James Greenwood takes the reigns on our 96ths show to deliver an eclectic hour of disco, boogie, re-edits and some acid house. Chase away the January blues with this one. Catch our interview with James below.
Hello James, thanks for coming back on the AMF blog. You were a previous guest alongside your amazing Supernature Disco collective but this time your going solo and chatting to me about all things DJ’ing, music production and running a record label of all self produced killer disco edits.
Before we get into that though can you give us a rundown of your music journey. Tell us everything from the first time you picked up a record right through to joining Supernature and founding Semi-Skimmed Edits.
I was born in Bromley, Kent in 1983 so by the time I was 8 years old Hardcore & Jungle had well and truly engulfed the M25 area. My uncle who was 18 at the time would play me his Prodigy records at home and play rave tapes and listen to pirate radio when he took me out in his ‘86 Ford Capri. Then when I hit secondary school I started swapping rave tapes with my class mates and studying the art of DJing. I got my first set of decks when I was 15 and instantly fell in love with mixing records together.
Long story short, I started DJing and releasing music professionally in my 20s, but it wasn’t until I moved to Manchester when I was 30 that things really took off. There are a few different versions of how I met Carol and Rich and joined Supernature but here’s how I remember it.
Myself and my partner Rebecca went to a night at the Carlton Club in 2014 where Carol (BB) and Rich (Richie V) were djing. After a few beers my confidence was up so I spoke to Carol and told her I was also a dj and would like to play for them some time. They were both starting a new night called Supernature at the basement of Whiskey Jar in the NQ and invited me to come along and play. I joined Supernature shortly after then Rob Jones also joined. We then started a new free day party on the last Sunday of every month at Black Dog Ball Rooms Basement. That was it really, and here we all are now celebrating 10 years of Supernature Disco!
With regards to Semi-Skimmed edits, I had stopped releasing music in 2014/15 and was just making edits for myself to play out. I was getting a good reaction from them so decided to put a few of them out on a limited run of 200 records. They sold out pretty quickly which then allowed me to make a second record (SSE002) which featured the now infamous track 5am Saint. I put out an initial 300 copies but then pressed a further 200 due to high demand. The label was then well and truly on its feet. I’ve just put out Vol. 7 which is also receiving some great support.
You’re known for your disco re-edits and label Semi-Skimmed in which you self-release all your own productions (more on that a little later). Can you tell us where the love of disco started and what compelled you to turn your hand to making your own re-edits.
As mentioned before I was making edits for myself to play out. I had been making and releasing a lot of Jackin House but moving to Manchester and hearing the cities djs had led me to listen to a lot of original disco and straight up disco edits. It was a very different sound to what I’d been playing and hearing in London but one I quickly found myself falling in love with.
Setting up a label isn’t for the faint hearted, how did you feel when you decided to self fund your first vinyl release and how did you go about getting into shops? What were the main hurdles to getting your music out there and did you have any help from record stores or other DJs?
My day job is Support work, so during the pandemic in 2020 I was working as normal which allowed me to put some money aside to pay for a run of vinyl. I had spoken to Chris Massey (Sprechen Music) about pressing and releasing records and he had pointed me in the direction of Chris Duckenfield at All Ears Distribution. I emailed Duckenfield and told him I had these 200 records and would he be able to distribute them for me. He liked the tracks and agreed to help me get them out there. He has distributed for the label ever since.
Your first label release was in 2020 and since then you’ve released 7 EPs which is incredible. What advice do you have for anyone thinking of self-releasing their music or starting a record label?
I get asked by a lot of DJs/producers about self releasing and I always tell people to just go for it. I was speaking to DJ Rahaan at a night in Liverpool about finding a label for my edits and he said the same thing to me :-
“why not release the tracks yourself? What have you got to lose?”
He was right. Take a chance and press some records. Get your music out there in the world. Touchable music that people can dig out for years to come.
Moving on to your mix are you able to share a few tracks with our readers that you’re really loving at the moment and you’ve put in the episode for us? Any specific reasons you really like these tracks at the moment?
I’ve been buying a lot of Proto and Italo bits lately so I’ve put a few of those in the mix.
I’ve also been playing a lot of Chicago House and Acid recently. One of those I’m really enjoying at the moment and features in this mix is-
‘Da Posse – In The Heat Of The Night (Acid Mix)’.
It’s one of those tracks that will work anytime, anywhere.
Lastly, what’s on the horizon for yourself? Do you have any club nights on the horizon or records in the pipeline you can share with us?
As I mentioned earlier, Supernature are celebrating 10 years this year! So we have an amazing year of parties lined up. You can find all dates and info on the Supernature Disco Instagram page.
You can also come party with us at Ambers on February 7th where we’ll be playing along side Guy Williams and Krystal Klear. Tickets are available from Skiddle.
As for myself and the label, I have a new record dropping this spring on my sub label UHT. Apart from that, I’m taking some time out from producing and focusing on digging out new music.
