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Arts & Entertainment All ThE BEsT in ArTs & culTurE Across ThE METroPolis 808 State The seminal electronic act reveals a political side to rave culture By Dan Grunebaum Movies have been made and books w r i t t e n a b o u t legendary Manchester club The Hacienda and the dance music revolution that swirled around it. If any one track can be said to encapsulate the electronic side of the northern English city’s creative ferment in the 1980s, high on the list would be 808 State’s “Pacific State.” Created by the trio of Graham Massey, Martin Price and Gerald Simpson, the song’s contrast of coldly mechanical drums with warm synth and sax lines set the template for many an acid house anthem to come. “The best memory for me is having it played as the last tune of the night at the Hacienda at the height of afrojack Producing and remixing for the likes of Beyonce and David Guetta, Dutch producer Afrojack is one of the EDM scene’s latest superstars. Less than three years ago, you were almost unknown outside of Holland. Surely, there must be moments when it’s hard to take in? If someone told me this three years ago, I would be laughing at them. But everybody likes my tracks so that feels really good. And I still like doing this so I’m going to do this as long as I live. How much do you feel you owe to your 2010 breakthrough smash “Take Over Control”? A lot. I knew it was a good track and it was going to be big, but I could never have guessed it was going to be this good! I owe a lot to this song. You’re renowned for your tireless work schedule. Does your agenda never wear you out? Never. Bookings are good to have people listen to new tracks that I just finished in the airplane while going there. So 08 • download our podcast at • podcast.metropolis.co.jp the madness,” Massey recalls ahead of his set at the upcoming Hacienda Oiso Festival south of Tokyo. “It felt like scoring a goal at a cup final. I have not become bored playing that tune.” Massey says the unique confluence of musical influences in Manchester at the time provided the basis for a legacy that continues to shape pop music a generation later. “As a teenager we would go to rock discos in Manchester, they played quite a mix of music… Led Zeppelin next to David Bowie, Gong next to Kraftwerk. Reggae, prog, soul and punk all mixed together at times. The music culture in Manchester was diverse—much like its population.” The Hacienda—chronicled in the film 24 Hour Party People—is remembered for an adventurous approach I can see if people like the song or not. I use the people to check if the track is good, or if I have to throw it away or change something. Over the last couple of years you’ve gone from working with David Guetta to remixing Madonna. Do you see your musical tastes continuing to expand, or do you feel like you want to focus on narrower musical spaces in the future? I don’t know. When people ask me to remix a song, I only do it when I like the song. And there are a lot of different music genres that I like. Your Japanese fans are hotly anticipating your return to a region whose dance scene has been stunned by the ubiquitous “Gangnam Style.” Is there any truth in the rumor that Psy may feature in one of your upcoming projects? I don’t know. I made a remix already of Gangnam Style but I don’t know if that arced from the austere ’80s postpunk of New Order to the ’90s hedonism of the Happy Mondays— but Massey fills out a richer picture, informed by the sociopolitical currents of the era. “The ’80s were a time of disempowerment for young people in Manchester,” he notes. “There was a divide in the UK. On the one hand some people were riding a wave of affluence in London, [on the other] the politics of Prime Minister Margret Thatcher was not at all popular in Manchester. There was an anti-establishment atmosphere that fueled the new nightclub and music scene—a ‘do it yourself’ culture arose out of a need for expression.” Massey provides a perspective at odds with the image of narcissistic I’m really going to work with him. But you never know. Is there anything different about playing in Asia compared to Europe and North America? Everybody is crazy during parties. But in Asia they are almost always crazier than in Europe and North America. They don’t stop screaming and yelling. You’ve been working with some absolutely huge superstars recently, such as Beyonce, Chris Brown and David Guetta. Is there ever any added pressure producing tracks for artists who can’t seem to get any bigger? euphoria seeking with which rave culture has often been written off. “Martin was inspiring in his determination for change,” he says of his 808 partner, who ran key Manchester record shop Eastern Bloc, around which the group formed in 1987. “He saw the dance music revolution as a political thing, therefore it was important to draw the dividing lines from the old culture to the new. Guitar bands were out. Using the new technology was a stance for change, being armed with a sampler was very much about starting a new page. We had more in common with Detroit than London. Joining an internationalism of the dance floor was a rejection of colloquialism that had chained us.” Yeah of course, but I want to give the people a lot of different variations of music genres and give the artists I’m working with a new audience and great new songs! It’s really great to work with them as well. You don’t meet Chris Brown or Beyonce everyday. You weren’t born when the original Hacienda nightclub opened its doors in Manchester in 1982. Do you know much about the Madchester scene? I don’t know a lot about the Hacienda. I knew it was very important and that it changed the music landscape.
New Order veteran, Madchester maverick and indefatigable impresario Peter Hook’s travelling Hacienda festival returns to the Prince Hotel’s Oiso digs on the beach south of Yokohama. Ahead of the weekend poolside party, <strong>Metropolis</strong> caught up with two of the headliners, who collectively represent two generations of electronic dance music. So where are the politics of today’s so-called EDM scene? “30 years ago, all the music seemed fresh and unpredictable. I’m aware of equivalent illegal raves that go off around Manchester in the present,” Massey observes. “I think the spirit of antiestablishment partying is building in the UK. Let us hope austerity will result in as much creativity this time around.” 25 years since founding 808 State, Massey’s fervor remains undimmed. He will bring to Tokyo the same five-member iteration of 808 State— named for the Japanese-made Roland sequencer that powered the acid house scene—that electronic music heads witnessed at Daikanyama’s Unit in 2011. “We’ll play our betterknown tunes, but we always like to throw in a few obscure tunes from the back catalogue,” he says about the upcoming Hacienda-branded festival, which will feature fellow Hacienda vets the Happy Mondays along with a slew of younger EDM artists like Delphic and Digitalism. Your own label Wall Recordings has some excellent Dutch artists. Tony Wilson's Factory Records was instrumental in Manchester a hotbed of dance music. Do you think you and your label can go on to make a similar impact? I hope so. We see that a lot of Dutch DJs doing well worldwide. I hope that one day people will say it started with Wall Recordings. With this year marking the 30th anniversary of the release of New Order's “Blue Monday,” Peter Hook recently mentioned in an interview that he'd producers from the current crop to remix the track. Is this something you'd be interested in doing? That would be great. I don’t really know what kind of track it would be because it depends on my mood. But I probably will make it bigger, harder and better! Is there anyone in particular you are keen to see at this year’s festival? I want to be surprised when I’m there but I know some tracks of John Digweed and Digitalism, so I really want to check them out when I’m there. Interview by Nick Marsh/Mike Burns 1 6 "Blue Monday" Remixed endlessly, 1983’s “Blue Monday” embodies the shift from ‘70s disco and ‘80s house music. It became New Order’s signature encore tune. 2 7 3 4 "Pacific State" 1989 acid house anthem that launched a thousand chill-out rooms. Sterile rhythm machine beats contrast with warm synths and saxes. "Step On" Seminal guitar rave outing from Pills ‘n’ Thrills and Bellyaches hit #5 in 1990, a high water mark for the then-budding dance scene. "Heaven Scent" With its ricocheting synth melodies, four-tothe-floor beats and arms-in-the-air ethos, this 1999 track essentially defined the progressive house style. 5 10 "Ghost in the Shell" One-half of Denki Groove, Takkyu Ishino is also capable of heavy duty Detroit minimalism. This 1998 track for the PlayStation game is one of his finest moments. 8 9 "Idealistic" German unit ’s tweaky 2007 opus helped set the template for the electro movement of the latter 2000s. "Extra" No one did more than Ken Ishii to put Japanese techno on the map, and this 1997 track—and its hallucinatory animated video— remains one of his finest moments. "No Beef" Two DJs party their way through Vegas in 2011, downing bottles of “Afroki” and redefining house music for a new generation of Millennials. "Good Life" If for nothing else, this English quartet will be enshrined in dance music lore forever for this deliciously throwaway synth-pop outing for the 2012 London Olympics. "I hate Discooooooo !!!" Wonderfully zany Japanese group has the nerve to yoke together indie-rock, electronica and Japonica—all in one song. sports executive fight Night ii clash of the corporate titans By Jeff W. Richards L ast November, 16 first-time fighters stepped into the ring for the Vegas-style Executive Fight Night black-tie boxing event that raised over ¥5M for charity from the 450-plus spectators who packed into one of Tokyo’s luxury hotel ballrooms for the night’s entertainment. This year, 14 fighters will square off in a more explosive fight card set to go down at the Grand Hyatt Tokyo Ballroom on May 24. The fighters are once again training for 12 weeks with Club 360 owner and trainer Nathan Schmid and former K1 and MMA fighter Jan Kaszuba. Not only will they put their stamina and boxing skills to the test—three rounds of two minutes each for each bout—they’ll also battle for a good cause, with all money raised from an exciting charity auction and raffle going to a worthwhile cause. This year, that charity will be Refugees International Japan, an independent not-for-profit organization dedicated to raising funds to assist refugees who have been displaced as a result of war and conflict. Find out how the combatants deal with their early morning Rocky workouts and how they hone their killer instincts on their blogs at ginjaninjas.com/fighters-blogs. The “Ginja Ninjas,” as the organizers of the event dub themselves, are also excited that this year Executive Fight Night II will be featured on Fox’s Backstage Pass TV program. Ringside seating is already sold out, but if you rope-adope over to the Ginja Ninja’s website, tickets can still be had for Gold Tables (¥300,000) and Gold Seats (¥33,000). Executive Fight Night II @ Grand Hyatt Tokyo Ballrom, May 24. ginjaninjas.com #<strong>994</strong> • www.metropolis.co.jp • 09 © 37 FrAMEs BY TrAcEY TAYlor & DEE GrEEn
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