Elite Force: Making hits for the tech-funk mafia

Along with his musical compatriot Meat Katie, the UK’s Elite Force is the reigning master of the tech funk: that widely-cast musical net that takes in breaks, techno, house, electro and where basically, there are no rules. And it’s not a term that he shies away from. “Well in some ways it’s not that surprising that people have tagged myself and Meat Katie with that particular label as it’s an agenda that we’ve both been pursuing for some time now,” he says.

“The basic premise of it was never to create another label of convenience to tag a specific style with, it was more the opposite … we wanted it to be inclusive rather than exclusive, a catch-all term that summed up our approach to running our labels and doing our DJ sets – a kind of open access approach to what we were into.” So he’s happy to be called the ‘godfather of tech funk’ then? Not exactly. “Being called a ‘Godfather’ is a bit far-fetched – it makes me feel like a senior citizen!”

Glad we’ve got that sorted out then – such a high-ranking member of the mafia isn’t someone you really want to mess with. ITM has a chat as he prepares to return as part of this year’s Future Music Festival tour.

What were some of the key influences (individual artists) that made you gravitate towards developing your signature tech-funk style?

Well in the early days the likes of Jon Carter, Renegade Soundwave, Depthcharge, Justin Robertson, Andrew Weatherall, Chemical Brothers, Richie Hawtin, Layo & Bushwacka and Laurent Garnier were all big influences, as much as anything because of their devil-may-care attitude to what they played – crossing boundaries, leaving you just floored by the kind of blend they’d put together…. At their best, they’d sit outside of a specific genre and were just damned hard to pigeonhole. In artist terms, how long’s a piece of string – there are hundreds of them, and as a label-owner I’m unearthing more and more every week.

What advice can you give for up-and-comers?

Making music is a craft – it’s something you need to put in some real graft into, and these days way too many people have it far too easy. Software, computers, audio sources, everything is geared to instant gratification… A kind of out-of-the-box functionality that everyone seems to demand. It takes time and it takes determination and perseverance – but if you possess those qualities and stay focused, you can go a long way. In many ways it’s never been easier to be heard, but it’s also never been harder to make a living from it.

You do a lot of collaboration work and remixes for movies and computer games and other artists – who is the most fun to work with?

Actually that’s probably something of a myth to be honest – I haven’t done a collaboration for over a year and I rather like the solitary working life at the moment – in fact, I’ve never had a more creative period than I’m having at the moment. It’s not to say I don’t enjoy collaborating, it’s just not that easy to get people’s schedules working in tandem. A lot of game/movie stuff is now done remotely via broadband connections, so I can easily complete projects without any face-to-face contact, but that’s where the DJing comes in :)

What are your favourite types of projects to work on?

My own really. I love the challenge of an artist album or a mix album – something larger than life. Most projects I work on now tend to be things I’m pretty much into doing for one reason or another.

What’s the process when picking a track to remix? Do you work off a process of elimination? Does the track need to have certain elements for you to remix it or do you just love a challenge?

It’s a combination of things – a lot of the time it comes down to doing swap mixes to get more content for my label, but if some one approaches me to do a remix then it comes down to whether I like the original material or can envisage a way of the mix taking shape… And of course whether I have the time to do it. I don’t like working with much guidance in my mixes; major labels will often say ‘we want a full vocal using’, and for me that would be a non-starter as it’s just not something I’d ever play, and nor would most DJs out there.

Out of interest – do you get heaps of confused Star Trek nerds coming to your gigs after the Elite Force video game was launched in 2000?

Haha. No, that’s never happened once I don’t think.

Back to the music – you’ve got a lot of things on the go: Strongarm Sessions, Lot 49, Adrift Recordings, soundtracks and playing gigs all over the world – how do you juggle all your commitments?

Ah, well Adrift Recordings was never anything to do with me and they went bust 14 months ago now! I’m running my own imprint these days, U&A Recordings and it’s been a great first 8 months for the label, with tracks and mixes out there from Perc, Hybrid, Blende, Vandal, Speculum, Zodiac Cartel, Double Black, Klaus Hill and Dopamine and with a massive amount of music scheduled for later this year. It’s not easy to fit it all in, but I just work really long hours at the moment and try to keep on top of everything.

What’s in the pipeline Elite Force over the next 12 months?

Exciting times ahead for U&A as we kick it into 2008 with style. Coming soon are singles from two antipodean debutants on the label, starting with the mighty Butter Party who set all lazers to stun with their awesome single Wriggle (complete with not one but two Zodiac Cartel mixes), sure to win over fans of that Dyson/Cirez sound. Also set to drop in the next couple of months is the debut offering for Aussie duo Hyperion, who come strong with a driving slab of techno-influenced tech-funk in their On the Expressway track. Completing their package will be remixes from General Midi and Zodiac Cartel once again.

The biggest project on the label this year, however, is the digital release of much of the Elite Force back catalogue, including everything from the Fused & Bruised catalogue, all the Elite Force Whole9Yards releases including the debut No Turning Back album, and the re-issuing of the Kingsize/Adrift catalogue. Over the past couple of months I’ve been trawling the old files and pulling remix parts off, and am thrilled to announce the involvement of the following producers in re-rubbing & remixing some of those older tracks to accompany the originals: Miles Dyson, Dylan Rhymes, Bassbin Twins, Rogue Element, Double Black, Zodiac Cartel, Meat Katie & Elite Force, Autophase, Dopamine, Kid Blue, Butter Party, Fine Cut Bodies, Calvertron, Mowgli & Solo, Riva Starr, Zimbardo, Hyperion, Dan F, Gella, Tom Real & Black Russian, Jesse Rose, Trevor Loveys, Bearweasal, AMB and last but by no means least, Deepgroove.

What does 2008 have in store for Lot49?

Well that’s Meat Katie & Dylan Rhymes’s baby really, but I just released my Lot49 Presents Elite Force mix compilation on there this week.

Can you tell us a bit more about the Strongarm Sessions?

It’s been running for 6 years now, and because of all the other things I’ve had going on I’ve had to reduce it’s frequency to monthly, but yeah, it’s my mix show I do on Protonradio and archive across the internet both as MP3 downloads and podcasts. An average show get upwards of 15,000 downloads & I’ve featured lots of people I really admire on there over the years, from Audiojack to James Zabiela to Dark Globe to the Plump DJs and all points in between!

Do you think tech-funk is an ever-evolving genre? Do you see it branching out into new areas?

Well that goes back to the first question really – by its very definition it’s constantly evolving. It is what you wanna make it.

What is the weirdest thing that ever happened to you in the middle of a set?

Someone came up to be the other day and said “Oi mate, you got any Elvis Presley.”

Catch Elite Force making hits for the tech-funk mafia at the following shows…

Mar 1 – Future Music Festival, Brisbane
Mar 1 – Chinese Laundry, Sydney
Mar 2 – Future Music Festival, Perth
Mar 7 – Ampt, Brisbane
Mar 8 – Future Music Festival, Sydney
Mar 8 – Halo, Hobart,
Mar 9 – Future Music Festival, Melbourne
Mar 9 – Candy Bar, Melbourne
Mar 10 – Future Music Festival, Adelaide