Reported by Trackitdown TID on July 2, 2005

80s electro pioneer Greg Wilson chatted to Skrufff this week about his upcoming compilation album Credit To The Edit and revealed he’s enthused about the state of modern club culture.

“It was clear to me that the dance scene in this country, generally speaking, was heading down a cul-de-sac during the 90's. It had lost touch with its essence and was stagnating, but, given the emergence of a new undergound, I feel it's getting back on track again,” said Greg.

“By properly re-connecting with the roots of UK dance culture, rather than the mythology that's grown around it, a new generation of DJ's, musicians and club promoters have a real opportunity to move things forward in the coming years.”

The Manchester based DJ made his name via residencies at Northern Soul institution Wigan Pier and Manchester’s Hacienda in the early 80s though virtually retired from DJing just before acid house revolutionised clubland. He returned to the decks some three years ago as electroclash revitalised nightlife and is nowadays a regular at clubs like Horse Meat Disco and elsewhere.

“Obviously things have changed radically since I stopped DJing back in 1984, but, in a sense, we're looping the loop, reconnecting with some of the older values once more,” he continued.

“And nowadays more DJs are beginning to place the main emphasis on programming once again, reacting more directly to their audience on a track-by-track basis, as opposed to setting what they play in stone before they even get into the club. Because of this, a far greater variety of music is being played within the course of the same night, rather than everyone sticking to narrow areas / tempo ranges, which was making many nights seem extremely one dimensional.”

“I feel that DJ's became too caught up in putting together flawlessly mixed sets during the 90's, often rehearsing exactly what they were going to be playing in a club setting and, as a result, cutting out all spontaneity,” Greg added.

“More than anything, there's an ever-increasing movement back to an underground approach, which is how the dance scene used to be pre-House. The mainstream clubs will continue in the same way as they did in the 90's, but the more cutting-edge nights have distanced themselves from the superclub mentality that defined the previous decade, offering instead a more intimate / eclectic vibe, where the night is defined by the quality of the music played, and not by the big name credentials of the DJ who's appearing.”

Skrufff: How do you see the standard of new dance music today compared to the 80s?

Greg Wilson: “There's always lots of good new stuff about, but it's probably unfair to make comparisons, especially with the early 80's, as this was a particularly creative period in the evolution of dance music. Back then, it seemed like things were being re-defined on a weekly basis - it was a real hybrid era that set the tone for pretty much everything that followed. It was the catalyst for the three great movements of Hip Hop, House and Techno to emerge and, as such, it's importance can't be stressed enough.”

Skrufff: Three years since we first spoke when electroclash was bursting on- three years on, what do you make of the music/ club scene today?

Greg Wilson: “I certainly think it's much more healthy now than it was at the turn of the decade. Some have declared dance music to be dead, but that's the most ridiculous statement to make, as people will always want to go out and dance. In the late 80's and 90's, many people jumped on the dance bandwagon having previously dismissed it as worthless - now some of these people are simply reverting to type.

Greg Wilson’s Credit to The Edit is out in August on Nuphonic.

http://www.electrofunkroots.co.uk

Jonty Skrufff (Skrufff.com)