Wayne Williams Interview
by Terry Matthew | Published June 2007 | Features Archives

LAST SUMMER, MORE THAN 5,000 Househeads from around the world gathered behind the Museum of Science and Industry to hear five old friends and selected guests spin House Music all day and all night, until someone finally pulled the plug and signalled the start of the exodus to the afterparty. From early in the morning, they pitched tents, barbequed, taught their kids how to dance and caught up with acquaintances old and new. There were no gates, no charge to get in, and outside of a very small and generally ignored space roped off behind the stage, no VIP area to speak of. Corporate sponsorship and merchandising were nowhere to be seen. House Music industry legends rubbed shoulder-to-shoulder with those of us who were still nursing when House Music was born.

The vibe was, in a word, electrifying. People everywhere were filled with the unbridled joy of experiencing something wholly pure, unadulterated. And the Chosen Few Picnic and Old Skool Reunion - an event created on a shoestring budget but more love than any woman or man alone is capable of giving - had become, hands down, the House Music event for Chicago, the United States, and beyond.

The picnic, like the Chosen Few DJ Crew itself, was the brainchild of Wayne Williams - the man who brought House Music - or the embryo of what would become House Music - from the gay clubs to a straight audience in the mid- to late-1970s, and who continues to build on a legendary reputation. I could try to summarize the story he told me over a two-hour interview in a few words, but 33 years as a DJ, two decades in A&R, and a life dedicated to showing you your new favorite song isn't something you can carry across so easily. Instead, I'll let the foremost ambassador for House Music culture tell it to you in his own words.

WAYNE WILLIAMS: You have to earn your stripes to be a Chosen Few member. Once a year we get together and talk about two or three people that we nominate to join the Chosen Few. Last year, Terry Hunter was selected as a proven and consistent DJ. To be a Chosen Few member, you have to consistently play good music.

5 MAGAZINE: This year you have Jamie 3:26, Brian Reaves, Greg Gray and Willie Wills as openers. Opening at the picnic is definitely one of the most sought after gigs in the city. How do you pick the guests?

WAYNE WILLIAMS: It's funny, but the reason we started including other DJs was because none of us wanted to play early! But since people always ask us to play, and no one would want to play at 3 or 4 o'clock in the afternoon, we'll have guests. So we said we'd have some guests come in, some friends of ours, and have them play early. But honestly, the picnic really isn't about hearing other DJs play. It's about us playing for our people.

I'll tell you, Terry, there are a lot of reasons why we decided to do the picnic. The first is that a lot of us had moved out of town. The second was that even those that still lived here - Alan and Andre - weren't getting asked to DJ at other people's clubs, and they weren't DJing consistently. They were doing a party here and a party there but you can't wait for people to ask you to DJ, you just have to do your own party.

So we'd all come here around the 4th of July and all of us would be in town and the first thing people would say is "Where y'all DJing?" Well, no one's asked us to play anywhere! That's when I said we should do a picnic, and me and Alan kind of put it together from that point.

The first time we had a picnic, I'd say maybe 75 to 150 people were out there and it kept growing and growing and growing. Seventeen years later, there's over 5,000 people.

5 MAGAZINE: Alan told us in an interview a year ago that the thing he's most proud of is that you're all still friends, 25 years later. What keeps you guys together like that?

WAYNE WILLIAMS: I started the Chosen Few, and the reason we existed at all is because we really did get along. Jesse, Alan, Tony and I were great friends, and Andre was easy to add to the mix since he was Tony's brother. Don't get me wrong - there were a lot of other people I could have chosen to play at that time, and a lot of DJs asked me to join the Chosen Few back then, too. But I picked the DJs not just on how good they were musically, but on their character too. I think that's a big part of it. We don't share all of the same characteristics but we do all still have one thing in common that unifies us, and that's the love of music.

Selecting Terry to join us - that was a big part of it. He had to be someone that could fit in with all of us and be really close too. Terry was a really good pick up like that.

5 MAGAZINE: Just through word of mouth and passing the hat, you guys were probably able to draw more people than all of SummerDance and the other summer festivals last year. Why do you think that is?

WAYNE WILLIAMS: We're all pretty laid back. Even as DJs, we're like DJs of the people. The Southside is really our home - we're constantly DJing in clubs and lounges on the Southside, at house parties. People know we're not like these untouchable characters - DJs that you can't come up and say hi to. We're all very friendly and interested in what people on our dancefloor are into and want to hear, but we also still have the ability to lead them somewhere and take them someplace with new music. We have a bond with our fans, a bond with the people we play for. That bond is something that isn't taken for granted. When we come together, it becomes a big event, a big lovefest.

5 MAGAZINE: I've picked up the "Wayne Williams Story" in bits and pieces from people we've interviewed in the past year - Jesse, Alan, Jere McAllister and Chip E. - but never the whole thing. When did you start DJing?

WAYNE WILLIAMS: I started playing House Music before anybody. What I mean by that is that I was the first straight DJ to play House Music and bring it back to the Southside. Of course, back then there was disco, but disco was only heard in gay clubs. I wasn't homophobic - I would go to gay clubs, hear the music, find the music, and bring it back to the Southside by playing it.

Because I was the only one playing that music, I became popular. I was doing so many parties and, being greedy, I wanted to do more. So I said I'd teach Jesse how to DJ and he can help me do some of these parties. The problem was that Jesse back then was homophobic and would never go to these gay clubs with me, so he wound up playing out of my crate. It kind of defeated the purpose! But I got more parties and needed another DJ and Tony came on board. But it was the same thing - he was homophobic too, so now he was playing out of my crate too. I'd leave my crate over at his house so he could learn how to play, and Andre would put on the records and that's how he learned.

That's how it started - I was the first one to play this kind of music for straight people on the Southside of Chicago.

Don't get me wrong - the first time I played it, people walked off the dancefloor. You better believe that! But I kept on because I loved that music and I knew they'd eventually get into it.

5 MAGAZINE: Before seeing The UnUsual Suspects, I had no idea how far back you went. You're featured in almost the first segment in the movie - I think it's called "Before the Warehouse."

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