Rhythm Masters Still Doing It Properly
Robert Chetcuti and Steve Mac came together in 1993 as Rhythm Masters and broke through with their remix of Todd Terry’s “Jumpin’.” In 1995, the duo launched their own label, Dis-funktional, which released tracks by Giorgio Moroder and Danny Tenaglia, and went on to work with underground legends like Carl Cox and pop stars like Michael Jackson. Their 2001 album, Disconnect Your Head [Tommy Boy Silver Label] yielded the club hits “Ghetto” and “The Underground.” The following year, the duo broke up to pursue solo projects, which included Jamiroquai and Grand Theft Auto. A dozen years later, Rhythm Masters reunited for “20 Year Cycle,” featuring Masters at Work’s Kenny “Dope” Gonzales. Insomniac caught up with Steve Mac to find out how Rhythm Masters’ new track “Dynamite” came together and wound up on Danny Howard’s Nothing Else Matters label, what’s going with Dis-funktional, how they look back on “Jumpin’,” and what they have in the works for 2017.
What inspired you to release new music now?
Steve Mac: The scene was all up in the air for years with electro house, etc. The sound we were originally involved with came back into fashion, so it just felt like the right time to get back on board.
What was the best part of putting together “Dynamite”?
This was one of the best studio sessions we had this year. It started out with the beat at the beginning, which I [Steve] had programmed on an MPC drum machine—had a real sleazy disco feel to it. Then, I had the Roland 909 synced to the machine and programmed the beat that drops in the middle. When Rob turned up to the studio, I played him the ideas I had laid down. It was a very late Friday-night session; I connected up a Sequential Circuits Pro One keyboard, and we made this ridiculous bass sound. Rob was messing with it with excessive volume, and then that bassline came, and we were both jumping around the studio, laughing—properly feeling the vibes.
How does it feel releasing a track on BBC Radio 1 DJ and tastemaker Danny Howard’s label Nothing Else Matters?
Danny is a friend of us both and an all-‘round top bloke. Basically, I mailed it to Danny, as Rob and I had a conversation saying this would really fit with what Danny was doing with his label. He got straight back to me, freaking out, asked if he could live with it over the weekend to play at a couple of gigs—and the rest is history.
What kind of gear or software and instruments are you working with presently?
To be honest, I don’t like soft synths, and I don’t use them. Rob loves them, but I’m more of a hands-on analog head. I use plugins, but more for audio stuff. Put it this way: I like to use the best of both worlds.
You titled your 2015 track, featuring Kenny Dope, “20 Year Cycle”—even though it had only been 10 years since your previous release.
The shuffle house thing we used to do in the ‘90s came back into fashion.
How do you look back on Todd Terry’s “Jumpin’”? Is there anything you would change or wanted to do differently with the mix back then?
Would not change a thing. We spent a week on that remix. Doing all those edits on an Atari and samplers was hard work—things you can do in seconds now. I’m very proud of that remix; it put us where we are today.
How do you think the music now will be looked on when it hits its 20-year cycle?
That’s a question I can’t answer. The world might be run by robots then, LOL.
What’s next?
We have some very exciting collaborations coming in the next couple of months. We are going full-steam-ahead with our label Dis-funktional and have signed some new artists. Plus, we have made a ton of tracks for the label. We have more music coming with Edible, which we are really excited about. We have a new DJ/live show we can’t wait to get out on the road. Oh, yes, and an acid house album that’s just about done. We have not been messing around. If you’re gonna do something, do it properly.
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