C1- Funky Techno Is Not A New Genre

Whether through his own funky techno DJs sets or the quality hard dance tunes he releases via his own label In Tec (which he co-runs alongside a certain Carl Cox) C1 is one of the UK techno scene's most passionate and active advocates.

Coming up via the London club scene of the early 90s, when he'd DJ alongside the likes of Colin Favor and Colin Dale he set up In Tec in 1998, since then releasing acclaimed cuts from producers including Christian Smith, Trevor Rockliffe and Bryan Zentz. After launching the label with Cox, he's gone on to DJ at such renowned global danceterias as Twilo (New York) Spundae (LA), The Rex (Paris) and Space's renowned terrace (Ibiza) and shortly jets off to Australia, for a series of dates.


"People presently view In Tec as a label connected to the funky techno sound which to be honest I'm a little concerned about. There's a wave of DJs playing that sound at the moment and it's as if funky techno is a new genre, but it's not, it's been there since time immemorial (always) and I've always played it."

Having ridden the crest of the upcoming funky techno wave ever since he launched his DJing career in the early 90s, C1 is right to be concerned about bandwagon jumping DJs. It's something he's been experiencing first hand in recent months through his independent label In Tec.

"Suddenly we've been getting lots of interest with people telling us we're at the vanguard of this new sound and we're saying "Woah, that's not true," he told Skrufff's Jonty Adderley this week.

"We're just releasing records we like and we refuse to be part of a category that's going to get knocked down again, like progressive or tech house."

Skrufff: You co-run the label with Carl Cox, who does what exactly-

C1: "Carl's a very busy man being probably one of the few people who can justifiably call himself a global DJ and global entity. I do a lot of it, but we consult on most things, he tips me off about certain artists and likewise | do the same with him. It's a collaboration based on the fact that we're both complete lunatics about the music we both like."

Skrufff: How did you end up setting up a label with Carl in the first place-

C1: "We were introduced by a mutual friend several years ago, and we started working together loosely on a number of projects. One day we were chatting about the state of the techno scene. During the mid 90s techno was getting a lot of attention, especially after the first wave of trance and bigger record labels started taking an interest in techno. A lot of them fucked it up, and didn't do the artists justice, so lots of these artists became single artist labels. Which meant there weren't many labels around working on taking techno artists forward. The latter half of the 90s was a barren period, not musically but in terms of artists being given a chance to go further. We were talking about it and agreed that the only two labels really doing it were F Comm (Laurent Garnier's label) and Soma (home to Slam). So we decided to have a go ourselves."

Skrufff: How significant is your new Fabric residency in February, bringing techno back to London clubland-

C1: "It's hugely significant, particularly since they invited us and they completely understand the label. They want us to bring new people alongside ourselves who already play there. They're really interested in new names too, though the first one is going to be myself and Trevor Rockliffe on the 2nd February."

Skrufff: Your website's statement of intent says; "Techno is what you want it to be", what do you mean-

C1: "I decided to lead with that line because of all the categorisation that goes on. Techno is the basic template for most electronic music. It's fair to say that, without implying that techno is better than anything else, because you can make techno with virtually no equipment. In comparison, it's difficult to make a really good house record without requiring quite sophisticated equipment. Real techno DJ Tags

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