So what makes a party at London’s O2 Arena this weekend stand out from the thousands of gigs Kenny ‘Dope’ Gonzalez has played during his illustrious career to date? Gonzalez, as well known for his long-term Masters At Work partnership with ‘Little’ Louie Vega as his immaculately-drummed solo work under aliases including Bucketheads and K-Dope, has lived, breathed and rocked the club for well over 20 years now. Switching comfortably between the genres of house, hip-hop and funk, he has generated the kind of hardy global reputation would-be DJs can only dream of; more so in today’s faddish, fast-paced download climate. So just why is the O2 exciting him? Surely he’s seen it all before?
“Any opportunity to play soulful music with great DJs is a welcome one” he opens. “London is my second home man, and the House Legends thing will be with people like Bobby & Steve, so the quality and great vibes should be there. I’m very selective about the parties I play, which is why I’m still on top of my game. I kinda know what to expect; I know the crowd and I are going to have a good time.”
House Legends, being thrown by soulful club brand Groove Odyssey this Saturday, also features Brit legend CJ Mackintosh, Brit newcomer Sean McCabe and diva extraordinaire India; an iconic Gonzalez collaborator in fact. The Odyssey set-up, combining record label, events promotion and booking agency, has previously hosted London-based parties with Todd Terry, Vega and, of course, ‘Dope’, so the pedigree is totally there.
“India will actually be performing separately to me” Gonzalez points out. “I think she was added to the bill after I was but, look, she’s an amazing talent and I think people will fly with her mad, crazy energy this weekend. It’s all good.”
Gonzalez’ rapid and sustained career ascent is heavily documented. He was born in Brooklyn, 1970, and nurtured as a young teen on the peppy hip-hop rhythms of his neighbourhood’s raucous block parties. Aged 15, he gained work at a local music store, before hooking up with Mike Delgado (of Murder Track fame) to present his own run of ‘hood jams under the Masters At Work tag. One already well-established regular, Todd Terry, borrowed the tag for a couple of releases before returning the favour by lending Gonzalez a drum machine. It was a defining moment….
‘Dope’ in turn produced a number of punchy house cuts for key label Nu Groove as Powerhouse – including The Bassline – before graduating to material on his own newly formed label Dopewax in 1990. Early release A Touch Of Salsa grabbed the immediate attention of Vega, then resident spinner at New York club Heartthrob; through Terry he approached Gonzalez about remixing it. Vega’s remix never happened but, thankfully, the seeds of a history-making double act had been sown.
Together, Vega and Gonzalez grabbed back Terry’s Masters At Work alias and over the following decade proceeded to drastically re-shape the club landscape around them. Hundreds of premium house remixes and productions followed, incorporating everything from Latin, jazz and big band to reggae, African and techno, embracing several ground-breaking projects such as Nuyorican Soul, Harddrive and Ruffneck, and generating high-brow collaborations with George Benson, Luther Vandross, Roy Ayers and Blaze, to name but a few....
MAW cuts like Deep Inside (as Harddrive), The Bounce (as KenLou), The Nervous Track (as Nuyorican Soul) and To Be In Love (featuring India) have emphatically stood the test of time. So too remixes of The Braxtons (The Boss), Mondo Grosso (Souffles H) and Roni Size (Watching Windows). That’s not including Gonzalez’ memorable solo work as, say, sample-soaked Bucketheads (The Bomb!), with Terry Hunter as Mass Destruction and even alongside eight-piece funk band The Fantastic Souls. Gonzalez is steeped in experience and success; what, then, does he make of today’s younger generation of uptempo music-makers?
“They’re from a whole different school, a whole different mentality” he says. “I’m happy to listen to anything they do; if it’s good, then that’s great for everyone but I think they have it easier and that often leads to tracks that don’t stand out in any way. A lot of my generation are all grown up now; they’re married with kids. Some have dropped outta music; some have different priorities. But those of us still in the game are different and that makes us unique. We were raised on clubs and studios with less reliance on technology, and with a different approach to constructing tracks and sets. We have the experience and the ability to see the bigger picture. Me, I can see the value in experimenting and pushing for different sounds, not keeping to a trend. Experience is important.”
Does Gonzalez therefore view his role as an increasingly philanthropic one? Is there a greater desire today to pro-actively teach those eager-beaver young bloods, as opposed to making salient but rather subliminal points about “good music” through the release of new records and track selections at gigs?
“I’m very conscious of dance music’s history and I believe that doing what I do, mixing up influences old and new, and sharing that history, does register with people. That is a lesson of sorts; do y’know what I’m sayin’?” ‘Dope’ answers. “But I am more mindful of sharing knowledge with new generations. I’ve been involved with the Red Bull Music Academy for a while now and that’s a great vehicle for inspiring new DJs. Of course, the kids need to listen and unfortunately many don’t. I’m 41 and still learning my game, yet some of these kids are like 23… 24 and they think they know it all? That ain’t right but it is what it is….”
Gonzalez is currently learning DJ software Traktor after a run-in with Serato. Modern technology’s solution to wielding heavy crates of records around is an attractive one, also offering DJs various time-saving, effects-boosting and library-enhancing benefits, but Gonzalez maintains a balanced view.
“I’m happy to use technology but not just for the sake of it or for keeping up with anyone” he explains. “I just started using Traktor but I’m not taking it out on the road yet as I’m still learning it. It’s definitely convenient and you can carry more music but to be honest there’s nothing like playing records. The sad thing is that fewer records are being pressed these days. And a lot of the new record shops – not the second-hand ones – have disappeared.”
The demise, globally, of the record shop brings us back, Gonzalez suggests, to discussion of clubland heritage and how it is effectively conveyed to up-and-coming artists. “It’s all about someone’s record collection” he stresses. “An expansive record collection informs everything from DJing to producing in the studio. It connects past to present to future and helps steer the scene. My record collection [thought to weigh in at around 50,000 releases] has been the crutch for everything I’ve done. It’s given me an identity. The shops to buy all those amazing records just aren’t there now; everyone buys via the internet which is so impersonal and formulaic.”
‘Dope’ is busier than ever. Aside from a steady stream of carefully-selected sets and shows, he has several new studio projects locked down. A deliciously raw house cut with former Blaze man Josh Milan (Be Your Freak) is already out there hustling international dancefloors; a full album with Milan, another with The Fantastic Souls, new Mass Destruction material, new material with revered funkster Keb Darge and a plethora of hip-hop and R&B projects are set to follows.
Which leaves the especially funky elephant in the room – more from MAW?: “All I can say is that Louie and I spoke a few weeks back about doing some more shows together. You have to understand that we had an incredible run during the Nineties, covering all sorts of bases. We blazed trails. But we also used up a lot of energy; there were hundreds of remixes and productions. We needed to do our own things, take some time elsewhere y’know?”
Would a new set of MAW gigs lead to new MAW records too? “We’ll see” ‘Dope’ says. “The magic never went away; when we get together we do some crazy, crazy stuff. But for now, we both have a lot of our own projects we need to do.”
Final question – where, in such an esteemed veteran’s opinion, does dance music go next? “No one knows” he bluntly summarises. “People posture and theorise but they don’t know. The key is for some of these new guys to learn from and work with some of the older ones. Someone like Floating Points [classical-jazz-drum machine fusionist producer Sam Shepherd] is a great example. If you can apply your mind to technology, not simply rely on it, and adapt to trends rather than following them, then you’ll be in good stead. That’s what I’ve always done and will keep doing for the benefit of my audiences. It is what it is….”
Words: Ben Lovett
Groove Odyssey presents House Legends, with Kenny ‘Dope’ Gonzalez, on March 3 at London’s 02 Arena. See http://.grooveodyssey.com for more.
