A few days ago I had the chance to catch up with Mr C. about his recent move to LA, getting his acting career started and his current musical endeavors.
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If you grew up in Britain in the 90′s (and liked electronic music) you should know who Mr C. is. For those of you who didn’t here’s some background info:
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Mr C. got his rise to fame as the MC and front man for UK pop outfit The Shamen. They had a few hits in the early 90′s but non bigger than their tune Ebeneezer Goode which was controversial thanks to it’s choice chorus of ‘eezer Goode, eezer Goode, he’s Ebeneezer Goode’.
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The song made it to the top of the UK charts in 1992 but the BBC banned it (although later withdrew the ban) citing drug reference as the reason, a claim that the band denied. The ban didn’t make much difference though as the song had already become a symbol of good times and clubbing so the damage had been done. Ironically it now sits at the top of a completely different BBC chart.
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Since his Shamen days Mr C. has produced under a slew of different aliases including under The Sycophant Slags name with Adultnapper. Along with Eddie Richards he had a hand in making UK tech-house what it is today, or perhaps what it was a couple of years ago given the obsession with post-minimal-bongo-laden ‘tech house’ that seems to be the rage right now.
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He’s been behind labels like Plink Plonk, The End Recordings and Superfreq which is a label and successful club night. He was also partners in the infamous London club The End with Layo Paskin.
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Check out interview after the jump.
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So, lets see… it’s been quite a busy time for you recently with the move to LA, solo work released on Wagon Repair and the new Sycphant Slags project on Poker Flat. How was the move to LA?
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It has been a vey busy time.
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The move to LA has been stressful to say the least. It’s stressful just moving house but imigrating takes this to a whole new level. For the last 2 months of last year my good friend Damian Lazarus has been putting my wife and I up while we went through the traumantc process of buying a house. Jeez that aint easy in the USA. Also getting finance in place when you don’t have any credit rating whatsoever is a nightmare, even when you have a huge deposit. But we’re done now, moved into our wonderful new home so now it’s the process of furnishing etc. which should be all done by the end of the month so we’ll then be able to start entertaining.
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And how many records did you end up taking with you?
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At the moment I only have about 150 records with me, just the stuff I’m working with but I’ll be shipping another 1,000 or so of the tunes I can’t live without. The other 14,000 records are going to be sold.
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Sounds hectic… I feel the need to insert a joke about moving a mountain here, but I’ll resist.
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lol… It might have been easier.
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I understand part of the reason to be in LA is to get your acting career off the ground. How’s it going and do you have any roles lined up?
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I do have 2 full length feature films lined up but both British. The 1st I have the main supporting role. This was supposed to shoot in December but the director lost a family member as far as I’m aware so this has been put on hold. The 2nd we shoot in the UK, scheduled for June, but that probably means Fall as nothing seems to work to schedules in the movie industry.
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I also shoot my 1st short film with the lead role next month also in London.
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I want to get a few things under my belt for [my] CV and to show people what I can do before I start heavily pushing here in Hollywood.
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Makes sense, but it seems a bit ironic to move to the West Coast only to travel back to the UK to shoot. I hope they go well for you.
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Thanks. I’d landed these movies before I moved over. I’m also going back and forth to London each month to throw my Superfreq parties so no biggie.
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Now, it’s just been the 1-year anniversary of The End closing and I know that you’ve got plans for Superfreq to tour North America. How did the club closing effect you?
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The closing of The End was amazing, it’s so good to quit at the top on your own terms. It’s because of the club closing that’s really allowed me the opportunity to move to LA. It was like the cutting of the proverbial umbilical cord.
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And when’s the first American Superfreq?
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I’m still working out the 1st Superfreq, I think it may be the beginning of next month but in no way a normal Superfreq as it’s going to be only for 300 people and on a Tuesday. The music will be 70′s & 80′s disco and alternative 80′s with a few garage, house and acid classics thrown in for good measure, and will be called Super Disco Freq.
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I also have my agent [at] AM Only in discussions as we speak about doing quarterly events in LA, NYC and Chicago. I’m chatting with friends about also doing 1 off events in Denver and Seattle. We’ll just have to wait and see how this all develops.
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Well keep us posted and we’ll come up for the one in Chicago.
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Cool, it’ll be at Spybar but we still need to lock down the opening party which is looking like it will be in June.
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You and Adultnapper just released an EP on Poker Flat called Keep Off which has you MC-ing for the first time since your Shamen days. The video creeped me out a little and is doing the rounds (above). Why did you think it was the right time to bring your vocals back?
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I enjoy doing vocals and still rap live sometimes some places insist on it as it really works in a club situation, but as the Sycophant Slags we thought it was a good ide to add a new dimension to our joking around. The Sycophant Slags project is all about twisting peoples balls hence our silly title which in the past include “Straight Answer”, “Dubbed Question”, “Sycophant_c Man”, “CKlanger”, “Trick or trick”, etc. The whole project is a piss-take out of the slags that have their tongues firmly routed up the trendy DJs asses as a way to better themselves in the dance music comunity. Vocals are a great way of pushing that theme.
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The song is about how good it can get and the sky is the limit which kinda sums up sycophantic behaviour. The next song will be even funnier and more offensive to the sycophants.
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It’s all about look at me, look how good I am etc…
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Tell me about your Lunar EP on Wagon Repair… what sort of vibe were you going for?
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I really wanted to sum up my DJ sets with this EP which is why I did 3 completely different versions of the same tune.
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The 1st, Full Moon is like an old school Mr.C tune, very detroit influenced with lush strings, beautiful melodies etc. A great for last track of the night or sunrise etc. Waxing is more Chicago influenced and leans more towrads an after hours situation, and Dark Moon is straight up London Town dance floor shit!
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Also, I’ve always used engineers until this project so this was a real learning curve for me with Logic which added so much fun to the procceedings.
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Logic is awesome… I’m still trying to get my head round it.
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I love it. As I’ve always produced my own music I had a great understanding of the theory so it was only about tying that in with the practical side so it wasn’t difficult. Just learning which buttons to press really.;)
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People need to get a grip and stop being such sycophants… There are very few artists that do original stuff which is a real shame, but the people that do are true artists and produce some amazing stuff.
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Who’d you give props to for being original then?
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[a]pendics shuffle (Kennith James Gibson), Adultnapper, Alexi Delano, DOP, Matthew Dear (Audion) to name a few. Oh and look, they’re all American except for DOP.
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Deniz Kurtel is hot right now too.
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Damn right, and a real sweetie. Voodeux. And Seth Troxler needs a mention too. There’s a whole bunch more but you get my drift.
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I still manage to find a good 40-50 records each month in the record store, and I’m a fussy c***.
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Where are you shopping for records in LA, or do you stick to NYC and London?
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NYC and London but Amoeba [in Hollywood] carries some good shit, but no listening stations so you have to listen online at websites like Phonica and then go there and just buy the tunes. Berlin is great for record shopping but I’m rarely there.
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Thanks a lot for taking the time, and good luck with your projects!
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Tags: Adultnapper, Mr C. Interview, Mr. C, Plink Plonk, Superfreq, Sycophant Slags, Tech House, The End, The Shamen