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NAJM: I want to ask you if you can give me a
little bit of information about yourself, who you are, where you came from, and what your
background is in music? |
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"Somewhere" coming in 2000! |
DL: I
grew up in Mississippi and got a job working in TV. I took a job out in Wyoming for a
while. That didn’t work out so I went to Denver, Colorado. I tried to stay in the TV
field there and just couldn’t get anything going so I thought, “well, the only
other thing that I like a lot is music", so I started going to the clubs to try to
get a job. One of the clubs in Denver called David’s knew of a bar in
Colorado Springs that was looking for a full-time DJ. They sent me down there. I
auditioned for the job and I got it. That started my music career and that was in 1981. I
DJ'd at that club 4 – 5 nights a week for about 5 years. Overall I've DJ'd for 13
years.. |
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NAJM: So
you would primarily call yourself a DJ? Or would you call yourself a remixer, producer or
both? |
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DL: I do everything. From Colorado I went to
Chicago for about 3 years and then my partner was transferred here to Dayton and
that’s how I got here. |
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NAJM: What
is your idea or concept for Drummer Street Records? |
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DL: I want to put out the best music that I
possibly can do. Our primary focus is still going to be toward Hi-NRG, Euro, and
progressive Euro style music. But I won’t be opposed to putting out other styles of
music, either. I know House is very big still, Drum and Bass even though I haven’t
heard any but I have heard people talk about it. So, I’m not going to be closed
minded to the Euro sound, but that is going to be my main focus. |
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NAJM: And
you’re looking to produce primarily Hi-NRG, Euro, the stuff that’s coming out of
the UK? |
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DL: Yes, I think that there is still a good
enough market for it. I know that we have gotten a lot of feedback and good hype for the
upcoming release of “Somewhere”. It
seems like people are really anticipating it. There
are house tunes that I like to. I’m not stuck in a rut which is pure NRG. I run the
gambit. When I’m here by myself on Saturday I play everything. That is my favorite
though. |
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NAJM: What’s
playing in your stereo right now? |
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DL: A tape that I made last weekend. Well
actually it is something that I recorded from my keyboard then I think it went from there
into Billie Ray Martin's Honey. |
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NAJM: What
a fantastic artist. She is great. Her debut
was phenomenal. |
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DL: Yes, she is. So I went from one of my
tunes to her and from there to some Almighty (Records) kind of stuff. |
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Somewhere 2000 |
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NAJM: So
your debut project is a dance version of the classic song "Somewhere" and you're
going to have Vicki Shepard sing it. When do you think it will be ready for release? |
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DL: We’re hoping February. |
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NAJM: And
it’s actually a re-work of a previous single that she had done? |
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DL: Right. I was also the original producer
of the earlier release as well. |
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NAJM: Tell
us a little bit about her, how you know her, how you hooked up. I know you said you go a
way back... |
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DL: Well, I met Vicki while I was working at
a club in Colorado Springs called the “Hide & Seek”. It was the only gay
dance club in Colorado Springs but it was the forerunner of dance music in the area. Lots
of straight people came simply because of the music. Vicki would come there and perform on
several occasions. Later on I opened my own
nightclub and by that time we had already become friends. So she came and did my grand
opening at my club in Colorado Springs. In the meantime she had moved to San Francisco. We
were sitting there on night and I said, “You know Vicki, I really think that what
would be a great dance record to do would be “Somewhere” and that’s how it
all got started. We went to a recording studio in Denver and did it. The following year I
moved to Chicago and that’s when it really started getting attention, you know as far
as records labels, that sort of thing. I ran into some people up there that had some good
connections in the industry and that’s how it all began! |
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NAJM: Your
new label, Drummer Street Records is a new label and in its infancy, correct? |
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DL: Correct. |
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NAJM: With
the new single coming out do you have any sort of distribution in place? |
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DL: Not at this time, but I have been
talking with some people – I’ve been talking with a gentleman who is one of the
owners of Red Zone which is the label that put out Vicki’s remix of “All I Ask
of You” and he’s got some connections, so he’s heading me in that
direction. |
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NAJM: So
are you looking to piggyback with another distributor who’s looking to move some
units? |
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DL: I’m definitely going to have to
find someone to help with distribution. I’ve worked in record stores so I know some
of the people out in New York, such as Watts Music. I made contact with them but we
haven’t sat down and talked other than just via e-mail. So I think they will help me
along, they did in ’89; it was on a label Let the Music Play which was in Atlanta.
Then Loading Bay picked it up in the UK. So Watts Music played a big part in getting the
distribution of it when it came out in ’89, so I would like to think that he would
help me out this time too. |
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NAJM: Any
idea of what type of numbers you are looking at for sales? |
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DL: No, it’s hard to say. I hope I can
sell a million copies although that’s probably unrealistic. I would venture to say
– take a wild guess and hope 2,000 – 5,000. I think that’s a pretty safe
estimate? |
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NAJM: Currently, are you developing any
other artists? |
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DL: No.
To be honest I didn’t think about doing Drummer Street Records until about 2 months
ago. Even though it’s been a big dream of mine to do this, I’ve just never been
in position where I could get it going. Something was always going on in my life that
prevented it. When I called Vicki up in March to pitch this idea to her about us doing the
Millennium Remixes of “Somewhere” of course she was all for it. So I started
working on it, made a couple of calls to labels in Europe, but then starting thinking
later on down the road that why should I go through all the trouble and hassle of trying
other labels to pick it up. That’s a long process. |
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NAJM: Sure. |
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DL: I went that round with
“Somewhere” in ’89; we actually recorded the song in ’87. |
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NAJM: And
it took you 2 years to shop for a label that would pick it up? |
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DL: Shopping. I really didn’t want to
go through that again. I thought, “I think I can do this” so I called Vicki up
and told her I was going to put the single out on my own label. At first she was like,
“I don’t know are you prepared for that?” I said, “I think so”. That’s how it came about. I just dreaded the
thought of shopping and waiting and god knows when somebody would finally decide to pick
it up and that’s how Drummer Street was born. |
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Constantly Changing Market... |
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NAJM: In your opinion where is the dance
music market headed? |
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DL: The thing about the dance music market
is that’s its constantly changing. So to give you an honest answer on that, I
can’t. When I was in Chicago all of a sudden Techno was the craze and it lasted about
a year, right now Drum and Bass is the craze from what I understand and I think in time it
will move to something else it’s constantly moving. There are always particular
mainstays that no matter what the craze is, those others seem to stay right along with it,
and that’s pretty much your house, European, trance (progressive). They seem to just
kind of stay right there even though they're not the most popular, particularly here in
the United States, but they seem to have a staying power. Who knows what will be next?
Someone will come along and think of something. Then after that everyone will be doing it
for awhile then someone else will come along, on and on. |
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NAJM: Sure. |
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DL: With
Robert Miles and “Children”. He came out with that had a big hit and shortly
after that there was a whole slew people doing that kind of sound. |
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NAJM: Who
do think has the largest influence in the dance music market? DJ’s, Artists, Labels,
radio, MTV, media? |
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DL: Because
of the way dance music is these days it’s most likely the DJ’s. Simply because
they are the one that are closest to it and can stay on top of it. The artists are by far
an important factor; don’t get me wrong. Without the artist there would be no dance
music. But it’s the DJ’s that play it and they are the ones who set the style,
set the trends. Aside from that I think the big ones are the producers. They are the ones
that come up with the sounds, ideas and so on. |
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NAJM: What
are some of your musical influences, David? |
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DL: Actually,
there are several. I like music to make sense first of all. I don’t like a bunch of
noise. I like for it to be pretty. I like for it to have a good beat, good chord
progressions, good everything. I guess some of my favorite remixers right now are the
Space Brothers. I think they are just absolutely phenomenal with some of the things they
have done in the last year or so. Another one that I like a lot is K-Klass; I think
they’re great too. |
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NAJM: They
work a lot with Sunscreem. |
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DL: And
Sunscreem is another one of my favorites. |
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NAJM: They
play a lot down here in Miami because Miami Beach is where their American label is
located. So they do the South Beach circuit a lot. |
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DL: By far my
favorite Sunscreem record is “Catch Me”. That tune was just absolutely
phenomenal to me. Those three influence me the most. I do like that K-Klass, that Club 69
sound and I do buy that. But I think the Space Brothers have just incredible ways of
putting stuff together. They do things on the keyboards that I still cannot emulate and I
wonder, how do they do that? I liked what Club 69 did to Cher’s “Believe”.
I liked what they did to Cher's “Strong Enough”. Every remixer and producer is
definitely going to do things that somebody doesn’t like. But they are also going to
do things that people do like. I like for things to have a lot of punch behind them and
“Strong Enough” and “Believe” do have a lot of punch. But it also has
its pretty points to, there are some sections that are very pretty. |
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NAJM: How
do you feel about MP3’s being posted on the internet? Your music, you’re not
getting the royalties for it, someone is downloading it for free. |
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DL: It’s
wrong, just out and out wrong. I’ve probably cut my own throat by saying that, but it
is. It costs money to do this. Already with “Somewhere” i’ve got about
$4000 or so invested in it. The only way the artist can get any money back is through
record sales. I guess I can understand people are going to do that. I just hope it
doesn’t happen to me. |
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NAJM: I
would agree. I’m in the same boat. You are based in Dayton. You have lived in
Chicago, Colorado Springs. Do you think in order to produce good dance music that you need
to be in a city where there is a major dance scene going on? |
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DL: No.
The world is a small place through communication. I buy a tremendous amount of music that
is not even produced in the United States. No, I don’t think you have to be a major
city. I think you have to be connected to it somehow. |
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NAJM: So
you need to be connected to market it? |
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DL: Connected
to it as far as being able to keep up with it in a city like Chicago or Los Angeles. What
I mean by that is you’ve got to buy the music, know what’s going on. Whatever
your going to do is better than or at least as good as what’s already out there.
That’s what I mean by staying connected, you’ve got to buy other people’s
music and see what they’re doing and see why it’s such a good song. It’s a
learning experience. |
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NAJM: We’ve
talked quite a bit in the last few minutes about the UK, its come up several times.
You’ve dealt with labels in the UK and also labels here in the US. Do you think
it’s more lucrative in the UK than you are in the US because of the type of music
that the UK embraces? |
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DL: I
don’t want to belittle the US; it’s my home and love it. I would not trade it
for the world. But I think the people in the UK have a totally different concept when it
comes to music. It’s more of a culture for them more than anything. For us, it’s
a pastime. For them it’s life. In that respect, yes, it is better in the UK but the
United States has also produced some tremendous artists over the years in all aspects of
music, not only dance but also rock, and country. We have created some of the biggest
stars that ever lived when it comes to music. When it comes to dance, that’s a
totally different thing. I just wish the US would broaden their minds about dance music
and not stay geared to one thing. |
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NAJM: I
hate it when they pigeonhole! |
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DL: Like
I said, I play everything. I haven’t gotten into this Drum and Bass thing yet because
I haven’t ordered any and no one has ever sent me any. But I play everything, Club
69, K-Klass, Anthony Stevens, Italian stuff. I have it all. I wish the club scene did
that, just play everything. |
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NAJM: Well
put. Let’s talk a little bit about the future. The single is coming out in
February/March timeframe, when can we get our hands on some real audio or a pre-release so
we can review prior to it hitting the streets? |
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DL: Not
really 100% sure when that is going to happen. I’ve still got a lot of work to do on
it. Vicki’s getting ready to put her vocal down on it within the next week or so.
Then once I get it back there will be things to change. I’ve changed a lot even
without her vocals. I’m waiting for the vocal to come back and I am hoping to have it
to the printing company sometime mid-January. |
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NAJM: I’ll
be following up so we can post some real audio at least review the single. Have you
decided on names for any of the mixes? |
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DL: I’ll
be able to do that sometime within the next three weeks or so. I’ve done about 3
mixes so far. There are only two that I’m really going to concentrate on. I really
haven’t named the mixes yet, but I have decided to call one the “Detuned Anthem
Mix”. The other one has a little more of a retro sound to it, classic energy, sort of
an Almighty sound, but not quite. I’ve kind of toyed with “Classic Millennium
Mix”. |
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The Future... |
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NAJM: What
does the future hold for you? After you get past the release of the single, what’s
next on your plate? |
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DL: We’re
already talking about our next project. Vicki and I and we’re hoping to have it
released it time for Gay Pride. It’s going to be something that I don’t think
anyone has done; it’s going to be another cover. We really are thinking that this is
going to be a major, major breakthrough. Not just for Drummer Street Records but also for
Vicki. Because this is going to be something different. |
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NAJM: Any
hints? |
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DL: Can’t
tell you. It’s just something that came to mind. I had talked with Vicki a couple
years ago about doing the old Associations, “Cherish” but it never came about.
Then I hit her with this one about 2 months ago and she fell in love with the idea. |
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NAJM: Best
of luck. |
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DL: We
think this is going to be a very big summer anthem. |
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NAJM: Additionally,
we have an underground section on our site. If you’d like to send us some real audio
files or some samples of your work we’ll be more than happy to rip them into
RealAudio so people can listen to them. Well, that’s about it. Best of luck, I hope
the single sells well. We wish you the best. |
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DL: Thanks
to you for taking the time to talk with me. I’d like to thank everyone for helping
with the publicity I’ve received for the single thus far. The music matters… |
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