|
Q:
I guess we'll start off with the fact that the
Fatboy Slim single "Bird of Prey" became available
on Napster some time before its release. You've
gone on record as saying that you don't have that
much of a problem with that happening. What do you
reckon about Napster and the problems that it's
presenting to artists at the moment?
A:
I still believe that there are enough people who
will want to go out and buy the record, and buy
something to keep and, well, cherish. Look at the
Madonna record ["Music"], it was available
three months before and I'd heard it and I still
wanted to go out and buy the thing. Radiohead, as
well, their album has been available for ages but
people still want to own something. There's enough
of that attitude, in my opinion, that Napster can
be seen as a global listening post, really. There's
just a lot of panic - I think it should be looked
at more positively. There are things that are more
threatening to the music industry, to be
honest.
Q:
Do you think people are
over-reacting?
A:
No, it's understandable - if your livelihood is
under threat in a time that everything is going so
fast, and so many changes are happening, then I
think that's understandable. On the other hand, I
love the idea someone could go and hear a Space
Raiders record and go 'Oh right, I'll go and have a
look for that record. And their other
stuff.'
 Q:
Meanwhile, back in Brighton. Are you happy with the
Big Beat Boutique's new venue, Concorde
II?
A:
On the whole, yeah. I know a few people aren't keen
but we've still had some really good nights there.
I think it was the attitude of the Concorde that
was always the important thing, putting on quality
nights and not just thinking in terms of
pound-a-pint 70s student nights.
Q:
Anyone wandering around moaning about how it's not
as good as it used to be?
A:
Well… <laughs> it's usually me. Yeah, a
bit… we're definitely in a bit of a transition
stage at the club. Coming out of Norman's success,
whilst it was great, it did have a slight downside
in that, for a time, it was just tourists coming in
to see Norman. I think, for a while, the people we
wanted to be in the club were put off by the fact
that they didn't want to have to start queuing up
at 8 o'clock. But that's not that bad a problem to
have, really…
Q:
Cream are going ahead with their Brighton
superclub, I hear. What does that mean to you and
Skint?
A:
It could be really good. There are a lot of things
about Cream that I think are good. I remember going
up to the nights that Bugged Out do at Cream when I
wasn't particularly keen on big clubs and
everything and it was phenomenal - they had Daft
Punk in one room, Dave Clarke in another room and
us in the third room. It could be good. Something
does need to kick Brighton up the arse. Look at the
Zap, the Zap was an incredibly inspirational club
for me… for a long time. Since then, I feel
it's definitely gone for the lowest common
denominator.
Q:
Like all those clubs in a row along the seafront
doing the same nights on a Friday and on a
Saturday?
A:
Yeah, that's why it would be nice for a bit of
character to come back and that's very important,
and that's why Cream might be like a new class act
in town and places won't be able to get away with
pound-a-pint student nights all the time. Oh, there
I go mentioning them again…
Q:
Is that a personal pet hate at the
moment?
A:
Well, no… <laughs> you'll always find me
at them. I love 'em. But I do feel that club-wise,
we need something based around good music and good
people rather than cramming them in.
Q:
Ok, so up in London - the monthly night at Fabric,
Big Beat Boutique vs Bugged Out! Who's
winning?
A:
Ahhhh… <laughs> Music's winning.
Clubbing is the winner… I know that's sitting
on the fence but I enjoy doing a lot of stuff with
Bugged Out. They're good people, they've got the
right attitude.
Q:
So you enjoy these away trips then?
A:
Yeah, I played NY Sushi the other day and that was
great… no, I enjoy going up to London, it
means I can get away with playing the same records
I've been playing for the past six months because
no-one's heard them <laughs>.
Damian
on the decks @ Big Beat Boutique
Q:
These records, do you think there's a housier
direction coming through on Skint, on your records,
the Space Raiders new tune, even Cut La
Roc's?
A:
I do think that over the past couple of records,
the more interesting records have been housier. It
hasn't been a conscious decision. We were doing
breaks records a long time ago…
Q:
Do you communicate with Freeland and the boys at
Marine Parade up the road?
A:
Yeah, we do… it's the thing with big beat,
that it was such an all-encompassing scene that we
did play drum n bass, hip hop, house, breaks stuff
that it's a natural thing that certain people go in
certain ways. That's one of the healthier things
that people have often failed to mention - the
nu-skool breaks scene, whatever silly word you want
to give it, has mutated out of that. One thing that
big beat did do was open things up and enable more
boundaries to be crossed. For people who like it
darker and moodier… more prog-house driven
,whatever. That's the thing with music, you should
be able to go wherever you like and not feel
restricted by labels, whatever.
Q:
Do you get annoyed when the media create these
scenes that are, well, tenuous at
best?
A:
It is annoying, yeah, but you don't want to resent
anything or you never get anything done. Obviously,
we did rather well out of the whole big beat
phenomena. I always knew that it wasn't represented
particularly well but I've always been incredibly
confident about the music we're going to put out.
Pete Tong actually said something after my mix
album - he said that the Boutique has basically
come to represent everything that's good left of
field. And I'm very happy with that… should
get him writing our press releases,
really.
Q:
OK, leaving the music behind, how do you think the
Seagulls [the Brighton football team Skint are
sponsoring] are going to do this
year?
A:
After Saturday, there's been a whispered 'we might
go up this year.' After beating Leyton Orient 2-0
on a boggy pitch, there's a general feeling we
might go up. There's a note of optimism in the air,
for sure.
|
Midfield
General in the mix
