Gilles Peterson on Acid Jazz, Pills & Hating The English Way

"I was with all the boys when acid house started, with Danny Rampling, Paul Oakenfold, Trevor Fung, all that crew- they were my boys, I was their boy, whatever. But they'd always be playing downstairs and we'd be upstairs- we were always the rebels, smoking a bit of pot, whatever. They used to be criticising us, saying it's illegal then suddenly they all got on it ..."

20 years after starting his DJing career spinning leftfield jazz and rare groove at the Camden Electric Ballroom, Gilles Peterson remains firmly off-centre from his superstar DJ peers and fellow travellers, and musically too, he's more often than not, miles ahead in the DJ game. Relentlessly championing new independent, leftfield music through his DJ sets and his hugely popular Radio 1 show, he's the trainspotter's trendspotter and perhaps the one Radio DJ best poised to emulate John Peel's 40 year career on the same station.

Once known as the founding father of acid jazz (he set up the definitive label of the same name with Eddie Piller in April 1988) he nowadays sails under the less catchy term eclectic, at least judging by the title of his latest compilation Gilles Peterson's Eclectic Sessions Volume 2. However, with a career that's also included discovering the likes of Brand New Heavies, Galliano and Jamiroquai, his tastes have always had an eye firmly on the funk, soul jazz world as well as it's potential to crossover to the mainstream.

"To me great music is pop music anyway, that's why I think someone like Bjork is phenomenal, she's so avant-garde and so leftfield but she's also mainstream and it's brilliant to be able to do that," Gilles told Jonty Skrufff.

"In fact, some of the best artists have done that. When I used to run a record label, Talkin' Loud, some of the artists would say 'we don't want to do Top Of The Pops, we don't want to be pop' and I'd just say 'listen, you love Stevie Wonder, he was pop as pop can be'. What I'm personally looking for at the moment is a couple of new big bands or big singer/ song-er stars. I'm looking for people that can go beyond the music and turn into proper superstars."

Chatting in his kitchen, he's as fresh faced as he's enthusiastic, in marked contrast to the dilapidated state of the Victorian terrace house which itself matches the general sense of disrepair of most neighbouring houses on the rundown Victorian street. It's an incongruous setting to meet one of Britain (and the world's) foremost music tastemakers, though perhaps appropriate for one whose greatest passion remains his first love- music.


Skrufff: What's your approach to doing compilations; are they something you think long and hard over or do you make them very quickly-

Gilles Peterson: "Very quickly. The one thing I do in particular, which helps me are my radio shows, because they mean I'm constantly listening to new music. I'm not one of those DJs who plays the same set every weekend in a club either, so when I'm doing a Trust The DJj album I basically think 'which are the records I've really enjoyed over the last couple of months and which of those are on independent labels-' I'll do it in a morning. I give TrusttheDJ a list of about 30 songs and we usually end up using the first 15 or 20 that come in. I'll then be in the studio with this songs, I'll see what I've got and put the compilation together there and then."

Skrufff: Do you find the flow of good music is even or does it tend to cluster-

Gilles Peterson: "I get a lot of music, firstly because I'm on Radio 1 and secondly because I play a very wide mix of music, lots of people don't quite know what I play so they send me stuff anyway. Or they see me as a tastemaker who they'd like to have involved if they can. Fortunately, I've got a production company and a producer who goes through all the music for me, I wouldn't be able to listen to it all myself without getting completely depressed or demoralised (chuckling). Though it's usually thr Tags