The Burlington project catches up with (the now sadly parted) Peace Division’s Clive Henry, and chats about his rising profile, Ibiza and working solo…
So Clive there has been some big changes for you over the past couple of years, obviously the closure of DC10 had a big impact on you last year, this was the first summer you spent away from Ibiza in a long time. How has your year out changed things for you?
“It made me re-focus on the things that I had taken for granted i.e my family,my girlfriend and friends back in London. I realized there was a life to be had outside the Ibiza bubble so went to Berlin for a while, went to loads of festivals and basically had more time to do other sh*t. It was what i needed to be honest and now has re-energized me for this summer in Ibiza.”
You also parted ways with your long running studio partner Justin Drake, an end of an era for Peace Division -- Has there been a marked change in your music and can we expect to hear some solo material from you soon?
“Eh don’t think there has been a change to my music or sound its just been weird trying to find my feet working with other people. And to be truthful I’ve still not fully found my vibe (partly cos always on the road so don’t get that much free time to get on it studio wise). It’s made me slightly impatient about getting some releases out but a few friends in the industry have told me to bide my time and just relax, cos after over 10 years of working with the same person it wasn’t gonna be easy sort of starting afresh. To be honest it sort of threw me off course when I knew I wasn’t gonna be working with Justin anymore. But I’ve done some tracks with Mr. Jones which should be appearing through Hot creations/Hot Natured at some point. Also been doing re-edits with Alex Arnout from Dogmatik Recordss which will be appearing as Black to the Future and got a Rebel Rave mix compilation forthcoming on Crosstown this summer in august.”
You are firmly in the Rebel camp now, from someone who has generally kept a very low profile in the industry, are you now enjoying being in the limelight with a hype agency/label like Crosstown?
“Yeah its been quite strange having a lot more media attention as such but I’ve not found it as much hard work as I’d thought and quite enjoying it! Don’t think I’ve ever done so many interviews etc. And its made me realize to get a little bit more pro active on the self promotion front as well with a new myspace page forthcoming listing my upcoming shows etc.Who knows may even Facebook myself up at some point! Ha ha.”
It’s seems you will be spending some more time in Ibiza this summer, are you looking forward to being back on the island, will it be different for you this year?
“I think it will be back to form this summer.I have to say the last 2 weeks of the season last year was probably the most fun and best time I’d had on the island ever. I know that’s quite a bold statement but out of all that negativity with the DC10 closure and law changes and crackdown it just made people more determined to put on even better parties and it was ace. Sands was wicked, Space closing ie the Red Box was immense, Cocoon’s afters was loads more fun than I expected (and that’s not a diss its just they have been super hectic in the past!), Circo Loco’s one off was the best thing in a long long time so much so that loads of people I know that were being pretty cynical and slightly damning of it were super pissed off they missed out so they are all making the effort for the opening this year.I’ve never had so many emails/texts and phone calls regarding the opening. Ever. So its gonna be great.”
There are some interesting new residents joining you at Circo Loco this summer (Jamie Jones, Seth Troxler & Dyed Sounderom) this would suggest to me that there will be a slight soul injection into the walls of DC10. Would you say your music would be more in keeping with these new residents than previous ones and what is your view on the new musical direction?
“And lets not forget Zip and Dj Wild are on board too. I suppose yeah my vibe is more in tune with some of the names mentioned but I suppose that’s only natural as a couple of em are really good friends and we hang out a lot playing in London etc. I’m more than happy that Andrea and Antonio have got them involved as its gonna give the club a new direction which can only be a good thing. I think maybe the UK influence (yeah i know not all of em are from the UK but they are big players on the London scene) was slightly overlooked for a few summers and you only have to see how good and strong club wise London is right now to realize what its gonna bring to the club.”
Posted Tuesday 8th June 2010
News