Interview with Dave Clarke Part 2

GOING LIVE

What made you decide to go Live?
I first went live back in the late 90's when Tribal Gathering was Tribal Gathering, and my then A&R guy said I should do it, I was shitting bricks 3 months before, I mean there was UR, Carl Craig, Kraftwerk all at the same gig in Luton Hoo, but a lot of those cats came over to see me and wish me luck and it was an amazing gig, afterwards I didn't have a record career due to not receiving any royalties or statements and  I concentrated on my DJ career, but when I had an album deal working again (Skint) and loads of new material it seemed to make sense  (although I did have to be talked into it).

This time I didn't brick myself, rehearsed for one hour before the gig ( BO! at Creamfields), rehearsed with CoS for the first time at the sound check and then two hours before bricked myself bigger than at any time of my career! However that was the most amazing gig of my life (next to DEMF), 10 mins before I went on 500 people were in a 6000 cap tent and then two minutes before my slot it was  capacity with overspills outside (Massive Attack where still playing at the festival), it was obvious at that point this was a good thing to do and every time after that (with the exception of the London gig.....which I didn't want to do anyway) I really enjoyed myself, I was playing my own music (with a few remixes in between) and the crowd were there to hear that, damn life can be good!

What was wrong with the London gig?
I just had a negative on it from inception, and unfortunately was proved right.......I don't like to entertain "the industry" but the public is a different matter, furthermore I had no idea about the ticket price.....at that stage I wasn't making any money on the live dates, that wasn't the point but the entrance fee should have been £6 less.

The line between DJ sets and the live band is gradually becoming more blurred, thanks to DJs creating more complex mixes. So for you, just how live is "live"? Would a mere laptop be enough?
To see a guy on stage with a laptop is about as inspiring as watching someone do your accounts at the council tax office, Techno is a bastard though to represent if you are a solo artist, I prefer to use keyboards, I do not use a sequencer at all, any person can push the start button and do a few mutes...big deal.

Bollocks Dave, I'm not having that - so you're telling me Kraftwerk look like tax men with a slide show and Surgeon is an accountant that doesn't rock the house, no chance - these people aren't performers, they don't act - it's what comes out of the speakers that counts and the fact that they have even more control, can speak through their music and can play stuff you could never hear anywhere else just adds to it for me. I agree that anyone can press Start/Stop but in the hands of a creative person it can make for a truly magical night and you know it's all in the programming. Do you want to rethink that one or is that your final answer?
I'm not and never have been a massive fan of Kraftwerk, I appreciate their role in the evolution of music (and yes it is a big one), but if you put a minidisc on then you could still rock the house, it's not just about the music it is about the performance and the ability to not be tied down via a sequencer. I do wish that my tax men looked like Kraftwerk though then I think council tax would be worth it just for that.

How does this differ from the studio set-up, do you take all your kit out live?
Never!!!!! The gear is just for live use only, it would scare me to think of any of my studio equipment going out on the road, puts shivers right down my spine.

Haha We knew you'd say that, all that sweat and make-up dripping into your kit Dave, would that keep you awake of a night?
No, it's the fact that it probably one day wouldn't come back after it being checked in and that would be the day I would need it most. Make up and sweat dripping are good things.

Are you now placing more emphasis on musicians and vocalists rather than technology?
I like songs, always have done, would like to get the best of old and new if possible, working with vocalists is exciting because it gives me new challenges.

Every fancied doing a "Weatherall" and singing yourself?
Phew, I thought you meant grow a moustache!!! I "sung" on the flip of the red series quoting Rabelais through a pitch changer, but otherwise I have no plans for inflicting pain on other persons via singing.

Hahaha, He shaved that off before playing up here, one aspect that was interesting with his new stuff was that he's put some of his DJ style into the construction of the song, which I think is an interesting thing to do and seeing as you have a very different style I wondered if you'd thought of trying to work it in somewhere?
I think most dance producers do that via instinct anyway, from bomb the bass to the present day.

What urged you push in this direction, it's a lot of pressure? 
It's also progressing my path, can't stay doing the same because of fear.

Did you consider the possibility of playing live while writing and producing the latest album and did it have an effect on the creative direction?
Didn't think about live during the recording, I tend to split and compartmentalise so I don't think it had any effect on the creative direction at all.

For those who haven't heard the live performance, would you say it's dramatically different from the album recordings? (audiences tend to have mixed reactions with those who want to hear the familiar sound of the recordings, and others who want to hear a new spin on the whole thing)
I play some old tracks and dub out the newer ones, it is very biased towards a club / dance festival environment, I'm thinking of having more mood changes in my next sets.

You used a few samples from the Bauhaus and Tones On Tail on the album, did you ever get into the whole Goth scene when it was happening? Can't really see you down a Flesh For Lulu or Sex Gang Children gig...Well when Bauhaus was happening I was at school listening to Electro and when Tones on Tail came out I was already deep into techno/house, my girlfriend used to play tones on tail and used to do "crunch gob" tapes using my old decks so they stayed with me in the back of my head, when I was signed to XL in the late 80's I would use some of those records to sample for rough demo's which (thankfully) never came out.

I have always been into music in a big way but got into Bauhaus retrospectively (although I was into Punk when it came out), I actually found a different mix of "She's in parties" whilst on holiday in a 2nd hand record shop and could finally use an accapella that wasn't on the album mix. The weird thing though is I got to speak to Daniel Ash and found out he was living in Brighton at the same time as me just down from my Gran's, using a studio near where I was living and when he was a kid he would buy toys from Adie "Vinyl Underground" West's Dad when he had a toy shop in Northampton, I love shit like that!

Yeah, it's a small world fella, I stayed in Brighton for a while and kicked around with Gen (TG/PTV) and the rest of the mob, it's a weird place - I felt uncomfortable there, going for a pint of milk and standing behind Kirk Brandon (Spear of Destiny/Theatre of Hate) in the Offy was just to surreal for me, and talking of surreal my best mate once delivered a settee to Pete Murphy's dad in Northampton, see if you can beat that fella...
Brighton has some weird lay lines or something, but in a way coincidence makes sense of things, I don't think it's a glitch in the matrix at all.

Shit, showing my age now - Was Punk and Electro your first thing? What where the first records you bought?
I had a lot or records passed down to me from my Mum , Lonnie Listen Smith, Roy Ayers, Rappers Delight. The first ones I bought are difficult to pin down, but things like The Sparks "Tryouts for the Human Race" and Ian Dury "Reasons" were my first 12 inches, The Sparks "La Dolce Vita" was my first import 12", XTC "Making Plans" and Charlie Daniels band "The Devil" were my first 7"s

All time top five punk and electro tracks?
Damn
Five Punk/new wave groups....will that do?
1) Devo
2) John Foxx
3) The Ruts
4) The Damned
5) Stranglers

Why do you do so few electro sets these days?
I never really did that many anyway, also kind of shyed away from it due to the trendy vibe happening at the same time as downward numbers of good records coming out, also like to choose the space to do it more carefully....shit loads of bass and good people.

Talking of Goths, how did the Gary Numan remix come about? And did anything else come out of that session?
Frankie D, who used to run Eurobeat 2000, knew Gary as he ran his fan club, then Steve got in contact with me and a load of other artists  (if memory serves there is an amazing Underdog mix on the LP) to do some mixes, all the remixers, Hell, Armani, Dearborn, chose tracks and I was given "Cars", it was the first mix I did on my new 02R desk, but the interface was so intuitive it took me two days and I remember using over 20 compressors, but to hear a track you loved as a kid in all it's composite parts is both weird and extremely daunting, so I chose to update the track as opposed to deconstruct it (like the Aphrohead and DJ Hell remixes I did). Nothing else came out of that except "Q magazine remix of the year, a nice notch in my remixology and Gary and his girlfriend coming round for tea.

Yeah, I like the fella, we are interviewing him next, although I find it strange that he doesn't really accept or understand the influence he's had on Techno don't you?
I don't think he understands what techno is...he had a large amount of time in the wilderness, Leo Sayer, flying stunt shows etc. At least he's not cashing in on it as well, I also think techno is too clean for him....he's still a goth.

Gary has a very good little cottage industry running these days, I always buy my stuff off his site - I kinda like the fact that he gets a bigger cut and the fact his mum sends it all out, have you never been tempted?
Not really, you should just concentrate on what you do well is a good motto in life.

How do you view the state of the UK techno scene, on the whole?
Well for a long time (probably 7 years now) UK made techno has featured prominently on my set list and charts, I love the work of so many UK artists, Inigo Kennedy, Mr. Ruskin, Makaton, BMB, etc etc and whenever I can I always try and give it props by talking about it or getting some of the people I am fans of to remix my own shit, but I'm so obviously not the only fan of it worldwide as I hear UK techno blow up everywhere around the world.

The UK club scene is a different matter, I am in a fortunate position of being able to travel the world on a weekly level and when I come back to these shores I feel saddened by the bitchyness and the lack of cohesion that seems prevalent in the press, jungle/d&b came after techno and was inspired partly by it and because all the artists stuck together (or seemed to stick together) they got more press respect and yet Techno is still absolutely massive, the same with Trance, again after Techno but partly inspired and later bastardised by it. Also I feel that radio in this country has let us down badly, in Holland (where I live part of the time) you get to hear great techno at the weekends from the likes of Carl Craig but not here, also with perhaps the exception of Radio 6 the normal music played on daytime radio here is dire and has killed the music industry full stop. To be honest though, I am saddened by the way UK techno is perceived internally (i.e. bitchyness about clubs like  Bugged Out  playing techno when they have supported it from their first gigs, Atomic Jam for clubbers enjoying themselves "too much" and not chin stroking enough, and the amount of playa haters who are bitter because their latest "Mills" soundalike isn't being played but won't deal with the fact it's them that is the problem by not supplying anything original) and externally (press and radio). However I am also hopeful as Techno, when done well, is still amazing and challenging and there is another wave of fans that have less emotional baggage and newer artist and labels that seem to have a less po faced attitude.

To sum up: UK techno is a world leader, if we ditch the playa haters we could take over because the talent is certainly there.

Sure, but I don't feel it would be that hard to pull it all together, from working on LD I know it would be easy to unite everyone if people could leave their ego's at the door - there's a lot of good people out there - Monox, Dust, Outlet Collective, Locked etc and I think we could all learn something from the Detroit players here. They refuse to talk about anyone else or bad mouth anyone - they take care of their business, they don't fuck anyone over and they (promoters) protect each other - thus ensuring they can all keep going - do you think we should look to them for such advice?
We should look to ourselves and get inspiration from where ever we can.

I also feel that a lot of  techno labels/distributors and P/D deals have a lot to answer for, it's easy to knock trance but I feel we should all have a look at our own output and check the reasoning before to hit out at anyone else don't you reckon?
As I said there are a lot of imitators now that aren't pushing anything except a record that sounds close to what Mills was doing ten years ago, for a while (5 years ago) it "seemed" like every other record was imitating Red2, I'm not going to be negative though.....there are some incredible producers in the UK putting out the freshest most evil shit around, I would rather focus on that and the fact some businesses have now gone we have fresh fields to build on.

How do you view the relationship between 'big name' DJs that dominate airwaves & club bookings and the promising but lesser known talents who are struggling to get gigs and airtime?
It's an age old question, everyone is to blame, promoters need bums on seats, big name DJ's want to protect their position, and talented DJ's need to have luck on their side, I hate that side of the industry, I have seen many talented lesser "knowns" disappear, if the DJ hogs aren't careful then no new blood will come through and carboxyheamaglobin will starve the industry of fresh new blood and more kids will buy guitars.

In your view, how do we change it Dave - $64,000 question I know but you have seen more shit that I care to think about - is there a solution?
huuuuhg....it makes me sigh, just believe in what you are doing and hit through, I had no help when I started (in fact quite the opposite) and there is an element of luck as well, it's quite Darwinian, the tough will survive and all that, be single minded, that is what got me here.

Projects like SPLIT and Retro_Vert are organised and supported by 'techno heavyweights' of a similarly high profile, with a view to putting something back into the scene that has supported them. Do you have any such aspirations? Are you concerned at all with such sentiments?
That sounds almost like a loaded question! I don't live in a place that can support a specialist techno club ( in a small village), so I am not part of any local "scene", when I lived in Brighton I tried to no avail to have a weekly techno night(played with people like Jungle Bros when they were Hip House), and it would be pointless of me to do one in London or say Birmingham in direct competition with passionate and competent promoters, further more spreading the word on a global level doesn't leave much time (last month I did 100k miles) for keeping an eye on flyer production.

I did my radio show for over two years promoting techno (both UK and global) and got over 400k hits a month three years ago, and it was broadcast on fm in many different countries and was the first international techno show, I took risks when I stood in for Annie Nightingale for 3 months on radio one inviting Claude Young, Regis and Surgeon even though the producer thought my music was too abrasive (got support from various mags like Jockey Slut and listener figures were up), I also now do a techno tip sheet on my site which gets great response from shops, fans and artists alike, furthermore I had nothing when I started and kept with this when others have sold out and pretend to be techno DJ's when it suits them, so my sentiments are written down in stone.

Nar, not loaded one bit and believe me they have their share of haters! It's a conversation we have often late at night in the office, we are always looking for new people to get behind and push forward, people like Jerome Hill for example - without doubt one of the best new talents in Europe, really good fella and he could work the floor and decks like Satan himself - shame he pissed off to Brazil the selfish fucker. So, what I'm saying is how do we ensure the next Hill/Surgeon/Young doesn't get missed? Or do you feel talent will always get spotted?
If their light is bright then they will be spotted, I will continue to do my bit as I'm sure everyone reading this will do theirs, if you care about techno there is no alternative and it will be second nature.

You're quite a powerful force for pulling people into clubs. In reality, do you think your prolific booking schedule is fuelled more by Dave Clarke 'the celebrity', or Dave Clarke 'the talent'?
Thanks, probably both, and if that gets people converted to Terence Fixmer, BMB, Electrix Label and away from shit god awful trance then I'm happy.

You're also very loyal to clubs that have supported you in the past, is that a decision you made a long time ago?
"Death before Dishonour" without loyalty what the fuck is there?

What's your view on drugs these days?
Same as before, smoking is fine but the other shit is destroying the scene. Pills have watered down the musical content and Coke has created ego's the size of Mons Olympus with the fragility of the hymen, too many great careers/minds have been destroyed by the latter. However people should have freedom of informed choice.

Your manager says you are always getting misquoted, what's the worse one over the last year? And is there anything you'd like to clear up here and now?
True, but so does everyone somehow, I just take it to heart. I can't  think of any quotes but I don't live in a "mansion" I don't wear gold chains, I have never voted Tory (almost sued over that one, some stupid intellectually challenged fuckwit "journalist" with a blunt axe to bear). I am just bored by the charactarture that the press seem to like to hang on me. I like to be ironic but that doesn't work too well on paper. Everyone should have an interview done to see if a) they recognise themselves b) what "facts" are true and c) when quoted in inverted commas is that what they actually said.........

Yes I know what you mean and often people don't see what ends up on the floor/bin, in many ways tho you often remind me of Morrissey - publish and be damned, often not bothering or feeling the need to explain everything, I personally don't think an artist should have to - would you agree?
An artist is as human as anyone else, I'm not prepped by PR school, I have emotion and belief and naivety, so hang the Dj.

The "techno is to white" comment tho (I've seen this used against a few people), that must have had your blood boiling?
I feel that the black roots have been forgotten about, for me the inspiration was mostly from the black influence in all music including techno, hip house, acid house and electro, this simply cannot be forgotten about by the new school of writers or fans. The fact a lot of these artists got ripped off in the US and got no props both financially and culturally is abhorrent, also the gay influence is completely written off now, I get so pissed about the lack of research by the majority of journalists today and then they get quoted in other magazines higher up the food chain, it's a white wash (no pun intended). We need people to straighten the facts because if we let it lay it will be too late and our musical history will be bunkum.

Do you think this problem has got worse since the internet really kicked in?
Again, double edged sword, it liberates and condemns in equal measures, maybe the darknet is where it is safe in the short term.

After all these years tho, do you really take everything to heart still?
I'm passionate and in the UK that seems to be a weird part of someone's character.

Seems like your stuck with the tag of "bad boy" of techno, don't you ever get sick of it ? - it's a bits Phil Mitchell Dave...
Actually don't really give a fuck about that one, if you know me you know me if not and you believe what you read then that's the way it is.

It must be a pain in the ass sometimes tho surely? Although I could see how it would be a good piece of character armouring...
Haha...............

It's a real love or hate thing people have with you Dave, there seems to be a whole legacy of rubbing people up the wrong way through ill-thought out words and actions, are you really that rude to people on purpose or is that just a case of take me as I am?
I can be a rude fuck but normally when I am opposite a wanker, there is also a case of take me as I am...I appreciate no bullshit and like WYSIWYG, sometimes though, people talk to me before a gig.....I hate that, I want to be in the zone concentrating not talking before I go DJing or live, some artists  have managers instructing on their behalf to put it in a contract or verbally warn the promoter that the artist is not to be talked to directly...what the fuck is that about? All I ask for is peace and quiet before a gig and maybe afterwards for a while or two. So if I am sharp before or after a gig, just bear that in mind, it's not personal.

As Scott McGill once said to me by quoting Bill Cosby....."You can't please all the people all the time" and personally I have never trusted people that smile all the time", look what Blair did behind the smile.

But you know the playing field Dave, pilled up and as happy as Larry to see you - you can't really blame them can you? Or after all this time are you just sick of it?
Or maybe I believe in the music in my naive way.

You also took a lot of stick for the leathers and make-up, UR get away with it and often most fans moan about the faceless techno bollocks, so why is it that when some who dares to be themselves or do something different they seem to suffer at the hands of the very people who moaned in the first place?
As Blake Baxter says "I'm will not be a victim of your insecurities" they should deal with their own psyche.

Are you good at being wrong?
Isn't everyone?

Blair and Bush aren't...
No, scarily they think they are, but they like covering stuff up and then getting fall guys in when the shit hits the fan. I also think it's important to keep getting better at doing things wrong otherwise you are in denial and limit your expansion

What's the future looking like for Dave Clarke then?
Ask me then!

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