SOMETIMES, YOU have to go back to where it began and start all over again. For the past couple of years, since he worked with Madonna on her Confessions on a Dancefloor album (she came around to his gaff in west London to work on it), Stuart Price has been one of the most in-demand producers in the world.
But before he began to develop a studio tan in the company of The Killers, Take That, Kylie, Keane, New Order and Scissor Sisters, Price used to be a DJ and dance music mover and shaker. You may remember him from some great nights out or from releases under such monikers as Jacques Lu Cont, Thin White Duke, Les Rhythmes Digitales and Zoot Woman.
But instead of adding to his list of production clients, he recently decided to go back to DJ-ing in clubs again. Per Price, this is “the best decision of the last five years. It’s essential, really. The notion of starting over with something new to prove fills me with excitement. I also wanted to make my own music again and it doesn’t feel right to make dance music if you are not out playing dance music also.”
This development is unlikely, however, to mean an end to Price’s run as a producer. If anything, he will probably go back to working with pop stars with fresh energy and new ideas. “You listen . . . again . . . and again . . . and . . . again . . . and again . . .” is how Price says he would explain the job of producer to a visiting alien. With every passing record, he’s become more of an expert at quickly gauging if he and the act are destined to work well together.
“For a start, I think you see if you can be in a room and enjoy it and have real a conversation that doesn’t run out of steam or become awkward. With that basis, you can actually achieve most things. The ability to make records has to be something that happens naturally, with either side being able to do their best. You can’t lie to the listener, so if your studio time isn’t for real, the record won’t be either.”
It’s also about psychology. “You create the environment and let that be the place you can make something. It’s rarely a physical place, it’s more psychological. It’s not an area of expertise for me, but that’s probably why I can act more instinctively there.”
The pop production game has turned out to be hugely successful for Price – there’s a box of Grammy awards stored away in his loft to prove it – but he still feels there are other things to prove. Hence the return of Jacques Lu Cont to a DJ box near you.
“It’s about wanting to find something new. When I DJ, I get ideas better than anywhere else. In the studio sometimes you can have too long to make something great. As a DJ you have to do it right there and then.”
One big difference which Price sees between then and now as a DJ is the rise of the electronic dance music scene in the United States. What are his feelings on how the Yanks have taken to dance music – and given it a new name (EDM) into the bargain?
“It’s appropriate that it has a different title because it’s a different thing,” Price says. “In commercial dance there’s a pretty small pool of records that get played a lot. I think in Europe even the top DJs feel a bit more pressure to show something new each night, that’s not so much in the US.
“However, there is a great emerging underground scene which couldn’t have happened without the commercial scene switching on people’s ears in such a widespread way. It’s a great thing. There’s always been a strong underground of course, but this is more about the masses accepting the genre, and therefore it getting more exposure.”
* Jacques Lu Cont and Star Slinger play Dublin’s Academy next Wednesday as part of Absolut Vodka’s launch of Absolut Unique.
See facebook.com/absolut.Ireland for details of how you can win tickets to the event
Get down! Star slinger's dance moves
THE RISE (and rise) of Darren Williams shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. In 2012, when you’re producing cuts as rich, infectious and funky as Ladies In the Back or Dumbin’, you don’t have to hang around long to get the acclaim and applause.
Williams studied music technology at Leeds University but he had the bug for sound before then. He had played in a few bands, been a fan of the BBC’s dance shows, used to swap happy hardcore tapes with his schoolmates and put on school discos. He’d also commandeer the computer at home and mess around with Fruity Loops for hours.
University taught him how to take this to the next level. “I was always self-taught, and I just honed in on a few things at university, like how to make sounds fit together when you’re mixing a record in a studio and make everything more professional. On the other hand, I haven’t learned much about music theory. I guess that’s why I make dance music – it’s fun and you don’t need to be super clever with it.”
One of the biggest influences on Williamss work is the late, great J Dilla.
What drew him to the Detroit beatsmaster in the first place?
“The first thing with him that really blew me away was Donuts. I would say Dilla drew me into that album because of the technique he used on that album, which sounds amazing. And then of course the stories, he’s writing in the hospital when he’s dying. That really inspired me, he made something timeless and then he left. That got me to look more into his stuff. I never wanted to be a carbon copy of Dilla or anyone like that, but there’s definite similarities on that first record for sure.”
