The name Craig Richards is synonymous with Fabric, the world-renowned London club where the UK-based selector has spent the past 15 years as resident and music programmer. Having recently released a superb mix of rare gems, Get Lost VII, for Crosstown Rebels, we tapped the 48-year-old tastemaker to tell us which DJs have influenced him during his impressive 30-year career. What we received was a beautiful recollection of Richards’ history in music, which you can read below.
First I should briefly set the scene — I first fell in love with music in the early ’80s when I was a teenager. Growing up at this time, Britain was full of rules and restrictions, but very quickly I discovered the world of nightclubs. Nightlife was the only place that provided an alternative. In the town where I lived [Bournemouth] there was one underground club, which catered for a range of ages and musical tastes. Punks, skinheads, goths, soul boys, new romantics, beatniks and rockabillies all took turns on the dancefloor. Somehow it worked and this was the beginnings of my eclectic taste in music. Like most teenagers I was introduced to music by older friends. Jazz, soul, funk, disco, reggae, ska, Bowie, Kraftwerk, Talking Heads, King Crimson, the Cramps, Bauhaus, Heaven 17, the B52s… the list goes on — wonderfully mixed foundations. My friends and I were obsessed with second-hand clothing, from mod to rockabilly, the look always went with the music but we liked to mix it up. Even then I hated purist tendencies.
In the mid-’80s, I lived in Hollywood for a year with lots of English people who were creating the beginnings of an underground scene in L.A. Putting on downtown warehouse parties. I also spent a lot of time in New York where I had many seminal experiences with music. These were raw and unpolished times, the only thing that was certain was the power of the music.
In 1987 I moved to London to go to art school right at the beginning of the acid house explosion. It was no surprise that the music went this way, electro, disco and new wave music collided, driven by synthesizers and drum machines. From the beginning of this journey, the best DJs were the ones with the tunes and I still believe this to be true. Having the tunes is everything.
When I was a teenager trying to discover it all, DJs were larger-than-life characters who played mainstream music, talked too much on the microphone and wore silly clothes. This was certainly not a career path to aspire to. I just fell into playing records at parties by collecting records. I was happy to hear the records I had bought loud and this is still true today. After over 30 years of buying records and going to nightclubs, my enthusiasm is still rising. I have been truly inspired by many DJs for different reasons but the one common thread which runs through these experiences is that DJs take you on a journey and transport you to the unknown. Whilst it is difficult to leave out Tony Humphries, Mark Moore, Prosumer, Rob Mello, Seth Troxler, Coldcut, Doc Martin and so on, here are my top five who have done that to me with both their production work and DJ skill. The list could be endless if I was to include the lesser known heroes from 30 years of the underground.
Ricardo Villalobos
For always playing with character and genius — kind, erratic, gentle, intense, complicated, powerful. Whilst his style isn’t for everybody, he always takes you on a loose and awe-inspiring journey that cannot be compared. No rules, no regulations.
Andrew Weatherall
The DJ that has been there from the beginning of my time in London. Shoom, Sabresonic and Bloodsugar were three amazing London nights from the ’80s and early ’90s. Very inspirational to myself and all those around me. The music was always challenging and from the future. Bloodsugar was the first place I heard slow deep dubby techno. Hearing Andrew play is always a tonic for the mind, very precise, focused and certain. Hearing him play gave me a sense that you must do what you feel and nothing else. Even if you go down in flames and nobody gets what you are trying to say, believe in what’s in your record bag.
Ivan Smagghe
A great friend of nearly 20 years who never ceases to amaze me with his skill, knowledge and tactics. He plays with personality, courage and intensity. A man who appears not to care but who cares with all his heart.
Derrick Carter
In the mid-’90s Derrick Carter repeatedly tore me apart. Housey techno with vocals. He’s the real thing from Chicago. A roof-raiser, a hell-raiser. A confident and crazy gentleman with a great sense of humor, and that’s how he played.
Larry Levan
I was lucky enough to go to the Paradise Garage [in New York] a few times and then subsequently saw him at the Ministry of Sound and then at Harvey’s club, Moist, in London. At the Garage it was hard to separate him from the club. The first time I went I was 19 and had never been anywhere near to that. To say the crowd were having a good time was an understatement. The sound system was loud and clear, the lighting rig was incredible. He had his own style but the main thing was the music. Hearing him at that time prepared me for what was ahead. Funk, disco and electro was becoming house music. Beat-matching made the music endless.
For me the most important aspect of DJing is playing from the heart. Pleasing yourself with the crowd in mind, not pleasing the crowd with yourself in mind. All of these DJs listed above did this and do this. Despite the popularity of commercial music, the undeniable force is from the underground and from the truth.
Craig Richards’ Get Lost VII is in stores now.
