I first met Dan Bean via a mutual friend with whom he shared the Iality HiFi soundsystem. As you can probably guess from its name, Iality was a predomoinantly Reggae affair, and so I assumed incorrectly that Dan was just another white-boy with a penchant for the sound of Jamaica. When I bumped into him in Fabric’s Room 3, which was being commandeered by the Detroit Beatdown DJs (Norm Talley, Delano Smith and Mike Clark), questions began to form in my mind about his musical affiliations. Over time, pre-conceptions were replaced with truth. The truth is that Dan’s taste (both musically and otherwise) is impeccable and diverse. Add to that his numerous trips to Detroit to hang out with Techno’s A-List and dig for long deleted vinyl prizes and you can probably see where we’re heading.
While I was round at his for an excellent meal and shameless audio geek-out a few weeks back, his floor to ceiling vinyl collection spanning everything from synthed-out Sunny Ade to Madlib’s DJ Rels broken-beat project prompted me to ask him to do a podcast for Heads High. It just so happens, that Dan is part of the Bleep 43 organisation who take great pride in inviting House/Techno’s finest to our fair city for marathon sets of real music. Derrick May is coming to Bleep very soon and that provides the inspiration for this very special audio excursion. I’ll let Dan explain:
“While preparing for the arrival of Derrick May to play a six hour set for us on the 21st May, I couldn’t help pausing to think about his work. It’s fair to say that he hasn’t exactly been prolific in terms of releases. On the other hand almost everything he’s released has been game changing in some way or other. This is partly to do with the innovative drum programming that Detroit is quite rightly renowned for, especially on the Roland TR-909. You might even say that the sounds from that peculiar little box define techno but that’s only half the story.
Listening to Derrick’s tracks, it seems clear that it’s the power of the melody that somehow connects most deeply. The instruments for this must have seemed like an uninspiring selection of cheap keyboards at the time, the only tools available to broke musicians. However in true ‘dubwise’ fashion they were put to use in ways that their designers probably never anticipated. The result was a sound or feeling that has since become ubiquitous worldwide, sadly almost to the point where it’s become totally devalued.
Rather than compiling a series of Rhythim Is Rhythim tracks in a mix, it seemed like a better idea to review at least some of the history of synthesiser music. It’s by no means a comprehensive review (please don’t write in…) but I’ve tried to pick out a reasonably varied selection including some tracks that might have influenced Derrick and his colleagues. For instance, ‘Shine A Light’ was a favourite of The Electrifyin Mojo, a revolutionary Detroit radio DJ who melded an almost ludicrous range of boundary busting records on his show and must take at least some credit for the Detroit sound.
I’ve also looked back to some early attempts to harness the power of synthesis by pioneers such as Raymond Scott and the unfortunately named Dick Hyman, not to mention sterling efforts from persistent innovators such as Ike Turner and Eddie Harris. Add to that Germany’s own take in the form of Popol Vuh alongside their inheritors Stereolab and with some luck I may have illuminated some less frequented corners of the synthesiser universe. To round the picture out I’ve also included tracks from European masters such as Giorgio Moroder (Beat The Clock) and Jean-Claude Petit and some apparently accidental house music from Roy Ayers, as well as a contribution from Detroit’s prodigal son (and devout synthophile) Omar S.”
Bleep43 with Derrick May is taking place on Friday 21st May at the wonderful Corsica Studios in Elephant and Castle. It’s £15 on the door (£9 NUS) or £12 in advance. Derrick will be playing for six hours from 1am. Hope you can join us. More info here.
John Carpenter//Main Theme from Escape From New York Jean-Claude Petit//Stones Of Law Omar S//Hot Ones Echo Through The Ghetto Rhythim Is Rhythim//Beyond The Dance Sparks//Beat The Clock (Alternative Mix) Jimmy Ross//Fall Into A Trance The Graingers//Shine A Light Roy Ayers//Chicago Cloud One//Atmosphere Strut Cat Stevens//Was Dog A Doughnut Fern Kinney//Groove Me Ike Turner//Thinking Black Dick Hyman//Give It Up Turn It Loose Raymond Scott//The Happy Whistler Stereolab//Refractions In The Plastic Pulse Popol Vuh//Aguirre I Yusef Lateef//Technological Homosapiens Eddie Harris//Carnival
Whilst passing through the Big Chill House for Slipped Disco’s UFO party last Friday, I was lucky enough to experience one of the most psychedelic electronic amalgamation of sounds I’ve heard in a while, delivered in the form of a live set by a French artist/producer, Etienne Jaumet.
Apparently, before his solo release, he was one part of a duo known as Zombie Zombie. To be honest, up until this moment, I was completely unfamiliar with Etienne’s work (although in my defense, this was his UK debut). What I can say however, is that listening to him live brought back memories of early 80’s sci-fi at its most inventive.
The set seemed to pay homage to techno in its original depiction, brought to mind by the famously reported dialogue between Stuart Cosgrove and Derrick May, who once stated that techno is “… like George Clinton and Kraftwerk are stuck in an elevator with only a sequencer to keep them company.” (Cosgrove, 1988)
As Etienne engaged in tweaking knobs and forging kitsch noises out of vintage machinery, his geeky mannerisms were a breath of fresh air in a scene that is increasingly becoming trivialised by trendy iPod DJs. Another thing that was very evident from watching his performance, was his undeniable skill in the manipulation of various synthesizers. Almost instantly we were transported into another realm of deep space exploration through his masterful deployment of cosmic sound effects, indigenous tribal drum patterns, live instrumentation and machine music.
Not always easy on the ear, plenty of experimentation and awkward noise forced us as listeners to work a little harder in order to reap the harvest of his creativity. It was well worth it.
From the set, Monsieur Jaumet definitely inspired me to dig deeper into his work. The results are as follows:
On Versatile Records, he released his first solo album last year, called Night Music bearing five lengthy tracks. Many label the album a techno effort, however like most semi-decent artists, pigeon-holing Night Music into a single genre just doesn’t do it any justice. My take is this, Night Music would be the creative output of techno, electro, cosmic jazz, deep space funk, disco, krautrock, psychedelic and prog rock forming a sonic conglomerate… Or maybe more simply put, what the Dr. Who soundtrack should be. I’m not going to break down each track but as a whole, the vibe of the album is unsettling, and deliberately so. The constant drone of sharp keys and minor chords may not sit well with everyone but if you are comfortable with this, you will surely get a sufficient dosage of instant vintage. Etienne goes all out on effects, from didgeridoos to birds chirping to bleeps and blips, his peculiar production style packages the aesthetic of a Pac-Man arcade into a highly intellectual yet danceable album.
Not only are electronic dimensions explored, real instruments such as the saxophones and other horns are ever-present in a style reminiscent to early Laurent Garnier tracks. We are truly taken back to the future in Night Music and its understandable why Carl Craig would jump on such a talent.
It is also clear that the same passion and effort Etienne put into creating Night Music, goes into his live performances, thus I thoroughly recommend catching him when he’s next on British soil.
Electronic or organic? Both have a place and both need each other to survive. Symbiosis. If you’ve heard any of Reggie Dokes‘ output you’ll know he understands this relationship. You’ll know he knows (poly)rhythm, African composition and how to translate soul through machines. Basically, Reggie Dokes is a deep brother. The good news for us is his depth has long been noted. Prime Numbers, Philpot, Third Ear, We Play House, Clone and Planet Harrier have all signed his wares, following in the esteemed footsteps of the Transmat, Sound Signature and Rhythmic Deep labels who came to the party early. His own Psychostasia imprint provided the foundation and continues to broadcast soul transmissions. I wanted to write a feature on Reggie because he embodies precepts that I hold dear. Innovation, depth and knowledge of self….so here it is…
Everything I’ve read about Reginald Dokes points to his father, musician and music teacher Dr Limuel Dokes, as the prime inspiration for his work – the foundation. He bought him his first copy of Martin Circus ($50!) and moved him to train formally on the concert snare and later the drums. So that’s where he got his rhythm from. In his own words…
‘My first inspiration would have to be my father, Dr. Limuel Dokes. His life to me has been truly inspirational. He touched many young people with his gift of music. He was formerly trained. Taught high school stage band, concert band and marching band. As a kid, I remember walking and marching with the drum section as they played on the football fields of various Detroit high schools performing. He taught me how to be a great man, father, lover and creator of good music, R.I.P. Dad.’
Detroit again. I’m sure there’s a portal to some kind of higher artistic dimension in that city. There’s just so much talent, and not just any talent, it’s deep, timeless, raw creation. There’s something so special about Detroit that no matter where artists move out of the city, or for what reasons, a piece of the magic remains with them indefinitely.Reggie is no exception.
‘I was born and raised in Detroit. Although I am in Atlanta now, I will always love my city. There are some hard realities in my lovely city, high unemployment and a lot of vacant buildings. Despite the run down buildings and vacant structures, artistically, I am still able to go within and bring out that creative side to my music. I like to think many things inspire me when it comes to music. My surroundings would certainly be number one on my list.’
Now seems a good time to mention Derrick May. Our awareness of Mr Dokes east of the Atlantic is due in no small part to Reggies’ relationship with the Bellville Three innovator. (The championing of his ‘The Skin I’m In‘ cut by one Theo Parrish didn’t harm either.)
‘Derrick May and I are still great friends to this day. He helped considerably in exposing me to the professional side of DJing. I had a residency in Canada a long with my partner Randall Washington. Thanks to Jerry the Cat, the head DJ at the club, he wanted us to come in and do some different things musically. Derrick would come to the club and hang out, especially if he had some gigs that way. I remember him coming up to the DJ booth. He was very cool. Two weeks later I was hanging out at this late night party off of Woodward, and saw Mr. May. He turned to me and said, “Hey what’s up? I want to help you with your DJ career.” The only thing I could say is, “Thanks.” At the time he had a DJ agency called Point Blank with this guy named John. He exposed me to parties in the states and eventually overseas. It was rough going though because I did not have any records out at the time, so basically Derrick would have me open up for him. It was a great experience but also quite nerve racking. I got over the nervousness eventually and just started having fun with it. Derrick is a great DJ. I have seen a lot of them. I remember we were doing a party in Detroit together and a record scratched while he was playing. He immediately hit the effects button and spun the record backwards. I was like, “oh shit!” No one really even noticed, the vibe was still on point. He did not even sweat it.’
It wasn’t all opening for legendary innovators though. We’ve all got to start somewhere and Reggie’s career began in the basement of his family home, cutting and pasting hot wax from New York and across the water in Europe.
‘I have been a DJ since I was 14. I had a good family friend that had a DJ set up. Naturally I wanted one, because he was mixing records that sounded very unique to me. A lot of them were records from overseas and New York records. DJing back then was such a cool thing to do for a kid. A lot of these records from Yazzoo, Yellow, Beat the Street, Capricorn, I Want it to be Real by John Rocca. These records were so different. The vibe was so amazing to me and intoxicating. My father started to support me in buying these records every week. Finally I got a DJ setup. It was a Realistic mixer with two Technics turntables called SLB 200s I believe. My setup was in the basement of my parents home, and I spent hours mixing and making mixed tapes for my friends at school. Sometimes I would make a mixtape before doing homework. My parents did not like that at all. Then I hooked up with a guy name Greg Freeman who DJed, and we just connected. Another guy joined us name Will Guest, and we formed a group called Audio Sounds. We eventually became this popular DJing crew playing Progressive and House Music at house parties. We progressed from playing house parties to being booked by clubs and various venues. Everybody started wanting our mixtapes and we became like local stars at our high school in Detroit. One memory I have is playing this event in Detroit and all the guys would stand around the table watching how we mixed records and stand by the speakers to hear our blends and transitions. It was quite competitive, but very fun.’
On to Psychostasia. Reggie’s label and home of his early output. Established in 2000/1, Psychostasia has consistently served up the goodness from Reggie’s own lab, not forgetting tracks from associates like Jerry the Cat, JuJu and Jordash and the fruits of collaborations between himself Craig Huckaby and fellow Detroit dweller Pirahnahead under the Napi Headz moniker. The label is still going strong today and has never swerved from it’s original aim of releasing eclectic, innovative, soul drenched productions.
‘It [Psychostasia Recordings] was inspired by my experiences in meeting road blocks with other independent labels. Many of them were giving me the runaround. I got tired. Decided I wanted to start my own thing. Psychostasia Recordings was born. With any label it is always a struggle. I remember sending my records overseas to shops in London for free, just to create a buzz. The fortunate thing is that my artistry came from the inspiring streets of Detroit. Considering Detroit’s history or ties to techno, that helped my label. My vision was to have a label that reflected independence. Meaning a label whose vibe was different or eclectic, soulful and genre bending. In addition, it was my aim to show that you could still put out records that particularly did not have the dancefloor in mind. I have manifested my vision, and I continue to push forward with my music.’
Focussing on this music, there is a strong African thread binding together Reggie’s back catalogue. Imagine Ali Farka Toure and Mustapha Tettey Addy in the studio with Juan Atkins and you’ll be getting close. It’s a real skill to balance those Motherland influences with more Westernized styles and do credit to each of the sources. Reggie has this art on lock.
‘…in that there is an intentional injection of African vibrations on my part when it comes to most of my productions. I make no excuses about that…I can only speak for myself, but I always try to make that connection and recognize the beauty of indigenous African rhythms with my electronic music, whether it be House or Techno. The African history/legacy that is a part of me, I share and send out through my music productions … At the risk of repeating myself, I think any person that creates should put a part of what is important and spiritual in their work. Without hesitation, I will unashamedly articulate that Africa, specifically the music, has influenced the world many times over. My first album was called Afromation. I wanted the world of electronic music to know that I am about Africa. I am about history. I am about peace. I am about love. I am about spirituality. I am about music.’
The Afromation was a truely breathtaking debut long player. Released in 2004, it still sounds as fresh today as when I first pressed play. The same goes for his ‘Rhythmicity EP‘. Reggie cites these as his most cherished works.
‘The productions that I am most proud of would be my first EP on Psychostasia and my first album, “The Afromation.” Like most artists, you always have a special connection with that first piece of work. I remember struggling trying to get that first EP out, and most importantly, creating that minimal track, “Black Thoughts” while my daughter was on my lap. The first album is always significant to the artist, this was a body of work that I presented to the world, representing all that is important to me: sprituality, family, music, genre bending artistry.’
The journey is far from over. With a new long player and Psychostasia reissue programme from in the pipeline, plans for a collaborative album with his brother in music Boddhi Satva and murmurs of a European DJ tour early next year, the master of the deep continues his walk….and long may it last.
Reggie has blessed us with a free download of his ‘Funk Below’ which you can pick up here:
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We like moving pictures too, so I included this trailer for the TechnoMecca which features Reggie discussing the black roots of Techno. And for throwback value, check out Sharon Redd in all her black leather glory in the original video for the awesome ‘Beat The Street’.
Many Thanks to Reggie for his patience and assistance putting this piece together. Our blessings stretch out to you brother…
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