The Revenge is a studio boffin, a master of sound who could spend hours – days, even – fiddling with just one synth setting.
But the producer has another side, one that likes to cut loose and feel free. The Revenge is set to take part in the new Tribal Sessions residency at London nightspot Fire, an all-star affair that fuses genres and generations.
Set to storm the South London venue, Glasgow producer The Revenge will have a number of tricks up his sleeve. Tribal Sessions open on October 9th, and by way of a preview Clash has nabbed a live recording of The Revenge at Norway's Oya Festival.
Rolling with the Sunkissed crew, this Scandinavian set supplies blistering machine funk with a disco flair, with almost an hour of peak time sweat.
Check it out now, before finding a quick Q&A with The Revenge underneath.
Do you remember how you approached this mix on the night? Was it fairly free-flowing, reacting to the crowd or was it quite structured?
Since this was a recording of a live set it’s always determined before hand which tracks will be played, but within that framework it’s improvised. My DJ sets are generally two to three hours and have no plan, but with the live stuff it’s always a maximum of 60 mins and it’s important to have some sort of structure. It’s a much more concentrated period of time as I’m making changes every second and there’s hardware involved so there’s more plates to keep spinning!
Do you test out new material in your sets? If not, why?
I’m always testing new stuff out. It’s the best place to do it as you can get a good idea of what's working and what’s not. The majority of music that I make is for the dance floor so it makes sense to check it there. I edit most of what I play – so whether that’s just extending a track by 16 bars, cutting a bit out the middle or completely reworking it – it helps me remember the track and gives me something slightly different that fits into my style of playing.
Is there anything unreleased in this set we should know about? Do you tend to play exclusives / new material up front, or it more about crate-digging?
Most of the tracks in this set have been released – but not these versions. I’m just finishing a set of remixes for my album which takes inspiration from the live sets I’ve performed this summer. The idea was to create some extended dub versions of my album tracks that I would perform live in the studio with some overdubs. My DJ sets are always a mixture of new stuff I get sent or pick up and also stuff from the vaults which I think could work alongside. It’s always a bit of a mixed bag.
You’re back in London to play Fire this October, courtesy of Tribal Sessions. Looking forward to it? Do you tailor sets according to the club environment, or is it more about the crowd / vibe on the night?
I always look forward to playing in London – and yeah I generally have a look at the blurb about the night and see what the general vibe looks like beforehand. Obviously on the night it can be quite different, but it helps to have a bit of a heads up. But I always pack a variety of stuff and then it’s just going with the flow when you get started.
With the closure of the Arches and police introducing random drugs tests outside clubs, the Glasgow club scene seems under enormous pressure. What’s your take on this?
The drinking culture and violence related to that is the more worrying thing. Clubs open at 11pm and shut at 3am where everyone is kicked out onto the streets when they are still in party mode and have probably been drinking since early evening. The whole night is rushed unlike a lot of other countries in Europe and I think this has a big effect.
There should be moves to decriminalise a lot of drugs and make them safer instead of targeting users who are simply out to have a good night. It’s an easy way for the police to hit their targets and justify their position – and a colossal waste of tax payers money at the expense of catching real criminals. But against those odds, Glasgow is one of the best places on the planet to party – it’s pretty much a guaranteed good night out with a huge diversity of options to party considering the size of the city.
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Tribal Sessions kick off at Fire, London on October 9th. Catch The Revenge on October 23rd.
