London Acid City - Our Time Is When...- Chris Liberator Tells It As It Is

"At the time, we were truly 'avin it, every weekend ,and felt we could literally achieve anything. London was burning with acid squat parties." Chris Liberator, acid techno's best known DJ, spoke to mezzmusic's Andrez Bergen in Melbourne recently, as he passed through Australia on his never ending worldwide tour. As one of the key pioneers and figureheads behind London's DIY/ anarcho/ squat party scene since 1990, Chris remains superbly qualified to sum up the scene. The question that prompted his memories concerned 'London Acid City', Chris and Lawrie Immersion's, anthem to avin' it in London, in 1997.


mezzmusic ; 3 years after London Acid City came out, how do you feel about the track now-

Chris Liberator:"We made the tune a few months after I got to know Lawrie and during that period he switched from taking his rig and setting it up at gigs, to taking his rig and setting it up at parties - the majority of which were free squat parties. Under the name of the'Immersion Sound System' Lawrie put on some of the best squat parties I'd ever been involved in. We made the track one night after a particularly good party at a squat where Lawrie was living at the time - we got caned, then made the track from a sample that I shouted into the mic myself! I still love 'London Acid City' because it's infused with that energy of the time- although, I think I got sick of hearing it for the first year or so after it came out."


mezz: Julian and Aaron also DJ under the Liberator tag, what is it between the three of you that makes you share the name-

Chris Liberator:""Our love of hard techno and acid. When we first met, we came from a punk/squat/underground London scene that didn't have any time for the emerging acid house, techno and rave scene. We found a common bond because we liked the music and the raves and eventually managed to convince (alongside the likes of Bedlam, Spiral Tribe, Zero Gravity and others) a whole counter-culture to embrace what we so loved."


mezz: Has techno achieved more than punk did in changing culture-

Chris Liberator:"No, I don't think it has - it's just continued the theme. Most electronica of the '70s by Throbbing Gristle (TG), Cabaret Voltaire, etc, wouldn't have existed without punk. When techno and house music arrived, had it not been for the independent label explosion generated by punk, then there would have been no distribution network for independent house and techno 12-inch singles. I was into Cabaret Voltaire and have most of their early LPs and singles; likewise Throbbing Gristle, though I lost my interest in Genesis P. Orridge & co when Psychic TV began. While I still have a great respect for all of these pioneers, I'm not sure what they've all been up to recently. People like 23 Skidoo seem to be getting name-checked again, and I've read that Surgeon and younger producers are harking back to the sounds of TG and Coil. I think their work is far more influential than the often-touted sounds of disco/hi-NRG/electro and Kraftwerk."

Tags

• Chris Liberator