Darren Emerson's Dirty Epic: The Story Continues
Author: Jonty Adderley
Saturday, July 27, 2002
"We've got our own little package, involving our own nights and our own DJs and we're creating our own thing with this Underwater thing," says Darren.
"Everywhere I go I'm having a great time, from Ibiza to the monthly Underwater nights down at The End which feel like old acid house parties at the moment. That's what we want, not a corporate event with the big, big DJ names in."
While he's cheerfully unconcerned by the crisis affecting England's superclubs, he's less tolerant of the American authorities increasingly hysterical assault on club culture.
"(President) Bush isn't my favourite person, to be honest," he says. "I'm not a political person and of course something needs to be done about the terrorist threat but their attitude towards dance music is something else."
Chatting to Skrufff's Jonty Adderley, he begins by explaining his approach with Episode 1, one of the best mix CDs of 2002 so far.
Darren Emerson: "The whole concept behind the Underwater compilation was to try and show people what we're about as a label, in terms of our past and future. There's lots of unreleased tracks on there such as Mutiny's track (Yo Self) and a track called H2O that I made specifically for this alongside older tunes. These are the tracks that Tim and I are playing out (as DJs) at the moment. It's not about taking the listener on a big journey either it's more about going back to our acid house roots, about getting on with it and having a party."
Skrufff: Lots of other mix CDs being released at the moment are pretty boring….
Darren Emerson: "I agree. My vibe is; I like music in general, and if I like a track I'm not scared to play it out, whether it's proggy (progressive), techno or house and I always like to mix things up. This is quite a funky record but it's not just one style of music, it's about good dance music."
Skrufff: Your Ibiza night at Pacha was hugely successful last year, how's it been going this season-
Darren Emerson: "For us, it's still going very well because I think we did the hard work last year when it was a new night. We've been able to relax a little this year. We launched a week earlier this year and it was packed; it starts getting busy around 2am. Erick and I are having a great time, we take weekly turns. Next year, we're talking about doing our own things with Erick doing his own night and us doing a pure Underwater night."
Skrufff: Do you ever sit down with Erick Morillo and compare notes on dance music and today's scene-
Darren Emerson: "(Chuckling) With Erick- Nah never- fucking hell- far from it. Erick's got a mind of his own, he's an American DJ, he's out for himself and he likes what he's doing. I'm not being horrible, he is as he is. He does his music, plays his sets which he's good at doing and we have fun. That's all it is, he's a good laugh, he's fucking mad and he's full on. We're very chalk and cheese (opposites) actually."
Skrufff: Having been in Underworld for ten years, most people would describe you as a 'superstar' DJ, where do you see yourself fitting-
Darren Emerson: "Er, well, I know I've got a name for myself but I don't get big headed about it. I don't think it's right that DJs get big headed and look down at people and think they're something fucking special when they're playing other people's records! I don't understand that attitude and I never have done. I had decks when I was 14 before house music was even i Tags