter of ALFOS. Stand up

‘Artificial Intelligence’ because that early scene is where

Sir Alan, you have helped resolve Warp’s sticky artwork

the album was born. The effect it caused on subsequent

predicament, as it’s known in the trade.

next-step artists such as Photek, Björk, Squarepusher,

Now, for 30 years I’ve often wondered about the cyborg in

Andrea Parker, Boards of Canada, Two Lone Swordsmen,

the armchair and whether it related directly back to my

Riz Maslen and thousands of others, was quickly noticeable.

description of the Xon record. I might be about to discover

It wired itself into dubstep, indie, drum’n’bass, hip hop and

the answer. Surely someone must have re-used the phrase

beyond. Today you can trace it deep into Bovaflux, on some of

at the planning stage? Ian Anderson laughs, he isn’t sure if

Paul Woolford’s Special Request albums and there’s

‘armchair techno’ was a specific detail to the brief, but he

continuance in some of the sounds Billie Eilish uses.

does tell me that the designer who worked on most of the

Electronica doesn’t stand still and the music continues to

artwork was a Grateful Dead stoner. Ouch. Thirty years,

evolve and shift and influence and be influenced. This is

own myth shattered!

evident today with Autechre, Black Dog, Aphex Twin, Richie

It would have been great to speak with Steve Beckett

Hawtin, Steve Rutter and Alex Paterson all still pushing at the

again but having moved on from Warp long ago he politely

musical frontiers that new technology perpetually enables.

declined an interview. Although I was forwarded a message

But technology also dates. The original artwork was

from him saying: “Just send them what Midjourney AI came

created with now redundant graphics tools, so when Warp

up with (in 45 seconds) asking it to imagine ‘Artificial

went to retrieve the artwork in preparation for re-scanning

Intelligence 3’ LP :)”. With it was enclosed an image

ahead of the album’s re-release, they found all physical

produced by an artificial intelligence app.

copies of the LP and CD were missing. It appears they were

I rather like the fact that Steve replied with such

borrowed or ‘liberated’ somewhere down the line by either

uncluttered minimalism. That, my friends, is ‘Faceless

an intern or a leaving staff member who was missing this

Techno Bollocks’ for you.

particular required listening. At least they had good taste. 64_DISCO_POGO

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“IT WAS LIKE CHRISTMAS EVERY MONDAY” 66_DISCO_POGO

DISCO_POGO_67

Trash: an oral history By John Burgess All photos: Robin Stanley

Cast A-Z: Christopher Kane (fashion designer) David and Stephen Dewaele (2manydjs/Soulwax) Erol Alkan (resident DJ, promoter) James Murphy (DFA/LCD Soundsystem) Jonjo Jury (resident DJ 2005-2007) Kele Okereke (Bloc Party) Liam O’Hare (general manager of The End) Peaches (artist) Rory Phillips (resident DJ 1999-2007) Stacey Tang (City Rockers records) Tiga (DJ, artist)

Tiga: “Trash was about breaking the rules that had been built up. It was at the centre of it. And it was London.”

The warm-up set. Erol: “Trash started in 1997 when I was 22. I hadn’t promoted a club night before, it was like you were putting on a party to get all your friends together to play music you all liked. Monday had a hole in it and I had the opportunity to take over that night at Plastic People [in Soho]. Because I was in charge I didn’t have to limit what I wanted to play. Alternative clubs had a particular style of playlist and some clubs didn’t want you to veer too far from it. There were a lot of clubs offering the laddish

Two decades ago the London club scene received an

end of things and I wanted a place for

overdue shot in the arm. Falling from favour were prog

the more gentle souls. On a Saturday

house DJs in nice jumpers playing long and listless sets in

night you’d get the fey, shy cool kids

mega clubs. On the rise were punky techno sounds, sartorial

waiting in the corners for the records

peacockery and a surfeit of charisma; a new breed of DJs

to come on they liked but it was

and artists were suddenly in sync from New York to Berlin,

overrun by other tribes. ‘Trash’ was a

Glasgow to Melbourne. In London Trash, an alternative night

big single by Suede for these outcasts,

on a Monday in the West End, was at the apex. At Trash The

though it’s also a Roxy Music single

Strokes, Grace Jones and Pet Shop Boys would come to

and New York Dolls track. So we

party, Peaches would blow minds armed with just a MiniDisc

started off at Plastic People and 80

and a sex shop nurse’s outfit and strange bedfellows

people came which was OK. When it

romped as George Michael’s vocals found themselves

grew to fill the 250 capacity we moved

topping a Missy Elliott and Timbaland production.

around the corner to the Annexe that

By 2002, the capital was alive with similarly spirited,

held 380 people. The Flying Dewaele

salacious sounding nights: Return To New York, Nag Nag

Brothers (Soulwax/2manydjs) first

Nag, The Cock, 21st Century Body Rockers and Electric Stew.

played at the Annexe in 1999. That style

But Trash was the Daddy of them all attracting the

of DJing led to what eventually came

best-dressed crowd and the most anticipated acts. In 2002

to fruition in 2002.”

LCD Soundsystem, The Rapture and Scissor Sisters all graced the stage sounding immense on The End’s Thunder

Rory: I moved to London in 1999 and

Ridge system. At the club’s helm – and its heart – was Erol

read about Trash and its music policy

Alkan who had also been making waves in techno clubs

in Time Out. I’d been DJing at university

looking like Joey Ramone in a Batman T-shirt. He poured so

and it seemed in the same spirit – indie

much passion into the night that he never took a Monday

rock, dance music and pop. I used to go

off in ten years other than for his honeymoon. Before doors

on my own.”

he’d polish the mirrorball so it shone more brightly than on Saturday night and with his A-team created – and

Liam: “Being someone who’s been in

maintained – a safe place for boys to wear makeup and girls

hospitality all my life Fridays and

to dress up and feel free from lewd looks. It was also only £4

Saturdays were when you worked and

to gain entry to this weekly wonderland.

Sunday and Mondays were when you went out to play, so I was a Mondaynight clubber. Trash at the Annexe was on my radar and the owner Eric Yu told

68_DISCO_POGO

me he was losing the lease so I went to

a few of the nights. A few months

by 1999, and spoke on the phone every

was the first time they let the freaks

before the Annexe closed Erol

other day, usually about a record we’d

into the techno world. People forget

approached us. I’d wanted to do a

found that was exciting. On the day

how conservative techno and house

night like this for some time. In the

where he walked passed the End -

had become at that point. Erol and the

late-80s I moved to Camden so was

when the move there came about - he

way he looked, playing those records in

immersed in indie culture as well as

rang us.”

that environment was a big statement.”

dance. Erol and I had both been attending a club in Camden on

Erol: “It wasn’t a smooth transition.

Tuesdays called Feet First and there

There was a bit of division between

James: “Trash was a very big club in a

was an inkling all this may fuse well.

people who came over from the Annexe

very nice venue. London’s greater

Having been to Trash you couldn’t fail

and newcomers to The End.”

integration of dance music meant Trash made sense in a big club. I

to see what was going on and I wanted Rory: “The word was Erol is playing

thought as it was called Trash it was

techno.”

going to be in a little dump.”

nights at The End, I used to love seeing

Erol: “It wasn’t techno but some of the

Jonjo: “I used to go to DTPM at The End

Jacques Lu Cont play. It felt so different

electroclash tunes like ‘Silver Screen

and was aware of the club already. I

to the indie clubs I used to go to. When I

(Shower Scene)’ by Felix da Housecat.”

was amazed they had a water fountain

to get it.” Erol: “I used to go to the Wall Of Sound

so you didn’t have to pay for anything. It

was told the Annexe was closing for good, I called them up and they put me

Tiga: “There were people like me who

felt like we had our own New York club,

through to Liam. Liam said he’d been to

came from techno and then people

like our own Tunnel. Were the toilets

the night and knew about us. As soon

who came from indie rock. I wasn’t

mixed or was I just always in the girls

as I walked into the empty club for a

even interested in anything guitar

toilets? I met Amy Winehouse in there.”

meeting it made sense to me. It felt

related, that died for me in ‘92. It

right. I knew we were good for about

seemed inconceivable to me in the 90s

Liam: “Erol would polish the mirrorball

400 people but the club was bigger. But

that you could be into anything other

and our lighting guy Woody loved that

Liam suggested putting a curtain

than acid and rave. I was an asshole

Erol noticed when things weren’t on or

across one of the arches, he got it.”

about it, a real snob.”

he’d go to him and say: ‘That thing you

Liam: “Erol is very good about how

Rory: “I joined in 1999 with the move to

was it?’ It doesn’t surprise me that

rooms work and he didn’t like gaps. We

The End. Trash didn’t have a second

Erol does his own lights at some of his

had used The End main room before

room until then so Erol asked me to

gigs now.”

with the curtain pulled across one of

play whatever I wanted for the first

the vaults for Fabio’s Swerve on

few hours, mainly new stuff. The best

Bootlegs – or mashups – involved

Wednesdays. So it was modular and

songs would graduate to the main

splicing together two very different

would feel busy. You could pull the

room. Music moved so much more

artists for the duration of a track. In

curtain back for when we had a live

slowly. Songs took months to break.

Ghent, Belgium, The Flying Dewaele

band on. We were a slick machine, our

Records took on a whole other life in

Brothers – later to be known as

sound engineer was ex-Astoria and our

that club. They sounded enormous.”

2manydjs – were juxtaposing Dolly

pressed when I was playing this… what

Parton with Röyksopp or The Clash

lighting guy was from a band background. Whatever Erol wanted to

Kele: “The End was a proper techno

with Basement Jaxx. In London, Erol,

do we were ready to do it.”

club. Rory used to play the more

using Gary Barlow’s teenage stage

leftfield music and Erol the bangers.”

name Kurtis Rush, had success with

Erol: “Before The End, I felt like I had

‘George Gets His Freak On’ – his George

researched about every venue in the

Liam: “We had the sound system and

Michael/Missy Elliott nexus. He also

area. My feeling was that if I couldn’t

many of those bands and DJs hadn’t

once made Fischerspooner’s ‘Invisible’

find somewhere good enough to take

heard themselves on two sound

and The Smiths’ ‘Girlfriend in a Coma’

the night I’d stop it. No point going

systems that were so on point. Not

work together as a peak-time dance

sideways. We had created an energy

many indie DJs had played in that

track. It felt audacious, odd and fresh.

that deserved a bigger, better space.

room over a hundred times like Erol

We owed it to our audience.”

had by 2002. He knew the sweet spots

Erol: “I’d made the bootlegs at home to

and watched people dancing, you

play at Trash. I made a Sugababes and

Rory: “It was a gamble, a big jump. A lot

could see his exploration with his DJing

Dr. Dre one for the Annexe. I went into

of indie clubs were in the West End but

as his ability improved.”

Woolworths and picked up

we didn’t have passing trade, The End

‘Overloaded’ on the day of release and

was tucked away (on West Central

Tiga: “I knew The End was Mr C’s club

the CD single had an instrumental as

Street).”

and it had a famous sound system. To

the third track so I looked for an a

get out of a grimy backroom rock

cappella and found the Dr. Dre one

environment was important. It was a

(‘Forget About Dre’). I recorded it

proper marriage of club with a real

directly from the decks to MiniDisc and

system and all that eclectic music. It

played it at Trash that night and it

David: “We saw each other frequently 70_DISCO_POGO

“I vividly remember playing at Trash for the first time and it was like an indie wonderland. At some point we played Motörhead’s ‘Ace of Spades’ and all of a sudden Lemmy was standing in front of us.” Stephen Dewaele

Tiga: “Erol and 2manydjs listened to music in a much more even perspective like kids listening to tracks on a radio. Less like some old acid head at 9am who would comment on the snare being fucked or whatever. It’s also drugs. If you had spent the 90s on drugs at great parties you had a different sensitivity. What would cross a record off a list for me would be how

went down really well. The next day a

Tiga: “I was good friends with David

it might affect a trip. Whereas

girl who worked at Xfm called and

and Stephen through DJ Hell. The

2manydjs were zero drugs so their

enquired after it and asked me to

bootlegs they did and Erol did were the

sensitivity was different. I’m way more

bring it in. It was played at 6pm that

secret ingredient. It was so fresh at the

likely to have less happening in a track,

night and it ended up being played on

time. There was a lack of fun

or mixes go on longer, all things that

the station’s A-List for six weeks.

happening so that was the perfect

come from the drug tradition.

People were ringing in asking after it. It

antidote, we’re going to throw bits of

Different levels of patience.”

ended up being bootlegged and

these massive records you love

without me even knowing and selling

together to make party records. It

Erol: “I remember ending up at a party

out at Rough Trade.”

goes from non-existent to the best

and Sara Cox was there and (‘George

idea in the world in 30 seconds.”

Gets His Freak On’) got played about 15 times at this party and then she played

Erol: “Someone at PIAS called me and said there were these guys called

Rory: “The bootlegs had their place.

it on Radio 1 for weeks. Sara played

Soulwax from Belgium who were also

They were very much in the spirit of

the second bootleg I did to Missy Elliott

mashing records together. They were

what Trash was, that blending of styles.”

(which used the backing track to The Cure’s ‘The Love Cats’) on the show

going to play live in London and then DJ afterwards as the Flying Dewaele

Tiga: “I remember ‘Seven Nation Army’

Brothers. They sent me this CD titled

came out and six hours later Jori

‘Hank The DJ’ which pushed all my

(Hulkkonen) had done a bootleg using the

Stacey: “I remember Erol’s Kylie and

buttons. I went to see them at

big hook. I played it that night and it was

‘Blue Monday’ mashup. Kylie in general,

Dingwalls as we had them booked at

a monster record, the perfect cocktail.”

I also heard ‘Confide in Me’ a lot at

who thought it was ‘hot’.”

Trash.”

Trash the following week. David asked me to take over the decks as they had

Jonjo: “The Kraftwerk and Whitney

to go and do something backstage,

Houston one (Girls On Top’s ‘I Wanna

Liam: “Initially I thought they were

they had eight crates of vinyl – and they

Dance With Numbers’) was such a

great like everyone else and then I

were over from Belgium – and I went

moment and I was obsessed with

started seeing it everywhere and on

through the records and it felt like I was

getting it.”

people’s MySpace, but by that stage Erol had left it. That was another great

going through my own collection. They Peaches: “I loved the Girls On Top one.

skill of Erol’s, when everyone else

You’d get the mashup and then a pop

started doing something he had moved

David: “The reason Erol approached us is

group would recreate it, what was

on to other things.”

we had done a series of radio shows

that band? Sugababes! 2manydjs did

which culminated in the compilation (‘As

my ‘Fuck the Pain Away’ with (Lou

Electroclash became the term for the

Heard on Radio Soulwax Pt. 2’). He’d heard

Reed’s) ‘I’m Waiting for the Man’.”

collection of kindred spirits, mainly

were soulmates immediately.”

from the techno scene, who were

a bunch of them and had singled out what we called bootlegs. We connected

James: “I liked mashups. I remember

revisiting the synth pop of their youth

over them and the juxtaposition of

being told I couldn’t play ‘I Feel Love’, I

and electronic body music for

putting records together. He’d been doing

couldn’t play ‘Planet Rock’ and I

inspiration. Felix da Housecat, Miss

them as Kurtis Rush. He pressed ours up

couldn’t play ‘Around the World’

Kittin & The Hacker, Tiga and most acts

too and put them out.”

because they were all too big, so I used

associated with DJ Hell’s International

to do a mix with all three of them going

Deejay Gigolo Records were at the

Stephen: “I vividly remember playing at

at the same time. It was in the air to be

forefront.

Trash for the first time and it was like

throwing all stuff together.” Tiga: “I fell in love with techno and rave

an indie wonderland. At some point we played Motörhead’s ‘Ace of Spades’

Kele: “I remember Christina Aguilera

in 1992, so I had a solid ten years where

and all of a sudden Lemmy was

mixed with The Strokes. You’d hear

that was all I cared about. But there

standing in front of us.”

Destiny’s Child, Joy Division, Madonna

was a growing boredom around the

and Aphex Twin. It felt so radical to

late-90s. A lot of my older 80s pop

David: “He gave us the nod of approval

hear all that music played under the

dreams started to bubble up through

and the devil sign. Maybe he was looking

same roof. There was no high or low

for a place that played rock music.”

art, everything was valid.”

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“People saw me as I saw Miss Kier. Pam Hogg was there and we became good friends. Bella Freud and Jarvis Cocker were there too - he was very still so I thought he hated it but that’s just the way he is .” Peaches

Queen’s Gonna Die’, the whole of the first Peaches album, ‘Frank Sinatra’ by Miss Kittin & The Hacker. Ladytron’s first album – they were doing everything a guitar band would do but on Casio keyboards. ‘How We Do’ by Mount Sims. LCD Soundsystem perfectly embraced all the worlds that were there and tied it all together with a knowing sensibility of all the great

techno. That happened for a lot of

record [‘Silver Screen (Shower Scene)’]

music that had come before. It made

people at the same time. It blossomed

– which was the arrow head of it all –

sense at that moment.”

in 2000 with Gigolo records, Miss Kittin

had more in common with the DIY

& The Hacker and Fischerspooner. It

electronic scene. It felt like the energy

Kele: “I remember everyone was excited

was a perfect storm.”

coming from that area of music was

about this aggressive electronic music

perfect for Trash. It caused some

and in particular ‘Emerge’

James: “It was the end of the 90s and

friction as some people were expecting

(Fischerspooner). Perhaps history

things were coming out of micro-

us to stick to the playlist we had until

hasn’t been so kind to electroclash,

genres where a hi-hat would make

that point. But you need to make bold

looking back it feels a bit like a fad.”

something slightly different which was

moves. Both myself and Rory embraced

all very boring. It was wonderful to

that sound and it grew. Music that

Liam: “I loved Chicks on Speed, Stereo

suddenly have an open door policy for

reflected what the club was about was

Total and what Peaches was bringing

sounds.”

being made.”

as well. Peaches turned up with a

Peaches: “The difference between

Rory: “What electroclash did for us was

think it mattered as she was going out

Berlin and London – and there’s no diss

the production wasn’t as good as a 90s

on stage to smash it. Nobody in the

– Berlin does its thing and London

house record so it made it easier to

crowd noticed the MiniDisc as she

makes it a thing. In London now this is

bridge the gap from a DIY punk record

brought the energy.”

a thing, we dress this way, we brand it

into a four-track electroclash record.

this way, we’re going to make it a

It also had that glam element like

Peaches: “Erol made fun of me for

SCENE. It’s an observation.”

Bowie and Roxy so a lot of former

using a MiniDisc for my backing track:

purists got on board.”

‘It doesn’t sound good, I can’t get it to

badly recorded MiniDisc, she didn’t

go loud enough.’ I had to be louder than

Tiga: “There was the European vibe like Gigolo that had come from techno. A

James: “We (DFA) loved electroclash, all

everyone else but with a quiet MiniDisc.

colder look. I was part of that. Then

the smarty pants in New York wanted

I had to tame the wild animals while

you had the typical American

there to be a divide; electroclash is

being a wild animal.”

Electroclash with a capital E that was

dumb, DFA is smart. I was like: ‘You’re out

the cartoon, hyped version. Then DFA

of your mind, kids dressed up is the best.’

Erol: “Peaches sent a shock through a

and the rocky side. Then there was the

Trash had a better merging of those

lot of people. She was so exciting, she

British side which was Erol and Trash.”

things: indie kids and dressed-up kids.”

left her mark on everybody that night.”

Stephen: “The difference between Tiga

David: “Electroclash was the one thing

Peaches: “Erol was amazing and

and us was there would not be a

we all connected on.”

welcoming and super into it. It made the scene for me as I used to walk into

Motörhead or Undertones record in his collection. Whereas with Erol we had

Christopher: “The artists were total

places with a bit of a fright because I

that kinship.”

renegades, mavericks of the music

was on my own and didn’t have a

world. So fearless then and now in

manager and people may throw things

their approach to music and art.”

at me or grab me. I went into Trash

Erol: “There was a shift when we

and Erol gave me a Divine 12-inch, ‘You

started hearing records that embodied the spirit of the club that weren’t

Tiga: “My ‘Mixed Emotions’ compilation

Think You’re a Man’. I remember Lady

being made on guitars, they were

in 2000 was a mission statement. It

Miss Kier (from Deee-Lite) being in the

being made in bedrooms on synths. It

was me living my dreams, how I

audience and that was a big deal for

felt like the new references were more

wanted to look and sound. All my

me as she was somebody who had so

Human League and the electronic new

teenage fantasies. DJ Hell loved it

much style and character and she’d

wave. It felt more exciting than guitar

which prepped me in that 80s style.

come out of nowhere and made her

music at that point. The Strokes and

‘Sunglasses at Night’ was made on

own path. People saw me as I saw Miss

The White Stripes felt like they were in

New Year’s Day 2001.”

Kier. Pam Hogg was there and we became good friends. Bella Freud and

a bubble but most guitar music fell flat for me. Even that Felix da Housecat 74_DISCO_POGO

Erol: “Tiga’s singles worked at Bugged

Jarvis Cocker were there too – he was

Out! but also were raw enough to work

very still so I thought he hated it but

at Trash. Tok Tok Vs Soffy O’s ‘Missy

that’s just the way he is.”

Erol: “Peaches stayed with me for a

and club veterans really made you want

Erol: “It was £4 on the door or £5 if a

couple of days in my Tufnell Park flat. A

to dress up more to impress them.”

band played. Trash could have toured up and down the country and made a

whole bunch of the club came back to mine and I was talking to this lady

Stacey: “Everybody seemed to wear

load of money. But I had no interest in

from New York and she introduced

make up at Trash. I would think: ‘God, I

making money out of it. It was never

herself as Lady Miss Kier and I nearly

should’ve put more on.’”

considered despite offers.”

fell off my chair.” Peaches: “My fashion evolved from

James: “It wasn’t expensive. An extra

Electroclash brought creative,

what was happening onstage for me

pound if there was a band. I loved that

colourful sartorial styles back to

like the cheap pink bathing suit to

it was like going to punk shows. It felt

London for the first time since the Blitz

divert from the fact I was so

egalitarian everybody paid their £4.”

club in the early-80s.

aggressive. What did I wear when I

Erol: “People were always dressed up

played live? I wore a nurse’s outfit from

Liam: “For the crowd it was like

a cheap slutty stripper store.”

Christmas every Monday. We just had to keep it safe and let them go crazy.”

even in the early period at Plastic People. People are far happier when

Despite being held on a Monday, Trash

they are putting the best version of

ran a strict door policy that some

Erol: “We had Phil Maynell on the door

themselves out there. It gave it a sense

snubbed customers likened to Studio

collecting emails and speaking to

of occasion.”

54. A club night Turned Away From

people, greeting them.”

Trash even sprang up in its wake. But Kele: “Dressing up allows people to go

the safe space engendered a warm

Kele: “Phil The Mod was on the door. I

that extra mile. It was a destination for

family spirit with an active message

never had any issues but I’d see people

a lot of art and fashion students.”

board on their website furthering the

turned away. I get why clubs need to

community through the week.

have a door policy though. If you want to create a vibe you want people to

Christopher: “I was studying fashion at Central Saint Martins when the club

David: “We’d play something like

was at its peak. I remember interning

Bugged Out! on the Saturday and then

at designer Russell Sage’s and me and

stay for the Monday to go to Trash.”

feel part of that.” Stephen: “Spiky Phil looked like he was in the Small Faces. He was so London.”

my sister stealing tonnes of Swarovski hotfix crystals and completely covering

Stephen: “This is a Monday night. This

most of my wardrobe in these crystals.

is crazy. There was nothing like it.”

Erol: “When The Face and Sleazenation started writing about us what came

I basically would sparkle and light up on the dancefloor. All my vintage tees

Liam: “Sunday and Monday clubs are

with press came curiosity and voyeurs.

started to fall apart from the weight of

always special as you have the

They were all printing pictures of

all the stones. I eventually told Russell

hospitality workers and students

beautiful girls. I still wanted them to

about me stealing the stones and it

ready to let go, the musicians, loafers

feel safe in there. It wasn’t about

really made him laugh.”

and scoundrels. With it being a short

judging people on their clothes, Phil

night – only running until 3am – it

would speak to the people in the queue

compounded into something amazing.”

and if it was six guys who were half cut

Peaches: “London takes it to the next

he wouldn’t let them in.”

level. Berlin is like: ‘I’ll shave the side of my head and go out.’ London is like: ‘I’ll

Christopher: “It made it even cooler

shave the side of my head and get an

because it was on a school night. It

Christopher: “I totally understood the

autograph of John Lydon shaved into it

sort of threw the idea of establishment

door policy to be a way to keep out the

too and wear tape on my nipples.’”

up in the air and really propelled this

wrong crowd, the people who mocked

notion of: ‘I’ll do what I want, when I

fashion, art and music at the time. It

Stacey: “I saw someone with a disco

want’, even if you had work or college

kept out the people who didn’t take it

ball on their head. It was DIY with a

the next morning you nearly never

seriously enough. It also reminded me

punk ethos and vintage shop finds.

missed the night.”

of the strict Studio 54 door policy and that added to the adrenaline of the

Friends would come over from New York with brightly coloured Converse

Kele: “Because it was on a Monday

that cost $15. Now you can just get

there was always a sense of occasion

them from Schuh or Office.”

about it.”

Peaches: “Erol I never saw dress up, he

Stacey: “Monday was for the weekend

corner of a room permeates a bad vibe

just relied on the long piece of hair

warriors, only the ravers left.”

outwards. I trusted Erol and his team

whole experience.” Liam: “I stood on the door a lot. Two or three of the wrong person stood in a

to get it right.”

over one eye and a black T-shirt.” James: “It being on a Monday was Erol: “I only had three T-shirts.”

great. It meant you could play the best

Jonjo: “I felt comfortable being with

show you could play in London and you

like-minded people as a gay Londoner

Christopher: “Everyone made the

could play Friday and Saturday

effort. All my peers had their own style

someplace else less adventurous.”

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DISCO_POGO_77

I’m the gay punter.”

“I remember trying to chat to a very drunk Neil Tennant, I talked at him while he tried to stay upright. Then there was the night Grace Jones came in, I have photographic evidence...”

Erol: “It created a safe space for

Rory Phillips

feeling non judgement and welcomeness. There were no labels. It was clear any arsehole-ism wouldn’t be tolerated. It wasn’t I’m the gay DJ or

people for all sexualities as long as they were there for the music and togetherness. Girls felt comfortable to dress up and not get hassled, some

Erol: “The website felt revolutionary

Stacey: “I met Kings of Leon there one

guys wore make up, everyone was

for us as it connected people who went

night. You never knew who you’d see

encouraged to express themselves. It

to the club but also people from

down there.”

felt progressive for an alternative

around the world who were planning

club. We took the brunt of it when

to come and had made friends online.

James: “I remember there was an

people couldn’t get in, even death

People felt like they had a home even

embrace of indie which we didn’t have in

threats being sent to the venue for

before they’d been to the club. Being

New York, I’d already lived that in the

my attention. I’d go into meetings

able to communicate with like-minded

90s, been in the bands. I first came to

with Liam midweek to discuss the

people. People would know so-and-so

Trash with The Rapture to run their

shit that was going down, the bad

was coming from Berlin that week and

sound, mixing front of house. It was

reactions. I got sent a death threat

they’d meet up beforehand.”

definitely a dance system which we always wanted for The Rapture. In New

that I ended up turning into the advert for the Trash companion

Rory: “There was a lot of discussion

York it was quite shocking to have a

(compilation).”

about music, Bowie records, The

band like that in a dance club. There was

Rapture and Yeah Yeah Yeahs. People

a reason DFA did well in England first.”

Jonjo: “I went on to be the door picker

asked me for track IDs on there. You

before I DJed there. I hated it. Sometimes

couldn’t post links then but there was

Peaches: “I remember hearing The

we were turning away lads wearing the

Napster so you could find the music.”

Rapture’s ‘House of Jealous Lovers’ at Trash. I was like: ‘What is this?’ I

band T-shirts who were into the music and letting in people with the full looks

Erol: “I used to put up charts of what I

who may not have been there for the

was playing and you’d get instant

music, so I struggled with that.”

feedback. People were printing the

Kele: “I saw The Rapture who I was

charts off and taking them to record

really excited about, so it was a real

Erol: “Nobody can get it right all the

shops. I think the drummer from Bloc

big deal to see them.”

time. Sometimes we would have 1,000

Party posted on there all the time.”

remember loving it so much.”

Jonjo: “The Rapture I was obsessed

amazingly dressed people out front but Kele: “I wasn’t part of it but I know my

with. That merging of 4/4 with indie

friends were on it who made friends on

and the clothes, that New York scene.

Stacey: “You had to walk downstairs to

it. Our drummer was on it and he

Hearing Peaches for the first time, I

enter and there is something more

talked about its community.”

was like: ‘What is this noise?’ Seeing a

we also wanted to get the regulars in.”

breakthrough Queer act like the

salacious about descending into a basement. There was space for

Jonjo: “I didn’t go on the message

everybody to flex and lots of different

board. I was too busy getting high and

crews in there, different magazines,

having fun.”

Rory: “Suicide asked us if they could play!”

clubs and bands. You’d pick up new friends every week.”

Scissor Sisters too.”

Peaches and Yeah Yeah Yeahs played in 2001. LCD Soundsystem, The Rapture,

Liam: “Personally seeing Suicide in the

Liam: “The mixture of people… you’d see

Electric 6, Scissor Sisters, Suicide all

club still gives me goose bumps and I

the kids, the musicians, the

played in 2002.

got to speak to Alan Vega and Martin Rev who were really sweet. We had the

hairdressers, the hospitality workers and then you’d see the promoters from

Liam: “The bands would have to come

ability and Erol had the imagination.

other club nights coming who were

through 600 people with their

Chilly Gonzales played a piano set with

watching it all.”

instruments to get to the stage but

candles everywhere.”

that felt good and exciting.” Rory: “When we announced LCD

Rory: “I built the website and message board so I was incredibly active on it.

Rory: “What I remember about The

Soundsystem on the message board

There was a level of community online

Strokes coming to the club is I think

people were saying: ‘Who is that?’ By

but you would then meet people for

Muse were at the bar and they were

the time the show came around there

real on Monday night.”

surrounded by girls, then when The

was a queue round the block and we

Strokes walked in the whole room

had to move them into the main room.

shifted.”

Paul Epworth (who went onto produce

78_DISCO_POGO

Bloc Party and Adele) was doing their

James: “I was very, very, very drunk. I’d

perfect. You’re playing music you love,

sound.”

asked for Jameson’s and rather than a

everyone’s your age or younger and

750ml size they gave me these two

the Pet Shop Boys are there.”

Erol: “When I played ‘Losing My Edge’

small bottles that were the size of a

for the first time the whole room was

beer bottle so I drank them both. It

Erol: “The Pet Shop Boys came down

ignited. Tom Vek once told me about

was terrifying to play because it was

quite often. Neil signed my original

the first time I played it and said: ‘That

only the second show and we were

copy of ‘West End Girls’. They almost

record inspired me to make music and

pretty shit-faced and I think we played

played live at our sixth birthday in

the guy dancing next to me had

about five songs. I hadn’t been a singer

2003. They were going to play in the

started to make videos and he went on

in a band since I was 18.”

left arch and it was going to be streamed but something didn’t fall into

to make a video for LCD.’ There were so Jonjo: “Erol remembered I used to pogo

place logistically. I was walking down

and jump really high to watch the

Tottenham Court Road one Monday

David: “We were there for LCD as we’d

bands. Then when Erol met me he

and someone called my name and it

played Return to New York on the

could see how small I was.”

was Neil Tennant. He asked if he could

many interconnecting things.”

come down that night and if I could

Saturday night.” Erol: “Kele used to come and see bands

also put Yoko Ono’s name down.

Erol: “With LCD people were really

there and then he formed a band and

curious as to how they would work as

we heard them and they were brilliant

Stephen: “Neil Tennant was always

a band. We only knew ‘Losing My Edge’

so we’d play their records. Then we’d

very quiet in the corner. Observing the

and ‘Beat Connection’ by then and the

ask them to play live and they were

youth culture. That should be a Pet

attention was all around James

brilliant. It felt like we were influencing

Shop Boys song: ‘Observing the Youth

(Murphy) so people weren’t sure if it

and being influenced simultaneously.

Culture’.”

may be a guy with a mic and a laptop.

Those minds and souls were out there

But they were a five-piece band on

and it kept folding in on itself over and

Rory: “I remember trying to chat to a

stage. Everything was played, nothing

over.”

very drunk Neil Tennant, I talked at him while he tried to stay upright. Then

was on a backing track. It really inspired a lot of people including artists

Tiga: “I met Pet Shop Boys there. I

there was the night Grace Jones came

who came to see them play that night.

couldn’t believe it. I had almost no

in, I have photographic evidence, when

Looking at where they are now 20 years

experience that any of those people

I went back to look at it I noticed Billy

later that night would be carved into

were real or that you could meet them.

Zane is photobombing the shot. I think

their hearts. I went to see them at Ally

I’m pretty sure they asked me if I

they had arrived together.”

Pally a few years ago and James

wanted to go to Morocco with them. It

dedicated ‘Losing My Edge’ to me and

sounds like something you’d make up.

Christopher: “I was way too scared to

played it the same way they played it at

It’s the best feeling in the world when

approach famous faces. I saw people

Trash with this big noisy intro.”

you feel you’re at the centre of

like Alexander McQueen, lots of models

everything and you wouldn’t swap it with anything else as it feels so

DISCO_POGO_79

“At the time you see it as a great place to go to. Now we’re older and we’ve read about all these scenes that were perfect in the past - like all the bands who saw the Sex Pistols or went to the Roxy and went on to form other bands. Trash is one of those things. It was underground, not money concerned, not fame concerned, optimistic, not cynical.” James Murphy

yourself and feed off the energy. I used to get into trouble on Tuesdays. My boss told Erol not to let me in as I never turned up on time for work.” Christopher: “I always waited in anticipation for Erol to play and then end his set with ‘Be My Baby’ by The Ronettes. He would extend the beginning of the track, playing the famous beats for at least a couple of minutes before the vocal broke in. Everyone would go mad and totally act

and I’m sure John Waters one night. To

was the human aspect, it was a family,

out some electro-style ‘Dirty Dancing’

be honest the place was filled with so

a community. One of the parts of that

film scene.”

many gorgeous people that everyone

era is also the ascent of Erol as a DJ,

looked like rock stars.”

producer and remixer.”

Twenty years on from its zenith, Erol’s

James: “That period felt like you were

and we’ve read about all these scenes

Trash legacy still holds firm. The period

finding your team in the world.”

that were perfect in the past – like all

James: “At the time you just see it as a great place to go to. Now we’re older

the bands who saw the Sex Pistols or

in London influenced clubbers to DJ, form bands, become fashion designers,

Christopher: “It was such a golden era

went to the Roxy and went on to form

start record labels, it was arguably the

of so many free spirits in fashion, art

other bands. Trash is one of those

most creative and lasting explosion in

and music. London was on fire. There

things. It was underground, not money

London’s clubland since acid house.

was so much creative chaos and it

concerned, not fame concerned,

really inspired my college work. Moving

optimistic not cynical. It was also

David: “Erol was one of the first people

from a small town in Scotland to

generous, a big club.”

who showed us you can be successful

London and having clubs like Trash,

– in our eyes he was successful at what

when you tried to tell friends back

Erol: “I wanted it to have that ‘Cheers’-

he was doing – without being an asshole.

home about the club, no one believed

like quality where you walked in and

He cared about us as DJs but he also

you. It was mythical.”

people knew you and it felt like home. Everything was geared around making

cared about everyone. Those kids lived for the Monday and he was like an older

Kele: “It was a real education for me.

Monday night as good as it could be. I

brother who they looked up to.”

The band would all go on a Monday, it

could see how much time and energy

was an event. It did inform how we

people invested in it. I was lucky and so

appreciate music, still to this day.”

I wasn’t going to waste it. Make it as

Liam: “Erol was very driven. If you love

brilliant as you can do. I never wanted

something it doesn’t feel like work so he didn’t miss a gig apart from his

Tiga: “If you could track the influence of

to be a club promoter but I’m happy

honeymoon. He would have been

Trash it’s got to be one of the biggest

with how it turned out. I’d like to think

unbearable not knowing what was

ever. The amount of people who came

it was a credit to the London club

going on in his house.”

through there and got an idea for

scene.”

something or the artists and what they Stacey: “We were really lucky which

were exposed to. It has got to be up

Tiga: “Erol was such an important

is testament to Erol and the work he

there with all the legendary clubs.”

person for all of us because he was such a music lover and a digger. All of

put in.” James: “It’s part of a long tradition of

our careers were helped by him. You

Erol: “I used to grade the nights in a

amazing places you can learn things.

would send tracks to him first and he’d

journal as to what needed to be

You’re 22 and you feel cool that you’re

test them at Trash. It can’t be

changed or done to improve the night. I

there and it matters. You left your shitty

underestimated what that means to a

took every aspect of the club seriously

town and you’ve found your tribe.”

producer having someone like that in your corner, getting that email back on

and wanted to do my best.” Jonjo: “It was a golden era and there

a Tuesday: ‘Oh Tiga, it absolutely

David: “You’ll see the legacy it’s

have been so many links from it, people

killed!’ You can’t put a value on that. He

permeated in a big way in popular

who went on to become artists or

was like our John Peel.”

culture, the kids are big fashion

music industry A&Rs. If I hadn’t had

designers or magazine editors or

Trash I would’ve been on the gay scene

Erol: “It was a moment in time. When

heads of labels. In reading this the

more heavily, but I’ve loved having

Trash finished I thought: ‘That’s it, I

danger would be in making it sound

more mixed friends.”

can’t do any better than that.’”

just like a club. What made it special Stacey: “It was a home from home. To 80_DISCO_POGO

go somewhere where you could be

DANIEL

AVERY Photos: Vanessa Goldschmidt Live Photos: Keffer DISCO_POGO_83

Gimme Some Truth

London’s 24-hour licensed nightclub, FOLD, is tucked away on an industrial estate in Canning Town, overlooking a graveyard of empty skips. Since its opening in 2018, it’s become one of the capital’s most thriving electronic music destinations, thanks to a water-tight booking policy, an impressive sound system and the fact you have to stick a little gold star, like the ones you got at primary school, over your phone’s camera. Daniel Avery has goose bumps thinking about DJing there back in March, stroking his arm to feel the hairs standing on end. “I came off and the room felt like it was raining sweat,” he recalls. “I looked at my watch and it was 5pm, you know, you should be having a roast dinner at that time!” Unfold is a Queer-leaning party held fortnightly on

Daniel Avery was lost,

Sunday daytime with completely unannounced line-ups,

but now he’s found.

Marcel Dettman, and Richie Hawtin DJed there recently.

Following a reset thanks

same, as well – a sort of token gesture amount, but it’s not

to the enforced hiatus

in that room is equally important. For me that’s the

of lockdown, the

middle of the room, so every single person surrounding the

electronic producer has

about a stage.”

returned with the best

pub which has a personal significance to Avery, 36, as one of

– and most expansive –

London from his native Bournemouth. Camden’s Lock

album of his career. Felicity Martin speaks to the man who claims he’s not a natural performer, yet whose

and no set times. He played there alongside I. JORDAN, and “Everyone wants to play it,” he says. “Everyone gets paid the about that. It removes the idea of superstardom: everyone absolute nucleus of what clubs should be – the DJ’s in the DJ plays an equal part in the energy of that room. It’s not Avery is sitting at a wooden table in The Gun in Hackney, a the places that welcomed him when he first moved to Tavern, where he used to DJ, alongside the now defunct The End and fabric, was owned by the same people. A few minutes earlier he was happily chatting away to the bar staff. The East London boozer has its own affiliations with music, and Avery contributed to the ‘Gun Aid’ LP it released on its own label along with the other card-carrying life members who are producers. “It’s the kind of place that makes London what it is,” he says fondly. Cupping a glass of red and a packet of peanuts (“probably the worst thing to order when you’re recording this

impassioned sets move

conversation!”), there’s a calmness to Avery that you

his fans to tears…

weeks earlier, was firing breakbeats and strobe lights

wouldn’t necessarily expect from someone who, a few around a big top tent as part of a live set at Field Day in nearby Victoria Park. His quietly comfortable demeanour resists any suggestion of someone who craves the spotlight. “I’ve never considered myself to be any kind of natural performer. I still don’t,” he says. “But I do like the energy that gets fed back between the performer and the crowd. At the end of the day, I still feel like a music nerd, a complete music fanatic, and someone who is so fortunate to be able to share what he does.” DISCO_POGO_85

“It’s an intentionally distorted, shadowy record. But one that’s also warm and inviting because that’s what got me obsessed with music as a kid.”

The conclusion he came to – “very vividly” – was that making records was what brought him the most joy. The result was the synth-laden ambient ‘Together in Static’ and the pounding, yet wistful, double album ‘Love + Light’, “which were very much ways of getting me through that time,” he says. “It really was lockdown that taught me that, I’m not sure I would have come to that conclusion fully had it not been for all of that.” ‘Ultra Truth’, then, is his “most genuine statement” to date – the name came from an old 90’s rave flyer he found, but also hints at this Covid-induced epiphany. “[The album] finds me far happier, far healthier, but also someone who’s not afraid to look into himself on a much deeper level. It’s not always pleasant to do that but that’s where I’m at right now, and it’s certainly why the record is so noisy and abrasive at times, but also has moments of quiet beauty on it. I really felt like I had to go through the fog to get to where I am now.” That noise comes in thick. It was forged from Avery pushing himself harder with his sounds than ever before. He wanted to create an album that “sounded like it was on fire”. “Oversaturation, noise, hiss, field recordings, the sound of air distorted, and forming a kind of fog over everything,” he

After his Field Day appearance, one Twitter user posted:

details, of how the album differs from past productions.

“I’ve seen Daniel Avery many many times before but, dunno

“Drums being pushed to breaking point… That all stems

what happened this time, I burst into tears when ‘Lone

from my love of guitar-led music and music that’s pushed to

Swordsman’ transitioned to ‘Knowing We’ll Be Here’.”

a point that’s just about to snap. That’s my favourite sonic

It’s coming up to the end of a festival season that’s seen

place. It’s not the easiest listen. I love how it sounds, I think it

him appear at Lost Village, Glitch in Malta, ION in Albania,

sounds warm and full, but I think – I hope – it’s not easy to

and more. But Avery has drastically scaled back on the

ignore.”

amount of touring he’s been doing. It was that

Avery has always classed his music as apolitical –

relentlessness that attributed to the nearly five-year gap

although he doesn’t exactly shy away from the topic on

between his last album proper, 2018’s ‘Song For Alpha’, and

social media: “fucking Tories” (or variations on that theme)

his new one, the magnificent ‘Ultra Truth’.

are common sentiments on his Twitter account. “Maybe we

“I think I held on to the idea of dance music being an

don’t all need to be reminded 24/7 how shit the world is at

escape too firmly at times,” he says, talking about

the moment,” he says about detaching his music from

promoting ‘Song For Alpha’, his second album following his

politics. “I still believe in this idea of music ultimately being

2013 debut, ‘Drone Logic’. “It led me to ignore quite a few

about love and togetherness and sharing.”

serious things in my own life and to do with myself. It’s an

Still, it would be hard to hear the searing, ablaze-

easy escape, and it led me to start defining myself through

sounding and catastrophic edge to the album and not draw

that life as a touring DJ. I’m sure your learned readers can

some conclusions of your own at a time of intense greed

use their imaginations to work out the pitfalls someone like

and looming poverty, climate collapse and insecure

me could have fallen into on the road over the years. That’s

geopolitics.

only a small part of it, though.”

“It’s an intentionally distorted, shadowy record,” he says,

At this point, Avery stops, saying he can sense himself

brushing his mop of blonde hair carefully from his eyes. “But

holding back. He pauses, then starts again: “That whole

one that’s also warm and inviting – because that’s what got

lifestyle really overtook me and definitely blinkered me in

me obsessed with music as a kid.”

lots of ways. I’ve come to realise that it was all born out of

For the artwork, Avery worked with a Berlin-based

fear, fear that this incredible life I’ve been gifted could all

designer called Claudia Rafael to make something that felt

end tomorrow.”

futuristic but referenced his love of rock music from his

Then, in March 2020, lockdown happened, and it did all

childhood. “She said: ‘This is great, but there’s no point in us

end. “At first, it felt like it had been wrestled from us,” he

trying to make artwork that looks like a rock band from

says. “It was scary, but I’ve come to realise that the time to

1998, let’s try and make an album that was made by a rock

stop was a blessing for me.” Taking stock of things, he did

band from 25 years from now.’” The cover art and videos

the sums and realised that he’d been DJing for literally half

were conceived mainly using AI to create “an interpretation

his life. “Once everything had settled, I realised that I was

of every record I’ve ever loved,” he says. They threw in

still standing, I was still intact, and I realised it wasn’t that

keywords, like the idea of a femme fatale that kept

lifestyle that was making me happy. And, in fact, at times it

appearing in other artworks they were looking at and

was making me desperately unhappy.”

referenced directors David Lynch and David Fincher who depict female characters with a dark side. “But I’m keen to

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stress it’s not meant to be a woman,” Avery interjects.

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90_DISCO_POGO

“It’s not meant to be anything – it’s just this face emerged, but it did feel like it had a personality. I think that person, that being, that energy, is called Ultra.” That touch of darkness is present in many of Avery’s points of influence, from Chris Cunningham’s abstract and creepy aesthetic to nightmare-inducing video games like Silent Hill. Missy Elliott, Busta Rhymes, Wu-Tang Clan and Hype Williams videos are all examples of art that have “starry-eyed futurism” to them, he says, but “tinged with this real dark edge, an extreme vision of what the future can look like.” Look at any of Avery’s compositions, artwork, even his high contrast black and white Instagram posts, and it would be impossible not to sense that dark edge gripping all of his art. Which perhaps extends to how some people view him as an artist. He recalls a moment in Brixton’s Phonox where he was watching his friend HAAi DJ.

“To have that impact on people - that’s my absolute favourite thing that could have happened. It makes it all worthwhile.”

“A guy came up to me at the bar and we had a chat. And as he left, he took his drink. He said: ‘Oh, nice to meet you, mate, I thought you were gonna be a cunt.’ It really made me laugh.” Across his decade-plus of being active in music, Avery has built up a community of like-minded people – from HAAi to HTRK, to Nine Inch Nails keyboardist Alessandro Cortini, with whom he made the 2020 record ‘Illusion of Time’. “My

For someone so deeply implanted within the UK techno

favourite part of touring and travelling is the people I’ve met

scene, electronic music didn’t figure in Daniel Avery’s

along the way – I’ve made friends for life.” He wanted to get

consciousness for much of his teens (despite his dad taking

some of that collaborative spirit across on ‘Ultra Truth’.

him to see The Prodigy aged 11). Instead, his heroes were

The voice of SHERELLE, a new collaborator and friend,

Nirvana, Black Sabbath, Deftones, The Smashing Pumpkins

introduces ‘Higher’, talking about club culture: “It was just

and Nine Inch Nails – who he’d later come to tour the US

this beautifully intense feeling of joy and excitement, but I

with. Although, as a teen, he was keen on acts like The

couldn’t show that outside,” she says. Elsewhere, Marie

Chemical Brothers and Underworld, he didn’t really consider

Davidson reads a poem that Avery wrote himself. Kelly Lee

himself a dance music head. He only started taking note of

Owens, who sang on ‘Drone Logic’ nearly ten years ago (“I

club music – something he’d previously associated with stag

loved that idea of that full circle”) is on ‘Chaos Energy’. South

and hen dos – after watching Erol Alkan play Bugged Out!,

London’s James Massiah, who closes the album, wrote a

and then getting into DJs like Andrew Weatherall and

poem after listening to the LP in full in the corner of Avery’s

Optimo, before trying his hand at mixing records aged 18 at

Thames-side studio – “out of nowhere he delivered this

Bournemouth’s alternative club night, Mayhem.

entire piece, which is inspired and informed by the music, did

And, strangely, over the years Avery has found that people

it in one take, boom, done. He left me shell shocked.”

have described his music as a gateway into electronic music

Meanwhile, HAAi, “one of my absolute best friends”, sings on

– “people who said that when they were at uni, they thought

two of the tracks.

they didn’t like clubbing. But then someone gave them

A more surprising collaborator on the record, perhaps,

‘Drone Logic’, and now they go all the time. To have that

would be Matty Healy. “I love The 1975, they’re one of my

impact on people – that’s my absolute favourite thing that

favourite pop bands,” he says. He was working on a remix for

could have happened. It makes it all worthwhile.”

them which never quite got finished. Avery took the

One of the people who did that for him was the late

frontman’s voice and transplanted it onto an album track

Andrew Weatherall, who championed Avery’s work and

– “there’s human voices throughout, even if they don’t seem

“showed me a different path into electronic music,” he says.

like they’re voices at first.” Then there is A.K. Paul, who Avery

Weatherall inspired him to blend dance records with other

found himself writing some pop songs in the studio with

genres for something, mind-blowingly to him, even more

(“Hopefully they’ll come out”).

expansive. Beyond someone who was at first a hero and an

“He was singing through some kind of wooden wind

inspiration, “he became something of a friend,” and “was a

instrument, and it was just too beautiful not to include.”

very, very early supporter of what I was doing”. Weatherall

The decision to include these vocal snippets came from a

was the first person to have a copy of ‘Drone Logic’, and

period in lockdown, when he started looking back at albums

“without his support, I mean, I probably wouldn’t be here,”

he loved from the mid-90s to the turn of the millennium,

he offers.

from the first Wu-Tang Clan album, ‘Enter the Wu-Tang (36

‘Lone Swordsman’, the track Avery produced on the day of

Chambers)’ to ‘The Holy Bible’ by the Manic Street Preachers,

learning of Weatherall’s passing, has a spot on the album, in

and ‘Rated R’ by Queens of the Stone Age. “They have these

keeping with its deeply personal, honest message. “I don’t

interludes and spoken word elements that have such a

know how much I believe in the cosmic order of the universe,

human touch to them. Those records feel like a wider, bigger world than just some songs in order.”

DISCO_POGO_91

“He [Weatherall] just led by example. And he wouldn’t even think that he was leading. He just was. That was the coolest thing about him.”

“summer secret weapon”. Although it doesn’t feature on the album, it does make up part of the record’s universe, a decision that came from the beating heart of “indie boy me,” Avery says. “I love B-sides, off-cuts, additional tracks, rarities. Each version of the album, cassette, CD and vinyl has its own unique bonus track. You have your main body of work, but if you want to dive deeper then you can. I’ve but something seemed to happen that day in the studio,” he says of the skippy builder that sees synth lines darting about hopefully.

always loved that.” ‘Together in Static’, one of the lockdown records, was created after Avery secured a couple of intimate gigs at St.

“He was someone who did things entirely on his own

John at Hackney Church. He started to produce music

terms, constantly created and pushed himself but never

specifically for those shows, keeping the vast, vaulted

once believed his own hype, really. In the best possible way,”

Georgian space in mind, before falling into the project

Avery says of the artist who once described him as a

headfirst and suddenly, he had an entire album’s worth of

“purveyor of machine funk of the highest order”.

material. While making ‘Ultra Truth’, though, Avery wasn’t

“[Weatherall] knew he had something to offer but he didn’t

even thinking about the club. “I wanted it more to exist in

really care about the fanfare around him, as long as he

people’s heads and particularly through people’s

could keep creating, that was all that mattered to him.”

headphones, actually,” he says when it’s pointed out how

There’s a long history of Avery coming to work with his

cavernous sounding the record is. “It’s informed by the club

heroes, whether it was releasing music on Erol Alkan’s

in so many ways, but I believe it’s equally informed by stuff

Phantasy Sound label or having a member of Nine Inch Nails

outside of that world.”

reach out to him as a fan. But Weatherall was, to him,

But in the year 2022, club music is bigger than ever – with

arguably the most important. “I’m sure many people

drum‘n’bass earning younger legions of followers alongside

reading this will have some connection to Weatherall in

90s trance, rave and house filling the charts. The TikTok era,

some form, or some memory,” he continues. “And I think

you could say, is conducive to making one-hit wonders, or a

Andrew would probably baulk at the idea of him being a

crop of overnight celebrities, who don’t have the years of

mentor or anything. He wasn’t. He would never talk like

dedication someone like Avery has put in.

that, or think like that, he would never say: ‘This is what you

The idea of the DJ being “in some way elevated” or

need to do here.’ He just led by example. And he wouldn’t

lavished with praise is “something I think you have to shut

even think that he was leading. He just was. That was the

down pretty damn quickly,” he says. “Otherwise, you’re – I

coolest thing about him. He just was who he was at all

mean, I find it difficult to think of myself like this, anyway

times. And I mean, that’s a lesson in itself.”

– but you’re distracted from the real goal, which is to continue making music and to continue just creating and

The aforementioned, sweat-soaked FOLD party was the

offering myself in that way. Those paths don’t lead to

genesis of ‘Unfolder’, a searing techno track with a wailing

anything particularly fruitful and actually can be pretty

vocal sample that Avery produced especially for his set

fucking harmful. So, you know, I really feel like my vision is

there, and that’s since become a crowd favourite and his

pretty clear. As long as I can keep coming back every year, every two years, with something new, whatever that may

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be, then I’m happy. I’m genuinely happy.”

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TRESOR A True Story

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In the introduction to ‘Tresor: True Stories’, the superb, not to mention comprehensive, visual history detailing the first 30 (and a bit) years of Berlin’s iconic techno institution, Dimitri Hegemann, one of the club’s founders, vividly remembers the moment in 1990 when he first set eyes on the basement of the former Wertheim department store. “It was sensational, like magic!” he recalls of the scene, illuminated by cigarette lighters. “It was like the walls were talking to me.” Everything about the potential venue was perfect. Located right next to the East-meets-West no man’s land of Potsdamer Platz, the building, once the largest department store in Europe, was dripping in symbolism. While the low-ceilinged walls of Wertheim’s vault – the store’s bank – were now dripping water, they’d soon be dripping sweat. As the book outlines, Hegemann knew that all the basement needed was a sound system, a bar, a DJ booth and some lights. The name – Tresor, German for vault – was also clear. From the club’s opening in March 1991 to its final 16-day non-stop party in 2005, Tresor, as the book makes obvious from the outset, was more than just another night club. Its cultural significance in the post-Berlin Wall landscape was vast. And in its 350-plus pages, including more than 400 evocative photos, ‘Tresor Stories’ tells its story brilliantly. There’s early snaps of the Detroit techno community – Jeff Mills, Juan Atkins, Blake Baxter and co – whose symbiotic relationship with the club’s concrete floors, metal bars and stark minimalism was one of the crucial reasons for the club’s success. But the real stars – of course – are the crowd itself. In countless pictures that anyone who’s ever spent time on a dancefloor, among like-minded souls, will recognise, there’s a joyous abandonment etched into the dancer’s faces. The book goes on to tell Tresor’s post-2007 rebirth of course. There’s the new club in the basement of a former power plant in Mitte, plus the gargantuan event space in the building above, now known, fittingly, as Kraftwerk. Today, Tresor’s place in the history of electronic music is assured. It’s the main reason Berlin is commonly referred to as the electronic music capital of the world. Crucially, its story is still unfurling and the dancers are still dancing, finding their community and their place in the world. This magnificent book is testament to that. Viva Tresor.

Photo: Oliver Wia

JIM BUTLER

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3Phase.

Photos: G.V.Horst, Benno Krähahn, Oliver Wia

Photo: Wolfgang Brückner

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Jeff Mills.

Photos: by Tilman Brembs, G.V.Horst, Oliver Wia

Monika Kruse.

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Photos: Oliver Wia

Dimitri Hegemann and Marshall Jefferson.

Sven Väth.

Blake Baxter and Juan Atkins.

Robert Hood.

Jeff Mills.

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I. WORDS: TARA JOSHI

PHOTOS: LYDIA GARNETT

JORDAN DISCO_POGO_105

FOREVER CHANGES

I. JORDAN finally knows who they are. A confident, exciting and thoughtful producer whose music reflects such an identity. After a string of acclaimed EPs, this proud Trans artist is ready to unleash their debut album next year – an album that will encapsulate the liberation they now feel. “It’s gonna be Trans as fuck,” they enthusiastically state…

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“This is... really not me.”

past two months that I’ve been like: ‘Actually, I’m fucking

sitting in a café in Stoke Newington, north London, and,

dressed in a crisp white adidas T-shirt, adorned in delicate

from a china teapot, they are pouring amber-coloured Earl

silver piercings and a thick silver chain loose around their

Grey tea into dainty white cups and saucers. They’re jokily

neck; their aura feels bright like their newly blue-green hair.

acknowledging how this particular set-up might feel in

“I wanted to bring some more colour into my life,” they smile,

stark juxtaposition to their working class and Northern

though later they will explain that the colour feels most

roots – which, they are quick to point out, incidentally

representative of how they see their gender.

I. JORDAN is laughing. The DJ and Ninja Tune producer is

mirror the origins of much of the UK’s best dance music. A few years ago, Doncaster-born Jordan started

sick of this and I’m gonna do something about it.’ Sorry, is this a tangent?” This is often how they talk – in long, enthusiastic, thoughtful answers that veer into self-conscious apologies. But, fundamentally, while Jordan is certainly conscientious, they are anything but apologetic as a person; it’s reflected in the boldness of their work, both as an artist, and also as someone pushing for better inclusivity and representation across the music industry. Today, they are exuding a confident, content energy,

Earlier this year, Jordan announced they would now be using the artist name I. JORDAN – and in their personal life,

releasing music under their birth name, India Jordan. In

they are now simply known as Jordan: a name which is

2019, they released their first solo EP, ‘DNT STP MY LV’, the

ambiguous in terms of its gender identity; the artist’s

same year they came out as gender fluid, or non-binary –

preferred space to occupy. “It felt like coming out all over

during this time, their star began rising, and they quickly

again,” they say of the decision. “While I don’t agree with it,

became heralded as a need-to-know name with their

we operate under this compulsory binary system, and with

sparkling, kinetic production and heavy, fun, eclectic DJ

that you get compulsory binary names. You don’t get men

sets, both of which pull from a vast and deep breadth of

called India. And since I started asking my friends to call me

musical knowledge. But, of course, this was all around the

Jordan and experimenting with that, people don’t know my

time the world went into the Covid-19 lockdowns.

gender – and I fucking love it!” For serious matters, they use

It meant that a lot of Jordan’s acclaim came during a

the name Jordan Jordan currently; otherwise, they often

time when we could not actually go outside: 2020’s ‘For You’

get their post addressed to ‘Jordan Hee-hee’: “As in, I’m

EP was a breakthrough moment, and yet its audience was

giggling at myself.”

not listening in the intended club, but rather connecting

So when they laugh while pouring out our tea, I. JORDAN is

with it on a different level, at home. For its creator, this all

perhaps tacitly showcasing a degree of self-awareness: this

meant further time for introspection, coming closer to a

is an artist who in some ways is constantly in flux, sure,

better understanding of their gender identity – albeit,

darting off in various directions – conversationally,

without the opportunity to be out and dancing among the

musically, personally – and revelling in the fact that nothing

Trans and Queer community during that time. Lockdown

is fixed. But also – right now, at least – it feels like I. JORDAN

also meant they were able to reflect on what the scene

is an artist who knows exactly who they are.

needed to do in order to be more inclusive and safer. And so, the past year feels like it must be a strange

Up in Doncaster, Jordan was raised by their single mother in

proposition for the now-32-year-old – emerging from

a council flat. As a kid, they had a difficult time fitting in at

lockdowns as someone who is now respected and revered

school and in the area – they were bullied at school and

across the dance music world, finally able to play in clubs

have spoken before about the lack of Queer spaces in the

again to those enraptured listeners; finally able to be out in

town. And so, like many others who have felt adrift,

the world as a version of themselves they feel comfortable

adolescent Jordan found a home in music.

with; but also, finally actually having the capacity to make

“Dance music is a big thing in the North, you just hear it

good on their self-described “theorising” on safety issues in

everywhere,” they say, “I’ve always been around happy

music spaces.

hardcore, hard house, donk, trance, bassline – and bassline

“All this stuff was happening, but I couldn’t do anything to

especially, that originated around 20 miles south from

put it into action,” they recount of the lockdowns. “People

where I used to live. I think a lot of those sounds have their

were connecting with my music, which was absolutely

roots in working class culture.” They pause and laugh: “All

incredible… but now I’ve been on the road for a good year…

good music does, doesn’t it?”

and initially I was so grateful to be back in the clubs and

On top of the more general local exposure to UK dance

just so fucking happy to be doing what I love and finally

sounds, to be a teenage music nerd in the late-2000s was, of

living the dream that I had been theorising might happen

course, to be on MySpace. Jordan found the social media site

while I was in lockdown – but I was scared of it falling

to be indispensable: “Thank God for MySpace, because I don’t

through, because it felt like too big a dream. So I didn’t want

know if I would have found music in that way otherwise!”

to ruffle any feathers, I guess – I was like: ‘If I get misgendered on the road, it’s fine’, and it’s only really in the

Among the many other genres that sky-rocketed from the platform, screamo and emo were perhaps central to the MySpace era – and while Jordan doesn’t feel any particular

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affinity with Doncaster as a place, they are fondly

enthusiastic when it comes to remembering the gigs from

philosophy, I didn’t really have the time to invest into

that scene that took place there. Local venues like the

learning about frequencies and keys and musical theory

Leopard and the Doncaster Dome played host to early

and shit, and so it felt like something that was inaccessible

shows from bands like Bring Me The Horizon (“It must have

to me. And then I went straight from uni to full-time work,

been one of their first shows, and my friend got into a fight

plus I was DJing, I had a radio show – so I didn’t really have

with the guitarist”), Funeral for a Friend, Taking Back

the time. It wasn’t until Finn was like: ‘Just open it up, have

Sunday and My Chemical Romance.

fun with it and see what happens.’”

“I’m sure there is a Venn diagram between people who

Jordan – who seemingly always has multiple things on the

liked that kind of music and people who like drum’n’bass

go – had also started co-running an ambient record label

and heavier styles,” they say now. They had started playing

and party by then: New Atlantis, with South London

guitar, but soon, just before they headed to university in Hull

producer Al Wootton. “And I just thought: ‘I can’t not put out

to study philosophy, the MySpace wormhole had drawn

some of my music on here.’ It was just a really easy way.

them to the intense electronics of Australia’s Pendulum.

Having that direction and a deadline, almost, pushed me to

“On MySpace when you could add music to your profile?

open it up and play with it. But then I realised I didn’t really

For me, that revolutionised how you found music. I found

want to be making ambient.” As if to counter all their

Pendulum, and then I found Black Sun Empire, then London

concerns and the issues they were coming up against in

Elektricity, which was how I found Hospital Records.”

both DJing and producing, Jordan’s mission statement in

Jordan was immediately hooked and, during the university’s Freshers’ Fair, they came across a group of guys with some decks, playing drum’n’bass. Though Jordan “had

their music is accessibility (“I’m not, like, serious and technical”) and making it fun. 2014 was also the year that Jordan first met Tom Lea of

no idea what DJing was” back then, they were excited to

now-prolific independent record label, Local Action – again,

find people into the same music as they were, and quickly

via McCorry, who was already a key artist on the then

realised that Hull was a big drum’n’bass city. And so it was

relatively new label. Local Action has been home to releases

that they joined Crystal Clear, the university’s DJ society –

from artists across the electronic music spectrum: they’ve

and at that time, they were the only non-male member,

put out records from the likes of Jersey Club’s finest

honing their craft and putting on drum’n’bass parties in the

UNiiQU3, Huddersfield bassline pioneer DJ Q and the more

city. Soon, Jordan would become the society’s first non-

eclectic end of R&B futurist Dawn Richard’s output.

male president.

Reflecting on his relationship with Jordan, Lea explains over

Their time in Crystal Clear feels emblematic of the dance

email: “We became mates… and after realising what a good

music industry more generally, and Jordan’s place within it.

DJ they were that naturally progressed to booking them on

They recall how very few of the males in the society were

shows and doing radio together, so they already felt like

willing to help Jordan, and so they were largely self-taught

label family before they ever sent us any music. When they

– the exception being Finn McCorry, with whom Jordan

first started making music, we would naturally have

became close friends, who taught them how to use CDJs (in

conversations about it and they would sometimes work on

turn, Jordan taught them how to DJ on vinyl – they laugh

it at our old studio in New Cross - again, just mate stuff,

that they are “too lazy” to play records now, though note

really! – but when it reached the point where that music

that they have a lot of respect for the likes of Eris Drew,

was crystallising into an actual record, I think it was the

Angel D’lite and Octo Octa, who all DJ on vinyl). They recount

obvious call for both Jordan and I to release it together. I

a story where, on their first night playing on CDJs, someone

don’t even think there was much of a: ‘Do you wanna do this

else in the society commented on Jordan not being very

on Local Action?’ conversation – it was just the natural,

good on the CDJs.

obvious home for it.”

“That was the context I came from, these people watching

In spite of the early acclaim for their music and DJing,

and judging me with that attitude – the drum’n’bass scene

though, it was only in January of this year that Jordan quit

in Hull is quite chin-strokey and full of gatekeepers.”

their day job working as an Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

Still, from Jordan’s presidency onwards, they say there

Consultant at King’s College, London to focus full-time on

have been markedly more non-males involved in the society.

the music. “I’ve got my partner, and they could maybe

Even in just taking up that space, Jordan opened up things

financially support me if something happened,” they say.

for the next generation. “At a lot of the gigs that I do now,

“But like, I don’t have parents who can support me

there are kids that come from Crystal Clear, that are like

financially. I support my mum financially, she lives in a

ten years younger, who say that they know I used to be part

one-bed council flat in Doncaster – I don’t have a house to

of it,” they say. “At the time I didn’t realise what I was doing

fall back on if things go bad. And I think that’s why it took

was the first of its kind in that area, now I look back and I’m

me so long to take the plunge.”

like: ‘Oh, it makes sense that no one wanted to help me’ and

Their background explains their relentless work ethic

‘It makes sense that there were all these gatekeepers

– Jordan admits they have been feeling pretty burnt out

around me.’ I just thought they were being dicks at the time.

lately (“The only weekends I’ve taken off this year are if I’ve

Which… they were, but it was also part of a bigger picture.”

been ill and had to cancel”). Along with their team, they

Their friendship with McCorry proved formative beyond

know now that they need to be more intentional about

the DJing skill share. It was McCorry who encouraged

what they’re saying yes to moving forward and spend more

Jordan to start producing music, around the time they had

time resting and playing Pokémon on their Nintendo Switch,

moved to London in 2014. “I didn’t really know that I could make music,” Jordan says, “Because I did a degree in

DISCO_POGO_109

“DONK IS QUEER, BECAUSE IT’S FUN, IT’S COLOURFUL! IT SOUNDS VIBRANT TO ME. BIG HARDCORE TRACKS, BIG SYNTHS TOO. I LIKE DEEP MELODIC STUFF, BUT I ALSO LIKE DONK – IT MAKES PEOPLE LAUGH, IT BRINGS PEOPLE’S SPIRITS UP, WHICH I THINK IS WHAT WE NEED RIGHT NOW.”

Over the summer of 2022, Jordan and I cross paths a couple of times, bumping into each other among groups of mutual friends at events rooted in Queer joy and liberation: basking in the sun in Soho Square during Trans Pride and then, a few weeks later, dancing through the day and night at Body Movements festival out in Hackney Wick. Dance music has always been rooted in Queer culture. House music, particularly, was pioneered by Black and Queer, often working class artists – and the scene provided a space for people who were typically marginalised to be free to be themselves. But, over the decades, it has become the case that the gatekeepers across the industry are largely not of these backgrounds anymore; and, very often, for both artist and attendee, the dancefloor does not always feel a safe space. But Jordan is working to change this. Working with fellow game-changing DJ, producer and friend, SHERELLE, the pair are planning on putting on some Queer parties next year, alongside their collaborative release on fabric’s new Originals label. “I think the Queer parties I’m going to now are influencing me massively,” Jordan says as we reflect on these events, “I’m thinking about those parties I want to put on in the future – and my Transness is gonna be integral. The priority of people going to that party will be Trans and Queer. And maybe the music I’m making, the DJing, the events I’m running – I wanna be working with as many Trans people as possible. Every element: not just the artists, but sound engineers, the people making the artwork. For me, finding my identity and finding my community within that identity has been so ground-breaking for me, and that’s so integral to my music now – I can’t separate the two.” It’s telling of where they’re at that, next year, amidst

or else engaging in hobbies like looking at possum accounts

touring, their main priority is writing their debut album, and

on Twitter or going birdwatching (they laugh telling

they say: “The intention with the album is that it’s gonna be

explaining how sometimes fans will DM them with requests

Trans as fuck!”

to help identify birds, which must make a pleasant change

Of course, it is not as easy to be so open in their identity

from calls for track IDs). But obviously it is difficult to get

as they might make it seem. Discussion turns to the artwork

out of the scarcity mindset in an industry that often tries to

for ‘For You’, which depicts Jordan staring at themselves in

make marginalised people feel grateful to be there.

the mirror of the bathrooms at London Queer clubbing

“They’ve worked their ass off to get where they are,” says

staple, Dalston Superstore. It appears emblematic of a

Lea, “I’ve seen first-hand the amount of hours they put into

space where you can freely explore yourself – but for

getting each release as good as it possibly can be, and they

Jordan, even just a couple years after the release, it already

go through that same process every time. They don’t take

feels out of sync with who they are.

shortcuts with their art, they think very seriously about

“I love that cover – every time I go to Superstore I look in

what they want to put into the world and the example they

the mirror and I’m like: ‘Whey!’” they laugh. “But I kind of

want to set within it.”

need to disconnect from that cover, too. I had only just come

Nearly a decade since they first met, Lea now works as

out as non-binary when that came out, and I’ve been on a

Jordan’s manager. But still, Jordan views Local Action as

big gender journey since then. I need to see that artwork as

more integral than simply being a facilitator of work: as

a place in my history, and honour that – but also I can’t look

when they were a kid in Doncaster, in adulthood music has

at myself.”

helped them find their people. “The collective community

Since then, their artwork has often had them less

element is the best part of a label,” they say. “A lot of people

recognisable in the shot, so that it’s easier for them to look

will message me on Instagram asking who they could send

back on. They are mindful, too, of the structural things at

their demos to – but I don’t really think about what their

play when it comes to feeling comfortable in your identity.

sound is, I’m more just like: who do you align yourself with in

They have long been an advocate of inclusion riders

terms of community? And who do you want to grow with?

(contracts that stipulate a minimum level of people from

For me, that’s the best approach to music releases – there

marginalised backgrounds also being involved in a given

are lots of not very personable, transactional elements to

show or festival), and the importance of representative

putting out music, but it’s something I’ve been very lucky with, with Local Action. Family has always been a part of it.”

DISCO_POGO_111

112_DISCO_POGO

“FOR ME, FINDING MY IDENTITY AND FINDING MY COMMUNITY WITHIN THAT IDENTITY HAS BEEN SO GROUNDBREAKING FOR ME, AND THAT’S SO INTEGRAL TO MY MUSIC NOW – I CAN’T SEPARATE THE TWO.”

inspired by how Jordan was, “just being themselves in an unfiltered way,” they say. “So much of the way we consume people online is a very sanitised version of themselves, especially when it comes to being gender diverse and non-conforming, but seeing them exist as purely who they are, is really inspiring. If it wasn’t for the friends around me, especially Jordan, I probably would have never come out.” Colour runs central to I. JORDAN’s work. Bending and shifting through a variety of sonic touchstones, their songs always gleam brightly over thumping, throbbing drums and bass that imbues a dense heat. “I organise my Ableton files through colour, so…” they point to their turquoise hair. “All my drums are this colour. The drums are the main focus point for how I create music, and this is my favourite colour.” They turn their head to show off the little braided rat’s tail that sits on the back of their head, also dyed that same blue-green. “I consider this colour my gender, this tail is my gender. I don’t know how to explain it, it’s the colour that I just connect with.” They explain that every release that they’ve done has had a certain colour tied to it, and so the artwork often reflects that (recent single ‘Hey Baby’ was yellow, for example, while forthcoming tracks ‘Give it to Me’ and ‘Reclaimed’ are both

line-ups, but they’re aware, too, of the limits of these things

purple). “Often the frequency spectrum is what informs the

without actual structural and societal change. Throughout

colours,” they explain. “Low ends are deeper colours, high

our conversation, Jordan mentions countless instances of

ends are cooler colours.”

being misgendered, and the general lack of consideration

They talk about their creative process more generally

for Trans people in the industry, as with the discomfort of

– how elements that don’t quite fit in one song might birth

many venues only having gendered toilets – and how they

another. For Jordan, their music encapsulates where they’re

often have to internalise these things before playing a show.

at during that moment in time, lending it something

They say they’ve started taking note of every time they’re

cathartic and freeing, like those club spaces. “I think that’s

misgendered and plan on sharing it on social media, so that

why I love [Queer techno party] Unfold,” they reflect.

people start to see the gravity and frequency of it.

“Because in a scene that isn’t very Queer or diverse, there is

With their background of working within diversity and

a reclaiming happening of certain sounds – that’s why the

inclusion at King’s, they have a good understanding of the

new track is called ‘Reclaimed’.” Inevitably, we start talking

bureaucracy and frameworks needed to confront these

about donk again. “It has its roots in working class and

issues – but even still, is it not a little frustrating that the

Northern culture – which is not very Queer or very diverse.

burden of calling things out and trying to make things more

But I want to make sure that I’ve got a donk track on my

inclusive so often befalls the person being marginalised?

album, because it’s connected to my roots, I used to listen to

“I feel like, I am here, and hopefully I’m not going away for

it growing up – but also, it’s Queer now!” They start

a good while, and I just want to be able to [make] the

laughing. “For me, donk is Queer because it’s fun, it’s

change I want to see in the scene,” they say, slowly. “And

colourful! It sounds vibrant to me. Big hardcore tracks, big

actually, I’ve got a really great team of people behind me –

synths too. I like deep melodic stuff, but I also like donk – it

they are mostly cis, but they’re extremely good allies, and I

makes people laugh, it brings people’s spirits up, which I

want to utilise that and be setting a precedent.”

think is what we need right now. For me, as a Northerner, I

In speaking up, Jordan has also helped other people come to terms with their own gender identity. Jex Wang, a DJ and writer who works as part of the Eastern Margins collective,

like to think I never take myself too seriously, and I want that to come across in my music.” Right now, it feels like that bold sense of fun and joy is at

explains: “They provide a lot of representation that is still

the core of I. JORDAN’s work, and that comes alongside a

lacking in the music scene, and they use their platform to

new-found self-actualisation and growing confidence in

speak about these issues which not many artists do – which

being unapologetically themselves. “I think it’s all part of the

I understand, because you can get a lot of backlash,

journey of understanding myself, and using music to help

whereas Jordan is just fiercely themselves. [It] definitely

me understand that. I think I make so many different

inspires a lot of other Queer and Trans people to be

genres, it kind of makes sense that it’s tied to my gender? I

themselves and go and be free.”

can’t just stick to one thing! I’m inspired by so many

DJ and producer Yewande Adeniran, who performs under the name Ifeoluwa, says their friendship with Jordan has been an essential part of their own journey. They were

different things and I wanna make sure my music reflects that; and that kind of reflects my identity.” They smile as they finish up their tea, their hair blazing bright in the sunlight. “My Transness is about ‘transience’ – I

114_DISCO_POGO

accept in myself that I’ll be forever changing.”

HOLMER’S Who is David Holmes? The hedonistic experimental DJ? The award-winning composer? The producer whose prolific work recalls the best music of the last 60 years? He is, of course, all these things and more. In a moving reflection upon his life, his work and his home, the Belfast artist tells Jim Butler that he’s just getting started… Portrait Photos: Steve Gullick

ODYSSEY

116_DISCO_POGO

Music. Clothes. Art. Literature. Films. Style.

Not doing a big bag of magic mushrooms and sitting in a

been obsessive about his passions. Raised in Belfast during

and if they’re going to fuck up my mental health I will fix it

the Troubles these passions offered not only an alternative

by any means necessary.”

David Holmes has always

form of education but provided succour when his childhood

field with my mates and laughing our tits off for six hours - I never rule that out by the way. But in terms of dealing with my mental health. I’m a few years in and it’s been a complete gamechanger. Is it legal? No, and I don’t care. We live with a government who break the law on a daily basis

He goes on to extol the virtues of food science writer

was interrupted by the violent events happening just

Michael Pollan. His bestseller, ‘How to Change Your Mind’ has

outside his front door.

been something of a revelatory guide for Holmes. Pollan, he

“Growing up the way I did the only thing I had was an imagination, a record player and a VHS,” he recalls today from the studio inside his Belfast home. The comforting four

explains, discovered psychedelics in his 60s and he made a conscious decision to go all in. “And what he found, no pun intended, completely blew his

walls of home have always provided emotional stability and

mind. This was about transforming the way we think, the

physical safety. As a kid he spent a lot of time indoors, in

way we feel… and all for positive results.”

what he calls lockdown – handy for what would come 40-odd years later. “My mum would say: ‘You’re not going out tonight, there’s trouble on the streets.’ So I’d sit in and rent three or four videos for two quid. It wasn’t a rich man’s sport, but you were consuming all this information.” On other occasions he would sit at the top of his house on

In turn, the mushroom therapy has taken Holmes’ creative obsessions to the next level. He starts to list the symbiotic relationship that has often existed between drugs and music. Mods and speed. Acid house and ecstasy. “I think that’s always given creators an inspiration,” he notes. ”It’s always opened portals that perhaps weren’t really letting any light in. And since doing mushrooms… let’s

the Ormeau Road and gaze out his window, not dreaming

just say if I thought that I’d already opened all the portals,

exactly (“You didn’t have a dream growing up in Belfast back

I’ve discovered there was another portal to be opened. And

then,” he remembers, “the whole thing was so absurd”), but

as a 53-year-old man I will take all I can get. I want to die

pushing his mind and his imagination, concocting fantasies.

being obsessed with music. I never want to become shit. So

Next door to his house was the Parador Hotel. Back then it

the mushrooms have given me that real need for rhythm

had one of those red neon Hotel signs attached to its side

and hypnosis and transcendence.”

(“Like you see in the movies”) and sometimes the light would falter and flicker evocatively. “I would sit there with this trumpet that didn’t work,” he

In 2022 and with a 30-year-plus career already behind him, David Holmes, producer, DJ, composer, filmmaker… – a

laughs. “I’d just pretend to be in a movie, listening to jazz in

multi-hyphenate in today’s language – believes he’s only just

the background.”

getting started. In the last year alone, he’s released two

Today, the obsessive nature is still apparent. Like other

awe-inspiring singles, ‘Hope Is the Last Thing to Die’ and ‘It’s

people his age, and certainly from his background, Holmes

Over, If We Run Out Of Love’, under his own name, both

has had his own struggles with mental health, fixating and

featuring the emotive vocals of Raven Violet; written the

obsessing over things, some of which, he candidly admits,

stirring soundtrack for Michael Winterbottom’s gut-

“didn’t exist”. He went to see a therapist – “which wasn’t

wrenching Covid drama, ‘This England’ and alongside his

really for me” – but during the course of his sessions he was

regular collaborators Jade Vincent and Keefus Ciancia,

diagnosed with Pure O.

released the dramatic third Unloved longplayer, the

“It’s basically pure obsession,” he explains. “I don’t have the compulsion in OCD, like my studio is a fucking mess and I’m quite happy with that. I’m just obsessed in my mind.” During the second lockdown of his life – the Covid version

sprawling, 22-track ‘The Pink Album’. He’s also produced Sinead O’Connor’s first album in almost a decade, ‘No Veteran Dies Alone’, scored the music to ‘Lyra’, a powerful documentary about the life of

– Holmes made a concerted effort to look after his mental

murdered investigative journalist Lyra McKee, written the

health. He read more. Meditated.

theme tune to the TV gangland drama, ‘Kin’, soundtracked

“I really jumped into figuring that out,” he goes on. “Like I’ve been doing a lot of…” Suddenly there’s silence. Holmes has been energetically holding court on all manner of subjects for the last 30

the final series of ‘Killing Eve’ and delivered captivating remixes for Jarvis Cocker and Orbital (his fittingly spellbinding rework of the Hartnoll brothers’ ‘Belfast’). He continues to take his itinerant God’s Waiting Room

minutes – from Boris Johnson to the Troubles by way of The

nights around the country – he was last seen spinning

Clash and ageing, more of which later – but he’s abruptly

triumphant sets at The Social in London and playing two

fallen silent. He starts to laugh. There’s something he wants

emotional nights at Convenanza, his old friend, the late

to divulge, but he’s not sure whether to unburden himself.

Andrew Weatherall’s boutique festival in Carcassonne,

And then remembering his freshly balanced mental

France. Then there’s the monthly radio show of the same

equilibrium he chimes up once more.

name, which he describes as a round-about selection of ‘the

“I’ve been doing mushroom therapy,” he says, at first

cinematic, library music, rock’n’roll, psych, experimental,

hesitantly, before finding his voice. “But doing it properly.

unclassifiable and independent’.

118_DISCO_POGO

Instagram account is a reliable resource of poetical, moral,

And for anyone still requiring an additional Holmer fix, his

The Ace Face: Holmes and friends DJing at the Delta, Belfast, 1984.

“I want to die being obsessed with music. I never want to become shit. So the mushrooms have given me that real need for rhythm and hypnosis and transcendence.”

cultural, spiritual and political guidance. Whatever his fear

Whatever the reasons for this recent prolific flourish and

of becoming shit, using that as a motivational tool seems to

his joyous sense of urgency, one thing is for certain, he’s not

be working – there’s no danger of that actuality existing any

resting on his laurels.

time soon. “I’ve always had this strange fascination with why really

“I don’t,” he reflects. “I’ve seen crazy shit happen. When opportunities arose for me to actually do this for a living I

great artists become stale at some point,” he considers,

just made a conscious decision not to take it for granted.

assembling another rollie in double-quick time. “Not all of

Because it is the best job in the world. I feel extraordinarily

them, but it’s very common. And it boils down to a few

grateful to still be able to do this. In fact there’s not enough

things. One of them is having too much money and being

hours in the day sometimes. I’ve kind of broken through to a

surrounded by yes people. People just telling them they’re

point where I feel like a 20-year-old.”

great. Another is laziness. I understand that. As you get

Reflecting upon his life, his career and his good fortune

older there’s so many other things you’ve got to do: your

it’s abundantly apparent the Troubles are never far from

family, tidying the house… you’re not young anymore. But I

Holmes’ mind. When he was four his house was bombed

love technology for that reason. I haven’t got time to travel

while his sister was washing him in the bath. One of his

around record shops and spend hours trawling through

brother’s best friends was shot dead on his street, an event

different bundles trying to find the Holy Grail. And there’s so

which led to his brother moving to America because Holmes’

much gold online. Whether it be music – I’m on so many

dad got word that his brother was “going to get shot next”.

record shop mailing lists – photography, art, movies…” DISCO_POGO_119

By the time he’d reached his 20s, Holmes had

His most recent songs – and they are unabashed pop

unsurprisingly buried it all. In 1995, when Jockey Slut first

songs with a capital P – are infused with this righteous

featured him on the cover around the release of his debut

anger. Both ‘Hope Is the Last Thing to Die’ and ‘It’s Over, If

album, ‘This Film’s Crap, Let’s Slash the Seats’, there was

We Run Out Of Love’ are boisterous clarion calls and, as

only one stipulation: he didn’t want to discuss the Irish

their titles suggest, optimistic statements of intent. ‘Hope…’

Situation.

was the first to be released and from its opening synths,

“When I discovered acid house, right, which was a gradual

driving 60s soul beats and unapologetic lyrics (‘Make some

thing – the penny dropped in mid-89 – Belfast was still so

changes/Changes we want to see’) it’s clear Holmes is an

dark,” he explains today. “People talk about the 70s in

artist, if not reborn, then certainly driven by a new-found

Northern Ireland, but the 80s were fucking crazy too. So

sense of purpose. “I’m not worried about what anyone

when I discovered ecstasy and acid house the last thing I

thinks or what anyone says,” he states proudly. “This is from

wanted to talk about was the Troubles. I’d been through

my heart. This is music that I feel.”

that my whole life. This was getting buried.” Belfast, he states matter-of-factly, was intense. And even

If ‘Hope..’ had the air of Hope Sandoval-fronting-Suicide about it, ‘It’s Over…’ is even more suggestive. A pointed and

though he and his mates were out partying and “every

ecstatic celebration of youth culture, Holmes has chucked

Saturday night was the best night of your life – and it was,

all his musical obsessions into the blender – soul, acid house,

you know?” they were still carrying this dread, both real

krautrock, psychedelia, punk, rock’n’roll, 60s girl groups –

and existential, around with them. It is, he suggests

and come up with something close to New Order at their

rationally, why so many people in Northern Ireland suffer

most rousing, backed by an elephantine, Spector-like Wall

from PTSD.

of Sound. The song’s origins lie in the work Holmes did on

However, if David Holmes aged 23 was an archetypal

Noel Gallagher’s last album, ‘Who Built the Moon?’

apolitical hedonist – with the substantial caveat that the

Inexplicably, Gallagher didn’t get it. Thankfully, Holmes did.

nights that he put on at Belfast Art College, bringing over

“I said: ‘Can I do it? I’m gonna get Raven to sing it.’ When I

“I made a conscious decision not to take it for granted. Because it is the best job in the world. I feel extraordinarily grateful to still be able to do this. In fact there’s not enough hours in the day sometimes. I’ve kind of broken through to a point where I feel like a 20-year-old.” the likes of Orbital, Andrew Weatherall and Richie Hawtin

sent it to him he nearly shat himself. ‘Fookin’ hell, why did I not

changed people’s lives for the better – David Holmes aged 53

think of that? Give us a number!’ he said. I replied: ‘No.’ I

is anything but. In fact, right now, he’s never felt so

thought it should have been the first track on his album, but

politically engaged in his whole life.

he wasn’t feeling it the same as I was. It’s got that original

“I’ve lived in a world that’s total chaos and wrong on so

Oasis swagger from their first two albums. It’s not

many different levels,” he sighs, barely bothering to conceal

sentimental, but it has a feeling of freedom. We might be

his disgust. “And to go through that again, but on a world

going down, but I’m going up.”

level. I don’t want to bury it. I want these fuckers to be taken down. I want people to be on the streets.” Part of his ire right now is attributable to his work on

The two singles’ videos and the Situationist-inspired artwork push the notion of youth culture – turning revolt into style, to quote George Melly – and its importance to

Michael Winterbottom’s ‘This England’, the celebrated

contemporary Britain further. The clips, ‘Hope…’ directed by

director’s portrayal of Boris Johnson’s handling of Covid.

graphic artist Jimmy Turrell and ‘It’s Over…’ by erstwhile The

Coming so soon after the actual events, and having to

Jesus and Mary Chain bass player-turned-video director,

watch each sequence countless times, Holmes was

Douglas Hart, are jam-packed with images of razor-sharp

understandably moved by reliving history. The emotion was

seditious youth and a host of cultural icons (among them

still palpably raw. Tender. He admits there were a number of

Angela Davis, James Baldwin and Maya Angelou).

incidents in the production process that provoked such anger he had to leave the studio. “We live in this world where we’re completely slammed

The great news is that these songs aren’t outliers – an album, tentatively titled ‘Only Love Can Save Us’, is on its way next year. And as per the opening songs – and their

with so much information,” he says. “It’s like what would

accompanying remixes courtesy of such acid house

have been a scandal if it had been just one thing that

stalwarts as Daniel Avery, Sean Johnston and Darren

happened 20 years ago [and was discovered today] is

Emerson – it’s going to be dancefloor friendly.

forgotten because there are new things being uncovered every day. When you see them giving hundreds of millions of

“I wanted to make something that was more high energy,” he confirms, “but I didn’t want to make a clichéd dance

pounds-worth of contracts to Tory donors that knew nothing about PPE… these people should be in prison.”

DISCO_POGO_121

record. I wanted to do it differently – bring in other

When he embraced acid house his dance music loves

influences that weren’t necessarily what you’d hear in your

came in many forms – Latin, reggae, pop, European, gay

everyday dance and disco world. I’m really enjoying myself

Italian house music (“Which I’ve always had a love for

even though I’m writing about things that aren’t so much

because of the feeling”). He mentions Balearic and what he

fun. I’m trying to do it in a way that’s joyous. Like if you

calls: “An absolute freedom of music.”

listen to those old Motown records, that driving beat, those

He continues: “That’s why I feel really lucky that I was

amazing, huge orchestras… and the song is about pure

dancing to Alfredo in Amnesia in 1990 and experiencing the

heartbreak. It’s about getting the contrast of saying things

DJ playing The Clash next to Grace Jones next to some

that I feel are important but doing it in a way that is much

crazy Brazilian record next to Detroit techno. Acid house

more hopeful.”

was like all this great music coming together.”

A case in point is a new song, ‘Emotionally Clear’. Holmes

Subsequently, it’s hard to define his musical styles,

refers to the track a few times during the interview. Initially

essentially because he loves so much (“It was always music,”

he says he’s really proud of it. Later, he says he’s going to

he explains. “Rhythm and blues, Southern and Northern soul,

find it difficult to write another song as good. A few minutes

rock’n’roll, The Who, the Small Faces, Farley ‘Jackmaster’

after the interview the track lands in our inbox. Holmes isn’t

Funk, The Cure… at the end of the day, it’s all great music”).

lying. Buoyed by a swirling organ it’s a haunting blast of

Does that make him a poser? A dilettante? A thief? Maybe.

cosmic Baroque pop, and a perfect counterpoint to “Hope…’

But his love is genuine. He stands by Jim Jarmusch’s

and ‘It’s Over…’.

assertion that artists should celebrate their theft because

“There’s a few darker moments on there,” he admits. “But it’s all part of the same narrative. I’m really trying to tell a story.” The only part of the story he’s deliberating is the title

he believes that what you do with this theft has the power to become original and authentic. What’s certainly original is the home Holmes has found in

itself. Love, he says, a man born on Valentine’s Day, is such a

the world of film and TV soundtracks. His first two solo

big word. He fears it might be too corny.

albums, the magnificent ‘This Film’s Crap…’ and ‘Let’s Get

“Punk rockers, goths, Northern Soul, soul boys, mods, rockabillies, it’s all the same thing. It’s just different clothes. Different technology. Different music. But it’s all the same mindset of being part of something that felt esoteric and really exciting.” “But if we did have a government that genuinely loved

Killed’ were described as soundtracks for imaginary films.

people and cared about them we wouldn’t be in the place

His first foray into soundtracks was a pilot for Lynda La

we are right now,” he states. “So, it’s simple, but I’m just

Plante’s ‘Supply & Demand’.

trying to be brutally honest.”

“Which of course fitted my world completely at that time,” he jokes. “It wasn’t great, but it got me experience working

David Holmes has always been a musical magpie. Growing up in the 70s with nine brothers and sisters (“and a really

with the moving image and emotions.” This eventually led, of course, to his work on Steven

cool mum”) his education ran the gamut from Elvis to the

Soderbergh’s superb ‘Out of Sight’, and an ongoing

Sex Pistols, and everything in between. He was the pre-teen

relationship with the experimental filmmaker. Today, 25

punk with a sister at art college who would dress him in PVC

years after first working together and the bond remains.

trousers and a Seditionaries-style cheese-cloth top. Then in

“He’s one of the most inspiring men I’ve ever met,” he

1981 he had one of his countless VHS epiphanies when he

reflects affectionately. “Steven and I have never been out

watched ‘Quadrophenia’. Could the punk also be a mod?

for dinner or drinks or anything like that. We’ve never hung

“I remember this local punk, he was a bit older than me,

out. We just have a great working relationship. I regard him

one of those guys my mum told me I wasn’t allowed to hang

as a friend, but we have a very professional working

around with. Which of course made me want to hang

relationship. And because he doesn’t fully know me it’s

around with him even more,” he laughs. “He said: ‘No, you

probably the reason why we’re still working together. If we

can’t do that. You’ll be a poser.’ And then you grow up

hung out for a week or something he might turn around and

through all these things and you realise that punk rockers,

go: ‘He’s fucking doing my head in.’”

goths – I wasn’t a goth, nothing against them – Northern

Hollywood could have made him rich – he was offered lots

Soul, soul boys, mods, rockabillies, it’s all the same thing. It’s

of blockbusters after Soderbergh’s ‘Ocean’s’ trilogy – but he

just different clothes. Different technology. Different music.

decided to stick with Soderbergh because it would be a

But it’s all the same mindset of being part of something

more interesting and fantastic process.

that felt esoteric and really exciting.”

“I just realised early on, how much money do you need?” he says. And of working in Tinseltown: “I felt like I was living

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in Robert Altman’s ‘The Player’.”

Unloved: (left to right) Keefus Ciancia, Jade Vincent and Holmes.

Who is Raven Violet? “She’s so naturally multi-talented”

“I met Raven back in 2010, 2011, when I met Keefus and Jade [her parents] – she was about 16. I was trying to get her to come into the studio and sing backing vocals. I had a feeling she’d be really good. And after a lot of cajoling she agreed. I realised she had the voice Holmes and Andrew Weatherall.

of an angel. “Over the years she’s done more singing – with me and Unloved. We did the cover of ‘Strange Effect’ by The Kinks

After a two-year sojourn in Los Angeles – during which

and she killed it. It’s got well over four

time Unloved began to take shape – he returned to Belfast in

million streams on Spotify and is the title

2012. The weather had got “a bit boring” and he “missed the

music for ‘Nine Perfect Strangers.’

winter”. Upon returning his production company finished its

“One day I was talking to Keefus

first film, ‘Good Vibrations’, he scored the music for ‘71’ and

about Raven. I said maybe I should get

“hasn’t stopped working since.”

her involved in something. It was

Today, his restless, obsessive, creative mind is sated by

during lockdown. I did a track for the

any number of projects. When he wants to DJ, there’s God’s

Golden Lion – for Golden Lion Sounds. I

Waiting Room.

sent it to Raven and she completely

“I stumbled upon this complete shit hole – most of my venues have been shit holes,” he laughs, referring to Maple

killed it – that was ‘Love is a Mystery’. After I wrote ‘Hope Is…’ I sent her my

Leaf Sports and Social Club which hosted the first few GWR

song with my melody. She sang it and

nights in Belfast. “We brought Jarvis [Cocker] and Steve

it was amazing. It just evolved into the

Mackey over to do Dancefloor Meditations and Jarvis

next track [‘It’s Over…’] and then I

walked in and went: ‘What time’s the Meat Raffle?’ It was

realised we should do the whole

proper sticky carpet, old guys sitting in the wee bar next

record. It was a very natural process. I

door. Jarvis called the bingo that night. There’s some great

realised if she’s singing these almost

footage of him going: ’24, show us your drawers’. That night

mature lyrics about real issues it

is in my top five nights of all time.”

seemed to carry a lot more weight.

And this, essentially, is what music has given him, and so many others: friendships, memories, purpose, a home, a life. “I’ve always been quick to try and make friends with

“Although she likes doing music and she’s loving doing this album, it’s not what she wants to do. Raven is an

people,” he reflects. “I’m very positive in that sense. And

incredible writer – an incredible

sometimes it’s been amazing and they’ve been lifelong

scriptwriter. She wants to be a

friendships like Andrew [Weatherall] and Ashley Beedle (with

filmmaker, she makes a lot of videos for

whom Holmes did his first production job as The Disco

Unloved. She’s got an incredible eye.

Evangelists on 1993’s ‘De Niro’). And Darren Emerson.”

She’s just so naturally multi-talented.

He signs off, smiling: “I’m all about leaving your ego at the door. And just remembering we’re all just fucking… we’ve all

She wants filmmaking to be her real job. “She’s written a feature film that

got one go at this. Let’s just live our lives and help each

we’re trying to develop. Jeff Bridges

other get through this thing. Whatever it is, to quote Kurt

read it and wants to get involved.

Vonnegut. I just want to do it with joy and love and

Keefus is a good friend of Jeff Bridges.

gratitude and kindness and not be a dick.”

He sent it to Jeff Bridges and he

For that, we are all truly thankful.

thought it was amazing. I feel so blessed to have her because she’s an

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incredible artist.”

FLAMI GRO

IN’ OOVIES Photos: Pooneh Ghana Live photos: Adam Hampton-Matthews

Not many bands get better with the release of every record, to the point that their eighth album can be declared their best yet. But, then again, not many bands are Hot Chip. Their playful theatre of the absurd, combined with a rare heartfelt sincerity and an uncanny knack of crafting dance bangers, has made them one of the UK’s most cherished outfits. Not bad for a band who’ve played the music wrong in every town Manu Ekanayake discovers… DISCO_POGO_127

Hot Chip are a fantastic live band. They’re great on record

come forward, guitars aloft in ironic homage to the

too, of course, but if you don’t take the chance to see them

hands-in-the-air nature of the track. It’s a bit of fun that

live you’re really robbing yourself of seeing a five-piece live

the crowd is definitely in on, just like after their storming

engine at their peak, as Disco Pogo found out when we

cover of ‘Hung Up’ when Taylor deadpans: “That was a song

caught them on the penultimate gig of their September

by a popular singer called Madonna.”

five-night-takeover of Brixton Academy. “It’s Friday night in Brixton!” frontman and co-founder

Everyone laughs, the one-line crystallising Hot Chip’s appeal as a gang of music obsessives who wear their

Alexis Taylor exhorts the crowd, tongue ever-so-slightly in

influences on their sleeves and who knowingly recognise

cheek as you’d expect from a band who know perfectly well

they’re five middle class white guys who love funk, soul, hip

how absurd the world is and for whom reflecting that truth

hop and house music.

is central to their art . Taylor’s just come onstage in a

Such bonhomie is clearly drawn from the fact that they

shocking pink boiler suit. Hot Chip fans will know that he

are such good friends: Goddard and Taylor formed the band

likes rocking these on stage, but even for him this one is

in the former’s teenage bedroom in Fulham in 1997; they met

bright – when the lights go down for the absurdly funky

Clarke at the age of 12 at the Elliott School in Putney (a

‘Night & Day’ he looks positively radioactive, which is fitting

musically-inclined comprehensive that also produced

given how much energy is on display here.

Kieran Hebden aka Four Tet, Burial and The xx) and he joined

The rest of the band look fairly subdued in shades of

the band formally when the band were gigging their first

cream and white, which only makes Taylor stand out more.

album, ‘Comin on Strong’ for Moshi Moshi back in 2001.

His freshly bleached and cropped hair doesn’t hurt either. Al

Taylor met Doyle and Martin at Cambridge University, where

Doyle on lead guitar is rocking his signature straw boater

he studied English Literature. Goddard did History at Oxford

and a Sports Banger ‘NHS: Just Do It’ logo tee under his shirt

– so they’re admittedly more ‘smart gang’ than street gang.

for a touch of flair with a conscious message. Multi-

But they still feel like people you might know: middle-aged

instrumentalists Owen Clarke and Felix Martin keep it

music heads with perhaps a fondness for worker jackets

pretty low-key, as does Hot Chip’s long-time live member

and selvedge denim, no longer out every weekend but still

and studio collaborator Rob Smoughton on percussion and

partying when they can get a babysitter.

guitar. Only Taylor’s Hot Chip co-founder Joe Goddard allows himself a splash of colour, rocking an urban camo

Taylor is the more serious of Hot Chip’s co-founders and

top behind his keyboards.

one-half of the band’s main songwriting partnership.

Earlier in the week he told us: “We’re rehearsing extra hard

Whereas the more garrulous Goddard spoke to Disco Pogo

at the moment because during the year we spent writing the

lying on a couch, eagerly recounting tales of dancefloor

new album Covid happened so we’ve never had to play those

derring-do (“I once got thrown out of The End for handing

songs as a live band. We’ve got a ton of stuff to learn.”

out magic mushrooms to my friends – I was just handing out

And while his usually cheery and garrulous demeanour

dried liberty caps and felt this tap, tap, tapping on my

betrays just a touch of worry when we caught up over Zoom

shoulder. So eventually I turned around and said: ‘Excuse

days before the performance, it looks like everyone’s done

me, I’m trying to pass my friends some magic mushrooms!’

their homework by gig time. They start off strong with two

At which point I was very kindly escorted out…”) Taylor is

belters from that new album, ‘Freakout / Release’, which has

more strictly business. Though he’s unfailingly polite about

been out barely a month on Domino: their fourth for the

a scheduling mishap and full of great detail about the

label and home for the last decade.

band’s back-catalogue.

Opening with the album’s title track, which is a synth-

For example, he tells us that ‘Melody of Love’, the great E-pop

heavy banger that is pure Hot Chip, they then progress onto

song from ‘A Bath Full of Ecstasy’ – the same track that saw

‘Eleanor’, which will delight those fans who love their ability

Clarke and Smoughton raise their guitars aloft like returning

to make classic pop songs which have a dark undercurrent.

axe heroes at Brixton – was actually about ten minutes long

In this case, the song takes the POV of someone still not over

before they worked with Rodaidh McDonald on it.

their ex. One-part synth pop, one-part mental breakdown

“It was more of an instrumental club track,” he says. “Plus

could actually be a good summation of a lot of the Hot Chip

it didn’t have half of the lyrics it does now. Rodaidh told me:

canon, but it seems especially appropriate here: ‘If you

‘This could be a big pop song for you but it needs more

choose to remember me, hold me gently as you fall asleep.

writing and to be edited down.’ No one’s ever challenged me

Even if you believe that there’s nothing more, I feel heaven

like that but it was what I needed. The others were sat

knocking at our door’ trills Taylor, with just the right note of

around, I think feeling a bit worried about me, but they

jadedness for the subject matter.

encouraged me to keep trying too. There was a moment

That signature Hot Chip mixture of occasionally dark

where it was a bit of a breakthrough and the new chorus

topics, self-deprecating humour and great melodies is at

idea worked. That led to Al making a great melodic part on

play throughout their set – ‘Flutes’ from their ‘In Our Heads’

synths that lifted the chorus and then Felix thought of

album, even gets a little dance routine, which sees Doyle,

another synth bit and it all came together, but it was quite

Clarke and Smoughton join Taylor as they come closer to

hard work. That’s how it is, we all work together as a band

the crowd to flex a short routine of turns and shimmies like

so well like that, though it was good having Rodaidh there

a soul combo of yesteryear. And later on ‘Melody of Love’,

as a taskmaster for that track, absolutely.”

from 2019’s ‘A Bath Full of Ecstasy’, Doyle and Smoughton

‘A Bath Full of Ecstasy’ was the first time Hot Chip worked with outside producers, with McDonald, who’s worked with

128_DISCO_POGO

everyone from The xx to Adele, also re-working tracks like

“THE MORE WE REHEARSE... I REALISE THAT SO MANY OF THE NEW SONGS ARE ABOUT PEOPLE WITH PROBLEMS.” Glastonbury favourite ‘Hungry Child’ and the title-track

The upheavals of the past couple of years have also had a

itself. That album’s other co-producer was the late Philippe

serious effect, as Taylor mentions when we ask how

Zdar of Cassius. “Philippe was just so different,” Taylor

rehearsals are going. “The more we rehearse the more I

explains. “His studio sessions in Paris were more like ‘all of

realise that so many of the new songs are about people

you play everything at once and I’ll record you and we can

with problems in their lives that are to do with getting

add good vibey things to what you’ve already got.’ So

stuck in a loop of behaviour, feeling unsatisfied with where

everyone is having a great time and he’s recording it so well

they are in their life. And maybe relying on drugs to help

while dancing and clapping along. Then he tells us to go

them or maybe feeling unable to express what they’re

away for an hour so we get a drink or some food and when

going through,” explains Taylor, who is at pains to say it’s

we get back he’s started putting some of those things into a

not all autobiographical. “I’m not just studying people for

mix already. It was a very enjoyable way of making music.”

content – it’s just the things seeping into me over the year

Sadly that collaboration was not to last after Zdar died suddenly following a fall in June 2019. He remains a lasting

of making the record.” As ever with Hot Chip, there’s a lot going on below the

influence though. “Philippe left a startling impression on us

surface and, at times, on it: ‘Broken’ is clearly about

and we made the new album in Al’s new studio Relax And

depression and the difficulty of asking for help, with its

Enjoy, which he built with some inspiration from how

dark final lines, ‘Sometimes I think I’m broken, And there is

Philippe had set up his own studio,” Taylor recalls, clearly

nothing left to bust…’. While ‘Not Alone’ is about reaching

moved at the loss of a friend. “In terms of the atmosphere,

out to someone to offer that kind of aid. Tellingly, it

how easy it is to relax and create good music. You can play

features a bit of classic Hot Chip self-mockery: ‘We’ve

any instrument in there; they’re all plugged in and ready to

played the music wrong in every town, but somehow people

go. You don’t need to take half an hour to set up the drums.

heard our special sound.’

Everything is ready for you to be creative and then much

Goddard laughs when we ask about this. “Yeah I think on

like Philippe, Al will want to make cocktails for everybody so that it feels fun and you can relax and enjoy yourself.”

DISCO_POGO_129

that particular line Alexis is reminiscing on our career and

‘Made in the Dark’ – which saw EMI bringing them to a

the times when we’ve been pretty shambolic on stage

deservedly bigger audience – to more emotional later works

occasionally, but people still get something out of it. But I

like ‘One Life Stand’, which has made them beloved regulars

know he used to worry about other bands looking slicker

on the festival circuit.

than us on stage. But they all sounded the same and we

Goddard shares a great Glastonbury tale about

always sounded different. I think that’s why we’ve managed

performing Wiley’s ‘Wearing my Rolex’ alongside the rapper

to have some longevity, because even though our path is

at Worthy Farm. “This was when ‘Wearing my Rolex’ was the

pretty weird, at least it’s pretty different.”

biggest pop track around. Now obviously this was before his recent antisemitism and my feelings about him have

One of the things that has always made them so distinctive

changed. But he is a genius artist, who’s said some awful

has been their humour. It’s been a factor since their earliest

things. This was at the time when he would bring out a

releases, “mainly, I think, because what I’d done before as a

string of amazing singles, but you never knew if he’d turn up

teenage singer-songwriter with a guitar was so po-faced

and he was just smoking constantly. But he made it and

and serious,” Taylor tells us, acknowledging “the slightly

when we were doing rehearsals a week or so prior to the

juvenile humour” of tracks from their debut like ‘Playboy’.

festival he’d say: ‘We need to make space for the Oggies’. We

That had the memorable refrain of ‘Driving in my Peugeot

didn’t know what he meant. It turns out he wanted us to

hey, hey, 20-inch rims with the chrome now, hey, hey, blazing

add in 16 bars to the track so he could chant ‘Oggy Oggy

out Yo La Tengo, hey, hey, Driving round poppin’ with the top

Oggy!’ to get the crowd to reply ‘Oi Oi Oi.’ We were like: ‘We

down, hey, hey.’

can do that if you want to.’ And it happened on the day.

He sounds slightly annoyed that “… people [journalists]

Turns out a Glastonbury crowd love doing the Oggies.”

just kept asking about humour and irony and whether we were genuine about anything. But there’s a lot of other

“WE KNEW WE WEREN’T FROM NEW YORK AND WE WEREN’T RAPPERS... WE WERE MOCKING OURSELVES, NOT THE THINGS WE LOVED.” things going on: I mean I’m quoting T.S. Eliot about April

Something else Hot Chip’s fans love is the band’s evolution

being the cruellest month on that track, but then bringing

with each album. They’ve never stood still. This is clear on

myself down by saying: ‘This March hasn’t been great either’.

2009’s ‘One Life Stand’, probably their most affecting

We knew we weren’t from New York and we weren’t rappers,

release at that point. “I think that album felt a bit more

it was very self-aware in that we were mocking ourselves,

serious and that wasn’t really a deliberate thing, but it’s

not the things we loved, like hip hop in this case.”

where we were at,” Taylor agrees. “Maybe audiences started

He puts the humour that the band have always employed

to respond well to the emotion and passion of tracks like we

down to the early influence of acts like Smog, Will Oldham

did on ‘One Life Stand’? That title track wasn’t written

and Jim O’Rourke. “Those people on Drag City and Domino

immediately after I got married but some of my lyrics are

Records and all those records that they put out around 1999

about celebrating that. The strength of a relationship and

and onwards. Their lyrics were either very obviously funny

even if there are any difficulties, it’s trying to say that this is

with a dark sense of humour or in Will Oldham [now Bonnie

a very beautiful thing to be doing.”

Prince Billy] and Bill Callahan/Smog’s case they were a

Up to this point Goddard describes their approach to

mixture of very emotional and sad songs with certain

recording as: “So here’s a track: now let’s make it a banger.”

one-liners that were darkly funny or something. So we were

However, by 2012’s ‘In Our Heads’, their first release on Domino,

just influenced by that from our teens onward, even if we

they were thinking: “Let’s have songs on this album that are

we’re doing something different.”

neither ballads nor house tracks, but some strange orchestral

Of course, today, with eight albums under their belts the

pop song with marimbas,” which is how Taylor rather succinctly

idea that Hot Chip don’t really mean it seems laughable.

sums up ‘Now There is Nothing’ on that album, which he also

Their live show takes in everything from the pure pop

describes as “one of my favourite songs I’ve ever written”.

moments of ‘Over and Over’, with its ever-memorable monkey with his miniature cymbal, ‘Ready for the Floor’ and

The mournfulness that had been lurking around since ‘Boy From School’ got full vent on what remains a wonderful piece of pop. Taylor says: “It’s a bit like a Paul McCartney

132_DISCO_POGO

song on ‘Band on the Run’ – not that I’m saying it’s of that

“CHICKEN SOUNDS BETTER, IT SCANS BETTER! IT’S AN OPTIMISTIC LOVE SONG BUT... VERY MISERABLE TOO.” quality. But those songs would be like three songs all

joins them onstage for a sonic tale of struggling to function

jammed together. I was quite ambitious on the production

through depression. It features vocoder vocals from Hayter

of that one: I wanted to have marimba and xylophone

and references to Sun Ra’s ‘Live At Praxis ’84’ alongside

playing on it. We had Emma Smith and Vince Sipprell on

Taylor’s self-aware paean to not feeling the funk.

strings so we were stretching what the arrangement could be on a Hot Chip album.” Their next album, 2015’s ‘Why Make Sense?’, gave us big

Hayter is on top form and as an album artist nowadays, as well as a DJ, Goddard is full of praise. “We’ve known Lou since her days with NYPC but I DJed with her at Night Tales

Hot Chip bangers like ‘Huarache Nights’ (who else could

a couple of years back and her selection was just

name a track after a trainer and get away with it? Run DMC

impeccable. Alexis wanted a female voice for this track and

notwithstanding) and ‘Need You Now’. But their more singer-

she obviously knows about yacht rock and Balearic so she

songwriter-traits are also at play on the wryly optimistic

knew just what we needed here. I’ve been working on a

‘White Wine and Fried Chicken’. The band has been known to

hip-house record with her and maybe her next record will

change it to ‘White Wine and Fried Seitan’ when they play

come out on my label, Greco Roman, so there are a lot of

live, to reflect Taylor’s veganism.

great connections now.”

“But chicken sounds better, it scans better!” laughs Taylor.

This telling comment might as well be uttered about Hot

“To me it’s an optimistic love song but there’s something

Chip in general. After eight albums their maze of

very miserable about it too.” Again that contrast between

collaborators and the stories behind them make the band

extreme emotion and humour is ever-present for Hot Chip.

seem more like a family business. Never more so than when

It’s certainly there when they perform ‘Hard to be Funky’

Goddard welcomes his brother Jazz onstage for the backing

from ‘Freakout/Release’, at Brixton. Taylor’s vocals take a

vocals to ‘Miss the Bliss’. As he dances and plays tambourine

throaty turn as Lou Hayter, formerly of New Young Pony

while singing, the whole band look like nothing more than a

Club, another band from the indie-electro era of the 2000s,

family you’d really like to know. And that, in essence, is why nearly 30 years on from their beginnings in Joe Goddard’s

134_DISCO_POGO

teenage bedroom, we’re all still listening.

136_DISCO_POGO

Starman Ron Trent’s first LP in 11 years, ‘What Do the Stars Say to You’, is shaping up to be one of the albums of the year. Just don’t, whatever you do, call it house he tells Ben Cardew… Photos: Steven Piper

Ron Trent would like to make one thing clear: ‘What Do the

This is a house music album that is home to a

Stars Say to You’, his new album as WARM, is not house

septuagenarian jazz violinist trained at the Conservatoire

music, OK?

de Paris (Jean-Luc Ponty) and an Italian composer in his 60s

“Is it house? Oh, absolutely not,” he says with a large smile,

(Gigi Masin), alongside New York disco legend François

down the Zoom line from Chicago where he is back in the

Kevorkian and musically promiscuous festival headliners

old family home. Which is fine, of course. He’s Ron Trent, a

Khruangbin; a house music album that embraces synths

producer and DJ of exquisite talent, who has been making

and a gentle four-four pulse, as well as the dual (and

electrifying dance music since the tender age of 14 when he

perhaps contradictory) influences of kraut and yacht rock.

produced the early house/techno classic ‘Altered States’. At the same time, though, wait a moment: he’s Ron Trent,

Sure, there are elements of jazz (witness Ponty’s sparkling solo on ‘Sphere’), Afrobeat (Khruangbin’s funk glide on ‘Flos

the same Ron Trent who kept the deep house flag flying

Potentia (Sugar, Cotton, Tabacco)’), New Age (the admirably

through the 1990s and beyond, with his none-more-

horizontal ‘Admira’) and even Detroit techno (the synth

musically profound label Prescription (with Chez Damier).

sweeps on ‘Cycle Of Many’) to the album. But then house

This is the Ron Trent who produced scuba deep house

music has always been a very adaptable beast, capable of

classics like ‘Morning Factory’ and ‘The Choice’ (both with

making pretty with everything from gospel to soca, and

Damier) and who spun at NYC’s sacred house hangout Body

‘What Do the Stars…’ feels like a continuation of this

& Soul. Surely he’s not giving up on his roots, right at the

warm-hearted, open-minded spirit.

moment when the mainstream media is proclaiming 2022 to be the summer of house? Well, no. Not really. Obviously it is way beyond our pay

Putting all this together took time. ‘What Do the Stars Say to You’ is Trent’s first album in 11 years, a lifetime in electronic music terms, and he has been quietly working

grade to tell Ron Trent what is and isn’t house. But ‘What Do

away on the record, honing his musical skills. Rather than

the Stars Say to You’ feels a lot like house, albeit a kind of

getting in his way, necessarily, Covid gave Trent a

house made for lounging in a disco hammock, occasionally

convenient excuse to improve his guitar skills, one of several

twitching a limb, as a cool summer breeze comes in off the

instruments he plays on the album, alongside drums,

sea. Songs like ‘Melt Into You (feat. Alex Malheiros)’ and the

percussion, keys, synths, piano and electronics. WARM is a

gorgeously indolent ‘WARM’ sound like house of a certain

band, Trent says, albeit one that very much starts with him.

age, house music for deep diggers and musical thinkers, rather than tech housers and impatient festival dancers.

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This organic approach was a deliberate reaction to the way that a lot of modern electronic music is made, using laptops and plug ins. “It’s really like taking a look back at the craftsmanship of the 80s and the 70s, where there was a combination of live music and electronic and not so much one or the other,” Trent explains. “You have albums that are mainly just electronic or mainly live. I like the combination of the two together, when they’re working together, you know, because it makes another whole layer of beauty.” Trent’s key influences on ‘What Do the Stars…’ reflect this eclectic musical spirit. They include Brazilian jazz fusionists Azymuth (whose Ivan Conti and Alex Malheiros feature on the album); ‘Gigolos Get Lonely Too’, a 1982 song by The Time that was produced and composed by Prince, putting treated drum machine alongside live drums; Tangerine Dream; and – perhaps most intriguingly – Kraftwerk’s pre-Kraftwerk band Organisation, who released one album of spiralling, psychedelic krautrock before Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider decamped to make musical history. Organisation, it’s suggested to Trent, isn’t a name you hear every day. He seems amused. “It’s travelling music, it’s very visual,” he explains of the band’s deep-kraut appeal. “It’s highly textured, also abstract, for sure. I like those kinds of things: it allows the mind to have its own travelling session, if you will. And that’s very much what this album is about: it’s about being transported into different spaces and places. And also it’s kind of an ode to structures:

“How can I say this? House music, as people are using it today, it has absolutely nothing to do with where it comes from or what it’s about. Because really, it’s an amalgamation of a lot of types of styles.”

architectural structures, sonic structures, visual components, design, things of that nature, cityscapes.” The album’s striking cover art, by Italian architect and illustrator Federica Scalise, which depicts a modern, lightly

well as mastering ‘What Do the Stars…’, has also provided a

surreal cityscape glimpsed through the window of a

mixed version of the album for digital release.)

minimalist apartment, speaks to these structural concerns.

And what is the secret to this dance formula? How can you make ‘What Do the Stars…’ work on a dancefloor? It

Ron Trent, it turns out, loves to talk about music. His current favourites include Thundercat, Robert Glasper, Khruangbin

comes down to context, Trent explains. “My style of playing, the school I come from, it’s about

and English rapper/producer/songwriter Labrinth, who he

telling the story,” he says. “So it’s really about what you

discovered via his daughter’s love for HBO teen drama

surround it with, the textures that you surround the songs

‘Euphoria’, which Labrinth scored. These are far from your

with.”

typical house favourites. But, in many ways, Trent continues

He digs back into krautrock to find an example of what he

to see the world through a DJ’s eyes. When he’s asked what

means. “Kraftwerk has had a big influence on electronic

he likes about Organisation, he starts to enthuse about

music, along with Tangerine Dream, along with George

‘Tone Float’, the 20-minute-plus opening track that

Kranz, those are krautrock groups and krautrock people.

dominates the band’s debut (and, indeed, only) album.

And Manuel Göttsching, Ash Ra Tempel, those tunes like

“It’s a long, long track and it’s very atmospheric and you

[Göttsching’s] ‘E2-E4’ and ‘Shuttlecock’ (another Göttsching

could play that record at the right time,” Trent explains, “say

classic, notably favoured by Joe Claussell), you can easily

at The Loft [David Mancuso’s legendary New York party]. Or

play them on the dancefloor, at certain moments. Along

if I’m playing a long set somewhere in Japan, or if I’m

with tunes like Herb Alpert’s ‘Rotation’. It’s all in that same

playing by myself for a long period of time, I could play

world. It’s just a matter of being able to have the insight to

something like that.”

understand the dialect, if you will, to deliver it.”

In the same way, he believes that the music on ‘What Do

So when Trent says ‘What Do the Stars Say to You’ isn’t

the Stars…’ could, in the right circumstances, move an

house music, he isn’t rejecting house, exactly. Rather, it feels

open-minded dance floor. “At the right time and the right

like a reaction against what much modern house music has

place, you could play tunes from this album in those zones,”

become. “How can I say this?” Trent ponders. “House music,

he says. “François [Kevorkian] and I did a party together and

as people are using it today, it has absolutely nothing to do

we kind of demonstrated that attitude – that attitude, that

with where it comes from or what it’s about. Because really,

altitude – will allow you to deliver the music in a certain way.

it’s an amalgamation of a lot of types of styles.

It would all make sense in a dance formula.” (Kevorkian, as

“What house music is, especially before it became formulaic, where it’s four on the floor and it does this and it

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does that blah, blah, blah, house music comes from The Loft;

DISCO_POGO_139

it comes from The Gallery; it comes from Paradise Garage. It comes from rock, it comes from gospel, jazz… So when someone says: ‘House music’, they’re really talking about a consciousness or a style, versus it being something that is a formula. This is a more krautrock, Balearic, yacht rock, rock, New Age, experimental album. But knowing what I know: people like David Mancuso and Frankie [Knuckles] and Larry [Levan] were very experimental and they had open minds for music. So it’s more of a music lover’s album.” Don’t get it twisted. Trent likes Beyoncé and recognises her recent excursions into house music. (“She’s an artist,” he says. “And I can appreciate what she’s doing now, obviously, with the house music thing because of the statement that she’s making in terms of being a reclamation project. So I appreciate it.”) Chicago’s current club scene, however, is less to his tastes. “It’s definitely a shadow of itself,” Trent says of the city that gave birth to house music, the city where he was born back in 1973, and made his first steps as a DJ and producer. “I came up in the beginnings of it [Chicago house] and pioneered a lot of it, on my end and my generation. Now it’s definitely more about drinking. And less about the sound system, less about the skill set… You know, what? Fuck it. It is heavily commercialised and there’s no underground. That’s the best way to describe it.” To anyone who has grown up idealising the raw future funk of Chicago house – and that is everyone from Basement Jaxx to Daft Punk – this is a troubling thing to hear. So why has the city’s club scene has gone downhill? He thinks for a while. “When something loses its connection to its roots, it dilutes the potency of what it is,” he eventually answers. “That’s kind of like what has happened in Chicago.” He contrasts this with New York, another city close to his heart. “I was there pre-9-11,” he says. “And the energy, man, it just reminded me of what it was like [in Chicago], you know, that freshness.” New York, he explains, has been able to maintain a balance between commercialism and the underground in a way that Chicago has failed to do. “A lot of the underground here was kind of wiped away, in a sense, because of corporations, because of laws, because of just various things,” Trent explains, a note of weary sadness in his voice. “So it made it harder for people to create underground situations, where you could have a house for the cutting edge. And it is the edginess that made this happen in the first place. You know, it was somebody thinking outside the box, a DIY philosophy.” Speaking to Trent today, it is obvious he has been on a musical journey since he burst onto the scene with ‘Altered States’ while still in high school. He’s older now – we’re all older now – and ‘What Do the Stars Say to You’ is an album both from and for people of age and experience. It’s relaxed, untroubled and musically accomplished; it’s profound, polite and slightly hippy in its New Age concerns; it is house that will gently give you a heartfelt hug rather than an electrifying jolt of excitement. And yet the same slightly naughty, non-conformist spirit that made ‘Altered States’ such a musical slap in the face in the early-90s is still undeniably present in Trent’s work. 140_DISCO_POGO

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House Music All Night Long If house is a feeling – as Todd Terry proclaimed back in 1991 – then it might just be one of eternal youth. In 2022, when house music should perhaps be considering its investment portfolio and fending off a mid-life crisis, the genre is enjoying a new lease of life, thanks notably to the return of several original house masters. As well as Ron Trent’s new album, Ten City, the Chicago act who made one of house music’s first albums with 1989’s rousing ‘Foundation’, have announced a new single, ‘A Girl Named Phil’, after reuniting in 2021 for ‘Judgement’, their first album in 27 years. Deep house innovator Larry Heard released a new album under his Mr. Fingers alias in summer 2022 and is set for a round of archive releases after winning back the rights to his work (alongside Fingers Inc. partner Robert Owens) from Trax Records. New Jersey house legend Kerri Chandler has just released his first album in 14 years, ‘Spaces and Places’, a “global celebration of club and sound system culture”; iconic NYC duo Masters at Work released ‘Mattel’ their first single in seven years in 2021; and ‘Gabrielle’ man Roy Davis Jr. Before our time is up, an exploration of ‘Altered States’. There’s one bar, around two minutes 43 seconds into the song, when the drums radically break from their steady

returned with his first 12-inch in eight years earlier this year. These producers couldn’t have known, you

rhythm; it’s a moment that used to mess up listeners in

imagine, that their returns would come in a

those long after-club nights, with the irregular drum

summer where Beyoncé and Drake would

rhythm making it sound like the mix was being

spur frantic house-splaining in the

trainwrecked. So, was this deliberate? Did he do it just to

mainstream media, alongside talk of a big

mess DJs and dancers up?

house revival. They may not even benefit

He laughs heartily. “No,” Trent says, amused by the idea. “If

from a renaissance that seems more

you listen to the track, it has a shuffle to it. That’s

concentrated on commercial house sounds.

something that hadn’t really been done or played with, in a

(Then again, in a world where Cajmere, Luke

lot of tracks at that time. And so I was playing with shuffle,

Solomon, Honey Dijon and Peter Rauhofer all

more than anything else, and with timing, more than ‘I’m

have credits on a Beyoncé album, who the

gonna fuck you up on it’. When we’re creating tracks, we like

hell knows anymore?). But, on the whole,

quirky things. And that was quite quirky. You know what I

they seem content with house’s new chart

mean? Something that was like: ‘Wow, did that just do that?

blush. “I think it’s beautiful that some of the

Like what? Oh, shit!’ you know?”

mainstream artists are becoming aware of

It was, he concludes, an “edgy” move. “And so that was the

the many talented artists here in the house

purpose. It’s like: ‘This is some wild shit: it just did a thing

field, of the work we’ve done and are still

we’re not used to.’” Again, Trent laughs deeply, as well he

doing,” Owens told The Guardian. “I’m

might. Ron Trent’s career has been one of musical

looking forward to collaborating with some

adventure and exquisite control. It has also, beyond doubt,

of them in future.”

been one of wild shit and things we’re not used to. Long may that continue.

As for Todd Terry himself? He never really went away. His latest project is an NFT release that is based around his 2000 single ‘Fuzz Box’. Proof that, even in the age of infantilised ape JPEGs selling for hundreds of crypto dollars, you can’t keep a good house song down.

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ABOVEBOARDDIST.CO.UK : DIGITAL DISTRIBUTION / PHYSICAL DISTRIBUTION / LABEL & ARTIST DEVELOPMENT / DIGITAL MARKETING / SOCIAL MEDIA SERVICES / MANUFACTURING / ABOVE BOARD PROJECTS / D2C FULFILMENT / ACCOUNTING & ANALYTICS

RIVA STARR x TODD TERRY

ENRICO SANGIULIANO SILENCE EP

EST. 2003

HOT CREATIONS : 12” & DIGITAL

NINETOZERO : 12” & DIGITAL

LOCAL ACTION : CD

POLYPHONIC COSMOS

CHLOÉ ROBINSON & DJ ADHD

COMP BY JD TWITCH : CEASE AND DESIST : 2x12” LP

PRETTY WEIRD : 12” & DIGITAL

THIS IS THE SOUND

SONIC INNOVATIONS IN JAPAN (1980-1986)

HONEY DIJON

STEAMIN EP (FOUR TET REMIX)

DURAN DURAN

BLACK GIRL MAGIC

ALL OF YOU (EROL ALKAN’S EXTENDED REWORK)

CLASSIC : 3x12” LP

PHANTASY : 12”

WAAJEED

CHARLOTTE DE WITTE

TRESOR / BMG : 2x12” LP

KNTXT : 12” & DIGITAL

MEMORIES OF HI-TECH JAZZ

APOLLO EP

DJ Q

CHLOÉ CAILLE NYWTF

CIRCOLOCO RECORDS : 12” & D

SWOOSE BREATHE

FEEL MY BICEP : 12” & DIGI

WET LEG

TOO LATE NOW (SOULWAX SOULWAX : 12”

WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE According to Nia Archives, one of a new breed of electronic producers tapping into the past to write the future, 2022 was the ‘summer of jungle’. But what’s the real origin story behind one of the 90s most incendiary musical and cultural scenes? Julia Toppin says it’s time for a rewind… Photos: Eddie Otchere Without jungle, there would be no garage, no

Of course, this rousing music didn’t just appear

drum’n’bass, no dubstep, no grime and no drill.

out of nowhere fully formed. It’s time for a

Forget Britpop… when jungle emerged in the

rewind. The story of jungle begins with the sonic

early-90s, it was the most exciting music in the

dominance of the reggae sound system culture;

world. MC Navigator, a veteran of the jungle and

born in the small island with a mammoth

drum’n’bass scenes and the presenter of the first

footprint: Jamaica. It journeys through the Black

national jungle radio show in the UK is not

and gay Xanadus of Chicago house and Detroit

resorting to hyperbole when he states: “Jungle

techno. It traverses the provocative raps of New

music became the most popular style of

York and LA hip hop. It takes in the mathematical

underground music that you could imagine. It

beauty of New York breakbeat and incorporates

gave the UK its identity.”

the ecstatic abandon of acid house and happy

Many in the scene consider the terms

hardcore. The bullying beats of Belgian hardcore

drum’n’bass and jungle synonymous. Others aim

give way to the dubbed down bass of jungle

to unite the two by using the term jungle

techno.

drum’n’bass. Though a more universal term, for

Depending on which myth you believe jungle

reasons we will explore later, drum’n’bass is not

was named after an area in Tivoli Gardens in the

the same as jungle nor is jungle a sub-genre of

Jamaican capital Kingston, or the concrete

drum’n’bass.

jungles of its bleak urban birthplace, London. One

“Jungle is the mothership,” says DJ and author

fact that is not up for debate is the way that for

of the first jungle newspaper column, Tina Irie.

a few years, jungle felt like it was everywhere in

Sonically, the easiest difference to spot is the

the UK.

synthesized uniformity of the drums and a much,

“You would walk down the street and hear it

much lighter bassline. Think Roni Size, Goldie and

coming out of houses, shops, the cars, people

LTJ Bukem for drum’n’bass as opposed to Ray

listening on boom blasters,” recalls MC Navigator.

Keith, Doc Scott and Lemon D for jungle.

“It was mad, so overwhelming… it was thee ting!”

144_DISCO_POGO

Metalheadz at The Blue Note, London.

For Chris Inperspective DJ, label owner, former manager of Hospital Records offshoot, Med School and founder of the Black Junglist Alliance: “Jungle drum‘n’bass is one of the greatest British exports.” Again, such an expression is justified. The music is now a billion-dollar worldwide business.

DJ Flight.

Time-lapsed, warp-speed, stretched-out… jungle was imaginative and intoxicating; Black and British, white and working class, with a healthy representation from South Asian youth. Chestrupturing basslines, melancholic soulful vocals, posturing lyricism and complex drum patterns. Former Metalheadz resident and 1Xtra host DJ Flight, who grew up listening to various artists from Dennis Brown to Madonna, found the “hodgepodge melting pot of genres” attractive. “It was such a mishmash,” she recalls enthusiastically. “Jungle was interesting and different.” Those differences brought people together from walks of life who would not normally give each other the time of day. There was already a small but significant Black presence in the rave scene, however the blend of breakbeat, hardcore, reggae, ragga, R’n’B, rare groove, jazz, funk, house, techno, horror films and gangster films (both Italian and African American) really balanced the scene out. People formed lifelong friendships across cultural divides. “Black, white, old, young,” DJ Hype told Uncle Dugs in a recent interview. “We broke down every barrier.” No wonder the government wanted it shut down. You can imagine their absolute dismay. The anarchy of rave AND Black people! There would be a revolution soon if everyone continued to get along. DJ and V Recordings co-founder, Jumping Jack Frost recalls jungle as a force to be reckoned with. “It was a cultural revolution because you had people from all different backgrounds that had never met each other.” Reid Speed, an instrumental DJ in the jungle scene in America agrees: “It was very mixed and

Roast at The Astoria, London, 1993.

fluid. It was very free, very loving, and very accepting.” The outlook was bleak for those without privilege. They lost themselves in the euphoric haze of ecstasy, weed, alcohol, and

They had spent their childhood listening to

repetitive beats. People who used to fight each

Coxsone, Jah Shaka, Saxon and Wassifa sound

other on a Saturday night, or never socialise with

systems in local community halls and ‘blues’

other cultural groups at all, crossed the dancing

parties or ‘shebeens’ held in their neighbours’

divide and became best friends for life. Sharing

homes. Carpet rolled back, all the furniture

water, sharing the dancefloor, then sharing their

moved into one room to accommodate the giant

stories.

speakers now located in the others, food and a

Black musical elements of jungle struck a deep

community bar set up in the kitchen on a table

chord with the grandchildren of the Windrush

across the doorway that blocked entry. Vocalist,

generation and their friends like DJ Hype who

composer and voice professor, Cleveland Watkiss

built his own sound system while still in school.

who was a resident MC at the legendary Metalheadz club night at The Blue Note in Hoxton

146_DISCO_POGO

immediately felt the parallels. Recalling his

“THIS SPEAKER WAS THUMPING THE MOST CLEAR SONIC SOUND. IT REMINDED ME OF THE SOUND SYSTEM.” CLEVELAND WATKISS

DJ Hype.

Speed at Mars, London, 1994.

MC Deman Rocker.

regular attendance at LTJ Bukem’s club night

Britain either as it had abandoned them without

Speed he says: “There was this speaker right on

looking back. Unions were broken and state

the bar and it was like thumping the most clear

services like education and healthcare were

sonic sound. It just reminded me of the sound

pared to the bone.

system.” Jungle’s emergence against a bleak political backdrop of post-Thatcherite neoliberalism is significant. The dark heart of its sounds

“We were soldiers,” states Jumping Jack Frost about a time when unemployment and inflation were riding historical highs. The jungle scene would be nothing without its

represented the disillusionment that young

ravers. They turned up in their hundreds or

British Black people felt in a home that often

thousands to worship weekly at the altar of this

depicted them as strange, violent visitors. On the

fresh new music. Whether in Gucci or Versace,

other side of the tracks the largely working class white youth harboured no love for Thatcher’s

DISCO_POGO_147

148_DISCO_POGO

Randall, Goldie and Trenton.

“WOMEN RULED IT ALL, BECAUSE THEY JUST DID. THERE WERE LOTS OF... FEMALE DANCERS THAT JUST TORE UP THE DANCEFLOOR IN ALL THEIR FINERY.” DJ PAULETTE

The popularity of jungle created a thriving self-sustaining underground ecosystem that was the making of a new life for not only the DJs, MCs and producers, but many others in the scene. “It started as a small seed economy then people got jobs through this,” explains Frost who has never worked outside of music. In a country that did not present the underprivileged with many options, they took the entrepreneurial ethos of Thatcherism and created their own network of promoters, agents, record labels, record shops, (pirate) radio stations, vinyl (dubplate) manufacturers, designers, dancers, and printers. Many of the early pioneer DJs of the jungle sound came from the acid house rave scene. Fabio and Grooverider, Kenny Ken, Mickey Finn, Randall and Jumping Jack Frost were all spinning acid house tracks before producers like Paul Ibiza and Lenny De Ice, tired of the influence of Europe over the UK dance scene, started to infuse reggae basslines with hardcore’s looped breakbeats to create a new sound. Metalheadz founder, DJ and producer Goldie recalls infinite “progression” of the sound where producers were “always trying to find something new and pushing things forward.” This new music and the creativity that newly affordable technology like samplers could bring fired the imagination of DJ/producers like Frost: “The thing that was different is that the music was pushing the boundaries. That was what was exciting.” MCs are a critical part of the jungle scene inherited from sound system culture. They ride the rhythm and keep the crowd bubbling. It’s an

Bryan Gee and Jumpin Jack Frost.

artform. “There’s nothing like it,” says MC Chikaboo, the first female MC in the jungle scene, “you’re the conduit, the connection, the link between the crowd vibration and the DJ’s intention.”

white tees or combat camouflage gear, leggings,

The best MCs chat on the mic just the right

lace and hot pants, the ravers were the heart of

amount. They know the tunes, the drops, and

the jungle scene. They would skank and sway half

have perfect timing. Ravers would recite the

time on the beat or jerk their bodies rhythmically

iconic rhymes of lyricists like Moose, GQ,

to the pace of 160 beats per minute. They would

Chikaboo, Navigator, Det, Shabba, the Ragga

tell the DJ if their tunes were good by demanding

Twins, and Cleveland Watkiss, whose jazz-infused

a rewind, banging on walls, cheering, two finger

melodic ad-libs at Metalheadz were in a league of

gun saluting, and cut up the dancefloor until the

their own. He comments: “My mic was plugged in

early hours.

for about three or four years every Sunday.”

DJ Paulette, a renowned house DJ and former

Pirate radio was the social media of its time.

press officer for Talkin’ Loud when they had

You could hear all the tunes that you heard in the

legends like 4hero and Roni Size on their roster,

rave and get all the information that you needed

believes women brought a particular energy to

to work out where to get your tickets from.

jungle’s dancefloor.

Getting a shout out from the MC or DJ was very

“Women ruled it all, because they just did,” she states emphatically. “There were lots of sets of

special indeed. You could big up your crew and rep your manor. Stations like Sunrise, Fantasy,

female dancers that just tore up the dancefloor in all their finery.”

DISCO_POGO_149

Pulse, Weekend Rush, and Kiss FM would broadcast illegally through homemade transistors that were placed on top of high rise council housing. DJ Andy Clockwork remembers broadcasting Eruption FM, which launched in 1989, out of an empty tower block condemned for asbestos. “We had the whole top floor of that tower block for most of 1993,” he recalls. DJs and MCs would sneak in and out of these spaces like spies to avoid detection by the police and government agents from the DTI (now Ofcom). If caught broadcasting on an unlicenced frequency, station owners, DJs and MCs would get arrested, or perhaps suffer a fate even worse... having all their equipment and records confiscated and then destroyed. In November 1991, Kool FM launched as a pirate radio station that played jungle, initially hardcore jungle. The station quickly became the sound of the streets. You could tune into Kool FM and hear DJ Mampi Swift and MC Navigator or DJ Brockie and MC Det. DJ and Rupture host Mantra recalls getting bit by the jungle bug while listening to Kool FM as a kid. “In 1994 my brother always had Kool FM on super Sundays, Det and Brockie. I used to go nuts.” Kool FM also put on events. Kool FM’s 3rd Birthday Bash at The Astoria in London is one of MC Navigator’s favourite raves of all time. “The energy at that party was electric,” he remembers. Held at the peak of jungle’s popularity in 1994, the rave brought Charing Cross Road to a halt as hundreds of people queued outside desperate to get in. Sadly, the Astoria is no longer with us, much like a number of venues where extremely popular jungle events were held.

Goldie.

For MC Chikaboo the best venues were: “Clubs with low ceilings and lots of bass like The Blue Note or Bar Rhumba.” She asserts that “dark and sweaty” rooms that felt a bit “dirty” were the best place to listen to jungle. Outside of the venues, record stores like Blackmarket Records in Soho’s D’Arblay Street and De Underground Records in East London’s Newham borough, became the new Meccas of music worship. They were community hubs for the scene. Jumping Jack Frost fondly describes Blackmarket Records, which launched in 1988, as a “youth club” as many would hang out for hours at a time. “I remember one day there was me, Goldie, Grooverider… we were there all day,” he smiles. “Listening to records, checking out promos. Going for lunch and coming back.” Founded in 1991, De Underground Records, which was recently celebrated with a blue heritage plaque, had a studio in the basement where they would cook up beats. MC Navigator remembers the time well. 150_DISCO_POGO

Kemistry (right) and Storm.

“ONE DAY THERE WAS ME, GOLDIE, GROOVERIDER... WE WERE THERE ALL DAY. LISTENING TO RECORDS, CHECKING OUT PROMOS. GOING FOR LUNCH AND COMING BACK.” JUMPING JACK FROST

Dubplate from Music House.

DISCO_POGO_151 Cleveland Watkiss.

DJ Rap.

“RANDALL WAS... IN THERE MIXING MUSIC. I’D LOVE TO SEE HIM PLAY. JUST SEAMLESSLY MIXING EVERYTHING.” MC NAVIGATOR 152_DISCO_POGO

Randall.

popularity on the dancefloor before committing to a pressing of thousands. According to Jumping Jack Frost, they could only be played about “30 or 40 times” before their sound degraded. Producers would take a DAT tape to a pressing and mastering studio like the legendary Music House in Tottenham Hale to cut a dubplate. These would only be given to a select few DJs, notably, Grooverider, whom Flight recalls as always having the “brand spanking new cutting edge stuff.” Producers would religiously attend Metalheadz every week alongside ravers “just to hear other people’s dubplates.” A thriving dubplate culture in jungle was one of Roni Size.

the factors that kept everything sounding new and exciting. Different DJs had different dubplates and at Rage or Metalheadz you would hear loads of tunes that had been made that week and pressed that very night. Goldie describes the continual process: “You’d get an idea from a rave, go to a studio to try and create something on Monday. Mix it on Tuesday. Get it together on Thursday. Cut it on a dubplate on Friday and take it to give to a DJ to play.” Some describe the period from 1992 to 1996 as jungle’s golden years. Especially after the genre’s 1994 crossover to the mainstream and national chart success. Tracks like ‘Incredible’ by M-Beat with General Levy and ‘Original Nuttah’ by Shy FX and UK Apache even landed a place in the UK Top 40 chart. ‘Incredible’ spent over three months in the national charts and peaked at number eight. The success of jungle brought attention from the police, the press, and the major labels. The police accused the jungle scene, especially the pirate radio stations, of being involved with organised crime and fronting events where drug dealers could thrive. It would be ludicrous to say that there was no drugs or violence in the clubs, but violence, gangsters, drugs and alcohol have always had a close relationship with night clubs. Jungle was no different to any other UK dance genre. Whilst the media was busy trying to pigeonhole jungle, the genre continued to branch out simultaneously into several different areas. The

Grooverider.

atmospheric beauty of Goldie; the slightly laid-back sound coming from Bristol artists Roni Size and DJ Krust. The jazz-infused tones of LTJ “When I first went in there, Randall was selling

Bukem; the liquefied basslines of Fabio; the

records. He’d be in there mixing music. I’d love to

ominous dark sounds of Motive Unknown; the

see him play. Just seamlessly mixing everything.”

R’n’B-tinged fury of DJ Ron. All these things were

In addition to Randall, other producers like Goldie

evolving, producing beautiful music. Flight

and Hype would go to De Underground and have

comments: “Jungle changed from many different

sessions in their studio.

angles. Some of the changes were by design and

In jungle you could hear a track in a rave, and try to find it, only to discover that it was a

some were kind of forced on the music.” A decision was made to rebrand, and a new

dubplate. Like the MC, the dubplate culture of

version of an old name - drum’n’bass - began to

jungle was inherited from the sound system.

circulate. It was under this new name that Roni

Dubplates were highly limited pressings of tracks cut on acetate disc used to gauge their

DISCO_POGO_153

“WE’VE ALREADY GOT THE NEXT GENERATION OF YOUNG PEOPLE LIKE NIA ARCHIVES AND TIM REAPER MAKING MUSIC SO IT’S JUST GOING TO KEEP GOING.” GOLDIE

Size and Reprazent won the Mercury Prize for their debut album ‘New Forms’ – a record that went on to become the best-selling drum’n’bass album of all time. Jungle enraptured some music and popular culture writers, like the late Mark Fisher, but was largely ignored by most music journalists until just after the mid-90s. Fuelled by the mainstream success of Goldie’s ‘Timeless’, which was backed by a major label campaign, and the constant carousel of celebrities at Goldie’s Metalheadz Sunday Sessions, jungle became very cool indeed. For Flight the audience changed at Metalheadz

drum’n’bass evolved in exciting and wonderful

after magazines like Dazed & Confused and i-D

ways with artists like Adam F, Pendulum and

decided that drum’n’bass was “trendy” and

Noisia, it seemed to lose all the multicultural

started to cover the music. “Once they took hold

conviviality of the early jungle scene. For Reid

of it you just saw a whole different type of person

Speed the new dark sound that was being

going out.”

pushed in the US: “shrivelled up the scene”.

The story of jungle does not end there. After

Flight describes the sound losing its “soul” and

being shadow banned out of the mainstream for

becoming “very cold and dark”. The composition

the more palatable drum’n’bass, jungle merely

of its ravers became homogenised. Women and

went back underground to the smaller venues

Black people abandoned the sound in droves. DJ

that it had called home in the early days. Though

Hype describes how the composition of ravers went from “multicultural girls” where “everyone is

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raving” to “white guys with their tops off.”

Grooverider, Fabio, Cleveland Watkiss.

Securely back underground, jungle just kept on going. It also went international, sending DJs and MCs all around the world. Then its popularity

become its own entity. It’s become its own and our own thing.” DJ/producers like SHERELLE, Tim Reaper, Coco

started to build up with old favourites like Roast

Bryce, Sully, and Nia Archives – who memorably

and Jungle Mania still going strong alongside

declared the past hot few months as “the

new club nights like Rupture, which was launched

summer of jungle” – are keeping one foot in the

in 2006 by DJs/producers Mantra and Double O.

past whilst simultaneously pushing things

Stretch from foundational label AKO Beatz

forward. Mantra believes this is because jungle’s

reminisces how the new jungle night inspired him.

golden years were perhaps not long enough.

“2013, I went to Rupture, totally blown away by

“I think when you have a lot of new producers

the music,” he says. “Left there knowing in my heart

revisiting that sound,” he argues, “maybe there

that if this is what’s going on, I can safely come

was a little bit more to discover.”

back and make [the] music I want to make again.” In recent times jungle has caught the ear of a new generation of producers and DJs. Goldie

So jungle is back, though it would tell you that it never went anywhere. The bass is still dropping low, the breakbeats are flying high.

states: “We’ve already got the next generation of young people like Nia Archives and Tim Reaper making music so it’s just going to keep going.” Flight agrees: “People have tried to write the music off so many times over the years. It’s just

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ABC... EASY AS 1-2-3? The world of record collecting – a once necessary component for all DJs – is often shrouded in clandestine professional nerdery. What filing system do all-wax DJs use? Genre? Year? Bpms? Vibes? Harold Heath goes behind the vinyl curtain and discovers that organising records can do funny things to people… The very best vinyl DJs often have a secret, double identity.

Enter the dusty world of the record collector, a world of

They may coolly swan around the world’s most glamorous

paper inner sleeves, cardboard outer sleeves and, if you’re

venues, bringing joy and community via the medium of wax,

some kind of Marie Antoinette of DJing, an additional

taking their audience on transcendent musical adventures

polyurethane outer sleeve: ooh get you, la-di-da, let them

like the badass party-heroes they are, but also, they’re

eat Japanese imports etc. Vinyl collecting is all about the

essentially audio librarians. In fact, the best vinyl DJs are

numbers: 7-inch, 12-inch, 180 grammes, zero friends, only

often great big steaming hot nerds.

joking, you’ve got loads of friends, they’ve just been really

And this is in no way an insult. Professional nerdery and

busy lately. And more numbers: 45rpm, 33rpm, three new

high-level geekery are important aspects of DJing. In the heat

back injuries every time you move house and 1,000 times

of the party, DJs wield their encyclopaedic recall of track

your partner points out that there’s not enough time left in

names, remixes, edits, re-edits, bootlegs, cover versions,

your life to listen to all your records.

labels, genres and bpms, using whatever idiosyncratic

Founder of the album listening event Classic Album

cerebral cross-referencing filing system they possess to

Sundays, DJ, producer, radio host, audiophile and world-

somehow arrive at the perfect selection for a particular time

leading vinyl nerd Colleen Murphy currently has around

and place. A DJ’s nerd factor is their superpower.

10,000 records in her collection. Colleen employs an

For most digital DJs, organising a music collection is easy.

organisation system that is essentially alphabetical by

It merely involves a handful of USB sticks, a few multi-

artist, but with several genre sub-divisions as well as a

terabyte hard drives and a water-cooled 10-kilowatt server

current record bag of around 500 tunes.

with intelligent lighting, friendly security and free ice pops.

“It makes sense, but only to me!” she confides. “It’s filed

But how do vinyl DJs organise their tunes? In alphabetical or

alphabetically, with rock, pop and jazz albums mainly

label order? Do they sort their Lo-Fi Boho Beats To Relax To

lumped together, but then there’s certain things I will

by artist name or song title? And what happens if they

separate out like soundtracks and classical. I have a little

develop Slamnesia and can’t remember where their Scottish

Asian section, then I have an African section and a Latin/

DJ/producer duo 12-inches are? Much like the professional

Brazilian section, because that’s stuff I might need to access

stamp collector or rare crisp packet aficionado, some kind

together.” Colleen abandoned trying to create a Balearic

of filing system is essential for a pro vinyl DJ.

section as organising a genre defined by its very genre-lessness is a task nearly as difficult as not mentioning you own a

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rotary mixer when you own a rotary mixer.

Photo: Adam Dewhurst

Colleen ‘Cosmo’ Murphy.

Matthew ‘Bushwacka!’ B.

“I bought smiley face stickers with different expressions and would choose the expression that was most similar to the face that I was likely to pull when I was listening to that record.” Matthew B A genuine sense of both awe and envy enters Colleen’s voice as she recounts the first time she entered John

it helpful to have an emotional support MC on standby. Back in the 90s, label manager Lewis Copeland helped

Peel’s legendary record room and realised that he had a

keep Bushwacka!’s vinyl organised, cataloguing it

reference card system where every piece of vinyl on his

alphabetically by label. “I would know where the Strictly

shelves – organised chronologically in the order that he

Rhythm, Nervous or Nu Groove was,” he tells us “and that

got them – had a personal ID number and corresponding

way worked quite well at the time because there weren’t a

reference card.

million labels. Now I find it very difficult to catalogue my

There then follows a brief conversational diversion as

newest stuff. Even by genre, it’s almost impossible. I’ll buy a

Colleen and Disco Pogo discuss a potential new TV game

record and it’s got an electro track, a deep house track and

show where vinyl collectors have to guess the weight of a

a techno track and I’m like: ‘What do I do with it?’”

record just by holding it. She reckons she’d probably do

The answer was to develop an idiosyncratic but practical

pretty well, but is keen to point out that “just because a

filing system: “Now I’ve got a breakbeat section, an electro

record is 180 grammes doesn’t mean it’s audiophile – maybe

section, an old hip hop section, then I’ve got album sections

it affects it a bit, but it’s really down to how it’s mixed and

and my 1988 to 1990 sections too,” he continues. “I’ve got

mastered.”

shelves which are just my own productions, there’s quite a

Finally, Disco Pogo wonders if Colleen has ever worn

lot of them and then I’ve got a 1996 to 2002 tech house shelf,

surgical gloves to handle vinyl and is relieved to find out

and I’ve got a shelf of stuff that I’ve bought in the last year

that she hasn’t – she’s a DJ nerd, not a DJ weirdo – but

or two.” OK, so essentially it’s an idiosyncratic but practical

Colleen Murphy does not touch the surface of the vinyl and

filing system that mainly consists of putting his tunes on

neither should you.

shelves, but it works for him. Kind of.

DJ/producer Matthew ‘Bushwacka!’ Benjamin has the

Disco Pogo wonders if Bushwacka! could lay his hands on

kind of healthy, well-adjusted attitude towards his vinyl

a particular record with ease. There’s a long pause as he

collection that befits someone who has recently retrained

considers, before giving us a resounding: “No!” But he’s also

as a therapist. Due to regular pruning, gifting his son 25

got a couple of very handy vinyl filing tricks up his DJ

boxes when he moved back to the UK, and recently selling

sleeves: “I used to get sent lots of white labels so I bought

several thousand, his collection currently stands at a

smiley face stickers with different expressions and would

streamlined 3,000, down from its 90s peak of around 12,000.

choose the expression that was most similar to the face

Throughout lockdown Bushwacka! did his Vinyl Love Affair

that I was likely to pull when I was listening to that record.”

live DJ streams from his home, going through his entire

He pauses to perform a perfect stank-face, that expression

collection, a process that along with his recent house move

you make when a tune is just sick. “I also used to draw

has thoroughly shuffled his collection up. While this might

something on the white label that represented what was

sound like a minor inconvenience, DJs with disorganised

going on in this record and that really helped me to know

collections can become overtired and irritable. You can

what it was too.” Nice. So when you’re out crate digging,

support them with a reassuring ‘big shout out going out’ or by offering to sort out their picture discs, and you may find

DISCO_POGO_159

“It’s quite easy to get a paper cut - but then, I live life on the edge.” Poly-Ritmo

keep your eyes peeled for second-hand white labels with

using three decks, and I was quite, you know [mimes

neatly drawn stank-faces on them, they might have been

manically flicking through a record box mid-gig], full on.”

played at the last night of The End.

His vinyl organisation methods – slightly random

DJ, promoter and vinyl collector Poly-Ritmo, who also

overlapping sections and sub-sections, sorted variously by

runs the Basket of Light festival, has a streamlined vinyl

label, genre, era or whim, augmented by emoji stickers and

collection made up of a potent blend of Brazilian, Latin, SA

stanktoons – all make sense in the context of his full-pelt,

House, French Caribbean music, soul, disco and more, with a

high-energy, headband-hedonist brand of DJing.

filing system based on genre and geography. “I have a

Selector, radio host and DJ Coco Maria estimates that her

broken beat section, a house section and sections for

collection of Brazilian, Caribbean, Central and South

garage, drum’n’bass, jazz, disco, soul and funk,” she explains.

American vinyl comes in at “more than 100 and less than

“My Caribbean section is split into French Caribbean, soca

10,000”. There’s no alphabetical or chronological order for

and reggae, then there’s my Brazilian records and I’ve got

her wax because she subscribes to perhaps the most classic

my 7-inches separate too.” She’s also a fan of the popular

of all DJ filing systems: “I’ve tried by genre, I’ve tried by

but uncelebrated filing technique, the ‘current-faves-piled-

countries,” she tells us, “but the organisation system that

up-on-the-floor’ method, and exhibits a maverick streak

works best for me is by vibes.” The vibes system has its

when opening records in cellophane, opting for the effective

strengths and weaknesses. On the downside, as Coco

but risky finger-rip approach. “It’s quite easy to get a paper

observes, “sometimes I realise that maybe I put a record in

cut – but then, I live life on the edge,” she laughs.

the wrong vibe because I was feeling different that day and

How someone organises their records can be reflected in their DJing style. Colleen’s filing system is set up to trigger inspiration. “It’s organised so that I can find things,” she

then I can’t find it.” But this is easily balanced out on the plus side by, well, vibes. In contrast, some vinyl collectors are truly committed to

says, “but also so that if I’m flicking through I remember

exacting standards of filing and extremely high levels of

things that I haven’t played in a while,” which tallies with her

geekery. In the 90s and early-2000s, Neil Macey ran a vinyl

DJ approach which she describes as “a combination of

distribution company which at its peak had around a

turning people onto stuff they may not know, but also

quarter of a million records in its warehouse, obviously

playing loved favourites.”

requiring an effective filing system. Neil tells us his filing

Poly-Ritmo’s carefully selected collection is set up for

game was so tight that he could have taken us to within one

easy access to lesser-known corners of the musical world,

inch of any particular record, which no doubt qualified him

her DJ sets providing listeners with a sonic map to

for the job of organising Pete Tong’s 20,000-strong vinyl

unfamiliar musical places. Bushwacka! would always return

collection. So our first question for Neil was simple: did it all

from a vinyl DJ gig with “paper cuts, with promos that are

go a bit Pete Tong ha, ha, no, not really. We wanted to know

just in inner sleeves that get ripped that then don’t end up

how he did it.

back in the box in the right place - yeah, it was messy. I was

“I used the [London record shop] Music and Video Exchange system and Discogs,” he told us. “You sticker this

160_DISCO_POGO

pile of a hundred records 1 to 100 and they go on the shelf

Photo: Tuca Milan

Poly-Ritmo.

Photo: Theo Ammann

Coco Maria.

I’ve tried by genre, I’ve tried by countries, but the organisation system that works best for me is by vibes.” Coco Maria

numbered 1 to 100. And on Discogs you can enter the item

gone. It feels like this game show (working titles include ‘The

number in one of their fields and that’s your personal

Weakest Sync’, ‘Strictly Rhythm Come Dancing’ or ‘House

reference number. So I entered all of Pete’s collection into

Under the Hammer’) pitch is really starting to shape up.

the Discogs database.” With this system, each record has a sticker with its own

Vinyl collectors are split into two groups, those who double lock and those who don’t. Double locking is when you

personal number (the sticker goes on an additional outer

ensure the open end of the inner sleeve is at the top so that

plastic sleeve, not on the actual record sleeve, we’re not

the record doesn’t fall out of the outer sleeve. Colleen, Neil

barbarians). Then when you look for a record in your

and Poly-Ritmo are all staunch adherents, but when asked

Discogs collection, it gives you the number and boom, you

if he double locks his vinyl Bushwacka! admits: “No, the

can go find it. So if, for example, you wanted to find every

opposite. I put it in the way that I will be able to then access

record you own where DJ Khaled makes a guest appearance

the vinyl.” And, sounding more like the Bart Simpson of

shouting his own name, you don’t need to remember the

record filing every minute, Bushwacka! doesn’t use extra

name of each hapless artist who enlisted his talents, you

polythene outer sleeves either: “No, I’m more likely to throw

can just search your collection using Discogs’ filters and

those away actually!”

then instantly find what you’re looking for. It’s like a digital version of John Peel’s reference cards. This system also means that aside from keeping your vinyl

What about shelves? Neil and Poly-Ritmo reckon that the DJ’s choice, the Ikea KALLAX is pretty good (‘KALLAX’ is the ancient Scandinavian word for ‘B2B all-vinyl set’). Colleen

in numerical-sticker order, there’s literally no other

prefers a custom setup, Coco opts for the wonderfully

organisation needed. So a 90s New York garage record that

rustic old-fruit-boxes-as-shelves option while Bushwacka!

you only kept because of your weird flute mix fixation might

also goes for the KALLAX, not only for their practicality

be next to some early-2000s minimal that you remain

but more importantly because you can fit a cup of tea on

inexplicably attached to, next to a DJ Khaled rarity. I know

them too.

right, utterly bonkers. But it works. And how would Neil fair as a contestant on our imaginary

So what have we learnt from all this? That how a DJ organises their vinyl can reflect their DJing approach? That

TV game show? “I’ve got a really good feel for how heavy 20

there are unsurprisingly few jokes about how to file a vinyl

kilos is, as that’s about how much 100 records weighs,” he

collection? That Bushwacka! thoroughly deserves that

tells us, instantly inspiring a Guess-how-many-records-

exclamation mark at the end of his name? That Ikea should

are-in-this-box-from-its-weight round. Coco is extremely

probably buy some ad-space in the next Disco Pogo as a

confident in her vinyl-weight-identifying skills, telling us:

thank-you for this piece? And that I’m pitching a DJ game

”Yes, actually I’m very proud of this – I can carry it, hold it

show to Netflix and am currently looking for financial

and I’m like: ‘Hmm, this is 180 grammes!’ – and it is.”

backers and brand influencers? Perhaps. Perhaps we’ve

Bushwacka! carefully considers if he’d be able to identify how much a record weighs by holding it before

learnt all that and more – but maybe the real treasure is all the records we bought along the way.

acknowledging that he may have had issues with the weight of substances in the past but those days are long

DISCO_POGO_163

I DO KNOW HOW I SURVIVE With a helping hand from Quincy Jones, Jon and Vangelis, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Dionne Warwick, David Geffen and more, Donna Summer created the archetypal Balearic beat banger in 1982. Balearic Mike explores the origins of ‘State of Independence’ and examines its enduring appeal…

In October 1982, the second single from Donna Summer’s eponymous LP was released. Initial reaction was mixed to say the least. Forty years on it’s considered a groundbreaking and genre-defying electronic music masterpiece, a song that Brian Eno has described as “one of the high points of 20th century art.” Originally written and recorded by Jon Anderson and Vangelis, it appeared on their 1981 LP ‘Friends of Mr Cairo’. Although the original is a brilliant slice of futuristic electronic pop, it’s an odd choice of a track to cover, crawling along at about 80 bpm and sounding like a reggae tune performed by The Clangers, with no discernible chorus or real vocal hook to speak of. ‘Hot Stuff’, Summer’s 1979 raunchy disco rock slam dunk it certainly is not. The early-80s were a troubling time for Summer and her career. Following the ‘Disco Sucks’ backlash of 1979, she had jumped ship from Neil Bogart’s Casablanca Records to join David Geffen at his new eponymous label. Still working with her production team of Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte, her debut album for Geffen, 1980’s ‘The Wanderer’, was a commercial and artistic failure, with both the singles and the LP failing to break the top 40 in the UK. It’s a confused album, with what seems like a conscious attempt to move away from disco – by then a dirty word – but no clear idea on where to go, although the track ‘Grand Illusion’ is a wonderful, druggy, slo-mo slice of electronica. Alarmingly for Geffen, most of his new label’s debut records – with John Lennon’s ‘Double Fantasy’ the sole exception – were also commercial flops, so something drastic had to happen… and drastic it was.

DISCO_POGO_165

David Geffen allegedly canned Donna’s next LP, ‘I’m a

Christopher Cross, and a host of others. The effect is

Rainbow’, demanding a hit. In order to perform this miracle,

overwhelming, bringing to mind African vocal choirs like

he insisted she switch producers and record with Quincy

Ladysmith Black Mambazo, and lifting the song to

Jones instead. Jones had just produced a run of hit albums,

stratospheric heights. Incidentally, the elephantine chorus

including Michael Jackson’s ‘Off the Wall’, George Benson’s

is said to have been the inspiration for the single ‘USA For

‘Give Me the Night’, and The Brothers Johnson’s ‘Light Up the

Africa’, so perhaps every silver lining does have a cloud.

Night’, so he seemed like a pretty good bet. The new LP took six months to record at Westlake Audio in

Issued as the second single, ‘State of Independence’ was a big hit in the UK, despite the mixed reviews: ‘… grand,

Los Angeles and featured a host of collaborators and

laughable … a typically overblown affair about religion’

co-writers (17 in total). The recording process wasn’t a great

scathed Paolo Hewitt in Melody Maker, while Smash Hits’

experience. Summer didn’t really hit it off with Jones, and

David Hepworth claimed: ‘The final chorus … is truly

soon after the album’s release she tellingly told the NME’s

awesome’. It was a big hit in parts of Europe as well, going

Barney Hoskins: “… it’s really more his album.”

to number one in Holland, but failed to break the top 40 in

The sound was highly polished, as was Donna’s new image, presenting her in a far more conservative style. Out was the sexy disco diva in a backless figure-hugging dress

America. A fate it shares with a similar single from earlier in the year, with a similarly huge Balearic/dancefloor legacy. Earlier that summer, Carly Simon had released the

who sang ‘Bad Girls’, and in was power dressing, shoulder

Chic-penned ‘Why?’ on both sides of the Atlantic. In the UK it

pads and a look fit for this new era of Reaganomics.

went top 10, and after a Balearic revival in the summer of

Subsequently, the album didn’t achieve its stated

1989 which saw the track reissued again, it went on to

objective. Despite opening track and lead single ‘Love is in

become a club classic. In the US however, it stalled at

Control (Finger on the Trigger)’, being a sizable hit on both

number 74 and disappeared. Perhaps America just wasn’t

sides of the Atlantic, the LP itself actually did worse than

ready for those reggae-influenced grooves yet?

the previous album.

In Italy, ‘State of Independence’ found favour on the Cosmic-Afro club scene, with Italian Ibiza/Amnesia veteran

Forty years on it’s considered a groundbreaking and genredefying electronic music masterpiece, a song that Brian Eno has described as “one of the high points of 20th century art.”

Leo Mas telling me: “In the Afro scene in Italy I think everyone has played ‘State of Independence’, with those African-style choirs…”. It’s quite likely, though, that since it was first played from the LP, that Cosmic Club DJ Danielle Baldelli may have pitched it up to 45 rpm, as he did with tracks like Allez Allez’s ‘African Queen’ and Yellowman’s ‘Zungguzungguguzungguzeng’. Manchester DJ Kath McDermott, resident at Queer clubbing institutions such as Flesh at The Hacienda and Homoelectric recalls when she first heard the song, and its long-lasting impact on her as a music-mad kid and a budding DJ. “1982 was a magic musical year for me as a pop obsessive growing up in a house where my clone Dad would play tracks he had heard on the dancefloors of seedy Mancunian

However, tucked away in the middle of the LP, at the end

gay clubs,” she says. “’State of Independence’ arrived… post

of side one, is the epic cover of ‘State of Independence’.

‘Bad Girls’ and ‘On the Radio’ and before Donna’s Christian/

Jones builds a bed of electronic elements, starting with the

AIDS-related rant and temporary fall from grace in 1983.

Linn LM1 drum machine, then a Roland MicroComposer and

“I loved it as soon as I heard it on the massive kitchen

a pair of Roland Jupiter 8 synthesizers. He tightens the

boom box. Uplifting, epic, innovative, soulful, and unusually

rhythms from the Jon & Vangelis version by adding a

chuggy. It sounded so fresh with its futuristic electro

fabulous Mini-Moog bassline to the original pulsating,

production. I’ve never felt the urge to play ‘I Feel Love’ in a

repetitive bass part. Later he would claim that Michael

club. When I used to play Flesh, in the Gay Traitor, this would

Jackson stole the bassline for ‘Billie Jean’, but quickly

be my Donna choice. An anthem of a different nature, but to

backtracked on his remarks.

me equally as uplifting when you want to pull a Balearic

Over this futuristic, electronic backing, Donna does what she does so well, bringing humanity to the machine-made landscape that’s been created for her. Adding a soaring,

trigger. Especially in a hot mess of an ecstatic crowd in a wet basement on a Wednesday night.” In the UK, as 1988’s acid house-fuelled second summer of

soulful vocal, which is truly one of her best. Giving real

love turned into 1989’s Soul II Soul and Italo-house-fuelled

substance to the sometimes trite, quasi-religious/spiritual

summer of rave, the bpms began to lower once again, and

lyrics. Then the cherry on the top arrives in the form of the

McDermott wasn’t alone in searching for slower, more

huge all-star chorus that Quincy assembled, consisting of

chugging sounds. Tracks like ‘Why?’ and ‘State of

Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie, Dionne Warwick, Stevie

Independence’ began to find a place on the dancefloor, as

Wonder, Kenny Loggins, James Ingram, Brenda Russell,

DJs once again looked for the Balearic beat. After the impact of Primal Scream’s ‘Loaded’ a whole flood of 98 bpm

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beauties emerged.

Quincy Jones and Donna Summer at the Savoy Theatre, New York, 1983.

Indeed ‘State of Independence’ took on a new lease of life

cappella in a startling scene which flits from harsh reality

High’, a gorgeous, psychedelic version with a beat borrowed

to surreal dream sequence, casting a brilliant ray of

from Jazzie B and co, and a few lines from The Beatles’

sunshine just as the storyline is about to take its darkest

‘Tomorrow Never Knows’. It was a Rocky & Diesel end-of-

turn. The Moodswings remake also appears on Pete Wiggs

nighter at the Boy’s Own-affiliated cockney shindig, Yellow

and Bob Stanley’s recent superb compilation, ‘Fell From the

Book, and the track that Danny Rampling closed his

Sun: Downtempo and After Hours 1990-91’, a collection of

Saturday night Kiss FM show with. The remake was such a

music which seems remarkably relevant again.

staple on the UK Balearic Network that it hung around for a

So, it seems like Brian Eno may have been right. In the BBC

couple of years, eventually becoming a minor chart hit in

Arena documentary ‘Another Green World’ when asked for

1992 when re-recorded with The Pretenders’ Chrissie Hynde

his favourite productions he singles the track out once

reinstating the original lyric/vocal.

more, while working on a version of it with the singer

But the song wasn’t finished then. As the 20th century made way for the 21st, the arrival of the internet gave

Andrea Corr for her 2011 solo LP. “I’d have to say: ‘State of Independence’ by Donna

musical archaeologists and record diggers the world over a

Summer,” he answers. “Putting the crudely mechanical… this

new lease of life. Hitherto unknown musical scenes,

kind of Germanic robot thing… against the incredibly sexy,

movements and genres were constantly being unearthed,

emotional, organic, gospel singing. It sounded so far ahead

and rediscovered by hungry DJs and dancers alike. In recent

of people who thought they were making modern music.”

years some wonderful cover versions of “State of Independence” from all around the world have come to light. Danny McLewin of Psychemagik released a stunning re-edit of a little known Brazilian take, by an artist called Dayana, on his Undercover Lovers label a few years back, Photo: Walter McBride/MediaPunch

one-woman-show Superhoe. Lecky performs the song a

in 1990 under the guise of The Moodswings track ‘Spiritual

But then Eno has always been a bit of an admirer of Summer it seems. At least according to David Bowie, who was quoted outlining Eno’s love for her in the Eno biography ‘On Some Faraway Beach’ by David Sheppard. “Eno came running in and said: ‘I have heard the sound of

while last year the new imprint Naya Beat Records –

the future.’ He puts on ‘I Feel Love’ by Donna Summer. He

focusing on uncovering rarities and oddities from the

said: ‘This is it, look no further. This single is going to change

subcontinent and South Asian diaspora – included a version

the sound of club music for the next 15 years.’ Which was

on their debut compilation LP. This cover, by Canadian–

more or less right.”

Pakistani singer Musarrat Nazir is called ‘Hosh Nahin Hai Ji Mujhe’ and breathes further life into Summer, Jones and

So, happy birthday to Donna Summer’s ‘State of Independence’. Not bad for your second-best track.

Jon and Vangelis’ enduring track. In 2022, the song made a memorable appearance on the small screen in Nicole Lecky’s funny, moving and incredibly dark BBC3 mini-series, ‘Mood’, adapted from her own

DISCO_POGO_167

Photos: David Lake

NEVER MIND THE BOLLARDS Despite closing 25 years ago, The Haçienda still holds an almighty – almost reverential – pull over those who swayed upon the club’s fabled dancefloor. In the year of its 40th anniversary, John Burgess speaks to two DJ stalwarts, Dave Haslam and Jon Dasilva, about the club’s halcyon days, and its ever-evolving legacy, before unsheathing his Haçienda bollard for them to sign… In the early hours of Sunday 29 June 1997, The Haçienda

all that’s now history of course. But it’s a history that is

nightclub closed its doors for the final time. Not long after

continually being rewritten, edited – remixed you might say.

this sudden end my fellow Jockey Slut co-founder, Paul

Earlier this summer, however, on 17 August, another part

Benney, and I met Anthony Wilson to discuss that year’s In

of Manchester’s rich musical history was in danger of being

The City music conference.

permanently erased. One of the city’s cultural landmarks

At the end of the meeting he asked us if we’d like to exit

had been painted over with an advert. A wall on Port Street

through the venue as they were going to change hands with

that had started as a canvas for street artists, before

the buyer soon and there were set pieces from club nights

settling on a painting of Ian Curtis, had been replaced with

that he knew we’d be interested in. I spotted one of the

an advert for a new album by rapper Aitch. The image of the

club’s distinctive bollards that signposted the dancefloor,

Joy Division frontman was based on a famous photograph

held it aloft and asked if I could keep it. Wilson hesitated –

taken by Phillipe Carly a week before he committed suicide.

eBay didn’t exist then so he wouldn’t be thinking I was going

The mural, by artist Akse P19, had been unveiled on World

to make a quick buck – but said yes.

Mental Health Day 2020 in support of Manchester Mind.

It’s not the only piece of Haçienda memorabilia I own,

Ironically, the advert was for a musician who respects

though it is my most prized. In 2000 (see Archive section), at

and mines Manchester’s musical heritage. The track ‘1989’

a charity auction, I acquired a 4 sq ft piece of the dancefloor

on his album even samples the Stone Roses. “This is the first

which cost £200, a couple of random planks and two bricks

time I’ve heard of this,” Aitch quickly tweeted. “Me and my

(the building had been demolished and turned into flats and

team are getting this fixed pronto.” Joy Division’s Peter Hook

apartments named Haçienda Apartments). The following

replied with a: “Thank you”.

year I declined an offer from the DJ Sasha who, feeling

A fortnight before this debacle I had coaxed erstwhile

refreshed after a gig in Ibiza, offered me a grand for the

Haçienda DJs Dave Haslam and Jon Dasilva to the mural to

dancefloor. I may have devalued it by scraping off the club

have their photograph taken. In the year of its 40th

crud as it smelt pretty bad, mainly of tobacco, and

anniversary we had been discussing The Haçienda’s

varnishing it for use as a coffee table. It’s currently in

legacy. Haslam opined: “The club is bigger than ever.”

storage awaiting its next incarnation. I’d like to believe I

When I say coaxed, we had just left our spot outside

have the 4 sq ft that Madonna danced upon when she

Eastern Bloc, another Manchester institution that shares

played the club in 1983, but the dancefloor had been

The Haçienda’s late-80s, early-90s imperial phase and

replaced at some point, so the wood in the auction – and in

which is now a cafe bar that still sells vinyl. Both DJs had

fact the exterior bricks – had not been part of the fixtures

just signed my bollard, taken a trip through the past and

and fittings from 1982.

now I wanted them to stand in front of a mural of Ian Curtis.

The Haçienda, Factory Records, acid house, Madchester…

It could have been a nostalgia trip too far for one afternoon but it was nearby, it was over 30 degrees that day and you

168_DISCO_POGO

never know if you’ll get the chance again…

Mr Discos: Former Haçienda residents Dave Haslam (left) and Jon Dasilva stood in front of the Ian Curtis mural on Manchester’s Port Street.

Dave Haslam, who ran Thursday’s weekly residency

“When it was clear it was not going to reopen I remember

Temperance in the club’s heyday, certainly didn’t know

the interviewer said there was talk of turning it into a

when The Haçienda was going to close. It had been saddled

museum. Tony said: ‘No way should it be a museum, it’s had

with debt and licensing problems, mainly related to gangs,

its moment, it’s had its time, it’s made a difference.’”

for an eternity but it had existed for so long and seemed

But it wasn’t over. The Haçienda must be re-built (to twist

beleaguered for a generation that no one expected it to fold

a Situationist phrase its name was derived from), though

when it did. It was, in fact, doing OK at the time so Haslam

not on a corner of Whitworth Street West. There was a

was surprised.

legacy to keep alive. Haslam: “I feel like I can understand

“I’d been doing every Saturday in the Fifth Man for about

Tony’s point – it had its moment; let’s all try and move on.

eight months and I loved it. The night was called Freak and

But it’s not quite how it’s turned out. The club is more

Paul Cons had come back to run it and it was going really

well-known now than it was when it was open.”

well.” But after that fateful night at the end of June it was

Since the club’s closure the club’s mythology has been

all over. “During that Saturday night It had all kicked off in

furthered in film with 2002’s ‘24 Hour Party People’, Peter

front of a minibus full of councillors on a fact-finding

Hook’s book ‘How Not to Run a Club’ and documented in

mission. It wasn’t like in the film where Steve Coogan

‘Do You Own the Dancefloor?’. Hook – who owns the name

(playing Wilson) announced: ‘It’s all over, loot the offices.’”

and trademark – has steered the club’s brand via the

Jon Dasilva who helmed Wednesday’s Hot nights in 1988

much-copied Haçienda Classical events, and staging huge

and Saturday’s Wide says of the closing with a laugh: “I was

nights at Manchester’s Warehouse Project and London’s

nowhere near the place; it was nothing to do with me.”

Tobacco Dock.

Anthony Wilson subsequently went on Northwest Tonight to confirm the closure. Dave remembers the moment well.

DISCO_POGO_169

The legacy of the club seems mainly

thought: ‘Best not’, you know?”

and – bang! – they all walked in and

mined from 1988-1992, would you agree

Dave: “I bought four bricks, three of

started filming.”

that those were its peak years?

which I gave away as Christmas

Dave: “I think Mike was the one who

Jon: “Those were the halcyon days of

presents. I wrapped them up and put

missed out the most because there

The Haçienda, absolutely, I’d actually

them under somebody’s tree.”

was somebody playing Mike. There was

say to ‘91 because I left then (laughs).

Jon: “Oh, I had a brick, I was given a

an actor who was cast as Mike. And he

brick. I gave that away. The bricks

was very un-Mike. He was mis-cast.

That’s when it was actually given the

were only a couple of years old after a

Mike was really not that impressed.”

status of the best club in the world, ’88

refurb anyway.”

Jon: “I think there was a scene where

to ’91.”

Dave: “When you think of all the

he met with Rob. They were all going to

Dave: “For the first few years it was

memorabilia we could’ve laid our

a Manchester City match and they

open (from 1982) it felt more like a

hands on over the years. I mean, when I

were running down the street and

musical, cultural project. There’s

talk about innocence, the idea at the

both dived over a hedge and that’s

something lovely about those early

end of the 80s that anyone would go in

where they met.”

days when the programming was

to video or photograph the club or

Dave: “But the Pickering character got

based on a few people’s whims. There

keep the flyers…

taken out.”

was an innocence about it which I

Jon: “I had posters for New Year’s Eve

liked. It was great to be around in ’86

one particular year, I used them for

How did it feel entering the film set of

and ’87 because nothing was defined. It

wrapping paper for Christmas

the Haçienda?

wasn’t like The Haçienda is ‘this kind of

presents. Now they sell for £300 each.”

Dave: “Well, I was lucky enough to get

a club’. It was random, daft and

Dave: “What I liked about the auction

involved a little bit in the run up to it. I

creative. Obviously once ’88, ’89 started

and the film ‘Do You Own the

had quite a lot of meetings with [the

kicking in then it became more

Dancefloor?’ [the 2015 film

director] Michael Winterbottom and

defined.”

documenting the auction] is that idea

the team about the music for the

Jon: “I absolutely agree, there was also

that everybody takes a piece of their

whole film. Martin Moscrop [A Certain

a loss of diversity. It became less

favourite club to wherever they feel

Ratio] and I had a little bit of say in

diverse in terms of gender to an extent

and really cherishes it. That’s how it

that, just to get it as authentic as we

and sexual orientation – it became

should be, it becomes part of their life.

could but they were stuck with the

whiteified. In 1987 Friday was Black

It’s a representation that The Haçienda

budget so they weren’t able to get the

kids from Moss Side doing jazz funk

never belonged to any one person, it

tracks they wanted. Which is why

dancing to T-Coy’s ‘Cariño’.”

belonged to those thousands of

there is one ACR track in there. So, I

people. Nobody really owns The

kind of knew how it was going to look

In 2000, the first legacy event took

Haçienda now and everybody has their

and so I put them in touch with the

place, an auction to raise funds for

own idea of what it is.”

original lighting guy so that we could have some of the original lighting. Mike

charity, the lots were the detritus from the club: the bricks, dancefloor, sinks

I love that at the auction Peter Hook

confessed to feeling the wobbliest

from the bathrooms, even the DJ

was increasing the bids by taking

when he walked in.”

booth. Did you both attend this?

phantom bids. Bobby Langley bought

Jon: “I burst into tears. I walked into

Jon: “I failed to get to it because I was

the DJ booth which was going to go for

the set and, it wasn’t quite right but it

too hungover in Stoke. (Mike) Pickering

£500 and Peter took a bid from the

was just… clearly I obviously knew this

and (Graeme) Park rang me: ‘Where the

back of the room to get it going. I think

view, so, so well from years of playing

fuck are you?’. I ended up going for

the DJ booth is still missing in action?

there or being a punter or whatever

dinner with New Order and Rob

Jon: “He’s got it flat packed. I think

and it was just… I just burst into tears.

(Gretton) afterwards.”

someone else paid for it in the end not

It was our night of closure.”

Bobby. He was living in my apartment

Dave: “It felt like the last night that we

at the time.”

never had. I helped get all the extras in

Did you miss out on buying anything?

and I had to send them all a letter

Jon: “I did but I don’t think I was in a position to buy anything at the time. I

Five years after the club’s closure the

saying don’t dress like a cliché and just

was freshly divorced and going

film ‘24 Hour Party People’ was

be aware that it will stop and start

through a whole load of financial

released. Both of you appeared in the

while they film. But Michael and his

nightmares.”

film didn’t you?

people loved it so much that they just

Jon: “I did by accident. Me and Dave

let it roll.”

What would you have liked to have to

were supposed to play together (in a

Jon: “There was unfortunately rather a

bought?

club scene) and then Graeme and Mike

lot of beanie hats which we never

Jon: “I can’t believe I didn’t steal one of

muscled in. But then when Steve

really saw in The Haçienda. The

the bollards when I could have,

Coogan makes that announcement

fishermen around here went hatless

because there was a pile of them. It

that the club is closing I’m right next to

for months afterwards.”

was just like my loyalty to Rob, I

him. So, I’m in it for a microsecond but

Dave: “At least it was a fairly young

I’m there because Mike was at the bar

audience, not just all our mates.”

and he said: ‘Can you go and DJ for me 170_DISCO_POGO

using my records?’ So I went up there

“CERTAINLY IN THAT GOLDEN

Order thing. In the years since Hooky

PERIOD IT WAS ABSOLUTE

lots of stuff with New Order and

EUPHORIA. I MEAN I REMEMBER FEELING THE AUDIENCE’S POSITIVITY AND REACTION TO THE MUSIC ALMOST PHYSICALLY AS A DJ.” DAVE HASLAM

has run the Haçienda brand I’ve done unfortunately I think in that relationship you are forced – certainly by Hooky – to choose. And I feel very comfortable with my choice. I always look at the line-ups, of course I do, there’s a part of me that would love to go and I’d love to play. But like I say it’s just things have conspired and events have happened and I’m not going to. I can be jaded and cynical but I can also acknowledge that it’s amazing to be a participant of something that 40 years later people find intriguing or if you’re lucky, inspiring.” Jon: “Absolutely, I’ve come across kids in their late-teens, early-20s at gigs

What do you think of the film?

nights and did fantastic birthday

and they’re asking me questions about

Dave: “The film felt right, though it

parties with funfairs and all this kind

the Wet party (a night in 1988 held in a

wasn’t historically accurate.”

of stuff nobody had ever seen this

swimming baths) and because that’s

Jon: “I spoke to Tony about it because I

before. So, I don’t understand where

one of the few things you can actually

didn’t really enjoy it. He said: ‘Well

this comes from. I think in terms of the

watch on YouTube, they’re just

you’re too close to me, Jon, to enjoy it’. I

management, there was a lot of jobs

absolutely obsessed. You get met at

get the humour, but I thought it was

that really could have been done by

the stage by really nervous teenagers

quite rough on Tony. I’ve only seen it a

one person. A lot of money was wasted

wanting to ask you all about Factory

couple of times since then.”

– there were rumours that they didn’t

Records.”

Dave: If you Google image Haçienda

make any money even when it was

nightclub, a lot of the first 50 images

absolutely rammed.”

If you had to describe why The

are actually stills from the film.”

Dave: “It was always ready at 9 o’clock

Haçienda was special to a young

to open. Everything was there and I

person what would you pick out as a

Did you both read the Peter Hook book

never had an issue with the sound, no

defining thing?

‘How Not to Run a Club’ in 2009?

one ever booked guest DJs without

Jon: “DJ culture really arrived during

Jon: “I refused to. I told Peter at the

telling me and I got paid every week.”

that period and The Haçienda was quite central to that. There was an

time. I said I’ve had enough and I’d lived it, so no I haven’t read it.”

The Haçienda Classical series has been

excitement in the air. It was

Dave: “I went into Waterstones and

both successful and pioneering. Since

exhilarating – the collision of certain

looked myself up in the Index. And

the first one with the Manchester

chemicals, certain music and a certain

there was a paragraph about me and

Camerata, Cream, Ministry of Sound

dancefloor. It was scary to walk

my history with The Haçienda. I

and Back to Basics have all done

around there, it wasn’t scary because

resigned once and got sacked once

versions.

of the violence, it was scary because

and reinstated three times. A

Jon: “I’ve never actually watched

you just didn’t know what was going

paragraph about me resigning was so

Haçienda Classical. But apparently

on. People just losing their minds to the

far from the truth, I just thought well if

they do a fantastic job. You can

music.”

that’s a mark of what the rest of the

understand it’s a big cash cow for

Dave: “I don’t think there’s a way of

book is like then I’ll leave it. I remember

them, I understand that and good luck

describing it, you know, again because

somebody sending me a link to the

to them.”

it went through so many different phases but certainly in that golden

book when it was commercially successful and it was riding high in the

How was the 40th anniversary party in

period it was absolute euphoria. I

fiction charts. That is about right.”

the car park under The Haçienda

mean I remember feeling the

apartments on the site of the original

audience’s positivity and reaction to

Was it really that badly run?

venue? When it eventually got going?

the music almost physically as a DJ.

Jon: “There was a bit of a debacle with

Jon: “It was in two parts (an afternoon

Previously you could tell they were

the 40th birthday in the car park this

event and a night-time one). The

appreciating what we were playing,

year and the vitriol that was spewed.

second part I just thought was

but in that era it was almost a physical

That was an issue with the Council and

fantastic and it was emotional. I really

thing, you were in the DJ booth feeling

I don’t really think it falls at The

enjoyed it.”

this positivity and it was tangible and

Haçienda’s door. But this idea that it

Dave: “I don’t get invited. I mean the

the sweat would rise.”

was continuing this notion that the

other underlying issue is the whole

club was chaotic. We put on great

Peter Hook, Bernard Sumner New

DISCO_POGO_171

Haslam and Dasilva signing the author’s bollard.

Haçienda That? In a meta moment I took the bollard with me to a 2017 screening of ‘Do You Own the Dancefloor?’ in King’s Cross. The Haçienda’s architect Ben Kelly and DJ Graham Park were appearing after the film and I wanted them to sign my artefact. The film documents why people bought what they

lager, not sure anyone has drunk this since - or before for

did at the auction and what they did with it.

that matter).

One of The Haçienda poster and flyer designers, Trevor

I approached Kelly before the film in the bar and

Johnson, has four bollards signposting the lettuce in his

unsheathed my bollard from a black bin bag and handed

allotment. Peter Hook turned some of the dancefloor planks

him a Sharpie pen. His friend stopped him for a moment and

into bass guitars. My favourite part of this endearing

cautioned: ‘How do you know it’s real?’ So I told him my story

documentary are the friends who purchased these hulking

about Anthony Wilson guiding me and Paul through the club

metal emergency exit doors. No one really mentions these

one last time, which he seemed to believe. He signed one of

when they think wistfully back to Ben Kelly’s ground

the white parts. Graham Park signed it without question

breaking design, they didn’t even feature his black and

after the screening and I now have Haslam and Dasilva’s

yellow stripes. But to these friends – under-age at the club’s

inked on following this interview. Mike Pickering, the DJ I

peak – they meant the world as each weekend they would

danced to the most back in 89-91 when I used to go nearly

bang on the doors at a certain point in the night and there

every week is next on my list.

was a chap on the other side who would let them in for a

After he had signed it, Ben Kelly asked if he could buy the

fiver. From there they would enter this epoch-making

bollard from me. As with Sasha 20 years previously I declined.

wonderland of tunes, sweat and beers (cans of Breaker

The club still seems to have a hold over everyone, even the man who laid out its first plans 40 years ago…

172_DISCO_POGO

DRUM & BASS A L L S T A R S

ada-music.com

IN THE FLESH

The nights Hot, Nude and Temperance Club might be synonymous with The Haçienda, but equally important was the club’s monthly gay night, Flesh. A riotous collision of Queer Northern energy and pure hedonism, it was the perfect antidote to clubland’s encroaching lad culture. There from the beginning, Paul Flynn was one of the night’s disciples. He looks back on a time when his home city went from Madchester to Gaychester… Photos: Jon Shard

The Haçienda was one of a small number of venues across the city that Mancunian LGBT+ folk already felt invested in, like The Royal Exchange theatre, the King Street Vidal Sassoon salon, clothes shop Geese, vegetarian café The Eighth Day and The Cornerhouse cinema. “It was massively important for Queer Mancunians to stake their claim on this juicy territory,” says DJ Paulette, the Flesh figurehead who DJed downstairs at the Gay Traitor. LGBT+ people worked The Haçienda. We manned the cloakroom and the canteen. Cons was our representative wizard behind the curtains of its Oz. The pre-acid house ‘straight’ crowd was sophisticated (local translation: pretentious) enough to know gay and lesbian people and all looked a little bit bisexual anyway. “Lots of us had already been going there a lot, and loved it,” says another of Flesh’s resident DJs, Kath McDermott. “Quite a few of us had been thinking, can you imagine this full of Queer people?” When it happened, says Cons: “It felt like we weren’t at the margins anymore. We’d taken the temple.” The Flesh storm had other, more oblique portents. New Order’s debt of gratitude to the gay clubs of New York was stitched into their story early. ‘Blue Monday’ had been crafted with the same programming machinery Bobby Orlando used to fashion hi-NRG hits for Divine and The Flirts. Like Robert DeNiro, Tony Wilson’s dad was gay. “I always remember Tony’s gay dad turning up at the opening of the [artist] David Mach exhibition in 1986,” says Cons. “There were giant columns on The Haçienda dancefloor, made out of thousands of unused sleeves of the [New Order] 12-inch ‘Confusion’ single. He started dancing on his own a bit pissed until he was gently removed by security. There was always an undercurrent.” “That confidence Tony had in his own campery,” says McDermott. “Calling everyone ‘darling’. Wearing nail polish. He sent Paul Cons to New York for the summer on sabbatical to see what was going on in the gay clubs there.

For the decade preceding October 1991 and the opening of The Haçienda’s peerless monthly gay bacchanal, Flesh,

Imagine that now?” An aborted early attempt in Haçienda history to mount

Manchester built part of its robust, say-what-you-see

its first LGBT+ night, Gay Mondays (1983), climaxed with

identity on casual homophobia. This strand of the city’s

Divine, growling along to a succession of flawless Bobby O

character had obvious figureheads. Portly stand-up

cuts to a quarter-full main room of men in overcoats and

comedian, Bernard Manning engendered a ‘backs to the

women with Cocteau Twins hair. The night lasted less than

wall’ atmosphere at his Embassy Club, parlaying gay male

six months. By the time it got a second shot with Flesh,

sexuality as nothing more evolved than a predatory desire

which lasted six years, The Haçienda had accrued its own

to bum anything that moves. James Anderton, the city’s

legends, good and bad. The period when gangland

puritan Chief of Police, famously responded to the AIDS

Manchester peaked, briefly dubbed ‘Gunchester’ had shut

pandemic by saying gay men were ‘swimming in a cesspit of

down its doors for a season. Solutions needed to be found to

their own making’ on ‘Granada Reports’. The central joke of

open again. Cons suggested turning the entire venue gay,

Mike Baldwin’s affair with Deirdre Barlow on ‘Coronation

an idea which was rejected.

Street’ was that husband, Ken, was a bit too gay for her because he read books. Where there is thought, there is counterthought. The local

You could see where he was coming from. There’d been a recent growth spurt in confidence of Manchester’s LGBT+ underground. In 1989, the ‘No Clause 28’ March against

response to all this had been coalescing, forming a perfect

Margaret Thatcher’s proposed bill to ban the ‘promotion’ of

storm ready to eventually congregate on the Haçienda

homosexuality in the classroom formed the largest street

dancefloor, the spot where the sad city found its happiness.

protest in Britain. The following summer, ecstasy began

“The first Flesh was the proudest moment of my club

filtering into the gay clubs of Manchester. Smoke machines

career,” says the night’s co-promoter, long-term Haçienda

were installed and the carpet ripped up at The Number One

employee, Paul Cons. “Seeing the best club in the world fully

club, a compact box tucked footsteps from Anderton’s

and explicitly going Queer was historic.”

Bootle Street Police Station HQ. Saturday night resident DJ, Tim Lennox adjusted his sets to the tempo and stimulants of

174_DISCO_POGO

the times, as whistles blew, Vick’s VapoRub merged with the

DJ Paulette downstairs in the Gay Traitor.

“I tried to stage a coup in ‘92 and turf Mike Pickering out of his Friday night slot. But the pushback was swift and firm. So, I don’t think it would have ever happened. In hindsight, I should have gone further and asked for Saturdays as well. It would have been a major success and the club might still be open.” Paul Cons

push all that segregation and Stock, Aitken and Waterman into the canal. We knew there was change coming because we were that change.” Buoyed by the success of co-promoting Attitude at The Academy (over 800 tickets sold) and her takeover of The Haçienda for The Lesbian Summer of Love (notoriously the biggest bar take in the club’s history), Paul Cons began Flesh as another co-production with Lucy Scher. “Lucy was a neighbour in Hulme,” says McDermott. “When she told me she was going in with Paul at The Haçienda, I was completely evangelical. Paul with all that bedrock knowledge he’d learned from New York clubs, Lucy completely keyed into a grass roots community of dykes in Hulme? Now we’ve got something interesting.” She remembers flyering for Lucy ahead of the first Flesh. “We did it for free because we believed that strongly that this had to happen. Standing on the corner of Aytoun Street persuading people to come along wasn’t a job, it was a passion.” “I wouldn’t have been there if it wasn’t for Lucy,” says Paulette. “Her modus operandi,” says McDermott, “was: ‘Where’s the women?’”

ever-present aroma of poppers and tobacco, sweat dripped

“She put us upfront on the flyers and posters,” says

gracefully from the ceiling. A new archetype, the gay raver

Paulette. “She was gentle, funny, direct and sharp. She

was born.

made me believe I could do anything I wanted to.”

“The Number One was amazingly important,” recalls Cons.

In almost all respects, the night The Haçienda turned gay

“Tim sewed seeds and built a scene that was ready to

was just evolution at work, the club transmuting into a

explode when transported to The Haçienda.” Lennox’s

portal through which the Queer city found its true

Saturday nights at The Number One were our big gay secret.

Dionysian head of steam. On October 31 1991, Flesh’s first

“It was the temple,” says McDermott. “That influenced us to

night nerves lasted approximately half an hour, before The

set up Loose, so young Queer Liverpool was galvanized. Dave

Haçienda began swelling with mid-week ravers from across

[Kendrick, beloved Flesh main floor resident alongside

the North on the last Wednesday of each month. There were

Lennox] was doing Jungle in Leeds, so that crowd was ready

more than any of us crammed into the 200-capacity

to go. Manchester was obviously set up.”

Number One club had ever really imagined possible.

In a final flourish of local Queer hospitality history, former

I was still a teenager when Flesh began. Despite being

Boddingtons Brewery marketing man, Peter Dalton opened

well schooled in nights at The Haçienda and Number One, it

Manto on Canal Street, the first glass-fronted gay bar in

was almost as if picturing the two conjoining was a Queer

the country. The staff were pretty, the music new, the

leap of faith too far. Yet combining the raw energy from The

finishes sleek and European. You could buy Gitanes

Number One with the Brutalist sophistication of The

cigarettes over the bar. A newspaper stand housed Le Monde

Haçienda felt instantly epochal, capturing a vanguard

and Die Welt. “Manto was massive,” says McDermott, “It

junction of Northern gay culture at its most blissfully and

really kicked a door down with the big plate glass windows.

romantically untested. A friend turned to me that first

‘It’s on, we’re here. Fuck off, we’re beautiful, screw you.’”

night, while looking over the balcony onto the main

If we had our own Dry Bar, why couldn’t we get our hands

dancefloor and said: “It’s a bit like watching everyone

on The Haçienda? “That’s quite a Manc attitude, isn’t it?”

interesting and gay in the city lose their drug virginity at

says McDermott. “Manchester’s gay clubs had been so

once, isn’t it?”

segregated before. The music was appalling. We wanted to

DISCO_POGO_177

Miss Flesh: Paul Cons top right with actress Margi Clarke below.

Flesh took something already in the ether and crystallized it into pure nightlife magic. As early as Flesh #2, a wasted Masonic bond had begun to trace friendships formed there. Taking over The Haçienda was our shared triumph. The secret was out. Homophobia was not indigenously Mancunian after all, despite the ideas James Anderton had banked his professional reputation on. “Playing the Gay Traitor was like playing the wildest house party that was flooded 90% of the time,” says McDermott. “It was wild and great and free.” “Flesh pushed Queerness into a club where Queerness was unexpected,” says Paulette. “From the day it started, it

survived its six-year run. When the night began, we were

turned the clubbing week on its head. Mid-week became the

still five years away from combination therapies curtailing

weekend. The town centre became aspirationally gay. House

the assumed death sentence of an HIV infection. The

and disco ruled.”

impulse to dance is rarely more urgent than when dancing

Stories began gathering around Flesh. “The tickets used to say: MANAGEMENT RESERVE THE RIGHT TO REFUSE

for your life. In 1992, Paul Cons revived the idea of a more regular gay

ADMISSION TO KNOWN HETEROSEXUALS,” says Cons. “Prior

Haçienda takeover to his bosses at the club. “I tried to stage

to Flesh you would have been hard pressed to find straight

a coup in ‘92 and turf Mike Pickering out of his Friday night

people frequenting any Queer establishment,” says Paulette.

slot. But the pushback was swift and firm. So, I don’t think it

“Life in the 90s was riddled with isms and phobias.” Yet

would have ever happened. In hindsight, I should have gone

monthly, straight nightclubbers hoping to gain entrance to

further and asked for Saturdays as well. It would have been

Flesh would ritualistically get off with their gay and lesbian

a major success and the club might still be open.”

mates at the check-in to prove to Jemima and Renika on

At the Flesh second birthday party, when Michael and

the door that, if not quite 100% aligned to New Queer

Gerlinde Costiff’s Leicester Square party, Kinky Gerlinky

Manchester, they might at least be persuadable after

visited from London, Cons described Flesh to me as: “The

nibbling the corner of a disco biscuit. “Straight people

most glamorous night Manchester has ever seen.” He still

pretending to be gay in order to get in?” says Cons.

stands by the statement. “Oh yes, of course. How could

“Incredible.”

Leigh Bowery giving birth on stage not be glamorous?” For

Paula Yates hosted the debut Flesh beauty pageant. Flesh

Paulette, the Kinky Gerlinky Flesh felt like its crowning

FC inaugurated The Haçienda’s first gay football-themed

moment. “Flesh excelled itself each month, but the Second

party. Take That played an early Flesh, to a mostly

Birthday is probably where it all came together on a

indifferent crowd, turning into regular punters instead.

national scale, with Patrick Lilley, Princess Julia, Jeffrey

They recorded Dan Hartman’s ‘Relight My Fire’ after

Hinton and Luke Howard in attendance and all the glamour

witnessing Tim Lennox raise the roof with it as his trusted

that came along with them.”

end-of-the-night Flesh crescendo. For Haçienda regulars used to hearing Mike Pickering and

Somebody started a rumour that night about Princess Julia mixing two records from the spaceship DJ booth above

Graeme Park polishing off a Saturday night with Loleatta

the main dancefloor with the heel of her stiletto. “This is the

Holloway’s ‘Love Sensation’, the singer’s gospel explosion

party that the press came to,” says Paulette, “everyone from

during the bridge of ‘Relight My Fire’ – ‘You’ve got to be

The Face, Mixmag, Attitude and DJ. Photographers and TV

strong enough to walk on through the night/there’s a new

stations were there.” Fleetingly, ‘Gunchester’ begot

day on the other side’ – announced itself with a spine-

‘Gaychester’. Granada shot and aired a one-hour Flesh TV

tingling new charge.

documentary.

Hartman died six months into the night starting, of

“Flesh informed a generation,” says McDermott. “Playing

complications due to his AIDS diagnosis. Owing to the

the main room was completely visceral. I’d say to the guys

medical emergencies of the times, not all who went to Flesh

who did the lights: ‘When the piano breakdown happens in this one, make it go absolute sunburst orange.’ They’d hold

180_DISCO_POGO

it for the entire breakdown. These were theatrical lights,

Kath McDermott in The Haçienda DJ booth.

Flesh’s football-themed party.

Anderton had raided in the late-80s. After cannily tracing the shift of interesting Manchester nightlife out to Hidden in Salford, Homoelectric gained a new momentum more redolent of Berlin nightlife than Mancunian, now hosting a 10,000-capacity affiliate annual gay rave, Homobloc, at Mayfield Depot. Paulette is officially a superstar DJ and writing a first memoir about her scintillating journey through the night. Kath McDermott is a producer at Radio 6 Music and intermittent nightclub DJ, when the correct mood and night

“We wanted to push all that segregation and Stock, Aitken and Waterman into the canal. We knew there was change coming because we were that change.” Kath McDermott

takes her fancy. “For Manchester to become one of the key Queer cities in the world,” she says, “was unthinkable when we first walked into a basement club positioned next to James Anderton’s police station. From that to today is just seismic. Flesh was a big part of that story.” As if to emblemise the passage of Manchester from a place of hostility to one of acceptance, Anderton’s daughter eventually came out as lesbian. Tim Lennox left DJing for good to become a funeral director, inspiring more than one Queer Mancunian to coin a nightlife epithet on his behalf: From the rave to the grave. He stepped out of retirement for a Flesh 20th anniversary night at The Factory, the old Paradise Factory which Peter

better than anywhere else. Being at the helm of that, looking down at what was going on was completely overwhelming. Stressful as fuck, but incomparable, really.” After the third birthday, Lucy Scher left as co-promoter. A

Hook was by now renting back from Peter Dalton. Paul Cons made the shift from The Haçienda to managing the elite London confectionery company, Konditor and Cook, with his husband. “Ecstasy, sugar, it’s all drugs,” he once told

sea-change felt afoot. “It lost some of the diversity that

me. Lucy Scher died at 53, in the summer of 2018. She’d

having a lesbian co-running it brought,” says Cons. By now

returned to her first love of filmmaking, helping initiate an

big room gay parties had spread across country, including

accessible screenwriting resource. Dave Kendrick? Reader, I

Vague at The Warehouse in Leeds and Love Boutique at The

married him.

Arches in Glasgow. Flesh had proven hungry audiences

In early summer this year, Dave, Kath and Paulette were

existed. A feeding frenzy began. It had done its job, shifting

booked by Cons to play the Flesh room at The Haçienda

Manchester’s central sense of itself. It continued, with

reunion at Tobacco Dock, London. Flesh is starting, at last,

intermittent flashes of genius, until early 1997.

to be written into club legend, on its own terms, celebrated

There were repercussions. Manchester City Council

for the absolute ball it once was. Nobody has a critical word

appointed an evangelical, unofficial ‘Minister For Fun’ in gay

to say about the night The Haçienda turned gay. Which, if

local councillor, Pat Kearney to sell the city’s new LGBT+

you know Mancunians, well…

groundswell to the world. To his eternal credit, it worked.

“I am massively proud of my involvement,” says Paulette.

Peter Dalton bought the old Factory Records building on the

“It was ground-breaking in every way. My presence as a

corner of Princess Street from a bankrupt Tony Wilson and

Black, female, Queer woman commanding the decks and

for a couple of glorious, ecstasy-addled years we got our

hosting the second room for four years is poignant and

full-time gay Haçienda in Paradise Factory, with Flesh’s

powerful. Every month I saw my beautiful mixed crowd grow

longest standing main room residents, Tim Lennox and Dave

into a faithful family, some of whom are lifelong friends. I

Kendrick as Saturday night heroes.

managed to become successful enough to join the world of

Canal Street exploded, to the point where Channel Four commissioned burgeoning television genius, Russell T. Davies’ ‘Queer As Folk’, a drama centring on its patrons, a bit

white, heterosexual, cis male DJs, meeting them on their own territory. That’s pure poetry.” They are all still friends. “I know, it’s so funny,” says Kath

like Tony Warren’s ‘Coronation Street’ with its pants off.

McDermott. “We went through so much together. Once

Handbag house brands like Hed Kandi took a sliver of the

you’ve been there with a swimming pool bursting on the side

tough, cheeky, New York house energy of Flesh and, briefly,

of the dancefloor at The Haçienda, everything’s quite

successfully sold it back to straight Britain, one fluffy bra

normal to us.”

top at a time, corporatizing and ultimately killing the unique flavour of DIY Northern wit, glamour and heads-down Queer boogie that made Flesh so golden in the first place. This being Manchester, everyone decided they hated Canal Street by the time it became popular. Another old

She’s proud of Flesh, too. “You can see bits and pieces of it in every cutting-edge Queer club that exists now,” she says. It’s just a different edge that’s being cut now. “Yeah, and you have to get through that first battlefront to get where we are now. We did that.”

Flesh regular and Manto DJ, Luke Cowdrey and a band of his Queer chums, including Kath McDermott started Homoelectric, a boutique anti-mainstream Queer club in the old Clone’s leather den, Rockies, a venue James

DISCO_POGO_183

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THE ARCHIVE IT'S TIME TO GO BACK - WAY BACK - AS WE REVISIT OUR SNOTTY-NOSED, FORMER SELVES WITH A SELECTION OF ARTICLES ORIGINALLY FEATURED IN JOCKEY SLUT...

THE ARCHIVE / THE NEPTUNES / ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED JUL 2003

Masters Of The Universe The Neptunes live in a big house, a very big house, in the country. No wonder: they are the hip hop production guns for hire, as everyone from Jay-Z to Britney will attest – Steve Yates visits them on their Virginia Plain and encounters two reserved, reluctant superstars. ‘‘I watched myself have an ego, and that can’t happen again,” says Pharrell Williams...

“I’m trying to keep from doing anything that looks like MTV Cribs,” says Pharrell Williams, explaining his reluctance to be snapped with his Neptunes compadre, Chad Hugo, next to the giant statue of the eponymous Roman god of the sea that stands proudly in his back garden. “Things that are expensive have such a negative connotation and I don’t wanna get grouped into that.” He needn’t have worried. Although Pharrell is rich – very rich – and spends accordingly, his crib is a world away from MTV’s tacky trawl through the palaces of ostentation. There are no crystal chandeliers, rented or otherwise, the expensive cars that litter his garage and driveway are symbols of taste rather than showiness (according to our photographer, who seems to know about these things) and even the porn comes in the form of expensive art books. Regardless, we’re strictly forbidden from snapping the interior (other than a few action shots of Pharrell on his skate ramp) or the cars. “Where we live, what we drive and what we wear isn’t really relevant,” insists Pharrell, in flagrant violation of hip hop ethics. “It doesn’t define you. It’s a by-product of your taste and somewhat of your mentality. Material items have no meaning. They get made and either become trashed or crashed, or they go on to become antiques, outlive all of us. “I think reservation is a little more intriguing,” he continues. This doesn’t just denote a restraint rare in hip hop’s culture of conspicuous consumption, it’s also

Words: Steve Yates. Photos: Jake Curtis

symptomatic of the ‘push me, pull you’ relationship Pharrell has with his own fame. This is a man who confesses he used to beg the artists he produced to appear in their videos but can’t stand looking at pictures of himself; who has severe reservations about his own voice but sings on virtually every record he makes (including taking lead for the first time outside of N.E.R.D. on the new single, ‘Frontin’’); who has been linked with a string of celebrity girlfriends (Beyoncé, Jade ‘Mick’s daughter’ Jagger) but longs for Chad’s wife-and-twokids domesticity. “I am a playboy because I have nothing else to be,” he confesses. “I go around with a lot of different girls but I’d love to have the inspiration to come home – now I just go home because it’s where I live. I wanna family, I wanna wife.” This is a man who has it all but doesn’t want to talk about it. “Everybody brags about what they got, but if you owned the Earth on Monday what is there to talk about on Tuesday?” Owning the Earth – at least that part of it marked out by hip hop, R’n’B and, sometimes, pop – is something The Neptunes are coming ever closer to. More popular than Timbaland, more productive than Dr. Dre, they are currently the most important producers on the planet bar none.

186_DISCO_POGO

DISCO_POGO_187

Established stars like Jay-Z, Snoop, Busta and Beyoncé

car you’re gonna put in the video, what about the sexy

use them to stay on top, journeymen rappers like Clipse

chick, because the standard has been drawn. But we

go to number one on their coat-tails and pop megastars

don’t give a shit about that stuff, we just wanna make

like Britney and Justin Timberlake turn to them when they

music.”

want to shed their teenybop skin. But, despite worldwide

Although the line-up speaks both of their pulling power

sales falling not far short of every other cover star in this

and favours returned – Jigga, Usher, Busta and a recently

journal’s ten year history combined, they’re still credible

freed Ol’ Dirty Bastard, whose caustic hyper-persona The

enough to appear on the cover of an underground

Neptunes corralled sufficiently to give him his only bona

magazine like Jockey Slut.

fide pop hit with ‘Got Your Money’ –‘...Clones’ emphasises

In part this is due to their genre-bending N.E.R.D.

their own stable: Clipse, FAM-LAY, the splendidly-named

sideline – a cavalcade of hip hop, metal, soul, psychedelic

Roscoe P Coldchain, N.E.R.D. and their Spymob backing

rock and jazz – in part, the changes they (in tandem with

band, Kelis duetting with hubby-to-be, Nas, and their

Timbaland, an old cohort of Pharrell’s in his high school

newest signing, dancehall’s re-appearing star, Super Cat.

band, Surrounded By Idiots) have wrought, rescuing R’n’B

Chad and Pharrell take pains to point out that the

from its nightmare of jheri-curled bump’n’grind and

‘Clones’ title isn’t a warning shot at their numerous

guiding hip hop out of the sampling cul-de-sac with their

biters. Nor is it an ironic recognition that no one

gnarly, abrasive keyboards.

duplicates The Neptunes so much as The Neptunes

“Keyboards are the way for me,” Pharrell enthuses, “you can make them loose and messy.” And yet they can still make a massive pop LP with boy

themselves, although Chad acknowledges that their snare sound – that pin-sharp Ali jab-and-shuffle – has served its purpose. “It did establish an identity, but we are

band escapee Timberlake. “Music is music, and right now

going to move away from that because we don’t want

pop is playing what’s cool,” explains Pharrell of their

people to think we’re standing still.”

decision to write and produce half of ‘Justified’.

Accusations that all Neptunes beats sound the same

“Sometimes it plays bullshit, but right now it’s playing

are nonsense anyway. Just turn an ear to the bareback

what’s cool. We don’t really worry too much about

thud of ‘Grindin’’, the flamenco strum of Timberlake’s

guidelines, we walk on the boundaries of bravery and

‘Like I Love You’, the dancehall-meets-Bollywood

admiration.”

maelstrom of Kardinall Offishall’s ‘Belly Dancer’ or the

Having established themselves as the production guns

techno pile-up of Ludacris’ ‘Southern Hospitality’. For

for hire, The Neptunes now step forth as label directors

every generic ‘Beautiful’ there’s a bolt-from-the-blue

with the inaugural Star Trak compilation, ‘The Neptunes

‘From tha Chuuuch to tha Palace’.

Pres... Clones’. Although it’s effectively their fifth LP –

It’s this ability to couple versatility with commerciality

following N.E.R.D., Clipse’s ‘Lord Willin’’ and a brace for

that keeps the work coming in despite a rumoured

R’n’B/rock crackerjack, Kelis – it’s the first to feature The

six-figure production fee (some whispered as much as

Neptunes name in headlights, completing their transition

$200,000 for Jay-Z’s recent ‘Excuse Me Miss’) and made

from behind the boards genii to fully-fledged stars.

the Grammys look hopelessly out of touch when they

“You’ve gotta make your mark on this life, let people

failed to nominate them for Best Producers gong. In truth

know who you are and how you feel and what you think is

it wasn’t the Recording Academy’s fault – BMG and Virgin

relevant to this world and that’s all we’re doing with this

assumed each other would file the necessary papers –

album,” says Pharrell, by typically oblique way of

but that didn’t stop Pharrell directing a very public and

elaboration.

very bitter outburst against them, later retracted.

Chad Hugo, goofy comic-book kid to Williams’ space cadet, is slightly more expansive. Slightly. “There’s much more freedom when you put shit out

“We were mad, I talked big shit on MTV,” remembers a penitent Williams. “I watched myself have an ego and that can’t happen again. The biggest thing I learned is

yourselves. In America everything is packaged up – if you

that I have to practise humility even when I feel

want a Big Mac you get a Big Mac, you want a Whopper

something is due to me.”

you get a Whopper. Record labels ask you what kind of

DISCO_POGO_189

“I usually don’t say too much,” he continues, ‘‘that’s why I don’t like doing interviews.” This statement is proving painfully true. Having flown a very grateful Jockey Slut

invading his home, he is much more forthcoming, beginning with an apology for the previous day. "I need people around me to point out the things I have

out to their Virginia Beach home, The Neptunes are

to do," he says, possibly still smarting from his press

inexplicably awkward subjects. Chad rolls up an hour late,

officer's rap across the knuckles. "Mystique is almost

Pharrell disappears for the first 20 minutes and,

everything to me, it keeps the curiosity up, keeps the

returning, asks if we’re nearly done yet. With Kelis’ third

imagination going. I don't see myself as Michael Jackson

LP and N.E.R.D.’s second both due this year we wanted the

or Elvis where you wanna know everything about me. I'm

lowdown on the lot, but they won’t be drawn except to

just not that interesting, I'll never make music of their

say that the former includes a track called ‘Milkshake’

magnitude so I have to maintain the mystique."

which “will take over the world”, while the latter will be

N.E.R.D.'s next LP may be off-limits, but both stress that

“live from the ground up”, unlike its predecessor, ‘In

The Neptunes means more to them, that mass appeal

Search Of...’, which was released with programmed beats,

tickles them where cult indulgence can't. You sense it's

then re-recorded (not to its advantage) with full backing

about more than just the money - it's how they are.

band. (“We felt it could be more organic,” says Pharrell of that decision. “Live implies living.”) To make matters worse, when together Chad defers to Pharrell who makes frequent recourse to cosmic hyperbole in his answers. For instance, on the subject of

“Neptunes is us as crayons to colour other people's worlds," explains Pharrell. "N.E.R.D. is our own colouring book. N.E.R.D. is a diary, it was written for ourselves, Neptunes is for everybody.” And when he says 'everybody' he means it. The

the Clones LP: “It’s us pointing the finger at us; us against

Neptunes are hopelessly head-over-heels in love with

ourselves, man against spirit, spirit against flesh, life

music and want everyone to feel the same way – the

against religion, religion against love, love against man,

polar opposites of the Jay-Z/50 Cent “music is just a

that’s all it is.” More nothing than everything.

hustle” shtick. “I want people to hear our music and have babies, to have a good day at work, to take people

With the conversation interrupted so the photographer

through different emotions of universal mentality. Things

can exploit some respite from the rain, such momentum

a madman would think, things Mother Theresa would

as we have is lost and the interview is terminated with

think, things a normal person would think and bring

barely half of our questions answered. Lest this appear to

Technicolor emotions to everybody's lives. I don't care

be another case of Hip Hoppers With Attitude, it should be

how mad you are, you still wanna have a good day. We

noted that both men are courteous; they're just intensely

wanna celebrate crazy opposites and perpetuate that

uncomfortable with media demands on their celebrity.

common thread."

"We're lucky that someone is even interested," Pharrell

Touching on The Neptunes origins for the first time,

says. "We could be musicians with ambitions and

Pharrell says he and Chad bonded because they were

aspirations, standing on the corner completely broke,

unafraid to explore; while everyone else in their

unable to get enough money even to make a call to our

'bandcraft' (music class) was concerned with technique,

family, let alone take care of them. I'm thankful, but at the

they “wanted to know everything about the songs on the

same time, I hate to read what I say in magazines and I

radio. It was sheer curiosity, a love for the craft. Most

hate the way I look."

people in that class have probably never even been to the

Pharrell offers to continue the interview by telephone

West Coast, let alone London. Schools in the US don't

the next day. Fearing a ruse, but powerless to do

raise people to aspire to travel – in Europe you're raised to

otherwise, Jockey Slut agrees and is delighted to be

learn about other cultures. That can still be the salvation

proven wrong when, while awaiting the connection home

of this world. Here they think the biggest thing you can

Pharrell comes on the line. With hundreds of miles

do is Hollywood. That's bullshit. The biggest thing you can

between us, and without the inconvenience of strangers

do is off the planet". Right now it gets no bigger than Planet Neptune.

190_DISCO_POGO

DISCO_POGO_191

THE ARCHIVE / HAÇIENDA THAT! / ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED JAN 2001

The Haçienda Must Be Sold Some come for urinals, others bid for menu boards. Others, more ambitious, wanted nothing less than the dancefloor. Richard Hector-Jones attends the auction of The Haçienda and watches, teary-eyed, as every nut and bolt is sold... Words: Richard Hector-Jones. Photo: Simon King. Raver: Scott Carroll

“Welcome to an event which, without

midway through his guest appearance

to put it?’ Who knows? But one thing’s

fear of contradiction, is totally unique,”

announcing lots. “It’s clogging up my

for sure, no one’s biting except the

announces a besuited gentleman

garage and the mirrors are so small

Mancs. Then Peter Hook notes a bid for

representing Crosby Homes, purchaser

it’s impossible to do a line off them.”

£600 towards the back. The bid, it

of The Haçienda building from a

To the action. A set of five Victorian

turns out, is fictitious, but Manchester

radiators goes for £30. Antique

is back with £700. Eventually Hook

radiators go for a packet. But really,

reveals he made up the other bidder,

developers have to convert the old Haç

there are only a few items of key

but by this time some muppet by the

site into flats, a speech that concludes

interest here. The dancefloor, the DJ

name of Bobby Langley (a Haç resident

thus: “When we re-open the site as

booth itself and perhaps the steel

himself) has shelled out £1,100. No one

apartments next year, once again you

dancefloor girders. Rumour is that

seems to mind Hook’s underhand

will be able to dance to your favourite

Cream is bidding for the DJ booth.

tactics. It is, after all, a charity event.

music, only this time in the luxury of

Peter Hook mutters something about

your own flat.”

scousers, over, and his dead body.

makeshift stage. There then follows the plans

Boos of disdain shake the cluttered

Jockey Slut steps in to bid for some

The whole event has an air of melancholy. But by the same token, it’s rather touching because, for all the

warehouse in Manchester’s city centre,

dancefloor. A beautifully mounted

attendant mourners here today, this is

whereupon it becomes apparent to all

piece of history, four foot by four foot.

the final send-off for perhaps

present that when it comes to The

It’d make the perfect coffee table, we

Manchester’s finest contribution to

Haçienda and Factory’s legacy, even at

think guiltily, though with the amount

music. Tony Wilson, Mike Pickering and

the end of 2000, emotions still run

of dropped Es ground into it you could

Hooky are spinning with requests for

deep.

probably do ‘twenty to life’ for

signed stuff. Bricks and floor are

possession alone. The bids start at £30.

popular with those who’ve brought

in attendance. Tony Wilson, New

Bargain. Then suddenly it’s at £175. At

marker pens. I bet that never crossed

Order’s Peter Hook, Mike Pickering,

£200 it’s gone in a flash. Who got it?

their minds when Madonna, New

Graeme Park, Dave Haslam. No

Oops, we did.

Order, Lee Perry, The Smiths, Sasha,

Everyone from the building’s past is

wonder: for sale today at the (charity-

Later a security guard brings lot 21

Joy Division, Primal Scream, Happy

funding) Haçienda auction are

out to our car. ‘You twat’ is written all

Mondays, Mantronix, Funkadelic, Blur,

basically the nuts and bolts of the

over his face.

David Morales, The Stone Roses and

building. There’s dancefloor, urinals,

Finally the warehouse doors are

Paul Oakenfold were out the back

bricks, radiators, balcony railings,

opened to reveal, over the far side of

waiting to get paid for their epoch-

menu boards, a piece of concrete with

the road, the whole Haç DJ booth now

defining performances.

‘Hooky Salford ‘94’ etched onto it,

residing on the back of a lorry. The

chimney pots (!?), the cash register,

crowd gathers round, the bidding

Wilson once said famously. And so

even the bleeding DJ booth.

starts at £500, and then nothing

by the same token must it be

“I’d like to add The Haçienda mirror

Perhaps the world’s not that

“The Haçienda must be built,” Tony

destroyed. Now it’s well and truly in

ball to the event if I may,” announces

bothered. More likely, everyone has

bits. That seems like a pretty good way

Peter Hook into the auctioneer’s mic

seen the booth standing there 30ft

to leave it.

high off the ground and thought: ‘Nice idea, but where the fuck am I supposed 192_DISCO_POGO

DISCO_POGO_193

THE ARCHIVE / NIGHTMARES ON WAX / ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED DEC/JAN 02/03

An Audience With Nightmares On Wax He didn’t invent trip hop, can take or leave donuts and prefers Dairylea to Bovril or Marmite. He is Nightmares On Wax, aka George Evelyn, the all-night garage regular and skunk-funk connoisseur...

What happened to the rest of Nightmares On Wax? Jen Stockton via e-mail “Kevin Harper, aka Boy Wonder, is just now writing an album. Watch this space, he will be back because he is the man of many basslines and melodies. He’s had a few social issues but he’s got his hunger back now.” What new music inspires you? You didn’t like anything when you did the recent Cover Up in Jockey Slut. Fred Royce, Newcastle ‘“Will I Am’ is pushing stuff forward. It’s not straight-up hip hop, it’s more like what Quincy Jones touched upon with ‘Back on the Block’, using a lot of soul and live musicianship. Jill Scott, Jaguar Wright have been buzzing me. That Philadelphia thing, you go back through history, all the best soul musicians came from Philly. I like that kind of orchestrated production; emotionally it speaks volumes. Timbaland excites me

Words: Steve Yates. Photos: Pav Modelski

more than The Neptunes. The Neptunes make some great party tunes, but I don’t know about their longevity.”

Few have stayed the distance quite like

with a perm you knew he was from

Nightmares On Wax. From the early

Huddersfield; even today you still see a

days of (don’t call it) bleep to the (don’t

few with the wet look and stuff. I

You don’t do the celebrity DJ/remix

call it) trip hop classic, ‘Smoker’s

started receding when I was 22, but

circuit. Are you a bit of a recluse?

Delight’, to the ‘pastoral’ pleasures of

head-spins were my speciality in the

Joe Pierce via e-mail

his new album ‘Mind Elevation’, George

breakdancing days and I used to use

“I’II party with the best of them. If you

Evelyn has been a fixture of the British

cardboard instead of lino. That burnt a

want to invite me to a party we’ll see

dance scene. We collared him, still

hole on top and that’s how it started to

who goes to bed first. I’m just selective.

jet-lagged and bleary-eyed (no, he’s

go. I grew locks in ‘87 and had them till

I could have gone for that pay cheque,

given that up) from a recent tour of

‘94. I knew I was receding but nobody

especially four or five years ago, but I

Australia, at his home in the

else did.”

wouldn’t have been completely honest with myself. There’ve been things I’ve

countryside just outside of Leeds and quizzed him on the past, present and

In ten years you’ve gone from house to

been asked to do, like Nelly Furtado,

future of NOW, the disintegration of

hip hop through soul and ragga. What’s

where it’s gone on to be massive, but I

the local football team and the history

next?

didn’t feel right about it. I’ve just done

of his haircut.

Darren Laws, Manchester

an Ian Brown remix, but that had more

“I was brought up on the sound system,

to it. If something’s been sent to me for

Did you ever have hair and, if so, what

the reggae background. I was too

name’s sake then I’m not into it.”

did it look like?

young to be involved in it, but that was

Sam Willis, Stockport

my first real experience of music. The

Do you have any recurring nightmares

“I had an afro, a right microphone, and

essence of that needs to be brought to

or dreams, and what do they mean?

if I didn’t have the aerodynamics I have

people today. I didn’t realise it at the

Superdog via e-mail

now then I’d have one still. I remember

time but the first people I studied were

“I’ve got a really boring answer to that,

getting a skiffle – just short back and

Scientist and King Tubby. I’m digging

which is no. When your dreams are a

sides – haircut for my sister’s wedding

deep into my memories, and I’m quite

complete mish-mash I always think

in ‘78. Then obviously going through

excited about the whole LSK (vocalist

there are complications in your life.

the jazz-funk era you got your hair

on ‘70s 80s’) thing as well. His album’s

When you’re more focused then they

permed – I don’t know anyone who

almost done now and this is the real

become a lot clearer, more symbolic.

didn’t. The capital for perms was

him – a lot of people are gonna be

But no recurring ones, so I don’t know

Huddersfield. If you saw a black guy

surprised when they hear it.”

if I’m doing something right or wrong.”

194_DISCO_POGO

DISCO_POGO_195

196_DISCO_POGO

Why do you still live in Leeds when

Don Revie’s shoes?

track in ‘86, I said: ‘One day I’m going to

we’ve all moved south?

Steve Montgomery via e-mail

sample that tune’.”

DJ Greenpeace, ex-Leeds, now London

“I was in Australia for that match, but

"‘Cause you lot don’t have lungs and I

I’ll tell you, there’s not one player who’s

When you collaborated with De La Soul

do, and I like to breathe. Look how I live

blossomed under Venables. How can

were you concerned they’d take the

– I couldn’t live in London like this. I

you not play Dacourt or Viduka? The

money and run?

know who’s right. I want to live

people on big wages, the ones they can

Jack Strong, Reading

somewhere else at some point, but it

sell for big money, unsettle them and

“I knew they’d come up trumps. I’d sent

won’t be in England, it’ll be somewhere

make them leave. That’s the plan, it’s

them the demo and Posdnuos phoned

warmer where the quality of life is

obvious. If I didn’t have a season ticket

me up and even went into depth about

better.”

I wouldn’t be going. O’Leary fucked up

what style I was looking for, which was

with the book, but he was sacked

some old school, rapping forever kind

Sum up your cosmic side for us.

‘cause of the Rio Ferdinand sale. That’s

of thing. He could’ve just said: ‘Yeah,

Mystic Marv, The Miasma

a fact.”

yeah, let’s hook up in the studio and we’ll do it there.’ But he turned up, had

“The day I can do that is the day I’ve reached ultimate awareness, and I

What do you think of the comment

it all written, and was still prepared to

ain’t there yet. I think that’s a know-

from Aphex Twin and Squarepusher

change things. We spent 14 hours in the

it-all question and I definitely don’t

that everything else on Warp is shit?

studio and it’s an experience I’ll never

know it all. Once you think that, you’ve

Sarah, London

forget ‘cause to me they’re like the

failed.”

“I didn’t know they had, but it’s obvious

John Coltranes of rap.”

people will say anything to sell records. Did you invent trip hop and were you

How many controversial things can we

What inspired your classic track

worried you’d go down with it?

say or do? It’s so boring.”

‘Mega Donutz’, and are you a ‘mmm donuts’ man?

Rich Hart, Sheffield “For anyone who checks my résumé

Why do you distance yourself from

Lulu via e-mail

(laughs) I was the first person to say I

Warp’s bleep records?

“Tozz 180, who MCed that track had the

didn’t agree with it. I always have this

Chris Cottingham, London

rhyme kicking around. It’s about

conspiracy theory that someone

“That whole bleep thing, we were never

making it and doing it but not taking it

thinks of a name one week and the

involved in it. We were the second

seriously. It’s like: ‘I’m gonna make this

majors put out a compilation of it the

signing on Warp, we didn’t go there as

money, but I’m gonna spend it.’ I don’t

next.”

part of some bleep package. You can

like real donuts unless I’ve got the

look at Unique 3, A Guy Called Gerald

munchies. But no, I’m not a money

Why don’t you make house music

and us, what you’ll see is electro,

man. It’s nice, but it’s not the be-all-

anymore?

‘cause we’re all from the same b-boy

and-end-all.”

A. Little via e-mail

background. I would argue that all day

“Never say never. I have been toying

long.”

Legalising weed: a progressive step or taking the fun out?

with the idea but I’m one of those people who goes into the studio and

How did the death of Rob Mitchell

Cheech via e-mail

sees what happens, so it’s obviously

affect you?

“A progressive step. It’s not a problem

not been in there. I still listen to house.

Richard Sutcliffe via e-mail

in parts of Germany, Spain. It’s just

We always made other stuff anyway,

“He was part of my life changing and I

getting the idea of it being a drug out

that’s why ‘Word of Science’ was the

was part of his. I feel for his family

of people’s heads. Soon as they hear

way it was. It’s just that the house

‘cause he was a beautiful soul. We had

that word, ‘drug’, people have an idea

tracks got released as singles.”

a lot to share but I must stress that

of what it leads to, but it’s their

he’s only a thought away.”

attitudes that need to change.”

Joanna Staunton via e-mail

Does the b-boy in you prefer

Who are your favourite Georges

“Neither. I don’t eat pigs or beef, so no

Pharcyde’s ‘Passin’ Me By’ to your own

and why?

Bovril. Marmite’s yeast, but it’s love it

‘Nights’ trilogy?

Georgina Martin via e-mail

or hate it and I don’t love it. I’ll tell you

Isabel Brown via e-mail

“George Benson, for his contribution to

what I had on my toast yesterday:

“The thing I like about ‘Passin’ Me By’ is

music. Brought up listening to him by

spreadable Dairylea. I’ve got a baby

that when it came out everyone

my dad. Definitely not George Bush,

daughter so I’ve got an excuse.”

referred to us. We sampled it (Quincy

he’s the one I dislike the most. I could

Jones’ ‘Summer In The City’) first

say another great George but he

Were you one of those shouting for the

(hearty laugh). The ‘Smoker’s Delight’

played for the scum so I won’t.”

return of O’Leary to Leeds Utd

gives me most pleasure as final

recently, and what do you think of

product, but the first one has the

cockney wideboy Venables walking in

history, ‘cause when I first found that

Bovril or Marmite?

DISCO_POGO_197

THE ARCHIVE / PULSE: TOP 10 / ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED DEC/JAN 02/03

A SERIES OF RANDOM SUBJECTS IN TOP TENULAR LIST FORM. THIS MONTH:

The Greatest E Tunes Words: John Burgess, Jim Butler and Steve Yates

1. JOE SMOOTH

whores to cheesemongers, even if they

mental use of a 303 to date, it heralded

‘Promised Land’ (DJ International)

were now dancing in different venues.

a turn towards a darker, more caustic,

To keep the legal eagles at bay, we

The House Nation winked knowingly as

path for techno and many of its

should point out that Mr Smooth (who

Benjamin Diamond sang ‘music sounds

devotees, but that didn’t prevent it

we suspect is a God-fearing Christian

better with you’. Taking his cue, they

being something of an E anthem.

– after all, aren’t all Americans?) didn’t

stuck out their tongues, inserted a

Insular rather than tactile, the fizzing,

compose this under the influence and

small white pill decorated with the

repeated mantra of ‘ecstasy, ecstasy’

probably never intended it to be

three-pronged logo of the Japanese

lent the track a hypnotic, brooding

enjoyed that way. Nor do you have to

motoring company, took a gulp of

quality that left many lost in the grip of

be on one to enjoy it. You barely even

water and danced all night. SY

a feverish frenzy exacerbated by those little tablets. JBt

need ears – it’s so good we get goose bumps just looking at the cover. Gospel

3. TOGETHER

is the primary external influence here,

‘Hardcore Uproar’ (ffrr)

5. THE BELOVED

as Joe invites us all to change the

Just as you probably need to have

‘The Sun Rising’ (East West)

world just by holding hands. And

experienced opium to get the full

Shoom has acquired the mythical

there’s the rub. No record

benefit of Coleridge’s ‘Kubla Khan’, you

status the 100 Club had during punk.

encapsulated the feelgood properties

can’t understand ‘Hardcore Uproar’

Capacity: bugger all. Number of people

inherent in great house and great

without having heard it on E. In fact,

who claim to have been: hundreds of

ecstasy like ‘Promised Land’. And as

many who did still swear it’s utter

thousands. One person we feel sure

that spirit was manifested by the

bobbins. Wild pianos, the ‘Assault On

wasn’t lying is Jon Marsh, who

sudden desire to make lifelong friends

Precinct 13’ theme, a bleepy keyboard

overnight transformed his going-

out of total strangers this stands tall

ideal for drawing invisible lines in front

nowhere goth combo into the original

as the ultimate huggy house anthem,

of your face and, of course, the

3am eternal dance band courtesy of

even more so than Ce Ce Rogers’

gurning nutter who keeps going

this record. The sun could have been in

‘Someday’. ‘You and I will walk the

‘hah-ang-ang-ang’. ‘Real’ heads said it

a field near the M25 or, more likely,

land/And as one, and as one, we’ll take

weren’t ‘proper’, but Together didn’t

above an Ibizan beach, but one thing’s

our stand/And the angels from above/

care. The cheering crowd noises on the

for sure – it wasn’t a natural high that

Fall down and spread their wings like

intro (another touch of genius) showed

kept him up till dawn. SY

doves.’ Yes, yes, Lord, take me. And yes,

who they were aiming it at – the rave

thank you, we will have another. SY

kids wanting a choon in tune with the

6. SABRES OF PARADISE

irresistible energy of their dancing

‘Smokebelch II’ (David Holmes Remix)

companions. SY

(Warp)

2. STARDUST

Remember how DJs used to boast of

‘Music Sounds Better With You’ (Roulé) What came first, the record or the pill?

4. JOEY BELTRAM

‘taking you on a journey’, which, in

We can’t really remember, but

‘Energy Flash’ (R&S)

practice, meant starting slow and

Stardust and Mitsubishis are as

Not all E tunes have to be lessons in

building up to fast? There was more

inextricably linked as chicken and

fluffy, blissed-out huggyness. When

sense of adventure packed into

eggs. Both lush and edgy, Bangalter

New Yorker Beltram’s ‘Energy Flash’

Holmer’s odyssey, a record that

and DJ Falcon’s classic harked back to

first appeared in 1991 it was like a bolt

touched on so many genres it’s

the Good Ol’ Days by uniting in delight

from the blue. All malevolent beats,

practically a one-track set. By 1993

everyone from cool kids to glitz-

unrelenting sub bass and the most

Balearic had become a bad joke,

DISCO_POGO_199

9. SUB SUB ‘Space Face’ (Ten) They’re all grown up now and making ‘Sensible Rock’ as Doves, but is it entirely coincidental that this lot changed their name to match the most popular pill of the era? Not judging by this proto-rave monster, recorded two years before they hit the heights with ‘Ain’t No Love...’. Full of fierce drums, (teeth) grinding keyboards and even a bit of a bleep rubbing shoulders with the nice smiley soothing bit in the middle. The vocal sample everyone remembers is lifted from Kubrick’s ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ (and if that’s not a drug giveaway my name’s Ebeneezer Goode). ‘My God, it’s full of stars,’ they said, gazing up in wonder. It would be boys, it’s the night sky. And while we’re at it the sea’s full of water and fields are full of grass. It’s, like, amaaazing. SY

synonymous with shit records played

Why? They were peaced out of their

badly under the cloak of open-

tiny minds. The Chemical Brothers

mindedness. This is how it should have

were huge fans of the scream-up and

10. HAPPY MONDAYS

been done. Never giving in to trance

at their Glint parties in 2002 segued

‘Hallelujah’

abandon, it keeps returning to the

‘Peace’ with ‘Star Guitar’.

(Oakenfold/Weatherall club mix)

piano sample, a beautiful snippet of

Talking of which... JB

(Factory) Ecstasy famously convinced previously

romantic melancholy. This is the spirit of Cafe Del Mar, a 15-minute Ibizan

8. THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS

floor-shy white kids that they could

holiday without leaving the comforts

‘Star Guitar’

dance. It may even have convinced

of your own couch. SY

(Dusted/Virgin)

Shaun Ryder that he could sing (no,

At the beginning of 2001 Tom'n'Ed –

surely no drug could be that powerful).

7. SABRINA JOHNSON

even their Christian names lend

Having invented indie dance the year

‘Peace’ (East West)

themselves to narc speak – began

before with ‘Wrote For Luck’, the

‘YEEEEEAAAAHH!! YEAH! YEAH! YEAH!’

road-testing various works in

Mondays invited Oakenfold back to

You knew straight away from the intro

progress. By far, the cut that caused

repeat the trick with their first proper

that you weren’t listening to (a) The

the most dancefloor carnage was ‘Star

hit. Oakey brought with him one

Smiths or (b) anything on R&S. ‘Peace’

Guitar’. Kicking off with what sounded

Andrew Weatherall, who was probably

was a monster and also an ultimate

like a cut-up air raid siren (always an

responsible for the heavy bass and

end-of-nighter. All the elements that

ecstasy winner) raining down upon the

deathly slow tempo. The title was sped

could instigate arms aloft, mass

exalted throng, it glided effortlessly

up to a squeak and sampled all over

hugging and knees to buckle were all

into the swooshing breakdown

the place. At the time (late '89) the

here: the ‘wouldn’t life be grand if we

whereupon all in attendance made like

Mondays were at the height of their

didn’t have wars an’ shit’ lyrics (‘Peace

aeroplanes and basked in the glory of

infamy and seemingly invulnerable.

in the valley, peace in the city, peace in

the track’s warm, reflective glow and

Unfortunately, this was before smack

your soul’); the diva hollering her lungs

its singularly unambiguous signature

proved their undoing. SY

out (known in the North as a ‘scream-

refrain of ‘You should feel like I feel/You

up’); and pianos. Loads and loads of

should take what I take’. And there you

pianos. It was the perfect record for

have it; nostalgic, tinged with

1991 when folk took to playing

melancholy and soaked in joyous

inflatable guitars, shaking

celebration – a proper recipe for a

tambourines and dancing on bars.

night on the Mick Mills. JBt

200_DISCO_POGO

^un Waves Earth Patterns

deci us vo l. i

SARATHY KORWAR KALAK

“Earthbound and weather-beaten, yearning, devotional and rebellious”

“A loose amalgam of England’s most troublesome, wayward and wanton musicians. Decius come at you out of the dark” Iggy Pop

An Indofuturist recipe for curing historical amnesia

9/10, Album of the Week Loud & Quiet

theleaflabel.com

BECOME A DISCO POGO SUPPORTER TO ACCESS

THE ARCHIVE ONLINE AT DISCOPOGO.CO

202_DISCO_POGO

HOW I MADE...

Laurent Garnier: ‘THE MAN WITH THE RED FACE’ The central track on Laurent Garnier’s third album, ‘Unreasonable Behaviour’ (released in 2000) was the epic ‘The Man With the Red Face’ - and it went on to transform the fêted French producer’s sonic palette. WORDS: JIM BUTLER. PHOTOS: BAZIL LAMY

Montreux Calling

In the 90s, the relationship

In 1998, Laurent Garnier took a

between jazz and techno wasn’t as

phone call that not only changed

defined – or respected – as it is

the course of his career, it planted

today. However, the founder of

a creative seed that eventually

Montreux, Claude Nobs, was an

gave birth to one of his most

open-minded music fan eager to push

memorable, certainly one of his

the boundaries.

most distinctive and unquestionably one of his best-loved tracks, ‘The

“Back then it was very difficult to

Man With the Red Face’.

find someone in the jazz world who was open to electronic music. It’s

“Christian [Paulet, his manager]

better now – 30 years after. There

rang me and told me that I’d been

were only guys like Bugge

asked to play live at Montreux Jazz

Wesseltoft who were open to us.

Festival. I thought: ‘Fuck! What do

Thankfully, the guy who ran

I do? Playing live at the Montreux

Montreux Jazz [Nobs] was a very

Jazz Festival in the place where

passionate man. He had hip hop. He

Miles Davis played. Who the fuck am

had bands like Deep Purple playing,

I to go and play there after monsters

psychedelic bands, punk bands… he

like that?’ It was strange. But then

was very open. He wanted to move

again we were in a time when techno

forwards. Always. So it was daring

was getting out of the clubs. It was

to ask us. As a matter of respect, I

getting out on the streets and in

wanted to make a track that would

festivals like Montreux, and other

have a more jazzy connotation and

pop rock festivals or whatever were

improvisation.”

starting to have a techno room. Finally the link was established. There was a good sense for us to go and play there.”

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HOW I MADE...

“I’M ONSTAGE THINKING: ‘WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING, MAN? GET BACK ON THE STAGE.’ AT THE END OF THE LIVE SHOW I SAID TO HIM: ‘NO OFFENCE, BUT I DON’T THINK WE’LL CARRY ON…’” The timing was serendipitous

some stuff together. I had the Reese

the next minute he’d be jumping

because Garnier was beginning to

bass line; I did a bit of the drums

around and then he jumped off the

fall under the alluring and

and I just did that during rehearsals.

stage, playing in front of the

innovative spell of jazz.

“The inspiration came from a

girls. I’m onstage thinking: ‘What

track by The Deep, called ‘Dom Dom

the fuck are you doing, man? Get

“We were signing people to [his

Jump’. It was reminiscent of

back on the stage.’ At the end of

label] F Communications like

Masters at Work with a trumpet

the live show I said to him: ‘No

[Frederic] Galliano and I was

player, and I thought: ‘Wow, this

offence, but I don’t think we’ll

starting to explore jazz music. I

is quite nice to bring the wind

carry on… You’re used to hanging

didn’t when I was younger. Every

element to house music.’ It worked

off buildings and playing your

time in my career I liked moving on

really well. So I have to give him

saxophone. You’re used to doing big

to different things. When something

credit for putting a tick in my

shows and this is not what we do.’

becomes really fashionable I tend

head. I got back home and I tried to

So it was great to do Montreux. We

to go against it. I usually search

search for a saxophonist.

had a good time, but no we didn’t

somewhere else – I still do now I

“My drummer Daniel Bechet was the

carry on.”

guess. And, yeah, jazz was talking

son of Sidney Bechet, a huge jazz

to me and I kind of understood back

man in France. Daniel had a lot of

Another prestigious 1998 gig – this

then the root of jazz within techno

connections in the jazz world and

time at Paris’ world-famous music

music. I got it. Improvisation.

he told me that he knew this guy

hall, Olympia – led to Garnier

Instrumental music. Pushing the

called Finn, a saxophonist. So I

working with another temporary

machines. Searching. I understood

met Finn. I told him I was working

saxophonist.

the connection.”

on a track for Montreux and I’d like to put a saxophone on it.

When Garnier was approached about

“I had a loop, this gimmick with

“Again we do this Montreux track – it still has no name – and it works

playing Montreux he was touring in

the drums, which Finn helped me to

well. People seem to like it. I tell

Ireland with his band.

put together, and then he

the saxophonist, who could only do

improvised with his saxophone. We

this Olympia gig, that I need a guy.

“One day we were rehearsing in the

went to Montreux and right in the

I liked the idea of having a

afternoon, because I had a drummer

middle of the show we did this track

saxophonist in the show and want to

and a violinist. We used to have

which was completely improvised. It

go further with it. He tells me

long rehearsals. I was usually

worked really well. We felt

about a guy he knows called Philippe

pretty bored because my machine was

straight away that we had

Nadaud who he says is great and

on/off. Is it working ok? But we’d

something. Something strong.

available. So I meet the famous

spend an hour on the drummer and

Something that was funky.

Philippe Nadaud. And straight away

half-an-hour with the violins, so I

“Unfortunately, Finn was a bit of

was just playing about with my

a showman – to say the least

headphones on and I started to get

(laughing). He was onstage and then

it works. We go and play live and we DISCO_POGO_205

HOW I MADE...

play the Montreux track a few times.

bright red. And I said to him: ‘I’ve

it. And he wasn’t ashamed by what I

One day we decided we needed to go

got the title of the song too: ‘The

did with it – with the cutting and

and record it. The recording was a

Man With the Red Face’.’

editing – then I thought it was

bit of a different kettle of fish.”

Recording – And Hitting Upon The Song’s Title

“I did the edit two or three days after. I remember it was a Thursday

great. “The track is extremely simple.

or Friday and I was supposed to play

There’s a Juno 106 Reese bass,

in Montpellier that night. There’s

percussion – nothing special in

Garnier, his sound engineer,

two instruments on the track –

there – and then the funky, Herbie

Laurent Collat, and Nadaud met at

there’s the saxophone and then

Hancock-ish gimmick is a Yamaha

Garnier’s Paris studio. The track’s

there’s an electronic sax called a

DX100, which was a very small

brooding bass line was already

Ewi. Philippe played both. I do this

keyboard that I bought because a

there - as was its ominous, almost

edit with the phrases going into

lot of the Detroit guys used it at

malevolent undercurrent. What was

each other and answering each

the beginning and I really like the

missing, obviously, was the

other, you know, fucking around

texture. It’s kind of a toy

saxophone part.

with Philippe’s way of playing. And

keyboard, but it’s one of the root

I finish a mix which I think is

keyboards of Detroit music. The

“I said to Philippe: ‘I know in

nice. I put it on tape. And then I

rest is not much more – apart from

jazz, you guys have ways of playing

go to Montpellier. It was a chaotic

the saxophone.

music. So if you play bebop you play

night, but I wanted to try this

bebop. If you play free, you play

track out. But playing a tape in a

with Philippe – how many months

free and you don’t mix the two

DJ set was not very easy – it’s not

after [first messing about in the

together.’ But I told him he could

like now with a USB stick. I find a

rehearsals in Ireland] – the track

do whatever the fuck he liked. ‘You

place in my mix where I just stop

never evolved. 90% of that track

can do one phrase bebop and you can

the track, put on an a capella and

was made on that stage in Ireland.

do another phrase super freestyle.

then, bang, I play ‘The Man With the

The surprising thing about it is

“When I recorded it in my studio

that at the end of day the track was

“I SAID: ‘THIS IS SHIT...’ WE MADE HIM PLAY FOR 20 MINUTES, CURSING HIM. WE WERE SAYING: ‘THIS IS BAD. WE NEED MORE. THIS IS CRAP.’ AFTER 20 OR 25 MINUTES, I STOP. AND PHILIPPE STOPS. HE’S BRIGHT RED.”

made in 10 minutes. Not 10 minutes… 20 minutes. Really. I used some of the percussion from my other tracks because I didn’t have a drum machine or anything. I pinched the hi hat from that; I pinched that from that, put it all together, did this bassline… I liked the groove. And that’s it.”

Release And Aftermath Throughout 1999, Garnier continued playing ‘The Man With the Red Face’

Just go with the flow.’ So we put a

Red Face’ and after five minutes

in his DJ sets – not least at his

pair of headphones on Philippe and I

the whole room is going absolutely

famed Thursday night residency at

said to him I’m just gonna send you

fucking ballistic. I look at

The Rex Club in Paris. The track was

the loop and I’m gonna record you.

everybody thinking: ‘What is going

a cornerstone of his third album,

on?’ I played the track again at the

‘Unreasonable Behaviour’, released

end as a last track. Same reaction.

early in 2000 and named Album of the

“When he started to play I turned to Laurent [Collat] and said: ‘Check this out.’ I could talk to

Issue in Jockey Slut. Released as a

Philippe while he was playing. So I

Thinking he has something strong;

single in April, the track reached

said: ‘This is shit.’ And then I

Garnier sends his edit to Nadaud to

the lofty heights of 65 in the

went: ‘It’s getting even worse.’ We

get his thoughts.

British charts, although when

made him play for 20 minutes,

released as a two-part 12-inch

cursing him. We were saying: ‘This

“He said: ‘Laurent, what the fuck

later that year, alongside another

is bad. We need more. This is crap.

did you do? You can’t play like that

album track, ‘Greed’, it actually

Blah, blah, blah.’ After 20 or 25

as a saxophonist. If I had to replay

gave Garnier his first – and, to

minutes, I stop. And Phillipe

it you can’t play like that.’ But I

date, only – Top 40 British hit,

stops. He’s bright red, looking at

just wanted to know if he liked it?

landing at number 36.

me, going: ‘What the fuck?’ I said:

Whether he thought it was good or

‘It’s ok. We’ve got everything we

not? He told me he liked it. So

“Besides what the track is about,

need. Now you can go home.’ He just

there it was. I told him that I

‘The Man With the Red Face’ is a

said: ‘You motherfucker.’ He was

wasn’t asking him to ever replay it

very pivotal point in my career,

like that. Live is different. But I

where I kind of switched and wanted

told him that if he was happy with

to explore more with musicians and

206_DISCO_POGO

go a bit further. That track is the

One thing that did surprise Garnier

the mix, or I don’t like this or I

key moment where we moved to a more

recently was the urge to play it in

don’t like that. On this track, even

freestyle jazz-way of improvising.

one of his DJ sets.

though I can’t confess it’s my

I could somehow find a way to not be

favourite track of mine – I like it

a proper musician, as I would have

“I don’t play it very often. But I

– but there are tracks of mine that

loved to be, but be more like a

played it last week. I finished my

I like more which have done nothing,

director, a conductor.

set… I was on the mountains, playing

but that’s ok, it doesn’t matter.

“I did that for a few years and

outside, not under my normal name,

But when I played it last week I

then moved on and I haven’t really

I was playing a strictly house set:

thought: ‘Wow, I’m not embarrassed

made any jazzy tracks for some time.

house and African music, no techno,

by it because I think the track

It doesn’t mean I won’t again. I’m

and one man kept asking if I was

sounds good even after all these

just experimenting. I try things on

going to play ‘The Man With the Red

years.’ The mix is a bit weird but

and if we do something strong I’ll

Face’? This happens all the time

it works. It’s cool.

never repeat it – I mean a lot of

and normally I don’t like playing

“It got old in a nice way.

people would probably like me to

my stuff too much, but this time I

It didn’t get dusty. It’s like

make another ‘The Man With the Red

thought: ‘Yeah, it makes sense.

nice wine. It stayed with its

Face’ but I can’t. There’s no point.

We’re outside. We’re happy, let’s

flavour and everything is still

I don’t see the point. The same

do it.’

there. It didn’t get dusty. Some

reason that I don’t want to do

“As I played it I was thinking

another ‘Crispy Bacon’. I want to do

about how good it sounds after all

something else. I want to surprise

these years. There are some tracks

myself.”

of mine that I hear and I think I should re-record it. I don’t like

old tracks can get dusty, so I’m happy with that.”

DISCO_POGO_207

CRATE DIGGING WITH...

Lou Hayter The super catholic, retro-futurist pop star knows how to get the party started and how to wind it down. And for everything inbetween? Steely Dan, of course... INTRO: JOHN BURGESS. PHOTOS: ROB JONES

Lou Hayter has been DJing since the

sets you’ll hear the 80s synth soul

age of 19, making her mark in the

of The System, hazy West Coast 70s

mid-2000s through the East London

yacht rock to more recent pop

warehouse scene when she worked for

productions like A.K. Paul and Omar

seminal labels Output and Nuphonic.

S. As a musician she has been in

She went on to play the capital’s

Tomorrow’s World (with JB Dunckel

finest clubs including fabric and

from Air), New Young Pony Club (best

XOYO and is a regular at Manchester

known for the fantastic ‘Ice

club night Homoelectric.

Cream’) and The New Sins (with whom

She’s also in demand at fashion parties for the esteemed likes of Chanel and Miu Miu and - keeping in

she had a huge club hit for Defected in ‘Lights Down’). Now solo, she has channelled this

that sartorial world - crafts music

experience and her diverse

for catwalks.

influences into a distinctive brand

“My sets take in soul, funk, R&B,

of pop releasing the fantastic

perfect pop, disco, rare groove,

retro-futurist ‘Private Sunshine’

boogie, world music, classic hip

album last year on Skint. Her solo

hop, Chicago and acid house,” she

debut found her singing love

says, leaving few club genres

letters to London over electro soul

unmentioned. “Usually a combination

or setting stories of doomed

of these sounds can be heard in one

romance to disco. A self-confessed

set. I like to focus on flow and

Steely Dan nut she also

stay sensitive to my audience and

successfully braved a cover of

the atmosphere.”

their ‘Time Out of Mind’ – so it’s

Most weekends in her teens she

no surprise to find a Dan associated

spent in Soho’s Soul Jazz

production in her Crate Digging

collecting records that informed

selection.

her super catholic tastes. In her

208_DISCO_POGO

CRATE DIGGING WITH...

WARM-UP TRACK

Fonda Rae: ‘Heobah’ (Hey-O-Bah) (Posse Records) “I first heard this at a rave that Lovefingers was playing at just before lockdown and bought the 12-inch as soon as I got home. I’m a big Fonda Rae fan but hadn’t heard this one before, it’s a gorgeous boogie record with loads of hooks and a chant going through it. People instantly like it even if they haven’t heard it before.”

GUARANTEED FLOOR FILLER

TOILET BREAK TRACK

TRACK THAT EVERYONE SHAZAMS

Truth Hurts.”

Chicago: ‘Street Player’ (Columbia)

Decius: ‘Paradise’ (Decius Tracks)

THROWING A CURVEBALL

“Every DJ needs loads of these!

“I don’t know many people who play

Chicago ‘Street Player’ is nine

this. I think it’s un-Shazamable.

minutes long and also one of my

It’s a kind of edit of a Diana Ross

favourite records ever, so it’s

record that Shep Pettibone

nice to play it until the end when

produced. Decius is Quinn Whalley

the guitar solos come in. Shina

from Paranoid London (amongst

Williams’ ‘Agb’oju L’Ogun’ I play a

others) and so they’ve made it into

lot when I need a break. Also pretty

more of an acid tune with loads of

much any Fela Kuti. Another old

bits reversed. I love the vibe and

classic for a long break is The

energy of all Quinn’s stuff. I’m

Sugarhill Gang’s ‘Rapper’s

hoping to one day put out a mad

“I’m obsessed with Peven Everett.

Delight’. My mate heard it coming

record that we made together in

This is my favourite of his. I love

out of the window of a party the

lockdown with our mate Joe – we had

the unexpected place where he chose

other day and said to me: ‘Ah, the

a right laugh in the studio. Decius

to drop the drums in and the little

DJ must’ve needed the loo.’”

also made a remix for me (‘My Baby

Overmono: ‘So U Kno’ (Poly Kicks) “It’s just massive isn’t it? One of the biggest tunes of the last few years, gives you a rush even if you hear it in the kitchen on the radio. I’m also back on ‘Addictive’ by

Peven Everett: ‘Stuck’ (Soul Heaven)

vocal breaths and expressions. I

Just Cares For Me’) which I was very

study his vocals like crazy for when

grateful to have.”

I produce my own music. I think he’s an underrated genius.” DISCO_POGO_211

CRATE DIGGING WITH...

WELL-KNOWN TUNE THAT YOU LOVE

WHEN IT’S TIME TO GET WEIRD

WHEN IT’S TIME TO GO OBSCURE

Chemise: ’She Can’t Love You’ (Emergency Records)

Yellow Magic Orchestra: ‘Behind the Mask’ (A&M Records)

Sandée: ‘Notice Me’ (Fever Records)

“This hasn’t left my record bag for

“This is a sexy proto-house record

about 15 years. Everyone loves this

“It’s not really that weird but you

with a great vocal on it and the

song. I call these bouncy records,

can’t play it all the time. I love

singer gets more and more loose as

if you need to warm a room up and

it and I love the sleeve. They’re

it goes on.”

give it a nice atmosphere I put on

such an interesting band, I

something like this or Fern

constantly listen to them for

Kinney’s ‘Baby Let Me Kiss You’.

inspiration and all the Ryuichi

I’m always trying to make music like

Sakamoto piano albums and offshoots

this when I make my own records. Tom

of Yellow Magic Orchestra. The new

Tom Club’s ‘Genius of Love’ is

Hudson Mohawke album is definitely

another bouncy tune.”

weird and I’m obsessed with it, but haven’t played any of it out yet.”

212_DISCO_POGO

CRATE DIGGING WITH...

CLASSIC SING-ALONG

Laura Branigan: ‘Gloria’ (Atlantic) “Very satisfying to sing-along to this. Hi-NRG, a bit of pitchbending and a load of emotion.”

ONE MORE TUNE!

“D” Train: ‘You’re the One For Me’ (Prelude Records) “I’ve played this for years but it just seems to be a very now record again so it’s back in heavy rotation for me. So many hooks. Mixed by the one and only François Kevorkian.”

WIND-DOWN TUNE

Various Artists “I get asked to wind the party down a

HOME LISTENING FAVOURITE

FAVE RECORD YOU OWN

Various Artists: ‘Personal Space Electronic Soul 1974 - 1984’ (Chocolate Industries)

Liquid Liquid: ‘Optimo’ (99 Records) “It’s an original 99 Records pressing, I love the record, I love

lot by bookers, but people at the party look at you like you’re mad,

“This compilation is perfect home

the sleeve design and the history

‘cause they don’t realise that you’re

listening. It’s all gorgeous

of it. It also has sentimental value

doing it on purpose. The wind-down set

electronic soul music from acts

because my brother bought it for

is often my favourite part of the

like Jeff Phelps and Johnnie

me. I like to put it on and play

night when I DJ really late in a bar. I

Walker. Any Steely Dan or Dan-

drums along to it.”

go into my erection section bit and

affiliated music will be playing in

bring out The Isley Brothers’ ‘Between

my house. They always make me feel

the Sheets’, Marvin Gaye’s ‘Sexual

happy. There are two tunes on the

Healing’, SOS Band’s ‘Just Be Good to

Rosie Vela album which I adore,

Me’, Miguel’s ‘Adorn’, Bobby

‘Magic Smile’ and ‘Tonto’. The full

Caldwell’s ‘What You Won’t Do For

Steely Dan crew is on there: Becker,

Love’, ‘Who Do You Love’ by Bernard

Fagen and Gary Katz. Marvin Gaye’s

Wright or OutKast’s ‘The Way You Move’

‘Here My Dear’ or ‘Troubleman’ make

Stuff like that are some of my

the perfect dinner party

favourite records.”

soundtrack. If I’m chilling I’ll put on some Hans-Joachim Roedelius

214_DISCO_POGO

or Beverly Glenn-Copeland.”

Turning up the volume on artists

ARTIST SERVICES

MAGAZINE

COMMUNITY

DMY.CO

MY HOUSE IS YOUR HOUSE...

Ashley Beedle He’s a Chip Sticks fantatic and is strangely moved by the number eight. But what other cultural ephemera dotted around his house inspires Ashley Beedle? INTERVIEW: SEAN GRIFFITHS. P H O T O S : R O B J O N E S

“Our house is absolute chaos,”

and Darren Morris), Ashley’s

studio but it’s even better when I

laughs Ashley Beadle down the

choices are mostly ones which

get back.”

phone, on one of his regular train

elicit cherished memories. “I tried to steer away from it

Frankie Knuckles Portrait

Kent coast and London. “My wife

becoming ‘look at my really rare

“My wife and I both got the news

runs five record labels so, as you

reggae record’,” he tells us. “I

about Frankie Knuckles passing like

can imagine, you’ll open the front

mostly wanted to pick things that

the rest of the world and, honestly,

door and there’ll be a delivery of

made me laugh or brought back good

we went into two days of mourning. A

boxes of 12-inch records that have

memories.”

friend of ours named Richard Epps

journeys between Ramsgate on the

to go somewhere.” The X-Press 2,

painted us this portrait of Frankie

Black Science Orchestra and

Ramsgate Train Station

Ballistic Brothers member settled

“I’ve always been a wanderer but

It’s beautifully done. Frankie

in Ramsgate eight years ago after

when I married my dear wife Jo

broke one of my early records which

getting married and appreciates the

eight years ago, I settled in

was ‘Where Were You?’ by Black

area’s tranquillity after years

Ramsgate and it’s honestly the

Science Orchestra and I remember

spent in London.

first place I can say: ‘I really

meeting him at a club in New York

like this town and it feels like

and saying: ‘Thanks so much for

harbour and I’m in the studio

home.’ You get older and need a bit

playing it,’ and he said: ‘No, thank

nearly every day in [nearby]

more peace in your life and it’s

you for making it!’ He was the most

Hastings so it’s just perfect for

quite tranquil here and in the

beautiful, courteous man I’ve come

me,” he says.

evenings it’s very chill. It’s

across and sometimes you’d just

great leaving and getting on the

look at him and think: ‘God, I wish

train for gigs or to go to the

I could be Frankie Knuckles.’”

“We’re about ten minutes from the

While Ash admits to usually gravitating to the front room, the record room is “where all the magic happens”, yet despite eight years of marriage, Ash and his wife (Jo Wallace of Ramrock Records) are yet to blend their sizable record collections. “Jo’s got one half of the room with her Northern Soul collection,” he tells us. “And I’ve got all my old reggae records on the other side.” Currently producing music for a BBC documentary about James Meredith, the civil rights activist who was the first Black man to be entered into the racially segregated University of Mississippi in the 60s, and working on music with his North Street Collective (alongside his wife Jo 216_DISCO_POGO

and brought it round to cheer us up.

MY HOUSE IS YOUR HOUSE...

Vestax Handy Trax

Andrew would have chosen, and Bobby

superstitious in general but I just

“I’d heard one of the Beastie Boys

Gillespie from Primal Scream made a

looked at it one day and thought:

talking about these portable record

hilarious speech about their days

‘Yeah, I like that.’”

players in an interview and I

making ‘Screamadelica’ together.

think, at the time, they were only

Andrew was always open to new ideas

Headphones

available in Japan. So when I was

and it was beautiful to see all

“Headphones are the tool of the

over there for some shows in the

these old friends and celebrate his

trade. These are from Pioneer and I

early-2000s I decided to get one.

life together.”

use them when I’m DJing, working in

It’s still brilliant and I take it

the studio or just listening to

to record shops and stick in my

music on the go. When it comes to

headphones and have a listen before

headphones you just want them to be

I buy anything. I just absolutely

loud and durable as I’ve ended up

adore it.”

breaking so many pairs over the years. I try not to listen to music

Andrew Weatherall Funeral Programme

too loud but you want the option if you need it. These headphones have done the trick for a while.”

“When Andrew died, it was quite shocking that he wasn’t on this planet anymore, but, at the same time, we were there to celebrate

Dice

his life too. He had such a huge

“I always have the dice in my

impact on everybody in the scene

record room. I was just looking at

and as a friend, he had impeccable

the dice one day and they were both

manners and was always there to

on a four, making an eight. Eight

give good advice. He actually DJed

is the luckiest number in Chinese

at our wedding and played a mix of

symbolism. So I have it there in my

rockabilly, 60s garage and just

record room as that’s where all the

bonkers records really. He danced

ideas and samples and everything

to his own beat. The funeral was a

like that begins, so we want it to

Humanist ceremony, which I think

be our lucky room. I’m not

MY HOUSE IS YOUR HOUSE...

Ashley And Mother

shot in Harrow where I grew up and

“I’ve had this shot for a while and

my mum’s got a beehive and this

my wife Jo got it blown up for me.

youthful energy which I love.

Ashley, Rocky And Diesel At An Awards Ceremony In Hammersmith Odeon

My mum’s from Barbados and a

There’s a real spirit in the

“I can’t actually remember which

gorgeous lady and married my dad

picture and my dad, who’s sadly no

awards ceremony this was but it

who’s an Englishman. You can see in

longer with us, took it so I like

might have been the Muzik

this shot that she’s in charge. I

that it links the three of us.”

Magazine Awards. I think we’d

think I must be about eight in this

won best dance music act or something like that and I remember the three of us going backstage and going: ‘Oh my God, we’ve won an award!’ It was like getting an Oscar or something. This must be late-90s or early-2000s and I love the humour in it. We’re all just laughing and enjoying the moment.”

Chip Sticks “When I was younger, I loved Chip Sticks and you used to get them everywhere. I got a bit addicted to them! Then they seemed to disappear but I went to Marks & Spencer’s in King’s Cross Station and they’d made their own version. I’m not as bad as I used to be with them though. I usually get them about 220_DISCO_POGO

once a month now.”

MY HOUSE IS YOUR HOUSE...

X-Press 2 Promotional Poster For ‘Lazy’ “I remember walking down the road in Brighton to the Skint offices and I saw a poster for ‘Lazy’ on one of those electric or gas boxes you get on the street. It was the first time I’d seen one for the single, then I got down to the Skint offices and after we’d had a chat, they brought out a framed version of the same promo poster for me. There was a lovely synchronicity to it. I’d describe ‘Lazy’ as a happy albatross to me. It won’t go away! Funnily enough, I was in the back of a cab and Radio 2 was on with Ken Bruce doing his PopMaster quiz. ‘Lazy’ came on and before the contestant answered we shouted the answer. The cab driver asked: ‘How did you know that!?’ and Jo said: ‘Well, my husband co-wrote it!’”

Ashley Hutchings LP And Letter “When my dad passed away, I went to his and his partner’s place and took his records, stereo equipment

did a rough demo a few years later

Ashley Hutchings who was a founding

Photograph Of David Byrne And X-Press 2 Taken In New York

member of Fairport Convention and a

“We were in New York doing promo

like Talking Heads, have you still

few other folk bands. Later I was

and Rocky, I think, told him quite

got David Byrne’s number?’ He

doing an interview with Record

a rude joke and he just burst out

recorded the vocal on his Mac and

Collector Magazine and talking

laughing and the photographer

we just used that version which

about this particular album. Then

captured the moment. We did a shoot

still sounds amazing. He’s a lovely

as I went to show the guy the

with Annie Leibovitz for a magazine

man and we ended up going on ‘Top

album, two letters fell out where

around the same time which was

of the Pops’ with him and doing

my dad had corresponded with Ashley

amazing but I just love this shot.

press stuff in the US and over

Hutchings about how much he loved

The relationship with David began

here. He’s fascinated with all

his work and Ashley had written

because originally he wanted The

sorts of stuff from architecture to

back. I thought it was so poignant

Ballistic Brothers [comprising

photography so you end up chatting

and beautiful. I didn’t really know

X-Press 2 and David Hill] to be his

to him for ages and music might

what to say!”

live band and he called us and we

never even come up.”

and other bits and pieces back to mine. One of the records was by

had to tell him that, sadly, we 222_DISCO_POGO

were just a studio outfit. Then we

and the studio engineer turned around and said: ‘This sounds a bit

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

Dave Angel Inspired by acid house’s big bang, Dave Angel was one of the UK’s foremost producers and DJs in the 90s. Having dealt with a string of personal issues, Angel is back on top form and back in the studio. “It’s a way of life,” he says… WORDS: JONAS STONE. M A I N P H O T O : C H R I S L O P E Z

There’s an old life maxim that goes

platform for some of today’s

along the lines of ‘everything’s

biggest names including Adam Beyer,

and it just took the hell out of

fine... until it isn’t.’ In the last

Christian Smith, Steve Rachmad, The

me,” he recalls. “Music was the last

two decades this rollercoaster ride

Hacker – even mainstream dance

thing I wanted to do, I just needed

of existence has given Dave Angel

producer Laidback Luke – to name a

to be there for my family.”

just about as turbulent a trip as is

few. The (sweet) dream was well and

possible with your ‘admit one’

truly being lived. Then whilst on

his younger brother, their close-

ticket to planet Earth.

tour with Stacey Pullen and Jamie

knit bond saw Angel maintain prison

Anderson in the US during the early-

visits all over the country for a

Brixton pirate radio station Phase

00s, he received a phone call that

decade. “10 years goes by, and, you

One in the late-80s, alongside the

was to turn everything upside down.

know, I’m over the moon, it’s time

Having built up a DJ reputation on

likes of Fabio, Grooverider and

“I get a call from Pat (his

“It dragged on and it dragged on

With only a year between him and

for my brother to get released. I’m

Booker T, Angel then cemented his

wife),” he recalls. “And she

like the ‘Six Million Dollar Man’!

techno-funk production credentials

doesn’t mince her words. She said:

I feel so good.”

in the early-90s – launched off the

‘The police have raided your mum’s

back of a Eurythmics bootleg remix

house for your brother in

after constant avoidance, his

– with landmark releases on R&S,

connection with a murder.’ Right

brother finally calls him with

Outer Rhythm, FNAC, Island and a

there my heart just sank.” The tour

another bombshell. Yet more bad

barrage of legitimate remixes for

was over and Dave had to get

news, this time he’s got stage four

the likes of Underworld, Orbital

straight back home.

cancer.

and Model 500. All of which ensured

The events of that fateful night

Yet two months after his release,

“When he told me that, you know,

that he literally never left or

began to unravel. “My brother

I’m crying every day, every fucking

switched off his studio for the best

Richard went out one night with a

day just crying, crying, crying,

part of a decade.

friend of his in Brixton. And as

that’s all I’m doing. I’ve been sat

he’s going back to his car, he hears

there crying for about six weeks

points to a cavalcade of highs: his

footsteps running behind him. And

non-stop and my daughter came home

series of ‘Voyage’ EPs for R&S

it startled him. He’s turned around

from school. And she was like: ‘Dad,

(featuring additional production

and he’s seen like five big fucking

you can’t keep doing this, you’ve

from CJ Bolland), the ‘Family’ EP,

geezers in front of him. And they’re

got to stop.’ And that was it, I

which critics compared favourably

like, screaming and shouting. So

picked myself up.”

to the likes of second-generation

anyway, they set about him. One of

Detroit producers like Carl Craig

them has got a knife. My brother can

to take his brother to all the

and Kenny Larkin and his 1995 debut

fight, he can handle himself. He

treatments and chemotherapy, the

album, ‘Tales of the Unexpected’.

managed to get the knife off the guy

prognosis was simply a matter of

but the guy gets stabbed. He dies in

how long and his brother eventually

the street.”

died surrounded by Angel and his

His discography from this time

A fixture on the UK techno scene and much in demand as a globetrotting headline DJ, as the 90s

This tragic turn of events led to

turned into the 00s, his Rotation

two trials, the first a murder

Records label helped to provide a

conviction and then a second that

224_DISCO_POGO

Whilst Dave subsequently helped

family. “It wasn’t nice, man. It was not nice.” Then just as he was beginning to

over-turned the initial verdict to

piece his own career back together,

manslaughter.

Angel’s own health started to

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

deteriorate. Manifesting itself as acid in his stomach midway through a gig in Prague alongside Darren Emerson and 2manydjs, Angel started to throw up and had to come off the decks. There then followed years of hospital visits, pretty much on a monthly basis with no diagnosis in sight. After five years of yo-yoing in and out of hospital his final stay turned into a tortuous fivemonth, enforced sentence. “Turns out that I’ve got Crohn’s disease,” he says. “Three of those five months, I couldn’t eat anything. And it took them ages to give me the feed through the drink to feed me, so I’m losing weight. I’m looking like Skeletor. I feel like shit. I’m at death’s door.” After finally being provided with a diagnosis, part of his bowel became infected and he was informed Photo: Teodora Andrisan

by a doctor that they would have to remove the infected part with an operation and rejoin it to a colostomy bag. “A colostomy bag! I was like: ‘Mate, you sure there’s no other alternative that we can do? And they’re like: ‘No, this is it. It’s either you do this or you die.’ So I was like: ‘Alright, cool. Let’s do it.’” Once again, Angel’s confidence understandably took a hit and he

unreleased” music and numerous

downs with tinges of regret but he

shrunk from view to fight another

projects including an EP for Matt

remains infectiously optimistic

grenade that life had thrown his

Edwards’ (Radio Slave) Rekids