Describe a really incredible night at the Powerplant
That’s really hard to do because I get completely immersed in what I do. And what I’m doing, when it comes to having to play for my crowd. And every night was spectacular. All these nights would run about twelve hours each, it’s hard to pick out any particular moment. It’s not like someone onstage performing. I’m so involved in what I’m doing that not every night was perfect, but I’d say that 98% of them was as smooth as glass.
When did people start using the word ‘house’?
I think in ’80, ’81.
As early as that?
Yes.
And where did that come from?
The kids that were hanging out at the Warehouse. Some of the new kids that had begun to discover what the Warehouse was all about: Farley, Jessie Saunders, Chip E, and all the rest of them. I would see them around I didn’t know who they were. And they started having different parties on their own in these different taverns and bars in Chicago. and when they’d do this they had a lot of success with it. And one day I was going out south to see my god-daughter, and we were sitting at a stop light, and on the corner there was a tavern, and in the window it had a sign that said WE PLAY HOUSE MUSIC. I asked this friend of mine ‘Now what is that all about?’ and she says ‘It’s the same stuff that you play at The Warehouse.’
What about ‘jack’?
That was the kids at the Warehouse. And that was round about when I first moved there in ’77.
What came together to create the music?
People like Steve Hurley and Jamie Principle. Farley Keith even. There were so many people that were making music back then, and I remember being interviewed by a journalist in ’86 [Sheryl Garratt] and they had asked me where did I see this all going and what did I think was going to happen. And I remember telling her this music’s gonna be around for a while. It’s gonna take it a long time for it to get to where it needs to be at, but it’ll be around for a long time. the only shame about it – because there were so many people making music, and some of them were good – but their intentions were wrong. They were in it for the fame and the notoriety. And I told her it was a shame because not all these guys were gonna survive.
I knew I was gonna survive, because I know what I’m doing. I’m not in that much of a rush to get there. I think timing is everything about anything that’s worth having or worth doing. I wouldn’t say I necessarily had a gameplan but this is a growth process. Moving back to New York City and joining Def Mix and working with the different guys that I’ve been able to work with over the past 7 years I’ve been back here. Being able to gain the studio knowledge that I have, and all of the remix knowledge that I learnt in Chicago before I came back here. I made no money off the music I worked on in Chicago, not a dime, but I learnt a lot about moving around a studio. And plus all of those underground records that I had worked on. they were big records here [NYC], but they were nothing in Chicago. I mean stuff like Your Love and Baby Wants To Ride, and sdtuff that I did with Marshall Jefferson. They were bigger here and they were bigger in England.
When I moved back here and joined Def Mix I already had a name here and didn’t even know it. So timing was perfect. the market was really opening up, and people were beginning to look at house. This is ’87, ’88. I was really at that point where I felt there was nothing else I could do in Chicago. I was having parties and playing for different people. But I needed to broaden my own horizons and do something for me. Probably if I was going to succeed as a producer I needed to be here. I had a choice of moving here or moving to London. So I came back to New York and began playing The World.
Tell me about the Roxy.
In the beginning working there I thought it was wonderful, that those guys wanted me to come over there and play for that crowd in that room. That was like the premier gay crowd in the city. I figure if I can capture this crowd then I’m in there. I started in about 1991. So within that first six months to a year it was fine. But they weren’t fixing things and it became more work than pleasure.
When did you play the Sound Factory?
In ’90 to ’91. I played for a year. Junior had left, there was some type of dispute about ownership. And the rumour was going around that he quit and then they pulled me in there afterwards. And there was another rumour saying I had taken his job. Nothing could be further from the truth. because Junior owned part of that building. When he walked out that was on him. There’s no way I could take his job.
What memories do you have from that time?
I think that was probably one of the best years I’ve ever had playing records. For one for hooking up with Phil Smith the person that brought me in there. He has his own sound company, so the sound system came from his company, the sound system belonged to them, him and Steve Nash. We chatted and hung out for about a year, and he never let on to me that they were having problems with Junior or Junior was gonna leave. It was all of a sudden he called me and I was in the studio working on my first album, and he called me on Monday. ‘I need to talk to you. Junior just left. And he’s not coming back. Are you available to play?’ And I was like yes, cos all I had been doing was playing around the world.
It gave me an opportunity to show New york City exactly what I could do. When you have a room that size, and you have a sound system that enormous, and that pristine, my first thought was going in to play on the first night: you’re only gonna get one chance to do this right. Either it’s gonna work for you or it’s gonna work against you.
Phil and his partners loved the way I handled the sound system, the music I played over it, and the crowd really got off on it. The first time I played there I think was the first time I played the whistle song for anybody. And the room really got off on it. I went in there with a number of different things working in my favour, and it turned out really really well.
How do you feel about the club’s passing?
I think it’s sad. It’s really sad. I stopped hanging out at the Sound Factory, once I stopped working there. I would drop by on Junior’s birthday or something like that. But it’s really amazing because the night that they closed, I was there. And I got there about 4, 4.30 in the morning and I hung out there until 8. But there was no word. Apparently they told him at around 11 or 12 o’clock in the morning. It seemed like normal.