This weeks interview & mix comes from Mr C
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Selector Afterdark – Mr C by The Selector on Mixcloud
Introduce yourself and tell us about the part of the UK you’re from?
My name is Richard West aka Mr.C, formally of The Shamen & The End club London & currently of Superfreq records & events. I’m from London although I do now live in Los Angeles. London is the most amazing city on the planet. If you have a few days to spare, I’ll tell you all about it. LOL. I was actually dragged up in Holloway North London, which hasn’t changed a bit in all these years. It’s still a very working class area & home to me when I’m in London, which is about 30% of the time. It’s a great place to come from although it does kind of stink of Arsenal. hehehe.
Can you tell us a bit about what you’ve been working on recently?
Last year I had so many releases & I’ve kept up the pace this year too, I’ve been working on lots. I had a couple of remixes on Affie Yusuf’s Rebirth EP on Superfreq in March & released my debut EP as East LA Tek with production partner Noel Jackson called the Innuendo EP in May. I have remixes due of Rockit by Class B Band, Dwarf Nibbler by Zero to Hero & Gurdjeiff by Just Be, all coming out later this summer on Superfreq & also a remix of After The After by Felipe Kastegliano due also this summer on Stark Futures. I’m also working on my next solo Mr.C EP, which I also hope to have out late summer.
Sounds great, cant wait to hear the new stuff! Can you talk us through the mix?
I did two mixes; both of them are 100% Superfreq material. They were both mixed using two CDJ2000’s & a mixer. No syncing, just proper DJ mixing.
I really wanted to use these mixes to showcase all the amazing stuff I have out & coming out on my Superfreq label. I release a new EP on the label every 3 weeks, so the label is quite prolific & very much the sound of what I spin, which is contemporary house & techno. I’m always looking for music for the label that pushes the envelope a little & doesn’t sound like all the other house & techno that’s being released. I feel that most DJ & producers follow each other around in little circles & all sound alike, which is a huge turnoff for me. As you will hear, what we’re doing on Superfreq sounds like no other label.
And can you give us a taste of some of the British artists you’ve featured in your mix?
I’ve featured some very cool British artists on these mixes. Of course there’s my own work with Noel Jackson as East LA Tek, which is a new project & one that I’m very excited about as well as a Mr.C remix of Class B Band. As East La Tek we’re going to make a follow up to our Innuendo EP after the summer is out of the way. Next we have Rize. Rize are formally known as Megalon who were the most exciting of artists on my Plink Plonk label from the 90’s. As Megalon they are Laggy Panteli aka Hijacker & Zeno Messis, but as Rize, New York film score maker & jazz musician Richard D Ruttenburg joins them. Their sound is completely unearthly & out of this world, so I’m very excited about the future of this band. Next up we have Stark who have now had 2 releases on Superfreq. Stark are David Gooday, formerly of the legendary EBM band Nitzer Ebb along with Simon Granger. Their music is way out there yet somehow very usable on the decks. They have their own label Stark Futures which is wicked. Nottingham based Inxec is featured on the hour mix with a project he did with Julia Govor from Moscow, but it’s American remixer Derek Marin who’s remix is featured on the mix. Also featured on the longer mix are Affie Yusuf & Trevor Loveys as House of 909. It’s so good to see the return of these tech house legends.
Some really strong names in there! Can you tell us about some of your British DJ Heroes and influences in general?
My biggest influence & hero is the legendary Evil Eddie Richards. I first heard him spin in the mid 80’s & was mesmerized. We then went on to work together. The first tune I ever did was with Eddie on his Baad Records imprint, which was released in the summer of 1987. It was a deep house track called Page 67 by Myster-E on which I performed a spoken word vocal about the power of meditation & positive thinking. Other early DJ heros of mine from the house scene were Lawrence Kid Batchelor who I actually went to Holloway School with, the acid legend Colin Faver & house music guiding light Jazzy M. Before that in the mid 80s I was a fan & the MC of both Rom Tom & Jasper The Vinyl Junkie, who like Jazzy M were on the pirate radio station LWR.
And what’s on the cards in the immediate future?
Lot’s of spinning, more production work, more Superfreq releases & events & way too much misbehaving. I’ve been invited to do EPs for Items & Things & Get Physical so they’ll be priority after the summer madness is over.
Very exciting indeed! And finally, where is the best place in the world you have DJ’d and why?
There’s so many magical places that are amazing to play, but being this is all about Britain & British talent, I’m going to have to say Fabric in London. I have Superfreq there in room one on Saturday 12th July & I’m being joined by my gorgeous wife Xo Chic, Jay Haze live, Jay Tripwire & Stark live. What a night that will be, I can’t wait.