Page 22 - Zone Magazine Issue 011

feature interview [uk]
When iAIN TAYLOR's (aka iAIN rEJEKT), first release got props from legends like Sven Vath, Sasha, M.A.N.D.Y, DJ Hell, Mr C, John Digweed, Claude Von Stroke, Steve Lawler, Slam, Layo & Bushwacka, Nik Faniculli and even cats like Tom Stephan and Hernan Cattenaeo then you could be forgiven for thinking that you may be onto something. More releases followed on both Dirtybird and Iain’s own rEJEKT Music label with tracks also being licenced to Ohm and Steve Lawler making several offers to bring the rEJEKTS onto his then fledgling Viva recordings.
Iain has never exactly been a conformist and the whole point of rEJEKTS was to give himself and the artists he worked with the complete freedom to do things their own way and in their own time and with the emphasis firmly on being deliberately different. Quality over quantity you might say but also having had dealings with major backed labels in the past it just felt like the right thing to do, to be bold and go it alone.
After all he did have a fair bit of experience when it came to making a dancefloor move. He had started his own DJ career 11 years previously at Manchester’s now fabled Hacienda nightclub before moving onto other Acid House institutions such as Tribal Gathering and their weekly parties at Sankeys Soap (also in Manchester) and then to places like Fabric (London), Back To Basic’s (Leeds), The Bomb (Nottingham), The Sub Club (Glasgow) and even The Concorde 2 in Brighton (The home of the mighty Fatboy Slim and his “Big Beat” movement) and the Glade Dance stage and Radio One stages at Glastonbury festival.
There is a whole lot more to Iain, so Zone's Paul Newhouse just had to have a chat....
Who is Iain Taylor, and what where your first steps into the music scene?
Iain Taylor is a human being from Planet Earth. From the Republica De Mancunia (better known as Manchester). My first forays into music were while I was still at school. From the first moment that I heard mixtapes from the likes of Grandmaster Flash, Carl Cox, Sasha and 808 State and then the legendary Stu Allen Show on Piccadilly Key 103 and worked out what they were doing, I was hooked. I did some awful jobs back then which were basically legalised child labour just to pay for my vinyl obsession including paper rounds, hay bailing and “de eying” potato’s which I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. I was always pretty tall for my age and so was able to get into clubs like Stories In Widnes and Legends in Warrington before moving onto clubs like the Hacienda and Bowlers in Manchester. I got a job in a record shop when I was 18 which gave me access to promos before a lot of other DJ's at the time and in 1995 one of my mixtapes got me a midweek gig at the Hacienda which really gave me the bug. From there on I promoted my own events and pestered people and put together tours to get more gigs until I eventually landed a residency with Tribal Sessions at Sankeys Soap in 2001 which took things up another level.
Your first music release was supported
by some of the heavy weights in the industry, tell us about that, and how it felt at the time?
It’s almost indescribable the feeling you get when DJ's who’ve been your heroes, from back when you were still at school, then come back saying they love your music and are playing it out! Seeing a video online of John Digweed dropping Rejektion at Creamfields Argentina was pretty special. I knew the music was good, I’d always had belief in that and I stayed fiercely objective, to make sure I didn’t put anything out that I wouldn’t play myself if it had been made by someone I’d never heard of. Claude Von Stroke had made an offer to sign a track we’d done called Datarape for Dirtybird which was actually the first track to come but that was only part of a compilation. Steve Lawler also wanted to sign our debut EP as the first release for Viva Music both of which were huge confidence boosters but Viva releases would only be digital at that time so we decided to start our own label and get the trax on wax but yeah Sasha, DJ Hell, MANDY, Layo & Bushwacka, Slam, MR C, Nic Faniculli and loads of others also supported it which was honestly mind blowing for us at the time.
What is this 'rejekts' thing all about?
Ha! If I had a pound for every time I’d been asked that! Why would you call yourself a rejekt? Or imply that you are an outcast? Well that’s kind of how I felt a lot of the time. I was obsessive about my DJ style and the quality of the music that I made and there seemed to be a lot of samey samey music made more from formulas than from the soul. It was also a feeling that I got when I was going out as a punter. I would get lost in the moment and dance like no one was
watching but some of the parties I was frequenting to hear exciting new DJ's seemed to be more about looking cool and what labels you were wearing more than what labels were getting dropped on the decks. I wanted to take a stand against this shit which is when I came up with rEJEKTS. It has a bit of a political connotation.
Back then we were rejekting George W Bush (well both the George Bush’s) and the Iraq war and the use of scare tactics and fear politics to control society. Our second release “Black And Red” which announces “The End Of The Earth Is Upon Us” is also exactly 9.11 minutes long. Now we’re most definitely rejecting Donald Trump, Nuclear Power, Drilling The Artic and the corrupting power of big business and the TTIP agreement. In a nutshell we rejekt hate, racism, elitism, bullies, bigots and general bastards! We rejekt music by numbers, flagrant capitalism, too cool for school, manufactured boybands and the generally mediocre. Strive for excellence, be creative, be a Sheppard not a sheep and try for something discernibly different. Do you think that society welcomes you to its bosom? Well if you, like me, live out your life in nightclubs, then you too have been quietly ejected from polite society, discos are the only place that will have us now, join us, we are the rejekts!. Music for drop outs, no bodies and general no hopers. The only thing you need to have is an open mind and the friendly attitude . . . we’ll do the rest!
You have played all over the globe, tell us what your favorite club and country is to play and why?
Ah man! There’s so many! I think the UK is still the best for me. Nothing came close to Sankeys at the time but also clubs like South In Manchester, Back To Basics, The End (RIP), Fabric, The Egg, Chibuku, The Sub Club, The Concorde 2, The Bomb (RIP), Stealth, The Thekla – Bristol, Clwb Ifor Bach, La Belle Angel are all / were awesome places to play and the Glade at Glastonbury but other stuff worldwide would be Soda - Helsinki, Luxy - Taipei, Room 18 – Taipei, Dragon i - Hong Kong, Q Bar – Bangkok, Metro - Sydney, Ambar - Perth, Cloud 9 – Beijing, Tango – Beijing, Guan Shou – Shanghai, Play – Mexico City, The Global Unity Movement Parties in Ecuador, Follies – Paris, La Suite – Brest, Melkweg – Amsterdam, Hedon – Zwolla, The Monday Social – Los Angeles, And of course Pacha Ibiza, Underground Ibiza, Space Ibiza. There’s loads more but these have been some of the most memorable.
You don't often release on other labels, is there a reason for this?
There has been quite a few labels that have wanted to sign my tracks. At the moment I’m keeping my own stuff for my own rEJEKT Music label. I’m a control freak like that and like to build a concept from the ground up including designing my own artwork and picking my own remixers and working out the different promotion strategies and label party details in my own way.
We have done some remix stuff for Peep Show and also Maintain Reply in Italy and Wilde Berlin as well as licencing tracks to Balance, Vision Of
Love, Ohm and Crackhouse. Having said that as I get a bit older, I am getting a little less precious and am currently working on a handful of EP's for other labels and am going to start considering more remix work. 2017 is shaping up to be a really good year for me.
You held a 7 year residency with one of the most influential clubs, Sankeys Soap, and during, what is commonly referred to as the venues "Golden years". How was that and how did it come about?
I was DJ'ing fairly sporadically at Sankeys Soap in 1997, around the time that the Hacienda closed it's doors for the last time until of course Sankeys was forced to close as well in 1998.
Manchester’s club scene was a lot rawer back then but by 2001 big steps had been made and communication between the police and club owners had improved massively by the time Sankeys was reopened in that year by Tribal Gathering I was already playing at some of the cities other big clubs like Planet K, The Music Box, Generation X and North.
I was invited to play some sets which went really well and soon after I was offered a weekly residency. Back then the club took a little while to get back on its feet under the new management and I remember David Vincent travelling to see Sasha play in another city to give him a brick from the Hacienda and sell how good the club was and it wasn’t long before other DJ's followed suit and pretty soon it had struck a chord with the music lovers of Manchester and it was take off time.
I remember telling people like Groove Armada and Andrew Weatherall how good it was and then seeing how blown away they were by the crowd and the Phazon Soundsystem that was originally designed for Twilo in New York. I remember stuff like James Zabelia’s first set there, Anja Schneider and Sebo K’s first time and DJ Bone’s first UK set there too. Great times man! My favorite memory has to be in 2003 when I came back from a 7 date tour of Australia feeling on top of the world. I was playing in the Soap Box before the Plump DJ's and I think Steve Lawler was playing downstairs. It was at the end of September and all the students were back in the city and hungry to party again. The place was heaving! Loads of mental manc mixed in with wide eyed students and sweat dripping from everywhere. I had a moment and stood back thinking to myself “there’s no place like home!”
Ibiza or Miami, and why?
Ibiza, easily! It’s no contest. Ibiza has a soul, it’s evolved over years and throws up some of the most amazing parties in and outside of the clubs. It has a real under current to it that operates largely outside the super clubs in cave raves, forest gatherings, villa parties or beach parties. There’s some real characters who have been there for generations. The Ibicenco people are famous for their hospitality and it has some of the most fabulous and magical places and people. Ibiza All Day Every Day! Miami is dope but it’s more of an event. Ibiza is a way of life!!