There have been opportunities of late for Chicago house luminary Roy Davis Jr to make “tonnes of money” through the populist medium of EDM. Understandably, thoughts of working with a sound that mainstream pop audiences around the world simply can’t get enough of right now, and therefore labels and promoters are paying crazy cash to help string out, have entered his mind. It's not something he'd ever consider though, as Defected's Ben Lovett found out.
Roy Davis Jr isn’t for turning. Not even slightly. Cue his new album, Destroy And Rebuild. “The title is kind of to do with destroying those sorts of EDM thoughts that occasionally cross my mind” he laughs. “Big labels don’t come knocking at my door with these offers but I’m in a place where if I wanted to I could pursue electronic music for fame and money. You think about it from time to time, that’s only naturally, but it doesn’t interest me. I’ve been in the game a long time, among the long suffering pioneers who paved the way for what has followed...a scene where others reap all the benefits and earn the awards. I have to put myself in a mind state that is not focused on such things.”
Instead, integrity is the word. Creativity and freedom are others, equally important. “EDM is so wide open these days, that I see a lot of producers young and old jumping to it. Some of the guys have popped out of nowhere, suddenly playing to crowds of 30,000 people. It’s crazy” Davis Jr reflects. “I wanted to protect my integrity and my vision; ultimately, I didn’t feel comfortable changing my direction like that.”
And so we have Destroy And Rebuild, as much about banishing ruminations on soul-less quick-hit commercialism as stripping back the more complex, intricate and musical narrative of Davis Jr’s past in order to deliver simple, feel-good groove aligned to the pure values of house music’s golden past. “I wanted to bring back that original sound, y’know?” he explains. “That Chicago house sound. I felt like my music had been getting too complicated, too stressful at times. I dug out a lot of old analogue equipment, like my 707s [Roland TR-707 drum machine], and took things to a more minimal place. I wanted to have some fun, back like when I was a kid playing around with sounds, finding a vibe and then sticking with it. Destroy And Rebuild isn’t as spiritual as my last couple of albums...not quite as deep but it’s got a real feeling. There are some great vocals and some proper tracks for the club crowds. But I’ve also got some soul in there; it all came together nice and easy.”
Destroy And Rebuild is best described, perhaps, as ‘soul electrica’ – Davis Jr’s own long-cherished term for the soulful, electronic-spiced melting pot of house, garage, disco, R&B, soul, funk and hip-hop he continually strives to stir up and serve. The backbone, of course, is four-to-floor, whether it be driving forward the murky hip-house swing of Bang Bang (featuring Davis Jr’s brother J Noize), the infectious Latin hustle of Forever Summer (graced by the sleek vocals of dominant album collaborator Terry Dexter) or the lustrous neon future-glide of Slide (Robert Owens delivering seriously emotive, lovelorn song). And the flow between tracks is, indeed, nice and easy - back to basics club-craft demonstrating heft and heart....
“I was contracted to make this record some four years ago. But, at the time, I needed a break. I needed to put my ear to the street; to catch a vibe. The label [Canadian imprint Mile End] had a lot of patience and allowed me to do my thing, which I’m so grateful for” Davis Jr confides. “It was a much simpler process because, for this project, there weren’t 10,000 musicians involved; I could just have fun with the equipment and see where things ended up. Slide is a perfect example. I’d never worked with Robert but really wanted to. He really liked the ideas I had in mind, so he wrote some lyrics and made some suggestions, and the whole thing built naturally. That was a really inspiring experience, like it was always meant to be. I think as I’ve gotten older I’ve learnt to maintain a better balance between work and family. I used to hit DJing and making records like a madman and that couldn’t go on forever. Those ‘mind breaks’ are key...being able to step back before making this record allowed me time to refocus, work out what I really wanted and express myself effectively. Back to raw....”
That’s not to say everything forthcoming will be so. Aside from relatively straightforward house remixes for those including DJ Skull, there are more involved collaborations due with MNEK (vocalist on last year’s Rudimental cut Spoons) and Terry Dexter – “she’s my main musical partner today.” Longer-term, Davis Jr is keen to score Broadway plays, having already worked alongside the renowned Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater company: “I find that world extremely interesting. There’s so much scope for experimentation. I’m looking forward to doing more work for the theatre in the next three or four years, God willing.”
Davis Jr, was born in Van Nuys, California before almost immediately moving to south side Chicago. Bar brief interludes in Tennessee and LA, he has always lived there. His introduction to house music came via local late Eighties legends including DJ Pierre, Farley ‘Jackmaster’ Funk and Lil’ Louis, whose frontier music prompted him to take up DJing aged 12. In 1993, whilst at college, he was poached by Strictly Rhythm to become an A&R scout and then tasked with launching his own sub-label Red Cat. By now Davis Jr was already producing, dropping classic (often ‘Wild Pitched’) cuts such as Mind Power, Learn To Live and II. He had also joined dream team acid crew Phuture.
Much has followed - seven albums, ranging from 1995 debut The Secret Mission to 2009’s God Life Music, umpteen EPs on Large, Force Inc., Cajual, Roulé, King Street, Bombay, Ubiquity, FXHE and Mile End (his relationship with the label began eight years ago), material via his own Undaground Therapy Muzik stable (which, excitingly, he will be resurrecting later this year), epic remixes of Terry Callier, Mary J Blige and Kerri Chandler, and similarly epic gigs in all far-flung corners of the planet. He remains best remembered, however, for 1996 Peven Everett collaboration, Gabriel. The pair’s starkly beautiful, horn-licked collusion was celebrated widely outside of the States by a staggeringly kaleidoscopic array of electronic scenes – drum & bass through to UK garage, not to mention house, techno and even mainstream radio-dance. Does Davis Jr still view the crossover cut fondly?
“I genuinely do; I still view it with reverence” he replies. “I don’t get hung up about records I’ve made, because I’m constantly moving on. Remember, too, Gabriel didn’t do anything in the States. That said, I still appreciate the beauty of that record and how it makes my audiences feel. So I’m still passionate about it. A lot of people request it when I play and often I’ll look to drop it in. Only last Sunday, at a gig in Montreal, it felt like the right place to play it. The crowd was so open and their reaction was incredible.”
Davis Jr has been forced to negotiate sizeable personal difficulties over the past decade or so, chiefly the passing of his mother and divorce. Has either affected his music and musical outlook? “I’d be lying if I said they didn’t at the time” he offers. “My mum passing, yes I did get caught up in that particularly. I moved to LA, because I needed space. I stepped back but didn’t stay out of it [music]. There’s a track on my Chicago Forever album [2004] which was something like a cry out but, look, I’m not a sombre house producer. I never will be. I’m a vibin’ guy, I never stop spinning. We all have our challenges and we just have to work through them. I didn’t put pressure on myself at the time; I simply entered a heavenly state of mind and carried on. I like my music to uplift; I think the new album shows that. I’m not into making depressing albums.”
It is, Davis Jr acknowledges, a good time to ‘rebuild’. If EDM is electronic music’s main trend talking point currently, then resurgent underground interest in old-school house is a significant second. Davis Jr’s sonic stomping ground is back in wider vogue. “It definitely feels like our time again; the last time really was with bands like Ten City” he reflects. “The industry hasn’t seen the roots of our music for so long now but the mood is changing and we’re starting to get college students and kids keen to learn those roots. The original music is back with a twist which is great. Why now? It’s hard to say, I guess it’s the old point about music coming in cycles. I certainly ain’t complaining!”
Industry interest in Davis Jr’s services has, without doubt, accelerated during the past 12 months; particularly when you consider his remix output for current crossover darlings Rudimental and Disclosure. The latter assignment, an alternative version of F For You, wasn’t officially released but had a whopping impact on underground floors and the Lawrence brothers themselves. “They didn’t know I’d done it to start with” he chuckles. “And then I played it at Latitude last year, and they were also on stage, and everyone flipped out. I got the whole thing on video. Guy [Lawrence] came rushing over to me; he loved what I’d done and was really respectful about my other music. It’s reassuring to see big contemporary acts like this that have an understanding of the roots and the history of our music.”
Is he fearful of the future and where the electronic scene might hurtle next? “Not really” he calmly replies. “I’ve always innovated and embraced the new. I’ve always loved using the computer as well as the analogue, in all situations. An engineer did tell me once to ditch my analogue stuff and stupidly I listened to him. But I got it back in the end. I prefer to have a wide range of different technology at my beck and call.”
And Chicago – is that legendary Windy City magic still there? “The city is waking up again; the people here are back in a creative mood” he indicates. “Some left the game and came back, others are up-and-coming. The city has so many sides today; outsiders often wonder why Chicago artists are making one type of dance record one moment, and then something else the next. But that’s all part of the fun - these are exciting, surprising times.”
Words: Ben Lovett
Roy Davis Jr’s new album Destroy And Rebuild is released via Mile End Records (Can) on April 14. Lead single Slide, featuring Robert Owens, is out now.
