DJ Hell: I Expect To Go To Heaven
Author: Jonty Skrufff
Tuesday, April 6, 2004
"I'm so interested in music that I prefer not to drink, to smoke or to do drugs. I've tried different things, sure why not, but drugs, for example, just didn't seem to work for me," he insisted.
"When I was young and a kid I used to look forward to getting wasted at the weekend, even to getting fucked up, but I think when you're 42 you see things differently- Maybe I'm too much of a straight guy, these days."
As well as being teetotal and drug free, he also admitted to pining for the love of a good woman, presumably unimpressed by the supermodels he's often snapped hanging out with.
"One thing I still want to experience is having kids and taking care of a family- that's something to look forward to when you're over 40," he confesses.
"When you're 30 you don't think about it but at my age it becomes a bigger issue. I don't have children yet, I don't even have a wife."
And looking beyond his old age, he even admits he expects to go to Heaven.
"I think I've been a good guy on this planet, and do I believe in the afterlife, yeah, I think there is something. I don't know what's coming afterwards but I guess we'll find out, but I also think they have a great time in Hell."
With sex, drugs and sin so firmly pushed aside, what remains for the German dance pioneer is rock & roll, a concept he remains actively committed to. Or rather techno- the dance music he's always come back to.
"50% of everything I'm doing is still techno, with Gigolo (Records) and when I play in a club," he explains.
"I also see my new album NY Muscle as still being a techno album."
Skrufff (Jonty Skrufff): NY Muscle features collaborators including Erlend Oye, Suicide's Alan Vega and Billie Ray Martin, how did you select them-
DJ Hell: "I started with a long list of people I wanted, for example, I tried to get David Bowie and Grace Jones, via talks with their managers, but it wasn't possible at that point. My concept for the album was to move forwards by using more singers and having a greater emphasis on song writing. In the past I used a lot of samples and never worked with real singers, so I thought that was the next step for me as a producer. With Billie Ray Martin and Alan Vega (Suicide) I just asked them and they said yes. Erlend was more accidental, I didn't even know he was a singer then I happened to meet him at a party in New York and he told me he was the singer of Kings Of Convenience. To tell you the truth I didn't even know the band, I knew their name from the press but I'd never heard his voice. He came into the studio the next day and we did a track."
Skrufff: You name checked classic new films like Taxi Driver, Liquid Sky and Cruising on the album's press release, all films which portrayed New York's legendary underbelly of the 70s and 80s, how much did you find that vibe last year-
DJ Hell: "Speaking in music terms, I think one of the main tracks from that era was Dominatrix and I connected with that guy who produced it and we re-released it on Gigolo not long ago. I'm still seeking music from that era coming through, because it's a really magical period. Junior Vasquez also did that track 'Work It To The Bone' at that time, though released it under the name LNR, and I only found out that it was him recently. I remember 'Work It To The Bone' being one of the key hits at Danceteria during those pre-house days of the 80s. Danceteria was a good example of where you went for a great time in New York in those days but there was always great power coming from New York then in musical terms, real muscle."
Skrufff: Did you find many really edgy places in the City this time round-
DJ Hell: "Well you can still go to CBGBs and nothing has changed there (lau Tags