Another fresh blood member of Glasgow’s new breed of music makers who have grown up surrounded by the underground sounds of Glasgow and gone on to make them their own. Telford is no stranger to a Subculture set but each outing demands he brings even more of his best to the game.
Here at the Sub Club Telford is part of our underground upholstery but still the mystery around him remains. For anyone who doesn’t know… at only 27, he is already an accomplished Subculture resident, playing alongside Jeff Mills, Larry Heard, Theo Parrish, Ame et al, and of course Harri and Domenic. From sets at Off-Sonar in Barcelona to epic eight hour sets in Berlin’s Katerholzig and all points in between, his name is a welcome addition to line ups at underground clubs throughout Europe and the UK.
Ahead of this Saturday night’s Subculture session we had the pleasure of a quick chat with Telford…
1. Your love for underground electronic music goes back to your high school days and Subculture in the mid noughties. What did you find there in the small hours and was it you first proper clubbing experience?
I used to go really early, for the warm-up. I always thought the best music was played in the first two hours. It was red lights, low-slung bass, super atmospheric. Everything I like about music, and it was everything from Tangerine Dream to J Dilla, to Nu Groove to early electro tracks, Theo Parrish…. I remember hearing the first Innervisions tracks there, about three months before they came out. Carl Craig used to send Domenic tracks months before they came out, so you would hear all of this music before anyone else. Guest wise, the first time Dixon played in 2005 had a big effect on me, as well as seeing Carl Craig, Derrick Carter, Andrew Weatherall, Prins Thomas, Optimo…
2. As a DJ you’ve grown up beside two of the best in the business. What’s your thoughts on the role of the resident DJ?’
Crucial! If you run a night or even a nightclub, and don’t have resident djs then you’re basically an events company. Which is fine, if all you want to do is see a return business wise and book whatever is of the moment. But I think in our scene, very few people actually want to do this, and therefore miss out on this very important aspect in not having any residents. Add to that, not many people take the DJ game seriously enough to actually want to be in this type of role, so it can be hard to find the right person for the job.
This is where the Sub Club is different. The weekly Saturday Subculture is entering its twentieth year (!) – and its still basically the same two guys playing there every Saturday night. There’s trust put into two DJs and that trust is reciprocated by the people who come every week to hear them play. Where else in the world is this happening? So, because you have these two guys who have hyper-fine-tuned their night, the crowd, their sound all in relation to the sound system and the room itself and have set the bar so high with their musical selection, its one of the best dance floors anywhere I’ve ever experienced.
3. Do you have any views on the relevance and impact of dance music platforms such as RBMA, Boiler Room etc.? Have these marketing concepts changed the game for a DJ at all?
RBMA is amazing – its the best sponsorship for dance music there is, and is ever likely to be. Boiler room is cool, and it helps a lot of people get noticed who wouldn’t have previously, and not just djs and producers either. I wouldn’t say they’ve changed the game as such, just made it easier (and quicker?) for talent to be noticed and get out there. (Here is a feature Telford worked on for RBMA on Glasgow’s clubbing roundtable.)
4. In an ideal world (hopefully not too far away) as a DJ, which cities/particular clubs or festivals would be your favourite locations to play?
In an ideal world? We’d move the Sub Club to a desert island, fly in a crowd of folk every weekend, open from Saturday to Monday and never have to worry about closing at 3am….
5. What musical vibe are you on just now when playing out? Any particular labels or sounds that are working for you just now?
I play House and Techno. There’s good music everywhere, and its usually where you least expect it!
6. Which Record/CD/Mp3. never leaves your bag?
There isn’t one in particular but Murk never seem to stray too far away from me…
7. Are there any particular upcoming or new producers that have caught your attention lately? Anyone worth the watching?
I’m never into the ‘ones to watch’ thing but I saw Damiano Von Erckert play recently, and I really liked what he played. He just had an album released last year, which is full of great tracks, looking forward to playing a few of them:
Also, a mysterious young Dutchman by the name of Oceanic is making some amazing tracks right now
8. If you could pick any movie, what one would you love to do the soundtrack for?
I’d probably like to do it more for a running TV series, rather than a movie. The sounds would have to be able to evolve over a longer period of time, and develop. And anyway, I dont think anyone would ever be able to compete with Cliff Martinez, who did the scores for Drive and the Solaris remake amongst others.
9. You have the chance to have any line up of bands and DJ’s you want at an all day music event – the bands or DJ’s can be past and present in any location you wish. Where would this be, who would the artists or DJ’s be and what would be the running order on the the day?
Tangerine Dream with Klaus Schulze, Kraftwerk, Larry Heard & Steve Reich – all jamming live on a stage continuously for three days, on a beach in Tahiti. That’d do…
10. Where do you see yourself in ten years time?
Ha. Next question….
13. The gig is done, and your enjoying some relaxing time… share with us your top three home listening favourites…
The three LP’s next to my turntable in my living room right now are:
Dickon Hinchliffe – Red Riding 1980 Soundtrack
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DK6BiULn0VM
Finis Africae – Finis Africae LP
Brian Eno & Jon Hassell – Fourth World Vol 1 – Possible Musics…
As a special treat here’s a teaser of what to expect on Saturday. Back in August last year Harri, Domenic and Telford went to back to back to back for five solid hours hours. This live recording from the Sub Club, covers the last hour and a half, where our three finest residents took us through till 4am on a summer Sunday morning…
ADVANCE TICKETS FOR SUBCULTURE WITH TELFORD ON SATURDAY ARE AVAILABLE HERE OR IN STORE & ONLINE FROM TICKETS SCOTLAND.