Afro Acid meets The Pioneers Of House Music

The word 'legend' should be used sparingly, but there's no doubt that DJ Pierre's contribution to the world of electronic music places him in that category. Credited as the inventor of acid house via the 1987 release of 'Acid Tracks' under the name Phuture, the group he set up with Spanky and Herb J, it was while messing around with a Roland TB-303- designed to simulate a bass guitar – that Pierre discovered the distinctive squelchy, bubbling sound that sparked a revolution in club music.
 
DJ Pierre headlines Afro Acid meets The Pioneers Of House Music alongside Marshall Jefferson, Steve Silk Hurley, Tom Stephan, Bart B More, Booker T and Richie Fingers on Saturday July 28th at The Coronet. More info on www.facebook.com/pioneersofhousemusic and on DJ Pierre an
www.afroacid.com.
 
It's all happening in the States right now. How do you feel now the advent of EDM and the crossing over of dance music into the charts again?
 
“I think it's a great thing. Finally our music is getting the recognition that it deserves. For me in particular it's very gratifying to hear acid, the sound that we created as Phuture, being used in a lot of the music that is crossing over today.”
 
There have been very public argument as to what constitutes house music. Is it something that you're able to define?
 
“House music is EDM, EDM is house music. There would be no EDM if it were not for house music, but for those who want to define things further I would say nowadays the more smooth, deep, soulful and melodic sounds would be considered house music and EDM would be acid house and the other genres influenced by acid house such as of course, techno, trance, dubstep and electro. So one could even say that acid was the start of EDM.”
 
When did you start your Afro Acid project? Is it purely devoted to the sound of acid and what releases do you have coming up?
 
“I started the Afro Acid Project in 2005. I did a whole album but felt like it wasn't yet right so I kinda put it on the shelf. It's not just acid, it's electro, techno, and acid dub. Acid dub is the sound that my new group AC!D FACE will be doing. AC!D FACE has a remix on my up-coming Dim Mak release called 'Strobe Lights, Laser, Disco', and also on the current releases out on Afro Acid Digital titled 'XTC' by Xenia Beliayeva, and on Bush Records on 'We Are Phuture', which is a remake of the original Phuture song from 1987. I produced this along with Carl Cox, Phuture, and Steve Ward. Next on the production slate will be a second release on Dim Mak with Rory from Stonelove, one of the premier soundsystems in Jamaica, and a new album by Phuture feat DJ Pierre.”
 
Acid is a sound that never seems to die. Who are the some of most notable people that have carried on your legacy?
 
“Well, it's basically a who's who of the top Artists & producers that are incorporating acid in their music from LMFAO to Skrillex to Boysnoize. Right now I'm really feeling Boys Noize, Bart Bmore, Tommie Sunshine and, believe it or not, a couple of DJ Chucky and Skrillex tracks.”
 
What happened to the actual Roland TB-303 that you wrote 'Acid Tracks' on?
 
“Some lucky person has it as it got left in a repair shop some years a go.”
 
You're playing with Marshall Jefferson. How far do you two go back?
 
“We go way back to the mid 80s. He was the one who hooked me up with Trax Records. Don't worry Marshall, I forgive you!”
 
If you could do it all again, what one moment would you like to relive and what one thing would you change?
 
“Well I'd like a do-over of when Jive Records asked me to give a song to Samantha Fox, to which I said 'no' because the song they wanted was already with this group I was working with. I just felt it would have been wrong to snatch that song out from under them. Now when I look back it would have been the perfect strategy to gain more recognition for myself so that I could in turn put that group out bigger and better than I actually had.”