D Ramirez: It's tech house, not electro

Dean Marriot, better known as D Ramirez to you and I, has been producing records since, I daresay, the current crop of ITMers and clubbers were in nappies. As a result, there is enough biographical information about him on the internet already, so I felt it unnecessary to ask him the usual clichéd questions when we spoke. Instead, we had a lovely chat, Dean from his studio in sunny Sheffield, UK, and I from charming Canberra.

In his thick Northern English accent, Dean and I chatted about the state of dance music, his sound, influences, and life. “I’m really an accidental DJ,” he revealed, “I came from a production background, as a teenager, being heavily influenced by all these Sheffield electronic bands, people like the Human League, ABC… they just blew my mind, and at that moment I just knew this is what I wanted to do.” This was in the late 70s/early 80s, mind you, and house music wasn’t yet a twinkle in Chicago’s eye.

Back then, producers had it a lot harder then we do now, before the huge growth in power of the personal computer. “When I first got into it, the equipment was really really expensive; I earned £27.50 per week as teenager.” Dean was training to be a hairdresser, quite a different career to his current one of producer and superstar DJ. After getting into enormous debt and blacklisting his parents so they could get more credit, he ended up with an Atari running Cubase, an Akai S1000 sampler, a few keyboards that were begged, borrowed or stolen, and a hand-me-down mixer. This kit served surprisingly well, and for a long time.

These days just about anyone with a computer can make music (although some of it would be hard to classify as such!) When questioned about it, Dean replied in an optimistic manner, but with some negative overtones. “I think it some respects, it’s good, and I like the fact that everyone has access to the technology now. You have all these programs but you still have to know how to use them. You need to know what a sampler is, how to make sounds using a synth. At the end of the day it’s down to your ear.” Sound advice indeed.

The proliferation of cheap music technology, however, is a reason why there was so much rubbish out not too long ago. “It’s why dance music went down the panel a little bit. People were making sub-standard dance music, and putting it out on vinyl. Everyone was just like ‘urgh; we’re getting sick of this’. Dance music was declared dead in the UK not too long ago, but I’m glad that’s no longer the case. It’s risen again. Punters aren’t standing for this shit, people cant get away with making crap music anymore, and as a result, some amazing music is being written, and it’s all back underground.”

Years ago Dean was making what could be described as a progressive, funky blend of house. This is as about as far as one can get from the current sound Dean is known for. “I never wanted to be a progressive house producer! I ended up making it, always trying to get a bit of funk in there, but in the end, it was still progressive.” The change in sound came about due to a new vibe emerging from Germany and greater Europe. When asked about inspirations, Dean says that Tiefscwarz and other Germans have been the ones doing it for him. “You listen to [Tiefscwarz], and you think how did they do that? The German’s were heavily influencing me; all of a sudden there was this music that had melody and a bit of feel and funk.” Sebastian Leger is also a favourite, Dean remarking, “his stuff is just phenomenal. These guys have raised the standard immensely.”

Getting back to the Germans, the Get Physical label is one of the biggest forces in the underground dance scene. Dean is also a huge fan. “The Get Physical Label blows my mind – Booka Shade are my absolute favourites right now. You just listen to the music; these guys have raised the bar. You know this music was done by real people, people who really know their shit.” Interesting, one of the biggest hits on the Get Physical label, Body Language by M.A.N.D.Y, was made in about four hours. This is not always the case with Dean however. “Oh my god, this is great, I’ve been working on a track that’s getting released on Underwater soon.” Dean had been working on this particular track for 2 weeks, 12 hours a day. In the end, it was scrapped. “I came back to it, I had to have it done by today, and it was done in 2 days, just in time for the deadline.” It seems then the average production time varies, “Sometimes you can knock them out really quickly; other times you just bang your head against a brick wall.”

Remixer’s are hired to remix a track, because they are known for a particular sound. D Ramirez is one of the biggest in the game, but funnily enough, for now, he has stopped. “At the moment I’m working on my own stuff. I’ve had to turn down some really high profile names, guys like Moby and Tiga. It’s really hard, I must say, but I’ve got to do it you know. I don’t want to be regurgitating this whole Bodyrox thing over and over again. When remixing, you do end up regurgitating the same stuff over and over again, and they aren’t quite as good as the tracks done previously, which made you known for a sound. I want to be able to do my own thing, the way I want to do it, rather than based upon a track that they [remix commissioners] want me to redo.” Besides Dean states he’s rather terrible with the deadlines – “if you give me a job, don’t expect it on time.”

On his latest track, which is yet to be released (coming soon on Underwater), Dean actually sings. Unfortunately he was reluctant to give us a sample over the phone, instead saying, “I’m quite proud of this one, it’s me from start to finish; no one else was involved whatsoever.” Needless to say, the vocal is hardly processed, and no auto tune was applied. “I don’t use any of that stuff – I don’t wanna sound like Cher!” Needless to say, we’ll have to wait for its release to witness the wonders of Dean’s voice.

Although it may anger some purists, in the vinyl only camp, Dean has ditched the wax in favour of the shiny discs, and won’t be spinning any vinyl over here in Australia. “I went straight into CDs – as soon as I could get a hold of a CD deck I was right in there. The CDJ1000 is a great piece of kit; I started using it as soon as it came out, maybe 5 years ago.” He’s also been fiddling with Ableton Live, and Serato Scratch Live. “I love vinyl, but it’s dead now as far as I’m concerned.” Harsh words, but sometimes, the truth can hurt. “I use Ableton for effects mostly, I’m not actually using it to mix tracks, I still do that with CDs. To use to its full potential, it would take a serious amount of planning – cutting tracks up and making sections, loops and so on, and I’m not into that yet”.

It would be somewhat hard to describe Dean’s style. “Electro has almost become a dirty word, you can’t use the term electro it’s just not cool anymore!” Certainly, ‘electro house’ has developed into a brand of soft cheese, and not at all how the Germans envisaged. “I suppose my music it more tech-house, it’s not really electro. I’ve sort of been tinged with the name electro, because I may have used a farty noise here and there.” Electro then is more than some farty bass sounds – take note everyone!

Dean really is someone who knows what he is on about and hasn’t let success get to his head. He still resides in his hometown of Sheffield, and still has a residency at his local. This is despite the fact his sounds are enchanting DJs and dancers all over the world. This is what makes for a great producer and DJ, the ability to stay grounded and true to your roots, whilst being on the cutting edge of dance music.

D Ramirez hits Australian shores to celebrate the 15th Anniversary of the Ministry of Sound with Marc Hughes later this month:

Sat 28th Oct – Family, Brisbane – D Ramirez, Marc Hughes & Chris Lake (MoS World Tour)
Sun 29th Oct – Sounds on Sunday, Sydney – D Ramirez & Marc Hughes (MoS World Tour)
Fri 3rd Nov – Plantation Hotel, Coffs Harbour – Marc Hughes
Fri 3rd Nov – Soda Bar, Perth – D Ramirez
Sat 4th Nov – Platinum, Gold Coast – D Ramirez & Marc Hughes
Mon 6th Nov – Room680, Melbourne – D Ramirez

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macky says...

on May 31st, 2007

well said m8, agree with every word...

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