Dirk De Ruyck interview

 

Words: Mikko Anisimoff

 

Dirk De Ruyck has been called "Belgium's maestro of all things" – and probably for a very good reason. Besides being a brilliant dj, he's been involved with some of the most remarkable club nights in Belgium, running a couple of record labels and doing management for such people as Aeroplane and Villa. Dirk will play at Nolla on Saturday, November 6th. Check out the interview below.

 

Can you give us a brief introduction of your musical background. At what point did you start playing records and working for record labels? When did it all become a professional thing for you?

 

I started to work for Warner Brothers (sales department) in 1993, and I quit that after four years. I started Eskimo Recordings in 1999, I think, after doing parties in an old factory where they made underwear with the brand name of Eskimo.

 

How about the club nights you have ran in Ghent over the years?

 

I started with a small club called 69 with a maximum capacity of 100 people – a great place, local dj's, I had it for about two and a half years. Music-wise it was a mix of everything, but all dance-oriented, except for, let's say, 130 beats-per-minute techno.

 

From there I moved into a bigger, 1000 capacity space, where I started Culture Club with our local residents 2manydjs, The Glimmers and TLP before they all broke through. That place was exceptional in every way – people came from London and Paris just to find out what was going on. Musically it was all about what was happening during those years from Metro Area to Tiga, DFA, Optimo, Ivan Smagghe, Lindstrøm and Prins Thomas. This was from 2001 to 2004.

 

In 2007 I started the Make Up club with the local residents Aeroplane and Villa and had the place for two and a half years. We had guests like Daniele Baldelli, Prins Thomas, Dixon and Mark Seven among others – definitely in the line of what I was doing with the Eskimo label.

 

Do you still throw regular parties? What are your favourite nights in Belgium at the moment?

 

No, I quit two years ago, all good things must come to an end! Libertine/Supersport in Brussels stands out. Probably the best club in Europe at the moment!

 

 

You were involved with Eskimo Recordings, which is known for such artists as Aeroplane, Bottin and Lindstrøm & Prins Thomas, and in my opinion, also for some of the finest mix cd's and compilations out there (from the likes of Rub N Tug, Radio Slave, The Glimmers and Optimo). What do you think made Eskimo to develop into one of the central labels of today's disco scene?

 

– Eskimo Recordings was just me and a distributor. The thing was that it was only 5% of what I was doing, because I had so much other things going on at the time. Maybe it could have been different if it was my daytime job. But I always followed what I liked musically, if it was called disco, house, or whatever, so there was not really a 100-percent strict musical direction. I stopped with the label more than a year ago.

 

The Helsinki-based, British/Canadian graphic designer Chris Bolton has done cover art for Eskimo. How did your start working together?

 

– He mailed me back in the days when I was doing Culture Club. He became a full-time designer and brought the label to a higher level for sure!

 

 

I guess you were working on the compilations as well. In your opinion, what's the formula behind a good compilation – or does it just come down to a solid tracklisting and persistent work for the licensing rights? Is there a project that you're particularly satisfied with?

 

– Mmmm, you ask the artists for the track selection, especially after you've heard them play. For me a good mix is all about the tempo, vibe and selection. The ones that always stand out for me are the ones I did for myself, because they reflect my love for all kinds of music, but those were impossible to clear. Check them out here: http://soundcloud.com/mindlessboogie.

 

 

What made you eventually to move on and start a new label, Abracada, and how does it differ from Eskimo?

 

– I got contacted by a friend of mine called Manu Barron, he's the owner of Social Club in Paris and doing management for Brodinski, Yuksek, Renaissance Man, etc. We are working closely together on the management side, so the setup for the label was more to use it as a developing tool for our own artists. It's different because we live in different times, and it's digital only.

 

Poni Hoax - Bankers (RM Every Thing You Always Wanted to Know About Sax But Were Afraid to Ask Mix) by Renaissance Man

 

You've hired the Finnish guys hannulelauri and Renaissance Man to remix some of the artists on Abracada. How familiar are you with Finnish music in general?

 

– Every country has its stand-out artists, and in Finland those are the ones you mentioned above. Next to them comes the classic Jori Hulkkonen. For me, both hannulelauri and Renaissance Man are on top of what's going on musically today – they both have something fresh and different that makes them exciting!

 

 

You are also behind the Mindless Boogie label that is focused solely on releasing edits. In your opinion, what makes an edit strong enough for pressing it on vinyl? The list of contributors so far is pretty impressive – can you reveal whose reworks are to be released next?

 

– That was something I started 5–6 years ago just for the fun of it. It was not an official thing, so that's why it was vinyl only. I stopped it a couple of months ago, because the vinyl sales are going downhill... but it was a great thing to do and I think some of them will stand out again in 20 years – they will probably be collectors' items by then!

 

Lastly, how do you approach playing a dj set in a more intimate club? Are there certain tracks (or styles) that you are currently excited about?

 

– Honestly, intimate clubs are the best, because you play "in the crowd". Certain tracks... oh, they change every week, day, etc. I like to play more from A to Z, from old tracks to new and so on. Super Monkey by hannulelauri will make my top 10 of the year chart!

 

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