http://www.househeadsanonymous.com/2010 ... -from.html
An Interview with Eddie Leader - From Mixtapes to EP's
Eddie Leader is no stranger to the house music scene, he is a DJ and Producer from the U.K. that has over 15 releases under his belt. He and 2 of his close friends (Danny White & Rucky) created the house trio named 'Slum Science' which has had the support of big name DJ's such as Mark Farina, Josh Wink, Derrick Carter and many others. In 2005, Slum Science launched a label called 'Hudd Traxx' which has released tracks from the likes of DJ Sneak, Iz & Diz, JT Donaldson, Lil’ Mark, Phil Weeks, Alexander East, Miles Maeda & Brett Johnson. Eddie was nice enough to sit down and answer some questions for us to help give some insight on who he is and where he came from. Questions and answers along with some music from the man himself are below. Thank you Eddie for taking the time to do the interview for us House Heads!
Bio information obtained from Resident Advisor. (http://www.residentadvisor.net/dj/eddieleader/biography)
So Eddie, When did you decide you wanted to be involved with electronic dance music, and more specifically house music, as more than just a party goer? What sparked that interest for you to become a DJ and Producer?
I started DJing in 1997. My close friend Danny White was really into house music as his brother had loads of mix tapes from hard times & back 2 basics so we were listening to them and I really liked it. We started going to basics that year. Danny had some belt drive decks, think they were Kam BDX 180's. My first decks were Sony Rotary's, I had them for a year or so, then got some Kams and then I got the 1210's I still own today. After that the usual route of local gigs and a residency at univeristy followed. As for being more than just a party goer i'm still one of those for sure. That's where it all started for me - on the dancefloor, that's where it's at. These DJ's who think they're too cool to dance and stand behind the DJ booth all night do my head in. It's boring behind the DJ booth unless you're playing or there's a bottle of Jaeger there. That's why I named that track DJ's Don't Dance. I have never understood that, I guess some people DJ for the wrong reasons. The best place to be in a club is on the dancefloor. Anyway, as for deciding to be a DJ & Producer I never thought about it too much I just used to practice on Danny's decks and loved it so decided to buy some decks and here I am today doing the same thing :-)
Was there a specific DJ or producer that really hit the spot for you or were you just a fan of all the dance music in general?
I think the first real producer I got into was DJ Sneak, all his old Polyester EP's etc. Used to love Gemini, Mood II Swing, Chez Damier, Carter, Gene Farris, Todd Terry, Grant Nelson, Basement Boys, Herbert. I was a big fan of the Chicago sound back in the day, not so much anymore as I think the new stuff is nowhere near as strong but the early stuff was a massive influence on me.
Can you recall the first party you went to? How did you feel about that experience?
Do you know what I can't. But I know the first time I went to a house club was at the age of 15 at Back 2 Basics in Leeds. Don't even know who was playing to be honest but it was sweet!
How about the first real gig you had?
I used to have a residency in Huddersfield so that was probably my 1st gig, just a bar thing, it was pretty cool, probably in 1998.
Do you still get excited or nervous before gigs at all?
I'm always excited before gigs, i'm off to one today at a festival in Wales to celebrate Hudd Traxx 5th Birthday and I can't wait! Nerves depends really, sometimes I do it depends on the gig, I definitely have adrenelin but then if you didnt it would be boring. I'm sure footballers get nerves when they're stepping out infront of crowds so i'd say most DJ's I know do get a little nervous, even if they don't admit it.
Do you prefer DJing to producing or vice versa?
Well I started out as a DJ and it's more fun to me as you're interacting with people on the same level. The buzz you get off DJing is totally different to Producing. DJing is an instant buzz when you're in the moment whereas production is a longer lasting buzz i'd say as it takes a while to make a track and you can always listen back to it whereas DJing gigs are just memories once you've finished a gig (Unless you record the set, haha). I do love it when you nail a bass line or something like that though and you start dancing to yourself in the studio, haha if anyone saw me i'd look like a right idiot.
We know you have played all over the UK and quite a few places across the US, is there anywhere specifically you favor more than the others? Anywhere that you didn't really feel the vibe?
I'd say my favourite place to play at the moment is Romania. The crowd are really up for it there. House hasn't been around for as long there so it's all quite a new phenomenon, it's fresh, there's no pretentiousness there which you can get sometimes in the UK, everyone is friendly and they love good music. I used to love playing at Mad Hatters in Leeds, the atmosphere there was second to none. I recently started a night with my friends in Manchester called Content, the atmosphere we've created here is similar to that at Hatters, people screaming at the ceiling type carry on. Search Kenny Larkin @ Content Manchester video on youtube and you'll see what I mean. I also love playing in San Francisco cos there's load of warehouse parties, although I heard the Police have been cracking down on them recently.
* Check out the video Eddie is referring too right here... These guys are raging!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2CAH87K ... r_embedded
In regards to DJing gear, for the longest time everyone used turn tables and now the options are almost endless. How do you feel about the evolution of the DJing technology?
Hmmmm. I'm unsure on this. For ages we kept Hudd Traxx vinyl only and also never bought any mp3's. Then a load of distributors went bust so we started selling digi and I have also bought a fair bit recently, probably out of pure laziness. I still prefer playing vinyl and travel with it all the time. My last tour to the states was the only time i've never brought vinyl to a gig and that was just cos I was there for a while and it was Christmas. I hate looking through CD's and not remembering what the track is, with vinyl you know what it is as soon as you see the artwork. Also I'm not sure a DJ can call themself a DJ if they've never played any vinyl, it's what it's all about isn't it? It's too easy these days for kids to just download shit, you don't have to go crate digging to find gems to everyone is playing the same shit. On my last trip to Romania I played half vinyl half cds, I started pulling out old Grant Nelson & Todd Terry tracks and they went down a treat cos noone had heard them before, can't beat that early 90's sound on vinyl. However, I do realise the benefits of the digital era and realise you have to move with the times. It also means music can reach people who can't afford vinyl. That being said it does piss me off that people file share, even producers are doing this. You can't expect people to pay for your music and then go on soulseek and download loads of shit for free, hypocritical to say the least. That's a major positive of vinyl, it wasn't like you could just go and copy someones vinyl, I know you can record it but it sure makes things more difficult.
How did the 'Slum Science' trio come together?
When I got back from University Danny had been making music so me him & Rucky started producing together under the Slum Science name, from that Hudd Traxx was formed. Everything just kinda happened without thinking about it to be honest, there was never any plan & there still isn't to this day.
Personally, we love the tracks you all have released as 'Slum Science'. It sounds as if it is a pretty natural partnership, was it easy working as a group with Danny White & Rucky or do the three of you ever experience any significant bumps in the road?
As I was saying we're all really close friends from being kids so it was a natural thing really, it just made sense as we all loved house music. I wouldn't say we had any significant bumps, ofcourse being friends you have the odd fall out here and there but nothing a beer at the spinks nest (pub) wouldn't solve.
Any plans for more Slum Science tracks in the future?
Recently I moved to manchester and the boys both had kids (not with eachother - well that's what they tell me) so it's difficult to find time for all 3 of us to work together. Danny & Rucky still do stuff under the Non Believers alias but I think they find it hard to find time even when there's 2 of them. I'm sure at somepoint we will do another record together though. I actually did this interview in 2 halfs a few weeks apart so I went to the gig in Wales I was telling you about (Hoofer Doofer) and I played there with Rucky. It was Hudd's 5th birthday and it was awesome to play with him for the first time in years, we played for 4 hours and the room was rammed all night and it went off. Unfortunately Danny couldn't make it cos he just had another baby. I guess Rucky wears the trousers in that relationship.
Out of your very impressive discography of solo work, is there one specific track that you are more proud of than the rest?
There is actually but it's not out yet and I don't want to say anything until it's out
I think i'm most proud of my last EP which is called GILK EP. Mainly because I think it's the best music i've made, also it was nice to get Rolando on the remix. The most fun I had making a record was probably Slum Science n' Hector Moralez - Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Zoooom, that was a right laugh.* Here is the Phil Weeks Ghetto Remix for your listening pleasure...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DD9kYEW7 ... r_embedded
And lastly, would you prefer that the vibe of the house music scene stays thick and underground, or would you like to see the mainstream clubs, crowds, and radio stations start to support the music more?
Underground is where it's at and always will be for me. I think mainstream brings idiots to the table and people who are into music for the scene and not for the music. You can see this happening a little bit at the moment because deep house is becoming popular again. All the kids that were into trance when it was big then went on to tech house, then minimal, now it's house. It annoys me that people just jump on the latest bandwagon. All these people are into it for the wrong reasons in my opinion. Most of them have no clue about the history of house or infact what decent music is, they will just follow what ever is cool at any particular time. They're more interested in what their haircut or clothes look like than they are in dancing to real music with real people - rant over
Having said that I would like to see house being played on more underground stations.Thanks again to Eddie Leader for doing the interview with us. Here is a player of all his tracks on Beatport. Check them out and purchase the tracks that you dig, a lot of quality tunes on here!
Eddie Leader on Beatport (Link if player is not functioning)
https://www.beatport.com/en-US/html/con ... tyId=44444
House Heads Anonymous on Facebook...
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/page ... 176?ref=ts