Launching his new alias five years ago, Chris Finke aka Bodyjack has quickly established the project with support from the likes of The Black Madonna, Marcel Dettmann and Zenker Brothers. Collaborating with Paul Woolford under his Special Request moniker and Leftfield, Bodyjack’s productions are ever evolving and can’t be pigeon-hold to one sound or style. Having hosted a residency in Birmingham at the acclaimed Atomic Jam party, Bodyjack has gone to have European success, ticking Berghain off his list and playing some of the UK’s biggest institutions such as fabric and Corsica Studios. Running a vinyl-only label called Bodytrax with Clone.nl has allowed the UK producer to create the perfect platform for his diverse releases. Earlier this year, Bodyjack was enlisted for DEXT Recordings’ landmark 10th release with a two track EP ‘Nataraja’, after years of putting the project on the shelf and concentrating on his He/aT alias. We caught up with Bodyjack to discuss the project’s return, his relationship with the label and the impact of track IDs.
You started the Bodyjack alias in 2013, now five years on, what do you think you’ve learned the most from this project? How has it developed over the years?
Is it 5 years? You don’t get that for murder! It’s strange to hear that as it still feels really new. I started it because my stuff under my own name had come to a bit of a natural end and I wanted to move things on. I was playing more varied stuff in my DJ sets and it was becoming confusing to all involved, and gigs were starting to tail off which was worrying as it’s my full time job. So I essentially killed myself off and started He/aT for my techno stuff (which I did anonymously for a while) and Bodyjack for everything else. My first releases for both projects came out in the same week as well by total accident. It is interesting to look at how is has evolved as it started off as an experiment with me just making whatever wanted irrespective of genre or direction, and now I feel after my break I’m still doing that but what I am making now is kind of more focussed. But I can say I do have a vibe to my stuff I’ve kind of had from the start that runs through everything I do. If any of that makes sense?
The ‘Nataraja’ EP was the first production under Bodyjack since the summer of 2016, what were you up to during that two-year break?
I went through some weirdness with Bodyjack in all honesty, and I still can’t quite work it out. Whatever it was it wasn’t working out how I wanted it to, so I decided i’d shelve it for a bit and just concentrate on my He/aT project for a while so I’ve been doing most of my gigs and productions around that. But I felt I was really missing doing other music and I gradually kept making other stuff and it just crept back in organically with a completely fresh perspective. I’m back making stuff I actually want to and having fun doing it, so I’m so glad it worked out the way it did. And interestingly the music I’m making for both projects are a lot closer to each other now than they were when I set out and I’m even more confused about it all, but It’s all part of the fun.
How does it feel to be part of DEXT Recordings and having the honour of being the label’s 10th release?
It was really great to be asked to do it – James has a vision for how the label is progressing and felt that “Nataraja” was exactly right to kick it off so it came together really well without even trying. Which is always better than forcing things. The reaction has been so great to the EP, and it’s about to be repressed which is great, but mainly seeing how it goes down in the clubs is the main thing, so I couldn’t wish for more really.
How did your relationship form with DEXT Recordings?
Funnily enough it nearly didn’t. As anyone who knows me will tell you I am notoriously bad with Emails and messages, and after I did my first or second Bodyjack EP, I went on Soundcloud and found a couple from James asking me for a remix, (from a month or 2 before). They were so honest and passionate in a way I wasn’t used to reading, and I replied and then it went from there. I did the remix, and then we hooked up when I was out in Ibiza the next month (he lives there) and that was it – we found we had exactly the same taste in music right down to obscure 93 stuff and odd Belgian records, the lot! He has become a really close friend and it’s great to have been with him along the way on the label. I’ve been able to introduce some of my friends to record EPs and remixes for DEXT and we are all still talking, so that’s a good thing!
Who or what would you say has been the biggest influence on your career and sound?
This is always such a hard question to answer with anything specific, but pretty much anything I have heard or experienced has in some way left something in me. I’m a huge music fan in general and electronic music is only a part of it. As far as Bodyjack, certainly the early stuff I did was “Chicago” and “rave” influenced, UR, AFX, DJAX, Direct Beat, Relief (the early stuff), R&S, ‘90-mid ‘93 rave (if we are getting specific), Belgium, Grain/User, EBM, UKG, etc. It’s probably easier to say what hasn’t been an influence really.
Quite a lot of Bodyjack’s music is influenced by sounds from Detroit and Chicago, what draws you to these cities?
They are both a huge part of my musical education and make up. They are so ingrained in me and have been since day 1 of me DJing (not that I thought about it at the time!), that it’s inevitable that it bores through what I do. My recent radio shows had a lot of Detroit stuff in them and it was a great platform to dig into all that outside of the club environment it’s really influencing some of the new stuff I’m currently making. If you’re a real music fan with some knowledge as well as a DJ, this whole game can be very cyclical and that’s why I love it. In a world if throwaway digital music, a deep and wide ranging record collection can really shine through (as my Mum always says).
You always manage to add a UK twist to your productions and have been heavily involved in the scene here from your residency at Atomic Jam and a UK DMC finalist – what makes the UK scene so special?
This has been pointed out to me before, but funnily enough I’ve never sat down ever had a thought in my head regarding the UK when making music. 98.7% of the time I don’t have a thought or idea anything before I start to be honest. I suppose the UK side comes through with my Bodyjack stuff because it kind of mirrors what the UK music landscape has always been which is a massive melting pot of ideas and styles. And again, I don’t think about that with my stuff but I guess it must be. If I’m making He/aT stuff it isn’t always the case but I suppose the production process of my Bodyjack is a lot…looser.
You’re renowned for your contribution to the UK techno scene but somewhat left that behind when you created Bodyjack, why was that?
Well technically, I didn’t leave, I just branched out a bit so I could be a bit more creative with the new stuff. It’s always flattering when someone says that I’m seen as a contributor, so thanks for saying!
Late last year you released a collaboration with Special Request, how did that come about?
It’s a long story actually, but cutting out the boring stuff…I knew Paul on and off for years – he actually did a remix (of Mark Broom) on my old Flux Recordings label back in 2009. Thinking about it now actually, he was the first person I sent my first Bodyjack track to and he loved it and really encouraged me to explore this side of things. Moving on a couple of years when Bodyjack was established, I did a track for my FACT mix and it was only supposed to be a one-off garage track for the mix. James at DEXT heard it and went mad for it, and between us we ended up getting Paul to remix it. It took a while, but I’m so glad it worked out in the end; Paul/Special Request is one of the truly phenomenally gifted talents in music today – I cannot stress enough just how much of a legend the man is in what we do. So it’s not bad to be linked with him on that!
There’s often the argument that techno is becoming boring, why do you feel that people have this perception of the genre?
Ha we could be here all day with this one. The actual word itself doesn’t hold much weight now for what is actually going on. On one hand you’ve got the die-hard army who wear black and worship their style of dark/hard/industrial techno, and at the same time you’ve got “civilians” who go to Ushuaia in Ibiza who listen to what they call techno. It’s all quite amusing to watch really. If we are talking the brass tacks of it, a lot of what I personally call techno is incredibly boring at the minute (just try listening to promos for an hour solid and tell me otherwise!), but there is some amazing music in there among all that makes it all worthwhile. I suppose it’s like anything really. What I will say is that the actual standard of production has gone through the roof compared to how it was. People are releasing their debut EPs and they sound sonically incredible, even though the vast majority of their music/ideas might be boring & copycat. The exact same thing goes for a lot of DJs too, there’s a lot of “playing it safe” going on and throwing in an ironic non-techno section at the end of the night which in the right hands/with the right music can be great but invariably sounds really contrived. So in essence, I would say if you put the work in to find music and DJs who are really on it and you will be rewarded! I’ve got a rule that I like passing on: “Would you play this track in 10 years?” If the answer is no then play something better and don’t just play promos or the newest music for the sake of it.
With over a decade in the industry now, what has been the biggest difference over the years that you’ve had to adjust to?
Absolutely without question social media and digital music. It’s changed the way we listen to and find music, get booked as DJs, market ourselves, produce, talk to people and run our businesses. It’s opened up the world and its both amazing and horrifying at the same time. Pandora is out of the box and it’ll be interesting to see where it all ends up.
As a label owner and producer, how do you feel on the current talking point of track ID’s, the impact of ID music groups and how some DJ’s have become overprotective of the track’s they play?
It’s a strange one for me this. I’ve traditionally been incredibly open with track ID’s and giving stuff away, but recently I’ve decided to reign that in a bit. There’s a lot of entitlement going on with this sort of thing now, it’s so readily available and its just born a lot of laziness. I’ve taken years to build my collection and I’m keeping some stuff back now. For example, I did a 2 hour acid mix for Belfast’s DSNT (as He/aT) earlier this year with some of my favourites from my collection, (some known and some incredibly obscure), and I didn’t do a track list which I’ve been harassed constantly about. But on my recent Bodyjack radio shows I’ve dropped some killer obscure stuff and listed them. I think for radio you have to really, it’s kind of the law.
Buy ‘Nataraja’ by Bodyjack here