TF Archives

Rui Da Silva on the Lighthouse Family & New Romantic Pasts

Author: Angie Ng / Jonty Adderley
Monday, April 29, 2002
Responsible for producing one of last year's most aggressively infectious disco house tune Touch Me, Portuguese producer Rui Da Silva has gone on to establish himself as a serious name on the superstar DJ global circuit as well as consolidating his status as a serious London producer. Flying into Kuala Lumpur last weekend, and clearly seriously jetlagged, he nevertheless stopped off for a chat with Skrufff's Angie Ng at her Wow FM studio.


Skrufff: You had one of the biggest hits of last year; how much did you realize its potential when you wrote the song-

Rui Da Silva: It wasn't something I expected at all. I never realized that it could actually get to the proportion that it had actually gone to. But yeah, I thought it was a quite special song and that it could do very well. But I'm still pinching myself, a little bit."

Skrufff: Is it true you met Cassandra, the singer for Touch Me at a bus stop in Piccadilly Circus, London-

Rui Da Silva: "Yes it is. I was just passing by with a friend of mine and I saw her singing with this band on the street."

Skrufff: She was busking-

Rui Da Silva: No, no, no, she was also just passing by. She was with a friend, she'd had a few drinks and decided to stop and sing with this band. So we were passing by and stopped and listened to her singing and I thought 'she'd be fantastic to come and record with me in the studio'. So we exchanged phone numbers and then she came down to the studio and we worked for a few days and then that was it; 'Touch Me'."

Skrufff: Am I right in thinking the song was originally built around an 80's Spandau Ballet riff (from Chant Number 1)-

Rui Da Silva: "Ah there was a riff of it in the original and the promotional copies but it really never saw the full commercial release. And then the case got a bit hectic and complicated with all the legal stuff. Eventually I think that version will get released, maybe.."

Skrufff: Were you a New Romantic back in the 80s-

Rui Da Silva: Hmm…not really. I was working on this song and then Cassandra wrote the lyrics, then she came in one day and said, "Oh we should try and put the sample in'. I tried it and immediately thought that it worked out well"."

Skrufff: So you never wore eyeliner then-

Rui Da Silva: "No, never."

Skrufff: I read on your biog that you used to listen to Japan and David Sylvian, how much have you been caught up in the UK's retro-electro 80s revival-

Rui Da Silva: I've seen lots of songs that I really liked when I was growing up being revived, so it just seems that the same songs are coming back again. Maybe for the new generation, it's like something new but for me it's just watching the same old songs again. I prefer what's being done at the moment rather than revivals."

Skrufff: You seemed to have cracked London really quickly, especially after Touch Me; how easy was it to settle in, being from Portugal- Did you speak English properly back then-

Rui Da Silva: "Yes I did because I lived in the UK for about two years when I was a child and then I went back to Portugal and in end of '98, beginning of '99 I decide to move my studio and all the things I had to make music, to the UK. At the time I was running a record label called Kaos Records and I just decided to finish with it and open a record label in the UK and the studio and just set base there.

Skrufff: Were you hanging around mostly with other Portuguese people then-

Rui Da Silva: Yes but not really. I had a lot of friends already from all these years, from going over and knowing people from all the work I've been doing there; and just got in contact with them and started working with them and made new friends and settled in."


Skrufff: We spoke to Chris Coco when he was here last year and of course you've got a track out, @ Night, with him under Coco Da Silva; are you still collaborating with him-

Rui Da Silva: "Yeah, we do have a new single coming out in May or June called 'This Time You're<
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