Steve Proctor interviewed by Pluto
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Steve Proctor has been DJ'ing just over 27 years now and was one of the first DJ's to bring Acid House to the UK. Pirate Revival caught up with him for a chat:
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Full Article
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Discuss this interview
PR: Where and when did your DJ'ing career start?
SP: It all began in a club in Liverpool called Cagney's in 1980. I used to play there every Thursday and Sunday night. I remember I used to get payed ?7 and I used to carry a box of records into town on the bus and get a taxi home at the end of the night. After that I played every Friday and Saturday night in the Executive Club (Liverpool) before getting residency in the State nightclub (Liverpool) in 1983.
PR: What made you want to become a DJ?
SP: I absolutely love music and always wanted to be involved in music and clubs. I used to buy a lot of electronic music and had to have the latest import with special remixes on them. I used to lend them to a DJ friend so i could hear them in the clubs. Then, in 1980, Cagney's were advertising for a new DJ for a new night(Roxy/Bowie night). I had my records with me and when the manager asked if I wanted to DJ for an hour I jumped at the chance. He liked what I was playing and told me to come back next week as the new resident DJ.
PR: What got you into dance music and what are your influences?
SP: I love synthesisers and electronic noises , especially the sounds that come from the Roland CR78 and the big mono synths like the Moog . All the early synths really that had a modular system. Kraftwerk, Human League, Depeche Mode etc were big influences , also records like Ryuichi Sakamoto - Riot in Lagos and the first record I bought Chickory Tip - Son Of My Father.
PR: Did you ever promote your own night?
SP: Yes i used to promote the bands in the State nightclub on a Monday Night... booking the likes of New Order , Big Audio Dynamite and Sigue Sigue Sputnik. I also promoted a night called Powerplant in 1983/84 which was in Macmillan's and Pickwick's in Liverpool. The music was a mixture of electro, hi-nrg and alternative. In 1987/88 i did Promised Land and from 1988-1991 i did Better Days.
PR: When you were playing at Shoom in 1988 did you ever think that house(acid) music would take off and be as big as it is today?
SP: Well I actually started playing Shoom in 1987. I had moved to London that year to start working for Polydor running a lable called Urban which produced great tunes like Jackson Sisters - I believe in Miracles , the rare groove scene was quite big in London at the time. Anyway , at the time no I never thought that the house(acid) scene would be as big as it is today. When the scene first started at Shoom and Spectrum @ Heaven, the music wasn't all acid , It was a mixture of balaeric , house tracks with big vocals and of course acid house.
PR: When you say house with big vocals do you mean tracks like The Nightwriters - Let the music use you?
SP: Yeah of course , In fact Paul Oakenfold and I were the first DJ's in the UK to play that track after we got copies from the US in 1987. Also big tracks back then were CC Rogers - Someday, Joe Smooth - Promised Land and Sterling Void - It's Alright. An early acid house track that was played in Shoom was Phuture - Acid Trax. I remember Larry Sherman walking into the office at Urban hoping that Polydor would sign it and handing me a white lable of that. I still own that copy and still play it to this day. The great thing about playing at Shoom back then was, just by playing music, you could get the people surfing on the waves , bringing them up to a peak , bringing them down again for a bit, then back up again. Amazing times.
PR: We ain't heard from you for a bit , what have you been up to lately?
SP: I stopped DJ'ing for a while , well it's exactly 9 years now when my son was born . He is autistic and it would have been unfare to carry on. I have a daughter as well , I absolutely adore the both of them. I've spent most of the last 9 years bringing them up. Recently I have been doing gigs such as Drunken Monkey (Shorditch High Street , London) where i have been resident for 2 years and I did an open air rave last September called Micro Climate. Also a night called Shrunken Head and one called Monofunk.
PR: What are your DJ career highlights.
SP: There's loads , probably too many to mention. Doing the first ever acid house set on German radio was a bit special. DJ'ing in Hong Kong was great too. Also the first ever Sunrise gig, I remember looking out to the crowd and seeing this huge laser splitting through peoples hands in the air. There was about 3,000 people there so if you can imagine the laser going through 6,000 hands , it looked brilliant. Going back to Liverpool was special as well in 1991 , I played the Quadrant Park all-nighter and G-Love in the Mardi Gras nightclub.
PR: One of our favourite remixes that you did is Soho - No Hippychick , do you have a favourite of your own?
SP: Soho - No Hippychick was a good one for me because it charted but I'd have to go for China Crisis - African & White and The Mock Turtles - Can You Dig It.
PR: Do you have a favourite DJ / Producer?
SP: Yes me (chuckles) , No seriously it's gotta be Gorgio Moroder every time. I love his work. The DJ's i really respect are Jon Da Silva , Terry Farley , Andy Weatherall , Justin Robertson and John Kelly.
PR: Do you have a favourite Oldskool track?
SP: That question is just impossibe , there are too many to mention.
PR: You must have a big record collection , how big is it?
SP: I must have well over 30,000 records right across the board in styles , there's reggae , disco/funk even classical in there.
PR: Finally , do you think that dance music will eventually die and something different but equally as big as the house(acid) scene will come along one day?
SP: It's very unlikely. The scene started with convergence of circumstances(i.e. E playing a major part). I think there will always be sub-genres and sub-styles. It will always be in and out , evolving and re-inventing itself. I think acid house inspired people to go and do their own thing and there is always the seed in someones mind of thinking what if? For example what if i take this bassline, twist it a bit and put a bit of reverb on it to make a completely different track.
Steve Proctor will be playing at Daisy Revisited @ The Masque(90 Seel Street, Liverpool) on Saturday 24th March, 2007 ... 10pm - 3am.
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Article Overall
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Votes: 4, Points: 18,
Rating: 4.50
# 1 in Interview's
# 17 among all
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