“I was in my first band when I was 18,” Juan MacLean (real first name John) opens. “At the time, I was so excited about indie-rock in the States.” So began a breath-taking rollercoaster of a career that is currently now pointing MacLean towards Defected’s first Glitterbox party in London (25 July) and to joining a dream-team line-up of house and disco DJ talent that also includes Cerrone, Joey Negro and Smokin Jo. He is very excited.
Despite those early rock rumblings, MacLean has always played close to electronic music. Six Finger Satellite, the band representing most of his pre-solo employment during the Nineties, delivered a surreal brand of gonzo electro-punk splicing savage guitar riffs with intense synth-scapes and stiff disco rhythms. Albums like The Pigeon Is The Most Popular Bird (1993), Severe Exposure (1995) and Paranormalized (1996) were bold musical highlights but towards the end of the decade the group was losing creative focus and MacLean’s own personal issues (including addiction to heroin) were threatening to permanently derail his ambitions. He quit Six Finger Satellite in 1998 (the band split three years later, before a revival in 2007), quit New York to clean up, earned a degree and began teaching young offenders.
It was Six Finger producer and friend James Murphy who brought MacLean back from the brink. He and fellow DJ-producer Tim Goldsworthy started sending him interesting new music, and pushed him closer to the electronic sounds the three had always enjoyed. Re-engaged, MacLean would eventually release deep acid track ‘By The Time I Get To Venus’ as The Juan MacLean in 2002 – it was one of the first releases for Murphy and Goldsworthy’s new label DFA.
The rest is crazy, vivid, monumental dance history. Releasing almost exclusively through DFA over the past 13 years, The Juan MacLean has notched up a series of seriously belting EPs (with help from regular collaborators including singer Nancy Whang) channelling everything from Talking Heads, Kraftwerk and Bootsy Collins to Moroder, Derrick May and Larry Heard in their super-fresh exploration of the house universe – EPs like ‘Tito’s Way’, ‘The Simple Life’ and ‘Get Down (With My Love)’. His three albums, Less Than Human (2005), The Future Will Come (2009) and In A Dream (2014) – (in combination with a steady flow of freely-expressive DJ sets all over the world) - demonstrate similar verve and variety, and rightly confirm MacLean as dance artist supreme.
You’re just back from Glitterbox Ibiza then....
I was really excited. Space is the only place I’ve ever played in Ibiza but not for a couple of years. I was looking forward to getting back; the opportunity really suited me and I’m back again in a couple of months [18 September].
Before that you have Glitterbox London at Ministry of Sound....
That’s right. A Glitterbox party seems to me to be one where you can DJ with freedom...where you can DJ tastefully, for want of a better word. You don’t have to play such banging stuff, which is a nice change. I’m really excited about 25 July in London.
Do you plan your gigs?
I probably do fall into the realm of DJs who plan things a bit in advance. I like to play vinyl, and will go through my records before gigs to pick out the records I think will be suitable. Of course, it all depends on the gig. There’s real pressure with a gig at, say, Panoramabar in Berlin where you know that half of the crowd are DJs like you, and the other half super-knowledgeable punters – everyone is expecting a particular thing. I like to plan more for something like this. But even then it’s still about playing what feels right on the night, and reading the mood.
You started out playing in bands before switching to DJing – which medium do you prefer?
I love playing live, but it’s often functional I think – reserved for promotional touring when you have a new album out. For me, the DJing has remained fairly consistent as an activity for around 15 years now. There’s a lot of flexibility with playing records. I like to play deep and fairly minimal actually...a lot of those limited, 250-copy productions, but really I go all over the place. My set up is classic – two vinyl turntables, two CDJs and I’m away. The DJing really took off after I released my first tune with DFA. A lot of other DJs were playing it and then the offers for me to DJ just took over. A lot of the offers were for gigs probably beyond the level of DJ skill I had at that time!
Defected will soon re-release ‘A Simple Design’ with brand new remixes – what is your reaction to the package?
It’s amazing for me to be re-releasing ‘A Simple Design’ with Defected. I’ve watched the label grow over many years and the music just gets cooler and cooler. The variety of what those guys do now suits someone like me. At the same time, I’m always battling the perception of people that what I do is ‘nu disco’. I’ve always been close to house and techno and Defected’s outlook helps me here.
Your thoughts on the new remixes by Deetron, Purple Disco Machine and Jesse Rose?
I’m cool with people interpreting my music as they need to. As it goes, the remixes of ‘A Simple Design’ are pieces of music that I’d be happy playing myself so I’m really supportive of them. You have to remember, too, that this is dance music. Artists shouldn’t worry too much about their records being remixed for dance floors. If someone takes a vocal snippet from one of my productions and uses it over a house rhythm then I’m not going to panic...be my guest.
At what point of the career curve are you currently on, would you say?
This feels like a great time. I’m on a peak and that’s very intentional. From the beginning, I always intended to build to this kind of point; I was always interested in a longer career and in artistic progression. In dance music, unlike rock, you are more revered the older you become. My aim, therefore, is to keep making timeless music and nurture longevity. I’ve seen artists chase trends, enjoy their success and then fall off the face of the face of the earth. It’s important to stick to your guns and try and block all the outside noise out.
Can you tell us about your specific future plans?
I have a bunch of EPs on the way for DFA, mainly dance-orientated. I’m doing some stuff for other labels too, as well as working on a new album. The album is early days but I am already thinking about it thematically. As my fourth long-player it will have a darker, more electronic feel. My first album was linear and weird, and then I became progressively more musical. The last album could not have been any more song-orientated, so there’s a feeling now that I need to pull back on that. The new album is going to be deeper, moodier, more forward-thinking, and I’m hoping to release it next summer.
Are the days of the album numbered in today’s digital landscape?
The format allows you to go somewhere else and enter a new headspace. I don’t want to lose touch with the process of creativity that first inspired me. I think it’s a weird industry-driven idea that ‘no one listens to the album format anymore’. I’d say that if you conducted a poll of people today, many people would confirm their love of albums. The format allows you to be honest with yourself, as an artist and that’s really powerful.
Once upon a time, your own musical days seemed numbered....
By the time I quit Six Finger Satellite I was really disenchanted. The band’s output had become really formulaic...it wasn’t innovative. We’d hit the end of our post-punk dance wave...there was no more music. I felt played out, and just sold all of my equipment and left town. In time I met Tim Goldsworthy who, alongside James [Murphy], turned my music on its head. I’d been around Kraftwerk, Chicago house and Detroit already; Tim told me to go straight for dance music - which had exploded during the Nineties - and showed me that I could make music again.
What happened next? What was the absolute ‘Eureka’ moment?
I was already a studio engineer. Tim and James bought me a sampler and I went from there. I collected a Casio SK-1 [sampling synth], Akai sampler, a Juno-106 [polyphonic synth] and other mono-phonic synths. Then Tim taught me Logic [music production software] and suddenly I was obsessed. It was like discovering music for the first time all over again. I made my first solo album not long after that.
Do you ever fear losing motivation again?
When I started out as The Juan MacLean I didn’t know I was at the forefront of the whole DFA revolution thing. But, genuinely, I’m still at the forefront of that revolution right now. That’s what it feels like and I’m still so excited. There’s so much new music to discover, play, make....
What’s your assessment of the current dance scene?
People say there’s more crap out there now, but there’s also a lot of good stuff...always. The difficulty in finding those good things is amazing but that’s where the importance of having labels you trust kicks in. Overall, I think the resurgence of house is really good. It’s such a great time. The digital boom has been overwhelming but the return to vinyl is a cool development and the promoters are starting to cotton on. It’s funny, a lot of these promoters used to make fun of me years ago for playing vinyl!
Are you still teaching these days?
I’m so busy with my music that I’ve not had the time that I’d like to do more social work. That said I am pursuing doing it again. I’m in the process of getting grants sorted to provide better electronic music facilities for the kids at NYU [New York University]. Beyond that education is implied through my music. Like any DJ I’m sometimes guilty of being too genre-specific but generally I have more leeway with my selections these days. Take my last few gigs, for example. I’ve played minimal and deep house in New York, disco in a Seattle Warehouse for Gay Pride, and a mix of everything for Glitterbox. I play it all. By just doing what I do, breaking through the barriers of genre and hopefully doing a good job as a DJ, I’m switching people onto different types of music. I like to surprise people and open their minds. That’s got to be a good thing right?
Words: Ben Lovett
Juan MacLean plays for Glitterbox on 25 July at Ministry Of Sound – full line-up and tickets. He also plays for Defected In The House at Amnesia 25 August and 15 September, and for Glitterbox at Space 18 September. For full listings and tickets head to http://defected.com/events/
A Simple Design (with remixes by Deetron, Purple Disco Machine and Jesse Rose) is out 31 August on Defected
