Glasgow’s Graeme Clarke, aka The Revenge, has been a staple in my record collection, in one form or another, for many years now. With a solid back catalogue of productions and remixes, along with a reputation for killer deep, dark and twisted DJ sets, we thought The Revenge would be the perfect man to kick off the ‘Yet Another Music Blog speaks to…’ series.
We were lucky enough to put a few questions to the man himself and get an insight into what he’s been up to of late. Plus, he gave us a sneaky preview of his next release, as one half of 6th Borough Project, which is out at the beginning of November on Delusions of Grandeur.
The Interview:
YAMB Other than The Revenge, you go under several other guises, such as 6th Borough Project, OOFT and Deportivo Street Team. How many names are you going by at the moment?
The Revenge The Revenge is the only one for my solo stuff at the moment. The rest are usually collaborations – although I stopped doing the OOFT stuff after the track “Make U Mine” with Ali Herron – he now does that on his own. The main collaborations for now are 6th Borough Project (with Craig Smith) and Burnt Island Casuals (with Harri from Sub Club).
YAMB Do you find that you have to tap into different influences to keep the sound different for each of your projects, or does that come naturally when you’re working with different people?
The Revenge It comes very naturally. I could never make the tracks I make with other people by myself. That’s why I enjoy collaborating so much – it gives you a completely different perspective on a track.
YAMB The sound that you’ve crafted over the years has without doubt helped to shape this whole nu-disco/slo-mo movement that’s currently sweeping the nation. Where did the sound come from and who do you look to for inspiration when you’re creating it?
The Revenge I’ve never been an advocate of one tempo / one style anyway. The funny thing about the whole ‘slo-mo’ thing was that it was an antidote to DJs rocking up at a club and horsing-up the tempo as soon as the doors opened, or playing techno in bars whilst people were having a bite to eat and a quiet beer. Tempo actually wasn’t the problem, it was attitude. A vicious circle where DJs were scared to go below 125bpm and consequently producers just turned their BPM’s to that setting by default when creating tracks. It’s just one-level nonsense.
I don’t think your average punter even cares what ‘tempo’ you’re playing, as much as they don’t care what ‘genre’ your playing. It’s how you put it together that counts, and variety is the spice of life. Now everybody want’s to be ‘slo-mo’ – it’s gone the opposite way, but at least it’s balanced things out a bit.
YAMB You’re largely known for your remixes and edits, of which there seems to have been a steady flow for the past few years. How do you approach remixing? Is there a fixed process or do you tackle each track differently?
The Revenge I only really make edits for DJ purposes these days as there’s just too much stuff out there for physical or digital consumption. I’ve kinda reverted back to how I grew up hearing edits, when you would see Daft Punk or Basement Jaxx play, and they would play something that you would only hear in their sets. I like the idea of that ‘moment’ happening, and maybe never happening again.
Every remix is different. I love remixing, but I had to stop for a while to reorganise my studio setup and get excited about it all again. I’ve taken on a couple recently as I’ve felt inspired by new working methods, and trying not to deliberate on the sound of a hi-hat too much. Although I still deliberate over the sound of a snare waaaaayyy too much.
YAMB What about when you’re remixing one of your own tracks under a different name?
The Revenge That’s easy because every time I finish a track I know that the last 60 seconds of that is the start of the dub.
YAMB It looks like yourself and Craig Smith have had another busy year, with 6th Borough Project releases and remixes flying out left, right and centre. Is 6th Borough Project your main focus at the moment?
The Revenge It’s not my main focus, but it’s an essential part of my working week. We do a session every week and we always get something out of it, without fail. Myself and Craig have been working together for about 12 years so we have a very relaxed working process in the studio. We never argue about a track. We just go with each other’s flow, and it works for us.
We’re not doing any remixes as 6th BP until we’ve finished the 2nd album, which should be done by December for release next spring / summer. We are a very niche act and have our own schedules and projects, so we don’t get a chance to play together as much as we’d like, but it’s good I think because it makes every show special.
YAMB You played out in the US quite a bit over the summer. How do the American clubs and crowds compare to those in the UK, in particular Glasgow?
The Revenge I’ve always loved America since going a few times when I was a kid – for all the obvious reasons – movies, music, culture. I was wary of having those perceptions shattered when I got my visa and embarked on the first tour. But I was actually blown away by the response. Getting the chance to play smaller, more intimate venues anywhere in the world always helps to get a feel for the scene, and in my eyes it seems that America has embraced its musical heritage and the younger generation are taking that and making something of their own with it.
YAMB Your label, Instruments of Rapture, went down incredibly well, and not surprising with those 10 solid releases. Why did you decide to stop after 10?
The Revenge 10’s a nice round number for a start. But more than that, I just like the idea of closing one chapter and starting another. I always saw the label as a fun thing to do, and when it started getting serious (having release schedules, licensing etc), I just lost interest. I’m not a businessman. I just want to make music and play music.
There was a CD release planned to coincide with the final vinyl release, but I didn’t have time to finish compiling it. I may still release that next year, but other than that, Instruments Of Rapture has become a fun monthly night for me and the boys to play some tunes together.
YAMB What’s coming next? Any releases in the pipeline or any UK live shows?
The Revenge I’ll be setting up a new label at the beginning of next year (with someone else to run it hopefully!) and then I’ll be working on my live project ‘Bodyfusion’ with my friend Paul. We used to do a live thing as Deportivo Street Team years ago, so that helps. We’ll be doing a special Halloween show in Glasgow at the Sub Club which will provide a final rehearsal before embarking on a few UK / European shows early next year.
YAMB As someone who spends so much time either in the studio or on the road, do you get much time to listen to what’s happening on the radio nowadays? What do you make of today’s pop music?
The Revenge I listen to the radio a lot actually. A massive variety of stuff from pop, classical, talk, alternative etc. I’ve not owned a TV for a couple of years because it was too much of a distraction. I love just listening and getting on with other stuff.
‘Pop music’ is just music that is popular. As always with any music it’s all about personal taste. I like some and don’t like some, but I think to just write off ‘popular music’ as “shit”, is as bad as saying, ‘dance music’ is all just “boom, boom, boom”.
YAMB One track that everyone should look out for at the moment:
The Revenge OOFT ‘LGB’
YAMB If you could banish one track to hell for all eternity?
The Revenge Anything Kanye West sings on.
A huge thanks to The Revenge for taking the time to talk to us. If you want to catch him DJing, get yourself down to Sub Club in Glasgow for the monthly Instruments of Rapture party (check the Facebook page here). Also, don’t forget to keep your eyes peeled for the forthcoming 6th Borough Project album – it looks set to be huge!
