WMC Interview: Loco Dice and a different perspective

WMC Interview: Loco Dice and a different perspective

28 March, 2008 | 11.09AM

• Section: Music News Topics: Miami WMC 2008
• Written by: lizwarner

For someone who’s become quite well-known within the techno scene, the last thing you’d expect to hear out that person’s mouth is, “I’m still hip-hop. I never left hip-hop.”

And if you were to take even a quick listen to much of the upcoming album by Loco Dice, ‘7 Dunham Place’, it still may be difficult to see (or hear, as in this case).

But to understand the man behind the persona, hip-hop is fully part of the equation.

As Dice (as his friends call him) was spotted perusing the streets of Miami in the middle of a four-gig grand slam marathon during the annual party known as WMC, we pulled him aside to try to decipher the method behind the madness. 

It’s essential to look at his history, even if it doesn’t appear to make sense initially on the surface.

Loco Dice has toured with some of the best of the best in hip-hop — Snoop Dog among them.

It would be fair to say that he was on the road to a certain success as a German hip-hop artist.

Then known as Dice’C, it was the emergence of the sound after the West Coast scene that altered his outlook.

“Times changed in Germany; German hip-hop came out and I wasn’t really into German hip-hop.

“I was so West Coast orientated that there was no place for me in Germany, France and all of Europe.

“It was Puff Daddy time and the sampled sounds of the 1980s.”

For an artist not content to stay stagnant, it came as a happy coincidence that many of his friends were becoming more and more involved in the dance scene, attending raves and going to Ibiza.

“I found my love in electronic and techno music because you can play with emotions.

“You can create feelings by playing both the old and the new, and the DJs incorporate a lot of live experimentation.”

It’s no surprise, then, that Dice was drawn to the style of Richie Hawtin, who has long incorporated several experimental elements, effects and loops into his DJ-morphed-live sets.

But even before then, he was already very familiar with the electronic music scene in Frankfurt — and in particular with the sound of Sven Väth — a mere 2-hour drive from his home base of Düsseldorf.

“I’ve known Sven for a very, very long time, from when I was still a hip-hop DJ.

“His manager is a hip-hop head who used to come and dance to my DJ sets when visiting Düsseldorf while Sven played at Tribehouse, around 1996 or 1997.”

And then he adds, laughing, “And Sven would get pissed about it!”

But all silliness aside, Dice had an admiration for Väth.

“I was impressed with Sven.

“Here was this guy who stood there like an entertainer, but all he had was music.

“As a hip-hop guy, you need the microphone for anyone to listen to you.”

But as a techno producer, all that’s really needed is a great track.

Dice delved into the production of electronic-based cuts, initially releasing on Four:Twenty, Väth’s Cocoon and a small array of other labels.

It wasn’t long before he grabbed the attention of Richie Hawtin, with the help of Dice’s friend Ricardo Villalobos.

It was when Villalobos played his fresh-off-the-mixing-board cut ‘Seeing Through Shadows’ that Loco Dice’s profile was raised.

“Dice, have a look on Richie’s face when I play this record,” was all that Villalobos said before throwing it on the sound system.

And within one minute, after Hawtin asked what it was, he said, “OK, that’s the new record on Minus!”

Indeed, Loco Dice’s association with the label has made his name more prominent within techno circles.

And while he’s visiting Miami yet again this year, this is by no means his first time.

It was in 1999 that Dice made his first appearance during WMC as a hip-hop DJ, which was when he developed a love for the city and the sound.

“I love to walk down Collins Avenue and listen to the big Hummers with the big Miami Bass sound system… Miami is a circus!

“I’m really down with the Cuban/Latino sound, and when I have time, I go to the Little Habana neighborhood to eat some food.”

This year, he’s also been previewing cuts from ‘7 Dunham Place’ in his DJ sets, his forthcoming album with Martin Buttrich, with whom he owns the Desolat imprint [more on the forthcoming album in Part II of our interview with Loco Dice].

He’s also in the process of reorganizing his vinyl collection – going so far as to forego even CDs in favor of the medium — in order to find gems from the archives to include in his sets (20% of his DJ sets still include vinyl).

Specifically referring to his ever-present hip-hop collection, he tells a tale of rebuying his CDs as vinyl and then giving the CDs away.

“I’m not a CD fan. I’m totally against CDs — vinyl is the best.

“I use digital because it’s uncomplicated and I travel too much.”

And again, we’ve returned to the subject of hip-hop, and now of his plans to invade Beatsource in an effort to digitally reproduce his old school hip-hop collection.

It’s a topic that never seems to leave our conversation.

He’s still committed to his roots, but also is acutely aware of what he’s gone through to get to where he is now.

“I was broke for 3 years.

“It was a huge change — from being somebody to being nobody.

“I have to live with that and understand and realize that.

“But I’ve learned a lot.

“The move was very good for me and who I am now.”

While change can be initially difficult, Dice’s level of contentment — not to mention his critical praise — speaks to the fact that his decision has been based on solid ground.

It’s specifically the indelible mark of his hip-hop roots that have set him apart to create a unique imprint within the realm of electronic music today.

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Check back on Beatportal for Part II of our interview with Loco Dice, where we discuss his stay in New York for the creation of the forthcoming album, ‘7 Dunham Place’ on Desolat, plus his history and future plans for Ibiza.

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One of Loco Dice’s gigs in Miami happens this Saturday evening at Pawn Shop with Lee Burridge and Marco Carola.

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