We caught up with DJ ROCKY from XPRESS2 ahead of the MUCKY WEEKENDER FESTIVAL....
Ahead of the Mucky Weekender Festival which takes place in September, we caught up with a DJ and all round legend DJ ROCKY to chat about the early days of X-PRESS 2, producing house classics, how creating music has changed over the years and who he’s looking forward to at this year’s Mucky Weekender Festival. For all of this and more, read on….
The lineup for this year’s Mucky Weekender festival is pretty much a who’s who of the DJ fraternity, which of the other performers are you excited about sharing the stage with?
I’m looking forward to hearing Hollie Cook. Can't wait to hear Barry and the Dub Pistols! I'm playing a couple of sets over the weekend. Firstly with my Modcast pals, Wendy May, Dean Thatcher, Dave Edwards and Eddie Pillar. Modcast events are always brilliant, so I'm pretty excited about our takeover. Then once the sun sets I shall be joining Diesel and linking up with the Faith crew for a more housey selection.
How did the members of X-Press 2 all meet, through DJing?
Myself and Diesel had known each other since around '86. We were both working at Thorn EMI in our home town, Hayes Middlesex, and going out to similar nights and events. Special Branch, The Wag, Mud Club, RAW, Delirium etc. We started knocking about together and just fell into DJing as a duo when some mates were promoting an event on a Tuesday night in West London. They were looking for a warm up and we both said we'd do it. We then met Ashley (Beedle) a year or two later. He'd come out to Queens at the Queen Mother Reservoir out near Colnbrook on a Sunday afternoon. I think he was working at Black Market Record store too, so we'd see him there when we went in. Terry Farley suggested we work with Ashley on some music and that first happened in 1992. Where's that 30 years gone?!!!
How does the dynamic work when you’re in the studio? Are everyone’s ideas valued equally?
Yes absolutely. The way we've always worked is that someone would have the beginnings of an idea then we'd just bat it around between us until we come up with something solid.
Many house acts were short-lived. Why have X-Press 2 endured do you think?
I Really don't know to be completely honest!
You’ve produced many classic house tunes as well as some classic remixes. Are there any that you could single out as favourites?
‘Lazy’ is the obvious one for everything that it did and subsequently lead to. Personal favourites are River Ocean - Love and Happiness (Junior Boys Own Mix), The Darksyde - House Music Machine and Ballistic Brothers - Tuning Up.
I wanted to say that it’s been 20 years since you released ‘Lazy’ featuring the vocals of David Byrne from Talking heads, I wanted to ask how that collaboration actually came about in the first place?
We were working on another project, Ballistic Brothers, back in the mid 90s and David was a fan. He got in touch to ask if we'd be up for acting as a support band. We explained that we were DJs and thanked him very kindly for thinking of us. Fast forward 4 or 5 years and we're working on tracks for a new album and one sounds like Talking Heads, according to our engineer, James Brown. Luckily, our manager knew David Byrne's manager, so put in a call. David was up for it and the rest, as they say...
Have you / X-Press2 ever considered performing a live show?
We did a few 'live' shows back in the early 2000s. It was more a sort of live/DJ set. None of us were or are musicians so it was always going to be tricky.
When was the last time you played a set using vinyl? Do you miss that?
Last month was the last time I played a vinyl set. I don't miss the lugging round the heavy boxes!
Do you have a standard set that you perform at festivals or does it chop and change on the night depending on the audience and the atmosphere? I’m guessing that you have a bunch of guaranteed floor fillers to bring everyone back in line should their minds start to drift?
It totally depends on the day/night and what people are going for/into.
How does producing music now differ to the 90s both in terms of what you’re making but also in terms of who you’re making it for and how it’s consumed?
I suppose the biggest difference is in the technology. Those first tunes that we were making back in the early 90s were done in big studios with loads of outboard equipment, samplers and a mixing desk. Nowadays, all of that can be done via a laptop with a few bits of software.
Could you let us have a House and a Modcast playlist
House playlist
Emma - Jean Thackray - Venus (Black Science Orchestra Tough Love Vocal Mix)
Art Of Tones - All Night
Moton 47 - King Of Nice Days (A Marc Roberts Edit)
Yazelles - Nowhere
Willie Colon - Set Fire To Me
River Ocean - Love And Happiness (Junior Boys Own Mix)
Lady Blackbird - Lost And Looking (Cosmo Remix)
Rafael Yapudjian - Tondelayo
Harry Romero - Hot Music
COEO - Voyager
Modcast playlist
La Retrata Mayor - Zambo
James Walsh Gypsy Band - Cuz It's You Girl
Dandy Livingstone - Suzanne Beware Of The Devil
Chris Bangs & Mick Talbot - Sumthin' Else
Barbara Acklin - Love Makes A Woman
Red Snapper - Tarzan
Johnny Nash - Falling In And Out Of Love
Labi Siffre - Crying, Laughing, Loving, Lying
Brothers Of Soul - I'd Be Grateful
The Mighty Marvelows - Talkin' Bout Ya Baby
Aside from the Mucky Weekender festival, where else can people catch you playing this year?
I'm playing at Camp Bestival in Shropshire at the end of August with the Modcast crew again. The Modcast Autumn boat party on the 18th September. Studio 45 at The Social on the 24th September. The Modcast weekender in St Leonards from the 21st - 23rd October.
Getting through a music festival can be tough at times, tell me your top 3 festival survival tips?
If in a tent at a festival I always find those little spongey earplugs indispensable for helping you get some shuteye.
Do everything you can, to find the 'nice' toilets.
If you drove, don't forget where you parked the car. (I speak from experience here. TWICE!!)
We’d like to thank the good people at CrashThe90’s for collaborating with us on this interview and DJ Rocky for sparing his time to answer our questions, we wish him and all of his crew the very best for both the Mucky Weekender Festival and all other appearances. To keep up with his DJ exploits, visit the links below.
Facebook (X-Press 2)
Facebook (DJ Rocky)