#77 Peter Croce (Detroit)

알다시피 코로나19 바이러스로 인해 우리 삶이 많이 바뀌었어요. 지난 1년 간 춤을 출 만 한 공간도 없었고요. 당신네 도시도 크게 다르진 않죠?

당신이 디트로이트를 정말 좋아하는 것 같군요! 다시 음악 이야길 해보자면, 디제잉은 어떻게 시작하게 된거죠? 특별히 영향을 받은 아티스트가 있는건가요? 

디제잉 할 때 특히 신경쓰는 부분이 있다면요? 

이번 골목길 믹스테잎은 어떤 곡들로 이루어졌고, 어떤 느낌이라고 소개할 수 있나요?

참 당신은 프로듀싱에도 정말 많은 노력을 쏟죠. 특히 당신의 아프로 하우스 비트를 정말 좋아해요. 

작년 한 해 가장 많이 들은 앨범이 뭔가요?

당신이 운영중인 운영중인 Rocksteady Disco에 대해서도 소개해주세요. 

엄청나네요, 디제잉 뿐 만 아니라 레이블까지 운영하려면 스케줄 관리가 어렵겠어요. 

판데믹 덕분에 산악 자전거를 더 좋아하게 되었어요. 음악 다음으로 정말 좋아하는 취미죠. 그 전에 저는 race downhill skateboards를 즐겼어요. 산악 자전거도 그런 다운힐이 재밌고, 업힐이 있다는 점 때문에 좀더 피지컬과 멘탈적인 요소가 중요하죠. 제가 업힐을 다운힐 만큼 좋아하게 될 거라곤 예상 못했지만, 정말 좋아하게 됐어요! 지금과 같은 판데믹 시기에 캠핑장 같은 야외가 안전하긴 하죠. 그리고 미국 중서부에는 산악자전거를 타기 좋은 곳들이 정말 많아요. 그래서 거의 한달에 한번은 산악자전거를 타고 캠핑장에 가곤 하죠. 지금 상황이 조금 사그러들면 장거리 레이스를 가보고 싶어요. 그냥 친구들이랑 같이 재미로 타는 것도 물론 좋고요.

오늘 만나서 반가웠어요!

Hi, it’s been over a year after you visited Seoul. How have you been?

I think like most musicians I’m feeling a little burnt out, a little nervous about the future, a little bummed about the present. On the other hand I’m discovering a ton of amazing new music and continuing on with both the Rocksteady Disco and MotorCity Wine labels. I’ve also been able to explore some new hobbies and re-evaluate what’s important about music

No doubt. At first as a label and artists we had a lot of energy about bringing our art to the world, since the world was feeling so dark and scary. We were really adamant about putting out releases even though the market was so uncertain. I put out my Social Distance Edits on one of the first Bandcamp Fridays ever, and we put out Blair French’s The Art Of Us LP + a 12” and 7”. The vinyl market was surging at the beginning of the pandemic but has seemed to slow down dramatically unfortunately. Nevertheless we put out Kiko Navarro’s lovely E-MA GIN 12”, which has me dancing in my house. I’m continuing on with my weekly radio show on Underground Sessions / Detroit Container Radio, and I often focus on more chillout sounds instead of club sounds.

Detroit is such a musical city that we often take it for granted. It’s all around us all the time. Everywhere you look there’s a talented musician, whether it’s jazz, folk, electronic music, or anything in between. When there’s not a pandemic it’s easy to go out every night of the week for really cheap to see world class musicians. And drinks are cheap too. We’re really spoiled here. What’s weird though is the average Metro Detroiter doesn’t really realize how important we are musically. So many folks don’t realize how many jazz musicians have come out of Detroit, how important Detroit is in the creation of Techno and other electronic music genres, and so much more.

I started DJ’ing in 2012 right before graduating from college. I got into it because I had been collecting lots of music since around 2003, and it felt like it was time to learn how to mix my favorite music together. Up until that point friends always asked me to put together playlists for parties, so learning how to mix was the logical next step.

I’ve been a bass player since 2002, so I’ve always been drawn to music with strong basslines. Jaco Pastorius, Stanley Clarke, Tony Levin, and Guy N’Sangue were and still are huge influences, even if they’re not DJs.

At this point in time I really think there’s no excuse for not mastering the art of selection, blending, beatmatching, and programming. They’re all essential skills for a great DJ to have. Each mix between tracks needs to be considered as its own mix– for example I don’t just beatmatch an entire set, and I don’t just blend an entire set. The intros/outros of certain tracks lend themselves really well to cold starts/ends, so I try to listen for that to keep things more interesting. Also there’s no rules about what to mix but it’s a lot more challenging to mix live tunes in the same way you would do a long techno blend.

For the mix I grabbed a stack of my favorite new records I’ve been buying throughout the pandemic. I recorded it mostly vinyl on my custom Condesa Carmen with my trusty TC Electronics Flashback x4 delay pedal. The mix is very much on a midtempo cosmic/afro/balearic/beatdown tip, with some unreleased music (including a forthcoming official rework of mine) and old favorites. I think it’s perfect for the end of winter going into spring and summer. Roll down your car windows, let the wind blow in your hair, and turn it up!

I’ve been pretty busy in the studio during the pandemic! I did a remix for Oliver Dollar, an old remix I did of an experimental Chicago afrobeat group called Peabody & Sherman came out on Detroit Electronic Quarterly, I did a rework of Dudu Tucci that will be coming out on Kiko Navarro’s Afroterraneo + Rocksteady Disco, plus I’ve been working on some other original tunes and some edits.

I really do feel much more confident as a DJ than a producer, but it is really satisfying to work on some songwriting skills. My goal as a producer is to make songs that I really want to play in my sets. I try to make songs that are emotional, and push people either to dance wildly or to close their eyes and contemplate. I have a friend here who has dubbed my sound “sensual spiritual bangers”, and I thought that was really great of her (thanks Ashley!)

Blair French’s The Art Of Us has been on heavy rotation, partially because I released it on Rocksteady Disco but mostly because I think it’s one of the most brilliant LPs to come out since Boards of Canada’s Music Has The Right To Children(’98) or Aphex Twin’s Selected Ambient Works(’92). I’ve listened to Khruangbin’s Mordechai(’20) probably 1000 times in 2020. I also really dug into a lot of old LPs like John Martyn, Nick Drake, Penguin Cafe Orchestra, and David Crosby.

I started Rocksteady Disco in 2014 originally as a Friday weekly sunset thing on MotorCity Wine’s patio. I moved onto the same street as MotorCity Wine, and I just walked in there and asked for a gig. That ended up being one of the best things to ever happen to me. I was DJ’ing a lot around town, at MotorCity Wine, Temple Bar, Old Miami, anywhere really, and people kept sending me unreleased tunes. I decided it was time to start a record label to get this unreleased music out. Topher Horn’s The Detroit Jazz Sessions was actually going to be the first release, but due to a delay we ended up doing some white labels– a 12” from Lafleur and a 7” from Pontchartrain.

Our sound really came into its own around the time of my release Revival, followed by Blair French’s Standing Still Is An Illusion. I am so grateful I connected with Blair– he really has this incredible sound that balances the lush with the raw, the organic with the electronic, the head with the heart. After Revival and Standing Still Is An Illusion we were off the races and connecting with so many great producers that were hungry for an outlet to put out this sound. Not just Detroit Deep House, or Disco Edits, or Afro House, but some sort of combination of those + some other Balearic, spiritual jazz, and left-field tendencies.

I’m lucky that I live 5 miles from Archer Record Pressing, so I am able to press at one of the best pressing plants in the world, all while supporting Detroit manufacturing. Between Rocksteady Disco, MotorCity Wine, and a couple other projects I’ve pressed over 30 records with them.

You’re right, it can be difficult. I am one of those people who gets more things done as they get busier. For example, working on emails and marketing for releases while traveling by train from Detroit to Chicago. Or putting music on USB sticks on planes. Even though the pandemic has given me more time to work I have found it has been harder for me to complete tasks, so I have gotten really serious about using my calendar and a handwritten to-do list. Without Gmail, Gcal, Dropbox Pro, Ableton, and Rekordbox I would be a mess!