|
|
|
IN THE BEGINNING, THERE WAS (ALSO)…
BOBBY KONDERS!
|
In the beginning was Bobby Konders… It was something like 20 years ago, at a period where the contours of the production of electronic music such as we know nowadays were to appear, under the impulsion of people such as Larry Heard in Chicago, Kevin Saunderson & Inner City in Detroit or A Guy Called Gerald and 808 State in Manchester. Rather say, the advent of a new era speakin’ of which the adoptive New Yorker would be for much, as shown by his quintessential legacy…
Bobby Konders’ first forray into History appears at a period which marks the end of what has to be considered as the best club of all times: in other words, the late Larry Levan’s Paradise Garage. A place where disco music will be erected as a cult before givin’ birth to the so called… garage, itself being – alongside the transcient New Jersey sound – the soulful side of house music. It is to say how the closing of the place in 1987 (see our recent tribute) will be lived as a tragedy by those of the clubbers geared into ‘deepness’, til the opening of Timmy Regisford’s Shelter in 1991. A four years hiatus perceived as an endless dive into a no man’s land that will give the deep house the status of a homeless – to the exception to Tony Humphries’ Zanzibar but one’s gotta to to Jerzey – wandering from an unofficial place to another in the very depth of the underground, resulting in more or less brilliant experiences. The most consistent of’em bein’ without a doubt the ones known as Wild Pitch. Here were to be seen all of those who would give shapes to house music. Some of them still in activities nowadays, such as DJ Camacho and Kenny Carpenter. And should Chicagoan DJ Pierre’s name be the first comin’ to mind in regards to this specific period, the one who, more than anyone else, embodied the unique spirit of those parties is without a single doubt Bobby Konders… A man who, during his spectacular sets, was able to mix everything, from regae to disco, via hip hop and house with no other goal than to get the deepest soul of it! From his sessions to his productions, everything was made possible to hear, as long as the bassline would be deep and fascinating, the beat would be tough (not to say corrosive), and the vibes able to invest the ultimate corners of the cortex…
CULTURAL EXCEPTION…
Born of an Amerindian mother and a Polish dad, this red hairy and beared man – in other words, a typical redneck – was far from having the profile one would normally expect to evolve the way he’s done with so much eaziness at the croosroad between Afroamerican and carribbean cultures. This said, let’s not forget about his birthplace – Philadelphia, PA – and what it represents in terms of mind opening. From yesteryears with the most memorable Philadelphia Sound to nowadays with a whole array of different people from King Britt to Josh Wink and Jazzy Jeff!
Konders will then have the ability to extract the very best and the more intense of the various forms of (Black) music he’s surrounded by before giving shapes to his art and respond to what might be perceived as an obsession: the riddim or differently said the spell! His repertoire will soon differentiate itself, with both a deep-rooting character growing from a release to another, but also his cultural references and the conscient purposes it drives, using the semantic of the reggae with other aims than strictly limited to music. He’ll be perceived as a revolutionnary man, somehow reminding of Maurizio Von Ostwald: a man who right after quittin’ house music in 1993, will focus almost exclusively on ragga and hip hop, meanwhile eventually comin’ to adopt the traditional reggae format – the famous 7” vinyl – to release his music.
Konders’ rendition of ‘Dis Poem’, a poem originally written by Mutabaruka far before receiving the remix treatment by the likes of Joe Claussell on Guidance, has to be seen as an angular part of both his repertoire and state of mind… As a matter of fact, he comes up with the sole text as a 40 seconds acappella introduction before droppin’ a long atmospheric synth line preceeded by a click on symbal. Then would come the bassline followed by the arrival of other instruments on a quite progressive and fascinating way, seeming like the cerebral although abbstract response awaited by the poet.
Totally moved apart (forward or backward, depending on the appreciation we have) within a production mostly considered as music for gay clubs, coming from disco, although with a different meaning and less instrumentation, Bobby Konders brought house music to a far different audience, sein’ it as a rebels’ music if not ghetto music but also a sort of medicine for the drop-outs. As many B-Boys and other left aside he’s attracted to himself while spreading a spirit of universality and brotherhood and reducing the cleavages to null, should they be racial, religious or sexual, based on the evidence according to which the blood that flows on our veins has no other colour than red!
Served by strong intimate convictions, Konders will progressively invent his own universe, givin’ birth to a new concept of introduction, most likely instrumental, before leavin’ space to MC’s hailing from the raggamuffin scene and eventually inserting FX which to some might be taken as technical bugs. Although on a conscious tip, he’s also shown his ability to display his abstract side on a clever way, as demonstrated by the memorable ‘Nervous Acid’, remembered as a pivotal moment of the acid house era back at the end of the eighties, right before producing one of Robert Owens’ classics by the likes of ‘Jus Friends’ later on…
Prior being released on his own massive B label, his productions would see the light on Frank & Karen Mendez’s defunct Nu Groove imprint. A couple remembered as some of the most open minded people on the NYC house scene back in the daze, welcoming on the same stable Belgian techno maker Joey Beltram, the Burrell Brothers which were to become later on the R&B producers we know, but also Tommy Musto, Lenny Dee, Kenny ‘Dope’ Gonzalez, not to mention the Basement Boys under their then 33 1/3 Queen moniker… I gave Bobby the opportunity to release records on my label and I’m happy to see where he has gone, said Frank Mendez in 1991. We’re not trying to capitalize on anything. I want us to be different. We do nothing else but try to innovate. Even though the vinyl is threatened t death, there’ll always be DJ’s, clubs and decks in the locations…
EPILOGUE
Able to produce music reflecting both the current time and his spirit, Konders, like most of his pairs such as Lil Louis, Ten City, Steve ‘Silk’ Hurley, Inner City and cohorts, will be the subject of some consistent attention by the major companies during the short period which woud see house music reaching its peak, although unable to conquer a crowd apart from peeps 100% into his trips. Probably too much committed into his own art to think about pleasing and selling… From then, he’ll turn more and more into reggae after ultimate experiences alongside Robert Owens and Nicky Jones, eventually presenting a… reggae show on NYC radio Hot 97. And even though he might be seen droppin’ beats here or there on the reggae dancehall circuit, very few are probably those knowing that he has been one of all time biggest house producers, such as recalled on his retrospective (*) released 5 years ago on German label International Deejay Gigolo… MFSB
(*) BOBBY KONDERS featuring MASSIVE SOUNDS – A Lost Era In NYC 1987 – 1992 LP (International Deejay Gigolo)
INDAMIXWORLDWIDE.COM: Only the best, No time for the rest!
INTERVIEW
