RICHARD SEN

A veteran of the UK electronic underground, Hackney-based artist Richard Sen has been DJing since 1989. Beginning his career as a graffiti artist, he was the first person in the UK to sent to prison for street art under Thatcher's hastily imposed legislation. Upon release, he immersed himself into the nascent acid house scene, charting the development of rave culture across the 1990s and garnering a massive archive of singles in the process. His most recent compilation Dream the Dream, a selection of deep cuts from 1990-1994, charts a miniature history of club music in the UK, cut through with Sen's signature curatorial flair. He talks to TANK about the meaning of counterculture and what clubs can learn from the past.

TANK Where did the idea for India Man originate from? 
Richard Sen Charlie Bones (who runs Do!! You!!! Radio where I have a residency) and I were sitting outside, eating pizza and a local character came up to me and said, “India Man!”. Charlie thought that would be a good name for the album. This got me thinking about my father’s lineage and how, through the complexities of colonialism and British India, I ended up where I am. I was reminded of the four generations of “India Man”. In the 1920s, my great-grandfather came to London to study law and train as a barrister. In the 1930s, my grandfather came to the UK and joined a company that took him around the UK, singing at various music halls. In the 1950s, my father came to the UK to try and launch a career as a musician. Alongside his brother and father, they busked on the London Underground. It seems fitting to acknowledge my Indian ancestry combined with my British experiences of dance music and influences of Do!! You!!! Radio, connecting the past to the present.

TANK You have had a decades-long career in experimental music. What changes have you observed in club culture across this period? 
RS The biggest change has to be that technology and the internet have enabled dance music to become a massive industry. There are more DJs than clubs, more music producers and not enough consumers. It’s great that you can now be totally independent and get your music out there, online, without the need for labels and distributors. However, because of this and because it’s much easier to make music now, there are so many artists out there that it’s easy to remain unknown. Marketing and social media have become more important than talent, and the ones who shout the loudest seem to get noticed. Before the internet, people used to really make the effort and travel further to go to clubs and raves and there seemed to be a greater sense of community and creativity in clubland. Nightclub promoters made an effort to create an interesting and exciting space that made you feel special to be part of. I could go to places like Sabresonic on my own and know that there would be people there that I knew - regular faces. Friendships were made and ideas were shared as everyone felt like they were part of something. That still exists with Do!! You!!! Radio events and clubs like ALFOS but that’s rare. Maybe I don’t go out enough to know anymore! Promoters and club owners seem more concerned with selling tickets and getting many DJs on a line up rather than slowly building something special.

TANK You were the first person to be sent to prison for graffiti in the UK, at just 18. How did this event affect your view of the British criminal justice system?
RS I first got sent to prison during the Thatcher years. The UK was a very different place back then and my co-defendant and I were made examples of; to deter others from challenging the authorities and disrupting order. The punishment - a short, sharp, shock, bootcamp style sentence - didn’t work. It had the opposite effect and made me more angry and resentful towards society and the government. I came out fitter and more prolific with my graffiti work. I now do some volunteer work in Brixton Prison and it’s made me realise the criminal justice system is in the worst state it’s ever been. Every link in the chain is broken and corrupt after 14 years of indifference and underfunding from the government. The police, courts, prisons and probation service are all at breaking point. There's only a small minority of so-called ‘bad’ people in prison, but the majority of the public couldn’t care less. Prisons have become warehouses to contain people rather than spaces of rehabilitation; they have become schools for criminals and many often come out worse after release than before they went in! There needs to be a huge amount of funding poured into the system for any real positive change but it’s a vote winner to be tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime.

TANK You were in New York in the 1980s, a time of cultural explosion and great political upheaval. What made this period unique?
RS I only spent a couple of weeks there on holiday in 1985 but it blew my teenage mind. I think 80s NYC was a very special time culturally because NYC was a very chaotic and dangerous place to be. It seemed to be forgotten by the government and there was no money invested in the city, which led to corruption and crime. Rents were very cheap, attractive to artists and musicians from other parts of the US. Meanwhile, in the poorer neighbourhoods, the local communities created with what they had. Hip-hop came from poverty in the South Bronx combined with soundsystem and MC culture imported by immigrants from the West Indies. Often, electricity was stolen and records were taken from parents’ collections and cut up to create something new. Trains became canvases for a whole new art form created by kids - usually teenagers from 13-19 years old. The fusion of many NYC subcultures during the 1980s has never been seen since and was a unique and special period in culture. Hip-hop, disco, the downtown art scene and punk all cross-pollinated with each other. This meant many races, ethnicities and social classes all came together, socially and creatively in NYC in the 1980s.

TANK Your artistic practice looks to shed light on overlooked areas and genres within dance music history. How has the internet, with its access to much of music history, affected how you operate? 
RS Most of the music and art that inspires me was made pre-internet. I have a huge record collection to select from when DJing or to sample from if making music. The internet has made it much easier and faster to get information. There’s so much music that I have discovered in the past 20 years that was unknown to me before the internet. Now, it’s the easiest way to discover new music, with sites like YouTube and Discogs. Pre-internet, track names and special tunes were sometimes passed down across generations by word of mouth or by going to hear a particular DJ and harassing them for names. I remember taking a trip to NYC in 1990 to discover and buy NYC club classics. I was schooled by people in record shops who taught me about the Paradise Garage and Loft and the tracks that were played there. I guess that’s a more interesting story and life experience than sitting behind a computer to order records off Discogs!

TANK What lessons from past counter cultural movements can we apply to the present day? 
RS I think now, because of the internet, we have too much choice. We’re bombarded with so much information and music that it’s difficult to be unique. We’ve got access to nearly any record ever made so there’s no excuse to be a bad DJ but look at most DJs now, they’re just barcodes with headphones! All playing and making similar, bland music. We can look at something like Hip-hop, which made something out of nothing, and try to be creative with what little we have. I think far more interesting productions can come from only a sampler, or only a drum machine and one synth, than often those tracks made in huge studios with all the latest gear. Ideas are more important than technology. I think the independent ethos of subcultures like punk, hip-hop and graffiti which didn’t need huge institutions, labels and producers to get music and art out there, is easier now. It may take longer to get noticed but I believe that if you have talent, with hard work and consistency, you can succeed totally on your own terms. Start your own label, start a small party, build slowly and create your own community. Otherwise you’re a slave to someone else, or worse still, to an algorithm!