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Skrufff.com Interviews Richard X ...
Richard X- House Music Is The Most Boring Thing On Earth
“To be honest I love anything other than house, I prefer the new generation of clubs where you can hear a Gigolo record next to a punk one. But I don’t go clubbing at all; I haven’t got the time and I’m too old. The last thing I want to do is to stay out ‘till two in the morning, then have to get up and work a few hours later.”
Sitting in a South London house on his latest round of promo interviews, bootleg maestro Richard X seems to love working as much as he loathes house. Gearing up for the release of his guaranteed-to-be-massive debut album X-Factor Volume 1, he’s clearly learned from his recent collaborators, who include Tiga, Jarvis Cocker, Kelis and one P Diddy (Richard’s been working on the Badboy’s new album).
“Diddy’s a lovely bloke, maybe lovely is not the right word, but he’s very charismatic,” said Richard.
“When he goes out to party he’s obviously a different character, but he does know when it’s time to work, and he’s aware that having someone naked in front of you sitting on your mixing desk is not something particularly conducive to working.”
Naked girls aside, Richard’s simple though devastatingly effective formula of mixing classic 80s club hits with contemporary singers and stars has already brought manufactured popstresses Sugababes a number one hit (the fantastic Gary Numan sampling Freak Like Me) and made Liberty X cool by combining Chaka Khan’s Ain’t Nobody with Human League’s Being Boiled. With both tracks included on the album as well as new single Finest Dreams (featuring Kelis) and loads more chart friendly newies, he seems aware that he’ll soon be finding himself at the same star level as his supporting cast. Benedetta Skrufff ventured to Tulse Hill to ask the questions.
Skrufff: How much did the fact that X Factor is an album affect your overall approach?
Richard X: “It hasn’t really affected it at all. I actually approach tracks more from the idea of singles, so it’s a little odd that an album has come about from this. I am more of a ‘single’ type, in the sense that I feel each track must be individual. This is an approach that I’ve maintained throughout the making of this album- which I’ve been told has worked.”
Skrufff: It’s very much based on collaborators, were there many other performers that you wanted to get involved who didn’t work out?
Richard X: “Not really. I have pretty much everyone I wanted to get, though some people I would have liked to work with ideally are already dead, such as Aaliyah. I like the artists I’ve got because they all like pop music and I also believe they’re all really interesting people. Which is something really rare to find these days.”
Skrufff: How did Tiga become involved?
Richard X: “He’s been emailing me since my first release which goes back to three years ago now, so we’ve been keeping in touch ever since. I saw him last year, when he came over to promote Sunglasses At Night and we got on really well, then I saw him again more recently and we did the track. He’ll be back again soon and we’ll be working on a couple more tracks for his album this time. We’re doing quite a lot of music together, with more stuff to come. He’s a like-minded person.”
Skrufff: How did his attitude and vibe compare to say Jarvis Cocker’s?
Richard X: “I think they’re all different individuals. I was well aware of this aspect; they all work and live in different worlds, as does even someone like Kelis, who is in R&B, and rules it. She’s totally different from Jarvis and Tiga, but to me it’s more a case of them coming around to my way of thinking rather than the other way around. All the tracks are collaborations but they have to do what I say, otherwise it wouldn’t be my project anymore. Tiga was very easy to work with, in fact, they all were. Once you explain how it is, and where it all comes from… they’re all musicians, and I think they appreciate throwing themselves into something totally different from what they’d normally do. They can see it working.”
Skrufff: Do you follow a particularly rigid work schedule?
Richard X: “Not normally, but at the moment I have to do all the promotion for the album, so maybe when this is over I will go out. The problem is that two weeks after its release a record is considered old, so you have to keep on going to keep yourself up to date.”
Skrufff: Did you use to go out clubbing much before all this?
Richard X: “Oh yes, I was more into hardcore and early jungle, which later became drum & bass. I liked garage as well. Anyone growing up in the ‘90’s in this country has been exposed to dance music. My album is kind of dance music but it verges more towards pop than straight four to the floor.”
Skrufff: Your press release for Finest Dreams uses the phrase ‘If there was any justice in this world’; do you think there is?
Richard X: “It is a bit of a joke, because I have been quite successful… it’s not like I’m a persecuted British producer, so yes there is justice. In my case, anyway.”
Skrufff: Do you feel lucky?
Richard X: “Very lucky, yes, of course. I mean it’s not like ‘by design’… who would have thought that the Girls on Top would have became so big and influential? I wouldn’t.”
Skrufff: Did you try to get into the music business or release your own tunes, before Girls on Top?
Richard X: “I’ve always been making music, since I was a kid. I’ve done a lot of engineering for other artists, that’s why I do all my own programming and producing, because I’ve been doing it for ten years for various other people on various different projects.”
Skrufff: Do you feel any sense of ownership over these songs and do you get any song-writing royalties?
Richard X: “That’s the one disadvantage, because obviously you don’t get paid for a lot for these tracks. You don’t own them. In a way you do own them, though, I’m proud of what I do, it’s not like if I don’t play the piano in the song I don’t have any involvement. In fact the song wouldn’t exist if I didn’t exist.”
Skrufff: What are your main criteria for judging success?
Richard X: “I just judge it on it’s own merits, i.e. the quality of the record, though other people don’t. They’d think I’m successful now my album is out and a million people want to talk to me. This is how some others judge success. I am obviously happy about everything happening around me and I want to keep on making albums which are going to be equally as successful.”
Skrufff: Which means changing…
Richard X: “Sure. Which is what happened with Girls on Top. Ideas are based in the same area, but certainly the Liberty X production has definitely progressed quite a bit. It’s going to change, it will always change. It has to.”
Skrufff: Are you working on anything radically different right now?
Richard X: “Well, I can’t. Like I said, the only project I’m involved at the moment are the tracks I’m doing with Tiga for his new album.”
Skrufff: So here’s one question I asked Tiga: do you want to be famous?
Richard X: “And what did he answer?”
Skrufff: He said yes.
Richard X: “Well I am famous now, but he’s like a face and I’m not. People don’t care about me being a pop star because I don’t have the added bonus of having a pretty face. So no, I don’t want to be famous. I’d like to be anything else, of course, but not famous.”
Skrufff: How much do you anticipate the likes of Will Young, Girls Aloud and Robbie Williams being seen like the Human League and Duran Duran in 20 years time?
Richard X: “They won’t, there’s no humour, no wit, no subtlety behind them, it’s like people standing up and singing karaoke songs. Maybe Robbie will still be around, since the public seems to like him. He’s funny enough and he’s got some good songs, though he’s not my type. The others are like Brother Beyond. But does it really matter if people won’t remember your stuff in the years to come? I’m sure there will be people who won’t remember my stuff. It’s pop music, it’s here today, gone tomorrow. It can be so effective and so powerful, but there’s no point in wondering whether it’ll be here in 10 years time, because most of it won’t. What really matters to me is that my friends will remember me.”
Skrufff: A Guardian writer theorized recently that trendy people like bootlegs because they allow them to listen to cheesy pop music which they secretly prefer: what’s your attitude to that point of view?
Richard X: “I always think that people like pop music, when there’s thought and when there’s a story behind it. Look at The KLF, how popular they were with audiences of all ages. There’s nothing wrong with being clever about things, although clever is the wrong word. Bootlegs do give people an excuse to like things they normally wouldn’t. Though in this day and age, there’s no embarrassment in liking Girls Aloud or even Will Young. Personal choices are very important these days.”
Skrufff: You talked in Trash magazine about NME wanting pop stars to be under 25…
Richard X: “I just find it very perverse that the industry is ruled by demographics and market research. If you like a song you like it whether the singer is young or old. I never liked being told what to like.”
Skrufff: You’re working with P. Diddy on his album, what’s he like, does he always have a bottle of Cristal (champagne) handy?
Richard X: “Oh yes, very much so. I don’t know what is happening with that project. We’re supposed to do something more this summer, though we’ll see. He’s a lovely bloke, maybe lovely is not the right word, but he’s very charismatic. He’s also quite experimental as well, I think what he’s trying to do with his new album is very brave. Hopefully it’ll get finished. He’s also a big party animal, always travelling across the world on his boats with his champagne.”
Skrufff: Whereas you seem extremely grounded …
Richard X: “It is a bizarre mismatch, isn’t it?”
Skrufff: What do you two have in common when you sit on his boat and chat with him, surrounded by bare silicon breasts?
Richard X: “Well, that’s the myth, because when we were doing stuff together it was just me, my engineer Pete, Kelis and Diddy. He’s not like that all the time. When he goes out to party he’s obviously a different character, but he does know when it’s time to work, and he’s aware that having someone naked in front of you sitting on your mixing desk, it’s not something particularly conducive to working.”
Skrufff: So is he coming around to your way of thinking?
Richard X: “No, I don’t think so.”
Skrufff: But you said earlier that your collaborators must do what you say…
Richard X: “The track we’ve done is probably more me than him, since it’s more electronic, slower tempo… I just hope it gets finished. Diddy, if you read this, just get on the phone.”
Richard X: X Factor: Volume 1, is out shortly on Virgin Records.
www.richardx.net
By: Benedetta Skrufff (Skrufff.com)
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