Tom Armstrong chats to the Masters at Work producer ahead of his appearance alongside Kerri Chandler this weekend.
This weekend, one half of Masters at Work, ‘Little’ Louie Vega, makes an increasingly rare London appearance behind the decks for Groove Odyssey’s 3rd birthday party at Great Suffolk St Warehouse. What makes the date even more special is the fact that it’ll be his first ever London appearance alongside New Jersey legend, and undeniably the man behind London’s current penchant for garage house, Kerri Chandler.
“It’s going to be fun!” Louie begins. “We've only played the same room once before, at a Southport weekender event years ago. This is our first in London.”
Like many DJs his age, lucky enough to have been there at the peak of NY’s underground club scene, Vega’s schooling on the dancefloor came from arguably the first golden generation of DJs; the likes of Levan, Humphries, Scott, Forrest, Benitez, Raul, and Carpenter, all of which he recalls seeing work their respective floors, although he’s hesitant to pick his favourite: “For me there was no best, it was about the style that made the DJ unique” he says. “It was the way he played those records and made that system sound, taking you on that trip”.
Vega’s own DJ career started around the same time, as a teenager playing in some of New York’s biggest and most respected clubs including Roseland and Studio 54, something which he remembers being unfazed by despite his youth, “I was very young playing at all the top clubs in NYC from 84-90, but when I stepped foot in the DJ booth all the nerves were calm, I was in my realm where I felt most comfortable.”
Being from a Puerto-Rican background seeped in musicianship (his uncle is Hector Lavoe of the Fania All Stars), his Latin roots shone through in his sets, “I played all types of dance music” he remembers “although it was always the Latin rhythms that got the crowd on the dance floor shaking!”
Does he recall the first time he heard about what Kerri Chandler was doing in New Jersey? “I first became aware of Kerri when he did this track called "Get it Off" by Three Generations - the track was the biggest thing in NY and NJ. I'd heard he played in a club in NJ called Club America, where I also heard Johnny Dangerous play at.
“For me Kerri is one of our leaders in underground deep music” he continues, “New Jersey has a lot of history with house music and Kerri is one of the pioneers, and as a DJ he is one of the most experimental, always trying new gadgets at his gigs.”
I wonder how he feels the modern DJ, travelling more and playing shorter sets, compares to those days when a club’s resident would have an entire night to work with their crowd, how does he make sure he can give his best within a shorter time span? ”Musical diversity is very important. When I DJ I play different styles of house music, taking you on a journey with those sounds within the time I have - it’s challenging when it’s 2 hours. I do love long sets!”
Louie’s Latin influence can be felt as much in the studio as behind the decks. As well as his much documented production work as one half of Master’s at Work, including a series of genre defining tracks and outstanding remixes, not to mention their widely celebrated label Nervous Records, recent years have seen Louie back in the studio and touring with a full live band, Elements of Life.
“I assembled the band from many of the musicians I've recorded in the studio over the years” he explains, “We have a family and tight relationship, they really understand my language in the studio or on stage”. The line-up is a mish-mash of nationalities, with members hailing from as far apart as Cape Verde, Venezuela, Africa, Puerto Rico and Brooklyn, and features many musicians from the now legendary Masters at Work side project Nuyorican Soul, including renowned percussionist Luisito Quintero among others. “There have always been Latin rhythms intertwined into dance music” he explains “Look at Salsoul - all the music from Salsoul had the Latin rhythms infused within the tracks.”
“I've always been into both organic and electronic sounds” he replies diplomatically when I ask which way he prefers to produce music. “What does the project call for? What do I feel when hearing it or creating it? Where am I at in life now? It’s all part of me expressing myself, and with these sounds it brings that vision together sonically, so it’s important for me to have variation”.
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