Ron Trent Interview
5: You gotta get baptized before you can preach...
RON: And that's real shit. So everything takes time and people want things right away, instant gratification. Instant DJ, instant dancer. No. Things take time to perfect and that's really the bottom line but some people think they can doubletime shit. "I got what you got in doubletime. It took me half as long and I'm your equal as a dancer, DJ, producer..." but that's not the case. Things take time. There are kids from the Powerplant/Warehouse era who can get out there and groove and fit right in out in New York, but now those who came after or never experienced that are just putting out this aggressive kind of thing versus finesse. And as time has gone on, it's gotten more aggressive. So now when people who understand that finesse frequency dance, it turns into a show and the spotlight comes out and that's some country shit.
Some people might think I'm being elitist or a snob or whatever. It's not that. I just know better. And what am I supposed to do - lower my standards? That doesn't fly in school, so why here?
5: Unfortunately, I think there's a lot of the Willie Lynch "divide and conquer" mentality permeating our House culture. So if we use any criteria for judgment, discerning quality from garbage, we are told that we're elitist or condescending or alienating.
"I know about three DJs who went to Ron Hardy's funeral - myself, Terry Hunter and Armando, and John who drove us there. I've had so many people come up and tell me they were there, telling me shit that I know didn't happen."
- Ron Trent
RON: And you know this - another thing the supposed Old School tactics taught (though I hate to use that term) is that it forced you to be on point. Back then, if your shit wasn't correct and wasn't official, then motherfu*&^s would let you know and you would immediately feel like you had to get your shit together. "I need to do my homework or brush up on something." You could feel it. That's something I kind of miss about the '80s. People were big on being individuals and now we just follow trends, i.e. people who follow "House". They follow the moniker without knowing much about it really.
5: You mean like "knowing House" but never thinking The Clash would fit into a Hardy set, or what break of certain songs are the heat, not the hype?
RON: You know! I mean I hate to keep bringing up the New York thing but that's why they have a strong, fortifiable scene and market for what they have. They kept the story going and not just the little pieces of what they really don't know - like people talking about "back in the day" and they weren't even there. It gives them appeal to others, but it's the blind leading the dumb. It's a shame. It's destroying the scene here.
5: The way I figure, only so many people of a certain demographic would have really been at LaRay's. I was in my pre-teens and too young to get in. And I went to the Warehouse on Randolph about two months before it closed. Or like anything about the other early spots, I know because of stories from my babysitters and hearing mixtapes while getting my hair braided. Growing up on it is different from being there, which is different from learning about it, don't you think?
RON: I was too young too, and I'm 33. I didn't go to the original Warehouse. I got reports but you talk to people younger than us and they'll try to tell you about the Muzik Box or "back in the day" at the Power Plant. I know about three DJs who went to Ron Hardy's funeral - myself, Terry Hunter and Armando, and John who drove us there. The rest were some of the staff from the Muzik Box, 'cause it was down in Springfield. I've had so many people come up and tell me they were there, telling me shit that I know didn't happen. He [Ron Hardy] was actually the first DJ I ever heard in about 1984-85, and it was at a Mendell party, and the only reason I got in was a nextdoor neighbor's brother was able to get me in 'cause I had a moustache. It really blew my mind. I got to talk to him a couple times after that. He told me he played my track and that blew my mind, too. You know, he was really a hero of mine.
5: It's really sad because it's like watching the cycle of cultural appropriation/theft happen to my most precious possession. That's why I wanted to do this interview, among other reasons. What would you say are the credentials for being true to the core of this thing we once called House?
RON: Really, only time and letting shit speak for itself.
5: Alright - preach! But before we run out of time, let me try to get in a few more production questions to let people who might not know, know who you are. I know your musical training started with playing congas and trap set/percussion, but then converted to making rhythm with machines. When and why did you begin to bring the live sound back into your productions?
RON: Well, I think because I started in the '80s, I realized how to incorporate the things I learned then when I started working in bigger studios. I worked in Kevin Saunderson's studio - you know, the guy who produced Inner City, "Good Life", "Big Fun" and all that - so by 1993 I was beginning to experiment and expanding on the idea of bringing the organic element in. Because I was always interested in how Salsoul Orchestra or Philly International did what they did and made a record sound authentic. It took a while because digital recording and live recording are two totally different things. To this day I'm still trying to hone that.
When I was in New York I did a lot of live recording with straight up musicians - on the dance music and the jazz music tip. You ever heard of a group called Groove Collective?
5: WHAT! I used to play their first album on my college jazz radio show. I absolutely love them. I had a chance to see them live and had a huge crush on the flutist. They were highly underappreciated and too quickly forgotten.
RON: Yeah, the fluteist is Richard Worth. Those are my guys. I started working with them through my work with Giant Step in 1998-1999 as a producer, A&R, that kind of thing, which eventually led to me getting a residency. So artists like Jill Scott, James Samuels, Donny, Carl Hancock Rux, soul artists - I would produce them and do remixes to break them on a dance level. That's what Giant Step was about - breaking the mold, being cutting edge - so it was fitting that I would be with a company like that. I would use my musicianship, my percussion, playing keys, whatever to do the remixes.
5: That Giant Step residency is infamous. My sister used to tell me about it and then I got a feel for your more recent sound with the Abstract AfroJourney mix put out by King Street. It's a beautiful sound that I can only describe as "truth", because it is connected to this musical legacy but somehow still advancing the limits of sound. So what are some of your current projects?
RON: Several albums - I've got a jazz album coming out from Japan at the top of the year with a label called Village Again. It's more of a listening album, but there are a couple of tracks you might call danceable. I'll be releasing it here too under my own imprint. I have a concept album featuring remixes of a lot of soul artists - Goapele, Jody Watley, Steve Spacek, Gaele, this new artist Keite and N'Dambi who I featured on my first CD. That's coming out in February on R2 BBE. I've got a DJ mix compilation coming our on NRK as part of their Coast to Coast series and I have a hip-hop beats album that's coming - I've been dabbling in that for a while and, like I said, I'm into music. Whatever hits me in the chest, that's where I'm at.
5: And of course we get to hear you here in the Chi at Africa Hi-Fi at Sonotheque, your regular residency.
RON: Of course, and there maybe something else in the works too. I came back to Chicago to do some things. You know, I want to give back the way it was given to me. I've also started an artist management company, Little Giant, and I'm in partnership with some other guys in a production company, Aficionado Music. The websites aren't up yet but you can get to me through the Prescription site, prescriptionworld.org.
5: You stay busy to say the least. Since our time is up, let me just say that I'll ask about those elekes some other time! Thank you Ron for your music and your insight!
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