Exclusive Interview: Chuck Love
FunkyHouseMusic.com proudly presents this exclusive interview with one of the most exciting house music performers currently in the world. Not just an inspiration to house music and dance, but an inspiration to the art form of music in general. Enjoy this insightful dialogue with the one & only Chuck Love!
FHM: Please describe how it all began. Your love for music, instruments, and performance’if it’s possible, provide the readers of FunkyHouseMusic.com who aren’t as familiar with your history with a short synopsis of how you became the multi-talented artist you represent today.
CL: Wow. My history with music has been a long one indeed.
I started my fascination with music at a very early age, for some reason I just “got it.” I was able to pick out melodies on the piano, and sort out harmonies and sing them at an age where my parents, and teachers etc..were pretty amazed.
My strongest asset seems to be my ability to analyze what I hear and repeat it or add harmony.
This may describe why I have a thing for parrots!
FHM: What was it about house music that originally drew you to it?
CL: I first heard House music in the early-mid 80s when the world first heard it and the term was born.
I was interested in it then because I was recording electronic dance music, and House had a real “do it yourself” feel. Lots of samples, and crazy drum programs.
It was clear to me that this music was driven much more by the end-use dancefloor deployment, than some fancy studio, or some expensive producer’s take on what people should like.
It wasn’t until the late 90s that I purchased turntables and started spinning acid jazz, broken beat, atmospheric rrum and bass, etc. The final piece of the puzzle was the CDJ-1000 which I adopted immediately as a mechanism to play my own productions, and I started making tracks that were more about the beatmixed 4/4 house music format that we know, and my productions and DJing evolved in that direction.
FHM: We imagine you get asked this question quite a bit, but what is the story behind that funky, little wireless keyboard you play with the connecting hose that you blow into with your mouth?
CL: The “Hookahphone!!” Actually it’s an “Angel Melody Horn”. Some know the Hohner version as a “Melodica.”
It is an air powered thing that works like a harmonica or accordian in principal.
I thought it was kind of a novelty until I realized that it really sounds great thru a mic, and I could really play some cool keyboard stuff without plugging anything else into a mixer, etc. It’s become a bit of a trade mark. There is no Nitrous Oxide involved with the Hookahphone.
FHM: The hybrid of vocals, organic musical instruments, and house rhythms immediately categorized Chuck Love into a unique performance niche in the dance industry. As club DJs continue to embrace new forms of technology, the visual aspect of the music performer from the dance floor perspective has lost its visual appeal. You represent, quite possibly, the antidote to this issue. As you travel the world performing and sharing your sound, do you believe club DJs need to do more than just mix on CDJs, and pump their fists? Or has the day & age of the performing DJ being the center of attention simply past, and there is no return?
CL: What I do is different from a typical DJ in that I do more of a “performance set” that involves me doing the “Extreme Karaoke” versions of the material that people expect me to perform. This limits my track selection somewhat, but adds the live element to my sets.
The normal DJ set is not constrained by that, and will have much broader material to pick from and be mixed flawlessly on really loud monitors that I can’t have cranked because my mic is open so the comparison is kind of apples to oranges; however the fist pump is universal across both disciplines.
FHM: As innovative technology continues to evolve, how do you see your own live performance style being impacted?
CL: My new obsession is video production, and there are various technologies that make it possible for me to deploy edited video in my DJ sets. This will also impact how I make music moving forward since it opens up the idea of where the ‘Lead Vocal” or focal point of a track is based.
The best example to date is my “collaboration” with Rev. Jeremiah Wright for “People Clappin.”
Stay tuned to the Love Network for more of this approach both on the web and live!
FHM: In the past year, what cities across the world did you enjoy performing in the most? What made these experiences incrementally more enjoyable compared to other locations?
CL: I just played a great event in Knokke, Belguim which was cool because I got to meet and play with Raoul Belmans, Massimo Decosta, and Ingrid Hakenson aka the “Swirl People.” I’ve been a big fan and it’s great to make those connections.
Other highlights include Seoul Korea, Jakarta Indonesia, Dubai UAE, Bahrain, The Maldives, all over Australia and I’m very much looking forward to an upcoming trip to Ecuador. These exotic locations are cool and different, but the US venues I have repeatedly played are really starting to feel like home when I return.
FHM: Are there other dance music associated artists who currently inspire Chuck Love? If so, what are they doing that has caught your attention?
CL: Swirl People, Inland Knights, Atnarko, Cates and DPL, Rithma, Fred Everything, Oliver Desmet, Claude Von Stroke, Justin Martin, Miguel Migs, Mark Farina, Random Soul, DJ Heather, Joey Youngman. the list goes on.
FHM: Your label management comes from none other than the U.S mega-house superstars known as OM Records. What is it about OM that you feel best represents the interest of you ‘ the artist ‘ rather than managing your own independent label?
CL: OM has always represented diversity to me. From Mushroom Jazz to House of OM and everything in between.
The label has a great sense of A&R, and OM events are always rockin’.
I think that they will be involved in helping me with my own brand so it may work both ways.
FHM: Talk to us about your home base of Minneapolis , MN ‘ what is the local house music scene like there? Before you gained national and eventually international attention for your work, did Minneapolis embrace your work? Is there a network of up & coming artists that funky house music fans should be on the look out for?
CL: Minneapolis has always had a great core of heads that have supported me and others.
I started more on the Lounge tip here in town and broadened out to being a headliner out of town as my productions got some attention.
The ones to watch in Minneapolis are:
Bryan Gerard and David Drone (Celebrity Records)
Jevne (Onethirty Recordings)
Jason Heinrichs (Anomaly/Roomsa)
Spur, Nate Laurence, DJ Kash (Sol Funke’)
Fourfeet (Routine)
And Alexander East who does frequent Minneapolis gigs as well as has great presence on the international house scene.
FHM: Can you give our readers some insight on the major hardware and software components of your studio?
CL: The main components of my world are “Logic Studio” and “Final Cut Studio.”
These rock the house, as well as travel with me on the road.
For now I’m keeping production “in the box” for the most part as I spent 20 years dealing with crunchy audio cables and temporarily need a break from that.
FHM: Where do your creative inspirations come from? Is it other electronic dance music colleagues who help motivate you in the studio, or do these feelings derive elsewhere?
CL: Listening to others play music from electronic to classical.
It’s always an inspiration when I can just experience music without interacting with it.
FHM: Outside of music, what interests Chuck Love? From our observations, it seems parrots are one of many things that have quite the influence in your life’
CL: Travel has been a very important influence in the last couple of years.
I have met really great people on the road, and House Music has made the world very cozy while it is still a big place. I hope I can do it justice with pictures and videos as the Love Network continues to travel and shoot images and use them in the show.
FHM: What’s in store for the future? Any details you can share about upcoming 12′ / CD / MP3 releases, tours, artist/mix CD releases, and/or videos will be gladly appreciated’
CL: I’m currently finishing a mix CD “Get Large” on Large Music.
This should be out in October, and will include a new EP and tour.
“Love Will Return” is out as we speak and is a revisit of a Decibel NYC classic featuring Alison Crocket and is on Celebrity Records.
I will also be continuing to pump content thru the Love Network. Presently look for “People Clappin’” on OM records.
I’m hoping to get a proper showcase together for WMC 2009 that will represent the video show that will tour.
Also various remixes and video edits; too many to mention.
FHM: We thank Chuck Love for his content contribution to the FunkyHouseMusic.com portal. To learn more about Chuck Love and his background, be sure to check out:
For Bookings: www.outloudagencygroup.com
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