interview

10/11/05
brought to you by joe 90

king britt

HAIL TO THE KING - The simple fact is that there just aren't many producers around like King Britt. Sure there are plenty that have been around for as long, sold more records, picked up more awards, have more fans, but how many of them have really stuck their neck out over the years? How many of them have consistently pushed different forms of music, broken new singers, artists, MCs, and paid more than just lip service to the fact they love so much different music? Not very bloody many is the answer to that, and have you tried to find someone who's into dance music that doesn't have a good word to say about at least one of Britt's productions. Needles. Haystacks. King's past is well documented, but briefly, from Digable Planets to Sylk 130 [arguably the blueprint for collectives such as Sonar Kollektiv and Bugz], to Scuba, remixing many a pop star along the way, Oba Funke, and his own label FiveSix Media. The man hasn't put a foot wrong. So he's more than earned V2's comprehensive retrospective of his career, simply and aptly titled 'This Is King Britt'.

The thought does occur that this is a little like getting your bus pass, so King, how does this retrospective make you feel? "I feel mature and I feel that I have made a substantial contribution to the evolution of music in a way. Music is constantly metamorphosizing into new things. I'm just glad I was able to survive these changes and be involved in them in some way. I love so many styles and sounds that I try to do them all. Some are successful, some aren't, but they are all quality works. It is good to put a retrospective together, to get a perspective of your future and remind people of your past accomplishments. I'm excited to see the different fans discover the songs they didn't know I did."

I guess that one of the reasons that King has had such a career is not only [obviously] an inexhaustible love for music, but a certain pragmatic approach. You can't survive that long without being a good businessman as well you know. He's confident enough to know his worth, to know that he makes good music, but both times i've interviewed him he's never come across as arrogant. It's something that is echoed when I ask him if he thinks he's ever made any mistakes in his career. "I don't think I have made career mistakes, he says. I just take it as it comes. There have been some contractual things that if I was patient, I could have gotten a better deal, but other than that I have been lucky to make a living out of this and provide for my daughter".

Its an attitude that he carries when I ask him about the underground / overground divide, a line that he adroitly walked for time, enabling both commercial success and the continued respect of his peers and record buyers / club goers alike. "Well its funny", he says. "I am still an underground artist. I haven't had a top ten hit or won crazy awards, but I have had consistent success every year. I feel working with over ground artists on my projects gives me over ground credibility with underground success. This is good because if theyíre on my projects, I can kinda bring an underground sound to their vibe. Like with 'Re-Member's Only' lp. I worked with Alison Moyet, Martin Fry and Kathy Sledge, who are all super pop stars, but I was able to do something different with them that was exciting. It gave the chance for them to be underground again! I've just had the right resources to reach who I wanted at certain times. Also with remixing bigger mainstream artists, it brings my name in next to a Beyonce. But I am ready for overground success. I want a Grammy. I want to have a top ten hit. The underground will always be there, and why not reach as many people as possible, but without compromise! My ultimate goal is to have a record that makes so much that I can stay underground forever. He he he".

The enthusiasm that King Britt has for music is super infectious. When you talk to him you get the feeling that anything is possible for good music, and he has the utter conviction that quality will out in the end. When I first interviewed him three years ago he was getting excited about the Oba Funke project on his FiveSix label, and already talking about the final part of the Sylk 130 LP trilogy, wanting to work with Bjork and Brian Eno, and the potential of artists like Vikter Duplaix, Bugz, and 4 Hero. "Funny", he says, "I'm remixing a new song by Brian Eno in a few weeks. So I'm getting closer to my dream. The next Sylk 30 will be sometime in the next two years. I plan on doing my Scuba album first, then back to Sylk. I'm glad this retrospective can bridge the gap between albums and projects. If you know Bjork tell her to holla! I'm super proud of Bugz in the Attic, who have really pushed the underground into the forefront - also getting a pop hit with 'Booty LaLa'. I'm looking forward to their album! V2 of course! I don't think the underground is there yet, because we need better songwriting. I do think the new 4 Hero will take it to the next level as well, hmmm!"

King Britt believes in the power of the global family, the pockets of resistance to conformity that exist from Philly to Berlin, Harlesden to Helsinki. Far from being jaded after so long in the music business, he seems as energized as ever. As Jazzanova said in these pages when their remixes album sold by the boat load, they just felt that any success they had was just pushing the door open for more great music to come through. "The constant change coming out of the young minds keeps me excited about music", says King, "with laptops, guitars and turntables. The excitement ofseeing easy accessibility to make music - software, affordable equipment. This is where the boundary pushing music is coming from. M.I.A, drum and bass, Grime, Broken Beat are all hybrids of sounds created by diving into technology. I accept that there is a lot more rubbish made because of this, but that just makes the real shit stand out even more. Creativity is the key. A friend of mine, Jneiro Jarel, does all his music in Reason, but you would never know it. He has gotten so into the program, that it sounds like he has the biggest studio in the world! So it's how much work you put in. It will be interesting to see how iTunes and MP3 stores change the way we listen and shop. I spend hours shopping online, discovering so many unknown groups from all over the world, all from my bedroom. Young people are really searching for new sounds and this allows producers like us to really change the way we hear. But ultimately it boils down to the song, and whether itís a song that can stand the test of time".

Standing the test of time is something that King Britt can lay claim to like few others. If further proof were needed, just check how he talks of his latest project, yet another left turn in a series of exciting diversions. "My focus at the moment is the Sister Gertrude Morgan project. She was a famous African American painter and evangelist who died in 1980. She did an album for Preservation Hall in the 70's. Rope-A- Dope got the rights to it and I redid the whole album with my homie Tim Motzer. Its a mixture of blues, rock, and electronics, with good songs and the spirit of New Orleans. We have a full band, which we will be touring live in September/October. Our first gig is the Flow Festival in Helsinki, so the excitement is building. Iím putting 110% into this project. We also have been working on visuals to accompany the show. It will be very educational as well as shocking! Itís one of the most important albums of my career".

Perhaps the key to King Britt's success is just that in a nutshell, that he sees his next project as one of his most important. Constant thirsts for new music, for learning, for new technology, for self improvement are all key to the Kingdom. So what's next? "I don't know", says King. "I feel it will be a world music influenced sound. One that unites all races and cultures under one album! Wouldn't that be something?" Damn right it would, and only a fool would best against him managing something like it.

'This Is King Britt' is out now on V2/Nurture Find out more about Sister Gertrude Morgan at www.sistergertrude.com This article originally appeared in iDJ magazine and is reproduced with kind permission.