Back with a bang with his incredible new Illusion EP
A true pioneering spirit who has been there, seen it and done that, Mr.C is still right at the forefront of the scene in terms of the music he makes, A&R, releases, the sets he lays down and the parties he curates all over the world. Back with a bang with his incredible new Illusion EP, a magical new release proving he is still making music on the edge. Dan Prince gets the world exclusive interview…
Richard…a huge welcome back to DMCWORLD. Where on planet earth are you right now?
Right now Dan I’m at home in Los Angeles. I’m doing a Superfreq 13th Anniversary Tour of the States so I’ll be in America until early June.
The first piece of music you heard this morning after rolling out of bed?
What I’m listening to right now. It’s a dope DJ mix by Frank & Toni for a rival magazine. LOL
Well fuck that! So, a big week for you dude thanks to your brand new ‘Illusion EP’ swinging our way on your beloved Superfreq label. Before we get into your wonderful quotes regarding Quantum Mechanics, illusions and dreams…please talk us through the history and sounds of the EP…
I made Acid Illusion two years ago while in the middle of promoting my Smell The Coffee LP. It’s a very retro sounding acid house track but with a modern production of course. As I’ve been working on my East LA Tek project with Noël Jackson and doing lots of Mr.C remixes for Superfreq artists, I hadn’t had time to complete the EP until this year. I completed the lead track at the end of last year and had to boys do some remixes.
Three remixes come courtesy of Jay Tripwire, label associate Noel Jackson and label co-boss David Scuba. Jay certainly had some fun with his rework huh?
Jay always has fun with his remixes and putting in 5 different 303 lines must’ve been fun, which is why he went well over 10 minutes on his version, which is very West Coast Acid indeed. Noël also went nuts & over 10 minutes with his Detroit infused masterpiece and his tempo change in the middle has been confusing the hell out of dance floors. Uncle Scoobs & Noël’s joint remix is obviously both of them together as it’s thick, phat and tripped out. Well dur.
“Money is an illusion, the things we fear and worry about are an illusion, in fact everything that we see in our waking lives are no more real than the illusions we have when we sleep, which we call dreams.” As a producer of music that fills peoples heads every weekend when clubbers can let their hair down…how much of a responsibility do you take when making a record that it is filled with positivity and loving?
Well a lot of things I make can be quite dark, but the intent is always love, which I’m sure comes though. Even though people do go out to let their hair down at the weekends, I think they also want to be challenged a little or at least be kept in trepidation. I do like to share information in music, even if it is just a title that can make people think a little.
Loved your little quotes regarding Mario Balotelli these past few weeks. Mate, he has been shite this season…
Yes he has, I actually thought he’d be a great signing for Liverpool as he’s a decent player. He’s just not got it together this season strangely. However, as far as all the racist abuse he’s been receiving on social networking sites, people should be ashamed of themselves. It doesn’t matter if he is a self centred narcissist, there’s no need for racism and it needs to be stamped out of football and society as a whole.
As a Chelsea fan, will you be happy with the Premiership title this season, does missing out on Champions League glory hurt?
At the beginning of the season my main desire for the Chels was to win the league so of course I’ll be delighted with that. Along with the League Cup it’s a nice little double. I didn’t think we had the squad to win all four competitions, which was proved against both Bradford and PSG and of course I was a little gutted to go out to PSG, but you’ve got to give it to them, they played great with ten men. I think Jose got that one tactically wrong. I was however happy to go out of the FA Cup to Bradford. They scrapped for it and deserved the win and how big was that for their town. Delighted for them. I’m looking forward to seeing who Chelsea are going to sell in the summer and bring in with the cash earned. Last season we were a team in transition and the 3 signings we made may have fixed that but we’re still a squad in transition. Hopefully that’ll be fixed for next season.
What are the big 5 tunes in your box this weekend…
– Acid Illusion by Mr.C on Superfreq
This is an acid track I’ve recently released, which I actually made 2 years ago. It’s very old school in it’s sound but with a modern production. The whole EP is sick.
– De-Evolution by Lo on Superfreq
This track has it all. Dark and haunting pads, solid beats, acid noises and an old Italo disco bass line. It feels very late night but with peak time energy.
– Natural Born Lover by Ekcesive Groove on Savia Park
This track has a very groove house vibe with very cool vocals, both original and sampled from Natural Born Killer. As the track progresses the acid lines kick in and gets pretty wonky.
– Pants On Fire by Steve Bug on Poker Flat
This has a tribal house groove with industrial electronic synth hits. Proper peak time action from the Bug man.
– Erku by Chymera on My Favourite Robot
This is a gorgeous slice of deep house with lush pads and a warm bass line. Deep house as it’s meant to sound.
The following statement is contained on your Facebook page …“This is not just a music page. I post all sorts of things that interest me. If you don’t like some things, skip past them. Simple.” Most DJs/producers have teams of people managing their social media – thoughts on that?
Firstly I don’t want my page to be just a music page. I believe that most fans want to actually get to know the people they’re fans of to see how they tick. My page is the way it is in an effort to show myself to my fans. I’d call it an entertainments and information page. Most DJs do have someone else do their pages for them, which is fine, it does the job. I however like to be more intimate with my fans and I think they appreciate that as it’s honest.
3 bucket list adventures you wanna do in your lifetime?
A month long Ayahuasca cleanse in the jungle of Peru.
A month in India checking out the roots of Buddhism.
A Chelsea win at a Champions league final.
The last great live gig you went to?
The Specials here in Los Angeles two years ago. It was amazing. They’re my favourite band. I need to go to more concerts.
Forget traffic. Forget missing family. Sling the weather out of the window. The best and worst thing about living in Los Angeles…?
The best thing is the quality of life here. I have a lovely home, it’s so peaceful here & love being at home with the wife.
The worst is the city being so spread out, which makes it difficult to build new friendships, although Uber has helped.
What is coming out next from yourself and the label…
The next release in an EP from Lo called Evolution. It’s an amazing EP with all 5 tracks doing the business. I’ll send that out as a promo at the end of this week.
If you were still a resident in the UK, who would you be voting for in the forthcoming General Election?
I wouldn’t be voting for anybody as I think the whole system is broken. It really doesn’t make much difference who’s in as they’re campaigns are paid for by the Elite Rich who then go on to control whatever puppet is allegedly running the show. But if I was to vote it would be the Green Party.
You used to be a milkman just before your acid house days. How much is a pint of milk in England these days?
I was a milkman for one year from summer 86 to summer 87, so just before the acid house days really kicked in. A pint of milk is now only 24p (yes Dan I googled it) but I don’t drink milk anymore as I don’t agree with the way cows are treated and I believe the Bovine Growth Hormones cause cancer.
North London’s “award winning daily cultural guide” Kentish Towner did a funny little blue plaques spoof last week, trying to stick heritage gongs on the walls of what used to be The Velvet Rooms, Turnmills, The Cross, Bagleys/Canvas and your old home, The End/AKA. “With line ups like these, where do you begin” was printed on their plaque. What 5 venues or club nights would you award for clubs from yesteryear…and why?
I’m glad you put club nights in there too…
1. The End because it was the best night club the world has ever seen, but I would say that wouldn’t I. It had the best sound in the world, the best line ups in the world & I believe created the blueprint for all modern day clubs to follow.
2. RIP at Clink Street in London Bridge in 1988. It was the true birth of acid house culture & in my humble opinion hasn’t been bettered for the way it brought people together in celebration of life.
3. Turnmills because it was always on point with everything that it did. Trade was a gay institution that has never been bettered, although DTPM at The End did come close & the line up they put on other nights were excellent. The club itself had a great sound & also treated it’s patrons right.
4. Hedonism warehouse party in Hanger lane. They only did two of these. The first in late 1987 & the second in early 1988 & for me, like RIP at Clink Street, were a catalyst of all that was to follow in the London acid house scene.
5. Confusion at Bill Stickers in Soho on Sundays. Kid Batchelor was the high priest & the rest of us were the congregation of willing disciples. This was also one of the nights that helped to forge the culture as we know it today.
And finally…where are some of the events you are really looking forward to this summer
Superfreq at Fabric on 20th June. We have Chloe & Ivan Smagghe as guests & Dance Spirit live & Xo Chic joining me from the Superfreq stable.
Lost Beach club in Montañita Ecuador. It’s probably the best club in South America and I’m spinning with Xo Chic – and also Frank & Toni so it will be a lot of fun.
I’m also looking forward very much to my annual Asia Tour as it goes to Time in Manila where I’ve never played. Also KYO in Singapore will be excellent. They are both in early August.
Top of the list for me is Burning Man. I went in 2010 and 2011 and swore I’d never miss another as long as I lived. I then missed the last three so I’m very excited to be going back and hosting my own night on the Robot Heart.
Mr C links:
http://facebook.com/mrcsuperfreq
http://twitter.com/mrcsuperfreq
http://soundcloud.com/mrcsuperfreq
Superfreq records links:
https://twitter.com/superfreqrecrds
https://www.youtube.com/user/SuperfreqRecords
https://www.facebook.com/superfreqrecordlabel
https://soundcloud.com/superfreq
http://www.beatport.com/label/superfreq/31694
