Interview: Bushwacka takes us back to The Roots

The brainchild of Matthew B and Richie Fingers, The Roots is a new night for East London that brings the original house sound to Shoreditch venue Basing House every month.

Featuring special guest DJs from the  early years of Acid House, the vinyl based party has generated a huge buzz off the back of the first two events with Mr C and Eddie Richards, and now welcomes legendary London house veteran Colin Dale to the Basing House decks for the next event on May 10th.

Here Matthew B - aka Bushwacka - re-lives some early Acid House memories and explains how the music of the late eighties has informed the club scene of today.

So Matthew, it’s a pleasure getting this chance to speak with you. You have teamed up with Richie Fingers to start a night called ‘The Roots’. Can you explain the ethos behind the event and how it came about?
Hi. Well the night came about purely through me sorting through my record collection - someone asked me if I had 200 records I didn’t want so they could use them for a film set - and I said I would help them out, so I went through a ton of my huge record collection, not the stuff cataloged on the shelves, but the mixed up piles all over the floor, and I kept finding these amazing tunes that were very obscure or well known at the time of purchase, but had gone unnoticed for years. A lot of the music sounded exactly like the sound a lot of people were playing today, so I called my mate Richie Fingers, who was there with me a lot of the time when we were playing these tunes back in the day, and told him I wanted to start a night just to play this music. I suggested calling it "The Roots", but I was slightly worried about the DUB connection, but it does’t seem to have been a problem - the name fits the philosophy.

How did you and Richie become friends?
Well I started out DJing when I was about 14 years old, and when I was 16 I was going to the original warehouse parties in North and East London at the beginning of the acid house explosion. I met Richie through these parties. We played together at a warehouse party in Crowland Road every weekend for a couple of years, which is where we really got to know each other, and we often went to the bigger parties together too... Sunrise raves, etc.

The first two events with Mr C and Evil Eddie Richards have been nothing short of amazing. Have you had any goose bumps playing certain tracks again after all these years?
Oh my God, yes - so much... Look, these guys are legends. They are responsible for playing this music to the masses from the beginning of the scene. Mostly the Americans were writing the music, but we were playing it before they even knew we had a scene. I could name a ton of tracks with the goose bump factor. We post them regularly on The Roots facebook page.

It is of course great that these records are getting played again in the club environment they were made for. What clubs and events do you think were the most important in shaping the scene in London around the birth of Acid House?
In London, Clink Street, The Dungeons, Shoom, Future, Spectrum, Rage, Crazy Club,  Rat Pack warehouse parties (where I started). Actually by 1990, I had residencies at Ratpack, The Astoria, The Limelight, Busby’s, and The Park on a weekly basis...it was NUTS.

Basing House is a small and intimate venue. Having played on many a scale, do you have much preference over venue size?
Basing House is perfect. I asked a girlfriend of mine who lives east side what venue in East London held 200-300 people and had a really good sound system, and she suggested Basing House. I approached the guys there and gave them the concept and they loved it... they are great guys to work with and the venue is perfect for our night... it is a cross between a bar/club and a mini warehouse - so cool.

Something we love is that the night has caught the hearts of both young and old. Do you think it is important that people understand the heritage of the music they’re hearing in clubs every week?
Yes, last party I met these girls outside that told me they had been bar hopping and had come across our party and loved the music so much that they were calling their friends to come down... we had a good mix of young crowd and old school acid house veterans... it is really important for us for the new generation to come down and be made aware of the heritage. And they love it - the atmosphere is killer.  

How do you think your career may have differed if you were just starting out in this day and age?
It would be so different... these days everyone is a DJ, everyone is making music, and this sound has been around for 25 years - over two generations already. I would probably still do it though!

Record shops used to be at the heart of every city for dance music culture. Do you still get time to swing by any?
I miss record shopping… I rarely go, but I spend more time in my studio and at home listening to vinyl. In fact I am in the process of buying a really good turntable just for my house... I get so many promos emailed to me - I am going to employ someone to download them for me - I can't keep up. There is something magical about record shops – it’s the social aspect, and the feeling that you are buying something unique too. Yes, I miss it.

Has digging through all your old records inspired yours and Layo’s new album at all?
Let me put it like this - my old records inspire my life in every way. My old records are my long lost friends, just waiting for me to pick them up again and continue the relationship.

How long have you been working on it and what is your workflow like?
The album is ready! We worked on it over the last year, and completed last week. We are very happy. Now for me workflow in the studio is concentrating on the new wave of "Just Be" solo tracks... we will go back in the studio as L and B in a short while to remix some tracks.  

Will it be tailored for the dance floor?
A lot of the new album is dance floor friendly, yes. But the album itself is designed to be listened to start to end.  

Does your current studio have rack after rack of gear or have you streamlined?
I stripped it down to almost just mixing out of the box, but now I am starting to build again, a few new analog toys - exciting for me!

We know you have a few personal releases lined up as ‘Just Be’. How is the rest of the year shaping up for this new project?
This project is going fantastic. Safehouse Management are taking care of me and the project and we have a long term plan in place. It is just the beginning right now. I have had a few releases out already on some great labels, and now I am working on the next wave of releases. And I have a ton of remixes to do.

Finally could you name check a few early labels, or producers, that those wishing to learn more could go and take a look at?
Well, if you look on our website at the artwork, we have put a lot of the labels on the design... BigShot, Trax, Hot Mix 5, Nu Groove, Strictly Rhythm, etc. Check out Marshal Jefferson, Frankie Knuckles, Roland And Reggi Burrell, to name a few.

Thanks Matthew! See you at Basing House.

The Roots with Colin Dale takes place at Basing House on May 10th, 2012. Advance tickets are available through Skiddle below.

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