The Politics of Dancing

Dec 1, 2001 12:00 PM, By Deana Morgan

It's a warm Wednesday afternoon in North Hollywood, but inside tiny family-run Lui's Chinese Restaurant, the air is cool and quiet. Legendary DJ Richard “Humpty” Vission walks in, finishing up a call on his cell phone and smiling warmly at the waitress, who says something to him in Chinese. He nods back and asks her, in English, to bring over a menu. Vission shuts off his phone, saying, “I'm a frequent customer,” and begins a sojourn into his life.

Vission started DJing at his East Los Angeles high school, where he estimates that more than 40 other aspiring DJs attended. His DJ crew often teamed up with those from other schools to throw house parties. To move every DJ through, each jock got only about ten minutes behind the decks. “If you were really good, and I mean really, really good, then you got 20 minutes. If you got that much time, you were somebody,” Vission recalls, explaining that spinning for a high-energy crowd for such a short time taught him to quickly inject a variety of tracks into his mix.

In 1992 Vission landed his own Power 106 radio show, called Power Tools. Still on the air and featuring cohosts Swedish Egil and KCRW's RC1, Power Tools is the longest-running underground dance radio show in the United States. Guests on the show have included Timo Maas, Armand Van Helden, Sasha, and John Digweed. Vission also hosted The Blame Game on MTV, and his discography reads like a hit library peppered with more than two dozen tracks that topped the Billboard Club charts. One highlight is his remix of Madonna's “Music,” which earned him a Grammy Award nomination for Remixer of the Year and a gig at the Grammy Awards as the DJ for Madonna's performance of the same track. Vission still finds time to run his own label, Aqua Boogie Records (launched in 1994), releasing club anthems such as “The Feeling” by Sugar, “Saxmania” by Mijangos, and “Energy” by Devone.

Those who were around when techno was just beginning to permeate Los Angeles might remember Vission's fast, pumping sets at the Palace. Vission was always a charismatic DJ who could make thousands of dancers go off just by grabbing the mic and shouting, “Jump, everybody, jump!” That same energy and charisma emanate from Vission's latest Tommy Boy Silver mix compilation, Damn That DJ Made My Day, on which he blazes through 34 tracks in just under an hour. The collection features such crowd-pleasers as Kings of Tomorrow's “Finally” and Hatiras's “Spaced Invader” as well as Vission's collaborations with Rozalla (“Rise”) and Static Revenger (“Where I'm Going”).

We sat down with Vission and discovered that he is not only a professional; he is friendly and funny and possesses a deeply appreciative attitude toward his work and his art.

What did you attempt to accomplish with the mix on your new CD, Damn That DJ Made My Day?

Most of my CDs are the type that you listen to while going to a party, but with this one I tried to make a CD you could also listen to while just chillin' around the house. I did subtle little things to capture that double mind-set. I had to lay back a little and let some songs play a bit longer, but I definitely captured the energy.

The CD has a soft side as well.

You know, I had to learn to sit with certain records. The hardest thing for me to do is to be patient with a record. I, as a DJ, get bored if I'm just sittin' there. If I were to let a record play for nine or ten minutes, I wouldn't know what to do — I'd just be standing there. I've learned to work things, and it's been in my programming to find out which record to really sit back and work on in my overlays. I want to have balance.

Where do you do most of your work?

I have two studios. At my house, I have my turntables and a computer. It's strictly for recording and editing when I do my mixes. I also have a remixing studio where I do all my production work.

Do you use Pro Tools for editing?

For editing my mix CD, I used an Orban digital audio workstation called the Audicy. I can't use Pro Tools because, for me, it takes too long to edit. I come from the old school of editing; I used to edit on tape, and once I'm done, I'm done. Power 106 has an Audicy system that's designed just for production of commercials, so it's really easy. But it's not like Pro Tools, where it remembers the edits and you can go back and fix things. It has its advantages and disadvantages, but it's quicker than hell.

What's your favorite piece of gear?

Right now, the Electrix FilterFactory is hot. I can put anything through it, and it's going to make it sound better, rougher. I put my vocals through it; I put my basslines through it; I've even been putting my delays through it. I shouldn't say that — that's how I tweak the delays. It has got to be the best and cheapest piece of equipment out there. It's only about $300.

If you were talking to a DJ who was just beginning and wanted to start a home studio, what would you recommend?

That's it, really: the FilterFactory, which I've used on my last ten records. And get a workstation. You can sample all kinds of sounds, but being able to distort the sounds is where it's at. I also still like the Access Virus.

Do you consider yourself more of a remixer, a producer, or a DJ?

I work hard to keep it equal, because I don't want any one of them to overwhelm the others. I can easily just stay in the studio and work on music, but when I go out every weekend, it inspires something and will trigger something inside of me, and I come back with fresh ideas. Just seeing what's going on across the country keeps me excited when I do come back to the studio. I wouldn't want to just DJ all the time; I like making music so much. I try to stick to a schedule. Monday through Thursday, I'm in the studio for eight hours. Friday and Saturday, I'm usually travelling somewhere to DJ. I like to come back Sunday and just chill out.

Unlike some DJs, you're very balanced.

I'm a little different: I don't drink; I don't do drugs. I've always had this passion for music, and I learned to find my high in music. To me, it's a greater high than being drunk or on drugs.

When did you first know that you wanted to make music?

In high school when I was DJing, I wanted to make a record. I didn't know anyone who made records. This friend of mine, A.J., and I saved up some money, and we went to one of these big studios. We knew it was $50 an hour, so we saved up $150. We thought we could go in there and make a record in three hours. We had no clue.

So what happened?

We were there for three hours and got absolutely nothing done. The guy thought we were a total joke. We didn't know we were supposed to bring tape! But I had this passion. I really wanted to get a record done. This was back when techno was getting really big in L.A. — songs like “James Brown Is Dead” and “Dance Your Ass Off.” I was a DJ at the Palace back in the day in Hollywood. When I started pumping the techno, all my friends would start jumping like crazy. Jumping up and down. Just jumping like crazy fools. So one time I got on the mic, and I started going, “Jump everybody, jump everybody, jump!” And all of a sudden there were 2,000 people just jumping. I turned to my friend and said, “We gotta make a record.”

We went into the studio, and in about two weeks, we made a record called “Jump!” This guy in the studio heard the record and wanted to pick it up. He had a rapper who was signed, and we put his voice on it saying, “Are you motherfuckers ready?” I never knew it would go as far as it did. All of a sudden, I'm in Japan. I'm in Costa Rica. And we're a group! We're doing these shows! The second record I worked on was a remix of a horrible R&B song, “High School Sweetheart,” by a male artist called Ray Quick. The only thing I liked was one of the background vocals. I lifted it, tweaked it a bit, and laid it over a house mix. The only thing my remix included were the vocals, “Your love is so divine.” The house track became more popular than the original track, and the record company jumped on it real quick, found another singer, and put it out as Miranda.

Your radio show, Power Tools, is the longest running underground dance show in the United States. You also hosted The Blame Game on MTV. Would you like to continue in broadcasting?

I will always do the radio show. It takes about two hours of my time per week. I get to play music for 100,000 people on a Saturday night, so I'll never let that go. No matter how big things get, I like the fact that I'm able to share music, because at the end of the day, it's all about spreading the music. Plus, I have such a great staff of people that are on the show right now; it makes doing the show so worth it. Basically, they put together the show. I just show up with an hour mix and talk for a bit. Am I ever going to be so busy that I don't have an hour to make a mix and then another hour to record a new show?

You play all over the world and you travel around a lot. As a DJ, where do you feel the best vibe?

Right now, you can go to any city, and it's amazing. The energy across the United States is at an all-time high. In the U.S., it's not out in the open like it is in Europe, but what's bubbling under is ridiculous. It's just like a cork that's about to pop. And that energy is all across the U.S. I'm going to pockets of the country that you'd never think were into dance music, but the energy of 5,000 people in Alabama is the same as the energy I get in Detroit. Unless you're a traveling DJ, you don't realize that it's huge all across the United States. In every single city, the kids are eating it up. They are loving house music.

To me, dancing is such a great way to get rid of tension, to just dance away your frustrations. It takes away racial tensions. It takes away personal tensions. It's beautiful and so positive, and to hear that so many kids are getting into it makes me happy. Music breaks down all the barriers. Dance music breaks down a lot of barriers because there's very little negativity; it's all about positive energy. I played in Fargo, North Dakota, and I kid you not, they had a rave in a barn on a farm. I'm driving out there, and I'm looking around — there are no houses. It's all farms. “Are you sure we're going the right way?” I ask. “Yeah, yeah, it's in a barn.” I get inside this barn, and there are 2,000 kids waiting to go off!

Have you ever experienced any racial issues in dance music?

No. I think that the people who are coming out of dance music are so diverse. The DJ, who is the rock star of the evening, could be any nationality and it wouldn't make any difference. Every nationality across the board is represented in dance music.

What is the story behind the track “Rise”?

It's a record that I wrote basically to protest the way the cops and the government are trying to stop the scene. The words are for all the kids and all the people who love dance music, who love coming together. It's about letting the music take you there and just rising up. The cops and politicians can try as hard as they want — they can shut down a party here and there — but they can't stop the music. I go to a lot of cities, and I see promoters getting frustrated because cops are trying to shut down venues or are making it very hard for them to do events. But they work extra hard, and they get it done. I want to let the kids out there know that you gotta come together and really support and really be a part of this. Just rise to the occasion.

Unfortunately, a lot of fans are not politically active. They don't vote and support politicians who can help. They don't get involved in local government.

I was actually really disappointed because the government stopped the last Right to Dance in L.A. Go Ventures was going to do a Right to Dance event this past Fourth of July, and the government came up with this stipulation that they could only have 1,200 people there. Now, how can you have a protest and control the number of people there? If there were more than 1,200 people, they said they'd have to arrest us. Because we are not an organized committee like Band Aid or the NAACP, we are under pressure from the politicians. They did a Right to Dance in Toronto, and 25,000 people danced in the streets. And because Toronto has a politician who used to go to parties, they have somebody on their side who supports the dance movement. We need to get more politically involved, because the government is starting to put down a lot of heat. So the song is just about coming together and rising up. And to have Rozalla singing it, wow!

What comes to you when you are making music — an energy, a vibe, an emotion, a color?

There's a feeling inside of me. When I try to explain it, the closest I can get is an orgasm. When I make music, when I'm DJing, it's such a high, such a feeling, and it turns me on. But it's better than an orgasm. It's so pure and so good, and it lasts for so long. I make music that I really, really like. I'm happy if I'm making music. If you do what you love to do and then watch other people get happy over it, the feeling is just amazing. To DJ for people and see their smiling faces, to see them lit up, you just know that you made their day; you made their night. That's actually where I got the title for Damn That DJ Made My Day.

I've never been money driven. I don't really care about the amount of money I make. As long as I pay my bills, it's cool. I talk to other DJs, and they complain sometimes. But when you sit back and you really analyze what you're doing, the fact is, you get paid to play. That is pretty amazing. You're doing something you would do for free and making a living off of it. That's great. You can't ever take that for granted. You've got to cherish every day like it is your last. You've got to play for all those people like it might be the last time you'll play for them.

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