Page 22 - Zone Magazine Issue 015

22 ZONE-MAGAZINE.COM
cover feature interview [uk]
There’s very few DJ’s/Producers who can say they’ve been on Top Of The Pops, owned and promoted one the most iconic clubs in the UK, and played at the most prestigious underground parties globally. Richard West aka Mr C is one of those and to say that his feet are firmly on the ground is an understatement. He’s one of the most approachable people in the music industy and has so many stories to tell.
Detroit, San Francisco, Miami, Dallas, Denver & Washington DC in the United States. To add to the list; also Vancouver, Playa Del Carmen, Mexico DF, Moscow, Ibiza, Bogota, Montañita & other one off / annual events the world over & has recently competed an Asia tour hitting Manila, Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Beijing & Shenzhen. Superfreq has accomplished 7 successful seasons in Ibiza, 3 at Club Underground, 2 at the legendary DC10, 1 season at Blu, 3 events at Aura & hosts annual events at BPM Festival in Playa Del Carmen. There are not many brands that can boast a list such as this!
remixes from Omid 16B, Jay Tripwire and Jay Haze. What made you choose these guys for remixing the single?
Mr.C is best known as front man, songwriter & producer of the pop group The Shamen with whom he notched up a string of top 10 hits including Move Any Mountain, Love Sex Intelligence, Boss Drum, Phorever People & the UK number 1 smash hit Ebeneezer Goode. These hits were hits the world over. The Shamen album Boss Drum went double platinum in the UK & they also won a highly coveted Ivor Novelo for Songwriters of the year UK in 1993. Richard's currently recording solo as Mr.C & is also doing collaborations as the Indigo Kidz with Affie Yusuf & with Noel Jackson as East LA Tek & has recent releases on Poker Flat, Get Physical Records & Adjunct Audio as well as his own Superfreq imprint.
His productions & song writing are next level & exactly what I needed for a solid dance floor remix of the single. I also love Jay Haze. His attitude is always original & off kilter so knew he’d deliver me something special.
Turning 15 years old this March, Mr.C has been running & promoting his Superfreq events. Superfreq also ran monthly at his club The End until it closed down in January 2009. Superfreq now functions bi-monthly in London including a bi-annual residency at the legendary nightclub Fabric and spends the rest of the time hopping around London’s popup warehouse venues, and various clubs including London’s newest hottest venue The Steelyard after an extremely successful event with Richie Hawtin on December 2015.
He’s such an amazing engineer & really knows his stuff. I made one other track in L.A too with Jonra in his studio. The last track I made in London in Omid 16B’s studio. All 3 of these guys have been amazing to work with & I thank them all so much for their vital input.
We then got a new digital distributer, who now has us in many more outlets than before, including back on Beatport as of a few weeks ago. I took some time to set this all up, which is why there were no Superfreq releases until my Stand Up single since May last year. You’ll now find all of our releases on Beatport, Traxsource, Juno, iTunes, Amazon, Spotify & many other great outlets.
In addition, Superfreq have events in Los Angeles as well as bi- monthly events in Calais France & annual events in Brooklyn, Chicago,
That would have to be London as that’s where Superfreq was born. The London Freqs are one big mental happy family who really know how to party & let loose. Superfreq has been amazing all over the world but nothing has quite come close to the original Superfreq vibe, with the possible exception of the Superfreq events we did at Underground in Ibiza in the early 00s.
This is a great question as I’ve never had producer envy on tunes. If there’s one track that I wish I’d produced on reflection its French Kiss by Lil Louis. Everything about tune is proper. It really crosses the house & techno boundaries so could be the first proper tech house track. The production is sick, the arrangement is perfect & the tempo change was absolutely mind blowing at the time. It also reached number 1 in the UK & charted all over the world so I bet it earned a few quid too.
2017 kicked off with the announcement of your new album; how long did you spend working on this and where did you record the album?
None of the Superfreq releases appear on Beatport, what made you decide not to sell your releases via this platform?
I started working on the Incidents album in March last year. The music for the album was complete by the summer. Of course we then had to work on artwork, remixes, get the promotion into place & then add in manufacturing time. I recorded the album for the most part in Los Angeles. 9 of the tracks I made in Noël Jackson’s studio a mile from where I live.
Our distribution contract with Baseware / Beatport ended this time last year when things were going a little tits up for the company as a whole. We decided to spread out wings at this point & get a new distribution that was more inclusive with its outlets as our music was only on a handful of digital platforms. Once we’d left Beatport, all of our music was taken down from all of the partner outlets that they used so we had to basically start again from scratch.
You’ve been to pretty much every Country to DJ over the years, where would you choose to play for the ultimate Superfreq party and why?
What’s the one track that you’d wish you had produced yourself and why?
Your single ‘Stand Up’ features
I made the track in Omid’s studio so he was a natural candidate & I also love his work. His remix has been held back from the single as Doc Martin is remixing Omid’s remix, which will be the final release from the album in the autumn. Jay Tripwire is one of the best DJs & producers on the planet.