Hi guys, nice to talk to you again. Along with Colours’ Ricky Magowan and the Rhumba Club’s Zammo – you make up the hierarchy of Scottish Clubland. After a few false starts with your first night ‘Black Market’, you had huge success at The Tin Pan Alley in Glasgow. Go go dancers, performance artists, merchandise, free fruit, wall-to-wall banners and projections all added to the club’s reputation as well as the best Acid House tunes – what are your memories of those days? I know people who drove up from Plymouth to your night…
“It really was a special time time it felt like a revolution in music. The feeling of that time can never be repeated but the music lives on. In that short space between 1988 and 1990 there were so many classic records written and recorded. Records that when even played now will still be recognized by kids who were infants when those records were released. Recently, we had to find records for an old skool Acid House set for a Hacienda night and it brought back so many memories. But memories they should remain, it’s still important for us that electronic music forges ahead and always looks to the future.”
So tell us about your Essential Mix on Radio 1 this weekend – what can we expect from you – what tunes will be blaring out of my radio whilst I’m in the bath?
“It’s quite contemporary techno, a bit of a mix, some organic Tribal stuff some nice Housey moments as well. Some snippets of some older records thrown in like Gemini’s ‘In My Head’ and Lil Lous’s ‘Conversation’. There is also some new fresh unreleased Slam and Soma material too, Paragraph 3 with a track called ‘The One Note Samba’, our mix of Promts ‘Evolve’ and on the Soma side there is an exclusive Mark Broom track and a Jooris Voorn remix of our own ‘Ghost’ song.”
The Sub Club. Three words. An unbelievable club you rocked for years. What DJs, what records, what were the highlights? What was the best ever night?
“Way back when Derrick May played way back in 1989 – We think he was the first guy from Detroit to come. Also, the first time Andrew Weatherall played. More recently at our ‘Return to Mono’ night, Mark Houle playing live was great and Craig Richards, Dufire and Damien Lazarus have all been good. As far as records go, there have been too many to mention, but I remember when we played back in the 90’s with Harri at Atlantis, we used to play loads of Red Zone dubs, that was pretty much the sound of that club. We played Matt Edwards (Radio Slave ) the Pet Shop Boys one Morales did and he couldn’t believe how contemporary it sounded even now.”
What is the best bar in Glasgow?
“Bar 10. Only because it’s a design classic and it’s situated across from the Light House which is a centre for design and architecture. So it’s in a pretty apt location. Loads of people have tried to copy it. It’s designed by the same guy who did the Dry Bar in Manchester. It would be upsetting if they tried to change anything but they haven’t thankfully, its been the same for 20 years . Mc Sorley’s is cool as well.”
What was the last record you played at your last ever Slam session at The Arches and why did you choose it?
“It was probably something predictable like ‘Positive Education’ and the reason was then, as it still is now, its our lasting legacy.”
What are you guys doing in the studio at the moment?
“Juggling a few things. Just finished ‘Paragraph 3’ which is our new label project, a remix for Promt’s ‘Evolve Finishing’, a mix for Samuel l Session and just starting a remix of Paul Ritch’s ‘Split’.”
What is the coolest restaurant to check out in Glasgow?
“It has to be the Mother India Café. It takes the idea of the Spanish tapas vibe but with Indian food – but it’s food you will never find in another Indian restaurant. It’s so popular that you can’t make a reservation and sometimes you have to wait 45 minutes for a table, but its worth the wait.”
What has been your favourite record of 2008 ?
“There has been so many amazing records this year. What a year it’s been for Techno or Electronic music in general. So we think it’s only fair to mention a few…Matthias Meyer ‘Van Been’, Marco Corolla ‘Bloody Cash’ ,Reboot ‘Asighn the Source’ , our mix of Radio Slave ,Technasia’s ‘Oxide’ ,Paragraph 2 ‘Hot Knives’, the list goes on…”
Are there any new cool DJs coming out from Glasgow?
“Yes! Gary Beck, Mr Copy, Harvey McKay to name but a few. We have set up a new division of Soma Records called Soma Beta to concentrate on releasing new fresh artists lots of them are local like the three we have mentioned here .
You have made some great records, ‘Positive Education’, ‘Eterna’ and ‘Lifetimes’ for instance, what are you most proudest of?
“Probably ‘Positive Education’ because, as I mentioned before, it has became our lasting legacy. The initial idea for the record came together quite quickly but we procrastinated quite a bit afterwards and it took a further two weeks to produce – so there’s nothing we look back on that annoys us about it.”
What is the roughest pub in Glasgow?
“Fuck knows! There is probably an award for that somewhere that someone’s quite proud of. We just want to go to good places were people behave.”
What has been the best gig of 2008 for you?
“Space in Ibiza, Pacha in Buenos Aires, ‘Pressure’s’ Birthday, ‘The Fusion’ festival in Berlin and every gig at Fabric.”
If I was a tourist, what’s the best kept secret around Glasgow?
“It’s one of the best places in the UK for shopping outside of London. Also you must not forget to check out the West End for the sights, laid back atmosphere, restaurants and bars.”
Which party you have put on was the best ever?
“I would have to say the pinnacle of our year is the Slam tent at the ‘T In The Park Festival’ – it’s always an amazing vibe and everyone has played there from Daft Punk to Ritchie Hawtin.”
What DJs from around the world do you respect?
“Larry Levan, Weatherall, Marco Corola, John Peel, Luciano, Garnier, Villa Lobos and Lee Scratch Perry.”
What one album would you both rescue if your house was on fire?
“These days we would probably just grab our respective hard drives. But if we had to choose one album each it would be…
Orde – Krafwerk ‘Man Machine’
Stuart – The Clash ‘London Calling'”
What is clubland like in Glasgow at the moment?
“Very Good . There has always been good support for Techno and Electronic music in Glasgow. There are still many famous venues like The Arches and the Sub Club to the more underground ones like The Saundhouz and Club 69 in Paisley.”
What is your favourite golf course in Scotland – do you agree with Donald Trump\s invasion in Aberdeen?
“We can’t stand people like Trump who think money can buy everything. There are some environmental issues as well. Lots of local people didn’t want it to happen but the government just ignored them because it was some American bigwig. Speaking of wigs, you’d think with all that money, he would be able to find a better one for himself.”
How does Glasgow clublife differ from Edinburgh ?
“It’s hard to say really. Glasgow is a predominantly a working class city so people live for the weekend. Edinburgh has the edge in how the city looks, but Glasgow wins hands down on nightlife. We love Edinburgh though as it’s a cool place – we are not ones to get into silly wrangles or get all territorial about it. Both city’s are cool for different reasons, if you go to Edinburgh you definitely have to spend time in Glasgow and vice verca…”
What football team do you support?
Orde “Celtic”
Stuart “I’ve made the conscious decision to ignore the Alfa male urges and completely blank football. It’s quite handy when you get in a taxi and the driver wants to talk to you about the so called ‘beautiful game’, only to reply “I’m not into football”! To which, he spends the rest of the journey looking at you in the rear view mirror like you’re Gok Wan. Very amusing!”
Obvious question, but still, have you ever gone to a wedding or event wearing a kilt with no kecks on?
Orde ” Yeah we both wore Kilts to my wedding, not saying what we had on underneath though…”
Stuart “I wore a kilt to my brothers wedding in Poland, to which people either looked at you as had just eaten shit, or they threw money at you.”
What are the best bands to come out of Glasgow ever?
“Jesus & Mary Chain, Teenage Fan Club and Orange Juice are probably some of the most influential. But that’s why we got into dance music, to get away from all that twee shit.”
What one record would you really love to remix?
‘Radio Clash’ by the Clash or ‘Computer World’ by Kraftwerk oh and Yellow Magic Orchestra’s ‘Computer Games’.”
Who would be your six dead or alive guests for a dinner party?
“John Peel, Joe Stummer, Ralf Hutter, Frank Lloyd Wright, Albert Einstein and Chai Gavara.”
You are one of the most famous DJing duos in clubland, outside of DJing, who are your favourite duos…
“Derek and Clive, Ralf n’ Florian, Jack and Vera, Bradford and Bingley, Bonny and Clyde, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.”
