Hi, Tony! Thanks so much for doing this interview. I encountered your excellent album, Hit Piece, which led to discovering all the great music and mixes you’ve created or been involved with these past years. I hear a strong appreciation of jazz and older styles of house music from Chicago or New York, then add some oddball dance punk or no wave music—e.g., James Chance; lastly, throw in some healthy degree of noise, and it’s quite the intriguing mix! The dirty recordings are palpable too and really add to the sound and character of your albums. I’d love you to give us a rundown of your major influences; then, if you could resurrect and unite those influences, across all genres, together in the same room, how would you describe what you do to them?
You are absolutely correct in recognizing a strong appreciation for all of those things in my music.
Giving a rundown of my major influences could take a lifetime, so in no specific order I will list a bunch of names that immediately come to mind: Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, Roc Marciano, Serge Gainsbourg, the “Nuggets” compilation, ESG, Tony Wilson, Larry Levan, Prince, Terry Riley, Babyface, Farley ‘Jackmaster’ Funk, Brian Eno, Tony Humphries, Miles Davis, Delroy Edwards, Abel Ferrara, Todd Terry, Madonna, Stevie B., Hamilton Bohannon, Herbie Hancock, the Beach Boys, Mark E. Smith, the “Wild Style” soundtrack, Pierre Henry, Nick Fiorucci + Andrew Komis, Philip Glass, Trevor Horn, Ron Hardy, John Coltrane, Benedek, Depeche Mode, Vangelis, the Neptunes, Actress, Eliane Radigue, James Ferraro, Public Image Limited, Teo Macero, Robert Hood, William Basinksi, Francois K., Tommy Musto, Harold Budd. I’ve probably missed some artists that matter deeply to me and I could go on forever, really, but I can definitely say that every time I sit down to make music, I have one of these artists in my mind, directing me.
How would I describe what I do to them? I guess I would say that I am trying to make people feel and think the way they make me do, while keeping it crude and rude of course!
Figures like Ron Hardy and Tony Humphries produced incredible DJ mixes. Can you boil down what makes a great DJ mix for you? How do you incorporate those elements into your own live shows and creative process as a producer?
Ron Hardy and Tony Humphries are definitely heroes of mine, but I think that above all I would recognize Farley “Jackmaster” Funk as the greatest to ever do it when it comes to house music. Besides his astounding technical prowess as a mixer and DJ, one could definitely argue that he was the most important and influential house DJ ever as his live radio broadcasts on WBMX and WGCI in the 1980s exposed millions of people to the movement every week.
I would say that everything you need to know about how to be a great DJ can be learned from studying recordings of Farley’s mixes from the 1980s – perfect pacing, flawless beatmatching and flow between genres, feelings and emotion that promoted a sense of storytelling that drew from the past and projected into the future, and his innovative use of live remixing, record cutting, reel-to-reels and drum machines that injected a live performance aspect and electricity into the shows. But most importantly, Farley knew how to be an entertainer, and that is what this is all about at the end of the day.
When I perform live with drum machines, samplers and synthesizers, my approach is essentially “make this sound and feel like a Farley ‘Jackmaster’ Funk mix. I chop up loops on the fly, cut into drum machine improvisations and always keep an eye on the dancefloor to ensure that what I am doing is entertaining them. My biggest fear is to be on a stage or in a DJ booth twiddling knobs and playing music that no one wants to hear. Same thing goes for the process of creating “dance music” in the studio – I always try to envision how it’s going to feel to look up from the DJ booth at the dancefloor while this song plays.
I am very weary of the great status we currently attribute to the idea of “The DJ” or DJ culture in general. Many people will disagree with me but I do not see DJing as an artform. Sure, there is an artistry to elements of the job, but the process of selecting a pre-recorded song to play for a room full of people has very little, if anything to do with the process of making art – it has more in common with plumbing, cleaning dishes or serving tables than it does the act of bringing a mental concept into the realm of the physical through painting, drawing, or improvising on a saxophone.
I was once watching one of “the greatest living DJs” perfectly stitch together hours of great music to a room full of dancing people, and it dawned on me that It wasn’t so much the DJ and his music selection or mixing abilities that were provoking the ecstatic response in the room as it was the the sound of those records being amplified and blasted into a small room full of people high on drugs. It was a spectacle that was made up of many more factors than just the DJ – it was the records he was playing, the turntables and the mixer he was using, the amplifiers, the speakers, the bartenders, the drug dealers, the alcohol, the ketamine, the dancers, their clothing, the lighting etc. I think it’s important for DJs to remember that they are but a small part of a vast ecosystem that encompasses all of these things, and that their job, primarily, is in most cases, to entertain people.
I notice your art tends to pendulum between the accessible beat-driven house-inspired sounds to the more avant-garde experimental sounds reminiscent (to me) of Miles Davis’s electronic phase in jazz—albeit with an almost more ambient flair. For example, I hear what sounds like the possible remnants of your sonic collage-like experimental albums in Interview, for example, making their way into tracks like “Tony,” “Virgo,” and “Class Action.” How do you decide when to swing between the different styles in music, and does one style fuel, or always precede, the creation of the other?
The short answer is: I don’t know! I use all of the same tools, techniques and processes to create all of this stuff and the ideas appear through the same channels from the ether above regardless as to what they end up sounding or feeling like. Everything I do in the studio is the result of mixing together traditional music theory and experimental or “avant-garde” techniques like collage or sampling.
The decision-making process actually takes place after the music is made and the time comes that I have to decide on how to package and market a project. It’s at that time when I will decide which tracks work best together etc.
You’re based in Toronto? I haven’t been there, but I’ve heard great things about the city’s music scene. Apparently, Toronto is full of undiscovered gems hidden in dusty record store bins all over. Since DJs are driven to uncover undiscovered gems or supremely underrated releases, I’m curious if you’re willing to share some of your more recent finds that really inspired you to create or play live?
Toronto is a great city for record shopping. Like any other metropolis, the gems have largely disappeared and you are increasingly unlikely to find anything crazily obscure. Our proximity to cities like Detroit, New York and Chicago means that we’ve always been a nexus point for various forms of dance music and hip hop culture. We also have a massive Caribbean population in Toronto which has turned the city into a goldmine for reggae over the last 50-60 years.
Some recent finds that have inspired me:
Jon Gibson’s “Two Solo Pieces” LP – This album by a founding member of the Philip Glass Ensemble features a side of droning church organ and an entire side of dreamy improvisations on Alto flute. This was a major inspiration to me when making Requiem For The Ontario Science Centre.
Egyptian Lover – “D.S.L.’s” 12” – I bought this 12” off of a guy on Facebook Marketplace. I play it almost every time I DJ. A totally vulgar slab of neon funk that my friend Craig once correctly assessed as sounding like Cameo working with Cabaret Voltaire.
Cabaret Voltaire – “Fools Game/Gut Level” 12” – Speaking of Cabaret Voltaire, I found this 12” in the east end. An amazing nine and a half minute electro beat down with a surreal dubbed-out radio wave collage overlaid on top. Amazing artwork by Futura 2000 as well.
Your most recent ‘piece’ is a requiem for the Ontario Science Center. I loved listening to the ambient atmospheres and sonic textures from this record; in fact, I intend to superimpose them on top of some more beat-driven music during a live improvisational DJ set! I find that layering sounds in this way helps ground the ambient piece, while altering the rhythmic tone to produce a strange, almost warped, drifting sensation in listeners. What are your thoughts about re-contextualizing music in this way? Are there any strange re-works or techniques that you’ve tried in your own live performances?
Layering, collage, the Burroughs/Gysin cut-up technique – these are all very important concepts and techniques for me too in everything that I do. I do not believe in mistakes, I think every accident in the creative process is a secret message, and sometimes you need to smash two seemingly unrelated things together to produce that message.
Imagine stepping into a dimly lit club where the atmosphere is heavy with fatigue. Perhaps it’s been a long night, and the owner is already contemplating the end of the night, viewing it as a loss. Suddenly, a large projector screen comes to life, playing clips from nostalgic Frosted Flakes commercials. Kids laugh and cheer, while Tony the Tiger exclaims, “They’re great!” But just as the kids’ enthusiasm reaches its peak, contrasting scenes of Tony Montana quotes from Scarface interject themselves. Famous quotes like “Say hello to my little friend!” interrupt the kids’ hooting and hollering, creating a jarring contrast. As the clips continue, more Tonys emerge from the screen—Tony Manero, Anthony Corleone, and even Fat Tony. These intentional, yet poorly photoshopped characters chime in, their voices combining into a cacophony of sound, drowning out the kids’ laughter. Through the chaos, the start of your introductory track “Tony Tony,” begins to play. This scene plays through my mind every time I start your album, Hit Piece. Curious what your reaction to that is!
My reaction would definitely be to immediately take out my phone and film the whole thing so I can send it to my sister, who told me that I should not put that song on the record because it was ridiculous and cartoonish. Ultimately, I’m glad that my friend Calvin LeCompte convinced me that it was of the utmost importance to include that as the first track on the album because In the end, it’s funky as hell and that’s all that matters!!!
What’s next for Tony Price? Anything on the horizon to keep an eye out for?
I’ve got an abundance of music to release, and I intended to release a lot of it this year. I’ve got a new album called Street Theatre coming out in April and a bunch of live dates around that time too.
Thanks again for taking the time!