More than 30 years of full effect have seen Danny Tenaglia amongst those very rare US DJ’s having a name instantly speaking for itself. Sort of too much at some times according to the man himself who doesn’t hesitate to point out the excesses of a star system creating reputations mainly based on perceptions as opposed to real truth… DT doesn’t believe the hype, nor do we !
Your very first step…
1973… I had 2 turntables and a little mixer and I was playing 45’s (7 inches) and albums. Rather disco before the arrival of the maxi single as a format…
Without being nostalgic, haven’t you got the impression of a global standardisation around those 4X4 beats ?
I hardly see how I couldn’t agree. Having lived all my life surrounded by music, I would say that we’ve entered a new era. As a kid, I used to love a whole bunch of things. Brazilian music, Afro-Latin stuff, jazz… And those vibes are still up to date nowadays even though we don’t dance to them the way we did back in the days. These are not Motown or that Philly Sound that we used to have at the time. This is not anymore that Donna Summer’s disco thing with all these melodies made by classically trained musicians. Today, it’s nothing but simple gimmicks but I like this. Maybe because It’s not complicated the way it used to be as far as the rhythms are concerned.
I’ve spent 2 weeks in Ibiza during the summer 99. We would almost listen to the same stuff everywhere at the time, havin’ people like Jose Padilla for instance unable to spin in the right conditions…
I’m not that surprised about this. On the same vein, let’s take New York for instance, which is supposed to be the nightlife word mecca where everything started. Well,it’s a city where some big names are living and many of them couldn’t make themselves a decent way of living coz’ the kids don’t give a single sh** about this. Louie Vega, Tony Humphries, Roger S, Frankie Knuckles are like legends. I could go out every night to see them spinning. Alas, some people have sort of destroyed the movement while acting for their sole owns !
Should this lack of interest in regards to the dance music be considered as a result of poor lyrics or is it like we said earlier the result of the current process of global standardisation ?
There are many explanations. It’s as if all those great love thongs had already been written. For me, listening to someone reappropriating for itself inspirational themas such as ‘Lift Your Hands’ is nothing of an excitement as I’ve been able to listen to things like this from day 1.
Would we then have some bit of space left within the so called abstract territories ; in other words, the instrumental ?
Everything depends on the intensity of collaboration between the interpreter and the author who, on most cases, also happens to be the producer. An artist has to be really outstanding as everything’s gone so M.O.R.
Would this mean that too many singers – as it’s notoriously the case Stateside in comparizon with other countries – tend to kill the art of singing, as too much music has ended up killing the music itself ?
It’s even more than that. As a matter of fact investments on technology, while becoming more affordable, have allowed a whole bunch of people to produce although not being necessarily prepared for that. Many of those new comers do not feel the need of being associated to an artist in order to release a track. And, should they do it, they quickly happen to be sort of aside in regards to the vocalists who, in their majority, happen to be professional.
Isn’t that first an foremost a matter of background and abilities ?
Well, all of those who’ve studied music and sung all their lives long have practically nothing to do within the dance music field, because it doesn’t sell. Let’s take people like Patti Labelle, Teddy Pendergrass, Chaka Khan or Stephanie Mills go wherever told by the record companies when releasing a new album ; in other words : R&B or hip hop/R&B. Dance music doesn’t sell : it’s just an accessory for makin’ remixes !
Why such a detachment ?Coz’ the radio programmers don’t give a sh** about this and it’s about the same as far as those in charge of artist development for the major companies are concerned ! They’re not into dance music ; for them, it’s nothing but the R&B… Everything started from this. R&B was already there when I was a kid. I mean people like Rufus & Chaka Khan. Then the tempos have started to get quicker. And what had progressively become uptempo R&B got into disco, then house music. On top of it, other forms of music have made their appearance inbetween like hip hop and rap has ended up taking everything by storm…
Right, but there was also a message if not a few messages in those forms of music…
It’s also a period where a lot of people have stopped their activities. Either because of their growing age or because they got into troubles with their respective labels. New faces have appeared, but they’ve been pushed by the labels to stay away from dance music. Disco has finally disappeared and the radio stations which have been progressively bought by the record companies have dropped dance music out of their programs.
Why then keep on this obviously condamned path ?
I thank God for the life I’ve had. Should I sell 20,000 records, it’s enough for me to make a living. It’s as if I had 3 different jobs. As an artist, as a DJ resident and also with all my bookings abroad.
You’re Italo...
100%, although I was born in B’klyn and spent all my early years there and do not speak a single word of Italian !
How do you explain the popularity of the Brit jocks being stronger than their US alter egos ?
I would say first because of the interest in dance music over there, the support of the local radios and all this press… This continuous media pressure keeps the kids under pressure. There’s nothing like this in America. I have myself always considered what I’m doin’ as underground and refering to what I see, it’s going to be more and more so as time goes. I’ve been lucky enough to make a living out of it so far but I feel sad to see all those people around me who’ve never ceased starving. True, they may get a hit at some time or another but I hardly see them going out of those probs while staying on this niche.
Do you continuously play whatever you like or do you sometimes happen to make concessions to please the crowd ?
I’m doing whatever I like. I play what I feel. The crowd comes to hear what I’m gonna play : see what I mean ? And whenever I want to make a pause in the middle of the night and play some slower stuff, I can.
You’ve played at some time at the Vinyl, the home of Shelter and the defunct Body & Soul parties. Have you ever felt like an emulation because of their strong reputation ?
I’ve never felt the need for this kind of thing, simply because I’ve always been motivated. I’ve never try to react in regards to what Shelter, Body & Soul, Masters At Work or Junior Vasquez may do. I may hear them spinning and find some inspiration in the music they play. This may remind the existence of some track I haven’t played for a long time, or a particular sound to be exploited in my arrangements. But after 30 years of activity, I’m up to believe that I’ve got enough substance to follow my way the way I intend to. I’ve heard many people saying about me that I’m into hard and me, I’m sayin’ that these are ass holes who’ve never taken the time to listen. They’re talking without trying to know the way I work. They would make themselves an idea about me on the sole basis of a track that they’ve heard me playing here or there…
Differently said, there is the fundament and the form(s)…
Exactly ! I’m gonna do whatever I can to play a tune in a way which has nothing to do with the one it is played at some record store for instance. I’m gonna take some obscure track and get it on my computer. Not necessarily to sample it but to sequence it into loops before reediting it… I remember a conversation which I’ve had with Joe Claussell quite long ago. I’m askin’ him : What’s happenin’ Joe ? You don’t want to talk to me any more ? You feel like I’m a hard DJ ??? And he instantly came to laugh, coz’ we have this kind of relation, made of jokes. He has laughed because he knows how my roots are strongly related to garage music. I mean, no one can get me with the classics coz’ I know them all… Coz’ I have them all. I can tell you who’s published, written and produced them, and I see all these new peeps sayin’ that I’m not playin’ anymore this music. Well, what I gotta say is that I’ve been into it for years and years and I’ve ended up feeling that I had to go for something different. I’d done this all my life at the time and I wasn’t offered doin’ gigs then make myself a living. I eventually came to remix Jamiroquai or Daphne and even though I received some support, I never got a massive buzz. Then I’ve started makin’ tracks such as ‘Bottom Heavy’ and ‘Tribal’ and got myself at the top of the stairs from a day to another, havin’ people startin’ callin’ me for spinnin’.
You’ve ended up responding to the law of demand then…
Yes, but I feel like many people here (DJ’s or label managers) have labellized me withtout takin’ time to listen to what I’m doin’. People who would come and spend an hour at some party of mine once every 2 years… I’m not asking them to spend the whole nite, but I guess like they could come more often to makre themselves a clear idea about what I’m into and who I deeply am ! But no… I don’t have the support of the record industry like others. And even though I don’t really give a damn, I feel like there’s a lot of jealousy behind. Coz’ I have my own things and my crowd. MFSB
Excerpts of an interview published in 2001
INTERVIEW
