|
San Francisco breaks deejay Clockwork opened
for the launch night of Breakthru in the bassment
@ 1015 Folsom, followed Simply Jeff at the wildly
successful Analog party @ Space 550, and is a
resident and key player at Hektic, the renowned
breakbeat weekly running alongside Eklektic’s
drum 'n' bass weekly. Clockwork says the scene
is like the song "Hotel California"
- it’s such a tight crew, once you land you
can never really leave! This very busy DJ takes
time out to share some of his insights into San
Francisco breakbeat and reminds us just why we
are so excited to be out here right now.
|
How did you end
up on the debut line-up for Breakthru?
Clockwork: I’ve been Djing for 4 years
steadily, since I ‘ve been in San Francisco.
I met Allan [A:Dubl] at just the right time.
He’s been doing his thing for awhile
and the breakbeat scene is really starting
to blossom. I‘ve been coming into contact
with a lot of people because it is getting
bigger, and I’m taking on more responsibility
at Hektic. So rather than just being a DJ,
I’m getting more into the whole picture
and making connections that way. I want
to really help this thing to grow and I’ve
been focusing on that since we got the new
venue for Hektic. The thing about Breakthru
is that it represents breaks going into
a big club, and not being just cheesy breaks,
having really well-designed breaks on a
good sound system. I wouldn’t go to
1015 that much except to see a big act.
But the vibe in the Bassment does not feel
like a big club at all, it’s very intimate.
I don’t know what it is that does it.
So it’s more than just introducing
people to the music because by having it
in the 1015 Bassment, it’s about introducing
people that intimate vibe as well.
How much cross-over
from the other techno, disco rooms did you
notice at Breakthru?
Clockwork: It’s naturally going to
happen that people are going to wander in
and get hooked. I don’t like playing
main floor stuff. I consider myself to be
happier in the side room. I can be more
experimental and don’t have to play
stuff that’s so accessible. When I
go out looking for records, I’m not
looking for major labels, like TCR and Botchit.
I’ll get them, because they’re
tight as tits, but it’s the small weird
techno labels, odd B-side stuff that I go
for. More provocative sounds and that’s
what I like to play ideally. It’s fun
to be in the main room and go all out, see
the crowd go crazy. The Bassment has both
aspects, but it’s still protected and
has that crucial intimate vibe.
|
|
Clockwork
tore up the Analog party, with surprise
guests Frogger on digeridoo and A:Dubl on
mic.
|
|
Tell us about your residency
with Hektic.
Clockwork: I’ve been a resident with Hektic
for 3 years. It used to be all drum 'n' bass and
then we moved into a 2-room venue, and I played
drum 'n' bass for them once, and then again a
few months later ago. I was playing hip-hop then
as well and it’s actually Felix the Dog that
got me to bring my tempo up a little bit and going
more into the breakbeat stuff. That place was
the king of intimate clubs. It was built like
a living room, and people played across the board.
So a lot of folks got turned on to breakbeat there.
DJs that are coming up now that I’m helping
out, a lot of them got turned on to it there.
Then a year and half ago we moved into Cat Club
and Felix told me they still wanted me to play,
but it had to be all breakbeat. He looked at me
like, "Are you sure you still want to do
this?" and I said, absolutely, let’s
do it. It was a little weird at first, because
the other club was 18 and up, and had a different
feel, but we settled in and it took off.
Are you still playing
other forms of music?
Clockwork: I still had another residence at the
time with TruSkool, that’s another staple
of underground hip-hop in San Francisco and I
was doing that until 3 months ago. I was trying
to pull in more up-tempo stuff, Latin-style breaks
with it for that crowd. Sometimes it would work
but when it didn’t it was tiresome. I got
tired of getting requests for Back that Ass Up
4 times in a night. [Laughs] So I don’t do
that night anymore.
ow long did you it take
you to be comfortable spinning breaks out?
Clockwork: I was playing drum 'n' bass out, hip-hop
out, and when I started playing in New York I
was playing house with a little bit of breaks.
I didn’t even know what breaks was, I just
thought, "What is that? I’ve gotta have
that. Why can’t I mix it with house?"
I didn’t care about boundaries and I still
don’t. I just sort of eased into and it was
another thing I was doing. Basically the past
year I’ve tried to cut out everything else
and focus on doing other breakbeat parties, working
with other breakbeat DJs, and really evaluate
what our resources are here. I want to really
help make sure that San Francisco is a hub for
the international circuit. It’s great because
we do have our own vibe, and when I go out I feel
like something special is going on.
How much have the breakbeat
DJs here shifted into it together?
Clockwork: That’s the thing about the San
Francisco music scene, clubs tend to be smaller
and more experimental. It’s not a side room
mentality so much, but people are always pushing
the envelope here. It seems like a natural progression.
When I would play with Emily 2 years ago, we always
had the same records! But now, there are so many
records coming out, and so many DJs, everyone
is getting their own style hammered out. It’s
cool because now you know what to expect when
you see someone on a flyer and that it’s
going to be different than someone else.
What is the process for
new talent finding a place to be?
Clockwork: Everyone out here is very supportive
of everyone else. I have so many people coming
to me, wanting to get on at Hektic and I want
to get them on. But there is also a lot of out-of-town
talent that wants to come through and play there
too. So we have to shuffle around, but eventually
we do get most peolple on. Also starting more
parties, so there are more places to see breakbeat
and to spin breakbeat is important, but we don’t
want to spread it out too thin either. People
definitely come out to support their friends.
If there is someone from out of town then people
will turn out to check out a new style. It’s
a fly by night place.
|
At one point did
this become a hub on the circuit? For instance,
last Friday Simply Jeff and Icey were playing
opposite one another at different clubs—that’s
pretty huge.
The past 2 years here have seen an explosion
of breakbeat. Icey and Jeff on opposite
nites--a year ago, you might have seen one
of them in a month. It has changed a lot
and it keeps pointing back to all the networking
that goes on. Hektic has come up strong
and Felix really really pushed for breaks
here and has done a lot of work to try to
get these guys out here. There are a lot
of people that have stepped up to help.
I’m really glad that Allan is doing
Breakthru, because that gives us another
night to host people. Plus Friday night
was missing a breakbeat slot and this takes
care of it once a month.
What do you listen
for with submissions to Hektic?
Clockwork: I do a lot of stuff on-line so
I occasionally get some things from overseas.
People in New Zealand have sent me stuff.
Most of the UK ones are friends from chatting
online, but I do get submissions from all
over the U.S. and Canada. The party scene
is here is spread thin, so we can’t
fly people in so much. But if someone can
get themselves here from far away, we’ll
get them on every party playing that week
if we can. What I’m looking for in
a demo is diversity, I don’t want to
hear all one label. There should be a good
progression, solid mixing. And of course,
something special, a little flare, acappellas
over the top, cutting but not too much cutting,
a good well balanced connection. I probably
get 3-4 submissions a week. That gives me
something to do at my day job.
Do you think it’s
more difficult to make here for DJs with
the cost of living being so outrageous?
Clockwork: People are hungry, they really
love the music out here. There is a lot
of good industry stuff going on out here
too, with Eyephunk Distribution based here,
some great record stores, BPM. People out
here who are involved are pretty devoted
to it. It’s a really tight-knit community.
I don’t want to say a scene, because
all the scenes, drum 'n' bass, breakbeat,
help each other out completely. So it’s
actually kind of hard to leave. Hotel California,
man, it gets you! [laughs]
|
|
Hektic
residents Ms. E and Clockwork have a word
during Breakthru
|
|
What would you like to
see happen that hasn’t yet?
Clockwork: More innovation on the part of the
promoters doing parties. More than a nice space
and a bar and some turntables. That’s why
I love to work with Frogger, he gets on the didgeridoo
and it give the crowd something they won’t
get somewhere else. When we were at Ricco’s
, the old Eklectic spot, we always had 4 turntables,
effects, people would jump on the mic. That’s
how Frogger started to play with us. We need something
really special at night. Promoters can work a
little harder, and I’m here to help out.
[Laughs]
What is your stand-by
track to get the night going?
Clockwork: Sandwiches--Krafty Cuts mix of Sandwiches
never leaves the box. It doesn’t necessarily
get everyone on the floor, but it loosens people
up a lot. Different crowds need different tracks.
If I was at 1015 and it got stagnant, I would
definitely play something funkier, pull back on
the hardness. Wherever you hear me play though,
my sets are going to be pretty varied in terms
of the course of one set. There’s going to
be a progresson. The game for me is getting everyone
whipped on the first few records so they stay
for the entire journey.
Do you have any tracks
coming out?
Clockwork: Hopefully. I’ve been putting money
and time into the studio, taking some music instruction.
You can sit at the computer and the next thing
you know, it’s 2 days later, or 8 hours,
and you love what you’re working on. [Laugh]
Some of the programs out now, like Reason, you
can just share files, they’re so small on
the internet, because everyone has the same sample
files. It’s really fun and right now it’s
just a hobby and if something comes out of it,
great. If I just keep making a few tracks and
put them on CD-R to give to people, and they rock
them out, I’m happy with that. That’s
why I have 2 jobs—I don’t want to pervert
the DJing with having to just make money. [Laughs]
Until I really start to make money, and then I
will actually have time to devote to it, and then
watch out for me!
What has been one of your
favorite sets ever?
Clockwork: I had so much with those guys at Analog
the other night. That night was pivotal for me,
the way it all came together. I was a little nervous
to play with Jeff, he’s such an old influence
for me, I mean god, I heard of him a decade ago.
I really did not know what to expect. I’m
not used to playing the main room like that. But
I threw the first record on and saw the crowd’s
response to it, and it just pulled me into it.
The track was Dangerous, an Aquasky track on Botchit.
Its just a dirty track, it’s dark, it’s
pumping. Allan [A:Dubl] was on the mic--I didn’t
even know he mc-ed! It just kept folding over
and over on itself and building more energy. It
was fantastic. I am really glad those guys gave
me a chance to play there. That’s another
one, the Analog crew has been doing that for a
few months, and main room being breakbeat in San
Francisco is really amazing. It’s gone really
well everytime-it’s a great club, good acts.
How much symbiosis is
there on the scene between different groups? Have
you been surprised recently by the stand-out success
of breakbeat locally?
Clockwork: San Francisco is a small town, it’s
hard not work together. You pull influences from
everywhere. I want it to stay saucy and changing,
pulling influences from all over. Who knows what
can happen this year, there are so many people
getting into it. I’m always shocked. I feel
like I’ve been so shocked and excited so
many times over the past year, just looking around
saying, "Can you believe what’s happening?
Look at all these people into it and the DJs coming
through and coming up." Ideally, I don’t
know how long it will take to happen, maybe 5,
10 years, I would like for people to be able to
go out and to see a DJ, not a night or an event.
Where the DJ takes it all across the board. There
are enough DJs who can go from house into breaks,
and back, through many styles. I get bored with
the same sounds. It’s going to take some
time, that’s what I’m working for though.
To please everyone all the time! [Laughs]
What would you dream show
be?
Clockwork: I dream simple. This year I want to
see the Hektic crew go on tour this summer. I
want to see three turntables, someone on the mic
with us sometimes, see
Frogger doing his things. I want to see the same
energy, when we mix it up and that club gets fuckin’
popping, I want to see that same energy on tour
with us. I want to see other people experiencing
what we give to San Francisco, what San Francisco
gives back to us. I want to see that crowd and
crew cycle on tour. That’s not a big dream,
it’s a goal, but it is the next step.
Want to play at Hektic? Send your demo to:
Hektic Bookings c/o Clockwork
266 38th St.
Oakland, CA. 94611
|
