It’s no mystery why these boys are still rocking the house
Boys, welcome back to DMCWORLD towers. You are currently smashing the shit out of the dancefloors once again, it’s the new mixes on ‘Let The Freak’ which has got The Buzz Chart Crew dancing on their desks right now. Talk us through the mixes…
‘Why thank you…’Let The Freak’ is our 2nd collabration with Reza. We know the hooks have been used before but there is a whole new generation of clubbers out there that this track will sound fresh to. We are happy with all the new mixes that the label have put together but are particularly feeling the Dirty Freek remix with its fat bass line and driving filtered sections. We feel this has breathed a new energy into the track.”
As far back as 1993 you admitted in an interview that K Klass had lasted longer than most, “808 State, Gerald and Adamski are still here, everyone else seems to have faded out”. Nearly 20 years later you are still churning out the class from the studio. Why do you think you are the two last men standing from those halcyon days of Madchester?
“Pure and simply because we love what we do. We still get every bit as excited as we ever did about new tracks that have the ‘Wow’ factor and also different and new production techniques that are constantly evolving. Put simply there is a lot of great music out there still that keeps us standing or more so dancing…”
“How much of an issue was it really that in the early days, two of you were from Chester and two from Wrexham. Two towns who hated each other because of theirt football rivalry?
“It was and still is very much a issue. We are both lifelong Chester fans and anyone who knows about football knows that the 2 towns don’t like each other (to say the least)…it’s more than just football 🙂 There was a slight mdma induced ease in relationships which helped the K-Klass boat float in the late 80’s early 90;s, that said we are still really good friends with Carl & Andy our former partners from THAT place Wr***am.”
The rest of the year already looks manic for you, 4 big tunes coming our way. Let’s kick off with your ‘Rock The House’ tune on your newly formed Klass Action label. Talk us through what the label is all about and this new release…
“Our first release is a cover of the Hacienda classic by Nicole titled ‘Rock The House’. We have tried to keep the euphoric elements of the original but with beats and bass that are right on the money for now. We have got 2 of our favourite producers at the moment, Sonny Wharton and Benny Royal, completing mixes on the package. What we would like to achieve with the label is to release tracks from up and coming producers and getting them hooked up with people we know, to work on remixes for them, so they get a solid all round release behind their name. There is so much talent out here in the UK and just want to tap into that pool…that’s not to say that we wouldn’t take track’s from established producer’s if we were offered them and we liked what the track was doing.”
DMC interviewed Todd Terry a wee while back back and he was enthusing about your hook up on ‘Just Come’…
“Yes indeed…we had put a track together a few months back with a hook from a very famous Todd Terry remix that we are sure you will know. When our manger hooked us up with Todd to do a project there was only ever one choice of track to work on. We are so so excited about this as we have been fans of Todd’s work for a quarter of a century… also its not often we get offered to do a collaboration with someone that has been in the game longer than us!!!”
You also have a release and follow up to ‘Rush Hour’ with man of the moment Sonny Wharton with ‘Strung Up’ and a tune with the always on it Futuristic Polar Bears – tell us all about these two tracks…
“Both the projects are “work In Progress” at the moment but both will definately see light of day before the end of the year. As you have said we have already worked with Sonny Wharton on ‘Rush Hour’ and we find it exciting to go into the studio with guys that have a different way of working to ourselves. In these situations we find that both parties learn from each other. The Futuristic Polar Bears are such a solid production outfit who’s work we admire and are really looking forward to finishing this project that we have ongoing with them.”
What is the current top 10 you are spinning?
1. K-Klass feat. Bobbi Depasois : Rock The House
2. My Digital Enemy & Jason Chance : Got To Be Strong
3. K-Klass & Reza : Let The Freak (Dirty Freek Remix)
4. DJ Chus & Sonny Wharton feat. El Chino Dreadlion : Runnin’
5. Chris Lake & Marco Lys : The World Around Us
6. K-Klass feat. Bobbi Depasois : People Of All Nations
7. The New Iberican League feat. Sheilah Cuffy : Feeling Inside
8. Prok & Fitch, David Amo, Julio Navas : The Crest
9. Faze Acion : Freak For Your Love (ST House Mix)
10. Solo feat. Syron : Home Is Where It Hurts
What has been your summer anthem?
“It’s a bit played out now but its got to be Flashmob ‘Need In Me’…proper house music!!!”
The world of DJing and producing has changed unimaginably since the early days of queuing outside The Hac in the drizzly rain on a Friday night. Do you think the new breed of producers have it far too easy with all of the technology they have at their fingertips today?
“It’s definitely much easier to make music now BUT a lot harder to get yourself noticed and even harder to gain any financial reward. Its still a big bug bear of ours that there is still so much file sharing going on resulting in really talented young producers having to work full time to supplement their music income resulting in less time spent making music.”
Who are the producers from around the world you are giving high fives to at the moment?
“Sonny Wharton, Marco Lys, My Digital Enemy, Jason Chance, DJ Chus, Prok & Fitch, Reza, David Penn, Abel Ramos, the list could go on and on and on!!!!”
Why is clubbing in the UK shit compared to the rest of the world in 2012?
“Hmmmm…loaded question this one! Possibly the UK has had it too good for too long… also is there a generation of kids that don’t want to do what their parents did? There is also a stronger drinking/celebrity idolising culture which seems to have strangled creativity in our country. That coupled with the commercial pressure that club owners find themselves under makes them go down the easy route i.e. booking DJs that will play for nothing/play commercially and bring 50 of their mates from Facebook, the results speak for themselves. There has also been a total lack of investment from clubs (again financial) from the ground up compared to the rest of the world. Clubs have also suffered from ‘Bar Culture’ getting later licences. Yes folks you can now go and listen to the latest Rihanna sing a long crap remix through a tinitus inducing sound system whilst pissed out of your head on pre-loaded cheap nasty alcohol for next to nothing…hmm quality. RANT OVER.”
A question I asked the Groove Armada boys earlier, what is the secret of working with one person for so long and not driving each other nuts?
“There isn’t one… we hate each other and do all our work via Skype as well as travelling to gigs in seperate cars…No, seriously we have been mates since before making music and will be for long after. We are both getting married (not to each other) and doing best man duties for each other. At the end of the day our job is fun…simple as that, it’s not hard to get on.”
What would you say is each other’s best quality in the studio?
Paul : “Mixdown.”
Russ : “Programming.”
“But as time has passed the boundaries are blurred.”
What is each other’s most annoying habit?
“We can both be too precious…Russ can spend hours trying to get beats cut and swung right and Paul will spend hours just tweaking frequencies and levels on the mix…we could finish tracks that bit faster. We are very slow compared to a lot of people these days.”
Let’s have a little look at some of the artists you have worked with in the studio. Whitney Houston, Kylie Minogue, Luther Vandross, The Pet Shop Boys, Blondie. What from your entire back catalogue has been the artist and their work you are most proudest to have worked on?
“Probably for Paul it’s Frankie Knuckles & Adeva ‘Whadda You Want From Me’ would be the remix that stands out and for Russ it’s Janet Jackson & Luther Vandross ‘Best Things In Life Are Free’. Also Frankie Knuckles told us at ADE last year that it was his favourite remix he had ever had done on one of his tracks which was a huge honour for us.”
So we come back to yours after the club, and DMC ask you to spin a classic house Back To Mine set – what are the first ten tunes…
1. Fallout : The Morning After
2. Raze : Break For Love
3. Playtime Tunes : Shaker Song
4. Yo Yo Honey : Groove On (DJ Pierre Wildpitch Mix)
5. Nu Colors : My Desire (Masters At Work Dub 3)
6. Timmy Regisford feat Lynn Lockamy : At The Club (Rocco Deep Mix)
7. Fingers Inc : Can You Feel It
8. Solo Music Feat Kimblee : Fade (Francois K Original Mix)
9. Frankie Knuckles : Tears
10. R-Tyme : R-Theme
But this top 10 would change on a daily basis!!!!
You have had hundreds of precious DJ moments over the years. Tell us your favourite two…
“Playing a University rooftop party in the sunset at Cape Town South Africa with Table Top Mountain in the background whilst playing Talking Heads ‘Once In A Lifetime’. Also finishing the last ever set in the main room of Cream’s weekly night at Nation, Liverpool with our Cream self made anthem ‘Let Me Show You’.”
What is the record that changed your life?
“K-Klass ‘Rhythm Is A Mystery’ without which Russ would still be a postman and Paul would be in prison or a ‘special’ hospital…Also records like Fingers Inc ‘Can You Feel It’ which got us into house music in the first place and gave us the inspiration to make music.”
And best ever night in a club ever?
“‘Nude’ every Friday from February 1988-1991…without question.”
Who are the old gang from Hacienda days that you still see for a beer?
“We still see Graeme Park a lot…both on the Hacienda x30 tour dates as well as generally on the DJ road trips. Darren and Andy from 808 State and occasionally Peter Hook.”
Not sure if you’ve noticed but The Olympics start this weekend. Will you be glued to the box are turning it off?
“We are 100% glued in…but Paul is more interested in how Chester FC’s pre season friendly against Airbus FC is going to go….though by the time of reading this he will be saying “this is our season or we need a new striker” Dependant on the result!”
And finally, what are the next studio projects you are working on right now…?
“We are working on a 21st anniversary mix of ‘Rhythm Is a Mystery’. Finishing off our collaborations as said earlier with Todd Terry, Sonny Wharton and Futuristic Polar Bears.”
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