Do Us A Faver! – Colin Faver Interview
I take a deep breath and catch up with one of the
most respected and hard working players on the scene…
It’s a sticky Tuesday evening and I’m stood outside the front doors
of London’s leading dance music station, Kiss FM, desperately trying
to pull open the main doors of this majestic looking building in
Holloway Road. I’m here to interview DJ extraordinary Colin Faver
and find out about his new Techno compilation. So when an ominous
looking security guard appears on the other side of the reinforced
glass and swoops the door open it’s my cue to speak and after a to
the point cross-examination probably devised to sus out the anoraks,
stalkers, general freaks and dodgy characters of this world, the
Security man allows me inside this very stush Kiss reception.
So here I am sitting on the Kiss sofa waiting for Colin to appear.
Above me a pair of Kenwood speakers gently pump out the signal as
it’s broadcast. I’m trying to imagine the type of character I might
find behind the man that is Colin Faver and came to the conclusion
that a certain amount of cock-sureness and arrogance should be
expected when dealing with anyone who has been in the business and
has had as much success within it as Colin has. He has acquired a
lot of respect over many years so when he arrives it’s an unexpected
pleasure to find I’ve arranged a chat with a cool, unassuming sort
of man, the type of fella for whom you would gladly hold open a
door.
Colin’s show begins at 9.00pm, that’s about forty minutes away and
I’ve got about an hour of his time then to chat about his
achievements and attempt to find out what exploits out, a daunting
task so as Colin pushes a cup of coffee into my hand I waste no time
and ask Colin to describe to me the spark that began the fire which
is his DJ'’ng and promoting career, a fire which has continued to
burn for over fourteen years. Perhaps it was a calling from an early
age. Some kids want to be train drivers, others astronauts, perhaps
a little Colin Faver back in the early days always wanted to be in
music.
“I’ve always enjoyed music. As a kid I remember playing records at
my mates parties. When I left school I embarked upon a career in
advertising as a commercial artist. A friend of mine owned a small
record label called Small Wonder Records and it was him who
persuaded me to give up my steady nine to five job and begin working
on a part time basis in a record store. My first love in life was
music and I’ve always had a calling to entertain, I guess”.
When work was through, Colin spent the evenings in the numerous
clubs of London, all the time he was building contacts with the
music industry; bods and keeping an eye out for up and coming talent
for his friends label. Among the groups he signed were The Cure,
Banhaus and numerous other punk bands which apart from a very select
soul movement was the staple diet at the time music-wise. We’re
talking about the early eighties here before the acid house
explosion and it’s quite conceivable that without Colin Faver and
his protege’s sowing seeds, tracking down and breaking the seals on
those early American exports of House, Hip-Hop, Hi NRG and Electro,
club culture may never have been born. The distinct and diverse
sounds that have evolved and mutated and which we take for granted
today would sound absurd. Try to imagine a world without the
‘repetitive beats’ all of us revolve our life around, it’s a
harrowing image, “All I did was play music in the clubs and was glad
that others liked it too”. A bit of modesty could be at play here, I
think, “I got my first break at the Marquee Club in London when the
regular guy was sick. This lead to offers of work at several other
clubs. I played the Paradise Garage in New York, that was a real eye
opener. I found the crowd there different, they let themselves go
and came to shake the DJ’s hand when he’d finished his set, that
sort of thing. The first time I saw that back in this country was
Shoom”.
By now things were beginning to blow up for Colin and he began to
get immersed in work. In addition to his involvement at one-nighters
such as ‘Enter The Dragon’, ‘RIP’, and of course ‘The Shoom’, he was
resident DJ at mixed gay nights of ‘Jungle and Pyramid’ at Heaven
and was flying to France on a weekly basis to play at the Rex Club
and Le Palais in Paris. So far, so many hands in the air.
By 1992 he was co-promoting ‘Knowledge’ with Colin Dale and Jane
Howard of Serious Business. The aim of the night was to run a
mid-week event to promote unknown talent. It quickly gained a
world-wide reputation playing host to top-notch names like Sven Vath,
Dave Angel and Laurent Garnier:
“The vibe, that whole togetherness and shared experience thing was
rife back in the days of Shoom. Of course, a lot of it was down to
the Ecstasy, but the feelings and unity that manifested saw us
through the Acid period and endured through to the heyday of Rave in
the early nineties by which time people were coming from outside of
town to be part of the family at clubs such as Warehouse in
Doncaster, The Orbit in Leeds, and one-off events like Raindance,
Sunrise, Back To The Future and Universe – The Tribal Gathering to
name a few”. He continues, “It’s a shame to see so much division in
the music today. Each is split into their particular group and style
of music now, Drum n’Bass, Garage, Hardcore and few are prepared to
venture outside of their choice of sounds”. Colin says.
At this point I have to switch off my dictaphone. We’ve been
nattering away like two old army veterans swapping stories about the
war. Time has whizzed by and preparations have to be made for the
show. If I want to probe further I’m gonna have to take a walk
upstairs to the studio with Colin and sit it on the show. Just what
I had hoped!
I have to come clean and tell you that my stomach kind of shuffled
around a bit at the thought of sitting in on a live show – sod
actually presenting it. Colin’s show is one of the most definitive
Techno shows in Europe and as we enter Studio CR1, I capture a
glimpse of a massive mixing desk that I’m sure is on loan from the
set of Star Trek. Our man promptly sits behind this monster
collection of buttons, sliders, blinky things and knobs to begin
pushing and prodding. This ain’t the sort of work you can pick up
overnight:
“I did my first radio shows at Moorfields Eye Hospital on Sundays
between 7.00pm and 9.00pm. I played soft rock and Tim Rice had a
show after mine playing opera! When punk began to emerge I started
dropping some of that and it must have disagreed with the patients
because I was soon asked to leave! It’s here though that I got the
experience that has stood me in good stead ever since.
I was introduced to Kiss when it was a pirate by Paul Oakenfold.
Kiss became legal in September 1990 and this lead to my regular show
every Tuesday night, Kraftwerk, DJ Pierre, Kevin Saunderson and
loads of other top names have been interviewed on this show and I
was well chuffed in 1991 when I won an award for best ‘On Air
Mixer’”, he says grinning from ear to ear.
“I do another show on Kiss once a month called ‘The Extended
Chillout Zone’ that focuses on ambient releases and I’ve done other
radio work some of which was broadcast all across Europe via
Satellite. If I had to make a choice between playing out and my
studio based work it would be a very difficult decision. Luckily I
don’t have to make that choice but the buzz that used to be there
every time I played is only there about every third gig now. Make of
that what you will”.
The top of the hour is upon us, and Colin cues in the first tune of
the night, ‘From Da East’ by Sub Species on Strictly Rhythm. The
relentless dirty hook driving this particular tune marks the
beginning of a two hour show which, week after week delivers the
best in Techno House sounds.
The latest feather in the mans cap, and the real reason I’m supposed
to be here, is ‘Techmix’. This is a new concept from Kickin Records
which aims to showcase the skills of best Techno DJ’s from all
around the world. To ensure the series is established shaking in the
required fashion, Colin was drafted in and is featured on the first
outing which was released in August. As I write, August is some
weeks away, but even so I’ll stick me neck out and bet anyone a
pound to a lump of shit it’s being snapped up quicker than the
proverbial hot cake. All nineteen tracks are gems, the mixing fluid.
“Yeah, I’m well pleased with ‘Techmix’”, mutters Colin over the top
of a cigarette. “It’s the first compilation I’ve produced. I had
complete freedom of choice with the contents. In fact the entire
selection is part of a recent set and I understand that’s going to
be philosophy for the whole series”.
As another banging tune is mixed in I wonder what goals a man like
Colin Faver can set for himself for the next few years. A
collaboration with Brenda Russell will see a brand new label started
in the very near future and in my book so many fingers in so many
pies makes Colin a workaholic.
“I certainly wouldn’t give myself that label. I intend to keep
DJ’ing. I don’t want to be stuck in a studio. I enjoy producing and
have done remixes for Fortran 5, S-Express and Babyford but I don’t
want to fall into the trap of getting permanently stuck in the
studio. Come the year 2000 I want to be there havin’ it”.
And as Colin Faver mixes in yet another tune with the expertise of
over a decade in the trade I breathe a sigh of relief and make a
mental note to make sure I’m there for that one.
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