One of the Coolest Producer’s and DJs On Planet Dance…
Hi Melvin, welcome to DMC – did I get you out of bed?
“Ha ha. No Dan, It’s 11am here in Chicago right now. I’m up. The weather is changing here now, Summer is fading and The Fall is on it’s way in – cold times are on their way for my city…”
So how is it running your own label…it’s Thursday and my mum hates Thursday’s as she has to pack records up on her own at our label…?
“I do the same, to say I am overworked is an understatement. Myself and my partner are packing records all the time, getting them shipped off, it’s really difficult to do it with just two of us, but we continue…”
DMC used to run our company that created the World DMC DJ Mixing Championships from our family home, I think you do the same with your label, Nation Records…?
“Yeah I do the same. I have to be up at 6am, the latest by 7am. However, I am also involved in running an interior decorating company that I have been developing, researching and studying. And also whilst I was at college, I studied Psychology. I have to have something to fall back on in case the whole music side of my life doesn’t work out. Life is so important, we have to deal with so many pressure’s in today’s day and age and it’s good to focus on different things in case things change.”
How did you parents feel about your great career?
“Hmmm. Well my mom’s still a huge part of my life. My dad isn’t. I think he lives in Florida somewhere. I saw him some time back, it made me feel unhappy seeing him, not a good memory. My mom raised me – she is my rock in life. We share the same outlook on everything.”
A brilliant career that started, purely from your love of music. Chicago and Detroit pioneered the way forward for dance music USA way before New York City stuck it’s foot in the door. How did your DJ career all begin in this seminal city?
“Well I kinda snuck in. I am part of what the press call the ‘second wave’ of Chicago DJs. I am a very spiritual person and I know I have a gift to provide happiness to people out there. I go crazy behind the decks, people think I am on drugs but I have never gone down that road. Something takes over me. I don’t understand why the other DJs over the years have given me the brush off, no one asks me to play with them. I spun with Farley Jackmaster at the WBMX/Beatmax Tour back in ’87 but still, I still get the cold shoulder. So maybe now, it’s my time. I think a lot of the second wave of Chicago House DJs let people down. I feel I have preserved the lost component of the music of Chicago.”
Big release hitting us on October 5th in Europe, ‘Faith’ out on Nation…what’s this piece of magic all about?
“The concept basically took 8 months, however, it was ten years rumbling around my head. To be honest, the album was directed at certain people, proving a point perhaps. This album was put together completely musically, it wasn’t a case of me moving a mouse around a desk letting the computer make the music. Everything was sung, all the instruments were played live. I am very happy with it. I took a risk with it and put my heart on the line, it’s all dedicated to my mom. This is my third album and it all relates to my life, Gigolo Records simply had too many artists and I felt I was getting lost there, this is my own label, I love the fact that people are already going mad over the tunes. I want to be diverse. I want to have my own world – I don’t want to scrape the surface, I want to go deeper than that. I want to flip it.”
What do you think about the dancefloor when you know kids are off their heads on Class A drugs?
“Okay Dan, I’m not gonna lie. I enjoy my smoke and if kids want to experiment that’s up to them, it’s part of growing up. Sometimes in dire needs people need a bit of relaxation and also in social gatherings, so why not?”
DMC began and continue to run the World DJ Mixing Championships that we have put on since 1983 – the Turntablism art is huge at the moment – have you kept an eye on this music phenomenon?
“Well I have never taken part as a competitor, I think the whole Turntablism scene is incredible, I performed at The Chicago Metro in 1987 as a guest, but I just decided to go down the House route…”
Biggest Hip Hop star of all time?
“Easy one Dan, Ron Hardy – His ‘Music Box’ nightclub changed my life.”
Hip Hop gangsta shootings – not only have some major artists been run down, but so many gang members put to sleep too – thoughts?
“It’s not easy in Chicago. The thing is, with each new generation born, they just take on the same slant that their father’s have been doing. So many slay revenge killings out there and so many people caught in cross fire. We need faith in our hearts to start stopping all this hatred.”
How did you start getting into the dance music world?
“I think this is all a gift to me. My mom still laughs at me when I say that. Apparently when I was a child I used to put 45″ singles on my toes and spin them. I have music inside of me but I never knew it would go this far when I was a kid. I got myself some Panasonics with no pitch control, an old mixer and off I went spinning the likes of The Sugar Hill Gang and Afrika Bambaataa. My mom would turn off her big walnut radio and listen to me play. Then just going out and picking up the beats from the likes of Bad Boy Bill, Ralphi Rosario and Ron Hardy who was one of those DJs that you never knew what he was going to play.”
Why do you think Chicago has been one of the main cities to pave the way for dance music ever along with Detroit, London, Berlin and New York?
“Dan, there have been so many people showing the way. Ron Hardy was such a genius, I was lucky enough to see him twice spin – a true inspiration. There have been so many amazing DJs and labels that have created this music city, I just scratch myhead sometimes when I see some of the greats out there who are just DJing and not moving things on. I hope my album will do that.”
So you are having a dinner party – you have one place left at the table (forget dead or alive) – who do you invite, Kurt Cobain or Ian Curtis – two people you have loved?
“Wow, what an insane question. You know, I’d have to get a big chair in and put them both on it!”
Drugs on the dancefloor?
“I have never ever taken drugs. To be honest, people are young out there, it’s there choice, if you wanna do it fine, it’s your destiny…”
The current tunes from the Traxx box hitting is skywards…
Heaven 17 ‘Penthouse & Pavements (Specter remake)
Fad Gadget ‘Under The Flag’ (Traxx DiscoEBM-Dub)
Spock Jnr. ‘ Ion (Boccaccio edit)
James T Cotton ‘Possessed Amplifier’
Dem Niggas ‘Native Beast)
D.I.R.T.Y. presents Liasons Dangeuses/DJ Rush ‘Dias Cortas/Monument’ (Exclusive Verzionz)
Kink ‘Don’t Hold Back’
Marc Cantu ‘Funk In Fear’
Saturn V – The live performance @ Nation Showcase II
