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artist for over 25 years now. Releasing material under an number of monikers including Indigo Kidz, Mr C and you are arguably most known as being the frontman of pop group “The Shamen” clocking up a string of top 10 hits. Having been involved so long and seeing the way in which the production & deliverance of music has changed, how if any has your approach to creating music changed?
It’s almost 30 years since I started making music, but the way I make music hasn’t really changed much at all. Of course the equipment is very different now, with so much amazing hardware & software available we can make incredibly highly produced music at a fraction of the cost. To have a huge production sound back in the day you had to have access to an expensive mixing desk & studio facility. Now similar results can be reached at home with a good combination of the right hardware & software, so the physical making of music is very different, but for me the attitude & the process is the same as it ever was. Sometimes I’ll go into the studio with an idea of what I want to do & sometimes I simply let the Universe lead me & follow the arrow. It’s then that I feel I get my best results.
The number of different parties, events & venue’s that you’ve had the opportunity play at are endless. What have been your favourites over the years?
There have been so many but playing at The End was the best. Playing amazing clubs like Twilo in New York, Zouk in Singapore, Pasha in Buenos Aires, Womb in Tokyo, Panorama Bar in Berlin, Fabric in London & all the big Ibiza clubs have all been amazing & among my favourites. Then there’s all the great festivals like Glastonbury & all the dance festivals, but Burning Man is going to be hard to beat.
I was a bit of a late-comer in getting to experience what many would describe as the greatest nightclub to ever exist in London “The End & AKA”. This was a venue that you along with Layo (one of half of Layo & Bushwhacka!) opened in ’95, what was the story behind this?
Layo’s father Douglas Paskin is an amazing architect & his company PKS were commissioned to turn a West End space into some sort of a shell that could possibly be used as an entertainments space. Layo being a promoter saw the potential in the place & through a mutual friend contacted me to see if I’d be interested in having a look at the venue. I was riding high as a pop star at the time & also doing my Plink Plonk label & events with Paul Rip & was intrigued by the project so I went & had a look. On seeing the space I knew with a lot of vision, a lot of money & with such an amazing architect as Douglas that this project could be a winner. I was then the first to put their money were their mouth was, put some money in & we then went about finding investors to get the project under way. Over 2 years later after some serious development we open the greatest club in the world. The End was born.
What you would say was your greatest memory from “The End & AKA”?
The closing party was the single best event I’ve experienced in my life by a long mile.There were no tickets so people had to line up for 3, 4 even 5 hours to get in. Everyone that was there were there like their life depended on it. Every person present loved the place as much as we did, with a passion & the vibe, energy & pure love that was flowing those 30 hours or so was mind-blowing. Of course the opening party was incredible & all the anniversaries were extremely memorable. There’s so many nights that were amazing, but none would come close to that final night in January 2009.