Nolimit Posted November 2 Report Share Posted November 2 CUT FROM A DIFFERENT CLOTH Craig Richards shows himself to be a man of many parts as we talk to him about Fabric, The Bomb and the release of his eagerly-awaited mix CD Oct 26, 2001 Maybe you’ve caught Craig Richards rocking the crowds at Fabric early on a Sunday morning. Or perhaps you’ve seen him blow up The Bomb with Lee Burridge at a Tyrant night. It could well be that you’ve been to one of his intimate Sneaky breakbeat sessions on Baker Street. If any of the above apply, then you’ll no doubt be familiar with his energetic, no-holds-barred DJing. Don’t let appearances deceive though, hard-hitting techno turntablist he may be, but there’s far more to Craig than his ability to move a crowd, as Spaced found out when we caught up with him for a chat about Fabric, art, and all things Tyrannical.As a club, Fabric has a reputation like no other. The place regularly attracts the best DJs in the world, and the high-profile line-ups are second to none. So when the organisation decides to enter the cut-throat world of the mix CD, you know you're in for something a bit special. Having put so much thought into their music policy, the first Fabric album was always destined to be thoughtful and different. Small wonder then that they chose Craig Richards to mix it, with his knowledge of the music and the nights that have made the club what it is. So why is a Fabric residency so special? ‘I think it's mostly the fact that I’ve had an opportunity to play so late - there’s a great energy and freedom when you play so early in the morning. Also, when I was guesting I only used to get two or three hours really, and now I regularly play three to four. I’ve also got two rooms that I can play in, and they’re very different in energy, so within the residency I’ve got more scope.’What’s perhaps most notable about Craig’s Fabric CD is that it doesn’t rush out and grab you with 'big' records, as you might expect. And Craig does have his reasons for this more subtle approach. ‘Yeah, first of all I guess I didn’t just want to put out a slab of Saturday night - I wanted to use some of my favourite records, and give it a real 6am feel. It’s quite sort of ‘swooshy’ I suppose, and perhaps a little self-indulgent, but that’s what I came up with. 73 minutes is such a short period of time - the only other time I’ve done mix CDs before, they’ve been double albums, and obviously you’ve got a lot more leeway there. I felt like I went out on a limb a bit with it, but am really pleased with the results - it represents me as much as it does the Sunday morning vibe at Fabric. That was really important to me, because it would have been a lot easier to have taken 15 records from my Saturday night box and just mixed them together. I think it’s quite gentle really.’The mix marks a significant departure from the stuff he’s done for Tyrant, which had a more immediate, vocal flavour, and Craig is quick to differentiate the two projects. ‘It wasn’t deliberate to not use any tracks with vocals, but there’s hardly any vocal stuff on there. The Tyrant CD is really about the energy that’s created between Lee and I when we play together – when it was one record each and it was a much more push-pull thing. Also, we had two CDs to fill; so I think maybe it’s just a bit deeper. I’m reluctant to use the word deeper, because it’s such an over-used word, but in my eyes the sounds are just a bit er...deeper.’So how does playing with Lee affect his style then? ‘It’s a very, very different energy. When Lee and I play together we play one record each so it’s actually quite relaxing in that you’ve got double the time to think about your next tune, and you’re able to put a lot more thought into where things are going because you’ve got more time. Both of us have our own particular energy and Tyrant is really a fusion of that. We meet in certain areas, like with breakbeat.This particular ‘common area’ produced not only the Tyrant nights but also helped to develop the whole scene in the UK, and move breakbeat into the mainstream consciousness. Without the Richards / Burridge musical partnership, the current breaks scene would certainly be much poorer. ‘It was breakbeat really that drew us together, because although we were playing different styles of house we were both really interested in breakbeat at the time. A lot of it was through friendship - we wanted to do parties, and we’ve always been of a mind that you put on your own gigs rather than waiting around for them to come to you. We thought that we had something really good to offer and we didn’t want to wait around to be booked. We just cracked on with it I guess.’This partnership has proved itself to be firm on all fronts, and looks likely to continue long into the future - ‘Lee and I are going to release another Tyrant CD in February. I’ve actually cut back on a lot of my gigs because I want to calm all that down a bit so that I can get in the studio more; it’s really important to me that I start making some music. That’s my personal ambition right now. I just want to make some time in order for that to be able to happen. Also, I suppose that, on a personal level I want to start painting again.’Yes, that’s right, painting. For as well as being one of the country’s more creative DJs, Craig also has a degree from St. Martins Art School, and an MA from the Royal College. It’s his photography that adorns the Another Late Night series of mix compilations. So what of the artistic side to Tyrant? ‘Well, building a website and getting some sort of creative profile for Tyrant is a big priority for me. But time’s always the main pressure - you can’t do everything. I'm going to cut back on all the travelling and running round next year to concentrate on Fabric, because my residency there is the most important thing to me. It’s brilliant, and having played at lots of different clubs I can honestly say that it takes some beating.’Craig’s Fabric mix CD will be released on November 5, available on Fabric’s website at www. fabric-london.com this mix has to be one of my favorites of 2001. next up is james lavelle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digital7 Posted November 2 Report Share Posted November 2 Fabric01 kicks fucking ass all over the place. what a compilation, what fluid mixing, what groove, what vibe, what journey .. geez, I can't say enough about this compilation, it's tops on my list! Craig does it again. very techy, yet he dose'nt pitch it up a whole lot. fucking fabulous Diego! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marick Posted November 2 Report Share Posted November 2 i must agree with you 2! this cd is fucking wicked!! it's also #1 on my list! nice, smooth and in places chilled & funcky tech-house at it's best! nice one craig!! i'm not much for abstract hip hop so i'm not really looking forward to lavelle's mix much BUT i am REALLY looking forward to jan. 2002 and terry francis's mix!! now that will be good!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nolimit Posted November 2 Author Report Share Posted November 2 bring on that james lavelle noise!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshua2k Posted November 3 Report Share Posted November 3 just downloaded the cd the other day off audiogalaxy - shit is hot ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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