Dave Tarrida speaks up against cocaine

“What we have here is the single most infectious groove to land in my lap.”

Thus began a glowing critique in DJ Mag this year, of a particular track submitted to the magazine’s Mix Doctor section.

That infectious groove they mention was in fact nine years old, first mixed-down to DAT in Melbourne, Australia, way back in 1999.

‘Cocaine Speaking’ has been absolute dancefloor pestilence since; an infectious stain on the club circuit that’s also been remixed over two dozen times, by innovative DJ/producers as well as more commercial hands.

Along the way, that track has reemerged in forms shaped like drum & bass, dub, tech-house, hip-hop, disco, wonky techno, experimental electro, and progressive trance.

It’s the best-known, most enduring track released by expat Aussie producer Andrez Bergen (Little Nobody), these days based in Japan, who cut the original version in collaboration with Jeff Willis and Francois Tetaz, as Little Nobody vs. DJ Fodder.

Tarrida, who heads up the ‘Cocaine Speaking: House Mixes’ compilation (released on Beatport through Hypnotic Room on November 27), actually first bumped into Bergen around the same time that this track was originally conceived.

“I met Andrez in Melbourne in 1999, when Tobias Schmidt and I were doing an Australian tour,” he recalls, with surprising clarity. “We ended up playing on his radio show, and he gave us a great insight into what was happening over there. We’ve kept in contact over the years, and when he asked me to do the remix, I was more than happy to oblige.”

He describes his own mix as “Bass-funk-rock-techno”, and when I listened in, I found a track stripped to its bare bones, then remade it in a suave new way, with a flavor that owes as much to his own unique mindset. It’s minimal, with shade of Detroit and Edinburgh, but it grooves and shakes and plunders the funk.

Tarrida’s own musical resume is stunning.

He’s released his tracks on labels like Tresor, Mosquito, Musick, and Sativae—the legendary record label that he also runs. And in the latter half of the 1990s, Tarrida was one of the pioneers of “wonky techno”, associated with British producers like Cristian Vogel, Tobias Schmidt, Neil Landstrumm, Subhead, and Jamie Lidell (before he got funky).

“Over the last year or so, I’ve been working on collaborations, like one with Mike Fuzz on tracks for Shitkatapult, and recently with Big Bully from New York on vocals.”

As for the music he’s into himself right now, Tarrida is refreshingly open-minded. “There’re too many artists to plug, really; I play a whole different range of styles, but I always try to check out new artists as well as the ones we all know. I’m really liking labels like Tigerbass just now, and I still like the bass-driven techno as always—from the more clubby sounds of Phil Keiran, to the more experimental edge.”

CDs seem to be a disappearing facet of the electronic music industry, and a fair number of labels are cutting back on vinyl production these days because they say it just doesn’t make back the money invested.

This is, most definitely, the dawning of the age of digital download, and Tarrida is fine with the switch.

“It’s just the way the industry has gone. I’m all for it, really. From a label point of view, production is just so much easier—there’re no extra costs for white labels, postage and packaging, etc. [Online] media, like Beatport for buying music, is just the way it’s gone. Something in the industry had to change, and digital was the only solution. I’ve been DJing with Serato for around four years now, so it suits me just fine. I also like the idea that anyone can access the music now from a computer—before it all depended on whether or not you had a good record store somewhere nearby. This kind of globalization makes it better for everyone.”

Some hold-outs, notably musicians and labels, but also avid, trainspotting record fans, might disagree.

“Some people just don’t like change very much. Nostalgia might have something to do with it, too. Since I’ve been involved in the scene, we’ve gone through tape, CD, now digital. I like the fact that the way we consume music doesn’t stay static. I’m sure well see even more changes in the years to come. As long as what comes out the other end sounds good, I don’t think anyone should care too much by which means it was made.”

Andrez Bergen has admitted that ‘Cocaine Speaking’ was originally written as a bit of a poke at party and club promoters, many of whom we know can be all talk and no pay, and whose drug of choice is quite often cocaine.

“I know where he’s coming from, and I sure have met quite a few of these characters from time to time,” Dave Tarrida laughs. “But I’m also glad to say that not all promoters are like that!”

© Michael Palmieri