FRANKIE KNUCKLES
One of house music’s definitive characters, Mr. Knuckles still packs a punch.
Frankie Knuckles is far more than just one of the big players from House’s early heydey.
Readers may know that the genre was names after the Warehouse Club in Chicago, and in fact the sound of the Warehouse was defined to a large degree by this man; the bumping, perspiring sound of a groove obsession that captured the frustrations and desires of a generation, and came to be known as house music.
Alongside his childhood friend, the late Larry Levan, Knuckles became a hotly received presence on the New York circuit. It was Levan – himself a towering presence, and now absence, in the chronology of club dance music – who suggested Knuckles for the role of resident DJ at the Warehouse when it opened in ‘77. He took his soul and disco records and the beat-matching and percussion-heavy methods of the NY DJ scene, and things took shape.
Into the 80s, the music began to adapt to the way it was played, and producers began making more use of drum machines to create and exploit the kind of grooves Frankie Knuckles was trying to isolate within old disco and soul tracks. He showcased the sound of the Southside of Chicago’s upcoming producers, in almost the first sense of the word ‘producers’ as we know it now within an underground dance music context. People like Marshall Jefferson, Larry Heard, Steve ‘Silk’ Hurley, and Adonis were producing the bassy, stripped back, 4×4 drum machine grooves that took Chicago by storm. The sound soon after exploded, shattering debris as far as the UK, and reverberates audibly to this day.
Frankie began producing tracks himself, under the tutelage of Chip-E, with underground club swelterers like Your Love and Baby Wants to Ride, alongside vocalist Jamie Principle; records that have never left some DJs’ crates. Towards the end of the 80s house music became a language that everyone wanted to speak. Frankie moved back to New York, as Chicago was going overground, and alongside David Morales formed Def Mix Productions, producing a string of remixes for the likes of Michael Jackson, Diana Ross, Chaka Khan and En Vogue. The early 90s saw him achieve major label contracts for his own productions. After 15 years in the game, he was producing some of the most vital and enduring music of his career: see The Whistle Song, a New York party classic through and through.
Knuckles has stated he always thought of what he did as creating ‘a poor man’s paradise on the dancefloor’. Through the decades, even in the face of enormous adversity, he hasn’t ever stopped, with a recent remix of Hercules and Love Affair hitting that same sweet spot, to rapturous and, possibly, quite surprised applause. His place in the thick of today’s dance music scene is further confirmed by an appearance on the circuit this summer in Croatia – seemingly the Ibiza of this generation’s clubbers – at Electric Elephant festival.
Hi Frankie, how’s life?
Life is good. No complaints. I’ve been busy in the studio keeping late hours, completing production on several projects for various artists to have ready for WMC (Winter Music Conference, held in Miami).
You’ve been touring all over the world in the last couple of months, have you had any memorable experiences?
Lots of travel, yes. Great events! No memorable experiences, just great times with great people.
You’ve been in the game longer than most, how would you rate being an international DJ and producer in terms of of job satisfaction, after all this time? What keeps you going?
I’d rate my position in the business pretty high. The music keeps me going. Music is everything to me. I sleep, eat, drink and breathe music 24 hours a day.
Between touring the world, winning Grammys, mixing live on national television, and being officially honoured by your home city, you must be starting to feel like you’ve done it all. What do you still want to achieve?
Grammys? I’ve only got one, and it’s the most important one. Because of the nature of how business is done these day, holding down a residency in one place is almost impossible. So, being mobile moving around the globe is essential to my work. I know I’ve achieved a lot over the years but that’s not the reason I do what I do. Music is such an essential part of my every existence. It’s a beautiful beast that has a healthy appetite that I have no problem feeding.
In Chicago in the 80s you were part of a new scene that had no precedents. Can you imagine how it must feel for someone trying to come up as a producer now, given the huge history of dance music that now exists? Do you have any advice?
Back in the 80s everything was new and undiscovered. Groundwork was being laid, but I don’t think any of my contemporaries were conscious of it. We were all dedicated to the music and remaining steadfast to it. House music came out of the natural order of things at the time. Never in the history of popular music had a genre been killed off like disco. But since the development and recognition of house music, not so much in the USA as in the UK, with technology making DJ culture a new reality in this business, it seems to me that all the new, young, up and coming guys that are trying to break in the business are more focused on reinventing the wheel than concentrating on the quality of their work. I have no advice to pass along. If what I do musically inspires the next generation, I’m here and available to anyone that has a question. But to those that are too busy focusing on creating the next big thing, good luck!
You performed on TV for Channel 4’s House Party in the UK last year, which was possibly a milestone for the combination of mainstream and dance music culture – how did that feel?
When I was first approached about it I thought it was odd. And the closer we got to the event I began to get a bit depressed about it. Being locked in a studio on New Year’s Eve in London when I would normally be in the warmth of Australia left me feeling a bit deflated. But then one of the producers said to me at soundcheck, “Can you imagine? You’re going to be in everyone’s living room at the stroke of midnight when the new year comes in”. I really hadn’t thought about it that way. And for the rest of the day the thought of playing to all of England bringing in the new year began to excite me. Excite me no end, I began to get a bit nervous. But by the time I got in the booth and started playing any fear I had was gone. I was in heaven. Only downside, one hour wasn’t enough. I’m so glad Channel 4 asked me to be a part of this groundbreaking event.
It feels recently like the USA has finally embraced so-called EDM, or dance music, as it used to be known, as a mainstream entertainment, many years after its inception. Does this feel good, or has it all happened too late? Is the ‘EDM’ scene in the USA a good reflection of what you love?
No, it’s not a good reflection of what I love. But I guess it’s what’s working for middle America right now. I could go on about the industry here in the States and how behind it is but really, who cares at the end of the day?
Chicago House has been hitting the buttons of a totally different generation in the last couple of years, have you seen this kind of resurgence happen before?
No I can’t say that I have. But I think it’s about time that it happened. Everything that goes around comes back around. Every few years or so a new generation discovers house music. New artists, DJs and tunes are developed and the nostalgia hunt begins. There’s lots of disposable music in club music, especially house music. But there are a handful of us DJ/ producers that are continuing to produce quality, memorable tracks and songs that will live on for generations to come.
How does it feel performing alongside people like 808 State at events like the recent Hacienda 30 night? Do these relics of the golden age, such as the now defunct Hacienda, still hold any magic?
‘Relics Of The Golden Age’? That’s funny and sad at the same time. Playing on all the events over the past year forced me to stop and look around at all of the DJs and artist I’ve grown up with in the UK. All of us looking a bit weathered, some are Dads and Granddads. Then I look out in the room at the audiences we’re playing for and I’m left with this feeling of ‘Wow! I never dreamed of lasting this long in this business’. Someone compared me and my contemporaries to the likes of The Rolling Stones, being the seniors in the business. ‘Relics’? OK. But still I continue to create new music and do my part to keep it fresh and not trendy.
You remixed some truly iconic divas back in the day: Chaka Khan, Diana Ross, Janet Jackson. Do any of today’s singers stand close? Is there anyone you’d like to work with?
Beyoncé is perhaps the only one. Her showmanship is beyond measure. But I also work with a lot of session singers like Nicki Richards who backs Madonna on her world tours. These artist are the work horses, the backbones and keepers of the flame when it comes to what make this music so special. I was very fortunate to work with all these giants in the business. I’ve learned a lot from all of them.
Any forthcoming projects your fans should keep their eyes peeled for?
Just keep an eye on Director’s Cut. We’re working hard to bring quality dance music back to the forefront of this business.
Lastly, you’re playing Electric Elephant in Croatia and London’s Lovebox this summer. What are you looking forward to about those shows, will you be approaching your sets differently?
I’m only one man. I only know how to be one man, Frankie Knuckles. I don’t know what to expect playing those events, but a very important man once told me, “Never preconceive anything and you’ll never be disappointed”.
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Catch Frankie Knuckles at Electric Elephant, Croatia, July 11th-15th and Lovebox, Victoria Park, London, July 19th-21st.
facebook.com/FrankieKnucklesOfficialFanPage
Words: Gwyn Thomas de Chroustchoff
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