Quite simply…one of the biggest records of 2013
Dan Prince speaks exclusively to FCL’s Bart Van Neste…
Bart welcome to DMC. A very exciting time for you right now as your cover of ESP’s ‘It’s You’ Chicago classic finally gets it release in all its glory on Defected! Take us back to when the song was created and soon became a massive tune on the Berlin underground after the release on your We Play House Recordings label…
“Good to be here. The recording of the vocals for our version dates back to somewhere in the summer of 2011. We were recording Lady Linn’s vocals for an as of yet unreleased track, and I asked Linn on the spot if she could also do ‘It’s You’. The original track had been part of the setlist of Red D feat Lady Linn since 2004. Red D feat Lady Linn is the project where I DJ and Linn does live vocals on top of instrumentals, mash-up, edits I do, etc. I always wanted to do a remake of that one, and when a day later we also had Gustaph (Belgian singer who is now part of Hercules & Love Affair) in the studio and he did some backings, we decided on the spot it would be cool to have a kind of acapella version to play in our sets. We left that idea for a while, but for our second gig in Panorama Bar early summer of 2012 Nicolas (San Soda) made a rough draft of the idea we had and when we played it the place went mad, and so I decided it would be cool to make just 150 copies of this one for our loyal WPH followers. It wasn’t really a massive tune just in the Berlin underground to be fair, basically everybody we gave the record to started playing it everywhere and it took off just like that.”
Pete Tong crowned the record as his Essential New Tune a couple of weeks ago calling the track magnificent. Had you been tipped off you’d got the coveted award that week?
ð “No, because to be honest I never listen to radio shows or check out charts or forums or anything like that. Pete contacted us through our FB page months ago and asked for a digital copy to play in his show. Around that same time Defected started showing interest and I decided to give Pete the file, making him the first one ever to receive a digital file of what was in intention a vinyl only thing on We Play House Recordings.“
So let’s rewind for a moment. You first met in your hometown Deinze, place up until you two came along was most famous for being the birthplace of the famous witch Tanneke Sconyncx!! Tell us about how you met and how the idea of We Play House Recordings came about…
ð “I think you’re on Wikipedia too much, the name Tanneke Sconyncx doesn’t mean anything in Deinze, we’re only famous for setting the daily European price for chickens…Nicolas walked into a bar where I have been a resident for 16 years and discovered house because we had a night with Chicago legend Tyree Cooper on. He came back for more, I invited him to come play football for a local team called FC Leiejongens, and a while later he gave me a demo and I started WPH as an outlet for his music.”
Were you happy that is was Defected who came in for the song or did they just have the biggest cheque books!!!!?
ð “We only talked with Defected, so no idea who has the biggest cheque book…If we were gonna go digital with this one, we might as well do it with the label that has both the knowledge, history and power to take it all the way. Knowing that digital rip-offs of our vinyl were being sold through Discogs for 30 euro it was an easy decision really.”
Let’s talk about the remixes on the track. Wow! What an all-star package. Talk us through your thoughts on each remix…MK, David Morales, Mr Fingers, Flashmob…
ð “It’s hard to comment on the remixes really. I’m so used to our beatless version that I can’t really pick a favourite with beats. It’s simply very cool that 3 of the all-time house greats all made their own version(s) and I’m sure there’s something there for everybody.”
{http://soundcloud.com/defectedrecords/sets/fcl-its-you-remixes}
Did you have any say in who the remixers were going to be or did Defected suggest these huge names of House music to you?
ð “Yes, we made suggestions and in the end decided it all together with Defected. The working relationship with that great bunch of people has been nothing but a pleasure really.“
House music is obviously very close to your hearts, who are the DJs and producers from back in the day that you hold in high esteem?
ð “It’s not so much this or that DJ, it’s more the whole history of house music that inspires us. From underground disco to new beat to early trance to New York Chicago Detroit and more. DJ wise anybody between Theo Parrish and Laurent Garnier who simply plays good music without looking at genres or fads”
One of the ethos about the label is that the simple goal is to release music you like to play. No hypes, no trends, just good house music. I think it is fair to say that there are not many labels who stand so strong anymore?
ð “I’d rather say very few labels have a real identity. Most of them just release whatever works at the moment. All the big minimal labels are now releasing deep house again, but if you look at it closer it’s still the same instantly-forgotten drab they release. I always just release what I like and don’t care what’s hot or not according to press and radio tastemakers. We prefer to stick to our own taste.”
What is the current top 10 you are spinning…
ð “Don’t really have one, we just play what we think is good music, new and old. A set on Saturday can differ completely from one we do on Sunday, there’s so much great music to play if you dig deeper.“
Who brings what to the production team – who is good at what in the studio?
ð “San Soda is obviously more versed and experienced in production, I write the lyrics and take care of the rough arrangement, and we both just speak our mind on anything regarding our tracks and then always quickly come to a result we’re both happy with. There’s no real formula, as long as we both feel happy it’s all good.“
What is the next FCL release coming up?
ð “First up will probably be a remix we’re doing for Defected of Rachel Row’s ‘Follow The Step’, a killer Kink production, and we also have an older track coming out on 2020 Vision with Locked Groove and Felix Wentink remixes.”
Also, what is coming next from the label from other artists?
ð “Up next is my new beat project called ‘Our Beat Is Still New’, a project I’ve been working on for a year in which some of my favourite producers made a new track paying tribute to Belgian new beat, the style of music that got me into electronic music. It features people like Juju & Jordash, Jacob Korn, Locked Groove, Aril Brikha and many many more. 4 slices of vinyl and one digital album, all coming between June and November. Very excited about that one! And even more excited with the new WPH V.I.P. Series that’ll be out soon. The V.I.P. Series is the series on which ‘It’s You’ also came out, but this time we’re actually gonna give all 250 copies away for free. Some people still think that the limited nature of ‘It’s You’ was simply a marketing ploy, whereas it simply was meant as a special item for loyal WPH followers. So I decided to give the next one away for free, can’t make it more of a gift than that I think… It’s again gonna be a one-sided vinyl, featuring the first release of a young Belgian friend of ours called Kiani & His Legion, one of the biggest talents I’ve encountered since I met San Soda, and that says it all.”
Fact or fiction – the name is simply the initials of your local football team FC Leiejongens that you both used to play for?
ð “Fact, FC Leiejongens, ‘Leie’ being a river flowing through Deinze, and ‘jongens’ being Dutch for boys. Fact 2: I’m still playing whenever I’m not touring.”
Tell us some of the big gigs coming up this summer you’re looking forward to…
ð “A highlight of the last two summer, I’m again looking forward to the WPH stage on the Tomorrowland festival in Belgium. With Locked Groove, Dixon, Levon Vincent, Bicep, Soul Clap, Todd Terje and ourselves on the bill it’ll be another one for the history books. Next to that all Ibiza dates with Defected are of course things to look forward to, and we have loads of cool gigs in The Netherlands and Belgium that will be great too. The main one being the underground WPH boat party on our national holiday that we’ve put on for the last 3 years with our friends from Feiern, an Antwerp-based collective. Think a convertible boat holding 250 people, jam-packed and just Belgian friends playing quality music on the bill.”
And finally dudes. What is the story with these Ruurt and Wilfried characters that are travelling the world…?!??!?
ð …At this point Ruurt & Wilfried refuse to make any comment on their travels and growing status as furry pin-ups.