The French Connection with Riton

Photo: Riton

Long-standing house, techno and electro night Beats Of Rage celebrates its seventh year of operations on October the 4th, and following on from last year's birthday with Justin Robertson, the BoR triumvirate of T.F.Wizard, Bail and Hindle have recruited the skills of Ed Banger mainstay Riton to bring some of his Gallic inspired beats to Preston (read more on that here).

Having started out as a hip hop and downtempo producer before moving into the sleazy and eccentric world of electro, house and techno, Riton has constantly purveyed a sound the defies definition, something that matches the Beats of Rage approach to dance music perfectly.

We caught up with the electro powerhouse to find out more about his strong ties with France, his new record on Nest, and something that has confused us for a long time - how to correctly pronounce his name.

So first off, we’re loving your brand new record out on Nest. The vocals of Molly Beanland (below) really add a unique, sinister edge to the first track 'I Am The Whisper'. How did you come to work with her, and what has the reaction been to the two tracks so far? 

Thanks so much! Yeah, reactions have been awesome so far - both tracks on the EP getting an equal share of positive feedback. The track with Molly was going to be a song but I kind of wanted to do something a little like Madonna-spoken-word-sex-trax type of thing - with a kind of stalker vibe lyrically, so we looked for letters written by psychos on the internet and kind of played around with that idea.

We listened to your debut album Beats Du Jour again the other day, and although the style is very different, it does definitely boast some hallmarks of modern day Riton, particularly in tracks like ‘Take Control’. What are your thoughts when you look back on your more downtempo work, and how has that shaped where you are today?

Take Control is definitely the one track on there that I still feel is relevant to what I make now - it was a stand out track on there I think at the time - the one that made people pay attention.

You’ll be playing at Beats of Rage in Preston on October 4th who have previously played host to people like Justin Robertson, Boy 8-Bit and your Ed Banger label-mate Mr Flash. Without giving too much away, what can we expect from your set?

A little of everything centring around my own brand of house and techno and electro - but I move through some different tempos also - but all with the same sonics and aesthetic. I kind of love a slow grinding section to build out of again.

You've become renowned for your lack of 'pigeonhole-ability'. Bad Guy RiRi for instance has tracks that sound like funked up Prince, followed by stomping electro workouts, tech but not tech-house (below) and then almost Egyptian Lover type moments with Spank Rock. Is this something you deliberately set out to do, or is it your natural inclination to disregard genre confines?

I just jam making beats all day so I try and get a few things that are worth finishing off and do it - I don't care what style they are - as long as I like them and would play them out, that's what I want.

You've released an incredible amount of material in your career - are there specific tunes or remixes in your back catalogue that are particularly special to you?

I think 'Gare du Nord', my remix of 'Mickey Moonlight', and my Eine Kliene Nacht Music LP.

Riton, wikipedia tells us, is French slang for 'Henry'. Settle an argument for us: How should we pronounce it?

Roll the R I guess, and the I is an E sound.

You’ve always had a strong French connection, which manifested itself to great effect in your excellent work as Carte Blanche with the legendary and sorely-missed DJ Mehdi. Is France in general and the Ed Banger stable in particular still something of a second home to you?

Absolutely,  I'm always playing there - it's more like a first home for me musically - I love all the shit all my pals make, like Brodinski, Gesaffelstein, Club Cheval - all them doods.

What does the future hold for you? Any new releases that we can look forward to?

Yep! Big new single with a singer called Jagga - I have Digitalism and Curses remixes and I think I'll do that on Ritontime again - then I have a new EP I've recorded over here in New York to finish off too.

The second half this interview will be published on the Beats Of Rage website shortly. Head here for that.

Get your Riton tickets here.

Tickets are no longer available for this event