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‘I DON'T THINK THIS SCENE HAS PEAKED BY A LONG WAY'
Headman tells David Pollock how his love of rock and dance helped shape a
genre ahead of his date with Death Disco
hen he released his debut album It Rough in 2001 (which contained the single of the same name). Zurich DJ Robi lnsinna. aka Headman. helped presage a whole movement. Around the same time. everyone from Belgium's Soulwax to New York‘s LCD Soundsystem was helping to develop the punk-funk style. whose name is a bit of a contrivance btit whose sound has endured and matured. ‘What I liked about this scene when it started was that it was somehow against the same boring four-to-the- floor stuff. and that these new disco people played a lot of old songs.’ says lnsinna. 'When I started l)Jing ten years ago. I pretty much played old music. There wasn‘t anything new which I thought was interesting. everything just sounded boring and straight.~ lnsinna’s musical background was such that the same old reference points were never going to be enough for him. Growing up. he listened to the hip hop of Public linemy. Run I)M(‘ and The Beasties Boys. and the indie rock of Faith No More. ‘I think I always had an ear for alternative music and everything that goes with it.’ he says. ‘But I liked dance music too and couldn‘t figure out how people only liked dance or indie. how they couldn‘t combine the two. So I was about 20 when I began I)Jing. and I started out by playing hip hop. rock and funk mixed with some cosmic Balearic stuff.‘ What he calls ‘digging' records — ie out from the racks of old record shops according to painstakingly researched lists — also led lnsinna to the back catalogues of artists such as A (‘ertain Ratio and Talking Heads. who would prove to be the most crucial influence on his brand of punk-funk. ‘ln Zurich it was
18 THE LIST l/‘le Aug 2008
paradise] he says. ‘Ten or twelve years ago there were four record shops. and there weren't many people after the same records as me. It was like my library. I would spend afternoons in there discovering all this music from the past.‘
liventually all these influences were ptit to good use on lnsinna‘s own productions. which started with the ‘Anarchy‘ 12m in 2()()(). right up to the recent third album ('utr'li Mo. under the name Headman. to go with another under the Manhead alias. Historically lnsinna has released on (iomma. although he‘ll be switching to his own Relish records in future.
Although he also spends a lot of time in Berlin for work. lnsinna actually prefers the more homely mentality of Zurich. where people don't come flowing through the city and then leaving when the weekend is done. ’Berlinf he says. ’is a good place to work and to play. but not so much to live.‘
It’s the same streak of traditionalism that leads him to make music the way he does. using analogue equipment where possible. and to befriend and work with similarly retro-futurist artists like Soulwax. The Rapture and lirol Alkan. ‘I don’t think this scene has peaked by a long way.’ says lnsinna. ‘For a while it got loud and noisy. which is good for peaks in a club. but things do seem to be getting a bit more relaxed. to be influenced once more by older styles rather than the hard. ravey sound. I think that this is a good thing.’
Headman plays Death Disco at the Arches, Glasgow, Sat 16 Aug, along with guests Rory Phillips (Trash) and Bonde Do Role.
LIST >l<
N"iiiE'iiEsimliifidrt'o'oifliciiON
=ic Back Tae Mine Swedish pop meets Glasgow indie as Don't Die On My Doorstep heads to town to team up with BTM, featuring guest bands The Just Joans and The Catalysts. Flying Duck, Glasgow, Fri 75 Aug.
3%: Fortified Sessions Returning after their summer holidays, Fortified are back with a bang. Specifically with innovators of new electronica Appleblim and Shackleton (both of Bristol's Skull Disco) and long-time boundary- pusher of the genre T++ (pictured). Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow, Fri 75 Aug.
its Spirit Aid Charity Fundraiser The great, the good and the bloody brilliant of the Glasgow club scene pull together to raise money for kids whose lives have been affected by war. Featuring Starkey (Philadelphia) and Rustie (Warp). Soundhaus, Glasgow, Fri 75 Aug.
After Dark Three usual suspects of the Glasgow party scene play this disco special. Billy Woods, David Barbarosa and Teamy are the ones commanding the decks. Stereo. Glasgow, Sat 7 6 Aug. Death Disco The combined off-the-wall techno and baile funk might of Headman. Rory Phillips and Bonde Do Role usher in another freaktastic instalment of Death Disco. Arches, Glasgow, Sat 76 Aug. Subculture Quite frankly, this is getting boring. Every week the Subbie's Saturday nighter has another first class guest. This time it‘s Chicago veteran Johnny Fiasco. Sub Club, Glasgow, Sat 76 Aug.
* Optima Once again Optimo is several steps ahead on the what-you-should-be-Iistening- to curve, this time guest— starring Dan Hann. Sub Club, Glasgow, Sun 7 7Aug.