Gene Farris
5: Do you ever think that'll come back? We're probably too old to be climbing up fire escapes, but do you think that could come back with the next generation?
GENE: I don't think that underground vibe will ever be back because of the way the world has changed. It's changed so much because of the security situation, crackdowns by police, the way the government is right now. I don't think those types of parties will ever be back as it was. There would be some nights you could walk down the street and there'd be ten parties going on, all the way down Milwaukee Avenue and they're all jumpin' with great music. I don't think we'll ever be able to do that again on the underground level. If you missed the bus, you missed the bus. Maybe it could go back to house parties with fifty people around the house - I could see that. But we'd have five hundred people crammed into a loft with a strobe light and a police siren, a keg, some pot and a tank.
5: Out of all the parties, which ones stick out in your memory, both locally and internationally?
GENE: In Chicago, it'd be one a few years back with Mark Farina at Zentra. That was one of my favorite shows. That was awesome. But my best time ever was my 30th birthday, with me and Eric Morillo playing at Crobar. That was awesome - that was a party! Outside of the country, around '98 or '99, it'd have to be the Love Parade in Germany. I was DJing in front of about 150,000 people, 200,000 people. There were about a million people at the Love Parade that year, but not all in one place. That was still the most incredible moment.
5: Were you nervous?
GENE: Anybody that tells you that they wouldn't get nervous for at least a second in front of 150,000 people must be Bono! You've got to be Michael Jordan or someone like that. But it's like anything else: if the monitors are cool (which they were) and the set-up is nice (which it was), after your first mix and your first crowd cheer, you're in the zone. It was awesome. That was definitely my highlight moment.
5: You're doing a reissue with "Visions of the Future" so I expect you feel fondly of the stuff you've done in the past.
GENE: Yes. Well... some of it [laughs] There's one track on Relief that was everybody's favorite Gene Farris record... but I hate that song! Hate it! My cousin laughs at me so much, I clown it.
I have pride in a lot of the stuff from the past. I love everyone that's supported me and appreciate that, so I don't like throwing it in their face like "Oh no, not that record again! I hate it!" [laughs] I'm happy they bought it and I'm happy they enjoyed it. Without them, there's no us, and that's on the real.
5: The whole "classics vs. new music" argument that occasionally rips through Chicago every so often isn't really an issue with you, is it?
GENE: Not at all. I play it all. Sometimes I get some flack for that, but there are other people who understand the business and understand the love of House Music in general. I don't play trance or progressive but I will play some nice electro in its place and time. I wouldn't do that in Chicago but I'll play that in Europe, sure. I play disco, I play "proper House" as I call it - more Diz- and Mark Farina-style - and I play electro. People who have a problem when people only play new things or classics are closing themselves off, in my opinion. You have to acknowledge the history as well as the future if you're going to have longevity in this business.
5: On a personal level,what's the hardest thing about moving across the world for the second time in four years? There are no weed bars in Chicago so I imagine there's a big difference in other stuff too.
GENE: Americans are so uptight about the whole marijuana thing. I'm an American too, though, so I'm used to that. But more than anything? It's the tension between whites and blacks. In Amsterdam, there's no tension between whites and blacks whatsoever. It's more a tension between the Dutch and Moroccans - which is still fucked up, but just me being a black guy, I didn't have to endure the stress of the race issue. I'm just an open person and I think I've changed a lot since I went over there and came back. I don't have any animosity towards anybody. A lot of people who see me for the first time in a long time might think I'm full of shit but not really - I've just changed a lot in the way I think of things. I'm still me, I'm still Southside and I'm still Gene Farris, but I look at things in a different way after being in Amsterdam and having friends of many, many ethnicities worldwide.
5: You've had a number of Farris Wheel Recordings party here since October - at least every other month if not more frequently - and at a number of different venues, from Zentra to Vision.
GENE: We're promoting the return of the label and branding it, getting it back in local people's minds. We're doing another party April 21st for the "Visions of the Future" release at Boom Boom Room at Green Dolphin with myself, Brett Johnson who's flying in, Greenskeepers and DJ Heather and DJ Diz with some of the other residents. That's going to be a really nice Farris Wheel party.
Check out new mixes, photos and releases on the Farris Wheel site at farriswheel-recordings.com, as well as his mix from NYE in Thailand on 5 Magazine's website posted here. You can also find him on myspace at myspace.com/genefarris and myspace.com/farriswheelrecordings.
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