MARKEG
21-09-2005, 02:30 PM
Check this shit out! Kris Needs from DJ Mag finally got an interview with them!!
:clap: :clap:
DJmag: UR have started playing live again – a Tsunami benefit in Belgium, The Big Chill here in the UK, and also, we hear, a memorable night in Detroit. How was that?
Mad Mike 'on assignment somewhere in Japan': “In May we played for Kevin Saunderson's ‘Musicological Fuse In Festival’ here in Detroit.
That was the shit cos we opened up for Mos Def.
We was kickin' tuff - the crowd was into the shit.
Red Planet came for the first time ever and performed and that went down heavy and then we ran too long and went into my man Mos Def's time.
We needed five more minutes to play ‘Jaguar’ and Mos Def was like "Kick that shit!" and we did.
We crushed that shit!
Then he came out and just completely got tha **** off.
That was a helluva night I won't forget ever and I never got to thank Mos Def and his people so I will now - thanks Mos Def and family.
We appreciate what you did cos our families and friends finally got to see us play after twenty years and was watching that shit.
You coulda been ugly and tripping on some famous shit but you weren't.”
DJmag: With UR's past record for busting out fresh talent, are there any recent recruits we can expect to hear great things from?
S2 'somewhere in Taiwan': “The Aquanauts are kickin' some vicious electro.
They are led by the founder of Drexciya's younger brother so the waterborne sickness continues.
I'm also feeling these two new groups we got - Pervtech and Black Presidentz.
You will have to hear this to believe it.
The material is on the edge.
We got a seven-inch out on Pervtech and Black Presidentz will debut on the upcoming ‘Interstellar Fugitives 2’ album.
But the real hot sound right now is the ‘Slide’ sound.
This was the innovation of DJ Dex and myself.
Skurge is on the stuff too.
These records are hitting big in the Detroit scene.
‘New Battlepak’ by DJ Skurge and DJ Dijital - it's full of hot ass electro loops.
The fellaz are working hard man.”
DJmag: Recent singles 'Ma Ya Ya' and 'The Slide' pay homage to funk roots. Although UR's music has always been funky, why are you bringing this seventies funk element to the fore now?
Gerald Mitchell 'somewhere in Malaysia': 'Actually 'Ma Ya Ya' was influenced heavily by Zydeco!
A music Mike first heard as a kid during one of many long hot ass trips to visit relatives in Mississippi.
It's origin is way earlier than the seventies.
In some regions of the South – especially Louisiana – it is the premier dance music.
Many times we randomly reach into our roots as a foundation to go forward.
It becomes very difficult when your long term history is erased so you end up imagining and gluing stuff from your immediate past, future and present, warping things.
Or using superspliced coded genetic rhythms embedded in your soul that just come out when you tune in and call for them.
There's no real plan to retro-fit any of our music.
The sound is as random as who’s UR.”
DJmag: 'Acid Rain' and 'ElectronicWarfare' were strong statements. Has the UR outlook and philosophy changed much since then?
Mad Mike 'on assignment somewhere in Vietnam': Yeah, actually we changed at UR-039. We moved to 'Infiltrator' mode.
Later at URCD-045 [Interstellar Fugitives One], we went to viral mode.
Presently we use a combination of both as we have found great success with these two operational modes.
During the ‘Jaguar’ controversy an ‘Infiltrator’ unit alerted us of the programmers' every move.
Later ‘Viral’ units were musically cued [UR 043] to punk the enemy to withdraw and back tha **** up.
Our current ‘Midnight’ strategy involves video game radio stations, which allows us to run in your mind without you even knowing.
Something we could not achieve conventionally with programmer controlled transmitter based radio.
Now exploiting the video game technology and the infiltrator tech fiends that make and follow the games we can infect a new third generation with sonic change waves.
For live shows we now employ the 050 technique ‘Hidden In Plainsight’.”
DJmag: What's the strategy behind the Battlepaks?
Mad Mike & DJ Skurge 'somewhere in China': 'The mentality behind that was three-fold and similar to our recent re-introduction of seven-inch records.
Essentially records are expensive.
Over the years we have made many, many records.
For new, unestablished DJs it is hard to go back and collect a label's entire back catalogue.
So new kids tend not to do it.
Even though the records are still very playable.
Also the UR DJs have to carry huge boxes all over the world with them to play a proper UR set due to the size of our catalogue.
This hinders their ability to play other records not of UR origin.
Thirdly we are often under pressure from opportunistic type record companies to do a whack ass 'UR Greatest Hits’ type of thing.
Something which we are staunchly against as we have new innovative young artists on the label.
Our new shit sells, so why should we allow some stupid mother****a to date our shit and let somebody blow ‘legendary’ smoke up my ass so they can make a million with a career-ending compilation from us?
So me, DJ-3000 and Buzz Goree decided to make a usable piece of vinyl that would not only revisit some of UR's most powerful moments, but at the same time lighten a working UR DJ’s field load, while maintaining the same sonic firepower, and make an affordable sonic tool for new kids that don't fly around the world every weekend but have heard about us and just could not afford to get into some classic UR stuff.”
DJmag: Many techno originators moved away in the 90s to enjoy fame and fortune abroad thus starting the whole jet-set DJ thing. How has this left Detroit?
Mad Mike somewhere in Mongolia: “Jeff Mills is the only guy I've seen with enough discipline to still produce quality records and DJ a demanding schedule as well as be a tremendous help to us here at home.
Some of the other guys aren't fairing as well.
The many long flights upset your body clock making your immune system weak.
The long nights sucking up a club's smokefilled air and drinking isn't good for you either.
The women that adore DJs also take their toll.
And then the worst of all - the drugs cats fall too as they try to keep that energy up for that 4am headline set!
Man, I really don't know how they do it.
It certainly ages a mugg prematurely if they don't exercise and work out while on the road.
At UR we train our DJs to prepare for the shit and we usually opt for short quick strikes to keep the cats from falling in sync with the other worlds.
Best we try, we still experience casualties.
Fortunately, the scene here in Detroit is always active and you got UR and Kenny Dixon's camp holding shit down.
Mike Clark, Malik Pittman and the Beatdown Boys doing their thang.
The Burden Brothers banging Octave One hard.
So it's all good. And these guys have learned from the others.
They don't stay out too long.
They always got some new shit dropping and they work hard constantly to recruit new talent - which is really healthy for any scene.”
DJmag: Many UK techno labels complain that downloading has effected their 12" sales. Has it hit UR? Do you see that as any kind of future or still stand by vinyl?
Santiago Salazar 'somewhere in Nepal': “I see iPod parties coming! Kids can't afford records just like people in the hood can't afford to go to the movies so stuff like the new Star Wars is out on bootleg.
If your product is hot, folks will buy it when they can.
So the bootleg acts as promotion for the real thang.
I'm always down for the most affordable format for the message to be delivered.
You can get the quality later if the piece really moved you to do so.”
DJmag: The unsung hero of Detroit techno is Ron Murphy, who runs the National Sound cutting plant in Detroit. How does he keep going?
Mad Mike 'from somewhere in South Korea': 'Loyalty. Ron Murphy helped many a fledgling Detroit producer's early careers.
When they had a ****ed up, out of phase, poorly segued, four or eight track piece of shit production, he would fix it.
He would make it competitive to the shit coming out of New York or Chicago.
He did miracles with some of those records, ours included.
Later, when many of these producers found global success with their Ron Murphy mastered classics, they abandoned Ron in favour of a louder, more European-sounding record.
This made times hard for Ron. Fortunately a few of us and Jeff Mills remained with him through good and bad times.
We didn't give a **** how loud the shit was or how sonically correct it was.
Why would you when you were cutting on eight tracks at most?
We just wanted to have Ron's input on our recording, Ron's experience and, more important, Ron's spirit.
It is a big part of our sound.
Ron used to coach championship baseball teams down in the city, where I play now.
Actually, he's legendary in Detroit's Sandlot baseball scene among the oldtimers.
Ron was also our coach in producing records.
Sometimes you didn't want to hear what he had to say because it hurt, but the truth sometimes does hurt!
If you survived his harsh critiques you actually became a better, more consistent producer with a better understanding of the music business.
I guess if you didn't wanna hear his shit then off to Europe you go, where smoke was blown up your ass and people tell you what you wanna hear.
It was funny when we made 'Jaguar', many of these same mother****az was running up saying "Where did you cut that at man? Damn that shit sounds good!"
I would proudly tell 'em - at NSC, mother****a!
The truth is, the record is only as good as the master.
Most of the masters Ron has to work with come from crazy, clueless kids with no formal recording experience, trying to make a hit on the bullshit gear!
His job was to make sense out of non-sense, essentially.
I don't think he will ever get credit for that shit.
Ron suffers from kidney failure and diabetes, so he has his good days and bad days.
You have to be patient. But for us he is worth the wait.
He is the sound.”
DJmag: Any upcoming projects or releases we can look forward to? And what's happening wih UK gigs?
Cornelius Harris aka the Unknown Writer, 'from somewhere in Melanesia': “Yeah, our album ‘Los Hermanos, (On Another Level)’, is available now from Submerge on CD and vinyl.
‘Galaxy 2 Galaxy’ compilation with classics as well as new music will be released worldwide in the fall and we have just finished editing a top secret project that began in Detroit and ended somewhere in Japan.
Then it's going to start in Japan and finish in Detroit.
Then it's going to lead to some other things!
It's going to be a very busy year.
We want to do some interesting new stuff while also keeping our close relationship with the fans strong.
They are the reason any of this happens and, believe me, we appreciate that.”
:clap: :clap:
DJmag: UR have started playing live again – a Tsunami benefit in Belgium, The Big Chill here in the UK, and also, we hear, a memorable night in Detroit. How was that?
Mad Mike 'on assignment somewhere in Japan': “In May we played for Kevin Saunderson's ‘Musicological Fuse In Festival’ here in Detroit.
That was the shit cos we opened up for Mos Def.
We was kickin' tuff - the crowd was into the shit.
Red Planet came for the first time ever and performed and that went down heavy and then we ran too long and went into my man Mos Def's time.
We needed five more minutes to play ‘Jaguar’ and Mos Def was like "Kick that shit!" and we did.
We crushed that shit!
Then he came out and just completely got tha **** off.
That was a helluva night I won't forget ever and I never got to thank Mos Def and his people so I will now - thanks Mos Def and family.
We appreciate what you did cos our families and friends finally got to see us play after twenty years and was watching that shit.
You coulda been ugly and tripping on some famous shit but you weren't.”
DJmag: With UR's past record for busting out fresh talent, are there any recent recruits we can expect to hear great things from?
S2 'somewhere in Taiwan': “The Aquanauts are kickin' some vicious electro.
They are led by the founder of Drexciya's younger brother so the waterborne sickness continues.
I'm also feeling these two new groups we got - Pervtech and Black Presidentz.
You will have to hear this to believe it.
The material is on the edge.
We got a seven-inch out on Pervtech and Black Presidentz will debut on the upcoming ‘Interstellar Fugitives 2’ album.
But the real hot sound right now is the ‘Slide’ sound.
This was the innovation of DJ Dex and myself.
Skurge is on the stuff too.
These records are hitting big in the Detroit scene.
‘New Battlepak’ by DJ Skurge and DJ Dijital - it's full of hot ass electro loops.
The fellaz are working hard man.”
DJmag: Recent singles 'Ma Ya Ya' and 'The Slide' pay homage to funk roots. Although UR's music has always been funky, why are you bringing this seventies funk element to the fore now?
Gerald Mitchell 'somewhere in Malaysia': 'Actually 'Ma Ya Ya' was influenced heavily by Zydeco!
A music Mike first heard as a kid during one of many long hot ass trips to visit relatives in Mississippi.
It's origin is way earlier than the seventies.
In some regions of the South – especially Louisiana – it is the premier dance music.
Many times we randomly reach into our roots as a foundation to go forward.
It becomes very difficult when your long term history is erased so you end up imagining and gluing stuff from your immediate past, future and present, warping things.
Or using superspliced coded genetic rhythms embedded in your soul that just come out when you tune in and call for them.
There's no real plan to retro-fit any of our music.
The sound is as random as who’s UR.”
DJmag: 'Acid Rain' and 'ElectronicWarfare' were strong statements. Has the UR outlook and philosophy changed much since then?
Mad Mike 'on assignment somewhere in Vietnam': Yeah, actually we changed at UR-039. We moved to 'Infiltrator' mode.
Later at URCD-045 [Interstellar Fugitives One], we went to viral mode.
Presently we use a combination of both as we have found great success with these two operational modes.
During the ‘Jaguar’ controversy an ‘Infiltrator’ unit alerted us of the programmers' every move.
Later ‘Viral’ units were musically cued [UR 043] to punk the enemy to withdraw and back tha **** up.
Our current ‘Midnight’ strategy involves video game radio stations, which allows us to run in your mind without you even knowing.
Something we could not achieve conventionally with programmer controlled transmitter based radio.
Now exploiting the video game technology and the infiltrator tech fiends that make and follow the games we can infect a new third generation with sonic change waves.
For live shows we now employ the 050 technique ‘Hidden In Plainsight’.”
DJmag: What's the strategy behind the Battlepaks?
Mad Mike & DJ Skurge 'somewhere in China': 'The mentality behind that was three-fold and similar to our recent re-introduction of seven-inch records.
Essentially records are expensive.
Over the years we have made many, many records.
For new, unestablished DJs it is hard to go back and collect a label's entire back catalogue.
So new kids tend not to do it.
Even though the records are still very playable.
Also the UR DJs have to carry huge boxes all over the world with them to play a proper UR set due to the size of our catalogue.
This hinders their ability to play other records not of UR origin.
Thirdly we are often under pressure from opportunistic type record companies to do a whack ass 'UR Greatest Hits’ type of thing.
Something which we are staunchly against as we have new innovative young artists on the label.
Our new shit sells, so why should we allow some stupid mother****a to date our shit and let somebody blow ‘legendary’ smoke up my ass so they can make a million with a career-ending compilation from us?
So me, DJ-3000 and Buzz Goree decided to make a usable piece of vinyl that would not only revisit some of UR's most powerful moments, but at the same time lighten a working UR DJ’s field load, while maintaining the same sonic firepower, and make an affordable sonic tool for new kids that don't fly around the world every weekend but have heard about us and just could not afford to get into some classic UR stuff.”
DJmag: Many techno originators moved away in the 90s to enjoy fame and fortune abroad thus starting the whole jet-set DJ thing. How has this left Detroit?
Mad Mike somewhere in Mongolia: “Jeff Mills is the only guy I've seen with enough discipline to still produce quality records and DJ a demanding schedule as well as be a tremendous help to us here at home.
Some of the other guys aren't fairing as well.
The many long flights upset your body clock making your immune system weak.
The long nights sucking up a club's smokefilled air and drinking isn't good for you either.
The women that adore DJs also take their toll.
And then the worst of all - the drugs cats fall too as they try to keep that energy up for that 4am headline set!
Man, I really don't know how they do it.
It certainly ages a mugg prematurely if they don't exercise and work out while on the road.
At UR we train our DJs to prepare for the shit and we usually opt for short quick strikes to keep the cats from falling in sync with the other worlds.
Best we try, we still experience casualties.
Fortunately, the scene here in Detroit is always active and you got UR and Kenny Dixon's camp holding shit down.
Mike Clark, Malik Pittman and the Beatdown Boys doing their thang.
The Burden Brothers banging Octave One hard.
So it's all good. And these guys have learned from the others.
They don't stay out too long.
They always got some new shit dropping and they work hard constantly to recruit new talent - which is really healthy for any scene.”
DJmag: Many UK techno labels complain that downloading has effected their 12" sales. Has it hit UR? Do you see that as any kind of future or still stand by vinyl?
Santiago Salazar 'somewhere in Nepal': “I see iPod parties coming! Kids can't afford records just like people in the hood can't afford to go to the movies so stuff like the new Star Wars is out on bootleg.
If your product is hot, folks will buy it when they can.
So the bootleg acts as promotion for the real thang.
I'm always down for the most affordable format for the message to be delivered.
You can get the quality later if the piece really moved you to do so.”
DJmag: The unsung hero of Detroit techno is Ron Murphy, who runs the National Sound cutting plant in Detroit. How does he keep going?
Mad Mike 'from somewhere in South Korea': 'Loyalty. Ron Murphy helped many a fledgling Detroit producer's early careers.
When they had a ****ed up, out of phase, poorly segued, four or eight track piece of shit production, he would fix it.
He would make it competitive to the shit coming out of New York or Chicago.
He did miracles with some of those records, ours included.
Later, when many of these producers found global success with their Ron Murphy mastered classics, they abandoned Ron in favour of a louder, more European-sounding record.
This made times hard for Ron. Fortunately a few of us and Jeff Mills remained with him through good and bad times.
We didn't give a **** how loud the shit was or how sonically correct it was.
Why would you when you were cutting on eight tracks at most?
We just wanted to have Ron's input on our recording, Ron's experience and, more important, Ron's spirit.
It is a big part of our sound.
Ron used to coach championship baseball teams down in the city, where I play now.
Actually, he's legendary in Detroit's Sandlot baseball scene among the oldtimers.
Ron was also our coach in producing records.
Sometimes you didn't want to hear what he had to say because it hurt, but the truth sometimes does hurt!
If you survived his harsh critiques you actually became a better, more consistent producer with a better understanding of the music business.
I guess if you didn't wanna hear his shit then off to Europe you go, where smoke was blown up your ass and people tell you what you wanna hear.
It was funny when we made 'Jaguar', many of these same mother****az was running up saying "Where did you cut that at man? Damn that shit sounds good!"
I would proudly tell 'em - at NSC, mother****a!
The truth is, the record is only as good as the master.
Most of the masters Ron has to work with come from crazy, clueless kids with no formal recording experience, trying to make a hit on the bullshit gear!
His job was to make sense out of non-sense, essentially.
I don't think he will ever get credit for that shit.
Ron suffers from kidney failure and diabetes, so he has his good days and bad days.
You have to be patient. But for us he is worth the wait.
He is the sound.”
DJmag: Any upcoming projects or releases we can look forward to? And what's happening wih UK gigs?
Cornelius Harris aka the Unknown Writer, 'from somewhere in Melanesia': “Yeah, our album ‘Los Hermanos, (On Another Level)’, is available now from Submerge on CD and vinyl.
‘Galaxy 2 Galaxy’ compilation with classics as well as new music will be released worldwide in the fall and we have just finished editing a top secret project that began in Detroit and ended somewhere in Japan.
Then it's going to start in Japan and finish in Detroit.
Then it's going to lead to some other things!
It's going to be a very busy year.
We want to do some interesting new stuff while also keeping our close relationship with the fans strong.
They are the reason any of this happens and, believe me, we appreciate that.”