London based DJ/Producer Alexis Raphael joins beatfreak for an Exclusive Interview
From residencies on mid 1990s North and East London pirate radio stations to touring the DJ booths of some of the world’s greatest clubs in the 2010s, Alexis Raphael has been involved in electronic music for 3 decades.
His seminal London club night Creche, which has been running for coming on 15 years, has become a raving institution for many a Londoner, and after a break from releasing club music for a few years and focusing on his vinyl label Paella Hair Sex, last year seen the launch of his new label under the same name, Creche records.
Introduce yourself in a few sentences.
Im a Londoner who’s been submerged in electronic music for 3 decades now, raving, making music, DJng, putting on raves and now running my two labels, Creche and Paella Hair Sex. Im a Vinyl enthusiast who’s not really Djing much at the moment as I got tired of being away every week doing the touring thing, so I’ve centred my music passion in recent times around solely the studio and running labels and my party in London, Creche, which is 15 years old this year.
Is there a story behind your artist name?
It’s my first and middle names! The story goes first name was meant to be Raphael but my Greek Cypriot grandparents said they weren’t happy with it so my parents chose the Greek name Alexis and moved Raphael to my middle name.
Do you have any other aliases past or present?
Ive had a few over the years. I was DJ Lex on pirate radio in the 90s here in London. I also DJ’d under Alex Hero at one point although id rather forget that one .Oh and JungleChopz on one flyer once at Raindance playing oldskool jungle. That was a bit of a joke by the promoter lol.
What first sparked your interest in creating music?
Ive been into electronic music since very young back in 1991. The whole thing caught me deeply and that was and still is my life. I bought decks in 1994 but never really cared that much about DJing or thought of it as a career, but I always wanted to make tunes. The DJing thing happened as it was an easier thing to do as an inner city London kid in the 90s without enough money for a then expensive studio setup. I studied music production after school but It took me a long time to properly knuckle down as I was such a social person, too many distractions (and raving) so it wasn’t until my late 20s hat I made tunes that broke through. Before that it was only some garage dub plates that never got pressed at the end of the 90s.
Name three artists who inspire your sound.
Goldie, Dyed Soundorom, Frankie Knuckles.
Tell us about your first performance opportunity and how it fueled your passion.
My first non pirate radio gig was in a club in Finsbury Park, North London, called Club Phoenix, back in the mid 90s, I was very young, maybe 15 or 14. I didn’t realise I had to bring my own headphones! Some girl I knew managed to source some for me with 5 mins to go before my set, I still don’t know where from. I was playing early UK House n Garage, stuff from people like Tuff Jam and labels like Ice Cream Records and 500 Rekords. That was the beginning, it was very exciting, and its been a long journey since then.
What is your favourite piece of equipment in the studio?
My pride and joy are my Roland Jupiter 8 and my Yamaha CS60! Absolutely two of the greatest synths ever made. However the piece of kit I’m using the most at the moment is the Arturia Beatstep pro. Find it really useful for writing all my patterns and is key to my workflow right now.
What piece of kit is on your wish list?
I need a 909! I’ve got a Behringer version, which is nice and sounds great but I’d love to get a proper one. I love collecting analogue classic gear.
What’s your thoughts on sampling?
Sampling is a key element of what electronic music has always been about. It’s one of the foundations of this music. Of course creative sampling is what’s important. Sampling from vinyl is the key!
Are there any labels you frequently feature in your sets/playlists?
Not particularly . I’m open to everything and haven’t been playing out really lately.
How do you nurture your industry relationships?
To be honest my relationships were built out in the party scene and on the dance floor initially. Nowadays I’m older and not on the dance floor week in and out, so its about keeping vibes good with people on the same music tip and bouncing off each other sharing ideas and tips. Im also signing lots of up and comings to my label which is a really exciting new avenue to help push these young artists forward.
What excites you about club or festival culture?
I love proper festivals, which are places that have a creative element beyond music. If you stick 5 tents with DJs in a field, that’s a rave, not a festival. The word festival seems to be used for anything nowadays. Glastonbury is a festival, or Burning Man, for example. A proper festival is a coming together of creative minds centred around music AND art and, for me, they are things that I love most in this world, alongside different cultures so festivals are centres of everything I love. Clubs are the foundation of what this is all about. Its where everything came from. They are the rock, the foundation, places to escape reality and immerse in music all together as one. It’s quite a deeply human tribal thing that we probably had thousands of year ago, that was lost over time, and has now come back through club culture.
Share your favourite clubbing memory.
I guess it has to be my time in the mid 90s going to places like Camden Palace (now Koko) with my crew ! The whole thing back then was so exciting, it’s quite hard to explain it to people now that weren’t a part of it. It was a different time, a different era, a different world and it was a whole youth culture we were part of that was changing British society. So those days at Camden, which was my fav place to rave, are some of my best memories and best parties.
How would you encourage emerging artists wanting to break through?
Well things have changed a lot now. It seems to be that social media is key. For me, it’s a bit sad really because music should be the centre piece not visual stuff. Away from that the most important advice I would give is that you should do it because its a passion for the music. Not because u want the lifestyle. The lifestyle is hard in many ways, can be lonely and has big downsides. You have to build your contacts, and just go with what you feel connected to and make sure you are unique. We all take inspiration from certain music that’s happening at the moment, but try to do your own thing, away from the grain. That’s how you can stand out and then make an impact and get noticed. Alongside that, in terms of studio, it’s really time. It takes years to get any good at things, so you need persistence, patient and drive!
Share something unknown about you.
I worked for 1 year at the government doing environmental economics for transport.
Provide an outlandish rider request (be creative).
A time machine – so I can quickly, before my set, hop back to 1995, find the old teenage me, bring him to 2024 and put teenage me on the dance floor and play a set to my teenage self of future music. Then send him back at the end of my set. Then maybe the teenage me could have some ideas to push electronic music forward and make it big in the 90s! This is DJ narcissism over drive and maybe the ultimate rider for your own DJ ego . You said “be creative”….lol
Which song do you wish you’d written?
Kings of Tomorrow – Finally
Name three tracks you couldn’t live without.
Frankie knuckles – Tears
Pink Floyd – Shine on You Crazy Diamond
Goldie – Inner City Life Full length album one.
Music is…
Human emotion through sound.
Tell us about your plans for 2024.
Currently I’m putting out my own music only on my own label. So there are about 4-5 release from me coming this year I’d say. Quite a mix of stuff.Its quite liberating not trying to fight for gigs as I can really put music out for the love with no pressure. If people dig it, great , if not, well that’s fine too. I can express my creativity and not have to churn out for touring. Im growing the artists on the label and we are hosting our big Creche raves in London with plans to take it to a lot of places outside the UK next as the label grows. A lot of my time is in the studio or with my son at the moment. He’s almost 2 and is the most important thing in my life. I may do the odd gig in Berlin, NYC etc lets see what happens. All chill.
