The Londoner looks back at his formative musical experiences, from rave remixes of soap opera theme tunes through to analogue workouts.
The first time you remember hearing electronic music?
Back in 1991, when I bought a tape from Our Price at Heathrow airport called Dance Energy 4: Feel The Rhythm. I was flying on a plane to Cyprus to see my dad and I was lumbered with the other kids traveling alone. This girl with a ghetto blaster had a look through my music and was like, “That’s rave”. From that point on I was hooked.
The guaranteed floor-filler?
Nathan Barato – ‘Black Magic’. This came out on Moda Black Volume 3. It’s an absolute floor destroyer. The breakdowns are immense. Love it! big up the Moda Black boys Andy and Jaymo!
The guilty pleasure?
Hardcore jungle techno, 1993 stylee! I grew up listening to early drum and bass prototype music. Some of it is really badly produced, basically done at home on Atari computers, but it doesn’t really matter ’cause it’s all about the vibes with this music. I love the odd piano breakdown too in some of it. There’s two sides to the music from 1993: it’s either dark and twisted with eerie samples or happy with uplifting chipmunk sounds. I can do either. Haha!
The last track of the night?
The Emperor Machine – ‘Like A Machine (Andrew Weatherall Remix)’. This track is an absolute monster of a record. It’s an analogue workout of the highest order. I dropped it in Zurich on Saturday and the guys in the booth were saying it’s one of the best records they’ve heard. I like to end things on a high and this does it! It’s so powerful, it’s almost impossible to find a record to follow up with, so it’s definitely a last track.
The record everyone loves but you hate?
Sorry to say it but any of that naff 2-step garage that seems to be making a comeback and people that missed it first time round are going crazy for. Was whack back then and is double whack now. Some of the really early stuff I liked by people like Steve Gurley and Dem 2 but then the vibes went and it got flooded with naff R&B remixes and cheesy vocals. Seems to be super popular again now. Examples are things like that tune ‘Flowers’ or any of that 2-step MC garage stuff. NAFF!