Green Velvet @ Electric Shock 4 - Interview

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Green Velvet Interview By Helen Brillo - www.connected.ie

"Something about those little pills, unreal, the thrills, they yell,
until they kill a million braincells" - wonderful words of wisdom from
'La La Land' by Green Velvet - Cajmere - aka Curtis A Jones - the
Chicago based Dj/Producer who banged us up with a caffeine fuelled
dosage of techno back in 1992. That year triggering the beginning of my
flagon o'cider drenched daze - ahhh! Not much of a coffee drinker back
then needless to say, I had it all ahead of me. The finer things in
life, bottles of Buckfast and bangin' beats began to grow on me during
my more 'mature' years. As flagons and indie faded, coffee and techno
took over. Green Velvets first global hit 'Coffeepot - It's time for the
percolator' started making sense. Thanks to huge singles like 'Preacher
Man' and 'Answering Machine' Mr Jones has become a club legend. A
techno-guru to many, a house-whore to others, it can't be denied the man
is a smooth operator. I managed to catch him on the wireless in his
home-town of Chicago last week.

This man has had his finger firmly on the clubbing button for 15 odd
years and has been described as the king nymph of house-tech, a fellow
nymph (of TeKno, that is), can't help but wonder if our Cajmere ever
tires of the steady club beat or finds himself running out of material?
"Hell no!" exclaims the smooth Chicago voice on the other end of the
line, "I've been doing this for a bunch of years and always manage to
get a kick out of it whenever I produce something new, it keeps me
motivated time after time, I absolutely love it."

Over the years le Velvet Verte has managed to produce a unique,
infectious and fun style of techno which has been compared to techno
godfathers Kraftwerk, and electronic guru Gary Newman. He admits the
eighties were an inspiration for much of his work, pointing out that
Kraftwerk were the original professors of early techno and have made a
huge impact on many artists all over. He believes that the whole
eighties thing had a really fresh sound in its experimentation with
synthesizers, drum machines, dodgy strobe lights etc.
"The Eurythmics, Gary Numan, all that stuff - new wave I think it was
called, it was a while ago, right?" he laughs infectiously. Green Velvet
has been on the go for almost 20 years, it could be that the eighties
are a bit of a blur to him…

His 2001 single 'When?' is a stomping rendition of a tune challenging
the social quarantine that exists in our day to day life. As a musical
and lyrical technician, there remains a pattern in house-tech music
whereby the only route is to have lyrics accompany music in order to get
the floor moving, so to speak. True or faux Mr Jones?
"Yeah, for the most part, it is I guess. I try to pump it out there the
way it is, you know? I really try to make my music as fun as possible,
it can be the best medium for getting a story or whatever you wanna say
across and once that keeps working, it's the route I'm sticking with."

When asked if he could ever see himself branching off in other
directions however non-diverse they may be, he answers proudly: "I just
stick to what I know best. It's what I know and I love it."

In songs such as 'La La Land' and 'Leave my Body' some humorous drug-use
references are underlying. Are we more akin to the idea that life is
taking our drugs away or drugs are taking our lives away? To Mr Jones,
well, it's something he personally wouldn't know too much about, and
according to him people are always gonna do what they wanna do and they
have the right to do that! Drugs are there, sure, but for him it's
really all about the music.

It's tricky to live in our little ingrown toe-nail of a country and not
have the odd rant about our ridiculous venue opening hours, (and the
**** weather and the **** expense and the ****-head of a bus driver who
doesn't let your dog on the bus) and how nine out of 10 nights on the
dancefloor are abruptly interrupted by bright lights and arrogant
bouncers just as the night seems to be starting. I often wonder if or
how this affects a live set or DJ show, are they set-listed to the last
minute, working up to that often irritating climax which occurs with
minimalist techno? Or are performers like Green Velvet ice-cool vinyl
surfers - timeless and oblivious - "It doesn't bother me, you know, it
doesn't really matter 'cause we have a lot of clubs in the US that have
similar opening hours to you guys, so I'm kinda used to it, I just get
up there and do my thing."

Halleyyloooyaa! This man is as funky as they come, even on the phone he
has an overwhelming air of chilled-out-happy-with-my-lot radiance that
breathes progression and optimism. He cool, he damn cool! When asked
what Irish techno-fiends have in store for them this month, he says with
an audible grin: "We're gonna party and it's gonna be fun, fun, fun." Do
we need to hear anymore? I reckon so…

Green Velvet plays at Electric Shock 4 in The Temple Bar Music Centre next Friday August 25th.

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Electric Shock 4 at Temple Bar Music Centre

Friday August 25th

Green Velvet aka Cajmere [Relief Records - Chicago] www.Green-Velvet.com
Educution - LIVE [Minimise - Dublin] www.Minimise.com
Eddie Brennan [Electric City - Dublin] www.Electricity-Dublin.com

Tickets priced e20 available from Selectah Records / www.tickets.ie
Doors 11 until 3.

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Forthcoming:

Electric Shock #5
Saturday October 28th at Temple Bar Music Centre

Poker Flat Records Party:

Steve Bug [Poker Flat - Berlin]
Donnacha Costello - Live [minimise / Poker Flat]
Eddie Brennan [Electric City]

Doors 11PM / Tickets e20 - Available from Selectah Records / www.tickets.ie

Electric Shock #6
Friday November 3rd at Temple Bar Music Centre

Kne Deep Records Party:

DJ Rush [Kne Deep - Chicago]
DJ Bold [Kne Deep - Berlin]
Rian Ryan [Electric City]

Doors 11PM / Tickets e20 - Available from Selectah Records / www.tickets.ie
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