Mr C - The Man Behind The End
While the name Mr C may not necessarily jump out at you, his clubbing establishment in London – The End – certainly will. Oh, and did we mention he was the frontman for The Shamen- 3D’s Daniel Crichton-Rouse spent a few moments with the legend ahead of his Sydney set.
So we guess the first topic of conversation has to be about the upcoming closing of The End. Is it a case of wanting to go out on top- Why on Earth would you want to close down such a revered club-
Yes, it’s a case of wanting to go out on top, kind of! The club’s been open a long time, and on top of that it took two years to build and one year before that in planning. All the directors are not getting any younger and we all want to achieve other things in life so now is the perfect time to call it a day. The End is performing amazingly well, we’re at the top of our game and it’s one of the best clubs on the planet, so closing it now will confirm its legendary status.
14 or 15 years… that’s one hell of a long time to own a club. What’s it been like being in the epicentre of clubbing and seeing the music progress-
It’s been amazing. I’m so proud to have been involved in something that’s been so important, not only for London, but for the world wide clubbing community. It’s truly been an honour and a pleasure.
Can you tell us a few highlights from The End-
There have been so many. To pick a few out, the opening was incredible. All of the anniversaries have been very special. The opening of AKA was amazing which completely changed the dynamics of the building. Armando, the legendary acid house producer’s charity event was special after he sadly passed away of Lukemia – we raised enough to pay his hospital bills alleviating his family from the stress. Various Subterrains have been the bomb, as has Superfreq. One could go on forever…
You must obviously receive countless records each week – do you give each track a spin- If not, how do you decide which records are worth your time and which are straight for the bin-
I listen to all vinyl promos that are sent to me unless they’re trance or some other form of cheese. If they’re good I play them if they’re not, I don’t – simple. I don’t play digital so don’t even listen to the countless electronic promos that I get. Viva vinyl.
Would you consider recording as a vocalist in a band again – a Shamen reformation perhaps- – or are those days behind you-
Those days are well and truly behind me. Being a popstar is a young man’s game and we’re no Rolling Stones!
Speaking of which, what is happening in your studio at the moment- Are you working on anything-
Yeah, I’ve got an EP coming out in a month or so on UK label Bombis with my production partner Adultnapper – we call ourselves the Sycophant Slags. We also have a Sycophant Slags EP signed to Get Physical which will be out in the New Year, and I’ve done a Mr C remix for Richie Hawtin’s +8 label of Elements of Tone. Next year I’ll be doing some more solo Mr.C stuff too.
OK, let’s get your opinion on the digital download age – since you basically state on your MySpace page that you’re against CDs. What are your thoughts on the ease of access to almost every track ever recorded, simply with a click of the mouse-
I think it’s great that people in countries that have no specialist record stores can get the music and also poor people in third world countries can get it too. Technology is great and good luck to all those that use it to get their music. I however feel that the people that pay good money to hear Mr C play deserve the very best sound that I can give them and also deserve the interaction of a DJ spinning vinyl, so I for one will not be going digital any time soon.
So what are you bringing for us Australian fans- Got any secrets you can share with the 3D readers-
I’ll be going deep and dark on your asses, but in a very playful way. I play twisted music for girls so it’ll also be very groovy and sexy. I hope you lot can hack it-
WHO: Mr C
WHAT: Plays Club Club at Chinese Laundry
WHEN: Saturday 18 October
MORE: jammusic.com / myspace.com/mrcsuperfreq