interview with dj rush

housefloor.de: although your roots are in house music you have become famous in germany with fast techno. now you sporadically play also 70s disco sets. how come this variability?

dj rush: my roots are 70‘s disco, i grew up in a house with family members who played music all day long. we use to sit out on the front of the house and sing, while the older people would have a little drink and the kids would drink flavor drinks (as we call kool-lad), with shit loads of sugar.
music was our life, not a day went pass without something to listing to. im thankful to have had this experiance with music, because it has help me to keep the soul and funk in what i do. years later i started to get into house music, i was there from the first begining. some people think since i play fast energy, i don‘t play house or disco any more. i still do, even in my techno sets i might drop a disco record or a really good house tune, but most people don‘t notice or even understand whats going on in my sets.
there‘s no change in my game, just because i play fast and hard, i still keep it real like back in the day.

housefloor.de:

do you want to resurrect your legendary house sets in reactor club for example or do you simply need variety?

dj rush:

i would love to do a reactor style set in europe, but it wouldn‘t work,
because when people hear the word disco, the first thing they think is disco house, more electronic sample disco, or when they hear the word 70‘s disco, they think... i will survive, ring my bell, or abba. yes thats disco, but i'm beyond that disco, i'm more dirty and rare disco songs, some songs that was only underground and was mostly played in black disco‘s or gay clubs...
not your top of the pop hits. thats why it wouldn‘t work, sorry but it‘s
true, and it‘s too late to try to make the people understand this sound, it‘s
too old and the songs are before their time even still today.

housefloor.de:

you play the main role on the palazzo airbase dvd, which takes your set
on the event to every living room. is being in front of a camera in your eyes a new important part of being a modern dj?

dj rush: being in front of a camera is not my big thing, if i'm going to be on camera i would like to be more in control of the situation, because i have ideals and when watching some one on camera doing his thing or entertaining, one should give the people something to look at, not just a dj behind the decks playing records, that boring... thats why when i made my first video, i wanted the people to see what isaiah was all about, too bad the video didn‘t kick off, because of the company that was in charge was too into doing what made them feel what was right and that ****ed me up big time, (sorry for my language but thats how it is)... the palazzo dvd was a nice idea, but some things could‘ve been different, much different. dj‘s have always been in front of cameras, but you will see more making dvd.

housefloor.de: you accompany and support serveral young djs such as robert natus or miss salacova. how do you recognize who is especially talented and how do you decide who is worth investing in them?

dj rush:

this question i like... i never go out searching for artist. i like to be
out and let my eyes and ears catch the moment. i like artist who are themselves and show the people that they like what they do. i don‘t like artist who is trying to play like me or other artist, because theres nothing special in trying to sound or be some one else.
i recieve so many demos from people and speak a lot to young talent when i'm out, and the biggest mistake they make is, when they start to talk about themselves... i can play better than this artist, i want to make loads of money, what can you do for me, i want to show you i can beat the box better than you or like you, no one is giving me a chance so they are shit in not helping me. these questions and answers are a big fat no no no no in my eyes. i say just keep cool, because no one can promise you all these things or give you everything you want.. just say hey, if you have time can you come and check me out in this location, or can i give you cd of my music. i'm looking for people who can have patients, easy, and please be yourself...
i had some bad experience with helping new artist and ended up not so nice in the end, angry because they wasn‘t getting big, or the promoter doesn‘t ask them back, even one turned out to be racist and i'm sorry i can not deal with this, thats the deadline of it all...

housefloor.de:

do you think that in the long run the new techniques of djing like with
cds or even pc-mixing will prevail some day? what do you prefer yourself?

dj rush:

i prefer vinyl, it‘s something about holding that round piece of wax in your
hands, and touching it and pushing it, and sliding your fingers on it, it‘s
a special feeling. you can not get this with cd‘s and pc. thats more like
computers and robots taking over the future... it not going to happen with
vinyl.
if it do i won't take part of it, because there‘s nothing special in
that, it‘s to easy to handle and maintain, i like to work hard to make keep
happy, not having it easy to do this business, since i don‘t do it for the
money or the fame, it‘s normal for me to keep it the way it was, and not say ooook this is easy and i can take less records or work less hard to produce music, i can beat the system and make more money this way, bullshit thinking.
i'm all about having fun. to be honest i really hope this cd and pc-mixing
start to get more popular, because all the kids will run to this and then
there‘s nothing special in what you do, and that will only make me more different than others. danke cd and pc...

housefloor.de: you have created your first sounds on a synsonic drums beat machine. with which sound machines do you mainly work with now?

dj rush: arrrrrgggggh for this interview, i hope you can do something for me:) smile,
help me find this machine please, i would shake up a storm for this machine again, this synsonic drum machine.... well now i'm still working with mostly korg stuff, the sound gives me the old way we use to make music, not that modern feel...
i love when i make music, some people in europe can‘t get into and this makes me feel good, because it‘s not for every one, but when i go home, the kids in usa love it, because it‘s our roots, even the house community still say ok i feel what you‘re doing:) so korg is my top of the list for drumming...

housefloor.de:

already in the mid of the 80s you have started working on your own
tracks. why have you released your first ep „kne‘ deep“ only a couple of years later in 1991?

dj rush: i had no way of releasing, the reason for making the track back then, was to
have something to play that no other artist had, and this what made a dj special in them days, you could go and hear a dj for what he had that no one else had and this what made you stand out... every time i would play the kids would wait and wait for that special track to come in. i use to put my hands on the reeel to reel recorder and you could see them jumping around and getting ready because they knew a track was coming next... what a feeling, i miss these days... then later after all my hard work and the buzz got around usa that rush plays some strange tracks and the kids are going crazy for it, i was approached and it started, but only for chicago and some other parts, but it came to germany and italy and it started from there...

housefloor.de:

you have been making music for so long. do you think that you will ever have used all existing sounds in records? what inspires you after such a long time?

dj rush:

i don‘t think about how long i‘ve been mixing, i think about how long i‘ve
been having fun with music. i can always think about my family when i play, because it started from there, and it will end from there...
i was just emailing with my sister, and she said she missed the time when the family would sing songs together and dance around the house and she wanted to get that feeling back again, because after so many family members in our family died it‘s having been the same, and soon ill move back home and treat my last living relatives the way use to have fun, my family in europe need to release i have a family at home, and i'm due to go back soon. so you see i'm inspired by the old times and family, that why i listing to music from my past or music that have that feeling. no techno at home only when young friends come over, that just don‘t understand life is more than just a dance.

housefloor.de:

you have already lived in several metropoles such as chicago, london and berlin. do appreciate living in a city more than in the country? were would most like to live?

dj rush: country side is not for me, i need noise and sound around me, nature i get
into... i hate being alone some where quite, arrrrggh if i want peace then
ill go and find it, but to live my life like that is boring, i wasn't raised
in a country or near the counrty side. i'm a city man... when the family
would visit other family members who live in the country i would go crazy and i hated this feeling of not having freedom to go and see other people, or to the store when i wanted something, or i need a car to get around, i'm sorry never never would you see me living that way..... chicago is my town, and i feel safe there and the people are so laid back on loving toward others and their feelings, chicagoans have much respect for others... my next step is to live in amsterdam before my time is up in europe, because i need to think about having a family and taking care of my mother because she isn‘t getting younger and help my family, not sending money home, but being there for them in body.

housefloor.de:

how did you get your dj name?

dj rush: i went from dj.r when i was 11, to dj. reckless when i was 13 because of
doing tricks, back spins, and i was a scratch wizzard, i was this shit in them days battling the kids in the projects and around the city... then i turned 14, and was in high school, and my friend dj deeon said hey man call yourself rush because every day you make it to my flat at the same time and out of order from running, i was always in a rush to make it to his flat to do music, so i said hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm sounds good and thats the story.
ok the short version :)

housefloor.de:

for a long time you‘ve been on tour around the globe, producing music
and you have been voted the best international dj many times. do you think you will ever seriously retire?

dj rush: i will stop djing so much soon, not because of age or being tired, because i need to spend more time for myself and my family, and i would love to have a family and it‘s too bad, in this business i can not find some one who wants to settle down with a dj or some one in this business, it‘s hard to find someone true and you can trust... so i need to get out more and do for myself... i will still dj and make music, but not every weekend or four time a week...
like i said life is not just a dance.

interview: alexandra heine