The first in an ongoing series where we will be asking DJ's past, present and up and coming eight simple questions.
First up is
Endor Recordings label boss and eclectic hardcore DJ
Dave Skywalker
1. Good music is relatively easy to find, but what was the last unique and truly original track you heard that really stopped you in your tracks?
The last one I heard was just a couple weeks ago, but I'll say now that tracks like that generally don't stop my in my tracks, they make me want to brock out even more, haha! Anyway, the track is "Flight Over Bat Country" by an artist from Hamilton called Jackal Queenston. In reality it's one of many pseudonyms of his and I'm not sure of his exact name, but I'd been linked to another track of his under a different name, and through various searching around came across this. The track has orchestral elements, samples from a Sega Megadrive, some dirty, DIRTY synths that are quite dubsteppy, and - what always works for me - a big 4/4 kick and some rowdy amens! I must have listened to it a hundred times in the last two or three weeks, I'm not joking. I can't think of any other track that combines such diverse elements and still works and makes you want to dance your socks off, haha!
As a close contender, there's a track released recently called "Summertime" by Smote. It's fairly minimal, just a piano and a breakbeat, but it's beautiful. I love piano music of any kind, whether it's happy hardcore or classical, and this is amazing. One definately to stop whatever you're doing, sit back, close your eyes and just listen.
2. Can you name one record (or
band / artist) that you can listen to again and again at home and one that was/
is always in your box when you DJ?
The track that will probably
end up in my record box whenever I'm playing is the classic "Incredible" by
M-Beat featuring General Levy. Pretty much everyone knows this, and it's an
anthem, but still is an amazing track. It took a few years to discover the
harder amen-rinsing remix that was only on the CD release, and it's
fierce!
3. What would you say was the
rarest record you have owned or currently own?
A few years back my wife bought me a copy of a
very early Alec Empire 12" that was released in 1993 on Force Inc. recordings.
She had to outbid another friend of mine for it, and she won't tell me how much
she paid! Aside from that, probably the rarest track in my collection
(unfortunately not on vinyl though) is a remix of Another Direction by Wax
Doctor that Grooverider (I think) created back in 1993. It's an amazing jungle
techno track - and it was never released. The only people I know to still have a
copy on dubplate is Ratty & Tango.
4. Crate digging, everyone
who has a love of vinyl records has one of those moments when they find a gem
whilst out digging, what's been your best find and where did you find
it?
You're asking me to go back a
good few years now, as - like most people - I haven't really gone crate digging
for a long time. However there used to be a few places I'd always return to.
Most people would say MVE in London, but it was so popular the likelyhood of
finding of finding a gem was next to nill unless you could visit every day.
Saying that, a friend did pick up a copy of the aforementioned Alec Empire
release from right under my nose for 50p at MVE Camden before I could get it.
Anyway, my haunts were Avid Records in Oxford and Bournemouth, and the one in
Oxford in particular was always good for nuggets of vinyl gold. Anyway, somebody
had found a batch of Essence of Aura presses (another rare-ish jungle techno
tracks) in their loft and handed them in, so I was able to pick up some amazing
dark jungle techno tracks for next to nothing. You could always get loads of
amazing stuff in there, obscure Belgian and Italian early 90's techno for dirt
cheap.
5. What record do you
cherish over everything else and why?
If I had to pick one, it's
Vibena's "Positive Energy Volume 1" on Universal Records. It's my favourite
track ever, of any genre, full-stop. Everything about it is amazing - the
pianos, the breakbeats, the stabs, and I can't fault anything about it. The guy
who created it (Tim Cant, who now works for Future Music) was a God in my eyes
at the time it came out in 1995, and I'd first heard it played by John Peel. I
had grabbed the nearest tape to me without caring what was on it, stuck some
sellotape over the hole so I could record onto it, and caught about 3 minutes
worth, which I played over and over to the guy in my local record shop until he
found it for me, and bought two copies. I could go on and on about it until the
cows come home!
6. Do you still buy vinyl, if
so what was the last record(s) you brought?
I haven't really bought vinyl
for a good 4-5 years now, and the rare times I've bought it since then is only
because I've contacted the artist and asked for a digital copy, which is not on
sale but I've suggested to them I could purchase the vinyl if they would send me
a copy digitally. Follow me? I haven't had decks set up in my house for around
4-5 years, and since I bought digital turntables at the start of 2010 I haven't
set up my CDJs either. Technology will always move on, the track is the
important bit.
7. Approx how many vinyl
records do you have in your record collection, either currently or back when
vinyl was the DJs tool of choice?
At most, I reckon I've had
about 2000 records in my collection spanning old acid house to gabber and
breakcore to commercial dance. I love dance music of all sorts, so my collection
reflected this. At the moment I'm in the process of selling my collection (some
would say this is criminal but I now have a family and we're hoping to move, I
don't have decks anymore and have re-purchased most of my collection digitally
where I can), so feel free to get in touch if there's anything you're after!
(Plug!!)
8. Who are / we're your fave
DJs both for technicality and for selection?
Most would say this, but Andy C
is a don both technically and selection-wise. DJ Hype is up there too
technically, and for selection Ratty & Tango is always up there. Much of the
technical skills in DJing (and I'm referring to vinyl here) have been lost in
the dance music scene since people went digitally, largely to be replaced by
live mashups, remixing on the fly etc. In a way this is good because DJs have to
be consistently on their toes, learning new technologies, but on the other hand
the idea of mastering a technique and retaining it is largest lost, because
something new is always coming out.
