Francois K crosspost: "The neoconservatives of house music, pt. 2"

A big thank you to Francois K who allowed me to re-post something that was originally posted at the Deep House Page message board. The post was inspired by a recent visit Francois had to D.C. in support of his most recent CD, Deep Space NYC V. 1 (Wave Music).

I asked Francois is it was ok to re-post this writing here in the deepseeblog because what he wrote sums up eloquently many of the ideas I feel most aligned with and his experience of finding his sound is one I feel Deep See goes through on a weekly basis. I hope all who come to Deep See appreciate the "laboratory" aspect of the night: Deep See really is about experiementation and growth, a place where all creative (DJs, dancers, etc.) can come to be inspired, share ideas, or just vibe out. So without further ado, here's Francois' great piece of writing.

=

The Neo-Conservatives Of House Music (part 2)


"House". (whatever that may be to each of us, if you remember the "Beat The Damn Box" thread, I am not too good with definitions!) Anyway, I am trying to remember the last time I played in that way on my own. Was it at the Shelter's 12th Anniversary party, when I started with my dub of Three Generations Walking, went into "Boneman Connection" and then Lauren Hill's "Everything Is Everything" after all the other DJ's had been killing it for 12 hours straight, total mayhem, (figured that I'd let people catch a little breath before the next peak) and I got all these funny stares and cleared half the floor? Nope, I don't think so. Actually, I am not sure I do remember when that last time was, and although I am confident that I can pull a very respectable MAW/Blaze/GU/Joey Negro/Osunlade/Kenny Bobien/Kerri C. peaktime continuous House set (complete with obscure classic re-edits and exclusive unreleased mixes) for however many hours if I was really forced to, it does not appear in the cards for me to do so anymore when playing solo.

Let's face it. At 51, I am (at best) supposed to be an irrelevant dinosaur who gets polite applause playing yesteryear's Golden Hits™ I was known for, an anachronism in a business where the average DJ's lifespan is 5 years, and I am being indulgent in saying 5 years. Most of my contemporaries have either gotten a real job, retired, died or plain dropped out of sight. You never can hide from yourself for too long, and although [late] it took a half a century,[/late] (like it or not) what you saw the other day in DC is the person I just realized I was all along, for better or for worse.

So I figure that the best shot I have is at being sincere, and playing the joints that I think are really, really dope at least part of the time I get asked to DJ, but certainly always when I am doing "Deep Space" Dub events as I was the other day. They include those diverse styles you've mentioned in your post, and also screwing and messing with the sound in whatever way I feel, rather than respectfully letting the record play as it might have meant to be years ago for an audience that -for the most part- doesn't exist anymore; in a sense, merging the recordings, the mixing at the console and traditional DJ'ing. Oh, how times have changed (for some of us)!

I prefer to think that there are some people out there who would rather hear a great cross-section of what they trust me to select for them as memorable music, instead of an endless exercise in aerobic sameness and a fairly predictable flow, which I can guarantee to you machines and software will be doing in less than 10 years. (Prototypes already exist, this is another thread) Granted, and as I am reminded time and time again, it doesn't always make certain hard-core dancers happy, but I also think that it is important to inspire people in doing things against their little comfort zone, to challenge them to creatively think for themselves in all kinds of manners, "outside the box", not the least being conscious of the quasi-tribal socio-economico-ethno-identification they make with a certain type of dance music, which defines who they hang out with, what they are perceived to be socially, etc.... ("Break Down The Walls")

While it is not part of this conversation, I also get hired almost every weekend to play completely different styles (mostly overseas) of pumping, tough House bordering on Progressive and Tribal for parties that can be as large as 5,000 people or more. I also play full-on Electronic and Techno sets, both DJ'ing and live on stage, for example being booked with Derrick May, Ben Sims, Jeff Mills, Laurent Garnier, at places like Berlin's Tresor Club, Lost in the UK, or in front of a sea of people at Sonar in South America. When some of those who saw me there come to NYC and visit Deep Space, they are obviously in for a little bit of a shock, as this world today is very much one where we are all encouraged to be one-trick ponies that can neatly be summarized in 15-seconds soundbytes, and the confusion does sometimes show on their face...In the same fashion, maybe a lot of you equated what I do with a certain sound associated with Body&SOUL, which is only logical as I have had the honor and privilege of being part of this very special event for over 8 years.

What can I say? I love it all. I absolutely crave for the deep, lyrical soulfulness of Stevie Wonder and Earth, Wind & Fire's influences into what Blaze does today, as much as I deliriously enjoy the metallic relentless pounding that Surgeon is famous for, the explicit sexual groove oozing from a Beenie Man record as well as the utter abstract spaciness of Matthew Jonson and Jeff Mills, the orgy of rhythms and melodic incantations that go to my head on some of Joaquin's records, equally at home with Dr Dre's nasty minimal beats and production or Hendrix's intergalactic guitar solos and cosmic poetry, yet finding nothing wrong with Chus&Ceballos' latest Tribal track, or a beautiful LTJ Bukem workout, could not bear to live without the constant reminder that Dub is one of the purest forms of aural satisfaction as invented by natural mystic geniuses like King Tubby and Lee Perry, yet cannot hold back the tears when Jocelyn Brown's shamanic voice takes me to a more spiritual plane. Finding my strenght in the sound from UR's prophetic electronic mutated disco strings, and just as well bathing in the luxuriant happiness of Louie Vega's Afro-Cuban masterpieces (Quimbobo, etc..). Note to Fela and Rhythm & Sound: I did NOT forget you either, always in my heart of hearts!

Hopefully, and I do my best to keep in mind the tenets and expectations from the very audience that DJ's are supposed to serve, (being nothing more than an instrument to that audience's desires) yet I find time and time again that the envelope is not usually pushed for very long by those who stay in that comfort zone. I think that for many of us, there are certainly very specific constraints we have to respect if we want to keep getting gigs, and certainly there is another part to what I do which is quite respectful of that. (see above)

But when it comes down to it, I really think that there are many, many outrageously talented DJ's and producers out there that could play rings and weave magic around some old hack like myself when it comes to setting the dance floor on fire with the type of strict Soulful House or Deep House set or Classics as I hear it played these days. Please allow me to call it conservative. It hurts, but I would think that the very least we could do is acknowledge that the newer generation perceives it as their dad's music, with all the baggage it implies. And for one reason or another, call it my private demon if you may, I come from a time where we did not have such a strict conservative interpretation of dance music, and given the choice, would probably rather want to become a plumber or any other respectable trade than keep doing something that is (whether any of us like it or not) becoming less and less creative in the greater picture of human culture and endeavors.

Just as Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, Count Basie and all of the other towering geniuses of Big Band had to bow out when Chuck Berry and The Beatles swept the world by storm, it is time to either evolve and adapt as Miles Davis did, or slowly sink into middle age jealousy, and then old age bitterness. I thoroughly enjoy playing for a crowd of thousands of screaming, enthusiastic 22 year-olds out of their heads on whatever, testosterone as well as other things, as much as playing more sophisticated and deeper sounds for a smaller-sized mature, knowledgeable and appreciative audience.

Obviously, most of us here are very sincere and passionate about Dance Music, and I respect all of the different ways we express those vital emotions, from the way Tenyu wants to live in a world of sweet analog sounds and tube amplifiers from the mid-1970's, to many who see the Garage or Music Box as something that was an ideal moment in time, never to be equaled by anything newer, or even people like Donger who got banned challenging what he perceived as archaic and bigoted views, or Shalewa who seems to long for a more communal celebratory time sharing the dance floor in raptured bliss without having to look over her shoulder, not to mention the gentle and visionary insights that David M. so generously still shares with us. (Where would we truly, truly be without you and all of your inspiration and dedication to sound?..) We might not agree with them, but all are passionate and full of appreciation for what they see as Dance Music.

Yet, it is within each and everyone of us to find these new exciting VITAL developments in what the next generation will find for themselves as life-changing dance music. Far from saying that I have recently accomplished anything of that stature, I am however conscious that I cannot remain idle in such a personal quest for NEW MUSICAL VISTAS until my bones stop moving and my hearing fails me. But I would hope that when this does inevitably happen, some people will remember what I was rooting for, which is to find within ourselves the strength to evolve, and learn to appreciate what newer generations can create, inevitably better than what we did, (but also distancing themselves from from what their elders did in order to ascertain their own identity), as well as maintaining a vital link to a living celebration of some of our past musical masters and influences.

I constantly remember that for all those who idolize Larry Levan as the ultimate DJ that ever was, and who to this day keep playing a "Frozen In Time" glory days rehash of classic mid-80's Ten City, Frankie Knuckles, Liz Torres, Inner Life, Grace Jones, Chaka Khan and company; he was at the time of his untimely death in 1992 quite obsessed with Hip-Hop and R&B, (Arrested Development, De La Soul, Shabba Ranks, Kris Kross,etc..) and if he were to be alive today, much more likely to be working with Outkast and Destiny's Child than trying to keep clinging to an increasingly fossilized musical vocabulary that had its day almost a generation ago. I imagine that there will always be a market for it, just as the Chi-Lites and the Trammps can keep getting corporate gigs today, it pays the bills just fine.

But at some point in what you do, there has to be a defining moment, where you put your cards on the table and stand for what you believe in.

So rather than keep delving on all of this, I would like to conclude in saying that (in my own eyes) luckily, this defining moment arrived personally when I started "Deep Space" about two years ago, and although I am sure that my attempts are never going to be all that incredible when measured to what some of the New Jacks are going to bring us, or never to equal what some of the Grand Maestros of House™ are doing right now, at least I am certain that they are a sincere expression of my love for all Dance Music, past, present and future.

I am convinced that however imperfectly I try to articulate these germs of ideas, and stumble along the way, or mess up mixes, or don't quite get that perfect record flow going, I however will still be trying, aiming, reaching, struggling for what my heart and my soul is telling me is a unified, integrated, compelling vision of music bringing all of us together regarding of where we came from, yearning for these sublime moments of greatness we can share together when those seemingly disparate elements collide, those that bring goose bumps to more than just your body, as I felt it might have happened when playing at Yellow last year, and went into a 10-minute long haunting classical Stravinsky piece at the peak of the night, and switched (yet again) into Derrick May's mesmerizing intro to his timeless "Strings Of Life", I think we all lost it for good at that moment, it was just so very grand, majestic, yet another affirmation that in the end we all share the same sounds and energy, and which would certainly not have been possible if I didn't try to think a bit "outside the box" instead of just beating it. Sometimes, I do feel we need to create much contrast and dramatic moments between things in order to properly feel the depth of field they bring us to, and again, recent happenings in "House" have really kind of felt like they were going the other way for me, all smooth and uniform, 'landscaped' for lack of a better word, maybe "utilitarian"...? Even if only in a small part I succeeded in making this germ of an idea grow into other young minds, that the future of music belongs to ALL OF US, rather than mirroring yet another segregated mental ghetto, (us -vs- them) then it will be more than enough satisfaction and contentment.

Hope I didn't bore you too much, apologies for those who didn't quite get what they expected out of this DC gig, but all the same thank you for helping me articulate in a public forum what I have been feeling for a very long time, and that in the same fashion, I at least provoked you to think and reconsider the established order of things in favor of the new, the unpredictable, the foreign and not-quite-cozy that yet will one day become part of your own life without you even noticing it.

If it helped enrich it, even because you hated it, then that was still a significant step in defining who you are and what you stand for.

Peace and Music, always.

FK

[ February 14, 2005, 07:48 AM: Message edited by: FK ]