SUMMER FESTIVALS SUMMMERER FFFESESESTITITITIVAVAVAVAALSLSLSLSLS ROCKNESS SUPER FREAK
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th t t Nil R d Disco sucks? Try telling that to Nile Rodgers: Di bassist, founder of disco legends Chic, and super producer currently working with Daft Punk. He speaks to Nicola Meighan about 35 years in the groove
D isco and pop icon Nile Rodgers is recalling the fi rst time his band Chic played Atlantic Records their biggest hit. ‘We emptied the boardroom,’ he says of multi-million
selling 70s wig-out, ‘Le Freak’. ‘We started it – “One, two, awwww Freak Out!” And by the time the song fi nished, the only people left in the room were me, [Chic partner] Bernard Edwards and our attorney,’ he laughs. ‘Everyone had gone outside to discuss how they were going to tell us they hated the song.’ Over three decades on from that fateful conference (and from 1979’s ideologically unsound yet briefl y crippling Disco Sucks! campaign), Rodgers continues to stick it to the haters, while winning over hearts and dancefl oors. The Chic Organization has shifted the glittering pop world on its axis – from enduring disco-funk classics like ‘Good Times’ and ‘Everybody Dance’, through Rodgers’ 80s studio reign (he produced David Bowie’s Let’s Dance, Madonna’s Like a Virgin, co-produced the B52s’ Cosmic Thing and also wrote/worked with Donna Summer and Duran Duran) – not to mention their infl uence on chart hip hop via The Sugarhill Gang’s ‘Good Times’-sampling Indeed, when Rodgers notes that, ‘Sampling has become the bedrock of pop culture,’ he is crowning himself as its architect: Chic are the most-sampled band in history. ‘Rapper’s Delight’.
Despite a recent cancer diagnosis (he is in remission and ‘feeling great’), and last year’s impressive retrospectives (a 4CD box-set; a fascinating autobiography), Rodgers thrives on making ‘future music’; on moving forward and and creating new bonds. He has just returned to Connecticut after jamming in London with La Roux, and recently worked with long-
Travel Info
term fans Daft Punk. ‘Oh yeah, that was amazing,’ he enthuses. ‘It was just that wonderful old-school interplay between composition, and construction, and deconstruction, and organic responses.’ When can we hear the fruits of their labour? ‘Oh, I don’t know when or what they plan on doing with it – all I know is what we did and how amazing our
relationship is.’
Rodgers is equally excited about sharing a stage with Biffy Clyro at RockNess. ‘I love those guys, I love their music,’ he says. ‘Even though I come from the world of groove music, we still write songs – we just happen to be grooving when we’re writing,’he laughs. But Chic were never a straight-up disco troupe. They were infl uenced by jazz traditions; they loved KISS and devoured art-rock. ‘Yeah, you’re absolutely right,’ he says. ‘The inspiration and the concept for Chic came directly from seeing Roxy Music one night. This was the time of the big-concept records – The Who, Parliament-Funkadelic – but that was the fi rst time I’d seen a rock band whose concept immersed their whole life. When I saw that I thought, “Wow, what
would that be like if it were like a R&B band, a black band . . .”’ Rodgers puts Chic’s enduring popularity down to their sense of celebration and ideology. ‘The beat may be attractive,’ he offers, ‘But you can’t hold a person’s interest for 35 years unless you’ve got something to say.’
Chic featuring Nile Rodgers play the Main Stage at RockNess on Sun 10 Jun.
BUS INFO Once again Citylink are offering a selection of direct buses to RockNess, and here’s our handy guide to their services
GLASGOW OUTWARD: Fri 8 Jun 12.40pm-5pm 1pm-5.15pm Sat 9 Jun 9am-1.15pm Sun 10 Jun 9am-1.15pm RETURN: Sat 9 Jun 11.59pm-4.14am Sun 10 Jun 11.59pm-4.14am Mon 11 Jun 9am-1.15pm 10am-2.15pm
11pm-3.15pm noon-4.15pm There are further services from Glasgow with changes in Perth, Stirling and/ or Inverness EDINBURGH OUTWARD: Fri 8 Jun 11am-3.17pm Noon-4pm Sat 9 Jun 9am-1.17pm Sun 10 Jun 9am-1.17pm RETURN: Sat 9 Jun
11.59pm-4.11am Sun 10 Jun 11.59pm-4.11am Mon 11 Jun 10.30pm- 2.42pm 11.30pm-3.42pm STIRLING OUTWARD: Fri 8 Jun 10.30am-2pm Sat 9 Jun 9.45am-1.15pm Sun 10 Jun 9.45am-1.15pm RETURN:
Sat 9 Jun 11.59pm-3.29am Sun 10 Jun 11.59pm-3.29am Mon 11 Jun 9am-12.30pm 10am-1.30pm 11am-2.30pm noon-3.30am DUNDEE OUTWARD: Fri 8 Jun 1pm-4.30pm RETURN: Mon 11 Jun 10.30am-2pm
There are also regular shuttle buses from Inverness throughout the weekend and further services from Aberdeen, Aviemore, Dunfermline, Perth, Nairn, Forres, Elgin, Pitlochry, Preston, Newcastle, Sheffi eld, Birmingham and London. ■ See www. citylink.co.uk /e_rockness.php for full details and ticket bookings
TRAIN INFO
For the fi rst time ever RockNess has teamed up with the Year of Creative Scotland for a specially chartered train, the RockNess Express, that will pick up passengers from London, Birmingham, Derby, York and Newcastle before dropping them off in Inverness on the Thu 7 Jun for priority access to the site before anyone else arrives, before returning home on Mon 11 Jun. At a price of £225 including VIP entry to the festival, or £100 upgrade if you already have your RockNess tickets, this is a cheap and convenient way to get to the Highlands from the rest of the UK. But it’s no ordinary train as Bearded Kitten will be playing host with carriage games, a fully stocked bar, Silent Disco played through headsets, magic shows, karaoke trolley, goodie bags and more.
■ See bit.ly/nesstix for full details and ticket bookings
38 THE LIST 24 May–21 Jun 2012