“Conversations” w/ Johnny Blackouts

Adam Warped_5

Nylon Trax has started “Conversations” a question and answer interview featuring Nylon Trax artists and collaborators.
“Conversions” proposes the same 10 questions to each artist but the focal point is not on the questions but lies the in their in-depth and inspiring answers.
Nylon Trax “Conversations”, putting a face on House Music…

First up we have Johnny Blackouts  aka Adam Warped in support of his freshman release on Nylon Trax “Jark Dazz”.

1. Would you please give the reader a little family background i.e.; Place of Birth, Current City you based in etc…

Johnny Blackout: Born in Flint, Michigan in the beginning of the Disco era and weaned on my father’s psychedelic rock records as well as my moms funk, soul, and disco 8-Tracks. Currently living in Austin Texas by way of San Francisco and via Brooklyn.

2. What are your short and long term goals?

JB: Short term -to increase my studio output and get to touring
Again. Long Term- interested in scoring films and music supervision

3. Passions and/or interest aside from music?

JB: I’m a total foodie, collector of bad tattoos, and whiskey aficionado.

4. Who has inspired you and why? It could be Artists, Bands, Activists, Politicians, Family Members, Teachers etc…

JB: I received a Jaymz Nylon mixtape in the early 90’s (perhaps from the store “House” on the lower east side, I forget) that completely turned me on to a life long love of proper deep house music. Big musical inspirations also would be Hardkiss, The Idjut Boys, Prince, Chicken Lips, Wicked Crew, The Chocolate Factory NYC, etc.

5. What message or advice you would like to give to music consumers/fans?

JB: Open you mind, challenge yourself, grow!
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6. Would you say that you lead a well-balanced life if so how do you stay centered? If not what changes would you make to achieve your desired result? Examples; Read more, exercise, better sleeping habits, more time with loved ones etc…

JB: I should hit the gym more often.

7. Name 3 or more of your favorite self-produced tracks or releases. Artist Name “Track Name” Label.

JB: Johnny Blackouts “Broken” Whiskey Pickle
Johnny Blackouts “Down The Hatch” Not So Fast
Johnny Blackouts “The Ballad Of Heaven Hill” Degrees Of Separation

8. Name 3 or more of your favorite tracks produced by others.  Artist Name “Track Name” Label.

JB: A Certain Ratio “Be What You Wanna Be” A&M
Future Sound Of London “Papua New Guinea” Jumpin’ and Pumpin’
Chicken Lips “He Not In”

9. Where would you like to live and why, City, Beach or Rural(Farm Area)?

JB: I’d like to live some where on the coast of the Mediterranean eventually, it’s gorgeous and the food is amazing and healthy.

10. What is more important, the sharing of music or the format in which music is shared?

JB: The music is most the important, format is just a mere formality of delivery. I support whatever it takes to deliver the music be it vinyl, digital, or even carrier pigeon.

11. JB: I feel like I should add that I like both kinds of music both
Country and Western 😉

‘Frankie Knuckles is to house music what Chuck Berry is to rock’n’roll’…

Pacha nightclub, Ibiza, Spain - 2012
 Leading light … Frankie Knuckles at Pacha nightclub in Ibiza, 2012. Photograph: Steve Black/Rex By:  Via: The Guardian

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Acid house legend Terry Farley agrees: “I’ve been thinking about this a lot recently and there really is no other figure like him. To our generation – and for those in the younger generations who dig a bit deeper to understand the history of house music – Frankie Knuckles was our spiritual leader.”

Next Tuesday, 31 March, marks a year since the untimely passing of Knuckles, the godfather of house, at the age of 59. It’s impossible to overestimate what a pivotal figure he was in the evolution of dance music. Not only did he inadvertently give the genre its name, but for three decades he remained a leading light in the worldwide dance music community. He is to house what Little Richard and Chuck Berry are to rock’n’roll.

One of the many millions whose lives were shaped by Frankie’s music is Steve Hall, head of the long-running British dance label Junior Boy’s Own, who came up with the idea of releasing a tribute record to mark the anniversary of Knuckles’s death. The first thing he did was call two of the label’s cornerstone acts, Underworld and Heller & Farley. Underworld were about to enter the studio for the first time after a long hiatus, and Hall suggested they cover Baby Wants to Ride, a track synonymous with Knuckles and the Warehouse. Knuckles played the then unknown Jamie Principle’s demo of the song on reel-to-reel, before going into the studio with him to re-record the track a year later, as a sleazy, spiritual, stripped-down Chicago masterpiece.

“It was Steve Hall’s idea,” Underworld singer Karl Hyde says, “and it actually ended up being the first thing we did when we got back together, which is kind of typical Underworld. We were chomping at the bit to do something new, and then Steve dropped this curveball idea in.”

Underworld had never covered a song before, although that didn’t dawn on them until they had finished. “Yeah, we didn’t actually realise until we had finished it,” laughs Hyde. “I grew up doing cover versions in a band as a teenager, so didn’t twig we’d never done one as Underworld! But that was good really, because it meant there wasn’t any apprehension of how we should approach a cover.”

As with most of the band’s peers, and anyone of the acid-house generation, Knuckles was a pivotal inspiration. “Yes, absolutely,” says Hyde. “In the early days of Underworld, Darren Emerson used to bring in Knuckles tracks when we were writing, for reference, or if him and Rick were making a mix, there would always be Frankie tracks in the pile of 12ins they were using.”

Knuckles’ patronage was key to Heller & Farley’s early releases 25 years ago, so they were equally keen to get involved. “He was a very important figure to Junior Boy’s Own when we first started,” Farley says. “Andrew Weatherall, myself … we weren’t even DJs, we were just kids with big record collections. It was only when the records we were making – whether that was X-Press 2 or Ashley Beedle and Black Science Orchestra, or the Heller & Farley stuff – were picked up and played in New York, mainly by Frankie, that things really changed for us. We never even sent him our records – I wouldn’t have dreamed that Frankie Knuckles would ever have played one of my records! – but he picked it up on import and started playing it, and all of a sudden all these big American DJs were asking for our records.”

What they ended up with was an interpretation of Baby Wants to Ride rather than a straight cover version. “It’s not sleazy in the Chicago way, like Jamie’s vocal,” Farley says. “It’s very British, but I prefer that. The original is one of the best records of all time, in the house world, so I don’t think anyone would want to hear you attempt to copy it. We were always about making a British interpretation of an American art form anyway. We try to make records as good as theirs, and fall short, but in a way that slight failure ends up being something unique in itself.”

Elton John

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 Everyone worked on the new track for free and royalties went to the Frankie Knuckles Fund in Elton John’s Aids Foundation. Photograph: Jason Merritt/FilmMagic

Once the track was finished, the stakes were raised when Underworld’s manager got hold of Elton John, known to be a fan of Underworld and Knuckles. To everyone’s surprise, Elton threw his weight behind the release.

There were jokes about John possibly playing piano on the track. ““I can imagine Elton losing his temper with me and Pete in the studio,” Farley says.

He did, however, agree to support the record and help release it. “Knowing that the Elton John Aids Foundation had established the official Frankie Knuckles Fund in collaboration with Frankie’s estate and Defmix,” John says, “they offered to gift all royalties from the single to the foundation, which was great. Everyone who worked on the track did so for free, which just shows the respect people had for Frankie.”

As for why Knuckles’ legacy extends way beyond the dancefloor, John sees a wider picture. “Kindness, generosity and being true to yourself [as Frankie was], are the qualities that we need in abundance if we are going to end the Aids epidemic. This disease is still fuelled by stigma and people hiding in the shadows. Even today the greatest symptom of HIV is shame. Frankie’s legacy as an openly gay black man is that it’s OK to be who you are. The foundation will honour that legacy by using funds raised in his name to support black and gay communities, helping them to protect themselves from HIV and get access to confidential, sympathetic HIV testing and treatment if they need it.”

Farley adds: “There are certain ideals that people in the house community hold dear, and Frankie embodied them. He wasn’t just respected, he was loved, for the person he was and for what he stood for. The house community, worldwide, lost its leading light. Without a doubt.”

Baby Wants to Ride by Underworld, Heller & Farley and the Misterons is available from babywantstoride.com as a limited vinyl 12ins or a digital bundle. All proceeds go to the Frankie Kunckles Fund

This article was amended on 27 March 2015 to correct a reference to the possibility of Elton John playing on Baby Wants to Ride.