Interview with Chris Read (Substance / Classic Material / BBE)

Chris Read from London / UK is the producer behind the famous Classic Material series. He just won BBE’s Beat Generation mix competition via mixcloud to put together the BBE anniversary compilation entitled “15 Years of Real Music for Real People“.

Rap and Blues: How are you doing and how is life in London these days?

Chris Read: I’m doing good. London is treating me well right now – mediteranian sun in October and a pretty full schedule.

Rap and Blues: Where to go to eat when in London? Do you have a special place?

Chris Read: There are plenty to choose from. For local cheap eats it has to be Loong Kee Vietnamese on Kingsland Road. I have a couple of favourite Indian spots on Brick Lane which is also close to home. Also Spanish or Japanese food from the Brick Lane Sunday market, the list goes on…

Rap and Blues: At the moment, which songs are coming through your headphones on the way through town?

Chris Read: The last things I listened to were “Rubies and Diamonds” by Dirg Gerner feat Fatima which is a new single on Ho Tep – she has a great voice. And also “Glimpse”, the new Julien Dyne album on BBE – really thoughtfully produced. A great album.

Rap and Blues: Your favourite music shop in town, in your opinion?

Chris Read: I think for new music it’s probably “Sounds of the Universe” in Soho and also “Rough Trade” off Brick Lane. They both stock our Classic Material products too.

Rap and Blues: I first came across your work upon the release of the “Classic Material” series. It has become very popular in the blogosphere during the past 12 months. How did your connection to Hip Hop begin?

Chris Read: I guess the introduction was through radio in the late 80s really. Access to hip hop was much more limited then. You could find underground stuff on pirate radio and also on some of the late night shows on the London networks. People would trade tapes of radio shows at school and stuff like that.
We would try and find out the names of the songs and artists and then save up money to buy the records. After about 5 or 6 years of buying records I felt the need to do something with them so I started DJing in the early 90s.

Rap and Blues: You are a collector of hip hop, funk, soul and jazz records. Who are your main influences for your music?

Chris Read: I think you’re influenced in some way by everything you listen to. It’s hard to really pick a few, but the greats like Coltrane, Miles Davis, James Brown and what have you are endlessly inspiring just in terms of what they achieved. Influences though are very hard to pin down – I like such a variety of music.
I’m influenced I suppose by the hip hop greats: Pete Rock, Premo etc but also people with a wider taste: Quantic for example, and then also the new school of beat makers: Hudson Mohawke.

Rap and Blues: Name three Songs which still impress you, each time hearing them.

Chris Read: I suppose Coltrane’s “Love Supreme” would have to be in there. A classic hip hop record too – Public Enemy’s “Don’t Believe The Hype” perhaps. Finally, maybe Donald Byrd’s “Wind Parade” – that’s possibly my favourite record of all time.

Rap and Blues: Vestax pdx2000 or Technics 1210?

Chris Read: Technics – there’s no comparison.

Rap and Blues: Let’s take a trip back in time when you were the resident DJ at Substance, a very famous hip hop and funk party series in the UK. You did the job for about 11 years. Please tell us an anecdote about your time playing at Substance.

Chris Read: They were special times. It was a great club night. There are lots of anecdotes about the guests we had: Grand Master Flash, The Pharcyde and so on but some of them are possibly best not repeated! I think my fondest memories are of the house band and guests who came up and played with us.
We used to always end the night with an improvised session where the band would play and we’d invite the headline guest to come and join us. One night we had Cash Money DJing and we invited him on stage and he walked straight past the turntables and went and picked up a bass guitar and just started playing. We were all laughing because it was unexpected but he was good too!

Rap and Blues: You did a lot of DJ performances at different places on Earth, such as Europe, Australia and Asia. What did you learn about different people and life?

Chris Read: I suppose the main thing is that music will make you friends pretty much anywhere. It’s amazing to me that you can hop on a plane and go to the other side of the world where you don’t know a single person and have friends simply because you share the same taste in music. As for life, I don’t know really – it’s short so don’t waste it!

Rap and Blues: You just put together the BBE anniversary compilation entitled “15 Years of Real Music for Real People”. How did that come about? Tell us about your connection to BEE Label.

Chris Read: I did a mix for them for the digital release of the “Beat Generation 10th Anniversary album” back in March which I think were pleased with and so that led on to me being invited to do the “BBE 15″ album.
I’ve been a big fan of the label for years and it still is one of my favourite labels so it was a real honour to have open access to their catalogue for this album. It’s been getting great reviews and I’m very pleased with it.

Rap and Blues: What are your Goals for 2012?

Chris Read: Mostly to build on what I’ve been doing this year. I have quite a few remixes which I’m working on right now plus another mix album confirmed for BBE in the Spring. I’m also producing an EP / Album for a seven piece jazz / soul / electronica act called “Maylight” which features Lizzy Parks, who’s released a couple of albums on Tru Thoughts, on vocals. I’ll probably be touring at some point in the first half of the year too.

Rap and Blues: You did DJing in Berlin-City. A nice place, no doubt – but when do we see you DJing in Hamburg-City?

Chris Read: I’m ready whenever Hamburg is! Promoters can get in touch direct via my website or via Geraldine at Encore bookings.

Rap and Blues: Chris Read, Thank you for the insight.

Chris Read: My pleasure.

Interview by Can – thanks to Aviator.