Grain interview

Croydon’s Surrey St may be one of the oldest street markets in England, but it is also home to Arthur Smith, AKA Grain, who is making a determined twin-pronged assault on both the pop and techno fronts from his studio above the market. Interestingly, he is much closer to one of those goals than you may think at first. Lately though, his most involving project is “Radio Surrey Street”, which has been blaring out from the tannoy outside his studio, even inviting members of the public for Harmonica sing-a-longs. “When I was doing a remix for Lisa Stansfield, I managed to persuade one of the traders (who was a big fan of the Northern Minstrel) that Lisa Stansfield was in the studio to do a recording. He went round blocking the road off at either end of the market so that no cars or people would come through. Even the Police were taken in.” The hapless fellow, who shall remain nameless, was also fooled on Grain’s latest release with a certain mobile phone problem.

Since the first Grain EP on FatCat back in 1997, Arthur’s material has gained worldwide recognition in techno circles, with the likes of Richie Hawtin, Jeff Mills and Derrick May trumpeting it through their DJ sets. Lately the UK Garage influence has become marked in his work, raising a few eyebrows amongst those in the electronic media, especially as the two genres are regarded as almost polarised in their approach. Arthur however is refreshingly unaware of the plaudits he receives. “I didn’t know there was a techno community of any kind, most of my mates don’t even know what techno is to be honest.”

Arthur’s approach to making techno is pragmatic. “I love making the Grain material, but at the end of the day, all the good reviews in the world won’t pay the bills. It’s not financially possible to purely make a techno EP say, every 6 months. I’ll sell 3000 records and people will say “That’s great!” but I’ve got a studio to run. Now I’m not going to work in McDonalds, and I’ve got my studio above a record shop, they sell Garage. I like some of it, I’ll have a go making it. Turns out we had a number one single recently that we signed and produced, (Daniel Beddingfield’s “Gotta Get Thru This”) and with that, some of the financial worries have gone. I can now turn my attention to making techno again.”

Indeed a debut Grain LP is just around the corner, due to be released by FatCat in the summer. “I like the fact that with FatCat they let you do what you want. They’re not like a lot of other labels, who will say “oh we want more stuff like Grain number #3”. Of course that’s a problem in itself, in that given freedom, you have to work very hard to make something good. I’ve been over a lot of tracks reworking them over and over again.”

When confronted by the high-brow attitude that many within the electronic music media have to the Garage scene in the UK he is reticent. “There’s good and bad Garage music naturally, but I like the fact that it’s disposable. By the time a producer has a white label out, he’s bored of it, and has moved onto something else. There’s a lot of humour in it as well.” However he is quick to add that garage and techno are just a small part of his musical appreciation. “I like and make all types of music. Anyone who dismisses a genre, unless they’ve grown up with the music and know it well, I don’t think they can say “oh, garage music is crap”. If they actually sit down and listen to the music, they might start thinking differently.”

I love making the Grain material, but at the end of the day, all the good reviews in the world won’t pay the bills. It’s not financially possible to purely make a techno EP say, every 6 months. I’ll sell 3000 records and people will say “That’s great!” but I’ve got a studio to run. Now I’m not going to work in McDonalds, and I’ve got my studio above a record shop, they sell Garage. I like some of it, I’ll have a go making it. Turns out we had a number one single recently that we signed and produced, (Daniel Beddingfield’s “Gotta Get Thru This”) and with that, some of the financial worries have gone. I can now turn my attention to making techno again.

There are plans to release a DVD version of the LP, with added video material that fits in with the spoofs Arthur has made a staple of his releases. “I’ve got loads of similar material, plus a lot of video that I’d like to put on the DVD.” However he is keen not purely to be seen as a joker. “The problem with techno is that it’s too serious. There’s no-one having a laugh, and the trouble is that anyone who does is immediately dismissed as being nothing more than a comedian.” This unfortunate paradox resonates across the musical spectrum, but is perhaps more relevant to techno. “I love making techno music through Grain, but at the end of the day it’s only one part of music that I make, whether that be Garage or anything else.”

His wide appreciation of music is perhaps highlighted by his impressive Stockhausen collection. Working behind Europe’s largest 2nd-hand record shop, Beanos, has its benefits. “A proper collector must have just walked in and sold these” he comments, proudly holding up the German genius’s works that he had just purchased for a princely sum.

When queried on the UK techno scene, Arthur is more forthcoming. “I just go to Lost. I might have been to a couple of other events when a friend of mine was playing, but they don’t compare. Lost is done professionally in every way, that’s why it’s been going for so long. I just don’t understand why people can’t just go to Lost and enjoy themselves and say “Yes we’ve had a great time, that was fantastic” instead they have to go out and try and do it themselves by booking the same DJs and using the same venues with the same kind of imagery and use of words. But even still, it never works and they are always crap, but they still keep doing it. People should just support the originators because if it wasn’t for Steve and Sheree Techno wouldn’t be what it is today. They brought Mills and Robert Hood and all the other Detroit DJs over for the first time back in the early nineties, so let’s show some respect and just go to their parties, tell our friends about their parties, instead of trying be them and messing everything up and giving techno a bad name.”

For the time being then, Arthur is more than content to stay where he is in Croydon. “I could move from here now, but I’m very happy here.” Expect more wind-ups and carefully sculptured dancefloor destroyers in the near future.