The world’s first ever superclub back on the dancefloor
Originally createdas an outlet for the work of Peter Hook and his various projects, the new Hacienda digital record label is in full swing now with some outstanding new club classics. We check in with new kid on the Hacienda block, Canada’s boy wonder Richie G. First we speak to label boss James Masters about exciting times at one of the best loved clubs in history.
Hello James. Can you begin by telling DMC what you saw in Richie G in the first place to sign him?
“I think it ultimately became easier to set up the label and sign him as opposed to shattering some young kid’s dreams – and anyway he wouldn’t leave me alone, like the young Cocker Spaniel snapping at my heels he was / is. No, but seriously he kept in touch and when we came to set up the label for other artists, myself and Hooky already knew his gear and like with Humanizer, we wanted to break some young artists who we felt fitted the ethos of The Hacienda. Also like a lot of young producers, he’d had some breaks along the way, especially with the help of John Digweed who has been absolutely fantastic, but also a lot of let downs so I was proud to have the opportunity to give him a good platform.
To give Richie his due, he is very resourceful and passionate about his music. He does his own production and mastering in Canada and we’ve worked closely on the artwork and setting up the remixers who have also been of wonderful help. Hernan Cattaneo & Soundexile (Oliverio / Paul) and Jesper Dahlback I salute you. Guy Ornadel deserves a nod as well. The thing is, when you get sent stuff over the internet more often than not its pretty meh. This stuck out massively and I was like, hang on, are you bullshitting me about your age. Once we’d got over my surname confusion, I remember ‘Baum’ being one of the tracks and being knocked out by it. In fact I wanted to make sure it wasn’t just me, I so sent it to Jon Dasilva who also thought it was great. Then it went to John and Sasha. The thing is like a lot of artists, as soon as I said I liked one thing, he started bombarding me with tonnes of stuff, all of it very good along a very classic R&S, Detroit, UR, Red Planet vibe which is the stuff I truly love above all, so it really fitted my tastes. What I found most striking is that he has a real feel for classic techno when he wasn’t even born when things like Capricorn ‘20 HZ’, or Oricom Technologies came out, both of which I think have direct parallels to ‘Baum Auf Vier Zwei’. One of my fun things to do with him is send him stuff he’ll never have heard and have him go “wow.”
How much potential do you think he has?
“I don’t wanna make any bold statements ‘cos I think the work speaks for itself and the reactions of people like John Digweed, Sasha, Hernan, Jesper, Nick Warren and a load of others also makes itself heard. I do have to try and keep his feet on the ground a bit but he’s very sincere and good hearted, smart and from a good background so that’s makes him good to work with. I often wonder how strange it must be for him to work with us lot so do try to look out for him as well. I do also have to admit I like the incongruity of us releasing a kid from Canada who can’t even legally enter clubs, yet whom I’ve never met. It makes me smile.”
What’s the plan for Hacienda Records?
“Hacienda Records, well it’s a work in progress like all these things are, where do we start – thanks Dan for such an open ended question. The thing is, it was kicking about with the Freebass and Manray releases but when Hooky decided to do The Light EP, we both decided and we’d had the idea for a while that we wanted to put out and support some new artists. It’s so hard now with the internet and there’s a lack of new artists getting pushed so we felt it was a great way to use the legacy. The thing is me and Hooky already had Humanizer in mind as a great Salford band to launch the label, I think we didn’t want to be Manchester-centric and also wanted to have an international slant so Richie was perfect for that. Then Section 25 came to us and wanted to release their new EP, Hooky had a friend in Scotland Outernationale who’d done a version of ‘Atmosphere’ which he wanted to put out and we also wanted to honour a commitment to Jon Dasilva for all his loyalty over the years by releasing his TVMR album which is out end October. Following that we’ve got a great new band Super White Assassin who are releasing a debut EP in November and then I think we are looking at doing a back catalogue remix album in December. Then we’ll start considering releases for next year and into Spring.
Do you think you are going to get any resentment or stereotyping from people who remember the club fondly?
“One thing I don’t want people to expect is that we’re going to be some sort of Factory Records clone, Factory was Factory and there’s no point trying to repeat that. Much to a lot of people’s chagrin, we’re not really looking to do physicals and although we do supply high quality artwork with every release, people only get the full cover art if they buy from www.fac51thehacienda.com as itunes and other online stores as they only take a front cover which is disappointing. If anything I would hope to be more similar in spirit to Rob’s Records, which was Rob Gretton’s off shoot, more dance music orientated along with some indier edges but we’re not going to place any real boundaries on it. We’re pretty open minded. I think Hooky wants to do some punk gear as well. One interesting thing to me is that there’s never been a Hacienda Records. Mike Pickering and Rob wanted to do it but Tony wouldn’t let them (“Dance Music Will Never Last Darlings”) which is why Mike went and set up Deconstruction. I always saw that as the biggest mistake of all and one which could have saved Factory and The Hacienda but I suppose that is why it’s called “How Not To Run A Club. So as well as breaking hopefully some new ground and new artists, both myself and H feel its a good way to use the legacy, bring in some new talents and old friends and give them a leg up releasing their gear. It is sometimes scary who you’ve got to know in 20 or so years (in my case) across the club scene. In Hooky’s case its truly terrifying but the reach of The Hacienda is so wide and international, we had the opportunity and we thought “fuck it why not”. It’s hard graft but it’s very rewarding as well. There are a lot of nice moments, getting remixes in and naming them is one of my personal highlights, as you might be able to tell from some of the titles.”
Richie G
Richie welcome to planet DMC. You were born in 1993 way after we were all jumping around in dungarees and Kickers at The Hacienda in Manchester, tell us the story about how a young, pushy young lad got himself signed to one of the biggest ever nightclub’s label in the first place.
“Hi, thanks for having me. It’s an honour. As James mentioned above, I was sending him tracks for his thoughts. The first track I sent him, by mistake as it turned out, was ‘Baum’, which had a very German sound to it, that is why the title is in German, and he was impressed by it. I sent that to him when I was 15 and I kept in regular touch with James. When he decided to launch the label, he said he’d put out my first EP and so I wrote another track ‘Vorbendacht’ to compliment ‘Baum’. When it finally happened, I was delighted.”
Some people are just plain meant to spend their life in music. You we at DMC feel are one of them. You are only 17 but seem to know your way around the scene pretty well already, why did you first music rather than rock like your friends at school – more importantly, how did you get into it all?
“I like the fact that I could create music only with a computer and a pair of speakers. Moreover, I like technology and electronic music is part of it. I got into it naturally. I just heard some electronic music on the radio once which was more mainstream but it still attracted my attention.”
What do you parents think of all this? Most kids come home from school and hit the books before dinner, you head into your studio and say hello to your VSTs in Ableton…
“They’re cool with it as long as I do it moderately and keep up with my schoolwork. I do study and produce every single day and keep my schedule well organised.”
So we take it college is out…?
“No, not at all, I’m planning to go on through to the end.”
Your new five track ‘Baum’ is on the site now and out across Beatport iTunes etc. October 3rd – talk us through the EP and also, what can we expect from EP No. 2…
So, ‘Baum’ is the only underground, dark techno track I made, and ‘Vorbendacht’ is the only experimental melodic track I’ve composed. It’s kind of funny since the release contains the two tracks that are kind of different for me but the label were keen on them. We put out to a lot of DJ’s we knew and got great support especially from Hernan Cattaneo who I’ve known for a while and also Jesper Dahlback, We were looking for people to do remixes so myself and the label approached them and they went for it which was immense. The EP has the two original tracks, two remixes of “Vorbendacht” by Hernan Cattaneo and his studio partner Soundexile, and another remix of “Vorbendacht” by Jesper Dahlback. I’m beginning to have an idea of how the second EP will sound but then again ”Baum” has only just been finished.”
What is the best piece of advice you have been given by people in the music industry to date?
“Be careful and don’t trust anybody!”
Sounds about right. Is the over 21 age policy a problem for you or do owners know your face now – what happened when John Digweed came to town?
“It has never been a problem because every time I would go out in a club, I’d be with the DJs or on their list. Otherwise I don’t go out to clubs very often because of homework. The first time I met John I had to go into the club prior to it opening with the resident DJ and hang around all night to meet him, but the last time he came I e-mailed him and asked if my brother and I could be on his list and everything was sorted out fine.”
You once said that you’ve got respect for the likes of Guetta and Tiesto if “they stick to their own scene” which is cool, so what artists on the get into electronic more techy, underground scene do you look up to?
“Guetta is a bit too exaggerated, I actually meant DJs like Deadmau5, Armin Van Buuren and particularly Eric Prydz whose stuff I really rate. John Digweed, Sasha and Hernan Cattaneo have all been very great inspirations to me and I really like Paul Kalkbrenner’s ‘Berlin Calling’ album. Also I love the work of Gui Boratto, Digitalism, Alan Fitzpatrick and a new upcoming producer Jeremy Olander.”
Is it true you have never played a piece of vinyl in a club?
“Yes, I’ve never had the opportunity to play on vinyl unfortunately!”
What are the big 10 tunes you are spinning right now?
Jeremy Olander – Fairfax (Pryda & Friends)
Funk D Void – Danse Macabre (Outpost)
Alan Fitzpatrick – Moon Palace (Bedrock)
Gui Boratto – Talking Truss (Kompakt)
Cirez D – Mokba (Mouseville)
Boyz Noise – Adonis (Cocoon)
Jeremy Olander – Rypamont (Pryda & Friends)
Stelios Vassiloudis – The Z (Steve Bug remix/Bedrock)
Gabriel Ananda – Hey Blop
Julio Bashmore – Ribble To Amazone (3024)
Who is your favourite:
DJ/Producer – John Digweed/Paul Kalkbrenner
Record of all time – Paul Kalkbrenner – Sky and Sand
Live act – Underworld
James Masters has been sending you over stuff like early Sasha material and Derrick May gear – what do you think of the stuff you’ve been listening to from back in the day compared to what people are doing on the scene today?
“The DJs and producers today inspire themselves from the classic DJs such as Derrick May, Sasha, Jeff Mills…so listening to the gear James had sent me was a great education but I do think that the sound has evolved a lot which is a good thing.”
Have you seen any of the footage of The Hac in it’s heyday with Graeme Park, Mike Pickering and Jon Da Silva, if so, what did you make of all that?
“I haven’t had much time to learn everything about the history of The Hacienda but I’m definitely going to follow up. I got to meet Peter Hook the other night when The Light played Montreal which was really cool and they were all very good to me but I’ve never met James in person yet.”
Most of your friends at school are into other types of music, do any of your pals come with you when you go clubbing or do they think it is just a noise?
“Very few of my friends appreciate underground music and enjoy listening to my productions and most of them listen to the more commercial stuff. I’ve never yet gone out to clubs with people from my school.”
Has your studies been affected by the late nights?
“Nope, except once…”
What is the best club you have been to so far?
“Stereo in my hometown of Montreal is a very good club with an amazing sound system. It is rated one of the best clubs in the world and the owner has been good about letting me in.”
What clubs/festivals around the world are you hopefully, looking forward to playing at in the future…?
“I would love to play at Creamfields in Buenos Aires as well as Pacha in Ibiza!”
And finally Richie, what are the plans for 2012?
“Hopefully get to release some more tracks with good labels, carry on working with The Hacienda and play some DJ gigs when I turn 18 in December.”
Listen to the original of Richie G’s ‘Vorbendacht’ which has been remixed by Hernan Cattaneo & Soundexile (two mixes) and Jesper Dahlback…
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Richie-G/134624319935958
