- Manchester soul man Trus'me gets down for this week's edition of the RA podcast.
- David Wolstencroft burst onto the scene last year with three mysterious 12-inches that grabbed the attention of house heads worldwide. His name, Trus'me, seemed to be the key: Whether it was the bumping deep house of "W.A.R. Dub" or the dreamy beatdown stylings of "Browns," his releases appealed to open-eared listeners tapped into the soulful spirit of vintage US house music. But after his relationship with Jerome Derradji's Still Music broke down, he found himself with a stack of unreleased material both by himself and friends, and little idea on what to do next.
So, he did what any producer does: He started his own label. Already on its fifth release, Prime Numbers has put out tracks by Detroit producer Reggie Dokes as well as various artists associated with the Edinburgh-based Firecracker Recordings. And it looks to be set for 2009 as well, with a raft of new releases from Trus'me, Linkwood and others planned. In addition to getting the label up and running, Wolstencroft has also started up his weekly Disco 3000 party in his hometown of Manchester, and he's already got plans to take it worldwide. We spoke to David via e-mail to discuss the mix, his label and his grand plans to hold a festival in Croatia next year.
What have you been working on recently?
Where do I start? I'm currently finishing my 2nd LP, In the Black, which is due out March 2009 on Fat City/Prime Numbers. I'm also constantly busy with my own imprint Prime Numbers. We have LP's due out in 2009 from Linkwood (which I believe will make people sit up and listen), and also new material from Fudge Fingas, Wireman and more new artists to the roster. There's BE, who we're really excited about, as well as a collaboration between myself and Kon from Kon and Amir (BBE). On top all of this I'm due to launch the Disco 3000 festival website.
How and where was the mix recorded?
I recorded the mix live at Disco 3000, which is a weekly party every Sunday in my hometown of Manchester. It's a shindig for everyone to hook up and hear real music, whether you wanna dance or just sit down and listen. We've created a great melting pot of like-minded and open people, where I as a DJ can express myself and dive deep into my record collection. If you ever find yourself in Manchester be sure to swing by at Trof Deaf Institute where it is held.
Can you tell us a little about the mix?
You caught me at a great time as I've just received the test presses for various new material on both Prime Numbers and our close friends Firecracker Recordings up in Edinburgh. There's also a few remixes by myself floating about in there as well as new material from M7 which will make up the forthcoming EP from Prime Numbers. The Manchester crowd enjoyed this set, so I hope you do too.
What are you up to next?
Disco 3000 are working on a project to bring a true European festival to the underground music scene. We would like to create a music event which brings together some of the best music promoters, labels and club nights we have worked with over the last 12 months. The focus will be on the promoters, resident DJs and labels across Europe—no longer is there a need for a huge DJ name to bring the crowd. The festival runs around the backbone of parties across Europe coming together purely and simply for the music and trust in the residents' and labels' musical taste. This has never been done before—I don't want to sound too corny, but this will be the first real music festival. We have the opportunity to use a beautiful site in Croatia for a full weekend on the 4/5/6th of September in 2009.
Before the Wireman release, I always assumed that Prime Numbers was a straight-up house label. Do you have any other weird and wonderful releases on the horizon?
That's exactly what I wanted, to break the presumption of what the label is or is not. The label is associated with Fat City Recordings which is predominately a hip-hop label and what I grew up on before I fell in love with 4x4 music. As with my DJ style you should expect to hear good records from all corners of the record shop and this will be reflected in Prime Numbers. If it's good, it's good!
You've just landed a monthly Disco 3000 residency at APT in NYC. When is that going to start?
We're due to launch the NYC monthly on January 16th. I really love the basement club of APT, with its sweetly installed Funktion One system and a crowd that can really dance. I mean they really shake their thing in style! The concept will be around the whole ethos of the festival and the Manchester party covering afro, Brazilian, disco, hip-hop, house, boogie, jazz, psych, reggae, soul and techno. Kon & Amir will be my in-house residents and we'll host occasional guests; Linkwood in January and Martyn in February. People looking for more info should check out the Disco 3000 website.
Tracklist01. BE - When You Left - Prime Numbers
02. Linkwood - Eagle - Firecracker Recordings
03. Linkwood - Ooh La La - Firecracker Recordings
04. Linkwood - (Test) - Prime Numbers
05. Marbert Rocel - Beats Like Birds (Trus'me remix) - Compost Records
06. Wireman - Armour (Move D remix) - Prime Numbers
07. DJ Qu - Somethin' Ta Feel - Strength Music Recordings
08. Transllusion - Dimensional Glide - Supermat
09. Nicuri - A Thousand Points Of Light - Strength Music Recordings
10. Mfor - Theif - Reincarnation
11. Wireman - Axiom - Prime Numbers