For the first edition Of Prime Time at Santos Party House we welcome the legendary Greg Wilson. Greg Wilson has a pedigree stretching back to the original disco era. He first came to national prominence in the early 1980's as the first to champion New York's emerging Electro-Funk sound and he was the first DJ to mix records on national TV in 1983. The man was also the first dance music DJ to become resident at Manchester's legendary Hacienda, then very much an indie and 'alternative' music venue.
Fast forward to 2007 and Greg is back with full force turning in remixes for DFA, Rong Music, a sublime mix CD for 20:20 Vision and an extremely popular podcast for the trustworthy Resident Advisor.
Armed with a laptop, turntables and, of course, his trusty Revox B77 reel-to-reel, Greg brings his alchemic mixing and customised re-edits to NY to play Prime Time at Santos Playhouse on Saturday October 25th...
Greg kindly agreed to a brief interview ahead of his arrival in new York later this week. He also bestowed us with an exclusive mix recorded live at Space in Ibiza just a month ago. Full tracklisting below.
What does NY mean to you and what can we expect from your gig at Prime Time at Santos Party House?
New York in the early 80’s had a major influence on me. The music I was playing on the black scene in the North of England back then was mainly out of NY, on labels like West End, Prelude, Streetwise, Sugarhill, Tommy Boy, Emergency, Becket, Profile, Enjoy etc. There was so much creativity happening there at this point in time - it was after the so called ‘death of Disco’, so the scene had gone underground, which allowed it to be far more experimental than if it had still had all the mainstream focus on it, as it had it the latter part of the 70’s. As I’ve said on many occasions, this was a real hybrid era for dance music and everything that follows owes a debt to what was happening in New York during this period. It completely set the tone for the oncoming emergence of Hip Hop, House and Techno.
People thought it was crazy that I’d never been to New York (my first visit wasn’t until 2005!) because it had made such a massive musical impact on me. It almost happened in 1983, when the idea was put to me regarding a Manchester / New York exchange for a month or so, with Danceteria DJ, Mark Kamins swopping over with me at The Hacienda, one of the clubs I was working in at the time. Nothing came of it though.
That early 80’s era, along with the whole 70’s Disco thing, is something I still draw from in what I do now, both via the original recordings and re-edits, mixing them in with later and more contemporary releases. This is the basis of my approach nowadays, with a foot in the past but an eye on the future.
Can you tell us a little about your DJ set-up and particularly the use of your trusty Revox reel-to-reel?
Again, the balance between then and now is reflected in the equipment I use. I play via a laptop, using the PCDJ program (with an external controller), but this works in juxtaposition with the Revox B77 reel-to-reel, from which I ‘spin’ sounds / samples to add further textures and fx to the tracks I’m playing. The Revox also enables me to dub things up by feeding it back through itself. It’s become something that people associate with me, almost a trademark, so, regardless of where I am, I’m expected to have it with me. Whenever I have to DJ without it I feel pretty naked!
Who in contemporary dance culture do you see as doing interesting things right now?
What I find most interesting and exciting about contemporary dance culture is the way that the internet has connected us all more closely together. All of a sudden a younger generation can go online and explore a wealth of dance music, dating right back to the 60’s, doing this from their own perspective. This has created a fresh dynamic that’s allowed an old timer like me to come back into things after a 20 year absence, without being viewed in purely nostalgic terms, which isn’t something that’d appeal to me. On top of this many contemporary artists are drawing from this dance heritage, to put their own spin on things, whilst the whole re-edit thing has also put a new twist on older tracks.
It’s part of a necessary process as far as I’m concerned, going back in order to move things forward. As the saying goes, to know the future first you must know the past, and this is what I feel is happening, as people look for more than just a surface understanding, needing to truly explore what came before in some depth. What they eventually do with this knowledge is going to be the really interesting part.
I've just had a couple of edits released on Wurst. What's your take on the recent surge in volume of edits hitting record stores and blogs?
Like anything, some are good and some are not so good. It’s all a matter of selection and rejection, as with all categories of music. Given that I’m heavily involved in editing myself, I fall into the pro-edit side of the debate. I think it’s a positive development, illustrating that music is never a static thing, but can continue to evolve and transform, regardless of when it was made, as new people discover it and experience it for themselves. I like the DIY aspect, which allows DJ’s to put their own slant on a particular track via their home computer, then take it out and play it to others in a club environment. Of course there’s going to be lots of unnecessary edits, that’s part of the process, but there’s also been a number of gems, sometimes completely revitalizing the source track. I know that, from a personal perspective, re-edits, both my own and other peoples, have been an absolutely essential part of my playlist since I returned to deejaying almost 5 years ago.
I've got more than a mild obsession with my mental picture of how the Hacienda was. Can you describe how it was for you as a resident and how it compares to clubs today?
The Hacienda is obviously the most famous club I worked in, but, back in ’83 it was still struggling to find its feet as a dance venue (most people who went were into alternative / indie music, not the stuff I played), the DJ booth was a nightmare, positioned in a separate room down some stairs to the side of the stage (it wouldn’t be until the following year until they saw sense and moved it to the balcony), and the sound system was a tinny mess (it got better, but they never managed to properly sort it out). I had some great one-off nights at The Hacienda during my tenure, but overall it was very difficult to get across the type of music I was known for.
For me it was all about Legend, my main Manchester club, where I played every Wednesday circa 81-84 to a predominantly black audience who knew their music inside out and included the all best dancers – this was the most upfront black music night in the country back then, with people travelling from far and wide to be there, and the venue packed week-in-week-out. Legend was an incredible club, with an awesome sound system and amazing lighting – it was a different world to The Hacienda, the two clubs just didn’t compare. Legend was very much the real deal , whereas The Hacienda wasn’t even at the races at this point – if it wasn’t for New Order’s success, and the money they pumped into the club to keep it afloat (being directors), it would have gone under way before the Rave On days.
By bringing over some of the vibe / people from Legend during my relatively short stay there, I helped plant some seeds at The Hacienda that would blossom a few years down the line when it finally met its moment during the latter part of the 80’s and became the cathedral of dance it’s now remembered as. So, from a personal perspective, The Hacienda was down my list of favourite clubs, Legend being the greatest club I ever worked in, with Wigan Pier, my other main venue of the early 80’s, the only place that came near to Legend in terms of atmosphere and intensity.
What's lying head for Greg Wilson in '08 and '09?
After the US I’ve got dates in Japan, Australia and Brazil, along with more UK and European bookings before the year’s out, so it’s pretty full-on. I’ve barely had time to think about 2009, although I have resolved to do all in my power to get the 2nd Volume of Credit To The Edit out next year – it’s long overdue. I also want to find time to start writing and producing once again, so hopefully that’ll be a feature of ’09. We’ll have to see how things work out.
Greg Wilson Prime Time Promo Mix - Live in Ibiza September '09
1. Telemusic baby’s band (leozero edit)
2. Billy Ocean nights (feel like getting down) (discolexic edit)
3. Rockers Revenge sunshine (gw edit)
4. NRDS07 cosmic dj delight (gw edit)
5. Change lovers holiday
6. Chic I want your love (todd terje edit)
7. Anthony Chacona & Nick Mansfield oh snap! (gw version)
8. Spirit Catcher sweet deal (gw edit)
9. A Guy Called Gerald voodoo ray
10. Klein & MBO dirty talk (gw edit)
11.Adonis no way back (gw edit)
12. Hercules & Love Affair blind (frankie knuckles mix)
13. 808 State pacific state (gw ruff edit)
http://www.electrofunkroots.co.uk
http://www.myspace.com/djgregwilson
Greg Wilson on The Tube in 1983 Mixing Records for the first time on British Television
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3 comments:
Very cool that you got Greg Wilson not just to come and play but also to give you a mix and an interview. Great to hear history from the people who were there participating in it. Thanks!
credit to the edit
fun night. a lot of terje joints being laid down...heard at least three over the course of the night. looking fwd to the next one.
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