Never Mind The Boll**cks – Here’s The Back To Basics 22nd Birthday
This Saturday the longest running club night on the planet celebrates it’s 22nd Birthday up in Leeds. When Back To Basics coined their now immortal phrase ‘Two Steps Further Than Any Other Fucker’ they couldn’t have been more spot on. We have all watched this incredible soap style club rollercoaster since it’s launch all those years ago with probably the most famous club promoter who has ever wobbled the earth. There isn’t a quality DJ in the world who hasn’t graced the Basics’s ones and twos over the years with Dave and his motley crew taking their unbridled passion for music and fun to every continent…causing mayhem wherever they go. Tears and cheers? Most definitely! But we wouldn’t have them any other way. Here Dave Beer throws back twenty two questions celebrating twenty two years at the helm of the most controversial club we have ever seen…
Interview : Dan Prince (who for the life of him tried yet again to understand a fucking word Dave said to him…)
1 – The reason you started Back To Basics was…
“Because there was simply nowhere in our area playing the music we were all into. The Hacienda had run it’s course, it was the same time as the Criminal Justice Bill so putting on illegal parties were out of the question and so to fill our clubbing passion, we had to drive down to Venus in Nottingham or Flying in London. Rave was everywhere and we wanted to put on something for the discerning clubber, we thought we’d last six months…if that. And now here we are celebrating birthday number 22.”
2 – True of False – When you first approached Daft Punk in a tiny Parisian bar, it was that long ago they gave you a cassette of their work to listen to?
“Bloody hell that was a long time ago! We were on Nicky Holloway’s Euro Disney trip and had headed into Paris with Dave Clarke and the Soma crew. We ended up in this tiny gaff listening to these young kids playing music that was so different to anything we had ever heard before. We were like ‘what the fuck is this, it’s insane!’. So I went over there and said something like ‘who the fuck are you two then?’ and they replied ‘we are Daft Punk’. Well I wasn’t having any of that was I? I said ‘no lads I’m the daft punk!’. They gave Dave a cassette of what turned out to be an original of their first album and I ended up giving them a gig at the In The City Conference in Manchester. Soma signed their first tune before Caroline Prothero, who now manages David Guetta, got her teeth stuck into them and signed them to Virgin. I should have asked for 20% looking back, but they have never forgotten that night in the bar and we still have a giggle about it.”
3 – Who is the DJ at the 22nd Birthday you are really looking forward to seeing?
“Obviously I am looking forward to seeing everyone on the bill, but two guys stand out for me. Doc Martin has been with us since back in the day and I am so excited about hearing him. I first discovered him at a Save The Robots after party in New York’s East Village. Again, I was bowled over by a DJ who I had never heard music like it before. I went over to him and introduced myself and asked him if he wanted to come to Basics and play for me. Well he thought I was just another mad clubber giving it the big one so I took a $50 bill out of my pocket, wrote my number on it and said call me. He was at the club a few weeks later! The other DJ I am really thrilled to have on the bill on Saturday is Don Letts – the original punk reggae DJ. The Clash are without doubt my biggest inspiration ever and Don directed the amazing ‘Westway to the World’ documentary about the only band that ever really mattered to me.”
4 – The record that will always remind you of Back To Basics…
“Another tough question. But the two tunes that will always remind me of my club are Renegade Soundwave ‘The Phantom’ and Black Science Orchestra ‘New Jersey Deep’. Two seminal tracks that instantly take me back to our dancefloor.”
5 – How did Peru change your life?
“Wow. Well I think it is fair to say that I found David Michael Beer there. I totally had my hard drive rebooted in that jungle, to spend so much time on my own and find yourself, however clichéd, was amazing. It was a totally life changing experience and I like to say that it stopped me being a prisoner of my own identity. I thought I knew a lot about life, well I didn’t. That trip saved my life, opened my eyes and gave me another chance…”
6 – True or False – Your passport reads ‘Occupation – Purveyor Of Good Times’?
“Ha ha, yes it did. The new passports don’t have the Occupation section on them but the old ones did. I never ever got stopped at Passport Control and even if I would have, I had my story ready. I was simply going to tell them that the description is right – that is exactly what I do.”
7 – The greatest ever DJ set at Back To Basics…
“Daft Punk playing on my birthday was unbelievable and they shared the bill with Goldie and Norman Jay. Danny Tenaglia back in the mid 90s when people were crying on the dancefloor…and Derrick Carter who always steps up when he plays. That is such a difficult question as we have put on over 1500 parties and there’s a lot of DJs to choose from.”
8 – You have partied with the best of them. Who over the years was always the last man standing?
“The worst thing about this one Dan – and it’s not big or clever, is it was always me. Now don’t get me wrong, I have partied with the best of them and had some great laffs, but nobody could outlast me. Brandon Block had a good go, Bez from The Happy Mondays always managed to stay in the game, Keith Allen had some staying power and I have had some serious sessions with Irvine Welsh. But none could go the extra mile. Next!”
9 – Tell us about the new Back To Basics film ‘Tales of Glamour & Excess’…when will we finally see it?
“It’ll be ready for summer 2014, we have had some great news recently with some investment coming in with some big directors coming on board alongside Claudia. We are doing the final interviews at the moment and the 22nd Birthday will enable us to really round it all off. We are also taking it to the States which is really exciting.”
10 – True or False – You would sit in council meetings discussing the city…with pink hair?
“Yes that’s totally true Dan. The reason that all came about was one year Leeds University did a survey and one of the questions they asked their new students was why they had chosen Leeds. Over 35,000 people replied ‘Because of Back To Basics”. Well we had this old disco granny on the council and she was intrigued what we were all about, so she asked me to join the weekly meetings and give them my input. So I’d turn up in my Mercedes and pink hair, sat there a little worse for wear and to be honest, just asked them really awkward questions just to be difficult. They got bored with me after about 6 months and stopped inviting me. Looking back, I wish I would have done it properly. The Mayor Of Leeds came to this party I was putting on the other week and I took him to one side and explained that one day I would be the Mayor of Leeds. That’s my dream I said. So watch this space…”
11 – Your favourite Irvine Welsh story…
“I had a couple of days free so I went up to see Irvine in Edinburgh where he was doing a book launch for Trainspotting. After the preliminaries we set off into town where he proceeded to show me all of the pubs that the film was based on where all of the original characters drank. We were going into pubs at six in the morning where people would be playing darts in one corner, shooting up in the other…it has to be the most weirdest mix of people I have ever seen in my life. We ended up in a taxi on the way back to the airport and thanks to Irvine singing Bay City Rollers songs at the top of his voice, got kicked out of two different cabs and refused entry onto the plane for being too drunk. And I was the most sober one!”
12 – True or False – Goldie cracked onto your mum at your 30th Birthday Party?
“Ha ha, more like my mum cracking onto him! Goldie turned up at the party dripping in gold…his big gold puffa jacket, massive rings and teeth and my mum took one look at him, looked him up and down and said, ‘who the bloody hell are you then?’ They got on like a house on fire, so much in common and there was a definite bond between them.”
13 – Who do you count as the key family members of Basics?
“The Basics family has always remained true to the cause with a couple of additions over the years. Ali Cooke is always with us in spirit which goes without saying. Then we have Ralph Lawson, Huggy, Buckley, James Holroyd, Laura Jones, Frenchy, Denney, James Barnsley, Tristan Da Cunha, Burnski,…these are some of the people who help make Basics what it is today. None more though than the ever faithful crowd week in week out who without them, wouldn’t have made all this possible.”
14 – What is the greatest album ever made?
“Jesus Christ. Well you can take your pick out of any of The Clash albums, but I suppose the biggest one in my heart is the first Basics album ‘Cut The Crap’ mixed by Derrick Carter, Andy Weatherall and Ralph Lawson.”
15 – What was it like picking up the Club Of The Year Award at The DMC/Mixmag Awards at The Royal Albert Hall?
“Still one of my favourite ever memories – however surreal it was at the time. We had no idea what an achievement it was back then as the Best Club category had never been included before – so there we were, myself and Ali walking out onto the stage at a packed Royal Albert Hall picking up the award. It is still my crowing glory and sits proudly on my living room wall.”
16 – True or False – You studied Fine Art at college?
“I did! I kept getting kicked out though ‘cos I was always on tour with bands. I had to get my mum to go down there every week to get me back in.”
17 – What is the biggest change you have noticed in clubland since Basics began?
“Easy. It’s now all about the money. It is staggering how much DJs cost nowadays, back then we’d slip them maybe £200 for a main set, now they can earn £200,000 for an hour’s work. From a promoters point of view it has made it so difficult to make it all stack up and make a living.”
18 – Your favourite Basics on Tour escapade…?
“That would be the time we got turfed out of Australia. Basics had gone down there to do a series of dates and I’d done this interview with this big local newspaper. Anyway, I ended up on the front cover with the headline ‘ENGLAND’S NO.1 PARTY ANIMAL COMES TO SYDNEY’. Well it was like a red rag to a bull, every nutter in the city came down to party with us. What made it worse was my mates from the band Pop Will Eat Itself were also in town so we ended up back at the hotel where in true rock n’ roll fashion, the room got totally trashed. We had a knock on the door and it was the manager explaining we had overstayed our welcome and would we please leave as quietly as possible. I thought it was a top idea to go down to his office and reason with him. Bad idea. The next minute we were being thrown out of the door and the police were everywhere. The poor promoter tried every single hotel in Sydney but it was all over the news and nowhere would let us in. He said, ‘look guys, you can either come and stay at my mum’s house with me or I can get you out of Australia and over to Bali. And that’s how myself, Ralph and Huggy found ourselves the next day lying by a pool in Indonesia at a five star hotel supping cocktails for free.”
19 – Your most prized possession?
“This is a sad one to be honest Dan. I’ve been burgled twice in the last two years and both times something precious has got taken. I had a Gibson guitar taken first which was the first thing I bought myself when I had some cash in my pocket, the second was a limited edition pair of gold Technics decks. What was even more gutting was the insurance company refused to pay out saying that they were ‘tools of my trade’. I didn’t understand that. Even if I do replace the items, they will never mean the same.”
20 – True or False – You still get people stopping you in the street, point to their baby in their pram and say to you “this is your fault Beero”.
“Another true one. I have to point out though that the babies are never mine, it’s down to the fact that the parents met at Basics and got together! Now we are getting the kids coming to the club telling me about their mums and dads coming to the club years ago. It’s frightening!”
21 – You have been offered a publishing deal to write your autobiography. Hand on heart, can you remember the best bits?
“Ha ha! I have been offered two book deals, the first one is going to be a coffee table style book with amazing photography and stories from the DJs. The other one is all about me – but I haven’t accepted the deal yet as I don’t know how long it would take me to write. Will I remember it all? Probably not, only the other day I had some guy come up to me with a cracker of a story that I had never heard before. He said, ‘Dave I will always remember your Miami Lou Reed story!’. I said to him, ‘What the fuck are you talking about, I’ve never met Lou Reed, he is one my all time heroes – I think I would remember!’ Anyway – and after a while it did come back to me, I was on South Beach in Miami when Lou Reed walked past with two young children. I ran up to him and said something like ‘fucking hell Lou, we all like them young but that is ridiculous mate! Looks like the S has fallen off your Speedos!’, which was a line I have used before so I knew the story was true. I then proceeded to walk around the beach asking every black guy if they had an afro-brush for Lou. He took it for about 15 minutes and then decided to admit defeat and take his children back to the hotel. So in answer to your question Dan, no – I won’t be able to remember the best bits.”
22 – And finally Dave, what are you really looking forward to the most in 2014…?
“I’m really looking forward to the film coming out and hitting America, going to give that a big push. We are also taking the art exhibition over there and putting on some events. Or as I like to put it, putting the ‘art’ into ‘parties’ and showing the EDM world what the real fucking B2B deal is.”
Further reading and listening…
Check out Ralph Lawson’s excellent look back and mixes of the Back To Basics early years…
http://ralphlawson.squarespace.com/blog/2011/11/16/themusicfactory-mix-part-one-sleevenotes.html
http://www.ralphlawson.co.uk/features/2013/11/20/themusicfactory-mix-part-two
