Hello Dutchie, welcome on board! A massive thank you for accepting our Artist of the Weekend interview! How are you?

You’re very welcome it was nice of you to ask. I’m very well, thank you.

For those in our audience who don’t know you very well, would you like to introduce yourself: who are you and where do you come from?

Hello strangers, I’m Dutchie a Dj/producer & the boss of Right Nut Records and half of a boss of Superfreqs Delicate Droids.
I come from Colchester in Essex where I have been fighting a war against cheese and old school for the past 26 years alongside a band of similar twisted individuals!

Who introduced you to music? Did it all start when you were a kid?

No one really introduced me to music. I don't come from a musical family or anything! I just remember always loving music from an early age. I can remember holding a tape recorder in front of the TV every Thursday when ‘Top of the Pops’ was on and trying to stop and start on records I liked before the talking started. I also remember getting really annoyed because the pool man used to turn up every week at 7.20 so I would always have a record with the sound of the doorbell ringing and my dad shouting “it’s the pool man! It’s the pools man!” at the top of his voice! It’s quite funny watching my twelve-year-old boy going through the same process at the moment as he spends all his time listening to Grime and rapping! It’s good to see and I love the fact he has ignored commercial stuff and has gone straight into underground!

How did you start listening to electronic music? Who was the first Dj that impressed you?

I was into Hip Hop and the emerging electro stuff during the eighties but the first Dj to impress me was a Dj from Colchester called Ju. He was the first person to bring Acid House to Colchester, I used to spend days at his house listening to records as well. Being 18 in 1988, it sort of fell in my lap!
From listening to Ju and going to a couple of small local parties he did, led us to going to the Dungeons, an insane place in London where I first heard the legends Mr. C and Eddie Richards and that just completely changed my life, from that moment on nothing else would do.
Mr. C also became resident at a party called Mangled at the Barn near Colchester, so I was lucky enough to hear him every Friday. He was forward thinking and constantly evolving even then, I think that set the tone for how I looked at music from then on.




How did you become a Dj and later on a producer? Did you have someone around to teach you?

I bought some decks with my mate Ju in 1990, he showed me the basics and I just went off and practiced for hours. I don't think anyone can teach you to dj, they can teach you to beat match but being a good dj comes with experience at playing out and an ability to read a crowd and please yourself and them at the same time.
Production wise I had some releases in the 90s on labels like Plank and Surreal Records but then had a break from producing although I always carried on djing.
After the death of a very good friend called Gib a few years ago, I decided to set up my label Right Nut records as my own little tribute to him, in case you’re wondering how the name Right Nut Records came about here is the story… At the Barn nightclub in 1990 Mr. C gave Gib a shout out as he was going into hospital on the Monday for an operation, Mr. C announced this one’s for you Gib and then played Jose Cheenas track ‘My left nut my right nut’ which is basically a track about a pair of balls, not knowing the operation Gib was having was to remove a testicle!!! This then became Gibs record. I wanted to do a remix of the track but there was no acapella on the original vinyl, there was however a nice one about boobs on the bside, myself and Grant Dell did a version of that which was on Right Nuts first release. I finished off your exclusive mix with this track, the vocals are hilarious and still make me laugh.
So this also started making me to want to produce again, I was lucky enough to be invited into my guardian angel and longtime friend Terry Beautymans awesome Golden Delicious studios. Terry taught me enough and then left me to my own devices and I’ve basically been a part time lodger ever since. I’m extremely lucky to have had this, Terry is a godsend, he takes nothing but joy at watching things grow and develop and then still comes in and says that's crap every now and again, just to keep me on my toes! Its also given me the privilege of sort of just being there a lot, during his gorgeous wife Tash's pregnancy and the arrival of their beautiful daughter Summer who is simply awesome and quite often now, pops in the studio for a dance, she’s been the inspiration for a few track names too.

How do you normally get yourself ready for a gig? How do you make your music selection? Do you ‘train’ at home?

My days of training finished years ago! I just get my music together make sure I know them and have got enough to cater for going whichever way I end up going, I never really prepare a set and don't normally know what I’m going to play until I start. I don't see how you can, to be honest. For so many reasons: the mood of the room might suit a certain vibe at a certain time, you don't know how the person before you is going to finish off. I’ve played loads of gigs where its been the opposite of what I expected, which made the room tick so if I’d got it wrong I’d have been buggered. I then have a bath and hope that the clothes fairy has laid my clothes out on the bed for me to wear! She is very good normally although she has let things slip a bit since becoming a florist as well.

What do you think about the world of dance at the moment? Is it going on the right direction?

If I’m being honest I don't really care too much as long as there’s a healthy underground which there has always seemed to be if you looked in the right places and there are people at the parties, then I’m happy.

Is there a competition between the artists you think?

There are exceptions but generally I have found most of the people I deal with are all happy to share, encourage and support each other and have the same opinion as me which is: its just music and dancing don't take it too seriously, I think if you do then it just loses its magic.

How would you describe your style at the moment? Has it changed a lot during the years?

Wonky tech house possibly! I think I’m somewhere between wiggle and Superfreq trapped in an acid bubble! My style has changed over the years from house and garage in the 90s, into techno after discovering Jeff Mills at lost and into the current Wiggle/Subterrania/Superfreq sound, during a set though I do like to change the style anyway, you don't want two hours of the same sounding tracks to be honest.

Which gig of yours will you never forget?

There are loads some of the best have been local free parties run by Fump and Malarkey which are probably the nearest you will get to a old school style party. Dj Stick came to one last year where we played in a cow shed till six am and it blew him away, he said he hadn't been to a party like that for over 20years. However, it has to be when I was asked to play at Superfreqs 14th anniversary recently for so many reasons. Becoming a Superfreq artist with the Delicate Droids blew me away a bit as it far surpassed anything I had expected to achieve, so when I was asked to play I was excited beyond words. I felt like I was a local vicar who had been invited up to do a sermon by the Archbishop of Canterbury because of his good work to humanity!
As a gig it was simply awesome I played the closing set in room 2 and it was insane, it was also made more special by the fact that most of the other djs playing are all good friends, so it was like a little family thing. The huge support from all my friends and what seemed to be a genuine feeling that people seemed to be happy for me, despite my hard man exterior I’m actually quite sensitive and I was genuinely touched by the whole thing and of course its where I met you!




What is your perspective of a great venue?

It’s more the people but I’d be lying if I didn't say I like a dirty dark basement.




How did you become a producer? Why is that important for your career?

I didn't become a producer to try and get work I did it because music excites me, although it does seem that there a few djs who get work these days who don't produce, if you are passionate about music then I suppose its a natural progression. Rather than making tracks in the hope of getting more work, I just do it expecting nothing and that way when you do its a massive bonus.

Where do you get your inspiration from when it comes to a new track?

Hmm, I don't really get inspired to make a certain track a certain way. I just want to make something that makes me want to dance. I do get inspired by people in the studio though. Mr. C just inspires me generally, Lo inspires me every time I listen to his music as his production levels are so amazing and he reminds me, no matter how good you’re getting you ain’t that good yet! Stark inspire me that not only is it ok to think outside the box but boxes are actually for losers and should be destroyed. Richard Ruttenberg my Miami based partner, who is the inspiration behind Delicate Droids, he’s a time travelling funk bear who travels the universe collecting weird unheard of sounds and I encourage everyone to get one, I’ve even been inspired by James Harrison telling me some things rubbish and finding myself thinking ‘yep he might be right!’.


Do you consider yourself an artist? Do you think you have the power to influence those who like you to become better people?

Not really I’m just a smiley bloke with some awesome friends who can make you dance and smile for a couple of hours.

Share with us what are your future projects are and where we can listen to you?

Lots more releases coming up on various labels and Right Nut Records, including the Droids second release on Superfreq. Djing wise, hopefully, Jaded again soon and of course hopefully Superfreq again. I’ll be doing some Nutted parties in Colchester soon as well as some other local things, and of course I’m very excited about Zombie Soundsystem and Right Nut joining up forces for a free all day party called Ride the walrus at the Magic Roundabout on the 15th May!

Great, look forward to it! It’s been a pleasure to have you with us.