Described as "the Master of Techno Funk" by Carl Cox, Chris Cowie keeps pushing the envelope when DJ'ing or in the studio. Living as a sort of nomad in various European cities the past years he's now back home in Aberdeen (Scotland) working on a new album. During our previous chat with Chris he was quite open about his struggle in the Techno scene and finding his musical direction again. But he has more to say ......
You have been making dance tracks since the birth of dance music. Back then dance floors were filled with excitement and vibe. How would you qualify the atmosphere right now?
"I think this is a really loaded question with many possible answers. The scene is a different thing from the music so there’s really two areas for exploration here. Some veterans would say the music was much better when the dance scene started but I don’t believe that. The reality is I'm hearing a lot of excellent music today and in particularly the last couple of years I’ve seen the birth of some really cool stuff. The only problem is it gets milked to death much more so than it did in the past. New producers have the disadvantage they are unlikely to make a classic in the true sense, but if they had made the track ten or fifteen years ago it would have been a classic today. I'm the first one to say that for producers getting in to it now it can be very difficult to stand out from the crowd because they are not only compared to today’s music but music from years back.
"The clubbing and rave scene was better in the past. Not so much with numbers coming through the doors but the overall vibe was undoubtedly better and even magical. Everyone involved was in it for the music, not fame, glory or money. The clubbers looked happier and they really felt they were part of a new movement, and they were. It was them that made the scene. Magazines were more honorable and actually cared about the scene, now I’m not so sure. The culture we have now is extremely selfish across the board and it's getting worse. It really has turned in to a money PR game where talent has become irrelevant. Thankfully real good music still manages to get through.
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