Currently on tour in Australia Richard Sen of Bronx Dogs fame has a few new tunes in his pocket, and if 80’s NY Electro and Disco is your thing then watch out for the Bronx Dogs‘ soon to be released Album or go catch Richard mixing it up at a discothèque near you!

What venues citys will you be performing in, Will you be catching up with Paul Eve (former Bronx Dogs)?

I’m playing in Byron Bay with Paul and Adelaide (Minke Bar) Sydney (Slip Inn, Chinese Laundry) on my own.

On your new album, what tunes are you planning to do cover versions of?

I’ve planned 2 covers – one is a track by a punk band called Bush
Tetras and is called “can’t be funky”. And the other is an old house tune by Ralphi Rosario called “get up get out”.

How many tracks?

10 hopefully

You have included guest vocalist Sam Lynham, could you tell me more about her work?

Sam used to sing with a band called Gramme, that’s where I heard her
voice. It’s very English, quite punky and individual.

Will there be any other guests included?

Not yet but maybe.

Was there any extra guest production work done or is it purely a solo effort?

Paul and I started work on it last summer and we got some rough ideas
down. We also work with a couple of engineers – Craig Walsh, who makes techno and Neil Beatnik from Wall Of Sound.

How has your latest release “Rough and Dirty/London After Midnight” been doing in the charts and on the DJ circuit? Have you been playing it out as much as possible?

Well, London After Midnight seems to be the choice for most DJs I know. DJs like Harvey, Craig Richards and Kenny Hawkes were all playing it and I have dropped it a few times. I rarely play my own stuff as I have so much other stuff to play which I find more interesting.

Does the new album have a heavy electro influence?

Electro and disco have always been a big influence on the Bronx Dogs
sound.But recently it’s been hyped and is really trendy over here at the moment.

The Album has been described as 80’s New York meets Shoreditch 2002, who/ what is Shoreditch?

Shoreditch is an area of London which is really trendy. I’m ashamed to say that I live there. It’s full if posh kids who think they’re fashionable, everyone is wearing Converse trainers looking scruffy and listening to 80s electro pop.

Are there any Australian producers that you have been getting into
recently?

I haven’t heard much Australian stuff. I like The Resin Dogs and Ransom.

Your last compilation, Powercuts was reviewed as “compilation of the week” in 7magazine. What other compilations of that style would you rate alongside your own?

There aren’t many comps of old electro. My friend Sean has put together a comp called “Disco not Disco 2” which is out on Strut at the moment. I reccommend that strongly.

How hard was it to compile 12 tunes for “Powercuts”,where there a whole bunch of tunes that missed out?

I started off with about 20 records but a lot of them couldn’t get
licenced for one reason or another.

The Bronx Dog’s last release “Enviro” was a big shift in style compared to previous releases. What influenced this change and were you worried that a lot of punters would be turned away by this new “enviro” sound?

We wanted to move forward and not just get tagged as a breakbeat act.
I’ve played house and techno since 1989 and have always listened to new electronic music. We still kept an 80s New York vibe to it, where hip hop, punk, electro and disco all come together. Most people didn’t get it but the people I respect like Trevor Jackson and Weatherall were into it.

What producers were you listening to at the time?

German electro stuff like Anthony Rother, old Cerrone tracks, Detroit
techno.

Besides producing your own music and travelling the globe, records in hand. Do you still get down n dirty on the streets, spray-cans and caps in hand?

No I can’t get into trouble any more, I’m too old! It would take me
ages to get good again.

Are you still doing art for record labels / clubs?

No I just concentrate on music now

Does your production work reflect what you have been playing live in your DJ/ club sets?

Kind of, I play a lot of house and techno but find it hard to make a
quality track cos there’s so many good producers. I’m still trying to
find my own sound.

Have your DJ sets evolved much over the last 13 years?

Well the music has changed so much and I just keep up with it. I
definitely have my own sound when it comes to DJing. I’ve been doing it so long now that I know what I like – fucked up, sexy, funky music which mixes dark European sounds with soulful Black American sounds.

Favourite DJ? Harvey. He’ll either be really good or really bad, play something really cheesy one minute and something that will blow you away the next.

Favourite producer?

I’m really into Parallax Corporation at the moment, anything on Viewlexx from Holland.

You received nomination for Best New DJ @ the ‘98 music awards. A great excuse to get drunk! How did that go down for you? (funny to get nominated best new DJ when you have been DJing for how many years
before that??)

I think it’s a load of shit all those awards. I’ve never mixed with
people from the music business in London. Have you read Muzik recently?

You have signed with Illicit records. Will you be doing any work with other artists on that label?

No, I’m kind of doing a different style to most of the other artists.

What is next for Richard Sen? (Bronx Dogs?)

Well, hopefully get better at production and make a decent living. I’m a DJ first though and still love watching people go mad when I’m playing.

Richard plays Good Vibrations this Saturday @ the Slip Inn. Plus Byron Bay & Adelaide, Consult our What’s On database for more details.