Switching gears a bit, I wanted to speak about your upcoming appearance at Movement Torino. I had attended Detroit’s Movement for a number of years and always found it a major date on my calendar. Obviously, since Detroit is home you have a solid relationship with that event, but how does Torino compare?
The connection is with Derrick May. He owned the name Movement at the beginning. We befreiended these guys in Torino, Gigi and Juni, in association with Kappa clothing, and they really were inspired by the Detroit sound. Torino is where Fiat is made and Detroit is the Motor City, so that connection was already there. Torino is an industrial, hard working, blue collar city, just like Detroit. So, those guys got together and fused the festival in Italy.
The last time I played there was in 2009. It went really well. I think the European crowd wanted something to grasp on to. We had been traveling for 25 years as ambassadors of Detroit music, DJs, and the city as a whole. By Derrick being very charismatic and vocal, he made the best of his situation after he was no longer affiliated with the US version of Movement. It has been a good marriage!
Speaking on the topic of European events and crowds, I have read you relate the popularity of Electronic Music to that of Jazz, in the sense that it was embraced by wider audiences in Europe before America. Nowadays with the boom of electronic music (regardless of genre) in America, how have you noticed the breakdown of your own performances? Do you find yourself still more in demand in Europe then back home?
It is really interesting because I have been taking an inventory of my schedule over the past 3 years. A lot of people have asked me why I don’t move to Europe, even though I did live in Amsterdam in 1993, since I spent so much time there. These days, though, I have been traveling around the States just as much as I travel in Europe. I am spending 1-2 weekends out of the month in America, which years ago was 1 gig every 3 months or so. Now, I am fortunate to be able to see the generation shift and the market shift as well, regardless of the sub-genres.
When I play to American crowds versus European crowds, I do have to adjust my approach a little though. Europeans are a little more educated to the club culture. It is not about a multi-million dollar company coming in and buying up all the festivals. The European community have a history in club culture, and they have been there from the beginning, so it’s a little different since I can play music there that some US crowds aren’t familiar with.
Last week I was in Chicago, and I felt that a lot of the kids were just waiting for the “break”. They are waiting for something to happen in the music that they are so used to hearing out in pop culture, but the music we have been playing all this time is not geared toward that. It is a culture. It’s a groove. It’s a feeling. It’s not about waiting for something to happen within a track to tell you what to do.
Yes! Being from New York City, in my time here I have been struck by the nice balance of professionalism and artistry amongst the European dance music industry…
Tell me about it! The best festivals are ran in Holland. The productions they do. The artist liasons. Everyone is so on it! They know their jobs and they know what they need to do and it results in quality festivals. I mean, 10-15,000 is considered small for a festival there. Anywhere else, that’s a pretty nice sized event.
“Balance 038: Stacey Pullen” is available 06 November
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