Defected's Ben Lovett speaks to Raphael Ripperton in the wake of the release of his most recent LP.
When Hemlock Smith’s voice first graces A Little Part Of Shade, the new album from Swiss DJ-producer Ripperton, there is a feeling that something very special is happening. Smith’s smoky blues rasp on early track I Don’t Know spirals hypnotically downwards around thudding downtempo beats and mournful acoustic guitars, and leaves a deep emotional mark. It’s an apt representation of the wider album’s powerful harmony, Smith actually returning for three further songs. He and Ripperton, however, didn’t always get along.
“He [Smith] used to run a video club in the building behind mine in Lausanne where we both live,” Ripperton reminisces. “He could hear me playing house music through an open window and would be like ‘what is this boring, repetitive crap you’ve always got on? All I can hear is these drums all the time, it’s driving me mad!’ Of course, there was so much else going on with those records but, through a window, the kick drum will always dominate. Eventually, we got chatting some more and talking about music and became good friends.”
The recording process for A Little Part Of Shade, both with and without Smith, was a smooth one. “I didn’t really have the album in mind” Ripperton explains, “I was simply building up this folder of tracks on my computer... playing with songs and ideas. And, at the same time, working with really good friends [other guests, in addition to Smith, include singers Van Hai and Massaya, and clarinet player Andy Ernst] which was magical and refreshing. We were able to work closely together and, in turn, our collaborations opened up new landscapes to me which was interesting.”
A Little Part Of Shade is, according to Ripperton, “quite the opposite” of serene soundscaped debut Niwa, focusing on “the part of shade everyone has;” the private garden of complex internal dialogue we all closely guard. However, it does pick up directly where Niwa ends, taking that record’s serene, sometimes frustrating freewheel amble – both enchanting and confusing – and balancing it beautifully with a more effective use of song-building and compositional structure. Hence, A Little Part Of Shade’s absorbing acoustic soundscapes – the title track, a perfect example – and sweet piano glides like No More Airplanes (also smartly using reversed guitars) make greater sense sitting alongside the edgy breakbeat blues of I Don’t Know, catchy nu-house swing of Tape Hiss and minimal, yet melodic, bass-y throb of For All The Wrong Reasons. Closing entry Spike, again voiced by Smith, is surely Ripperton’s most significant advancement as a producer and songsmith yet; a stunningly painful love song which should linger long in hearts and minds.
“I really love to make songs and produce them,” Ripperton urges. “I love to write them and sing also [Ripperton sings on Black Wall and For All The Wrong Reasons]. Instrumental music has left me feeling a little bored recently; some of it doesn’t have soul. What is nice for me with making albums is that I get to show a more musical side than the DJing and club tracks. It’s nice to have that balance, and Niwa showed that people were interested to hear my album tracks; they’re very different from the club... it’s personal home listening.”
Where once, during the 1990s, Switzerland was rocking with electronic talent and an exciting house scene to boot – think Djaimin, Mr Mike, Purple’s Jamie Lewis, radio stations such as Couleur 3, and internationally recognised clubs across Zurich, Montreux and Lausanne – today things are decidedly quiet. It is a sad reality for Ripperton but one, perversely, that has benefitted him personally.
“I have some mixed feelings,” he confesses. “I remember the beginnings of the Swiss dance scene and that whole generation of discovery. The parties were good, and the artists were making big records. Now, today, despite certain exceptions, the scene here is all for show. People aren’t in it for the music; they don’t understand the club spirit. It’s a really disappointing reality where people take drugs just to forget what is happening. I’m not exactly sure how it has happened.
“On the other hand, I am completely free. The scene in Lausanne is non-existent, so I have no major pressures around me to make a certain type of record. At the same time I have the lake [Lake Geneva] close by and countryside, and a perfect environment for thinking freely and creatively.”
It’s hard to believe that Ripperton, in the electronic business for around 20 years now and still, despite Niwa, closely associated with a super-sleek tech-house sound, hasn’t been bowed by any external expectations to maintain that sleekness. The only real pressure, he counters, has been that of his own making; to ensure he becomes more confident as an artist and matures: “I was definitely less confident right up to the time of making Niwa. Being confident gives you an immense power to make better music, for yourself. It brings a happy contentment which I really feel is there for me now. For sure, there have been some expectations from others during my career. During Niwa I was working too hard to make everybody happy rather than me and I needed to re-look at things. And then there are always the considerations of business. Sometimes you work more for your Barclaycard than any artistic goal but that is a conscious decision and then you look to find a balance.”
Ripperton’s outlook has most definitely matured. A family man these days with two young children, he keeps a tight, carefully controlled rein on his touring commitments. Protecting precious personal time ensures that he is fully energised when work does call. “I think I manage my time well” he says. “My professional time used to push me to the absolute limit and I am still pushed on occasions now. But I take care of my family, and of myself, and make sure my feet are on the ground. I was playing out over three times a week which for some would be a dream but for me, now, is like my idea of madness. I’ve put things in perspective so that I’m the best music-maker I can be.”
A live show, built around Ripperton’s softer, organic album palette, is apparently in the offing. What more can he tell us? “I am working on a live show which I hope to be able to adapt as both a concert-style event and club performance” he indicates. “But it’s difficult. I have done other shows in the past and you need the help of groups of people. It’s a big thing, all the organisation and rehearsal. And then all of you together need to be able to build momentum which drains even more energy; without success, there are no more gigs and the organisation becomes harder to justify. Still, I do have many years of experience performing and over the years I’ve tried to share things and build great collaborations so hopefully the idea of a live show is more attractive. My current plans are going well; all of it, basically, is about practise and playing, playing, playing....”
1970s-born Ripperton - full name Raphael Ripperton – has made a healthy impact on electronic music since his teenage days working in Lausanne record shop Tracks and discovering US house via Tony Humphries and the Masters At Work. Local DJ work led to early studio releases as Soul Merge and Reasons, a Diesel U Music award in 2003 (for the latter alias) and his first label Loveearth. Subsequent collaboration with Mirko Loko as Lazy Fat People saw him signed to Carl Craig’s Planet E imprint before the Ripperton solo brand firmly established itself with impactful gigs around the world and a slew of top draw tech releases for the likes of liebe*detail, Sthlm Audio, Dessous and, of course, Green (Joris Voorn and Edwin van Oosterwal’s Rejected sub-label, upon which A Little Part Of Shade now gains its release).
It hasn’t all been plain sailing. Ripperton’s second label, Perspectiv, wound down a couple of years ago after five years of influential releases by Agnes, Christian Vance, October and Futureboogie faves Behling & Simpson. The label’s demise left him bewildered. “The changing of attitudes in our scene never fails to amaze me,” he laughs ironically. “I still don’t know how just a few years ago everyone loved this shining new label, and now no-one gives a shit. I think that, truly, Germany and the UK are the only countries left with the power to fully sustain and drive forwards major and independent labels that support electronic music. They have big enough scenes to drive everything. Outside of that it’s difficult to build momentum. I always think of an interview Laurent Garnier did once in which he said the best kind of record shop would be one consisting only of white labels – a store for the music, not for the label. Of course, all of that talk is idealistic.”
Nevertheless, Ripperton’s latest label venture Tamed Musiq, launched in 2011, is well established now and starting to build a whole new level of interest and support: “It’s nearly all my music so far” he suggests, “but things are going well and we’ll see where we go next. I did release an Isolee track this year [Dennis] because I’m so fucking in love with him. We’ll see what happens next but, of course, there are plans.”
Which brings us on to where Ripperton sees himself in the long-term future; where exactly? “That’s a tricky one” he grins. “I’d love to do more albums in the studio, because I’m done with the road in the way that I used to travel it...it’s takes up too much energy. But I still like to DJ so it will still be there for me. In general, I love this job...the passion is still there. It’s freaky when I start thinking that I’m almost 40. Music has basically been all my life and I can’t complain with that. Ahead, I will just go where the music takes me. That’s all I can do; that’s my destiny.”
He continues: “The electronic scene is too formatted now; I want the bigger global names to have some balls and try something unexpected. That said, overall, there is more good music than ever; a lot from smaller labels. If you’re curious enough, you’ll find the interesting stuff among the rubbish. I digest all kinds of music myself, electronic and non-electronic; it’s a vast, complicated canvas but it’s no bad environment to be working in.”
In his own shaded and very cool corner....
Words: Ben Lovett
Ripperton’s new album A Little Part Of Shade is out now on Green (NL)
