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Under the gun: Trevor Jackson
RA peers into the box of the ex-Output Records label boss.
"I don't play one type of music. I play everything." It's a mantra that seems to recur every few minutes when talking to Trevor Jackson about his top ten records of the moment. I express my surprise at his inclusion of a Margaret Dygas record, figuring that he doesn't pay much mind to minimal techno. "I've been playing what people have called minimal techno for ten years," he tells me. A few moments later he talks about how long he's been keeping an eye on Crème Organization.
It's clear that Trevor Jackson comes from a school of DJing that doesn't have much use for nights that bill themselves as "[insert genre name here] all night long!" He's been too busy blurring the lines throughout his career, via remixes and original productions as Underdog and Playgroup, to care about that. Even his entry into the electro portion of BBE's Kings of... series couldn't help but expand the notions of the genre to include Ryuichi Sakamoto and Junior Wilson. Needless to say, the man's taste is wide-ranging, which is one reason why we asked him to be a part of the line-up at our stage at the upcoming Eastern Electrics August Bank Holiday Weekender. And it's why we wanted to take a peek into his digital record box beforehand.
Spectral Empire - KM-50 (Spectral Assault Mix) [THISISNOTANEXIT] This track is about 80 BPM, it's almost like a fucked-up weird science fiction sound track, really deep and really dark, and really sonically adventurous. It taps into something for me: I don't want to make music to make people dance and have a good time. That's not what I'm about at all, I think there's so many DJ's out there, anyone can be a DJ now. For me, my sole purpose is not just to make people happy on the dance floor. When I'm DJing I just want to play people interesting new music. I would rather clear a dance floor and have 10 people going crazy that love the music than have a couple of hundred people that are like, "Yeah, we're into this," just being blasé.
Meanderthals - Andromeda (Idjut boys remix)
[Smalltown Supersound] I love everything that the Idjut Boys do point blank. I think they are carrying the torch for sonically exciting music.
Are you working on music still? Are you producing?
Yeah, I've been producing and working on some remixes. I haven't released anything for a while. After everything with my label, I took a couple of years just to take a bit of time out. Ultimately, the thing at the moment is that it's hard to make money from making music, so I'm just getting back to making music because I enjoy it. I've been enjoying the process of making it again which is something I lost some years ago. I was very cynical about it, so hopefully some results of these experiments will reach the public.
Villeneuve - Death Race (Discodeine Remix) [PIAS] I got sent this from Discodeine (Cédric Marszewski, AKA Pilooski, and Benjamin Morando). Like The Idjut Boys, I think they are pretty much on it. Every mix they do is fantastic. I really like the whole D*I*R*T*Y Sound System, Pilooski thing. They are really open-minded with their edits. They have all different types of things. They are pretty close to my age—they are the same generation as me—and so we have a lot of shared interests.
Margaret Dygas - Invisible Circles [Perlon] This is the best record I've heard in ages. I've been playing what people have called minimal techno for ten years. And certainly Perlon. I've been following them from the very first release. Zip is a fantastic DJ. But, to me, this isn't even minimal techno. It's something else, some crazy mixed level shit.
Have you played it out yet?
I haven't, but I'm looking forward to it. You've gotta be brave to play it out, and it's got to be in the right situation. At the moment, truthfully, I'd rather be playing all night, 10 at night till 6 in the morning, and play this early on. A lot of the time I'm being forced into headline sets. I'm bang on at 1 AM, and you're pressurized into doing something [in that situation]. I'm far more into really building something.
Nacho Patrol - Africaspaceprogram [Kindred Spirits] I've tried to pick records here that go beyond records I just play out. These are people that I am huge fans of, and I have been a huge admirer of everything Legowelt has done. He has such a huge output, he puts out a new album every month under a different pseudonym. But, truthfully, you could tell a lot of his things like Macho Cat Garage were him. With this, I couldn't believe it was him. I think it's an astounding record. It sounds like a cross between Sun Ra and The Doors.
Arnold Jarvis - Take Some Time Out (Basic Soul Unit remix) [Crème Organzation] This Arnold Jarvis record is a classic, an incredible early house record. Basic Soul Unit have been doing some great remixes at the moment, and this is just a killer one. The bassline on it is amazing—and most people that know me know that I like a good bassline. That's the only thing about minimal house that I don't like. A lot of the records just don't have any basslines at all. This one has got a monster on it.
Are there any classics that you would want to take your hand to?
No. I mean, I have remixed everyone under the sun but there are some records I would never touch. I once got asked to remix The Human League's "The Sound of the Crowd," which is my favorite record of all time. But, to be honest with you, I only asked so I could get the parts and listen to how they made the record.
Mike Dehnert - Umlaut2 (Levon Vincent's NY Basement Mix) [Clone Basement Series] I don't like clean sounding records, I like dirty raw sounding records, and Levon Vincent has just been churning out some nasty sounding house music. I think the first one I heard was Novel Sound 001, and this one has these crazy Todd Terry kind of stabs in it.
Are you mixing a lot of classics into your sets? Are there some tracks that you're coming back to all the time?
Well, I have finally become a Traktor DJ, so the box is like 10,500 tracks, but there is one record I play all the time. Zongamin has done a new track that hasn't come out yet, I've been playing it for over a year, it's an amazing record, I play it all the time.
JTC feat. Rodger Divine - Monolith [Nation] James T. Cotton is a genius. Everything he does, I pretty much have. He, again, just makes raw sounding records, and this particular track is evil.
Are you afraid of scaring some people off?
I play very diverse gigs, I'll play Fabric, I'll play underground warehouse parties, I'll play fashion parties, I will play at art parties, I play weddings, I play Bar Mitzvahs, I play fucking everything! The truth is though that I like to play in a club for 150 - 200 people, dark as shit, sweat dripping off the walls and a great soundsystem. That's what I come from. I rarely get to do that, though, because I have to earn a living at the same time. I am starting to play smaller gigs now. When you play big gigs, you're forced to play big records that people want to hear, or at least bigger sounding records. Most of the records that I've picked aren't bangin'. I like to play records with more subtlety than that.
Raudive - ABC [RRYGULAR] I was a big fan of his tracks on Playhouse, and this one is just bonkers. I think he creates this kind of really interesting mayhem. It's got some crazy baby crying and screaming on it. Ultimately, I like records to have personality, and I would like to think most of the records that I play have some kind of personality. I don't want to play generic records, and I'm not interested in DJing in a linear style, so if someone wants to come and hear me play I'm not gonna take them on some two hour linear journey, it's going to be spasmodic and chaotic, and slightly schizophrenic.
It's a Fine Line - Grease [I'm A Cliché] I think that this record is almost a new genre entirely. It's based on a lot of the stuff that Weatherall has been doing recently, but it takes it to the next level. It's almost like a rockabilly, Cramps-style track. It is the only thing I have heard them doing under this guise which has got this kind of feeling, a lot of other remixes under It's A Fine Line have been quite different. But this one is an anthem. Dark, moody and oddly quite sexy at the same time. One of my favorite records at the moment.
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Published / Tue, 25 Aug 2009
 8 Comments
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