This interview was setting for the last December 4HERO DJ Tour in Japan,
but the reinforced crew(include Dego&Mark) is very busy,so Dego reply
this questionaries after the tour.
Q: How many times have you been Japan before this? How do
you think of Japanese audience?
Last time as I remember, only Dego came to Mission. How did you like it?
[dego] ive been to japan 5 times.the japanese audience are very welcoming
and open minded to my dj style.
Mission was a good jam for me because lots of my japanese friends that
i missed attended.
i was doing karioki in the back room with my friend Yone, so the mission
night was nice.
Q: Tell us, please, exactly which member of yours are coming to Japan?
[dego] on the last trip ian, gus, m.a.d and george from ceed came to japan with me.
Q: Question for both Dego and Ian. What kind of music do
you play (we mean when you dj) usually?
What kind do you plan to play this time in Japan---please answer both
for Osaka and Tokyo if you have such plans. :-) Are you planning to insert
MCs while you play?
[dego] when i spin i like to play a various amount of styles like hip
hop, house boogie, jazz, funk
almost anything except country & western and ballards.ian likes to
play drum n bass, house and hip hop.
and yeah we drop mc skills from m.a.d. who we like because he gives the
music space.
Q: Do you have any "favorite" or "gotta play this" vinyls when you dj?
[dego] at the moment i have to play chris energys track on music is. new sector movements voonga voon and the slum village l.p.
Q: We sense the broad and profound taste for music of you
two, listening to your music.
Could you two please dare to pick up several artists from whom you have
received
the greatest influence upon making your tracks?
[dego] influences are many such as charles stephney, the mizell brothers,the
ummah,
underground resistance, jeff lorber, doug carn etc etc.
Q: Especially by listening to "Two Pages", we
sense the influence of Sun Ra, P-Funk, and Detroit Techno.
Is that correct? And, do you like any of these artists?
[dego] yes your correct except i was not directly influenced by p funk.
Q: If you were to be drifted off to a desert island where
nobody lives,which vinyl do you want to bring in there?
You can bring only one (a player somehow exists).
[dego] johnny hammond"gears" lp especially the les ciont...track.
Q: This time you have a dj tour. What difference do you think there is to you between when you dj and when you live?
[dego] a dj tour is much less work and hassle you dont have to rehearse
and
make extra preparation for equipment.plus the the focus and pressure on
me is less.
Q: In Europe, we heard, you often have lives organizing
over 24 peolple including live string parts!
Could you tell us how it goes? Don't you have any plans in coming to Japan
with that formation of people?
[dego] we have a drummer double bassist precussion player guitarist eight
string players three singers
and marc on bass guitar & keys and myself on keyboards
hopefully we will be there late this year but our band is to big and consequently
to expensive.
we still hope to come still keep your fingers crossed for us please, thankyou.
Q: The tracks from 4HERO includes many kinds of atmosphere
so various
that we can play them at floor to dance or we can listen them at home
cozy.
At the same time, some have such an opinion that your tracks
which come out recently have gone too far away from playing at floor.
Could you explain to us how you are concious of the floor and how you
deal with it at this moment,
and furthermore, how you think you are going to deal with the dance music
itself from now on?
[dego] at time of making two pages i was not concerned with the dance
floor our hope was to make a timeless lp.
we left the dance floor in 1993 as we thought the scene did not understand
us,
and we honestly dont care if no one plays or tunes in a club, because
weve done that
and more importantly helped to invent and teach that.the rest of our family
does the dance floor,
g force and seiji, sonar circle, alpha omega, nucleas and paradox.
if people want to hear 4 hero in a more dance style then our spirit lives
in these producers.
this answer is pointed to the die hard drum n bass posse.
i have nearly completed an album with i.g culture maybe this will be more
dancey,
but then there are things i like to dance to that other people think is
too slow, so who knows!
Q: Please tell us the stories how you came to an idea of
releasing a re-mixed album of "Two Pages".
In what context, or in what standard, (or simply "how") did
you choose each of the re-mixers for that re-mixed "Two Pages"?
[dego]we chose people we respected or thought would show love in reinterperting our music.
Q: As far as I listened to this re-mixed "Two Pages",
I felt this was more like distinated at collaboration
than being re-mixed for floor-use. How would you say?
[dego] i agree good huh!?!
Q: What would be the most favorite tracks of yours if you
choose out of the re-mixed "Two Pages"? To me,
"star chacers" re-mixed by Photek and 4HERO yourselves was the
most impressive one, and the re-mix by Ron Trent was,also.
[dego] my favourites are new sector movements "escape that" hefner "planateria" and restless soul "dauntless".
Q: As I operate such a site "drumnbass.org", it
is often misunderstood, but I don't have any intension of restricting
myself to listening to only drum'n'bass. In fact, I came where I am by
tracing a route, listening from various genres to genre. Yet I feel so
particular about its grooves, its feelings of the music which is now called
"drum'n'bass" that as long as this music exists, I want to share
this feelings with as many people as I can contact with, even if the given
names change again as it did from jungle to drum'n'bass. I want to share---that
would be the primary reason for my action like gathering people through
mailing lists and website.
Here is the question: as you have such an unique sound which refuses any
sorts of categorizing into music genres,
we ask this, what are the things do you value the most when you deal with
music?
[dego]i want people to enjoy music and share the same escapism and vibe
i get when ihear a track i love.
also i want people to form thier own opinion on music and not be swayed
by hype and trends .
a better knowledge of past music would also help people i believe and
thats what i hope to do.
Q: I do not agree with this, but some people often argue
that drum'n'bass has already come to a point of saturation
and even overflowing in cheap commertialisms as the form of mimic as we
find in TV commertials
(to the very latter part I agree). What do you think drum'n'bass, as such
a form of music, brought to the world?
We ask this because we read somewhere in interviews that you said 4HERO
already stepped out of drum'n'bass.
[dego] drum n bass has become boring im tired of that silly 1-2-1-2 beat
it sounds like eighties pop music.
it use to be a music that pushed things to the edge im not hearing that
happen as much as before, to many djs
and producers have become too complascent, they have lost the balls to
risk doing anything different
and this sadens me and results in me not wanting to be part of this shambles
anymore.
Q: Please let us know whatever the plans you have in releasing tracks in the future--- either from 4HERO or from some other forms of projects. If there is any projects going on at the time being, could you give us some hints what that is?
[dego] im recording a tek 9 lp which is 100% hip hop and 100% better
than the last tek 9 lp. as i mentioned before i.g.culture and myself are
doing a small lp and me and marc are about to start the next 4 hero lp.
and lastly im sorting out releases on 2000 black label & lp's on reinforced
by g force and seij, sonar circle and alpha omega.
Q: At the very last. Do please leave a message for all the audience awaiting for your coming.:-)
[dego] thankyou for all your support japan we love you and always look
forward to seeing you again.
can i have some calpis please?
p.s sorry about the late reply but i have not been in london much for the last 3 months.apologies.
(Text & Interview: EraGuru ,Translation:Kai&Eraguru,Good Help:Maya)
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