BY ROSE PARFITT

In Brazil they love their music; it’s in the blood and in the bones. But this bug is contagious, rather than hereditary: no one, it seems, is spared. Everybody loves Brazilian music – jazz musicians, classical musicians, rock stars, pop stars, DJs, producers, kids, cats, everyone; it is venerated, imitated and rejoiced in by old and young, rich and poor, black and white alike. By everyone who’s ever felt it get them directly where the ribs meet the stomach, setting ice and earrings jangling while some joyful sweat trickles down between the shoulder blades.

Most unusual of all, and in strange contrast to classical music, in Brazil respect for traditional sounds and rhythms is immense, even in the most innovative of its newest artists. Of these, Patricia Marx is a case in point. A child-star of Michael Jackson-esque proportions by the time she was ten, she is one of Brazil’s biggest selling female vocalists – no small thing in a country that gave us Asturd Gilberto, Elza Soares, Marisa Monte, Elizabeth Carduso. But for someone of such determined creativity, traditional sounds like samba, chorinho and bossa nova were something not only to be embraced but expanded and extended.

It was this impulse that brought her to London in 2000 to collaborate with 4Hero on their LP Creating Patterns. “It was amazing working with them [4Hero], both Marc and Dego with their own musical styles and just as people too,” she says. “Being involved with their work, which is so cutting edge, was a real inspiration. It gave me a much deeper vision of what music can be today, in the sense of independence from the rule and conventional forms of musicality. It was a blessing.”

Marx is now signed to the massive Trama Music/Sambaloco Records – home to drum’n’bass revolutionaries Marky and Patife, as well as Drumagik, Mad Zoo and Fernanda Porto. Living between London and Sao Paulo with her husband, Trama boss and veteran Brazilian dance producer Bruno E, her musical versatility spans time and space like no one else’s. She has collaborated with Brazil’s greatest artists and as well as its most innovative electronic pioneers, and with her wide open mind and inimitable style she has rocked the worlds of traditional Brazilian music and international dance culture simultaneously, gaining ever-increasing respect from both sides of the equation.

Patricia Marx has just completed a European tour promoting Nova Vida, another monumental Brazilian dance compilation from Trama to follow last year’s Sambaloco Drum’n’Bass Classics. She is now back in Sao Paulo working on a new solo album, the first since 2002’s intense and beautiful Respirar, which will be released at the end of this year featuring new collaborations with 4Hero, the legendary Ed Motta and many others.

Mundovibes caught up with her before the second leg of the Nova Vida tour at Say Samba! – Edinburgh’s highly-charged live Latin session at Cabaret Voltaire.

Why do you think traditional Brazilian music translates so well into modern, electronic musical forms like drum’n’bass, house and broken beat?

Brazil has always resonated around the world – this dates back to the 50s and 60s; from bossa nova up to the present day, the acoustic rhythms and instruments of Brazilian music have influenced very modern as well as very traditional music. And not just in rhythmic terms but in harmonic terms as well. The rhythms of samba and chorinho (classical samba from the 1920s and 1930s) were studied by so many musicians and producers globally. What is really fascinating is that all this material has been recycled for many, many years. And as a Brazilian artist, I feel that this is all valid as it just feeds back into the depth and richness of our culture. I would never wish for things to stay static.

How has your music been received in the UK? Has the reaction been good when you have performed live? How different are the crowds over here from the crowds in Brazil?

The reaction has been very good, amazing in fact. I have had great feedback from the public over here. I do adapt my show according to the environment, I have played in huge clubs as well as smaller venues, sometimes it’s about people letting go and dancing, in other places I create a calmer, intimate vibe. I have learnt that each show is a new experience and has its own charm. As any performer and DJ knows, it’s crucial to be sensitive to the atmosphere of each venue and to be in tune with the public. I think the main difference between audiences in the UK and Brazil is that here in the UK there is a more aware dancefloor culture. In the UK you can go straight out and buy the latest remix – there is more immediate access to that kind of information and material. In Brazil you have to search it out more, access to new material and club material is more limited, there is less of an active market for singles, remixes and so on. So the impression I have is that here people pick up on new tunes much more quickly, without necessarily having to rely on radio for information.

How would you describe your music? What inspires you most when you are making it?

My music is a fusion of everything I love and that I’ve listened to ever since I was a kid, black music, bossa nova, jazz, and electronic music which I’ve been into since the early 90s. Since then many other influences came into play as well. I got very into music of so many different styles and origins and that gave me a much wider perspective, so I can’t just single out one or two influences. The year 2000 was a real turning point for me musically – I was invited to record a track with 4Hero and I came to London. When I heard the other tracks on their album for the first time in the studio, I was completely transfixed. It just blew my mind. I felt liberated and I knew I wanted to make something that would defy any commercial compromise.

What are you working on at the moment? Who are you collaborating with? Does it have a different vibe or message from your last album – and if so, in what way?

I am working on my new album which will be released at the end of the year. I am writing, arranging and producing tracks for that album, so the sound will be different from the previous record. It’s about finding and generating my identity through digital and musical expression. I am working with various producers such as 4Hero who I am delighted to have worked with on three tracks, and Brazilian soulman Ed Motta, as well as producer and musician Bruno E [Sambaloco and Nova Vida Records] and I am talking with various other producers and musicians about working together … so watch this space.

Will you be performing some of your new material in Edinburgh?

Yes I may drop some new tracks into my set.

Of all the tracks you are going to perform, which is your favourite? Why?

We’re going to do a stripped down, intimate set. I’ll be playing some of the remixes of tracks from my album ‘Respirar’ [Breathe] produced by Bruno E, Mad Zoo and Makako’s Project.

Who have you most enjoyed collaborating with?

I like working with different producers. Each has their own style and charm. To me it’s always a pleasure to collaborate and create music.

What does the future hold?

I aim to finish my new album in Brazil by July, and then come back to the UK to rehearse with my band for another European tour later this year.

Is this your first visit to Scotland?

This is the second time I’ve been to perform in Scotland. I played there last year on a tour with other artists from my label Trama: Jair Oliveira, Max de Castro and Wilson Simoninha. It was a wonderful show and I am looking forward to coming back to play in Scotland.

By Rose Parfitt

Since Ashley and Simone Beedle founded Afro Art in the Nineties, the label’s had its fair share of ups and downs. However, in 1999 it sailed out of the doldrums that followed their split with two Black Science Orchestra smashes, “Keep on Keeping On” and Allison David’s “Sunshine”. Beedle also draughted in his old friend Murphy as captain after he left to rejoin X-Press 2 in the wake of their huge anthem, “Lazy”. Greatest Hits (2001) covers the first period; This is Afro Art (2004) covers the second, with Murphy at the helm, and despite a recent distribution catastrophe his vessel sure is shipshape now.

“Apart from a couple of tracks, this compilation is about what I’ve been doing myself – my own A&Ring – so it’s more of a piece than the first one,” explains Murphy. Many of the artists featured, including Frogsnatcher, Ashen & Walker and The Mindset, were discovered simply by keeping an ear to the ground – by word of mouth or even a CD in the post – all very much in the spirit of Murphy-era Afro Art, the label with no “label”.

“I’ve tried to make our character as elusive as possible,” he says. “Everybody’s so tied in with this idea that you must have a logo, and you must have this image so that you can say to people, ‘I am this’. But that’s something I’m trying to get away from. So I’ve kept everything very low key. I haven’t worried about creating a lot of hype. It does make it very difficult to make money, but it’s enabled me to go musically in any direction. If I hear a good record I can say, ‘Right, let’s put it out’ and now people are really noticing what we’re doing. I mean, some of the tracks on this CD are still so current, like the Neon Hights and Black Science Orchestra. Sometimes I think we’re almost a bit too ahead of the game. I mean, if we put them out now, everybody’d go, wow.”

In fact, a lot of people did go ‘wow’ the first time round. “Jazz Room”, Murphy and Marc Woolford’s jazz-with-teeth opener has been charted by more than a hundred DJs. “It’s not just big…it’s HUGE!” said the godfather of all things jazzy, Gilles Peterson, while Spiritual South’s “Green Gold” was voted Single of the Year on his BBC Radio 1 show, Worldwide. “Soul Call” (also the first single from Murphy’s forthcoming solo album) is a big Groove Armada favourite and provided the theme tune to The Clothes Show Live 2004 (“Great! Some royalties!”). If you didn’t catch these or any of the other tracks drawn from right across the deep and wide Afro Art spectrum, either you have no turntable (most were vinyl-only releases) or you’ve had your head in a box since the Millennium.

Even when it comes to where to play, which audience to cultivate or who’s “worth” sending promos to there’s a totally fresh attitude at work here. The point for Murphy is to get the music heard, which is why the post-soviet East – that inconceivably vast area, marooned for so many years and now probably the most enthusiastic fan-base for new music on the planet – is such a big focus.

“I’ve been working constantly out there over the last year,” he says [check the links for some Eastern Block parties]. “I’ve been to Lithuania, Slovakia, Estonia – I must have done all of them, except the big one: you know, Russia – the Empire formerly known as Evil. I’m going out to Belgrade at New Year’s just to do some guy’s party! There’s not much money in it, but it’s going to be such a laugh. They’re holding it in a Turkish Bath – whether it’s in use or derelict I don’t know, but I did a similar thing in Budapest three years ago and they had it in a swimming pool filled with water and they just swam to music! The hotel rooms, god, they’re like something out of Tinker, Taylor, Soldier Spy. Honestly, I was looking for bugs. But you go to somewhere like Sarajevo and it’s such a big thing out there. You think to yourself, nobody’s going to like this stuff – and they know every record! They’re so into it. They’re like, ‘Wow! This stuff is amazing.’ It’s just that they don’t have any money.”

For many it would end there: no cash, no sales, no point. But in addition to tracking down and sending promos to dozens of clued-up radio stations in places like Bishkek (capital of Kyrgystan, former Soviet republic sandwiched between Kazakhstan and China) Murphy has pre-empted the inevitable rip’n’burn chaos by negotiating a deal with Czech, Serbian, Slovakian and Hungarian magazines to give away a free one-hour mix of the compilation.

“We’re never going to sell any CDs out there because it’s just too expensive. We’re talking the equivalent of £25 just for a 12-inch single; a CD would be like £60, so all that happens is someone gets hold of one and then copies it ad infinitem,” he explains. “This way, at least we’ll get something out of it, and being a one-hour mix makes it a bit harder to chop up. The only people who are really against downloads anyway are the big companies because they’re going to lose millions of sales on Britney Spears and Madonna. I don’t really give a toss – what’s am I losing? A hundred? And anyway, how can I say to a guy in Russia, ‘don’t download my records’? How can I ask him for a week’s wages for a 12-inch single? That would be cruel!”

It may be breaking new ground both musically and geographically, but think about this compilation’s significance a bit too hard and it starts to reflect Murphy’s history in reverse. On the B-side you’ve got the “jazz, Latin and funky soul element”, which is exactly the bug that bit him back in (“Oh god. It was such a horrible place!”) 1970s Essex. The A-side is the housier side, something that for him came (ahem) a bit later:

“At the beginning when I started out, house music came along SO later that it was like science fiction,” he says, remembering the old Mecca Dance Halls (“Fucking horrible…that’s real life-on-Mars stuff in there.”) “If you’d have said to anyone back then, ‘Yeah, house music’s going to be major!’ They’d have said, ‘Yeah yeah yeah and we’re all going to have, like, personal communicators and everybody’s going to have one on their desk and we’re going to be able to communicate with, like, anyone in the world! Go away.’ And, well, here we are.”

As soon as he was able, Murphy got the hell out of Essex and pitched up in the Smoke to cut his musical teeth at a series of groundbreaking clubs (including Jaffas at The Horseshoe, the Wag, The 100 Club and, obviously, Jazz Room at the Electric Ballroom). He opened a record shop, Fusion Records, ran the Palladin Records label for two years, became WIRE Magazine’s first DJ of the Year in 1985 and generally saw the Eighties through acid jazz and the beginnings of house. Then he disappeared, to be rescued from oblivion after a 10-year sojourn in Ireland by Mod hero Eddie Piller (to whom The Mindset’s track, “Get Set” is dedicated) and returned in 1999 to a residency at the Blue Note in Hoxton just as house music looked like giving up the ghost.

“It was a strange period,” he remembers. “That whole, huge club Ibiza scene which had been dominant for the whole of the Nineties just went. One minute people were selling 10,000 12-inch singles and all of a sudden they’re lucky to do a thousand. You’d be watching Ibiza on Sky or ITV and there’d be all these football yobbos kicking the shit out of each other. It just took that veneer of coolness off it – and once you do that the dream is gone. And also, all those people – they got old! Everyone that was doing a Balearic jobby in 1987, they’re all in their late 30s and they’re mums and dads and stuff. So I came in going, ‘Oh no! Why did I come back now, it’s all ending!’ But at the same time, that just put a whole different dynamic on everything. It’s great now, clubs have definitely gone back to the way they were, small clubs. There’s loads of little splintered scenes and it’s more interesting – a lot more interesting.”

As for the solo album, it’s scheduled for release in April 2005 and is, we’re told, “very jazz”. Inspired by getting stuck on a train in India for three days, The Trip (think “journey” not “microdot”) features the aforementioned “dub-reggae crossed with Don Drummond/The Skatalites version of the music from Seven Samurai” – to be released in Spring as the first single (apart from “Soul Call”) with a Latin jazz cover of the theme from Withnail & I on the flip. “I can’t really say that I have a method,” manages Murphy, grappling with laughter. “It’s more just playing around and seeing what happens. But I’m really pleased with it; it’s exciting. Music – I wouldn’t say it’s the most lucrative profession in the world, but it’s good fun. Beats the call centre any day of the week.”

Afro Art Myspace

Medellín Colombia’s Mélodie Lounge sets the trends for the city’s international crowd

BY JOHN C. TRIPP

Medellín Colombia’s upscale “El Poblado” district is not unlike any other trendy tropical “zona rosa” neighborhood. Green abounds, with plants and trees sprouting like an exotic salad, matched by a multitude of trendy shops and cafes lining its avenues and sidestreets. And then there’s the continuous buzz of street traffic, both vehicular and human, creating a continuous sonic and visual canvas. It’s a chaotic and stimulating South American neighorhood where the city’s beautiful people and the occasional tourist group gather to shop, socialize and show off.

At the center of Poblado’s scene is parque Lleras, a sloped, tree- and people-packed park lined by outdoor cafes and bars. For anyone seeking a central meeting in the and hangout place this would be it. It’s all fun and fabulous — for a while anyway. But soon the continuous stream of blaring vallenato, ranchero and top 40 music grades the nerves of any musical purist. And the chattering groups of teens and twenty-somethings (not to mention the drunk Israeli guys on the hunt for Latin chicas) adds to the sense that maybe it’s time to move on. Surely there must be something other than this, something that more discerning tastes can appreciate. It’s time to explore…

Walking the side streets of any city always reaps rewards. It’s where the off-beat boutiques, shops and cafes are typically found. And the formula certainly applies to Poblado. As the maddening noise of parque Lleras fades the neighborhood’s quieter streets reveal a more subdued side to the district. And it’s here where one finds the oasis of sound, cuisine and downtempo vibes known as Mélodie Lounge.

A few years ago one might have walked from one end of Medellín’s long valley to the other in search of a place like Mélodie Lounge and come up empty. This is a city more prone to tradition, which in social terms means a bottle of Aquardiente, (an anise flavored clear alcohol that is better left to locals) and some vallenato music at a corner bar. But Medellín is growing and changed drastically since the dark days of Pablo, finding itself landing on the other side of chaos with a new lease on life. And with small steps a forward-thinking, modern and cutting-edge Medellín is revealing itself.

Amongst those with the vision of the new Medellín are Mélodie Lounge’s three partners, along with the team of architects, interior designers, chefs, musicians-Djs and other creatives that put the lounge concept to action. Mélodie Lounge, with its sleek, tropical-modernist aesthetic has become an oasis of all things cool in Medellín. With a musical selection that encomposses both tropical and downtempo sounds, a worldly menu of wraps and vegetarian entrees, delicious drinks and a mellow but fun environment it is a place to call home.

With a concept that was considered radical by Medellín standards, Mélodie Lounge has proven that the city is ready for cutting-edge nightlife. To add to the lounge’s list of accomplishments are recent promotional and media ventures, including appearances by France’s Rhinocerose, Argentina’s Bajofondo Tango Club, a radio program on Medellín’s Cámera FM station and a CD compilation of Colombian electronic artists entitled “Lounge.Co”. Much more is on the horizon for Mélodie Lounge and Mundovibes spoke with the similarly named and equally amicable partners Carlos H. Estrada and Carlos E. Estrada on the making of Mélodie Lounge and what lies ahead.

Mundovibes: How long has Melodie Lounge been open?

Carlos E Estrada: It’s been 18 months now.

Mundovibes: How did you get into the club and lounge business? How did you start working together?

Carlos H Estrada: Well, we were friends a long time ago. Maybe 15 years. We are three partners and we worked together in different kinds of businesses. Carlos and Daniel had a couple of bars in the ‘90s. Then he had a café with a friend. In the meantime Daniel and me had a house club two years ago. And later we got together once again with the idea of doing something together and that’s when Mélodie Lounge took form. It was basically like an interest, being involved with the nightlife and after all it has become a good way of putting into practice what we have learned somewhere else. And building this new company and making it work.

Mundovibes: Can you just give me a little background on you two and your inspiration to start it?

Carlos E: And the reason why we opened Mélodie Lounge was because there were not really a place with this environment, to visit. Because it’s a quiet environment, but it’s not the kind of quiet environment that you can find in the city, which are not really into fashion.

Carlos H: And the thing is, we had different businesses before. But they were very upbeat, almost dancing bars. Now we thought there was a need in the city for a comfortable place to have a good meal and a couple of drinks without too much. A quiet place, there was a need. So, we decided to open Mélodie Lounge with a lot of sofas, and a good selection of music that could make a good environment. Then we started working with several friends, which was a great thing about it. It was a good opportunity to work with many friends.

Mundovibes: From different fields?

Carlos H: Exactly. Architects, chefs, graphic designers, industrial designers. Each one of them were able to contribute their experience and their expertise to the project.

Mundovibes: What influenced you the most in terms of how it developed? The style is very modern, very colorful, very contemporary. And the music reflects that as well. Were there places in your travels that you’ve said ‘wow, I’d love to do this type of thing’.

Carlos E : Maybe. We wanted to have a lounge and this was our version of it. It was like a mix of ideas from all the team. So, that was what made it so interesting.

Mundovibes: And how did the music programming develop?

Carlos H: One of the reasons why we opened Mélodie Lounge was because even if here you can find good places to have a beer, they don’t really think that music is important. They don’t really pay enough attention to the music. They don’t really think that this is an important part of the place. We disagree with that, we think that when you think of a place you have several things to take care of. And one of the most ones is the music. Of course, the menu is important, the drinks, the design, and the prices are important in Medellín. The important thing is to put all of them together. And to put it together you know there has to be some harmony. And to at the end see the result and say ‘OK, this is the place I was dreaming of.’

Mundovibes: And from the point when you opened to now, how has it evolved? Have you stayed with the same plan?

Carlos H: Pretty much. The three of us are engineers, so we tried to plan ahead as much as we could. And we could say that what we have now is what we wanted to accomplish. Of course, in 18 months there have been too many things happening. The good surprise has been the response from the public. Because at the beginning it was a big challenge and risk for us. Everyone was telling us that we were crazy trying to open such a unique kind of place in Colombia. And after all this time working, we have been surprised of the good response. Everyone is happy and thank us for being visionary, taking the chance.

Mundovibes: So, would you say the market was just waiting for you to bring this to them or did you have to educate people and explain the whole concept.

Carlos H: Very much.

Carlos E: When we opened, we were the first lounge to open in the city. Because of the results a lot of people started to open places calling them “lounge”. And they were more with house music. So, it’s difficult to explain to people that here or anywhere in the world lounges are more quiet and for chilling out. Not really like a dance place, it’s a lounge. In that way we can say there was some work done about educating people.

Mundovibes: You’ve had some good press coverage too.

Carlos H: We have been lucky in that field because of the success of the place, the media has been getting more and more interested in our work. And it has been for us because it gave us the opportunity to talk about our work. And to open the scope of the project. Because nowadays people look for us and for catering different events. They look for us when they need music. When they want new ideas about anything they come to Mélodie looking for our advice and things like that.

Carlos E: The other thing is I think everyone goes to Mélodie Lounge thinking about one special attraction and for some people the attraction is the music that we play, for others the food, for others the cocktails. If you are thinking about going to the States or Europe to buy a couple of Cds, they will come and ask for some advice. But if you are an architect and you like the design, you will ask ‘OK, I want to know how you come up with this idea’.

Mundovibes: So, like you said, having that collaborative team brought the best of everything out with the food, the style, the music.

Carlos H: Yes, and I think the key of the success of Mélodie Lounge. Because at the beginning all of the people were really afraid of the results that we were expecting. They were all thinking ‘is there really a market for this kind of idea?’ Here, most of the people go to drink aguardiente, to listen to tropical music, and there are not really good, good restaurants here. There are just a few good restaurants. So, they were always asking us ‘OK, tell me once again what kind of place do you really want to open? As I understand it’s not really like a bar because you are telling me there is a menu. But, on the other hand, you are telling me that this is more like a sofa place. So, this is not a restaurant.’

Carlos E: It was unique, so no one really understood it right away.

Carlos H: On the other hand they were saying ‘OK, here there’s not really an electronic music culture.’ We were explaining what kind of music we were using for the place and at the end they were saying ‘you can call it whatever you want, but for me this is electronic music. And for me electronic music is for dancing.’ So, at the end you are opening a restaurant without tables, you’re saying that you are going to sell cocktails but you have a menu. And the kind of music you are going to play is dance music and you don’t have the space for dancing.

Mundovibes: It probably feels good now that you are successful and have introduced the concept to Medellín.

Carlos E: Yes, that’s what we were talking about, because now people are like ‘now I understand.’

Mundovibes: Can you give an overview of the way the design came together?

Carlos H: That’s a good question and what we did wasn’t very premeditated. When we got together with this team we wanted to put together a place that could transmit well-being and peace and a comfortable ambience. And that was our starting point. So, after all we did was put together pieces that could work to transmit that overall result.

Mundovibes: Is your regular crowd people that are in the fashion industry or people that have traveled and they understand having seen it elsewhere.

Carlos H: People ask us that question often and I think Mélodie Lounge is a place where it can be easy to understand for someone that has been traveling a lot, that is open minded, that receives a lot of information. So, you can say that designers, architects, or people in the fashion industry, they understand it very well and they feel comfortable here. For some other people, sometimes it’s interesting because it’s something really different from what they are used to. So, it’s a bit shocking but being such a quiet place and at the end of the day they begin to love it.

Carlos E: Because of all the different things that you can find in Mélodie Lounge, it’s so difficult to define a target. People say asked us this when Mélodie Lounge started. And it’s so difficult because when you say ‘this is the place to talk, to have a chat without screaming because the volume of the music is not very loud.I think that there is always time for a place like Mélodie Lounge. Because sometimes you feel like having a cocktail and talking for a while. Sometimes you have to wake up early.

Carlos H: Most of the time people try to segment the market just by age. And that doesn’t happen with Mélodie because we are not in a specific segment for the age group. We are aiming just for any kind of people who want to spend a nice evening chatting and relaxing. So, that could be from the youngest to the oldest. As long as they want to have a nice quiet evening. And, you cannot say that is just for relaxed people, or whatever. Because sometimes you can be an extreme party-goer but any time in the week you feel like going out, it depends on what you want to do that specific moment. And that’s why we open every day from five in the afternoon. That way we are available for anyone at anytime.

Mundovibes: What’s the biggest thrill you get out of running Mélodie Lounge?

Carlos H: It’s been good to be able to express ourselves, to show the people in this city our work. And that was our main objective, and when we saw the good response it was twice as good. Of course, it’s great to be in touch with people, to see their reaction, to listen to their ideas. It’s really rewarding for us.

Carlos E: I think one of the biggest satisfactions has been to be able to prove that there is space for these kind of places, even if you are in a tropical country. It’s good to be able to show a good place in a different. And that’s very interesting because a lot of people that come to Colombia think that all people here are the same thing, you know? In big cities you always find so many different people that go out to different kind of places…to try to change the culture a lot bit is a big satisfaction.

Carlos H: It has been good to break stereotypes for all kinds of people. For local people as well as outsiders that think that Colombia is a very basic place where you cannot find options or people with different ideas.

Mundovibes: Where will you be taking things — what are your plans for the future?

Carlos E: Well, so far we have found that the concept or the work we have done with Mélodie is quite unique, at least in Colombia. So, we would like to see if we can take this to some other cities. Of course, it’s a wish. We are still studying the idea, thinking whether it’s feasible or not. But we’d like to let the thing grow and see what happens.

J.C. Tripp was a guest DJ at Mélodie Lounge while living in Colombia. He can’t wait to return.

Mélodie Lounge Website

An audio interview with Sir Norman Jay by Fabien Vouillon

BY ROSE PARFITT

Since Deee-Lite split in ’95 Dmitry has given full justification to his “Supa DJ” prefix, awarded DJ of the Year in 1998 for his pioneering mix of techno, electro, funk and new wave and remixing tracks for a numerous and unlikely collection of artists including Sinead O’Connor, Ultra Naté, The Jungle Brothers, Karen Finley and Q-Tip. He’s also been producing material for soundtracks including one song for the film Scream and released a solo mix album, Scream of Consciousness, including tracks co-written with Julee Cruise (of Twin Peaks theme tune fame).

“I’m looking forward,” he said in 2000 when Scream of Consciousness came out. “I am very proud of the past, but it can be a barrier. People have certain expectations, and when they think Deee-Lite, they think melodic house and vocals. That’s not where I am now at all. Music has evolved with time and so have I.”

Dmitry was born in the Ukraine, then part of the USSR. When his parents upped sticks to New York in 1981 Dmitry touched down in the midst of dance culture’s Big Bang as live and electronic music touched wires and exploded to create, over the next few years, the prototypes of hip hop, house, techno, electro and much else. Playing keyboards and guitar – a gift from his mother, a classical pianist, who enrolled him, aged nine in an experimental music programme for children – and with technical skill inherited from his father, an engineer and studying computers at NYU, Dmitry was made for it.

From checking coats at Pyramid, operating the lift at Danceteria, frequenting other ground- breaking clubs like the Paradise Garage and NASA and playing in a good few crazy NYC bands (Four Dicks and a Bone, The Hello Strangers, Blue Sand, That Greek Design, Raging Slab and SHAZORK!) it wasn’t long before Dmitry took the big step and got himself a set of decks. “It was pretty funny because when I started DJing, for the first year, I didn’t have a table for my turntables,” he says. “I’d put them on the floor and spin lying down. One of the decks had pitch control and one didn’t.”

In his box, early East Coast hip-hop brushed sleeves with the electronic sounds of Kraftwerk and Yellow Magic Orchestra and Dmitry soon had regular spots at places like Afrosheen, Pyramid, The Red Zone, NASA at The Shelter and The World, one of New York’s first house music clubs.

Then came Deee-Lite, the self-described “holographic house groove band” responsible for many of the audio-visual trends that characterised the 1990s. The ‘70s fashion revival, for example, can be traced back to the profound love affair between Deee-lite’s frontwoman and former go-go dancer Lady Miss Kier and Fluevog platform shoes. Deee-Lite’s massive crossover hit, “Groove is in the Heart”, with its almost indecently catchy bassline (courtesy of one Bootsy Collins) was club anthem of the decade. And – born as the group was to the deafening sound of monumental historical change as the Berlin Wall, the Iron Curtain and the Cold War fell apart virtually simultaneously – Deee-Lite, with its international make-up and outrageous retro-futuristic, sexually-unspecific image, epitomised a new (sadly short-lived) sense of politically liberated cultural harmony.

“They’re a mini-version of the United Nations, with one young man from the Soviet Union, another from Japan and a young woman from the United States. All three are brave or outrageous enough to wear dorky-looking clothes, designed to look like the worst of everything from the 1960s and ’70s,” wrote the Chicago Sun-Times somewhat stuffily in 1990, giving some indication of just how outrageous Deee-Lite seemed at the time.

By a strange twist of fate, Dmitry made his Glasgow debut hot on the heels of Lady Miss Kier. The two, however, are very definitely no longer on speaking terms, and since Deee-lite’s demise, Dmitry has striven to distance himself from its endearing but indisputably naff brand of funky dance vocals, moving towards an altogether heavier mix – mix being the operative word.

“I am just as inspired by Aphex Twin and Senor Coconut as I am by P-Funk and Louis Armstrong,” he says. “The biggest inspiration has always been the dance floor and some of my favourite producers are Laurent Garnier, Luke Slater, John Selway and Green Velvet.”

Mundovibes caught up with Dmitry at home in Manhattan and found him raging at the official offensive against New York clubland, perplexed by the ‘80s revival, horrified by the film Party Monster and itching to get over to Scotland.

Did you know that Lady Miss Kier was over in Glasgow a couple of weeks ago? Oh yeah? [stony silence]

So you two aren’t friends any more then?

Nope.

Right. You must be pretty fed up of people asking you about Deee-Lite…

Yeah well, you know, it’s happening less and less because I have kind of a good DJing career happening now, and people know me as a DJ as this point and they don’t have the same type of expectations. A few years ago it was a little more difficult, but now it’s good.

What are you up to at the moment?

I have a new group that I have just put together, and I have a couple of licensing things that I’m doing. I’m doing some advertising and television work. And just mixing.

Do you like to DJ in to massive audiences in huge venues or do you prefer smaller clubs with a more intimate atmosphere?

Really I can’t say that I have a preference. Personally I like to be able to be near the crowd that’s dancing; I don’t like to be too far removed, too high up on a pedestal, you know what I mean? I like to really feel the vibe from the people. So whether its 50 people or 10,000 people it doesn’t matter to me so long as I can feel ‘em.

You came from the Ukraine originally – have you been back to DJ there?

Not in the Ukraine but I’ve been to Russia a few times.

What’s it like there?

Interesting… fascinating…scary…great. All of the above, you know? It was definitely interesting to see how things have changed, because I hadn’t been back for about 17 years and then I went back and everything was…really different. And some things were really the same. So, the general inefficiency and things like that remains. But kids were really open to music, and interested. I DJed for a really big party in Siberia – I hadn’t expected anything like that! But it was really quite interesting because 3,000 kids showed up for that event and they were all really dressed up! Like Dolce & Gabbana, Versace and all this stuff! And I was like wow – where do the young people get the money to buy this crap?! So it was kind of pretentious and it was funny, but they were really trying to impress others, impress themselves et cetera et cetera. And they were very open minded when it came to the music, they definitely were very happy to hear electronic music. You know, it’s still not really promoted on the radio over there, it’s not really promoted in any way except at the parties. People were really responding to very underground music. It’s not that they wanted to hear commercial crap. They really were real listeners, you know, people that kind of look for music, that really go out of their way to try to find it. Especially more underground things. But as far as any kind of overground production goes, they don’t have that kind of thing in Russia yet. There’s a couple of radio stations in Russia and all that, but it’s in its infancy, electronic music over there.

When you and your parents came over to the States did you actually defect?

Yeah, we were refugees, political refugees, we asked for political asylum in the United States. I spent a year living in Italy and another half a year living in Austria before finally getting an American visa.

It must have been amazing, moving to New York at that time and finding yourself in the birthplace of dance music…

Yeah there was a lot of great music coming from New York in the ‘80s, and in the ‘90s, actually. It’s just now that the flood of music from New York has slowed down to a trickle. It’s partly because of the draconian dance policies of the city government that’s really basically been harassing dance clubs and dance culture as such. I mean, New York has some very old laws that go back to prohibition time when there were speak-easies and they were trying to control the flow of liquor. So they have these dance cabaret licences that you have to have. And the process is very riddled with corruption and so the city basically sends out people, under-cover officers, to bust people for dancing. A friend of mine who was running a club this weekend, they got closed down because six people were dancing! Isn’t that the stupidest thing you ever heard? Oh yeah, I mean between that and the ban on smoking I mean it really has hurt New York’s nightlife in general. I mean I’m all for health and everything, and the whole reasoning behind it was so that club workers could have a better health environment, healthy environment. Well how about providing health insurance for nightclub workers, if you really concerned about their health. But of course no-body’s interested in that.

What do you think about dance music at the moment? You said it’s slowed down in New York but what about in general?

I feel that it’s a bit of standstill right now. We have this back to the 80s trend, which is actually a little disturbing to me. But, you know, I just don’t like records that sound so retro and there are just so many records that are just doing…like, they’ll take the 80s sound and instead of expanding with it and making something new with it they’re just sticking to the same old formula. The whole electroclash movement is being fed by that new wave 80s throwdown, which is…old. For me. Maybe because when I was younger I was living through that time, and so maybe the kids today they hear if for the very first time. So get excited for it but I cant really have the same sort of excitement for it. I like electro a whole lot; I’m a huge electro fan. It’s just that I’m iffy about electro and new wave mixtures. If you have a little dose of funk in there that can work very well with electro and new wave but what I don’t like is music that’s too white. You know? I’m kind of more into the multi-culti approach, to use the trendy term. (…You gotta take the piss a little bit…) It’s a bit boring; we already lived through that. Whereas for instance if you’re talking about the first half of the 1990s you had all these future musics developing, you had big ambient, you had drum’n’bass you had techno, you had all these new languages that were really being expanded on and perfected and being very creative. And now I mean there’s still techno and there’s still drum’n’bass and there’s still ambient, and experimental stuff but what’s popular is the ‘80s. And I mean to me it can be very tongue-in-cheek and that could be fun, just to play a couple of funny things…but as a whole sound for your set it just bores me to tears.

Do you think its because it’s a safe option, you know, one that’s been tried and tested?

Yeah, but electronic music is not about safety. It’s about innovation and moving forward and the future.

I heard you used to be elevator operator at Danceteria – have you heard about this film, Party Monster, that’s about to come out?

Oh yeah, the Michael Alig story? I’m sorry to hear that. I haven’t seen the film but I’ve known Michael Aleg for quite some time and didn’t like the guy much, to tell you the truth. The guy is like a paedophile and a pervert. I mean I don’t care about how perverted he is but the paedophile I do care about. You know, and I never really cared for the guy for that reason, mainly that reason more than anything else. But I mean not to mention pissing into the ecstasy punch and then making everybody drink it, you know, things like that. It doesn’t make you want to be friends with a person, right?

It’s a weird one to make a film about it with Macaulay Culkin starring, of all people.

Well, you know, it’s a story that can sell. The thing about it, the guy that was killed was a friend of mine and he worked for me for a number of years. Yeah, so I know all the players in this scene and, I mean, it’s an ugly scene. It was an ugly scene then; and it certainly hasn’t improved much.

Is he still about then? I thought he was in prison…

Michael Alig’s in prison, yeah. But the other guy, unfortunately there was a second guy, Frieze, who was a part of it with Michael. And he’s the one that confessed. And he killed himself in jail. He couldn’t face going to jail, I guess. He felt very guilty about it.

Right, I think that’s about it…

Okay, just make sure that you convey that I’m super excited about coming to Scotland. I’ve been wanting to go to Scotland for as long as I can remember, to visit it, you know, ’cause I have this very romantic notion, which I’m sure is going to be blown to bits once I get there! But still, you now, I’m very excited and my girlfriend who’s coming with me is very excited. So we hope to do a bit of sightseeing as well as pleasing the Scottish public.

We’re done, right? So can I ask you on a different note, we’ve got to fly from London to Ibiza – what’s the best way of getting there from Glasgow? …

DJ Dmitry Myspace