Evil???
an interview with "Evil" Eddie Richards by Micha Collins
Evil Eddie Richards is a world class DJ and music producer, plus,
founder of DY-NA-MIX, a remix, production, and booking agency that
represents over 80 well known DJs and PAs internationally. He resides in
Milton, Keynes in the UK, where he also keeps his main office. Currently DY-
NA-MIX has two branch offices located in San Francisco and Tokyo.
As you can see Eddie is a very busy man. I was fortunate enough to
catch up with him at the San Francisco DY-NA-MIX office for just long
enough to extract some information for this short, but sweet, interview. So
follow along and hear what this man has to say about where he began,
where he's been, and what he's seen on his global journeys.
First things first. How did you get your nickname "Evil" Eddie
Richards?
I joined the Camden Palace, which was based around New York's Studio 54
layout in 1983 when it had just opened. The club was hosted by Steve
Strange and mainly attracted New Romantic type bands and pop stars of the
time such as Grace Jones, Yello, Spandau Ballet, Culture Club, etc... at one of
the Halloween parties all of the staff, including the DJs, were given tags to
rhyme with their names, evil went with Eddie and from then on I kept it.
When and where did you begin your journey into the
"underground" house music culture?
The Camden Palace music policy was one of the newest, up front dance
clubs in comparison to most clubs. It was "underground," but around 1987
warehouse parties were becoming popular, the Dirtbox, Shoom, and Clink St.
were among the first. Clink St. became a regular spot for me for a few
years.
What other parties were you playing then?
The first parties, this is one off events as opposed to regular weekly
events in warehouses were Sunrise and Energy. They choose locations like
film studios, equestrian centers, and aircraft hangars and brought in huge
sound systems and lighting rigs. Within a few years the parties were pulling
in up to 15,000 people through word of mouth.
When did you go international for the first time?
In 1987 I put together a simple acid track for Colin Favor to play on
the then "pirate" radio station KISS FM, I had a call from Virgin
Records, who released the track, and it went into the national top 20.
Are you still associated with Colin Favor, Mr. C, Kid Bachelor,
Graeme Park, or any of the other DJs from back then?
All of those DJs are still involved in playing parties, I see them quite
often.
You've traveled quite a bit and observed several parts of the
world that have established house cultures. Having seen what
you've seen, what direction do you see the movement going in as a
whole?
Each region or country that I've been to has a scene that has
developed in different ways. Germany has mainly hard machine style house,
whereas Italy has a different sound altogether, France as only recently
started an active scene.
Ok, let's talk about DY-NA-MIX, the booking agency you founded
in 1990 in the UK. What inspired you to begin a company of this
nature?
DY-NA-MIX started because of a bad experience using another
booking agent that ripped off a promotion company I was involved with. To
get DJs from then on I approached the individuals direct and offered to get
additional bookings for them to keep our costs down. Things just grew!
In conclusion, do you have any projected visions for the future of
the house music movement as a whole? And what contributions
are you willing to make on a personal level?
Ideally I'd like to see house music become an international language
helping to bring people together. Unfortunately, some people see it as a
quick way to earn a buck, which can make one disillusioned at times. I don't
have a mission or any kind of objective. I just enjoy playing deep, black, and
new music and observing different people and cultures.
Micha Collins
Matthew Corwine, Online Editor
xlr8r@hyperreal.com