Feature
Terry Farley : Boys will be boys
Terry Farley is 51 now but still a Junior Boy through and through. The veteran London-born DJ, a co-founder of highly influential dance label Junior Boys’ Own in the early 1990s.
And is as busy as he’s ever been, but suffering from serious hay-fever when we catch up with him, and in dire need of a holiday – on which he’ll head after our chinwag. We’re here to talk about this weekend’s looming JBO revival at Ministry Of Sound, a gig Farley will zoom back into ‘town’ for before resuming his break.
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world” he opens. “I just hope this bloody hayfever gives way, it’s [sniff] driving me [sniff] mad.” Saturday, August 1 will see Farley re-forming one of the original JBO DJ line-ups with X-Press 2’s Rocky and Diesel in the Ministry bar for Defected Records’ bi-monthly In The House residency. Elsewhere in the sprawling super-club, Shapeshifters, Aydin The Funki Chile and Basement Boy funkster DJ Spen will play. “You know, Ministry has always had its detractors but I’ve played in every nook and cranny of the club over the years and I’ve had nothing but great nights every time. I think Saturday will be something unique and very special; a little of the old, but plenty of the new, don’t worry.”
It would be really easy for Farley and co. to sit back on their past successes but it’s simply not on the boys’ agenda. “There’s so much good dance music out there right now” Farley outlines, “and we want to reflect that on Saturday. There will naturally be some classic tunes, but we’ve also got to think about the crowd; I’m sure there will be people at Ministry who aren’t all that familiar with us!”
But perhaps not as many as you’d think. At a time when commentators are talking loudly and more frequently about the younger, MySpace generation of artists and clubbers now, supposedly, driving dance-land, Farley has been quick to push the JBO brand along relevant digital channels. Last year the label struck a deal with Defected to re-issue its entire back catalogue digitally, along with remixes by contemporary producers; JBO also released a remix ‘n retrospective compilation, Odyssey, through Defected and gave clear indications about relaunching the A&R side of its operation in the future. “We’re attracting new fans, which is great” says Farley. “We’re keen to build on our recent momentum and get JBO back up to where it belongs, but we’ve come to the conclusion that we have plenty of time, and that our supporters will be there whenever we decide to commission new artists or whatever. Things will happen at the right time.”
Farley founded Junior Boys Own in the early 1990s off the back of the cult Boys Own fanzine he’d already launched in the mid 1980s alongside Andy Weatherall, Pete Heller and Steven Hall. The magazine reflected the boys’ obsessions with clubbing (be it funk, soul, jazz or early house,) football and socialism, and actually published the first ever article about acid house in 1987 – it was called ‘Bermondsey Goes Balearic’ and was penned by a young Paul Oakenfold. Quickly, and inevitably perhaps, the boys’ musical passions spilled into a label operation and rest is history. Over the years, JBO would earn a stellar profile through releases by the likes of Underworld, Farley & Heller, The Chemical Brothers and Frankie Knuckles.
A stellar profile that has, according to Farley, punctured generational barriers if not transcended them: “As I say, there are those younger clubbers who simply haven’t heard of us. On the other hand, I hear loads of stories about how the label has made a different to up-and-coming DJs, or even just kids in search of good music and good club nights. People do talk a lot about how long dance music has been around for now, and how there’s a dividing line between younger and older generations of clubbers, but I don’t agree. I’d say that house music is officially a culture now, not a scene for this or that crowd.” Farley continues: "I was at a secretsundaze party last weekend, and a young, black DJ from Peckham, Wbeeza, totally blew me away. He was mixing new and old house tunes, and the crowd, equally young and old, was dancing as one. It sounds cheesy but house music is just about keeping the party going.”
Beyond the weekend’s extra-special shenanigans at Ministry, Farley has plenty planned to do exactly that. The man has been back in the studio with Pete Heller to re-form a classic, long-standing partnership behind monumental aliases including Fire Island, Roach Motel and, rather more obviously, Farley & Heller: “It’s been tricky because Pete is doing some kind of dissertation, educational thing and it’s taking up a lot of his time. But we’re getting there; we have some good stuff in the making.” Elsewhere, Farley is busy planning a major JBO party for October: “It’s early days and I’m wary about calling it a reunion, because the plan is to drop new, rather than old music. Nevertheless, we’re talking about all of the old crew getting involved; it’s gonna be great.”
Terry Farley is also, crucially, part of heavyweight promoter team behind Faith and its corresponding fanzine. Farley, alongside the likes of Stuart Patterson and Bill Brewster, has run some amazing shindigs under the Faith banner and, arguably, the best is yet to come. Next month, August 22, Faith will migrate to Matter, at the Millennium Dome, for a whopping soul-house bash in conjunction with Need2Soul featuring Spiritual Life’s ‘Joe’ Claussell, Timmy Regisford, Gilles Peterson, Brothers Vibe, Dave Jarvis, Patterson and, naturally, Farley.
“It’s been a nightmare, but a good nightmare” Farley laughs. “The Masters At Work had to cancel at the last moment but we’ve pulled out all the stops to secure Timmy, Gilles and Joe; I think it will truly be a top night in a venue with an amazing soundsystem. The interest is already big.” Testament, no doubt, to the power quality house music continues to hold over people - Matter is one cavernous venue. “You've probably heard it before” confesses Farley, “but I don't like the fact dance has gone digital. I feel it's taken something away, and yet dance does continue to thrive and excite. We just have to accept change. “I mean I can't be bothered to DJ with Ableton [studio software] and even though I use CDs now, I have 10 tracks on each and find it quite easy to forget about 8 or so after a few weeks. It's not like when you had a box of vinyl and could tell tunes by the sleeve. In those days, there was a buzz from hunting down exclusive cuts after months of digging, and people then asking you what they were after you'd played them out. Nowadays everyone can get everything in seconds. But [sniff] that's probably just me; house [sniff] will always be house.'
And don't forget, a lot of that is down to Farley and the 'boys'....
Defected In The House, featuring Junior Boys Own, takes place August 1 at Ministry Of Sound, London, SE1, midnight to 7am. Check www.ministryofsound.com and www.www.defected.com for more details.
Need2Soul & Faith @ Matter takes place August 22, at the O2 Arena, London, SE10, 10pm to 7am. Visit www.need2soul.com and www.faithfanzine.com for more information.
Words BEN LOVETT
