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Trevor Jackson's Playgroup: From U2 to Electroclash

Author: Jonty Adderley
Saturday, November 2, 2002
"I don't feel like an Underdog anymore, though I did when I first started. I was a white boy making hip hop and wasn't really from the same background as the people making it then. I came from a different angle back then, in terms of my attitude but not any more."

As well as regularly DJing at ultra-fashionable London event Electric Stew, Trevor Jackson recently produced a new version of Depeche Mode's 80s anthem Behind the Wheel, in the process winning props from Gigolo mainman and electro uberlord DJ Hell. However, behind his currently unquestioned current ultra-hip status Jackson's already enjoyed a 15 year career which has included remixing U2 and touring with Massive Attack, all under the monicker Underdog. Not that he's completely changed his preference for remaining in the background.

"I've actually realized actually that I don't do interviews to be recognised because I f**king hate the thought of people recognising me, it's about the music," he told Skrufff's Jonty Adderley.

"Only recently have I gone out and had people coming up and saying Hello and I've been like 'What the fuck are you saying hello to me for, I don't know you'. I don't like that side of it at all. I want to be recognised for what I do but not for what I look like. I'm not interested in that side at all."

Trevor was speaking in a quiet corner of much hyped new Hoxton bar Bridge & Tunnel on a Thursday afternoon, about his latest persona Playgroup, through which he merges classic old school dance music alongside achingly hip brand new electro. "The mix CD isn't a Trevor Jackson mix, it's a Playgroup DJ Kicks," he points out. "And Playgroup is about showcasing accessible music through to underground stuff."


Skrufff (Jonty Adderley): You've been well known as a producer with the name Underdog, though much less recognised as Trevor Jackson the DJ..

Trevor Jackson: "Not many people do know me as a DJ apart from me having done this DJ Kicks album. I don't really see myself as a club DJ, it's not something I enjoy doing that much. But I've realized recently that it's not enough just to make music. We live in a time where there's so much music out there that you have to go out there and talk about it. Unless you've made a record that's so f**king phenomenal that people all go out there and buy it. If you don't talk about tracks, people don't hear about them. I also wasn't quite so confident about talking about what I was doing previously, but now I'm in my early 30s and I'm thinking 'F**k it, I'm quite proud of what I do'."

Skrufff: The DJ Kicks Cd CD has a distinctive electro/ disco/ retro feel to it…

Trevor Jackson: "Yeah, but I don't see myself as being part of any particular scene. And the CD isn't a Trevor Jackson mix, it's a Playgroup DJ Kicks compilation. And Playgroup for me is about combining accessible music with the underground. People who read dance magazines will recognise most of the producers on the album, people like Metro Areas or Charles Schillings, but the average guy walking into HMV wont' know the names and I think this music deserves to be heard. I don't want to fall into the electro-pop category only because my music is broader than that."

Skrufff: There's loads of turmoil in the dance industry right now, with most of the superclubs looking shaky, what do you make of the situation-

Trevor Jackson: "That's f**king great to me. I'm not a big fan of club culture, I prefer going to parties and smaller places with two or three hundred people. I've DJed and run clubs in the past but not for the money, rather because I enjoy it and maybe I'm naïve, but clubbing has become a business and an industry now. When you're like that you need to appeal to the masses so you lose your edge and it becomes about something else. I can't relate to the idea of being stuck in a room with three thousand people and one DJ maybe I'm too old but it's not my thing. Some of the clubs are failing now but it'll be the shit ones that disa
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