Josh Wink
At the age on only 26, Philadelphia born Josh Wink
is a very popular man. Not surprising when you take into account his
musical achievements; three world-wide hit singles, remixing for the
likes of Moby, and a DJ history as long as both arms. Nick Grant
asks him his busy musical life; past, present and future and
generally about the contemporary dance music scene.
So there I was, on a rainy afternoon in January in the very centre
of London struggling to find somewhere to park. Surrounded by irate
taxi drivers, impatient bus drivers and millions of
‘blind-to-the-traffic tourists. I eventually succumbed to the
exorbitant costs of an N.C.P. Not wanting to keep the great man
waiting I rushed down Great Marlborough Street and into the very
plush surroundings of the Sony Music building. After a quick chat
with out excellent photographer Steve Toner, we made our way
upstairs to carry out our task.
Mr. Wink is a very unassuming bloke. Instantly recognisable due to
his blonde dreadlocks, he is very friendly and relaxed, especially
since he has a hectic schedule of visiting over fourteen countries
in the next month, mainly for press promotion and, of course, his
DJing. We were briefly introduced, took up the offer of a drink and
following a discussion about the terrible situation concerning
English cricket, we got down to business.
Musically, Josh came from a vibrant and mixed background “I got to
hear a little bit of everything. Big band music from my parents, to
jazz to classical music to New Age music and Rock from by brother”.
Philadelphia itself was one of the founding places of hip-hop. Most
of the big Rap DJ’s came from there including Jazzy Jeff, Schooly D
and Cash Money which have had influences upon his music today. But
it was early Eighties electronic pop music which have had influences
upon his music today. But it was an early Eighties electronic pop
music which had the biggest effect; he lists artists such as Depeche
Mode, Thomas Dolby, Howard Jones and Kraftwerk. At this point, we
are rudely interrupted by a Spice Girls video on MTV, which provokes
a hasty response from our American friend, "Hey, ‘Are you there?’
(his new single) entered in the Billboard Top 5 above ‘Wannabe’, one
space… whatever!..”, he quickly continues, “Anyway as I was saying,
my influences are a mixture of things, mainly the early electronic
sound; things like Gary Numan, New Order and Joy Division”.
He then followed this type of music as it evolved and contributed to
the early house and acid house scene. To his parents discontent he
did not go to College to follow a seemingly successful sports
career, which he had initially wanted to do, and was not impressed
with being made to take a piano and clarinet lessons. “However, that
instilled some sort of a musical interest in me”. Eventually his
love of music attracted him towards radio, where a friend of his
worked. “I was interested in radio first, and this moved into
helping him with his mobile DJ company – learning to set up and pack
and learn the business, but not really DJ. Then it go into DJing
house parties, learning how to beatmix and stuff like that”. He
expels a very loud burp. “I just wanted to get that for the tape!”.
He now sees his DJing as an integral part of his musical career. But
is DJing still his first love or has his creative side taken over?
“It’s a balance. I love to DJ – I’ve got the itch to DJ, even though
I’ve stopped a lot. I like to hear new music and to get to try music
out which is mine…and others. It always keeps my ears and eyes open
to really cool new things. It balances my production well because I
make some records in terms of how I would play records; easy intros,
easy outos, buildups”. Josh has recently completed a massive DJing
tour including Madrid, Oslo, Frankfurt, Paris, Budapest, Rotterdam,
Prague and Australia, the majority of which feel within 12 days!
Most of hew work these days is as a producer, of, as he terms it,
‘electronic mix’. “Some people won’t think that house is electronic
music, but I kinda consider it is, because you record it digitally
and electronically and you use electronic equipment. “What about
Rock music then? “You may be able to record Rock in an electronic
fashion through digital recording, but….” (we know what you mean).
“Electronic music encompasses everything from jungle to house to
ambient to techno to electro, you name it. Even if it has vocals or
something on top. Therefore would he consider creating tunes from
different styles of modern dance music? “I like to; whatever I
feel…. I was very fortunate to have songs respected both in the
Techno world and the House world… such as Size 9’s, ‘I am ready’ and
Don’t Laugh’, Winx”.
Wink feels that he is now in a very different position than he was a
couple of years ago. In that time he has had three hugely successful
singles around the world, and feels that people have expectations of
his forthcoming work. He finds himself, as other producers do, in
the difficult situation of not being able to please everybody. “If I
make a record that sounds like Higher State, of if I make an album
that only sounds like Higher State, people will be like ‘Ohh, his
music doesn’t change – it’s shit. He’s doing the same thing. He’s in
a position to do something different and he doesn’t’. Right? Or, if
I don’t do that and I want to do different things, to be
groundbreaking and do cool new things, people will be like ‘Well,
this doesn’t sound like Higher State, Size 9 etc’, so you can’t win.
But that’s here in the UK. I don’t notice it so much anywhere else”.
He goes on to say that you just have to do what you do. Some people
will love it and others won’t but that the most important thing is
to just move on, despite what people say. “You may want to take
constructive criticism out of it and filter in what you want and
don’t want, but you can’t let that be the setting for how you move
on in life. It’s your life; you learn things and apply them to your
regular everyday life”. But even with all his money and fame, he
still gets most satisfaction out of the effect which his music has
on his satisfied listeners; “I like to try to make tracks that five
years from now you can play and you can say ‘Fuck, I remember
exactly where I was and the feelings I had’. That’s really cool.
It’s great when people come up to me and say, ‘That track really
made my life’. That’s awesome. It makes me happy and makes me strive
and go on”. As well as his satisfied customers, from where else does
Mr Wink and his inspiration and his influences? “I think that we’re
all influenced by things around us. We take onto it like sponges. I
cant really say one thing is a great influence on me except living a
daily life and being open-minded; by meeting and talking to people,
like yourself. I get to know more about what I’m on about. It’s
kinda like therapy; I get to evaluate myself. What I do I have a
position for, and this position really drives me”.
Now he is branching out in the drum ‘n’ bass scene, but he is keen
to point out that he has been influenced by the hardcore/jungle
scene since the beginning. “I’ve always been involved with English
hardcore music. In the late Eighties and early Nineties when the big
hardcore movement came out of the UK, I was on top of things”. It
was at this stage when Wink met Dego from 4 Hero, which has lead to
many collaborations on various tracks since then. “We vibe well. I’m
going to be playing cello on some of his album”. Talented chap. He
continues, “People say that everyone is jumping on the jungle band
wagon. Well, everybody kinda is, but who cares? If it’s good music,
it’s good music. But I’ve been influenced by it since the days of
hardcore and people may now know that”. Another collaboration is
that between Josh and a friend of his called Jamie Myerson, who
Mixmaster Morris called, “…the US ambassador of drum ‘n’ bass”. He
produced jungle with electronic noises; “It gives a different
interpretation to jungle….very New Orderish”. Some of Jamie’s EP’s
have been released in the UK on Reinforced because in the US of A,
the drum ‘n’ bass scene is not as prevalent. “It’s not as
commercially acceptable in America as it is here. Basically, the
rest of the World has it’s drum ‘n’ bass scene, but more
underground…not many people can dance to it, but they dig it. Here
for some reason there is a culture that goes with it, and you can
sell it with a culture”. This is probably due to the UK being the
home of jungle and drum ‘n’ bass; no doubt it will catch in the
world to a greater extent at a later date.
So what are the other differences between the UK dance music scene
and that in America? Is it only Rap and Rock over there? “Well this
is the thing….” (Sips at his Diet Coke)”… house music on a
mainstream level is known as your Euro-pop. So, major commercial
radio stations such as… let’s say… Kiss 100…will play the Spice
Girls, La Bouche etc and the mainstream will say ‘Oh cool, house
music… and Ace of Base…cool, house music’. But for us (housey-types)
we know its pop music. The interesting thing with dance music in the
States right now, is that everyone is getting bored with the same
formula for music. Rock, alternative, R ‘n’ B rap, swing have all
got the same videos, same look”. He pauses for a moment, and points
at MTV, “Look… that’s where it is… boy-bands, girl-bands. Get five
guys or girls together and it will sell. If it doesn’t then it’s a
tax right-off and then they move to the next thing. Dance music was
like that in America when Techno came in in the early 90’s. Because
it didn’t sell, America got off the European Techno band wagon. It’s
better to do ‘Best of Techno Volume 1’. It’s cheaper and they can
sell it like that! That’s what I’m, afraid will happen with dance
music and electronic music in the States today”.
Surely though with the Prodigy having just signed a $4 million deal
(with Madonna’s label, Maverick) in the States, dance music must be
expanding. “Well yes, but dance music is breaking it in the form of
groups. That’s what The Prodigy are known as. They look like a Rock
group. Same as The Chemical Brothers; the song that broke them in
the States is ‘Setting Sun’ – the song with Noel Gallagher. I’m not
knocking it, but that seems to be the type of electronic music that
is breaking in the States”. However, house and electronic music
doesn’t get much support from the media. In America MTV shows only
one hour a week of this type of stuff, and that’s at 1am on a
Saturday morning, much to Wink’s disappointment. The rest of the
time Americans are forced a diet of music such as Toni Braxton, Ace
of Base (again), Biggie Smalls, Bel Biv Devoe, Aerosmith etc. This
one hour show does show Underworld, Alex Reece, Prodigy etc, but
Wink believes that this is just a token gesture to keep up the
appearance of being ‘hip’, especially when someday in the future
electronic music does appear in the mainstream music market. “Even
so, they haven’t shown any American artists such as Derrick May,
Juan Atkins, Armand Van Helden, Bucketheads or even Wink. There not
even supporting their own. I’m hoping that this will move forward;
that’s the whole concept of Ovum – to do it in a responsible manner.
A lot of people believe that electronic music will change in the way
that Rap did in the 80’s. It didn’t have a buzz and then all of
sudden it just blew up. Also, of course there is the advancement of
technology. Kids aren’t getting drum kits and guitars but drum
machines and keyboards, samplers and computers. That’s the way of
the youth”.
After posing for a few snapshots, we move on to Wink’s record label,
Ovum, which he set up with his partner King Britt in October 1994.
The concept behind it is ‘life music’, (Ovum being on egg). “We deal
with things on a life music basis”. Jamie Myerson is signed to it,
with his different interpretation of jungle, but also a variety of
other musics such as acid jazz, soul, hip-hop and ‘futuristic funk’
which King handles as well as Wink signing up artists who produce
music along his lines. “It’s a label run by artists for artists”.
Are they looking for the big selling records; those along more
commercial lines? “I don’t think there is anything wrong with
selling something because that’s like me saying ‘I never got into
making magazines for them to sell’. A lot of people misperceive
that; I play the devil’s advocate role because of that. People say
‘it’s not underground enough’ and all that; I do my own thing. One
of the reasons we have Ovum is so that we can control the mixes and
make sure that it is the right representation of our artists. Let’s
say Galliano had a remix by Ace of Base (once again). He’d be
pissed. The representation isn’t there – everyone who like Ace of
Base would go out and hear Galliano and say ‘What is this?’. We are
not judging our success and looking for success on sales figures;
what makes us happy and successful is that we get to do our music
whatever that is”. He goes on to explain that Ovum has set up a deal
with Sony, Ruffhouse and Columbia records, who distribute Ovum
releases, but that there have been some teething problems. “There
are a lot of growing pains with this deal. Both sides are used to
doing certain things and bring their ideas to the table and we’re
both learning. I’m not used to doing all this promotion – I feel
like a little Rock star, and I don’t like that sometimes; being a
day in each country. It’s weird. But I’m trying it out. Also the
major labels don’t really understand this music but they dig it”.
So does Mr Wink believe that the major record labels have too much
control over the dance music market in both the US and UK? Does
their quest to make money override their quest on revealing new
music; maybe they should be experimenting more with different musics?
He explains methodically, “Well, the idea of getting into business
is to make a business – to make money and grow and to get bigger.
Right? So why put out music if it doesn’t sell?” Of course he is
right. I then explain to him at great length that surely it does
seem to so frequently happen that a rubbish record is released by a
group or individual which, let’s face it, is a marketing play by a
record company. They know that it will sell on the back of that
alone and not really through any musical talent. Naturally enough,
the company makes money, but isn’t this to the detriment of new
up-and-coming artists, who the record companies see as more of a
gamble, instead of a fairly safe money earner? “It is through those
sort of deals that we are able to have our deal. “In a nut-shell;
very good point. Even so he has managed to convince Sony to release
‘Are you there?’ only on vinyl for the first week of UK sales, “… as
a little thank you to the DJ’s, who bring this music to the next
level. Who cares if it hurts the chart numbers. If it’s a good song
it shouldn’t matter where it enters. It says to the majors and the
people out there that the DJ’s are the ones”. Long live vinyl.
What about the future; what is coming up for Wink in his musical
career? Firstly as a producer? Although he hasn’t collaborated with
to many artists so far he is hoping that this will change. “I think
networking is kinda cool. It’s not a sell-out move but a unique cool
move”. At the moment he is busy working on his new album, with which
he is hoping to work with some Philly rappers as well as jazz
guitarists and saxophonists. “I’m really excited about this album.
It’s definitely different than ‘Left Above The Clouds’ (his first
album). But I hope that it will still be unique and different”. How
about as a DJ? Not too much actually. Ultimate, his DJing diary
holders have said that he now has not much until June, due to his
recently completed world tour. And as a remixer, Josh has hardly
done anything for over eighteen months, due to wanting to spend more
time on his own music. However he believes that the UK dance music
market takes remixing to a completely different level. “You can take
a group that’s shit and get some really commercial remixes of it and
it will totally sell”. However he does reveal that he has recently
completed a remix for Aerosmith. “It’s a 126 BPM acid track. I don’t
think they’re going to understand it. Apart from that I choose not
to remix right now”.
Finally, I ask our friend for his views on drug culture. Throughout
the DJ fraternity it is known that Josh Wink does not indulge in
illegal substances. So does this effect his opinions of contemporary
dance culture and it’s relationship with the use of drugs? “Every
culture has it’s subculture. What is a shame is that more focus is
put on the drugs than on the music. It should be the music. It’s due
to the sensationalism which runs everything. If one person flips out
on acid or E, the cops intervene, the sensationalism gets hold and
the whole scene is ruined. But why should it just be focused on
electronic music and clubbing? If you go and see a rock ‘n’ roll
artist who happens to be a heroin addict, well y’know…. People don’t
focus on that fact as much as they would in the dance scene. But, if
the music is slamming maybe people should try melting the vinyl down
and shooting it into their arms! But the thing is that people should
do whatever they want to do, as long as they don’t ruin it for me
and for others. Like I said, that person flipping out is like you
letting a friend drink-drive. If some young raver dies and then a
club closes….you have to be responsible for your actions whilst upon
certain substances”.
And that was all we have time for; the next interviewer was ready
and waiting. After getting Wink to sign my extremely well worn copy
of Higher State, we made our way to the lift, leaving Mr Josh Wink
to another barrage of questions. Musically sincere and pragmatic, it
seems that his passion for music will continue to keep him busy and
admired throughout the musical world.
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