Spencer Parker - Spencer Parker Can't Lose
Acid house and techno are just two of the loves of DJ/producer Spencer Parker. The man behind the latest Rekids Revolution compilation, 3D chats to the Londoner about labels, narcissism and his impending Oz trip.
Rekids is releasing the three-CD compilation Rekids Revolution, showcasing the best contemporary sounds of Rekids favourites such as Radio Slave, Mr G, Runaway and yourself. What is it about Rekids that set them apart from other electronic labels-
Well, the reasons I like working with the guys there are pretty simple. I’m pretty new to production and when I started to produce tracks I only really wanted to place them on a label that meant and stood for something. In this age where, literally, anyone can set up a label in their bedroom I wanted to work with an imprint that supported new, interesting underground artists, that took risks with remixers, that made an effort to have interesting artwork and was really committed to the one thing that so many labels now lack – quality control.
After moving into production three years ago, have your DJ sets changed much to accommodate your own material-
They have changed a little as I now have a lot more of my own tracks to choose from, I guess. I’ve always done a lot of my own re-edits to make my sets unique and a few of these have been really well received by a few other DJs too (Nic Fanciulli played my refix of Ricardo Villalobos’ Enfants a lot, Pete Tong played my re-edit of Todd Terje’s Eurodans on Radio 1 and Radio Slave has really been supporting my re-edit of Mirror Dance). I try to strike a balance between playing a lot of my new stuff that people won’t know is me and a few of my older productions that people may have come to the club hoping to hear. I like to test the new stuff a lot to see if it can be improved, etc., but if I’m really honest, when I’m flicking through my record box I always think to myself, “let me just put on the new thing D’Julz sent me instead of my new one, that’s much better than my thing”… I guess I need to grow an ego maybe…-
I love the records I make but I come from being a clubber, a fan of house music and a DJ, so I’m not on the narcissistic tip of playing two hours of my own tracks/edits. Not yet anyway…
A lot of new DJs find themselves crate digging for the finest in late ’80s/early ’90s sounds to give some supposed integrity to their DJ sets, do you have any favourite records from the ’87-’95 period-
Yeah, I have loads and I don’t have to dig for them as I bought them when they came out and have been playing them ever since! I find it really funny that you get a lot of DJs that will go on internet forums desperately trying to find out what the latest new promo “bomb” is that they saw Luciano play on YouTube, only to discover it’s an old MAW dub that is freely available on Beatport. I think a lot of DJs are in it for the wrong reasons and severely lack originality, they don’t even trust their own taste so they feel they have to play a few older tracks to try and seem cool or knowledgeable. If they just went record shopping and bought what they liked then they would invariably end up with a few cool, older tracks that no one else had really paid much attention to, and thus, give themselves a great secret weapon to play.
Releasing such a huge compilation in February really sets the pace for the rest of the year, what’s in the works for you in 2009-
I’ll be touring Australia and some of Asia in April and May as well as touring Japan and North/South America later in the year. I have a lot of really good friends in Australia and haven’t toured for a couple of years so I’m really looking forwards to coming back over. Release wise I have singles due on Liebe*Detail (Untitled Head), Saved (with Diesel from X Press 2 - Zanzibar) and, of course, Rekids. I recorded a track especially for the compilation (YOGOTO) and I’m also getting ready to release my new single (Romantic) complete with D’Julz remix, also included on the Rekids Revolution mix. As well as these singles I’ll be releasing another single over the summer (My Heart – also on Rekids) and possibly a new track on Buzzin’ Fly. I’ll also be launching my very own label that will release records whenever we goddamn feel like it!
WHO: Spencer Parker
WHAT: Rekids Revolution through Rekids
WHEN: Out now
MORE: rekids.com