Bad Boy Bill finally drops his debut

Bad Boy Bill finally drops his debut

17 August, 2009 | 4.16AM

• Written by: Kirsty Kane
• Filed under: Music News: bad boy bill, menage

Chicago house king DJ Sneak paid respect to one fellow Windy City DJ at the end of our recent interview, recalling the first time he had ever heard him play. “He came on the radio and started scratching up house tracks like I’d never heard before,” said Sneak. “It was amazing, and when I found out it was this skinny white kid I thought ‘Holy shit!’. He’s still keeping it real today.”

Sneak was talking about the former DMC DJ Bad Boy Bill, who is now one of America’s biggest house stars. With a career stretching all the way back to 1985, William Renkosik has seemingly done it all. He sold mix tapes on the streets of Chicago in the late 80s, he founded his own International House Records in 1987, he produced house records for years, he was the first Chicago DJ to produce legally licensed mixes under his Mix Connection Multimedia company, his ‘Bangin’ The Box’ mix compilations were one of the biggest selling dance music mix series of all time, he formed a house music supergroup with Richard Vission, and he is even an investor in Beatport.

But despite all that, Bad Boy Bill never produced an artist album. Until now. ‘The Album’ is Bad Boy Bill’s first attempt at the longplayer. We decided to find out more.

You were there right at the beginning of house music. Your first release was in 1987, around the same time you started your label International House Records with Mike “Hitman” Wilson.
But you’ve taken so long to release your debut album. Were you nervous about releasing it?

I was a little nervous, mainly because most people are used to my mix CDs, and I didn’t know what they would think of an album of actual songs from me.

The feedback has been mainly positive so far, but of course you have the haters or the people that don’t understand it, but I felt it was necessary for me to grow as a DJ and as an artist.

By growing, you mean the song-based approach? Your album is very radio friendly, and the tracks are about three or four minutes each with lots of vocals. Why did you choose to go that route?

I wanted an album that someone could put on in their car, listen to at home, or on their iPod, and sing along with it and enjoy as a true album.

It’s easy to create club or dub mixes of whatever style is currently popular, or to get whoever is the hottest remixer to make you an extended club banger, but I’ve always felt you need to start with a good vocal or song first, not the other way around.

The underlining sound of the album is electro house, but its influences include r&b, hip hop, trance, and indie. Why is that?

My album really is pretty diverse, and that’s what I like about it.  

Playing a wide range of music has been my style in DJing and I felt I should remain true to that in my artist album.

I like to play the music that I feel is the best, whether it’s harder, or funkier, or minimal, or even something vocal. As long as it’s well produced and sonically sounds good, it has a chance with me.

It’s also important to stay in touch with the streets and what people are vibing to...I’m a fan of the music first, so I think I am right there vibing with the people a lot of the time.

Did JJ Flores produce the album with you?

Yes. He helped on a few of the songs.  JJ  is a very talented musician, DJ, and producer, and is one of the guys I really enjoy working with.

I also worked with a bunch of other really talented people on my album, and it was a great experience because I could get different people’s performances and ideas and then keep the stuff I really loved, and expand it.

It’s easy to create club or dub mixes of whatever style is currently popular, or to get whoever is the hottest remixer to make you an extended club banger, but I’ve always felt you need to start with a good vocal or song first, not the other way around.

How did the song writing process happen?

We started by just working on instrumental tracks, then we brought in some vocalists, and then basically reproduced everything from the ground up and then mixed it down.

Although the end result sounds simple, it really isn’t.  It took a long time, and to get 11 songs that I was really happy with was a major project because I am a perfectionist.

Does mainstream recognition, Billboard chart placement, radio play, the Top 100 DJs poll - does any of that matter to you?

I remember when I wasn’t on any charts or in the top DJ polls, it meant the world for me to one day get there.  

When I finally cracked the DJ Mag Top 100, I felt so happy and grateful, and I actually still do.

I am sure for some DJs, it’s kind of like money, when you got it it doesn’t mean that much to you, but when you don’t, that’s all you think about.

I am truly grateful for even the smallest bit of press and even more grateful to the fan who buys a CD or single, and then posts on the internet something somewhere about how it rocks, or how it got them through a tough time. That’s what I feel is music’s greatest power - how it can touch people in ways that when it was first created, you could never even imagine.

At the beginning of your career you released quite a lot records, but in recent years that slowed. Why is that?

I really lived in the studio when I first started putting out music - literally the mixing console, samplers, and drum machines surrounded my bed.

I started doing a lot of mix tapes and cds, and then started my own multimedia company Mix Connection Multimedia, and in between DJ gigs, radio shows, and running my company, I had little time left for studio work.

What happened to International House Records?

We had a distributor go out of business that owed us a lot of money. It basically brought the label to a standstill.

I started a new label, management company, and booking agency called Ménage Music / Ménage Management, so that is where the focus is now.

What’s your current DJ set up in clubs? Why do you prefer that set up over others?

Currently I am using two Pioneer DVJ-1000s,  two CDJ-1000s, a Pioneer DJM 800 mixer, and a Technics 1200 Turntable.

I use the DVJs to mix between my visuals and song-specific visuals that we have created.

The CDJs and the Pioneer mixer are the main things I use to mix with, and the turntable I keep for scratching vinyl.

Do you still scratch that much in the DJ booth, like in the DMC days, or have you stopped working on new tricks and moves?

I do some tricks here and there, but it’s mainly as a highlight to my music. The days of doing too many crazy tricks are gone, and I feel they don’t work well on the dancefloor either...unless you can keep it really smooth so it flows nicely.

Do you still pay attention to the DMC scene?

I haven’t paid attention for a few years, but I still have love and respect what the guys do.  I don’t think people understand the amount of hours that you have to practice to get to that level.

Music wise, do you still throw in the occasional sneaky jacking house track or filtered disco tune into your sets, or is it mainly electro house you’re playing these days?

I will sneak in some unexpected goodies and that’s the fun part! Also, music styles are constantly incorporating sounds and beats from previous styles. I have heard a lot of rap vocals over electro recently, along with a resurgence of hard house too!

Have you found certain tracks to work better in certain countries? If so, what sort of styles work best in which countries?

I think it really depends on the club or type of event you are playing at and the crowd that shows up. If you are playing at a huge rave you may have to play a bit harder and more anthems, whereas, if you are playing in a small 300 person intimate club, sometimes less is more.

Also the age of the people, and how much of the music they are familiar with may influence me to alter my set.

What about longer sets? You are known for peak time, but are you ever tempted to play an extended warm up set, or a six or seven hour set?

I haven’t had to do a warm up set or anything that long since my days as a resident DJ at a place called Charlie Club in Chicago.

The longest set I have done in more recent years is four hours in Chicago. It was fun, but I’m just not conditioned to do the eight hour marathon sets like Tenaglia or Roger Sanchez.

Those guys are amazing and really understand how to build it up and bring it down, but not too far down, just enough so you can keep it rockin’ til they bring you back up. It’s something I wouldn’t be opposed to, but I would need to build up to it.  

When you started DJing did you ever imagine that the scene would develop the way it did? If you knew back then what it would be like, would you have done anything differently?

When I started DJing it really wasn’t even cool. The DJ was usually tucked away in a corner of the club and no one even cared.  

I am happy the scene has developed, and although going back and doing some things over sounds like some ‘Back To The Future’ type of fun, I think I’m cool with the way things turned out.

You must have see it all. What’s the most uncomfortable club  / DJ experience you’ve ever had?

I’ve had a bunch. I remember the police coming into the DJ booth and shutting the sound off on me. I still don’t know how he knew how to work the mixer.

I remember another time, after the show was over, the police were trying to clear people out of the venue and I was signing autographs, and they said to me that if I signed one more they were taking me to jail!  

I stopped, but if I didn’t, I was thinking of the conversation I would have in the slammer. I would be sitting there talking to the other inmates, “So what are you in for? Murder, rape, grand theft. How about you? Signing one too many autographs.”

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