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LISTEN TO MIX: download listen
PETE HERBERT & DICKY TRISCO INTERVIEW
Hey guys, tell us about your new venture Maxi Discs?
Baz: Well Pete and I have been exchanging music and liking each other’s work for quite a few
years now. He really picked up on a Konk edit we put out through Redux a few years back. And
I really loved the Reverso 68 stuff when it first appeared. And we’ve become good mates since
then, so we thought that might be a good basis for starting up an imprint. And although we
both do quite a few different projects we both had this shared sound that we like to play quite a
lot especially when we DJ. It’s got that disco vibe in it we both love, but it’s a bit more housey
and pushes it more when it comes to the dancefloor. We’re calling it Tropical House Music
cause of the house influence, but it is also has elements of Italo, Disco and even Euro sounds
in there. Basically the kind of stuff we are both used to mixing up in our DJ sets anyway.
When is the first release coming out?
Pete: It’s out now. We’ve been playing it out for quite a while and promo-ing it, but we wanted
to get the timing and distribution just right. But now we will have a few releases in a row to
really establish the imprint properly.
How did the collaboration come about?
Baz: I think we came up with the idea of doing a label on a night out…probably late on… and I
had already had this idea of calling an imprint Maxi Discs after the original 12” mixes and
sticking to one great track with some other mixes and having an old school looking label
where the info just changes for each release. It’s what disco labels like Prelude did, but it’s
also what early house labels I was into did as well.
Pete: Then I had some great tracks from Marius from a while back that were unreleased. So
when we set up the label I asked him about them, unfortunately he had already found a home
for them. But then he sent us 'Disco Drummer'...nice one. And it seemed like the perfect first
release.
Baz: I loved it straight away. And it’s a label sound defining track for us because it has shades
of deep house in it, but also elements of afro, disco and Euro mixed in there too. And it has a
very interesting arrangement which builds and builds and works great on the dancefloor. Real
body and soul stuff. Marius is a top producer.
Do you have any future releases lined up to tease us with? Are you going to stick with nice
loud vinyl releases, no mp3s?
Baz: We have quite a few releases lined up now because we have taken our time pushing #1
out there. Next up is a storming track called ‘Yo Drums’ by Pete which is a total winner. It’s
been going down a treat in the clubs and on forums and is probably the most asked about
track I have played for years. Again it has a strong house element in it and heavy shades of
Italo too.
Pete: We are going to do downloads as well because so many people play off CDs and
Serato set ups these days. And we want as many people as possible to get into our music.
But the focus will still be on 12” vinyl with that loud cut.
Do you think the house scene is picking up again?
Baz: Yes defo. I have been watching with interest in house has re-emerged. A lot of us who
started out in the 90s House scene anyway predicted that ultimately it would become the ‘new
disco’. And I think it has for the younger generation many of who have been brought up with
more commercial dance sounds like trance, r n b and on the more underground tip the shift in
the naughties towards disco and electro. So house is fresh. Obviously some people never
moved away from it and it has had a strong influence on the nu disco and minimal techno
scenes in the meantime. But there are a host of excellent new labels and artists kicking about
now, especially on the slo-mo house scene who are making excellent music. Labels like
Prime Numbers and Trus’Me and artists like Mark E, Linkwood, The Revenge and Red Rack
Em. Their sound joins the dots in different ways between Moodymann style house, Detroit
techno, deep house and disco edits. But I think Moodymann has been the key player. The way
his sound connected up disco with underground house and techno has been a heavy, heavy
influence on a lot of the good stuff going on now. And interest in him has and will never fade
away. But on the other side of things the rebirth of interest in Italo has also opened the door up
to more housey sounds on a more Euro tip as it was basically proto-house music anyway.
Can you recommend 5 tunes out at the moment that should be on Maxi Discs, but isn't?
Pete:
1. Downtown Party Network 'Into your face' (Eskimo) we tried to put that one out... a great tune
by good friend Saulty.
2. Faze Action 'Good Lovin' (FA records) hot original and great mixes from Simon and Robin.
Baz: Not really…I’m very happy with the music we have got. The follow up release by Marius is
the best track I have heard in years!!! But I would love something from Still Going however as I
love their work. And if Swag are up for making some new music then I was always a big fan of
their take on house and they have amazing production skills. Tensnake is another producer
who interests me as well. And Henrik Schwarz has a very original take on things too.
How did you guys meet?
Baz: We met because we liked each other’s music really. Then Pete came up to play for us at
Autodisco a few years ago. I picked him up at the airport and we stopped talking about 24
hours later…
You are both pretty busy with other projects. Pete with Reverso and LSB and Baz with the
Disco Deviance label and Boogie Corporation.
How do you make it work?
Pete: Lots of emails..
Do you have any tips for starting and running a label?
Pete: Don't do it for the money...you'll be disappointed!
Baz: Yeah that’s right. Do it cause you love the music first of all. Then try to get as many people
as you can whose music you love and who you respect as DJs playing your music and then
things will grow from there. And don’t be a prick because it’s a small scene and people simply
won’t work with you.
Did you both always want to be into the music business?
Pete: I guess so, i started out running record shops in London for years, and getting involved
with labels. So collaborating with people was a pretty natural progression.
Baz: Always. It was very frustrating for my old man because he didn’t think it was a proper job
at all. But I started out playing drums in bands as a kid. We used to play 10 min covers of
tracks by The Cramps and Bauhaus songs….then I got into disco, funk and reggae as a
teenager, probably because of girls. Then came Acid House…the rest is a drum machine.
Do you have any obsessive hobbies or habits other than records?
Pete: Oh go on then..one for the road".
Baz: Other than records??
What will make this year better than last year?
Pete: Start as you mean to go on…I'm answering these questions while sitting round a pool in
Bali. Yes a cheap gag but had to get it in. And besides that, rising to the challenge, and
sticking 2 fingers up at the 'crunch'..
Baz: I’m genuinely excited about this year. Running some great imprints with good people and
have some amazing music to put out. So just hope we get some love back for it. And on the
DJing front it looks like a very busy year coming up and I always look forward to visiting new
and old friends and playing the music I love.
Do you want to give a shout out to anyone?
Baz: Cheers to Andy for putting us both up on his L shape sofa in November after the Maxi
Discs launch party and for sorting out a killer breakfast!
How do people contact you for bookings?
Through My Space is a good place to start.
www.myspace.com/maxidiscs
Tracklisting:
1) Ytre Rymden Dansskola - Kjappfot (Prins Thomas Edit) – Full Pupp
2) Marius - Disco Drummer (Dicky Trisco Version) – Maxi Discs
3) Crazy P - Love on the Line (Unabombers Dub) – 2020 Vision Recordings
4) Disco Deviance 06 - Magnificent Disco (BC Edit) – Disco Deviance
5) Boogie Corporation - 94 Slices - BC
6) Awright? (Ray Mang Edit) - Mangled
7) Ticker & Cristoidz - Our Feel Love (Lunar Jam Edit) – Lunar Jam
8) Ian Pooley - Its You - MOS
9) Ajello - Hot July - Maxidiscs
10) P Herbert - Yo Drums - Maxidiscs
11) Marius - Disco Drummer - Maxidiscs
12) Chuck Brown - Berro E Sombaro (Reverso 68 edit) - CDRl
Links:
www.myspace.com/maxidiscs
www.myspace.com/peteherbert
www.myspace.com/dickytrisco
www.myspace.com/mariusvaareidmusic