Techno is a funny term. Many use it in place of “dance music” as a general descriptive term when talking with people who don’t know much about music. However, ‘Techno’ as a term has a very distinct meaning in the dance music industry, and when used in a press release I automatically have a sound in my head and pretty much know what I’m in for. So imagine my surprise when I fire up Digital Primates MySpace webpage and am instantly assaulted by a phat bass and dub breaks on the tune “I Don’t Give a Fuck”. Instantly all assumption had to be thrown out the window. Yes, this was “techno”, but Digital Primate, aka Christopher Coe wasn’t precious about the techno sound, which is quite refreshing for someone in the techno scene. The term “techno nazi” didn’t arise because people “goosestep” dance, after all.
“We’re driving down to Phillip Island for the Pyramid Rock Festival”, Coe apologises. “The traffic last year was so bad I heard there were 8 hour delays getting onto the island, but apparently this year they’ve done a whole load of stuff to work it better.” I can imagine him crossing his fingers as he’s speeding along talking to me, hands free of course.
I ask him about the set up of his show. “These gigs are basically me DJing with the girls doing live vocals. I’ve got Demilition B-Girl and Queen K who are based out of Melbourne and they perform the songs they did on the album Siege Mentality, plus some which haven’t appeared anywhere. And they’re also amazing breakdancers,” he begins, and almost instantly we are attacked by aliens. Well, that’s what it sounded like. I’ve sent the audio to NASA to have it analysed.
A few hurried phone calls and a truck stop later, we’re chatting again, this time without interruption. “I’ve always been into reggae,” Coe states when I ask about his influences. “And as most electronic DJs would attest, reggae is probably where they first listened to music. I always thought reggae producers, and dub producers especially, were the start of electronic music, in the way they used technology in the studios to produce new sounds and so on. I just feel it fits naturally with me.”
“It’s also the swing to it. My favourite techno is techno with a swing, and Ragga and Dancehall is about as swingy as you can get!” he snickers “Even though I’m a white Irish guy, coming from the UK and hearing that sound, being in that scene, it’s natural… I feel as though I’m black on the inside,” he laughs again. “And I don’t see a real demarcation between reggae, dancehall, electronica,” he continues. “If you look at people like the Orb, Massive Attack, they all had reggae and dub influences in their music.”
Also instrumental in the sound of his new album is the infamous producer, the Mad Professor. You can hear the reverence as he talks about “Mad”, as Coe affectionately refers to him. “The greatest thing about working with Mad is the incredible sense of musical history he brought. One day he goes ‘yeah, you need some bass on this tune’ and next thing I know he’s on the phone saying ‘Hey Robbie, would you like to come in’ and I’m saying ‘that’s not Robbie Shakespeare’ (as in Sly & Robbie) and he’s like ‘yeah’. And I’ve fallen to my knees, my legs can’t hold me any more because I’m so excited.”
“And the other thing was he is so amazing as an engineer and a producer. He’d mix a track in half an hour, and I’d say ‘don’t we need to spend two days mixing this?’ and he’d be like ‘Tune mixed man, next!’” Coe laughs. “I was really freaked out by this but I’d take the 3 or 4 tunes he mixed in a day and listen to them and think ‘oh fuck! These are great mixes!’ That freaked me out for the first two days because I had never worked with someone so quickly and who was so not precious about their work. He’s all about capturing the vibe, and if you haven’t caught it in 3 or 4 takes of a mix he just moves on.”
The album is also steeped with political messages. Macromantics talks about turning off the television. Queen K talks about the objectification of women in hiphop. Karmelody (who is also the Mad Professor’s son) sings about South London. And of course, the outstanding My Bush Would Make A Better President is probably the least sophisticated political statement on the album. “I think too many people shy away from politics, and fuck that I say!” exclaims Coe.
“Life is politics, and of course it’s important to forget about it all and have a good time, but that in itself is a political statement. My decision with this album was to take a step outside of what I normally do, which is the techno stuff; work with vocal artists because it’s easier to literally say things, it adds to the creative possibilities, and also increases your chances of acceptability; and to make some political statements I felt strongly about. I think as artists we have a responsibility to say what we feel, and if it’s political then don’t be afraid to show it.”