god bless the chilled
by lisa loco on may 30, 2003, 00:30
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beat-less dance floors? mixmaster morris talks down tempo to lisa loco.
mixmaster morris is now a famous ambient ambassador, having once upon a time been a computer boffin for ken livingston! "it's time to lie back and be counted", states the so-called scarlet pimpernel of underground trance music, indeed morris' latest release, god bless the chilled is a musical manifesto in itself. previous avant-garde production works such as the irresistible force and global chillage have championed the underground and discredited many unwritten industry rules.
to try and classify mixmaster morris means perhaps we don't understand what he is about. a postmodern hippy of sorts he advocates musical freedom, diversity and quality and has no consideration for reaching priority marketing targets. since the '70s mm morris has successfully dj'd around the globe from glastonbury to the full moon desert party. he also, interestingly has a (cup-winning) coffee shop in amsterdam named after his second album, global chillage which must be way cool! we caught up with mm morris recently at back2basics, rehab in leeds, where he was spinning some house alongside dave beer himself, to ask about some musical matters!
ll: so tell us about your new chill album?
mm: god bless the chilled, is finally out after a long time, and most of the tracks are material i played at return to the source when it was at the london academy. i used to play there a great deal. it was a special kind of club with two chill-out rooms, one down tempo and one beat-less. it's remarkable really as it's the first mix cd i've done that actually sounds like the sets i play out. it's like a snap shot from the turn of the millennium.
ll: how do you chill-out yourself?
mm: with even more chill-out music! [laughs] when i'm producing a track i like to run it for days and even sleep to it! there's always music on in my house, i listen to all the tracks that people send me, and that can take all day. there's not much exposure for this kind of independent music so i get sent loads as people know i broadcast and play it!
ll: do you think the chill-out music scene is growing?
mm: yes definitely in terms of people making the music. it's also an age thing really in that when you get to a certain age you often want a change from the main room music in a club.
ll: what do you think of the current uk dance scene?
mm: there's a lot of lame music about in my opinion and regarding the charts there's little to get excited about, but hasn't that always been the case? my music is in my heart not the charts though!
ll: were you once a programmer for the british government?
mm: no, but I did do computers for ken livingston at county hall, I used to work at the glc before maggie abolished it in 1987! so I took the redundancy cheque, bought a sampler and did something useful with my life!
ll: what have you seen to be the major changes in dj'ing and club culture?
mm: i have dj'd since 1981 when i was at kings college, london and heard my first nyc mix tapes in about '84 when i met and worked with coldcut, which was the start of many things... i was more into the john peel live sound than the typical dj sound. it's peculiar now all that '80s sound is returning and is even fashionable!
ll: what do you think the future holds for the dj?
mm: obviously more cds and laptop computers as technology advances are evident. not nice to look at i admit, but then djs were never very nice to look at right? electronic music isn't just that anymore, its become a hybrid form, all cutting edge people tend make all their own samples combining live instrumentation with electronics. artists who can do both have a distinct advantage. i champion all those who have both technical and musical ability combined!
ll: once something is commercialised is it therefore instantly non-credible in your opinion?
mm: i used to be very hardcore about that and would only play independent music. i had an attitude of 'here's some tracks you won't have heard before so shut up and listen', but now mainstream crowds are used to being spoon-fed records they know already so that idea is not so cool currently. so now i tend to keep a watchful eye on the major label releases as well and if it's good i'll play it.
i'm playing royksopp at the moment and that's top thirty, so there! having said that there are not many artists who can sell masses of records and still retain their edge musically. i think many people are now bored with the over-commerciality of music and it's noticeable that mainstream music magazine circulations are all down which has to be good news!
ll: how do you relate to the opinion that the uk's music press has a bias problem toward druggy, hedonistic, non-musical, content?
mm: hmm, it's the same in the states too though! they have mixer magazine, which is exactly the same as mixmag! xlr8r (san francisco) is the best dance magazine in the world, in my opinion. there's also d-buzz, which only comes in german unfortunately. i think many people are now bored with the music scene and drugs, which lead to the £1 ecstasy pill mixmag lauded on their front cover a few months back. players in the music business who will stand the test of time will be those who keep up quality regardless. clubs like basics and miraculous labels like ninja tune and warp have been going over a decade. for independent concerns to last they have to maintain quality control!
ll: finally did the northern housey back2basics gig go well?
mm: really well! it was even better than last time, less moody and in a new venue which was smaller, harder to get into and more expensive! the club was rammed and the floor quite religious in the main room, i haven't seen a club go off like that in this country for years! the crowd were really into it and up for it, which was very refreshing! i played house this time, having made the mistake of being too down tempo on my last visit. then on the sunday i played a cool chill-out spectacular in a small bar in town called milo which i'd love to do again!
look out for a new album of original work from mmm this summer; in the meantime check out http://www.southern.com/MMM/
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