Radio 1’s Chris Coco played Coldcut’s, ‘Mr Nichols’ and then followed it with their 1993 hit ‘Autumn Leaves’ the Mixmaster Morris Remix that regularly gets featured in top “chillout classics” polls. The previous week Mixmaster Morris was suggesting cover versions for the Blue Room’s new feature, ‘Cover Up’ (renamed ‘Homage or Fromage’).

Transit Kings making my ears sore, skinny dipping in a Welsh river with the beautiful people at the first Gala

The Samurai mixes are as eclectic as your next man so what better way than to start with asking what is his definition of “chill”? He tells me, “Exquisitely beautiful music just about sums it up for me. Of course, your chillage may vary.” And that chillage is a broad church as evidenced by the annual gathering at the Big Chill festival. Fly recently decreed that “in the world of club culture, 10 years is almost a century,” and that’s as true for festivals outside of the mainstream.

So as you’ve been to every Big Chill since the first in 1994, what have been the highlights? [Big breath for the big answer], “It’s been fascinating to watch the Big Chill grow in size every year, from a few hundred friends to 30,000+. Usually the best performance comes from somebody you never heard before. I will always remember Herbert [Mathew] making beats out of a cheese sandwich, falling asleep to Harold Budd on Sunday afternoon, dancing to Antibalas and Lambchop in the rain, Jony Easterby’s amazing audio art installations over the years (and Max Eastley’s one back in 1994), Fila Brazillia’s debut live set, Skylab in a muddy field, DF Tram at 8am, Dego’s soul lessons, Tim Love Lee spinning in the nude, Moonpup jumping out of flowers, Mr Scruff’s Tea Tent, Ewan Pearson’s DJ sets, Roots Manuva inventing sofa rap, Hexstatic stealing the show, Coldcut scratching Tony Blair’s speech, Tom Middleton with a choir, Ulrich Schnauss eating my brain, the knitting circle on stage, the painted Victorian stage at Larmer Tree Gardens (and the peacocks!), Squarepusher’s illegal late night jam session, Cinematic Orchestra with Russian cinema, Jimi Tenor jazzing it up, Robert Fripp in a MIDI wonderland, the Transit Kings making my ears sore, skinny dipping in a Welsh river with the beautiful people at the first Gala.. not to mention all the other Big Chill events from the Union Chapel and Bagley’s to Naxos and Baskeville Hall. I’ve also met a lot of very nice people through the events and the Forum and now the Big Chill Bar!

Mixmaster Morris ran the club night ‘Nubient’ for 3 years in Brixton but this has now moved to the Big Chill Bar off Brick Lane (first Thursday of the month). He tells me that regarding a music policy, “I always try and pack in as much new music as possible from the chillout world. There are so many great releases coming out and nowhere else you can hear them all in one place. You might hear mellow soul, spaced-out dub, post-rock experiments, juicy jazz gems, bootleg remixes, Balearic oddities, comedy cutups or classic ambient. Whatever it is, it has to have that Nubient magic. I’m working on some new compilations as well to spread the Nubient vibe”.

The big clubs are so mind numbingly mainstream that I don’t find them interesting, but there are many smaller places going on, and you can have a lot of fun in a villa too!

So what are your biggest tunes recently, “I love the new Sigur Rós album [‘Takk…’ (EMI)] and the spacier tracks from M83 too. Coldcut’s “Mr Nichols’ track is huge thanks to Chris Coco et al and Boozoo Bajou’s second CD [‘Dust My Broom’ (!K7)] is even more gorgeous than their first. Boards of Canada’s third album is maybe their best one yet. Jamie Liddell’s single is blowing up everywhere especially the Gonzales mix. Dwight Trible’s CD on Ninja is a soulful delight. David Last’s ‘Push/Pull’ and Jackson Fouregard’s ‘Smash’ are both innovative and challenging in the electronica field. Bansuri’s ‘The Birds’ is a joy as is the new Likwid Biskt single. I have been playing a lot of Sebastien Tellier tracks especially ‘Universe’ and on the psybient tip, artists like Bluetech, Shpongle, Entheogenic and Gaudi. And also Cassetteboy’s ‘Micks Tape’ is a laugh!

“If they were to book a wider range of music I think a lot more people would go to Ibiza. Most of my friends won’t go, as there is a much bigger range of music in London.”

What’re your current feelings on Ibiza? “I haven’t been there for a couple of years, I imagine it’s pretty much the same as ever. The big clubs are so mind numbingly mainstream that I don’t find them interesting, but there are many smaller places going on, and you can have a lot of fun in a villa too! I did have fun playing at Kumharas and Las Dalias, Cafe Del Mar and Cafe Mercedes. If you go out in the daytime you will hear much better music and at night you can chill in the villa. The island itself is beautiful and a lot of interesting people live there. I’m interested in doing an event in winter, just for the locals! Particularly if Big Chill or Nubient were to be invited I would love to go back again! Or if Lenny Ibizarre were to do another Dreamdaze festival. Or if Pacha ever open their roof terrace as a chillout lounge, or if Bestival were to do a big event.”

It seems Morris has the ideas, “If they were to book a wider range of music I think a lot more people would go to Ibiza. Most of my friends won’t go, as there is a much bigger range of music in London.”

I especially like playing at volcanic hot springs, of which Japan has hundreds; there’s nothing like chilling outdoors up to your neck in hot water

Talking of festivals, the two mixes on Samurai are the Full Moon Festival in July and the Big Chill, Naxos, “Full Moon is a big annual psy-trance bash in North Central Germany, near Karlstadt. This party was 10 days long, which is a lot of doofing…. still, they love their ambient on this scene and this year there has been a steady flow of decent psybient CDs. I play a lot in Germany, especially Hamburg and Berlin which are two of my favourite cities anywhere. The other set is from the Big Chill’s party in Naxos (an island just south of Mykonos in the Aegean). The mix was part of a marathon 12-hour session from midnight to noon. In the morning the waiters came out with lots of free ouzo and after that it all got very blurry.”

The German mix sounds ambient meets Coldcut are you still in contact with them/still have links with Ninja Tune? “Yes I still work with Coldcut sometimes, I’ve done some tracks with Matt including one called ‘Continue to Explore’ that’s still in the can and of course I’m privileged to have him doing the Visuals for me at special gigs like The Annual Big Chill Gala. My mix of Autumn Leaves still gets played on the radio every year, even 11 years after I did it and I’m hoping there will be a new Irresistible Force album on Ninja Tune one day!”

Seeing as The Blue Room is the only place where chillout music gets any space on Radio 1, I continue to lobby for records that I think Chris should play and as Robbie is sitting in John Peel’s chair I sometimes recommend bands to him

So where can we see you apart Nubient/ gigs coming up? “This weekend I’m in Dublin at the DEAF Festival, and then I’m off to Japan for a long tour over Xmas. I especially like playing at volcanic hot springs, of which Japan has hundreds; there’s nothing like chilling outdoors up to your neck in hot water. Next year I want to start another branch of Nubient in London, and perhaps another city in the UK. I’m doing some Ambient Loft parties for members only and starting a club with a Japanese theme too. I’m working with crews like Synergy and idSpiral at underground events too and also planning for a special party in Ireland too. And one day I will do an Irresistible Force live set at Big Chill, I promise!”

So to finish where we started, it says on Samurai that a couple of your best Ibiza mates are Coco and da Bank – any anecdotes? “I do know both Chris & Rob from way back in time and I’m happy that they are now a part of the Big Chill family. Last year, I took Chris to the most Recherche Sushi Bar in Tokyo where you can have the individual organs of every sea creature known to man, I think he was quite surprised by that! I first met Rob about 10 years ago when Sunday Best was in the Cafe des Artistes and it cost £1.99. That was a great little club and it seems like a very long time ago! Nowadays it’s grown into Bestival of course and I’ve had a lot of fun playing at that the last two years. Definitely the best new event around.

“Seeing as The Blue Room is the only place where chillout music gets any space on Radio 1, I continue to lobby for records that I think Chris should play and as Robbie is sitting in John Peel’s chair I sometimes recommend bands to him, ditto with other radio DJs like Nick Luscombe on XFM. I write for numerous music sites and I’ve started a PR company to promote independent music. The net has of course allowed much wider access to obscure music and allowed people to have much broader tastes. You don’t have to listen to top 40 music on the radio when there are thousands of online stations and downloadable mixes”.

Now if you were feeling a little mournful after last night’s, John Peel’s Record Box show or have momentarily lost the quest to hear “Exquisitely beautiful music”, let Mixmaster Morris take you by the ears to past and future chillage and enjoy the Nubient vibe.

Links:
Big Chill Bar, Dray Walk off Brick Lane, London E1 6QL www.bigchill.net Big Chill Festival, 4-6 August, 2006 [Tickets on Sale Now!]
Samurai FM - Mixmaster Morris
Mixmaster Morris - http://mixmastermorris.tribe.net & www.southern.com/MMM
The Blue Room – Sunday, 14th November - Coldcut Mix
Big Chill 2004 Round-up
Blue Room Tracklistings 23rd October 2005 with Chris Coco
Coldcut - ‘Mr Nichols’ & ‘Autumn Leaves’ (Mixmaster Morris Remix) (Ninja Tune)
Bestival www.bestival.net
The Victorian gardens of Larmer Tree www.larmertreegardens.co.uk
Channel 4 - John Peel’s Record Box