Rennie Pilgrem..producer maestro and top turntablist gives us a glimpse into his world! .. >>>

< ARTIST > : RENNIE PILGREM
< ALIAS > : THURSDAY CLUB, NEW ELECTRO SOUND OF LONDON, PHILADELPHIA BLUNTZ, BIONIC DOG, RHYTHM SECTION.
< BASE > : HAMMERSMITH, LONDON.
< STATUS > : MANY RELEASES ON TCR AMONGST OTHER LABELS. NEXT UP: TRIBALIZM - MIX ALBUM BY RENNIE PILGREM


I had a close encounter with Rennie Pilgrem-days before his latest compilation- "Tribalizm"... he let me into a few home truths...

Just to start it off, you've been producing for many many years now, but how did it all start out and when did you discover music?

Rennie:I did my first concert (basic blues) on the piano when I was 10. But I first got
into bands etc when I was about 16, so its been quite a while!

Where did the influence come from and what made you want to give music a serious attempt?

Rennie:Probably because my father was a jazz trumpet player, so I grew listening to
jazz and stuff from very early on.

How do you feel the breaks scene is now compared to how it has been in recent times?

Rennie:It’s twice as big as it was 2 years ago. DJs and audiences from other scenes are starting to get into it. There’s a lot
of rubbish around but there’s also a lot of variety to keep it interesting. Basically it’s getting very exciting!

Where do you see the scene progressing in the future?

Rennie:Anywhere it wants to. I am personally getting into more funky, dare I say it musical stuff. The stuff bores the arse of me now.
And most of the more steppy stuff isn’t saying anything new.

Obviously you are a major producer, but on the other side of life.. where do you DJ?

Rennie:USA, Australia, Spain, Italy, and all over the UK on a daily basis and I get to see the whole scene on a global level.

There are a few main breaks characters which produce fantastic tracks. Which of these DJ's/ artists are you in close association with? and with what projects?

Rennie:BLIM and I are trying for a baby. I also collaborate with Meat Katie (we run a club
called ‘HUM’ together) and I occaisionally wash Arthur Baker’s hair.

How did your record label all begin?

Rennie:I was making hardcore ‘rave’ music and got sick of it when it got too fast and too cheesy. So I started
my own thing back at the original tempo as an outlet for my solo work. At the time breaks was a dirty word
so I did funky house with breaks in the background but I couldn’t stop them coming to the fore.

So from the earlier question on your partnerships, Which of these artists are signed to your label?

Rennie:BLIM, Koma + Bones, 2Sinners, Chris Carter, Vigi, Danny McMillan, Arthur Baker, Meat Katie

What has been your most successful release?

Rennie:Thursday Club ‘A Place Called Acid’ and Pilgrem & BLIM ‘Eskimo’

What have you got coming soon in the future for us in terms of releases?

Rennie:Apart from my mix Album ‘Tribalizm’ which comes out in April I am working on my artist album due for release
next year.

How has your music style generally varied through the years? I have read that your BPMs have risen and fell in recent times??

Rennie:I have made many sorts of music from Trip Hop (AS Philadelphia Bluntz) to all sorts of breaks, electro, funky stuff, hard
stuff, tribal stuff. I personally think that 128-134 are the best speeds for dance stuff.

Additional Info:
The HUM CLUB:
A NEW MONTHLY BREAKBEAT / TECH FUNK SESSION FROM TCR & WHOLE9YARDS
HUM @ THE ELBOW ROOM, 89-91 CHAPEL MARKET, ISLINGTON, LONDON, N1
TUBE: ANGEL

9PM - 3AM / £3 ALL NIGHT
Resident DJ's - Rennie Pilgrem & Meat Katie.
March 7th : Guest - Chris Carter : warm up by Wrong Tom
April 4th : Guests- Dylan Rhymes and 2Sinners : warm up by Clive Tag

Two of London's finest producers are to combine forces with a new monthly clubnight, HUM at The ELBOW ROOM, ISLINGTON.
Rennie Pilgrem and Meat Katie, who run top UK breaks labels TCR and Whole9Yards, will be exclusive residents at the night which will take place on the first Thursday of each month.
To fill the void left post Friction and W9Y @ Highrise - the pair felt the time was right for a joint venture aimed at bringing the cream of the breaks fraternity together under one roof. A perfect forum to air their latest and most exclusive material. Having collaborated on several highly-rated tracks and enjoyed an extremely successful one-off party together at Highrise -the night is aiming to become a focal point for the breaks scene, mixing 'industry' people and the ever-growing number of fans.
"A quality deep tech-funk night in Central London with it's roots firmly in breaks is well over due, in fact any regular breaks night in London is overdue", explains Meat Katie.
"We'd like to establish the club as the flagship for the newer, more clubby, funky, tribal style of breaks that's beginning to shine through and that's being championed by the likes of TCR and W9Y" says Rennie.
Combine this with the intimate atmosphere of The Elbow Room and you'd better expect to start queuing early·.
Thank you to all of you who helped make our launch night of 'hum' such a success - hope to see you all at our next hum - details below·.
This month, one of the finest breaks nights in the land sees the residents Rennie Pilgrem and Meat Katie joined by the superb Chris Carter with warm up supplied by TCR's very own Clive Tag.
Carter, who is currently promoting his new single 'Europa' (out on TCR), has gained recognition for his production skills from some of the worlds finest: Laurent Garnier, The Plump DJ's, BLIM, Freq Nasty and Terminalhead to name but a few. He collaberated with BLIM to form Kasha who put out the monster track 'U' featuring Shara Nelson and also had a track on the latest Y4K compilation from Distinctive.
Now an international DJ aswell as reknowned producer, he is going to be one to watch in the next year....
Hum continues to bring some of breaks' finest together under one roof. Aswell as being a nice social it provides a great environment for DJ's to test their most upfront material and is a perfect forum for the new tribally dancefloor-friendly breaks that are being championed by the likes of Rennie and Meat Katie.
The first 'hum' which featured BLIM, Felix the Dog and Mr.Elephant as well as residents Rennie Pilgrem and Meat Katie, was everything you'd expect when two top labels such as TCR and W9Y join forces. It gave the crowds a perfect blend of quality tunes, dancefloor action and a wickedly laid back, friendly atmosphere which drew the cream of the breaks fraternity. As someone was heard to say, "If you'd have dropped a bomb on that place you'd have wiped out breakbeat for good!"
Well, let's hope no-one does because with breaks becoming increasingly popular it looks like 'hum' will too.

Many thanks as always from i:Vibes to Rennie for conducting this interview and taking time to chat to us. Special Thanks go out to Pippa @ TCR,
without her this never would have happened!

www.tcr.uk.com
www.humclub.com
www.unrealrecordings.com

DIRECT LINK TO TCR + RENNIE's DISCOGRAPHY:
http://www.tcr.uk.com/dg.htm >>> with added bonus' =SAMPLE CLIPS!!!