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The Cornerstone Tracks of Call Super: "Something To Aim For..."

Obviously, as an outfit, we’re already pretty well invested in the work of JR Seaton under his Call Super alias. This year alone we’ve released two EPs of his material on our artist led Houndstooth imprint, with the first, his Present Tense EP laying the groundwork and physically launching our new label endeavour and his latest, the recently released Black Octagons three tracker, setting a whole new pace for the Houndstooth autumn/winter schedule. Since the start of the year though, we’ve been privy to a few key insights into his world through DJ sets, mixes, extended conversations and all the other consistent trappings of such a working relationship and he’s really caught our (and a lot of other people’s) attention with his lithe takings on house and techno and his wonderfully refined presentation aesthetic. So ahead of his next appearance here in Farringdon (in Room Two on Friday 4th October) we asked him to pick out some of his cornerstone tracks - pieces of music that have really influenced him over his lifetime - and discuss them with us to try and give the internet the kind of personal look in that we’ve had over the last 10 months. Note: You can watch them all as a playlist on YouTube here. Boubacar Traore - Sa Golo Call Super: “I listen to an awful lot of his music at home and sometimes play it out when the moment is right. The way the rhythm that is being tapped out follows what Traore is playing on this is simply amazing. One time a drunk idiot shouted 'what's up Giles?!' at me in a club when I was playing this. I had clearly overestimated the crowd.” fabric: Do you feel like you should play for the crowd more? I mean there’s a lot of people, myself included, who’d rather go and see a DJ for the unpredictability of what they’ll play rather than knowing exactly what to expect… “The sets that I want to play are at times, and in clubs, that people would like to dance at. It’s my job to make them dance and so that is what I set out to do. Once I’ve earnt a degree of trust on the floor I will go as far out as I feel that crowd can go; I try to be a fundamentally sensitive selector. I really enjoy the gigs where I can play much more less conventional material, and they tend to be the longer sets. It’s difficult to earn that space in two hours or whatever unless you go for the old cosmic intro cliché. If two hours or less is the timeframe I’ll usually get my buzz from just nailing the crowd to the floor in as interesting way as possible.” And listening to the RBMA Radio interview you did, it kinda feels like you come from that kind of way of thinking a bit too, trusting in certain DJs and all that? I mean, I doubt you’re so much concerned about educating people during your set but are you mindful to play records that might test their response a bit more? “I dunno, any fool can play tracks which are unpredictable or whatever and hide behind the ‘I’m a goddamn artist’ front. The only point in playing Sun Ra or whatever at 4am to a busy club is that you led the crowd to the point where playing that is a success. If you can do that then trust and respect are qualities that you’ve earned, and that is something to aim for.” George Lewis - Burgundy Street Blues “Until I was around 10 or so I hadn't really heard any music that I didn't learn in my music lessons, which were all Spanish classical guitar, or that wasn't played by parents. My dad was a New Orleans jazz clarinettist, and he played a lot of people like Sammy Rimington, Ken Colyer and of course, George Lewis. The melody of this is etched into me, I will never forget it, and thankfully it’s as wonderful as anything can be.” I find it more and more as I get older that the influence of what my parents played gets stronger and stronger as [post] teenage rebellion fades; were you always into the music that was surrounding you from the sources you mention? Obviously you then explored your own sound world after but I just wondered if you embraced it at the time? Because I really didn’t… “Yeah, I agree 100%. I definitely appreciated the trad side of jazz more as I got older. The cool side of be-bop and so on is bait, it’s so obvious that you latch onto it very easily as a kid. Fine. It takes growing up a bit to realize that the New Orleans and UK traditions are also cool in a far more opaque way. I guess it’s like learning to appreciate Teutonic, German thinking after you’ve gotten over the obvious aesthetic thrills of the romantic French.” Do you think it affected the way you enjoyed the club music you were first experiencing? “Ah I dunno, I just adored a lot of music and while things may have fed into one another I doubt it was my dad’s stuff that really made a difference.” Rosetta Howard - Delta Bound “A sadly forgotten figure she was as great as many singers who are viewed as integral to America's southern music history. I had a hard time choosing between her and The Big Three Trio, but given that Willie Dixon got his due, I went for Ms Howard. Check her version of ‘If You're A Viper’, one of the best songs ever about getting high.” Celina Y Reutilio - A Santa Barbara “I studied the history of Cuban music under Lucy Duran from BBC Radio 3, and this was one of my favourites that she introduced to me. For me the best music has to do more than one thing, encompass pain or sadness as well as more euphoric feelings, and much of the older Cuban stuff does this in spades. Tracks like these frankly spin on dimes. Incidentally if you're wondering who Shango is, he was the Lucumi god of fire and lightning.” I know it’s pretty much a dormant question considering how freely influences can permeate subconsciously or whatever, but how do you think your studying of other musics helps you as a producer? Do you feel like you actively draw for it in anyway? “It’s important in that I place my own stuff in a wider context. If things get chucked into a particular scene or sound then you’re immediately stymied in certain ways, and I will always set out to try and make a body of work that is more classical, or broader in its scope, and that is something I think is a result of having had a little bit of schooling in other scenes and histories.” Horace Andy - Spying Glass “OK, certified killer time. What to say? It’s just so dope. A tune I always need somewhere not too far away.” Horace Andy's voice is just so recongnisable. Have you ever thought about working more with vocalists yourself? “Nah, only myself really. I do lots of odd bits of singing, but mostly on little tracks I write for myself. I guess. ‘And it Was’ is the best example of a fully formed vocal that I’ve released.” Ricardo Villalobos - Hireklon “Outside my kitchen window, in the courtyard of the block is a horse chestnut tree. When the rain hits the huge leaves it is amplified by the courtyard walls. The theme of rain in electronic music is a cliché, but it’s one that I don't mind because it is a sound that, for me, makes everything ok; one of intense security and wonder. Villalobos is one of the few musicians who actually achieves something similar in his music, although as much as I love the patter of his percussion it’s his use of melody that elevates him to the musician that he is. I have a hard time choosing between this and ‘Minimoonstar’ as my favourite, but this perhaps pips it, and is a better example of the rain analogy.” I guess you’re right in the way a lot of club music is allowed to be quite rainy face. Obviously now you’re often in clubs on the otherside of the booth. Are you enjoying the processes you have to go through as a DJ? I mean you’ve recently started your own club night alongside Objekt… “I love playing records to people. As I mentioned before, the longer you play the greater scope there is to go to more interesting places and us playing together means longer sets…” Miles Davis – Generique “Sorry, you're going to have to watch an advert, this is a popular tune. Miles Davis was told about the film when he was picked up at the airport at the start of a two week European tour. He liked the idea of doing a soundtrack and a four hour session was booked at the end of the tour. The tour was apparently not a success, but he wrote one or two melodic things on the way, and then recorded this in that four hour session while watching the film for the first time. I guess it made the tour worth it. I was obsessed with this for a couple of years in my teens after hearing Laurent Garnier play it at The End.”
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