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I Almost Quit DJing After Leaving Radio 1. When acid house pioneer Danny Rampling chatted to Skrufff just months after leaving Radio 1 in 2002, he spoke optimistically about his DJing future, though two years on, he admits it wasn’t such an easy change to navigate as he hoped. “I felt totally demoralised, I was ready to give everything up, for a time I really felt like I’d had enough of it all,” he reveals.
“Though as time’s gone on I’ve realised that I’m stronger than that and the Radio 1 experience was just a minor glitch in a huge picture,” says Danny.
“Music is in my blood, especially house music,” he declares. “I live it”.
Finding inspiration through his keen interest in astrology (‘I find it can help when your direction wanders, it can give you signs and point you in the right direction on the path of life’) he’s now firmly back on track as he launches his new London club night Union, on May 1st at the Cross.
“The name totally signifies what the club’s all about, it’s a statement, it’s about bringing people together, the DJs and audience alike; people that really believe in the music,” he explains.
“House music in recent times has taken some bad knocks across the press and in clubland as a whole but that’s been going on for over a year and it’s got rid of a lot of the driftwood. I think house is gathering strength again, it’s had its downturn and we’re coming out the other side again.”
The new club also opens just three months after the birth of his first child, an event that’s affected both him and his plans for Union.
“I think becoming a father has enhanced my spirit musically, I’m so much happier in my life generally and when you reach that state of happiness and inner peace, then that comes through in the music,” he says.
“Currently I’m playing a lot more soulful music and that’s the musical direction I see for Union. I want it to be about beautiful, lovely soulful music, from deep house to Latin to Afro to jazzy house. I’m thinking about clubs I’ve been out to in places like New York, such as Body & Soul in more recent times, and Lazy Dog in London, my dream is to capture those kind of atmospheres.”
Skrufff (Jonty Skrufff): You previously ran Metrogroove at Turnmills up until the end of last year, why did you feel the need to change from Metrogroove to Union?
Danny Rampling: “ spent three years at Turnmills and I needed to retain total direction of a night but unfortunately that was lost at Metrogroove last year, I didn’t really have too much input there by the end. So we can to an amicable end and I’ve moved on. Now, it’s all down to me, I’ll be pushing the new club in the direction that I feel is correct and proper.”
Skrufff: Given that you’re back in full control, what exactly is the new vision for Union?
Danny Rampling: “I’d like to aim for a club that appeals to an audience who are really into the music, firstly; it’s not about the way you look or who you are and it’s certainly not about drugs either. I think that drugs in London clubs, and in clubs in general, have suffocated a lot of the goodness in the scene, especially cocaine; cocaine is just terminally boring. We’ll be doing four Union parties a year and they’ll be a US guest DJ for each of those parties, supported by UK and European talent. The whole idea is to bring together a decent crowd of people that love music as well as hopefully attracting a good mix of people. I’m not implementing any strict door policies, as long as people don’t look like football hooligans, they can come in.”
Skrufff: How do you set about attracting a crowd these days?
Danny Rampling: “Principally by working a lot with flyers, 30,000 flyers have already gone out. There are less and less angles to promote a night these days, it’s really reverted back to how it was in the beginning, in a sense. You’ve got to get out there at ground level and work very hard with flyers. That’s always been the way for any clubs I’ve been involved with, plus good art direction too. The flyer represents the mood of the club and what it’s about, it’s a very colourful flyer, it incorporates London, nightlife and fashion and is intended to draw a good mix of people; gay, straight, black and white.”
Skrufff: Lots of small alternative clubs like Nag, The Cock, Drama and Electrogogo have sprung up around electro in the last couple of years, have you been inspired much by that scene?
Danny Rampling: “I’ve been meaning to go to Nag, Nag, Nag since it opened because some of my friends go there regularly, but I feel like I’ve missed out there, in a sense, turning up two or three years later. I’m a little bit embarrassed by the fact I’ve not been there, to be honest. And now that I’ve got a child it’s very difficult to even go out at all right now, it’s all very new for me, getting familiar with the role of being a parent.”
Skrufff: Are you a hands-on, changing nappies kind of father?
Danny Rampling: “Yes I’ve changed a few, though not every day. I do get involved, it’s a joint effort with my girlfriend and we’re both ecstatic, it’s such a great change of direction. I made a lot of changes in my lifestyle at the beginning of last year, and cut out a lot of things then suddenly all of this has happened. Spiritually, it’s so rewarding. Every day I wake up and there’s my son, smiling at me. That’s worth more than anything in this world, it’s precious; we’re really cherishing these days.”
Skrufff: Seb Fontaine was talking about fatherhood to Skrufff recently and mentioned he’s conscious of avoiding war zones or dangerous places, because of his kids . . .
Danny Rampling: “I think he’s got the right attitude there because you do look at the world very differently when you’ve got kids, it gives you a completely different outlook on life and the safety of your family becomes paramount. I’m also refusing to go to dangerous places now, what’s the point of going to somewhere like Tel Aviv where people are being blown up on buses at the moment? That’s happening regularly, do you really need to put yourself at that risk? It’s a great place to go and play but when you’ve got kids it becomes a whole different world. In the past I was relaxed about it all but now I wouldn’t go anywhere where there’s conflict going on, it’s just not worth it.”
Skrufff: You’ve maintained a presence in Italy for years, does it remain a key territory for you?
Danny Rampling: “I still go there occasionally, I love Italy, my girlfriend’s Italian and I really have a passion for Italian culture, I’ve been playing there since 1988, when I went there with Norman Jay and I remember being amazed at the quality of the clubbing out there. Italy still retains that, I noticed Benny Benassi told you Italian clubs are all about champagne culture, well I don’t know where the fuck he’s been playing in Italy. OK, like here, if you want to go and play on that champagne bar scene, it’s there, however, like in the UK, there are a lot of good underground clubs and there is still a very strong club culture in Italy. The crowds are very responsive and they know their music, and what they’re into currently is much more the electronic driven sounds. They love electroclash and music with an electronic edge, that’s what ruling in Italy right now.”
Skrufff: I read about you owning over 40,000 records, which must take up a huge amount of space physically, where do you store them?
Danny Rampling: “I keep them in a cellar, I did in fact move on from a large number of records last year, I sold the whole of my trance collection, apart from a few key records, because there was no point holding on to them. I cleared out a lot of early US house and practically all of the trance records, which came to about 7,000 trance records. I didn’t have enough space and the decision had to be made, there’s order in the cellar again now.”
Skrufff: How long did it take to select 7,000 obsolete trance records?
Danny Rampling: “My assistant helped me out and we went through all the racks one by one and broke them down. They all went off to one person. The whole of Tony De Vit’s remix collection was in it too. They’ve gone to another record collector/ DJ who’ll be putting them to good use. There were a lot of rare trance records also included but they’re no use to me anymore. Playing 150/160bpm trance is a period I went through which I loved but I’m not going to be doing it again.”
Skrufff: Are you CD mixing routinely these days?
Danny Rampling: “Yes I am, CD mixing is brilliant for travelling. Obviously I still take some vinyl on the road but nowhere near as much as before, I used to carry two 35kg bags whereas now I take a small bag plus CDs. I have embraced CD mixing fully and I see lots of other DJs have done too. Three years ago people still weren’t keen on it whereas now I’d say 90% of DJs out there use CDs. It’s definitely the way forward.”
Skrufff: Do you own an Ipod?
Danny Rampling: “No, I don’t. I have no shame in saying I don’t have one yet either.”
Skrufff: You link to a few charities on your website, how do you choose which charities to support?
Danny Rampling: “My heart lies with Nelson Mandela’s Children’s Fund and the Terrence Higgins Trust. Both those two are very close to my heart. I’ve chosen those just through life experiences and becoming aware of situations in South Africa when I visited there 8 years ago. The Terrence Higgins Trust came because I lost a lot of friends, probably ten friends over four or five years, during the mid 90s (to AIDS). The Terrence Higgins Trust is a great charity, they also help Africa, and the people that work there are so passionate about what they do.”
Skrufff: You were a regular down at Trade in the 90s, do you ever listen to hard dance music these days?
Danny Rampling: “Yeah, sometimes, I could still go down to the beach, take a trip and go ballistic, sure (chuckling). If it’s played in the right space and there’s a good atmosphere then sure I can enjoy it. But actually listening to trance at home? No.”
Skrufff: Do you still go raving?
Danny Rampling: “No I don’t, not in the way I used to. I partied hard for England for about 20 years, major partying, and I think I’ve done pretty well to come out of that experience still in one piece. When I look back on some of the positions I was putting myself in, now that I have a child, it horrifies me. I think ‘My god, how could I have been so reckless?’ But that’s the lifestyle we were living at the time. I like to party, but my levels of partying are not the way they used to be, and I’m happy about that.”
Skrufff: Did you ever get arrested or seriously ill during those drug days?
Danny Rampling: “Nothing major. In terms of being arrested, thank God, no, though I was never a person who did things that made me majorly liable for arrest. I was once caught with an E in my pocket on Charing Cross Road (Central London) and taken to the police station, where they threw it away. I got off lightly there, that was back in 1988.”
Skrufff: What do you make of this renewed culture of people dressing flamboyantly and gay and straight clubbers mingling again?
Danny Rampling: “That’s very positive, in terms of myself wearing makeup, I don’t look very fetching in it (chuckling) so you won’t be seeing me out and about all done up. But in terms of what’s happening in London, it’s about diversity, and it’s great to have that diversity here in this city. It’s such an exciting, vibrant place already and to have that diversity going on is brilliant. If people want to express themselves flamboyantly or whatever way they choose, we should celebrate that. There’s enough dullness in this world and people who want to celebrate style and look unusual are brilliant.”
Skrufff: You’re a born and bred Londoner, do you ever think of leaving?
Danny Rampling: “From time to time I think about moving out, I day dream about moving to the South of France or Ibiza, but my heart lies here. And every time I return home from an overseas trip I’m happy to be back. This country takes a lot of criticism. I’m finding it hard to be away from my baby. It gets to you on the road, particularly when you have children. I’m trying to establish something in London that I can build on for my future. That’s also part of the reason for doing this club Union.”
http://www.dannyrampling.co.uk (Union opens on Saturday May 1, at the Cross, London: guest DJs include Dave Lee (aka Joey Negro) and New York veteran DJ Romain (of Limelight, Tunnel fame).
Interview By: Jonty Skrufff (Skrufff.com)
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