“Late at night when things go wrong.” So suggests the minimal yet evocative bio of Chicago Damn; a producer who has revelled in anonymity for much of his career. In the wake of his most recent LP however, he’s about ready to admit that a little exposure can go a long way. Here, Defected’s Ben Lovett speaks to him about the recording of Experiments Must Continue and thriving on instinct.
Where once Chicago Damn revelled in anonymity, today he accepts image and profile are part of the music-making game. Three years ago little was known about the furiously versatile electronic DJ-producer and he was determined to keep it that way. “I was thinking that what I look like, and the type of person I was shouldn’t affect how people listened to my music; it shouldn’t directly influence the music” he explains. “Of course, as time has passed I’ve realised you have to do the interviews, and have your picture taken sometimes. Sometimes it’s for the best, because it helps bring my music to a wider audience. I find it easier now to go with the flow. Anonymity has become less important.”
Hence Damn is happy to peel back his alias for us – thirtysomething, Sunderland-based Gavin McClary; currently working his potent club sounds around intensive training to become a teacher. The training is a relatively recent thing, McClary looking to teach computing at secondary school and college once his studies are complete. “I just decided to do it a couple of years back, because then I’m not solely relying on music to make a living” he says. “I had triplets [two girls, one boy] last year too, so there’s the whole added thing to consider of supporting my young family, but the arrangement works well because now I have total freedom to do what I like in the studio. I don’t have to compromise my ideas in order to make a few more precious sales. At the same time, I have taught DJing and producing previously, so there is a link between the teaching and Chicago Damn – I love both.”
Such conscientious compartmentalising of his time is another indication of McClary’s mature outlook as a recording artist and performer. Hectic family life and the current, incessant demands of teacher training do not always provide him with many hours for ‘Damn building’ but that, McClary remarks, isn’t an issue. “I did use to worry that I wouldn’t have any time for my music but I adapted quickly” he stresses. “I’m very much in the instant of my music. Usually I only get a few hours here or there to put things together, but I am able to complete tracks in that timeframe. It suits who I am as an artist. I thrive on instinct and emotion; if things are over-rehearsed or recorded then you lose something. Me, I like to record a track based on what I’m feeling at that time, and then move on - pure instinct. That’s far more powerful in my experience.”
Still, there are occasions when McClary wishes these brief recording windows would open with greater regularity. “I do worry every now and again that I’m not making enough music but, y’know, I always wait for my chance. I wait patiently. And that, in its own way, is good because when you know you’ve only got a couple of hours for a track then you really focus, and really throw your heart and soul into it. That outpouring of ideas can drive some of the best sounds.”
Sounds like those on the Chicago Damn debut album, Experiments Must Continue. True to title, McClary’s brand new project delivers a bold and captivating flow of different tempos and textures across six forward-thinking tracks. Strawberries & Kreme is slick deep techno driven by precise and powerful interplay between bass, beats and synths whilst Sleaze slows things down with deliciously surreal cosmic disco panache. Elsewhere, Acid Tool is straight-up, no-nonsense acid 4-4 and Sleep Derived, a spiralling, off-kilter assault punctuated by toothy bass and a killer sense of machine groove. Throughout, McClary is able to bind intense atmosphere to sharp rhythmic structure – it’s assured, brilliantly executed stuff.
“Back to my earliest material on Merc with Marc E [Merc’s owner] I had already decided I wanted to be able to change things up from release to release” he indicates. “The new album is no different, a conscious shift from the EPs I released immediately before it.”
Indeed, those Chicago Damn EPs (released via McClary’s own label of the same name earlier this year and in 2012) oscillate radically from sample-heavy, phat-as-f*ck disco jam (Let Your Body Rule, from Bizarre Sex No 4 EP) to freaky slo-mo synth dive (Joh, on 18 Levels EP) via relentless robo-bounce (Circuit Breakers on The Filth EP). It’s highly impressive gear shifting from one of the dancefloor’s freshest changelings....
“As I say, the music I make depends on how I’m feeling there and then” he says. “The new album was actually recorded last October when my babies were born. I’d already started some of the tracks but I needed to come back and finish them after the births when, to be honest, I had even less time. I was pretty frantic on the computer, and the overall vibe is pretty specific to techno...not all that deep or sampled, just raw, heavy production. I was just feeling really tired and frustrated because of everything happening in the background; it’s that feeling coming across in the tracks.” The album’s artwork, featuring McClary’s three newborns, rubber stamps his account.
“I can’t really work any other way” he adds. “I need to feed off my emotions and experiences. I think I spend most of the time available to me trying to get these things across because they’re so powerful. I’m not sure I could just make a record based on how it sounds; there has to be something behind the beats and other elements.”
McClary’s first experience of electronic dance music came in 1993 whilst dating a girl whose older brother was already obsessed by it. “We were sharing a Walkman with this R&S mixtape playing” he recalls. “When Joey Beltram’s Energy Flash came in I was blown away. That record completely blew my mind and from that moment I knew I wanted to be involved with electronic music.”
It hasn’t all been plain sailing. Whilst industry observers rightly point to 2010 as the beginning of Chicago Damn, McClary was dabbling with the decks and studio console under other lower-key pseudonyms all the way back in the late Nineties (“I was round 18 or 19”); all before hitting a brick wall in 2004. Disillusioned with the scene around him, he decided to step back and pack it in.
“There were decent record sales at the time [2004]” he says. “Therefore the interest in making money was stronger, which brought with it shifting politics, rip-off deals and all these cut-throat people. That was my personal experience anyway, and it was enough to put me off working in music for a number of years. It’s so different now. When I came back with Chicago Damn there was no real money to make; that’s still the case. A lot of things can happen these days without a contract and, instead, just a simple gentleman’s agreement. The pressure is off, because money has been removed from the equation. If people are making music it’s because they love the music.”
McClary was inspired to return upon hearing Marc-E’s weighty releases on Merc: “They were really heavy, yet slow; they reminded me of some of my first recording experiments. The idea of changing the tempo for the dancefloor was really liberating; it allowed for a lot of creativity.” Soon after, McClary presented Marc-E with now classic Chicago Damn lick Romcom, a lush, flute-gilded deep house glide which the latter loved and instantly directed towards a friend and his label. The arrangement fell through but Marc-E wanted follow-up cuts Hold On and Be Your Man for a two-track EP which would launch on Merc in 2010. Meanwhile, Romcom would end up with Roy Dank’s cult Wurst imprint for The Wurst Music Ever Part 1 sampler released the following year. Damn’s reputation started to snowball, leading to diverse but consistently whip-smart releases on his own imprint (launched in 2011 with Let’s Submerge), as well as Sixty Five, Wolf Music and Midnight Love Club, not to mention remixes for Let’s Play House, Delusions Of Grandeur and Classic (Luke Solomon’s Digital Kid Versus The World).
Where’s next for McClary? Prudently, he has already recorded one new three-track EP for Merc, due next spring, and beyond that has fresh material for his own label (which veteran house-r Chris Duckenfield helps advise on – “we talk about a lot of label stuff; he’s a great support.”) He’s also in talks with Berlin-based Italians Discodromo about another track for a forthcoming compilation based on their popular club night CockTail d’Amore, and due out on Rekids. In terms of DJing, he continues to play one or two gigs a month - his most recent for Dance Tunnel in East London.
“I’ve hopefully got the balance right” he comments of the DJing. “I’m not dependent on it. I make sure I get my fix of going out but not at the expense of my family. From my perspective, the crowds seem a little quieter right now, not massively so but it is noticeable. Then again, people seem up for a wider array of sounds and that suits me perfectly.”
And as for the studio? “I’m staying in the moment” he confirms. “I’m hoping that when my course is finished I’ll get a little more time back for producing but, ultimately, I don’t have any big long-term plans. I’m simply looking to carry on making music around my other commitments and to see where it leads me. I’m really happy with the album, with what’s coming up next, and with the way I’m working; that’s enough right now. When I was younger, naturally I wanted to do only music but it’s not that simple for many artists these days, and you need to be realistic. I’m happy...so long as I’m making music then I’m totally content....”
What thrilling stylistic tangents can we expect next? UK garage, New Jersey house, afro-beat? “You’ll have to wait and see,” McClary teases. “But I’m really excited about it. It’s another step forward for Chicago Damn. I’m eager to keep trying new things.”
Words: Ben Lovett
Chicago Damn’s debut album Experiments Must Continue is out now on UK Chicago Damn.
