Dave Clake

Release Magazine Interview (English)

Many thanks to Gert for spending the time to translate this Aug 2006 cover story:

DAVE CLARKE  (I DONT WANT TO BE) AN ENGLISHMAN ABROAD

Text: Gert van Veen for Release Magazine, Amsterdam



You moved to Amsterdam last year, but you still have a house in the UK too.

I spend some time here. Obviously England is a base for me. Holland is like a secondary base. With weather like this Amsterdam (a beautiful day, we chill in Daves roofgarden) is the most amazing place to be. Its great for me. I dont get hayfever here at all. When Im in England it kills me, cause I live in the countryside. But here, theres no grass  apart from the Bulldog café, but thats entirely different type of grass, haha. There are hardly any grassfields around Amsterdam. And I got a lot of good friends here. Its a nice social place to be and it makes a lot of sense. Walking distance for everything. Yeah, its a nice scene here. People make you feel very, very welcome.
Im going to be involved this year again in ADE, Amsterdam Dance Event, because I feel its important to be. I was just talking to the guys of ADE yesterday and got some interesting suggestions of them and vice versa. Well see where that leads. Obviously I have my tent on Mystery Land, yeah so Holland is an important place to be.

You put the line up of your tent on Mystery Land together yourself?
Yeah.

Can you tell us something about the artists that are going to play?

Dj Bone is a very talented producer but also hes a very exciting dj. And for some reason he doesnt get the recognition that maybe he deserves. If I can be a catalyst for changing that then it makes me very very happy. I just feel that in Europe he should be out there more. I invited him to I love techno last year, I had a room there and he blew me away, he was excellent. I still play a lot of his productions.
We may speak to each other a couple of times a year, so its not like a friendship, its purely out of mutual respect.
I met him once at a John Peel session  I think it was Johns 60th birthday, Im not sure.
I think DJ Bone was instrumental in putting me on the Detroit music festival in 2002, along with Alan Oldham. I always found it a little perverse that I hadnt been invited up to that point, because I supported music from a lot of artists there. But it was a very political thing, the whole process of choosing djs for the festival. A lot of backscratching. After that it became a lot of freer and I got invited and I was lucky enough to play with George Clinton & Funkadelic on the same bill, which was a dream for me. Except for the lurid spandex trousers the group were wearing (chuckles).

And mistress Barbara?
For Barbara&.again I think shes important. Shes French-Canadian. Spends a lot of time here in Europe. Shes a worldwide dj. I think she creates a good partyvibe, but not in a cheesy way.
For Steve Rachmad. Obviously being partly based in Holland myself I think its important to celebrate Dutch artists. I had a bit of a dilemma whether or not to invite Steve, cause I m friendly with Steve. We dj together maybe once every week or two weeks. And I never wanna be accused of Labourparty tactics or nepotism, so I try to divorce myself from that and actually make business decisions and even then I find it very difficult, cause Im thinking am I inviting him as a friend or am I inviting him as a talent? And actually it was pretty easy in the end, I talked to friends about it and they said: look, you respect him greatly as a dj. It shouldnt be a dilemma. And I do. I respect his productions, I think hes a very, very important link to Dutch music. For me as someone based in the UK in the 90s, Steve was a very important window into Holland. As were people like Stefan Robbers, Edge of Motion, Like a Tim, Stealth Records, Djax Upbeats, all those people. But to me Steve has always been some kind of outsider. Hes just done his own thing. And he was always minimal before minimal became a fashion with dodgy haircut.

You dont like minimal?
I think its a bit of a yawn, now. But original minimal along the days of Dan Bell and Robert Hood was chunky and funky with a bit of a swing. And now its like: look at my latest plug-in, what I can do with it. For me. I know a lot of people out there like it, its my opinion.
But my original definition of minimal incorporates people like Dan Bell, Robert Hood, some German producers like Mike Inc and a lot of people from Cologne. And Steve.
So to invite Steve became a very natural decision to me, based purely on respect as a dj and producer. To have Steve there is going to be fun.

John Lord Fonda?
That was a semi decision between me and Olga (Zegers, programmer ID&T) and listening to his music at Olgas flat, I thought: why doesnt Olga have some sort of input as well? I think electronically it will be interesting. I think hes on the right time of day not to be too brutal. To be welcoming to the tent. And musically I think its a good build up act. Im a fan of French music and Citizen is a good label.
And Alan Sims I invited over on the premise of actually doing like a nice, deep housey set. When I say housey I mean instrumental, not vocal. I think thats where he plays his best music. When he plays with me in Belfast, cause he runs Shine and he owns a club, Stiff Kitten, I always get him to dj with me in Ireland, places like Waterford and maybe Dublin, cause it feels very comfortable, going on after him. Not because I feel hes insignificant, but he builds a club up. And I think its very difficult for a lot of artists today to understand how to build a club up, because theres a pressure to become the next big thing. So you feel like: fuck Im going to grab the glory. Thats not particularly good for the club atmosphere. A lot of people forget that.
I used to play the whole night in the mid and late eighties. So you actually learn how to accept people into the club. Make them feel welcome as opposed to just ramming some beats down their throat. You know, drop your pills and get on with it. It wasnt like that. So thats why I invited Alan.
Alan is very good at building up.

You just said youre not really into minimal. Is there any other new music that you like better?

I dont know about new music, because being in the music industry for so long as I have, everything is an incorporation of something in the past, unless something specifically new comes along and even then you can break it down. So for example when jungle came along I happened to be working in a record shop and before then it was hardcore and before then it was breakbeat-techno. So you saw the development, so in a way if youre an outsider of the whole genre and then jungle comes along you might say: fuck me thats completely new. But if you see the development you know where it comes from.
Im into a lot of productions coming out at the moment. The French EBM stuff, things like Millimetric and some of the minimal can be interesting, like Ame, its musical and nice and its a development. I think you can pick good music from various different genres. I like some of the remixes of Nitzer Ebb that are coming through now. Obviously I like Fixmer & McCartney. I like my music sometimes to be a bit violent and challenging and aggressive and sometimes I like it to be a bit melodic as well. I like to pick and choose, what I think is interesting and has depth.

On your stage on the upcoming Belgian Pukkelpop festival you have people like Rolando, Andy Weatherall, Blackstrobe and Joost van Bellen.

Im very glad to have Andy Weatherall. Last time I saw him actually was when I was going off the rails when my dad died and my roadtourmanager died and I then had to have a weekend off, I was banging my head against the wall. And what do you do on a weekend off? Hey, lets go out clubbing. I went to Brighton on a Friday and just by chance Andy Weaterall was playing there and it was actually quite nice to hear him play. Andy has a very fresh approach to music, hes his own man.

And Joost van Bellen?
I wanted Joost there cause I think hes one of the djs that have the ability to warm up a crowd. Obviously hes a headline dj as well, but again its very difficult for a dj to warm up a crowd and Ive seen Joost last year at Lowlands and hes a very good dj. If Im spending a third of my year in Amsterdam and I dont involve myself into whats happening in Amsterdam then thats a shame.
On my fridge I have a list with whats happening in the Paradiso and in de Melkweg and I have my own Dutch bookmarks with Bitterzoet, Winston, Sugar Factory, Heineken Music Hell (thats what he said, editor:). And I know 11 and Studio 80 and I keep an eye on them. Actually my girlfriend helped me find out a lot of things about Amsterdam now on a clublevel, like say Sugarfactory on a Thursday. Sometimes you need someone to give you a helping hand to see whats going on.
Its a crime when Im in town not to go there. In Paradiso Ill see people like Patti Smith, Joe Jackson, Im excited that Iggy Pop is playing Lowlands, hopefully I can interview him as well for the Toazted.com website. I already interviewed people like Gary Newman, Depeche Mode, Adult and Coldcut. (see www.toazted.com)
I approach it from so many different angles, I want to be entrenched in the Dutch scene, but still as an outsider, so Im not politically involved, just as a consumer and as a fan. I enjoy what happens here and I think actually Im spoilt for choice.
Initially I was disappointed spending time here compared to Brighton cause Brighton has about 40.000 people more than the center of Amsterdam, but also has a lot more happening on the fringe of music. I think Amsterdam is great to see people that arent on the fringe of music. So if you want to see people like Patti Smith and things like that, then theyre there. And five minutes away. That wont happen in Brighton, unless in the Dome every 5 or 10 years. But wat you do get down in Brighton is the more punky stuff, The Damned, and a lot more ska. Unfortunately everytime Im out of Brighton I miss The Selecter, which is a shame.
I miss the more grimey, edgy bits in Amsterdam, but maybe Im not scouring deep enough.
I dont want to be an Englishman abroad. Thats the wrong attitude to have. You wont see me on a bike that often, but hey, you know (laughs). If you have a nice bike it gets nicked. But you wíll see me on a skateboard with pink cryptos and thats cool. I do it my own way and thats my adaptation of Dutch life.

And how is Brighton?
Brighton is a cool city. In fact I went there recently, cause I live outside of Brighton, in the countryside, 35 miles away, a 20 minute drive (wow, you must get a lot of speeding tickets, ed).
I have to admit, Im actually warming to Brighton again. I lived there for 26 years. On the outside looking in, it at least has become much more cosmopolitan. Cause it used to be London by sea. When I was playing there, there used to be a lot of soulmusic, hip hop and stuff. And there always used to be a fight somewhere somehow, almost like: We are the Mods, but this was more We are the Soul Brothers.
One of my Technics record decks is a bit dented, cause it fell of a table during a fight in the eighties down in a club down there. But I have to admit, it seems to have changed, it certainly has been beautified. Its almost like Barcelona in a way. Not as glamorous perhaps, but definitely edgy.
And now Im thinking I might get a place there as well. And spend some of my time in Brighton too.

Living in the countryside, isnt that boring? Dont you feel away from everything?

It has its benefits and it has its drawbacks. One of the good things about living in the countryside is theres no distraction. So when youre kneepdeep in a project, youre kneedeep in a project. And you can dip into the internet now and then, but theres no physical distraction. Drawbacks are: to see friends I need to drive out to seem them. That immediately inhibits alcohol intake, cause you got to drive. So if someone ironically sleeps in your house, then for some reason that excacibates alcohol intake to the point of liver cirrhosis. (chuckles). I never understood why that happens, but it does..
So you end up with someone not staying one but two nights, with one day rolling over on the sofa not feeling very well. With lots of aspirin. But aside from hayfever, the countryside is a nice place to go to. Its nice for walking too. I was there a couple of weeks ago to spend a couple of weeks there. Spent time with friends. Its peaceful and quiet.
But ironically my time in Amsterdam can be more quiet. Wheras in England youre in the middle of the countryside theres shitloads of noise. Its actually quite weird, I remember sleeping in Amsterdam where I am now (in the innercity, near the canals, ed) its actually very, very quiet. Quite nerve-racking actually. You just wonder whats wrong. Has there been a nuclear attack? Has everyone been vaporized and Im the only person left by some weird twisted piece of fate?
Life in Amsterdam is more civilized in some ways than England. Because of the lack of car. Walking is great, public transport works. We might have invented railways, but we dont know how to run them thats for sure. And everything is cheaper here in Amsterdam for an Englishman.

Youre sometimes very strict in your thinking. The fact that you didnt want to interview Misstress Barbara for this magazine because you know her too well.

Thats because it can be nepotism. (puts on interview-voice): So are you excited about playing Mystery Land, Barbara? Yes, thank you for inviting me, Dave! Not too cool. Let someone else approach her from a different angle. Interviewing her doesnt sit right.
I used to be a part-time journalist around 87 and I tried to be sure I was independent. Which would mean reviewing records with my own point of mind. No matter if I was going to get in trouble with the PR-company. I didnt give a fuck. If I felt something was shit, I thought it was shit. If I felt something was amazing, I thought it was amazing.
I had to fight and fight and fight Mixmag to actually get a review of Analog Bubblebath 1 in there. And I used my trouserflapping orgasmic terminology for how enthused I was about this release, but I had to fight for it to be in there. And ofcourse a year later Aphex Twin was the best thing since sliced bread. And deservedly so, because he was cutting edge, he was leftfield, he was challenging. The same with Felix Da Housecat. I had to fight and fight to get a 2 page spread in the nineties. It was important to do that, but at the same time..then you become friendly with people and automatically  I feel  youve crossed the line. Because you know things about people and that will influence how you interview someone. And I dont want to do that. Yes, Im strict.

Hows your producing going?

Its not. Last year was a fucking horrendous year. But things are looking really up now. A lot of good things seem to be happening. I dont feel you should go into the studio because you have to. You should go into the studio because you want to.
Last year it really knocked the wind out of me. Dramatically. Losing your father and then also losing your roadtourmanager as well. And then feeling slightly guilty about it. Its going to take a while to recover. Really in the past four months I feel that I established who I am again. So Im not going into the studio for a little while.
I got some projects coming out on a Belgian label soon. A collection of my favourite remixes, cause I felt its a good time to do that. And Im going to talk about why in hell I did these remixes and some personal sleeve notes. And then I hope to get back in the studio again. But I havent had any plans for the last year or so. I did a couple of remixes, which Im very proud of. The Fixmer-McCartney remix I did is the favourite remix Ive ever done.
And theres a Slam-remix. If you actually listen to the words  theyre a very personal attack on someone. I felt very betrayed by someone at the time. The track is called Lie to me. And it was very poignant that someone should come to me with an a-capella of something that I was exactly feeling. And it felt very strange being in the studio when that was going on. And I was right because it came true. Someone lied to me.

So whats going to happen now?

Ive been asked to do a couple of remixes recently and I actually turned them down. Not because I dont like the product or I dont like the song, its just that I dont feel ike going into the studio right now. I need a break. I had a very heavy studio schedule for a long time. Wheras Id be making an album while Id be still travelling the world while making the album. And I had to compile and do my first videoedit on a really shitty videosuite called Avid, fucking unbelievably crass compared to the stuff I used to work with in audiostudio. And I toured and did 12-inches. Sometimes it knocks it out of you and you just want a break from being in the studio.
Im going to take it easy for a while. Enjoy summer. Travelling, spending some time in England. And I got some interesting tours coming up towards the end of the year. America back on the agenda again  now that Bush has got a 32 percent rating and sliding I feel safe to go back again. Dont know wether theyll allow me back.
Im actually going to two outposts of America, New York, which is Europe by sea and Chicago. And maybe an australian tour towards the end. I getting some interesting things like Dominican Republic and China. Well see.

Your Red-series are legendary now
Still dont know why that happened, but hey..

It was a sound that was already there but brought in a very intense way.

Yeah, Ive often been called intense..maybe musically it mirrors that, I dont know. Ironically I try not to analize my music, I analyze everything. Dont want to do that with my music.

Youve been around for quite some time. Dont you ever get tired of all that music?

No it always inspires me. I get new records all the time or I go to Brighton to a place called Borderline and find out about new bands. A couple of years I discovered a group there called the 22-20s. I buy a lot of music every month and try to digest it. And i-Pod it. So I travel with it. And listen to it. I still get a little bit disconcerted with putting a new album on. Like: oh shit its a new album. I find it a bit scary, dont know why. And then after the third listen its ok. Some albums wont get to the third listen, like the new Prince album. dont know why. Its quite strange, some will and some wont. And then all of a sudden they become like a best friend. Others you want to delete from your i-Pod. Strange. I think its important to listen to music all the time. Learn from music. I love decent lyrics. The lyrics from She wants revenge, the whole album , ok theyre a bit vitriolic but very to the point. And very good.


Youre a music lover and a fan.
Oh yeah. Definitely. A massive music fan. Id be a fake if I wasnt.

Some people get really caught up in their own music.
There are some djs that only play their own records. I find that very strange. Like theyre on this planet of themselves. And nothing else matters. I find that very egotistical. Quite weirdly the fans dont see it as an egotistical thing. They go: oh, he played this and he played that. Its only his own music and its fantastic. Play your own music when you play live. As a dj I think you should only play your own music fresh out of the box or now and then. Otherwise if you play your own music I think youre a bit of a wanker to be honest. Cause your head is so far up your own arse. Its not cool.
As a dj you have to look, scout, find new music, get excited by it and bang it out.

You sound quite cynical. Do you prefer that in musical lyrics too?
Nine times out of ten I prefer to hear a cynical song then a happy everything is fucking great song. Because the world to me is a very cynical place. I rather hear a Bob Dylan song than the Mammas and Pappas because someone like me who believes they dont have the capacity to write any lyrics whatsoever to hear someone else motify and lyricize a feeling that you cant get out there except just in thought, helps me understand the world a lot better than someone going isnt the world great?.
There are always exceptions, like Black, whats it called, Wonderful world, a stunning song. Great. But I want other people to help me work out the world. In a way where a sentence or a lyric will make me go: why didnt I think of that?

Some people say that cynics are hurt romantics. And cynicism is a way to protect yourself from the world.

Most people who think the whole world is wonderful dont even understand romance, cause actually to have romance you have to have pain.
With romance you have to put yourself on the line and if you dont put yourself on the line then whats the point?
I dont see cynicism as a protective shield. I actually see cynicism as a decoding. Youre aware of the world. I dont think you can hide behind cyniscm, because cynicism is self evident. If youre a cynist, youre exposing yourself anyway, because youre laying your cards on the table and youre saying: listen I see it like this.
And I think that you find that people who are over-optimist are the ones that dont live as long. People that are cynics have a longer life, because they dont have any nasty shocks. You can also argue that they predict their own cynicism in a way, cause theyre alreay putting it out there.
But I think its far better to be a cynic than some eternal optimist. Cynicism is healthy, especially towards governments and politics.

Cynicism can also turn into paranoia or being distrustful of people or expecting the worst even from friends.
Depends how you keep it in check. If it happens after the event its different from prejudging.
If cynicism comes from reaction, its not paranoid. If youre cynical before the event then its not so healthy.

Do you think youve mellowed a bit?
Yeah, I definitely mellowed. Dont know if thats a good or a bad thing&I think its inevitable. Ive achieved a lot of things I set out to achieve. Am I still an angry young man? Well, maybe Im a tad optimstic on the young, but yeah, I m still angry.

The angry is ok, haha.
Yeah I still have my anger and I dont think thats a bad thing. How do I express my anger? With a shitload of bass.
I m not a hippie. I never will be a fucking hippie. I dont trust people who wear Birkenstock.

They look awful too, Birkenstocks.
Its like..I dont think hippies are real. In my experience, in Brighton anyway, they turn out to be the biggest motherfucking capitalists. Bodyshop for example. And I use the word allegedly because they have more powerful sollicitors than I have. But Bodyshop allegedly was started off in Brighton by a hippie. With all the best intentions in the world. And then what happens? They flog it to who? I think LOreal. How does that figure? I think hippies have a 20 year hippiespan, yeah peace & love, and then after 20 years its like: Fuck that, Ill grab the money. Punks man, theyre there forever!!
And the back of my T-shirt says: hippies question authority, punks fuck auhority.
Never trust a hippie is one of the best things in life.

Anger, you express that with a lot of bass. Isnt it just the release of a lot of energy anyway?
My sets arent one dimensional. Im not going to go out there and just spunk it. My sets will go up and down. Im not going to use that bullshit analogy of a journey but its not one story either. I wanna have different moods in there, cause I think its important to bring people closer together. One mood that is consistent is that its going to be dark. Dark and introspective or dark and aggressive. Im not going to be doing fake chord structures like trance djs with rumpapa rumpapa beats, Im not going to do that.

Its dark, but its not the intention to make people depressed.
No, thats the beautiful thing about it. You find more people taking drugs listening to so called happy music, because theyre so fucking unhappy, that you need the drug to make you feel happy. I think that dark music helps to release, Im not going to say negative energy, cause I dont believe in negative energy in that way. But theyre going to release a lot of energy and it almost feels like a cleanse, I feel cleansed after it.
Its a release. Its a good release.









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