Interview with Rory Phillips and Alex Egan (Skull Juice)
Back in September Rory Phillips and Alex Egan of Skull Juice took to the stage in Dublin’s The Button Factory. Performing at Night Flight, a collaborative effort between some of Dublin’s best promoters (Shock, Space Camp, Downtown Sounds and The Winter Olympics), the two London DJs brought their own distinct styles to the night. I know it's a few months back, and there have been a number of reasons why this hasn't gone online until now. Better late than never I say...
I spoke to Shock’s Jon Averill about the two DJs. Having first heard him at the now defunct Trash, Jon felt that the music Rory was playing “was really in line with what I was trying to do at time.” Jon booked him for Backlash, his baby, and “even now he still fits in with the ethos of what I want to do at Shock so I'd still see him as a regular guest for us at the club, sort of like an international resident!” Skull Juice on the other hand, have less of a reputation, but he sees them as “musically kindred spirits.” While their profile is low at the moment, “I know they'll get a bigger following over here every time they play just because of the quality of the music they play.”
After ten years of riotous parties, Erol Alkan’s Trash night, at which Rory was resident, closed its doors in early 2007. In its wake grew Durrr, a Monday night event at London’s The End where Rory is the resident DJ. The ghosts of Trash still hang around, but the new night, which should not be seen as merely a replacement, has a lot to offer. “As far as the people who actually come to Durrr it’s really become its own thing and music wise it’s in its own place,” says Rory, who is delighted with the direction the night has taken. “It’s a lot dancier than Trash was, but at the same time there’s a distinct lack of good guitar bands you can dance to, so it’s more to do with the musical climate than any kind of direction change.”
[It should be noted that since this interview was written The End, home of Durrr, has closed. Durrr has not finished, however, but has become a nomadic night, with upcoming shows in Paris and Camden, as well as a taking part in Bugged Out!'s 15th birthday party this April.]
Always busy, Rory plays or has played at several other nights across the UK in recent times, among them Our Disco, which recently threw its last party – “one of the co-promoters of Our Disco, he was moving to Sweden” – and Say Yes, where he plays a mixed bag of disco house. Playing such a variety of styles might suggest a certain kind of schizophrenia, but sees in this a positive challenge “It’s almost like dogme DJing. It’s very easy in the current climate to be overly eclectic, it’s good to have some kind of focus in what you’re doing.”
When it comes to international DJing, he combines all of his different musical brains for what might be called his ‘tour hat.’ “The way that I tilt the hat, it kind of depends on where I’m playing, the crowd, things like that.” Being a resident DJ affords him the luxury of getting to know a crowd, but with one off sets it gets a little bit more complicated. “With a tour you really have to think on your feet. Just read the crowd and do your own thing.” In moments of dire necessity, he reaches for what he calls his JICDs, “the Just In Case Discs. Anyone who knows me knows that when they hear certain songs they know that I’m struggling.” Despite some pressing, he would not reveal what features on these discs. “That’d be telling, wouldn’t it?”
One of the most intriguing aspects of Rory’s character as a DJ is that he uses a telephone instead of standard headphones. While this may seem like a gimmick, it is simply the way he learned. “The first DJ I ever saw, when I was about 13 years old, he had a telephone headphone, I’m by no means the first person to do it.” Another DJ who uses a telephone is the mysterious Dr Lektroluv, who Rory has not yet seen play, so given the choice “I’d rather go head to head with Mark Moore.” As for the origins of the phone, he picked it up at a flea market in Birmingham, for use as a microphone while he was making “a lot of really bad experimental noise music.” After years of DJing and remixes and edits for artists such as Robyn, Gossip and Chromeo, he is returning to the studio (“basically a big white room with all my equipment that I’ve gathered over the years”) to make his own music. “I’m really enamoured by the idea of making music that sits together as an album, rather than eight 12” singles.” He cites the likes of Giorgio Moroder, Phil Spector and Joe Meek as influences, so it is clear that this is not simply music for banging out at 3am.
Egged on by Analogue writer Ailbhe Malone, my final question for Rory was about who he would remix given the choice: Sugababes or Girls Aloud. “Girls Aloud by a mile. If only for the chance to meet Nicola Roberts. I love her. She’s like a porcelain doll from the back of the innovations catalogue or something.”
Skull Juice are part of a new breed of DJs, DJs who are as comfortable talking about the music they play as they are playing it. Alex and Ben, who make up Skull Juice, first met at in school, where they “ended up just buying records and making noise in music tech.” having lost contact, they found each other again at art college and started DJing at house parties. “We couldn’t think of a name so we had people saying you need a name for the flyer. We just couldn’t think of anything and we just picked names out of a hat.”
As for their residency at London’s Sunday afternoon gig Blogger’s Delight, Casper C of the Fluokids saw their blog, knew that they DJed as well, and asked them to play. The first event was a low key affair, but when Casper started working at the Lock Tavern (now the home of Blogger’s Delight) things picked up again. “We had Justice at the first one.” A monthly occurrence, it kicks off on Sunday at three in the afternoon. “Early on it’s really mellow, like the DJs just sit down in the chair and play stuff that people can listen to stuff, and it kind of gradually picks up.”
The term blog house has come in for some criticism, itself a comment on the fact that the music that makes up the genre is disseminated through blogs and heard mostly through computer speakers. How does this impact on the event? “I can’t really take blog house seriously as a term. You’d have to ask Casper about that one. I think the name Blogger’s Delight, it doesn’t really mean anything anymore. We’ve been talking about altering the name but now people know it.” As for the music the duo play, they’re wilfully eclectic. “Ben started playing house and techno and deep house, and I was like IDM, and Warp [Alex then pointed to the Warp tee he was wearing at the time], DJ Shadow, moody stuff. We’re into a bit of everything really. If we’re playing a peak time slot we’ll play Justice, we still love them.” Playing on his own in Dublin, Alex kept it interesting. “I try and force myself to play awkward records.” When asked about his favourite blogs however, he was stumped. “It’s been so long since I’ve looked at a blog. 20 Jazz Funk Greats is my favourite, I’ll say that. That’s the one I always check first. The Love Fingers mp3 blog is good. I can’t even think of any.”
Jon Averill, Live at Night Flight, 5 September 2008
Rory Phillips, Live at Night Flight, 5 September 2008
Photography by Orla Graham
I spoke to Shock’s Jon Averill about the two DJs. Having first heard him at the now defunct Trash, Jon felt that the music Rory was playing “was really in line with what I was trying to do at time.” Jon booked him for Backlash, his baby, and “even now he still fits in with the ethos of what I want to do at Shock so I'd still see him as a regular guest for us at the club, sort of like an international resident!” Skull Juice on the other hand, have less of a reputation, but he sees them as “musically kindred spirits.” While their profile is low at the moment, “I know they'll get a bigger following over here every time they play just because of the quality of the music they play.”
After ten years of riotous parties, Erol Alkan’s Trash night, at which Rory was resident, closed its doors in early 2007. In its wake grew Durrr, a Monday night event at London’s The End where Rory is the resident DJ. The ghosts of Trash still hang around, but the new night, which should not be seen as merely a replacement, has a lot to offer. “As far as the people who actually come to Durrr it’s really become its own thing and music wise it’s in its own place,” says Rory, who is delighted with the direction the night has taken. “It’s a lot dancier than Trash was, but at the same time there’s a distinct lack of good guitar bands you can dance to, so it’s more to do with the musical climate than any kind of direction change.”
[It should be noted that since this interview was written The End, home of Durrr, has closed. Durrr has not finished, however, but has become a nomadic night, with upcoming shows in Paris and Camden, as well as a taking part in Bugged Out!'s 15th birthday party this April.]
Always busy, Rory plays or has played at several other nights across the UK in recent times, among them Our Disco, which recently threw its last party – “one of the co-promoters of Our Disco, he was moving to Sweden” – and Say Yes, where he plays a mixed bag of disco house. Playing such a variety of styles might suggest a certain kind of schizophrenia, but sees in this a positive challenge “It’s almost like dogme DJing. It’s very easy in the current climate to be overly eclectic, it’s good to have some kind of focus in what you’re doing.”
When it comes to international DJing, he combines all of his different musical brains for what might be called his ‘tour hat.’ “The way that I tilt the hat, it kind of depends on where I’m playing, the crowd, things like that.” Being a resident DJ affords him the luxury of getting to know a crowd, but with one off sets it gets a little bit more complicated. “With a tour you really have to think on your feet. Just read the crowd and do your own thing.” In moments of dire necessity, he reaches for what he calls his JICDs, “the Just In Case Discs. Anyone who knows me knows that when they hear certain songs they know that I’m struggling.” Despite some pressing, he would not reveal what features on these discs. “That’d be telling, wouldn’t it?”
One of the most intriguing aspects of Rory’s character as a DJ is that he uses a telephone instead of standard headphones. While this may seem like a gimmick, it is simply the way he learned. “The first DJ I ever saw, when I was about 13 years old, he had a telephone headphone, I’m by no means the first person to do it.” Another DJ who uses a telephone is the mysterious Dr Lektroluv, who Rory has not yet seen play, so given the choice “I’d rather go head to head with Mark Moore.” As for the origins of the phone, he picked it up at a flea market in Birmingham, for use as a microphone while he was making “a lot of really bad experimental noise music.” After years of DJing and remixes and edits for artists such as Robyn, Gossip and Chromeo, he is returning to the studio (“basically a big white room with all my equipment that I’ve gathered over the years”) to make his own music. “I’m really enamoured by the idea of making music that sits together as an album, rather than eight 12” singles.” He cites the likes of Giorgio Moroder, Phil Spector and Joe Meek as influences, so it is clear that this is not simply music for banging out at 3am.
Egged on by Analogue writer Ailbhe Malone, my final question for Rory was about who he would remix given the choice: Sugababes or Girls Aloud. “Girls Aloud by a mile. If only for the chance to meet Nicola Roberts. I love her. She’s like a porcelain doll from the back of the innovations catalogue or something.”
Skull Juice are part of a new breed of DJs, DJs who are as comfortable talking about the music they play as they are playing it. Alex and Ben, who make up Skull Juice, first met at in school, where they “ended up just buying records and making noise in music tech.” having lost contact, they found each other again at art college and started DJing at house parties. “We couldn’t think of a name so we had people saying you need a name for the flyer. We just couldn’t think of anything and we just picked names out of a hat.”
As for their residency at London’s Sunday afternoon gig Blogger’s Delight, Casper C of the Fluokids saw their blog, knew that they DJed as well, and asked them to play. The first event was a low key affair, but when Casper started working at the Lock Tavern (now the home of Blogger’s Delight) things picked up again. “We had Justice at the first one.” A monthly occurrence, it kicks off on Sunday at three in the afternoon. “Early on it’s really mellow, like the DJs just sit down in the chair and play stuff that people can listen to stuff, and it kind of gradually picks up.”
The term blog house has come in for some criticism, itself a comment on the fact that the music that makes up the genre is disseminated through blogs and heard mostly through computer speakers. How does this impact on the event? “I can’t really take blog house seriously as a term. You’d have to ask Casper about that one. I think the name Blogger’s Delight, it doesn’t really mean anything anymore. We’ve been talking about altering the name but now people know it.” As for the music the duo play, they’re wilfully eclectic. “Ben started playing house and techno and deep house, and I was like IDM, and Warp [Alex then pointed to the Warp tee he was wearing at the time], DJ Shadow, moody stuff. We’re into a bit of everything really. If we’re playing a peak time slot we’ll play Justice, we still love them.” Playing on his own in Dublin, Alex kept it interesting. “I try and force myself to play awkward records.” When asked about his favourite blogs however, he was stumped. “It’s been so long since I’ve looked at a blog. 20 Jazz Funk Greats is my favourite, I’ll say that. That’s the one I always check first. The Love Fingers mp3 blog is good. I can’t even think of any.”
Jon Averill, Live at Night Flight, 5 September 2008
Rory Phillips, Live at Night Flight, 5 September 2008
Photography by Orla Graham
Labels: Alex Egan, Interview, Jon Averill, Night Flight, Rory Phillips, Shock, Skull Juice
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