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Halloween interview special with the Executioner, Andy C
Other | Wednesday 29th October 2014 | Osh
His forthcoming Brixton Academy show this Halloween night sold out in 48 hours, more than three months in advance - such is the anticipation of Andy C's live set. Guestlist chat with Ram Records label boss, Andy C, on how he's coping with remix duties, organising his own brand new release, and running one of the most successful drum and bass record labels ever, all whist declaring his love for cookie dough ice cream.
M: So you must be quite busy right now right? I noticed you've your new tune dropping, “Heart Beat Loud” feat Fiora.
A: Yes that's right, I'm super busy! I am in the studio today and am working on a bunch of projects at the moment: there's a remix which I have to finish by tomorrow, and I’ve also got my 6 hours Brixton Academy gig next week so its all going crazy at the moment.
M: So that's on Halloween right? Do you think people will come dressed up?
A: (Laughs) Yeah I would imagine they will do, I've had so many messages about it, so I definitely think there will be a few costumes about, I mean it's Halloween man so why not! We are going to have about 5000 people in there so I should imagine that a few will be dressed up and in the sprit of things, that’s for sure.
M: So are you going to dress up?
A: Well I was going to go for the hourly costume change idea, but I couldn't decide, so am probably not now.
M: So how do you go about preparing for a set like that, it's all night! That’s a lot of tunes.
A: The trick is not to really prepare, as in like, here's what am going to play for six hours, because the idea of it and the whole night is we go on a journey together, with the crowd, and that can take many twists and turns and the crowd can dictate where I go, and I can sort of try and lead them certain ways. I'm talking about the different and older styles of drum and bass and energies and all of that, so the preparation really is maybe rejigging the old memory cells for some of the older tunes. I'll go through my old collection and take out a load of old tunes I want to play, and just have a mix at home in the week leading up. When we get down there on the night we just need to make sure we do not drink too much too early! (laughs) You can definitely over do it. I tend to give it until about 3AM, and then anything goes after that.
M: Well you must have a encyclopaedic knowledge of Drum and Bass, I mean you got started out a long time ago now? How did you begin, because of course, back then there was not so much social media around; now we have Soundcloud, and people are sharing stuff on Twitter all the time and messing about with free DJ software. But back in the day what influenced you and sparked your interest, was it like raves, pirate radio or anything else?
A: Pirate radio, definitely, and going out to the early raves really. I mean that was the only way you can get it, you go out at the weekend and party, and if you was lucky and the pirate radio station hadn't been raided and they were still on air and you got to listen to it, I mean that was literally the only way. And obviously, record stores too. Going to buy the records and that whole experience. I mean for me at one of the first raves I went to, I stood there all night watching the DJ and that is exactly what I wanted to do from there on in. So my way of doing it was basically getting home from school turn the deck on and mix all day, and mix all night and that was it.
M: So you got started quite young I imagine.
A: Yeah I always used to do mixtapes for my mates at school, and all that. I was the guy that everybody was like, "errr come on give us a tape" you know, and I was like, "yeah no worries, I’ll do ya a mixtape" and that, as all the people at school didn't have all that Soundcloud and all that social aspect, it wasn't around. So yeah, running in deep from early days.
M: So was there a particular DJ back then that you can remember being the first one you looked up to and influenced you?
A: Well the first DJ who made me think that was what I wanted to do, was a guy called "Just Jones". He was deejaying at the party with Red One (Scott), who's now my business partner. He was actually putting on the parties back in the day and I had only just met him and he invited us along. I stood on the dance floor over by the wall, I can remember it now, over by the right hand side of the wall of the dance floor over at a warehouse over in Bishopsgate, London just opposite Liverpool Street station. I just remember watching Just Jones and he dropped this tune, and everybody went mad, and I was like, "That’s what I want to do". That eureka moment, that's where I want to be. So yeah, it was him really.
M: So from there how did you go onto making the jump to Ram Records, starting your own label and producing?
A: Well it wasn't really a jump you know, I mean its like literally the concept of the record label was that I just left school and it was like, get a job and what do you want to be in life. I was like, well I don't know, I love DJing, I love making and working on tunes and my sister was like, why don't we start a record label. I know it seems like, wow, lets start a record label, but when it boils down to it to be honest, back then, it was about pressing a 12 inch vinyl record and putting a record label on that record. Hence, you had a record label. For the first few releases, to be honest, that’s what it was and then we used to get the records back, we'd have to stick the stickers across the sleeve ourselves and it wasn't until Ram had been running a while that the professionalism aspect came into it, like registering with the relevant societies, PRS, MCPS, registering the label as an actual record label with the BPI and all that kind of stuff that came about later, you know.
M: So when was the breakthrough moment with RAM, when you realised that you were onto something?
A: Well the first record, fortunately, sold out, which was my first E.P, "Terror Mass". So I borrowed a grand off my uncle and pressed up the record and well, they all sold! So that made some money, and I was like, ok, this could be something here. But when it really took off was with Valley of the Shadows.
M: Yeah, great track, I mean even now its still so big.
A: Its mad innit, Whenever I hear it now, I can still remember Ant and I in the studio making it, so it makes it really special and that was one of those beautiful moments in time that you just can't forget. I mean they come along fleetingly in life and everything just happens and works, it's just vibes. The timing of that was really just the spring board that launched RAM really.
M: So back from then, going from those early days of the warehouse raves to playing at these enormous clubs in Ibiza where it's traditionally more of a house scene, how did you make that transition?
A: Well its beautiful isn't it. Playing to thousands of people, its great, when you're up there playing to thousands it feels fantastic. It's testament to the strength of the scene and the strength of the music, playing to 20,000 at Global Gathering, playing 20,000 at SW4, America, Bedlock, 25,000 people its like you do sometimes just stand back and think, "how the hell did it get from that to this". But how we got from there to here... one, the music is incredible. Two, the energy and the vibes the scene made, then you have all the hard work of the DJs and the producers and everyone involved behind the scenes that put in all the effort and continue to do so, and didn't lose faith in the music. So over time we finally end up getting our rewards in that regard, do you know what I mean. Because people could lose faith easily but its a testament to the passion for the music; we keep working and kept working so here we are all these years later and like you say, now we have the main rooms in Ibiza and main stage at festivals and we're appearing on the radio on a daily basis.
M: Speaking of festivals actually, I saw you at Outlook this year and I have to say it was completely crazy. How did you find that? Outlook is such a great festival for Drum and Bass.
A: Yeah they really support Drum and Bass don't they, I mean they have all the boat parties and all the other stages. They put us on the main stage as well, its an all round great festival for us. I had to literally fly into Venice, had a four hour drive from there to the festival, got to the festival an hour before my set, came off the decks, drove back to Venice and flew home. So it was a bit of an in and out one but while I was there it was hectic. I definitely made the most of it and enjoyed it while I was on the decks, the response from the crowd was crazy, bloody crazy.
M: Can't believe that you just kind of rolled up, sent everyone into hysteria, and then just went home again.
A: Its a pretty surreal thing, I'm not gonna lie. Often I have commitments the next day, there's always various bits and bobs going on. You can play the maddest raves to the most amount of people and literally 10 minutes later you're in the back of a car on your own, driving to the airport and you're like, what? What just happened there?? It's like you might need a little beer on the way back or something to level off a little bit, the rush is still there and you're up and excited about what you just experienced. Yeah its pretty mad, because then you're at the airport in some random place at six in the morning having a coffee wondering what just happened! It's a mad life for sure. I take loads of photos when am DJing, because in those scenarios I just sit at the airport and look back at the photos just to see what happened and check it wasn't all just a dream.
M: Speaking of your live Djing, I have to ask why and how you learnt to play on three decks?
A: Well I was presented with the opportunity to do a three hour, three deck set at a big rave many many years ago. Well I say presented, we talked about it a bit but one day I woke up and there was a package at the door, and it was an extra deck. Basically the promoter bought me a turntable and sent it to my house and I set it up and thought, OK... I practiced and it was not easy when you first try it, its not like it has a sync button, theres no cheating, there is literally three turntables and three pitch controllers , needles and stuff. Yeah I found that from DJing with two for a long time, before long there's a DJing muscle memory that becomes like second nature, the beat matching is not difficult and its just fun and you just do it. So when I first tried with 3 it was like hold on, this is a whole new strategy and a new technique and it went well, I was a bit unsure, and everyone was watching when I first played on three decks. I managed to pull it off, and I've stuck with three ever since.
M: Speaking of you evolving your DJing style, how do you see Drum and Bass itself evolving in the future, because it does seem to have gone through a morphing phase - it's really big in the charts right now. So do you have any future predictions?
A: Err no, but I do know for a fact that it will continue on its own curve. I know what the plans are for next year and they are very very exciting across the board, so I know in that regard it's going to be a great year. But you know it does continue to grow, and the scene has been around for a while right! We just seem to keep growing, and the people that love Drum and Bass are incredibly passionate about it, and there’s a strong bond within the people that go out. Obviously I can only see that continuing, I don have any predictions as to what’s going to happen, I suppose that would take the excitement out of it. But I can tell you that there is an incredible year ahead for 2015!
M: Speaking of the year ahead, have you got anyone that you have signed to RAM quite recently that you feel quite excited about and we should be keeping an eye out for?
A: Well we have signed a lot of people and we have incredible artists that people know of, but someone who people don't necessarily know of yet, but who we are very excited about is a guy called "Bensley" from Canada. We signed him, and no one has ever heard of any his music and we are formulating the project now. He's an incredible talent who makes beautiful music, and I think everyone will just be really blown away by him.
M: Ok, well now we have talked about the future plans, there is only one question that remains. It's a bit of a Guestlist classic question which is not music related but it can be quite interesting. If you were an ice cream, what flavour would you be and why?
A: Are you serious! (laughs followed by a long pause) I'm just thinking here, what flavour would I be. Well, I'm going to go with Cookie Dough, I've got no reason behind it, apart from that its my favourite ice cream and I like it. Its classic, lots of people like it, its timeless, but it has its unexpected moments where you get a little bit of cookie dough and its like "wow" this is something new.
M: Thank you for talking to us today, and humouring me on the Ice Cream question! We hope you have a great day and manage to get that remix done.
For your chance to win 2 tickets to Andy C all night at the Brixton o2 on Friday 31st 2014, click this link to enter. Hurry, closes soon.
Interview by: Miriam Johnson @MiriamEJohnson
