DJ Slipmatt Interview

We catch up with living oldskool legend and original hardcore don DJ Slipmatt to debate if hardcore is still alive, the Ibiza rush, DJ Dougal's porno role and future tracks with Amen UK.. All this and more from a true hardcore pioneer!

DJ Slipmatt image The last time I heard you live was probably around 94/95 - what have you been up to since then?
"That’s a while ago then? The same old thing really - making tunes, travelling round the world."

You’ve had a hair-cut I’ve noticed?
"Actually a year ago I did it, the day I went to Miami for the conference last year… shaved it off and then got out of town, I didn’t go to Miami this year though, got too much to do at home in the studio and try to do a follow up and stuff to the Space tune, last time I went I just went and got pissed and spent loads of money and didn’t work out there!"

What do you make of the current War situation in Iraq at the moment?
"To be honest with you I haven’t been paying too much attention to the whole build of it, something needed to be done, I can’t comment too much cause I don’t know what's the exact situation - hopefully they’re doing the right thing. I’m not totally against it, but then I wouldn’t wanna say I’m totally for it cause I don’t know the ins and outs."

Do you still see the other Hardcore Veterans like Sy, Dougal & Vibes etc?
"Yeah still good friends of mine, I still do bits of old skool and stuff, so I still bump into them quite a bit, I've got dealings with them as well. I’m starting a website up myself called beats 24/7 (full details to be confirmed) we’re gonna be re-issuing a lot of the old hardcore stuff on compilation albums which is quite exciting really. Over the last couple of years the 1991/92 thing really took off and I think it’s moving into the early real Happy Hardcore stuff now, old skool and a bit faster stuff. Even though I don’t really play the Happy Hardcore stuff out so much anymore it’s still nice to get involved in bringing the tunes out again."

I heard a rumour DJ Dougal had a cameo appearance in a porno recently - have you gone down that line of work?
"Who me no, nah - I think that’s true actually, that was years ago, I think it was about 5/6 years ago, I think I remember him telling me, they done a porno his mates record shop up in Northampton and he managed to get a cameo appearance."

What was your first big break in the music scene?
"Raindance was the first thing I was involved in really, my brother actually started Raindance (my older brother Paul Nelson), he was the brains behind it and he got the other two involved. I was DJing at the time and bang into the music and so I was there helping out everywhere I could, obviously I got a residency… that was back in 89 and that was when I started to get noticed. I was the Raindance man for a couple of years, I got booked out around the country from doing that, I think Leicester was the first out of town place I went, I got bookings round the country just a few here and there. Then we done the first SL2 tune which was in 1989 but not a lot of people heard it, it was an old acid tune, which actually did alright; ‘Do That Dance’ it was called. The more popular one’s ‘DJ’s Take control’ in 1991 which we got on Top Of The Pops and that’s what really catapulted me to getting really busy."

Is Hardcore still alive?
"It is actually it is very much so as it goes yeah, when I stopped playing the happy stuff it was at a time when all the music was very much the same, the same old formula, it was getting very lame, same old sound and that, and it did drop right off, but a few of the people stuck with it and it has actually turned around a little bit now and there’s still a market out there for it - I went and done a party the other day down near London Bridge, I played a 94/95 Hardcore set which is still pretty banging you know 160-170 bpm, all the other DJ’s were playing the newer stuff, it was a wicked crowd in there, it’s still there…"

Whilst reminiscing about 'back in the day' we got onto Hastings Pier (metaphorically)...
"First time I played at Hastings Pier was for DJ John Digweed he used to do a thing called Storm down there, going back to fucking hell must have been, I remember it being ’91 because I gave the first promo we had of ‘DJ’s Take Control’ I gave to Pete Tong who was on before me, played on the Pier for John Digweed he was known as DJ JD, Pete Tong was playing before me and I gave him the first promo was had done of ‘DJ’s Take Control’ he played it on the Radio for the next 8 weeks in a row and we got a hit with it which was good. "

When did you start DJing house music?
"96 I think I actually started playing out again at house things at the Aquarium up in London, playing there and doing bits and pieces since really."

What’s it’s been like transferring genres? Has it confused punters?
"Yeah you get the odd stupid person that comes up and says ‘er you’ve left hardcore` what you playing that shit for? Most people are pretty sound about it, once you explain to them I’m not realty into to doing the hardcore thing this is what I really enjoy doing then they sort of think ‘oh yeah I suppose so’."

What’s your favourite current music genre?
"Yeah that’s what I concentrating on at the moment cause of tune wise I suppose but I love playing out all stuff - My favourite place to play last year was Night Life in Ibiza, I was resident Wednesday night out there which was wicked it’s their busiest night, it’s in the West End, in San Antonio, I think it’s the West End’s busiest night actually, it was brilliant, I’d do a 4.5/5 hour set starting with funky house, then going right though the spectrum playing old skool then trance and a bit of hard house thrown in and even a bit of Drum & Bass at the end and stuff, that’s my ideal thing a bit of everything, it’s good there as well cause they appreciate the whole lot in Ibiza cause of the holiday spirit."

Who do you admire within the scene?
"Lots of people really, Matt Darey, Darren Tait one of the new biggies, he’s doing well, I found it quite amusing it being Jurgen Vries, you get this impression built up in your mind, I think someone on Radio 1 let it slip, first time I found out I pissed myself - people like that I suppose obviously some of the DJ’s I’ve got a lot of time and respect for, Jules being one of them, I know he’s one of these people a lot of people love him and a lot of people hate him but I’ve still got a lot of respect for him and what he does, he’s a wicked DJ, bit like Fergie as well."

Best event you’ve ever played?
"Really hard to say, there’s not really one that sticks out a mile, but some of the gigs in Australia to be honest, I’ve been to Australia every year since ‘94, sometimes a couple of times a year, some of the events out there and I’ve played in Japan where you’ve got people in front of you actually crying cause their so over whelmed by the whole thing. Fantasia down at Matcham I played about 5 o’clock in the morning, it had just got light, there was a great big platform and there was 15,000 people there and it was still busy, I remember doing that just looking across this sea of people and that was pukka. Things like that little memories like that stick in my mind."

What do see yourself doing after another decade of dance?
"I still really enjoy going out DJing, I really do, a lot of people say ‘don’t you get bored of it? Same old thing?’ obviously some gigs are better than others, obviously some get a little bit tedious. I still see myself doing the same thing really, probably spending more time in the studio I would of thought, settling down a bit more, but I’d still love to be out there DJing definitely, maybe not doing like I was 4/5 years ago doing 3/4 gigs a night, 3 nights a week and stuff, it’s calmed down a bit now but still doing 3/4 gigs a weekend, still going away, still really busy."

After PVD played Space' on promo in 2000, how come the massive wait?
"I don’t know, I don’t know, I really don’t know. The company we’re with now was gonna put it out in November and it’s been delayed and delayed and it’s just between delayed another couple of weeks I just found out this morning, looking forward to getting that out and just getting it over and done with in a way, I’m hoping it’ll do well but I want to get it over and done with."

Is there a follow up planned or an album?
"I never seem to do loads in the studio, I’m always in the studio, you know you get certain people who’ll go in and knock loads of stuff out, well I sort of go in take me time really, potter about and then go back to it the next day. Me and Lime have done a few bits together over the last few years nothing really stands out... we’ve put the SL2 thing on hold really (I’m not saying it’ll never happen again) but even the Slipmatt tune the Space thing is still me and Lime, Lime’s not really into the DJing thing anymore and it was his idea he said "oh just put it out as Slipmatt" we’re still doing stuff together - we’re working on a follow up at the moment, it's nearly done we’re doing another couple of mixes of it, hoping to get that done by the end of next week as a follow up to Space (still unnamed as yet)."

Any collaborations you want to tell us about?
"We’ve got a remix coming of Amen UK’s track ‘Passion’ we got a mix of that which I thinking we’re starting at the end of this week which is quite exciting as it was a big tune back in 95/96 so looking forward to doing that - they wanna big spacey trance mix, that’s my favourite thing doing remixing, I love it. "

Anyone you’d like to work with?
"I’ve spoke with Brandon Block a couple of times, he’s obviously a good friend of mine as well, but we were talking about popping in the studio, we were gonna do it a couple of weeks ago but we was both too busy, I think he was shooting off somewhere and I had other commitments, I’d like to do something with old Blocko it’d be a good laugh as well, both as bad as each other (I dunno if I’m quite as bad as him)"

Plans for Summer 2003?
"Looking forward to Ibiza this summer I’m doing Es Paradise on the Sunday nights. I haven’t sorted out all my residencies out, out there yet, still sorting out monies and what days of the week I can do so I can get over to the Greek Islands on other days, so looking forward to the summer at the moment!"

Slipmatt - "Space" review here