How did you get involved in the massive Sunday Social event?
The promoter Ash is a friend of mine and he asked me if I could talk to Danny Rampling and see if I could get him on the gig. I got pulled into it as well, but it’s all for a good cause, the Children’s Burns Trust. And it’s a great line-up. I’m really looking forward to seeing Kenny Hawkes cos I haven’t seen him play in ages. I used to go and hang out at Space at Bar Rhumba in the mid 90s and I always liked what he played. A great DJ.
You’ve got your first album coming under your own name haven’t you?
I’ve done one as part of The Rhythm Masters but this is my first solo LP. It’s coming out on Nic Fanciulli’s Saved Records and is a mix of deep house, techno, some traditional house, a few vocals. It’s kinda old school sounding but with a futuristic technology kick. I’m working on another album at the moment, which is more organic, there’s a lot of live instruments involved.
You’re really prolific – how many tracks do you make a year?
I probably release around 20 to 30 a year – it’s quite a lot. My next one is ‘The Noise Bastard’, the first track off the album, with a Santos mix. The album will follow soon after. My next single on Smack, my record label, will be out in April. I took a step back from remixing a couple of years back; it was getting on my tits a bit. The A&R men want it a certain way and you’ve got your spin on it and it’s a fight.
It’s easier than ever to make music now – is that a good thing?
What the technology has done is given the younger generation a chance. I remember when I was starting out at 15, an S900 sampler that could sample 10 seconds cost about three grand. There’s no way you could have afforded it at that age. But Beatport are putting out 3,000 records a week. The quality control is lacking. People don’t use synthesizers or compressors or mixing consoles any more, everything is done inside the computers. These things give the sound a colour. When it’s all done in one machine, everything is going to sound the same.
What’s the most extravagant bit of equipment you have in your studio?
I’ve got a lovely speaker set up, a full range Genelec system, which are very expensive – between £12,000 and £15,000. But probably the most extravagant purchase was these Neve equalizers from one of the original 70s desks. The guy wanted eight grand cash for them and I bought them. They’re worth so much more now but handing over all that cash – it’s half the down payment on a flat for god’s sake.
You have some incredible people come and work in your studio though, don’t you?
They’re just friends really, but yeah. Recently I’ve been working with Cagedbaby, D.Ramirez, Mark Brown from Cr2, Dave Spoon, Paul Harris, and Nic Fanciulli, who I’ve been working with for around four years. If someone has an idea I know how to get it out of the speakers very quickly. I work very fast.
FYI
www.myspace.com/mrstevemac
Sunday Social: Concorde 2, Sun 7th March 2010
Also Playing: Danny Rampling, A Certain Ratio, Justin Robertson
