Detroit's Stacey Pullen: The Only Good Club Scene in America is Canada
Author: Benedetta Skrufff
Monday, March 1, 2004
Recently completing his first mix CD in 7 years, for Fabric's high value compilation series, Stacey flew into London last month to play the East London club and meeting up with Benedetta Skrufff the day before he revealed a surprising sense of anxiety about the approaching gig.
"London it's the only place where I get nervous before a gig," he confessed.
"Because before a trend hits any other place, especially throughout Europe, it kicks off here first, for example, the guys who came before me, especially Kevin and Derrick, came here first before they hit anywhere else.
The first time I came here was back in '93 when I played a warehouse party, and it was a cool experience because things were still fresh. Now London is at that stage of 'been there, done that, OK now show me something else'."
Skrufff (Benedetta Skrufff): Isn't the London vibe the same as in Detroit these days-
Stacey Pullen: "Please, no. If I'm lucky to play three times a year in Detroit… or twice year. Being honest, if I manage to play one good party a year in Detroit, that's a bonus. Detroit is completely the opposite of what's happening here or anywhere else around the world. There's nothing going on there at all. Not a thing."
Skrufff: Other DJs have commented on this…
Stacey Pullen: "It's pretty sad, because we have so much talent in Detroit but no-one seems to appreciate it, even after all these years. As long as people have some place to go, they couldn't care less about the music. You do have clubs there, but their music policy is not important. They just want to open the doors, get people to come in and have a few drinks, then close at two am."
Skrufff: How much does the Fabric mix CD reflect London-
Stacey Pullen: "The CD reflects the influences that I've absorbed over the years since the first time I came here. For the past 11 years I have been coming here at least four or five times a year. It reflects London's way of life and its fast pace, which is completely different from Detroit. That's what gives me the edge, the possibility to see both sides."
Skrufff: Jeff Mills said recently (on his website): "We are at a turning point in the history of techno music", would you agree-
Stacey Pullen: "Yes I do, because right now there's no underground and for me personally, I don't think there so much room for an underground at present. The market has become over-saturated with so much music, so many different labels, so many producers, so many DJs, so many clubs… so where's the middle ground- Where's the point to value what's good or bad- These days, when I go to a record store I can't spend more than 30 minutes there, whereas years ago I could spend two or three hours looking for records and come out with three great ones. Also, we seem to be living in what I call 'the microwave age', you can get music at the flick of a button, there's no need to go out and buy anymore."
Skrufff: Mills also said: "If the younger generation has less interest in supporting music then . . . why don't techno labels begin to create and release music targeted to an older generation-" Do you see a generation gap emerging-
Stacey Pullen: "Yes, because everything has become so accessible so instantly. We are in the Google.com era… and how do we embrace it- There's no more mystery about anything."
Skrufff: Techno (certainly here in the UK) seems to be dominated mostly by men, Why-
Stacey Pullen: "Probably because of its energy and its aggressiveness… most of the men listen to it just to forget about everything, to tune themselves out and loose themselves into the music. These kinds of people cannot let go. Girls probably p Tags