Words by Samantha Harman
Russell Small is a man who needs no introduction, his career as a DJ and producer spans 30-years and during that time he has enjoyed success as one half of The Freemasons, Phats and Small and also remixed tracks for Beyoncé, Luther Vandross, Kylie and Faith Evans. Discover chatted to him about his life and Elevation, his forthcoming new album ‘Earworm’ launch party at i360 on September 29th.
You started DJing at just 13 years old, what or who inspired you to start so young?
It was a mix of family influence – music was a big deal in our house – and I guess a bit of serendipity. My older brother Steve and I were avid record collectors from an early age and our parents also had an amazing singles collection which we quickly commandeered. Steve took me to my first ever concert that same year he got a set of belt-driven Citronic decks which we set up in our bedroom. We were on those decks constantly, playing our records and dreaming big! We decided to start our own mobile disco and bought a second-hand setup complete with more records, light boxes, rope lights, and speakers. We added our decks to the mix, and voila—our mobile disco was born! We didn’t really advertise – it was all word-of-mouth. Soon, I was DJing at school discos, the local boys’ club and Peacehaven football club playing at birthday parties, weddings, anniversaries, and even bar mitzvahs.
My dad was a huge help driving me around in his van and this enabled me to be booked for gigs further afield. It was nice little earner back then, as well as allowing me to do something I loved…however I gave up being a mobile DJ when I moved to the centre of Brighton around 1988-89, just as house music was taking off. Clubbing pretty much nonstop gave me the perfect stepping stone to becoming a club DJ.
You were there in the early years of rave, where did your most memorable gig/s take place?
There were many! In the early 90’s I had my first weekend residencies at the Escape Club (now Patterns) and then I also became a resident for Helter Skelter at the Zap club (now the Arch). Monday was a big night back then – the time when everyone who’d be working over the weekends in the bars and clubs would get together and party in Brighton including those DFL’s. So across those I was involved in some iconic nights warming up for the likes of David Morales, Sasha & Digweed, Laurent Garnier, Underworld with Darren Emmerson and Leftfield. I was also playing gigs outside Brighton.
My favourite has to be the legendary afternoon soiree that was Phil Perry’s Full Circle. Because of the licensing laws back then we had to buy a food voucher to be able to drink on a Sunday afternoon. This was another home for DJs and producers who worked all weekend and then came out to party to share tales.
Around the same time my first DJ gigs outside of the UK came about courtesy of the late great Mr Pete Haywood who we recently lost. Pete who was a creative genius in his own right way influenced and opened doors for so many creatives in Brighton. Pete introduced me to Poland and I played multiple gigs in Warsaw and along the coastal towns and to have experienced the raw energy of clubbing there is something I’ll never forget. Of course when Phats and Small took off around 1999 we were travelling all the time and I went from working in Greens Bar (now the Occultist) on a Saturday night to playing all over the world. One year we took over 200 flights. Some of the most amazing and unforgettable gigs were in Russia. We’d play at these incredible night clubs with the craziest parties and then when we went back the next time for another gig to find out that it had been burnt down (usually for insurance) and there was an even bigger and better club in its place…
There was one gig where we didn’t really know where it was going to be…we got on a boat in St Petersburg and sailed somewhere in the Hook of Finland. I remember that the boat stank badly of cabbage and this then became an official moniker under which we released tracks. We ended up in this abandoned fort on an island in the middle of the sea. We were set up to play through this window overlooking a great big courtyard in the middle, it was incredibly dark, no railings or anything – it wouldn’t have met today’s Health and safety standards, just a generator, the decks and the sound system.
I’m on a roll now with my trip down memory lane and I cannot leave out of the most memorable Freemasons gig – that has to be 2009 when James (Wiltshire) and I were invited to play Mardi Gras in Sydney Australia. We didn’t know but they had prepared a dedicated Freemasons Float which we road on through the parade with somewhere between 60-100 dancers behind it. All these wonderful people had been learning the dance routine online all across the world and then danced together for the first time on that day – it was incredibly moving and a site to behold and we topped off that incredible day by playing in Horden Pavilion.
You have worked with some megastars in the music industry, including Luther Vandross, the late Whitney Houston, Faith Evans, Beyoncé and Kylie Minogue – what was your personal favourite remix?
My favourite remix has always been Faith Evans’s ‘Mesmerised’. It was when James and I started playing around with some different production techniques to achieve a particular sound. One influenced by Motown which I grew up listening to my mum playing in the house. The guitars in the track and the bass of the baseline all contributed to what was then a new unique sound in the House genre. That was a significant achievement and track that I’m really proud of and love playing out and seeing the response of the crowd.
How do you take an iconic song such as Uninvited (Alanis Morrisette) and make it even better? What is the creative process?
This is an interesting one. The record started off as a bootleg we did essentially to play out as part of our DJ sets and ended up being quite possibly our biggest production to date. The bootleg was basically a chop up of the original with Alanis’s vocals and some extra drums and a different bassline which found its way onto the internet and just blew up so the decision was made for us, we had the whole track scored and recorded the strings live with a four string quartet from the London Session orchestra with Simon Hale.
We were lucky enough to have Bailey Tzuke re-record the vocals. James knew she would be perfect for this and was good friends with her mother Jude Tzuke so it was easier to approach her. Alanis herself was so impressed with our cover and posted the remix on her website so that was a real compliment…possibly the best compliment you could expect. I’m delighted to say It’s gone full circle with a brand new Freemasons Remix recorded this time with Alanis to be released this month (6 September 24 ) as a bonus track on the 25 yr anniversary deluxe edition reissue of “Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie’.
Tell us about Elevation on September 29th?
I’m really excited to be launching my new event Elevation here at home in Brighton as it’s something I’ve been thinking about doing since we came out of lockdown really and now I’ve finished my new album and have some time to organise it, I’m killing two birds with one stone (in a good way) and featuring an album launch performance showcase too. It’s a daytime party – who doesn’t love one of those? It actually reminds me of how we used to party although to be fair usually the day part followed on from the night before…but seriously I feel my crowd are less keen to be out in a club until the early hours of the morning and we are looking for different experiences. It’s also local – I love playing in Brighton when I get the chance and I’ve invited some of my long term Brighton friends to share the decks with me – DNO P – my current music partner, Dulcie Danger and Oxylion, Jel Edwards and of course Carl Cox. It’s a Sunday afternoon so we’re focusing on good vibes – music that elevates and lifts you up, so anything from house classics, disco, maybe a bit of funk, anything goes really…anything that makes you feel good and want to dance.
I’m also really pleased to be working with Brighton’s i360 as our event space. Both Carl Cox and I have played on the pod before but this time we are keeping our feet on the ground and we are focusing on and have access to the full outdoor upper platform. We’re putting in a full stage like a mini festival and I’m bringing in an amazing Funktion One sound system too. Excellent Sound quality is really important to me and sadly it’s still really hard to come by in smaller venues in the UK with most clubs leaving you short when it comes to the sound. I hope that those who join us agree that it makes such a difference – come along and let me know what you think…
What can we expect from your new album Earworm?
The album is a collection of dance tracks that DNO P and I have been working on since lockdown. For me it’s my 6th album (3 with P&S and 2 as FM) and it’s been a totally different experience to the others in many ways but not least the time we’ve been able to give it without the usual pressures and expectations of a record company. Almost all the tracks are collaborations with singer-songwriters some of whom I have worked with before, others for the first time but each one has evolved quite organically or by chance conversations.
I guess the best example of that is the legend that is Lulu. (Our track Shine forever will be released on Friday 30 August). We were in a meeting with Mark Strange, a another Brighton local about some potential production for the Ministry of Sound Disco Classics show he was working on and he happened to mention Lulu in passing and I was like yeah – I wouldn’t mind working with Lulu and then the next day he came back and said Lulu would love to work with you! Dino and I spent a few days putting a demo together which thankfully they loved first off and then a week later we heard that they – Lulu and her brother Billy Lawrie – had a song ready which they’d like to come in and record.
Fast forward a couple of weeks to a cold snowy January day and Lulu is there in flesh standing in our bunker – our studio which is a former public toilet in Preston Circus – the whole thing was wonderfully surreal if not a little scary!
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Buy tickets to Elevation here
Instagram: @russellsmallmusic / Spotify: Russell Small
Website www.russellsmallmusic.com
