This Saturday, 3rd May, sees the enticing prospect of Random Magic at Fire in Vauxhall, London– an event that features a swathe of Plain & Simple favourites, alongside some pretty interesting programming. Amongst the highlights will be Curtis Alan Jones, who will deliver a Cajmere v Green Velvet headline performance, meanwhile the likes of Neville Watson goes back-to-back with Luke Solomon, and both Boddika and October are also set to appear. Tickets already booked, we thought this would be a good opportunity to turn our attention to another chap on the bill, South London Ordnance, to find out exactly what he’s been up to of late and what he makes of this rather huge line up. We also end up talking about the benefits of escaping dance music’s treacherous ‘hype sphere’, but that’s another matter altogether.
P & S: Hi Oscar, hope all’s well today? What’s going on?
SLO: “Just sitting in my studio making beats really, music for the next six months to a year, so quite a lot of different bits and pieces. Some dancefloor stuff, some more cerebral, and a few other projects. Lots going on really.”
Sounds like it. You’re in London this weekend for the Random Magic event, we’re looking forward to it- anyone on the line up you haven’t seen before?
“Yeah it sounds pretty cool. I’ve never seen Green Velvet so hopefully we won’t be clashing. That’s one of the advantages of playing shows like that- getting to see people you’ve never seen before. I’m looking forward to checking it out.”
And what are your plans after the weekend?
“I’ve a Hotflush record out in May, which is the first EP I’ve done in ages. Then the next record on my label is coming out, which is not by me- it’s an artist called Max McFerren. They’re straight forward club tracks that I’ve been really enjoying playing out. He’s the first person I’ve put out on the imprint and these have definitely been highlights from my sets- I was in America last month for three weeks. So, I’m looking forward to sharing those with more people. Other than that, I have a few festivals; Free Rotation, some stuff in Italy, Bestival- and just working in general of course.”
So how does it feel to be releasing other artists on your label, Aery Metals?
“I’ve run labels in the past, and it’s always rewarding. Well, I mean, not financially- it’s potentially crushing. But to put out other people’s music, to get a package together with the artwork and to work with people you find interesting is always a massive privilege.”
A few years ago things blew up for you pretty quickly, were you concerned about how fast everything happened in terms of how easily people lose interest in what’s ‘current’?
“Not really, to be honest. It’s really nice for me to no longer be working in that sort of ‘hype sphere’. As soon as you start garnering even the slightest bit of interest you can put anything out and people jump on it. So the problem is it’s impossible to tell if anything you’re doing is actually any good at all.
“When I look back at some of those records and think about the kind of reception they got, which was very positive, I’m not necessarily that pleased with the execution. So it’s nice to be out of that. People generally say if something’s rubbish, which I find much more refreshing. Ultimately, it works in waves- you can’t be all over everything the whole time. The last six months have allowed me to operate in a more low key fashion. take in the things I learnt from that period, and work hard on the things I want to present to people now.”
You’ve been playing at Richie Hawtin’s Enter events recently, how did that begin?
“I got some feedback, basically, from him on a promo server, which doesn’t mean they’re playing something out but I got it into my head it would be a good place to look at. Like everything else my approach was to get in touch and build a rapport. There were a lot of ‘nos’, and then I got an email asking if I wanted to play one of the events. Then it was two, now I’ve done a couple in Ibiza, BPM in Mexico… …So it was pretty organic really, one thing leads to another.”
Random Magic @ FIRE
Saturday 3rd May 2014 | 10pm – 7am
South Lambeth Rd, London SW8 1RT
£12 ADV
Cajmere Vs Green Velvet
Boddika
Luke Solomon B2b Neville Watson
South London Ordnance
October
Otto & Farr Residents
