Responsible for quite simply one of the biggest dance music anthems ever. ‘Move Your Body’ was a Top 10 smash back in 1991 through Optimism and then Arista and now back on dancefloors everywhere thanks to a certain TV and a re-release from Positiva. DMCWORLD checks in with Richie Malone…
Hey Richie, welcome to DMCWORLD. How has 2019 been so far…?
All good for us this end. The year has flown by due to lots going on with Xpansions.
Tell us why you formed Xpansions and what your dreams for it were?
Xpansions was formed as an outlet to release dance music, at the beginning it was just to be able to get known and by releasing records it meant there was a way to connect with a larger audience.
How did you and Phil Drummond first meet, what made you work together?
We met via a mutual friend and we have a very similar taste in music of all genres so making music was never a problematic process for us.
How hard was it initially to get off the ground and get stuff out there?
Very hard initially just because making music back in the day was not cheap and you needed equipment and recording studio knowledge to be able to make a finished track, but there was also quality control. Most of the records that got signed were worthy of the production costs attached to them. Out of every 10 records you’d get sent, you would play 4 of them. Now its like 1 in every 100, at best!
What was it like having such a big tune in Move Your Body? The best times of your life?
It was amazing but a big surprise, we never thought it would turn out the way it has. And yes defo some of the greatest times of our lives around that tune. It’s still providing us with some great times to this day.
You decide to get the Move Your Body tune remixed – how did you decide who to use?
The whole remix process was very smooth. Shadow Child approached us after Phil had been chatting with him about Xpansions at a festival last year, and he said he would love to put a remix package together for us. From there we had discussions and all agreed who would work best and after that Simon (Shadowchild) got everyone on board and delivered an awesome set of remixes.
What it like having such a big tune that defines you – blessing or a curse?
Defo a blessing, it’s something you dream of having a record that connects with such a huge audience.
What have you learnt in the years since, what key lessons?
Have a good music lawyer, a good accountant and try not to do deals out of desperation.
Why have you reformed now, how did it come about?
Over the last few years the track has been getting a lot of attention on social media and last year Phil suggested that we go out and do some gigs which I wasn’t sure about at first. But then once Shadow Child had made the approach to do remixes I went with it 100%.
What’s it like to have the tune used by Suzuki? How did that come about?
The Suzuki ad was again another big surprise but hugely welcome and there’s no better way to get attention via a big TV campaign, What happened was back in November 2018 the label emailed us to say you are in the running for the new Suzuki ad, there was a few weeks of going back and forth sorting paperwork and then at the very last minute like one day before the ad aired, we got the nod to say they were using the track. People wrongly assume we re-released the record due to the TV advert but the record was already remixed and ready to go before the ad started.
Will you have new material, and will that sound different now you’re older?
Yes we have new music coming that will have a rave influence that we were part of back in 1990’s that is also now coming back in a big way now. But we are also using current production techniques of course.
What have you done in the years since?
I spent a lot of time chasing labels for money we were owed and learning the business side of the music industry as well as doing some artist management. Phil went on to run several clubs so we’ve stayed in and around the business all our working lives.
What else have you got coming up?
Our new single “We Like to Salsa” is due in November via New State Music. There should also be further singles to follow that in the early part of 2020.
Marking 30 years of Xpansions – Move Your Body
https://www.facebook.com/pg/xpansions91
