You can tell what kind of night it’s going to be as soon as you step into the club. The distorted electropop bass lines, space-aged Nu-Wave sounds, and quirky disco voice samples all meshed into one track can only mean one thing: electroclash. Bringing out the skinny-jean- and bright-color-wearing hipster kids, the genre packs a punch of raw, sweaty energy. It can all be attributed to Larry Tee, the creator and man who coined the phrase electroclash. Wanting to bring the ‘rock and roll mentality to electronic music,’ he began his musical journey in Atlanta’s rock scene, later leading him to Brooklyn, the place he calls home. Tee can also be blamed for launching the careers of acts like Fischerspooner, Princess Superstar and RuPaul...yes that RuPaul.
Labeled by some as the Nostradamus of cool, Clubplanet had to catch up with the innovator to discuss his past, present and future ventures as well as what he thinks is going to be the next cool wave of trendy fashion and music.
Clubplanet: So what have you been up to?
Larry Tee: Well, I just finished a video that was hijacked by Perez Hilton, which is kind of funny, but good news nonetheless. It’s for Licky featuring Princess Superstar. We shot the video about a week and a half ago, right after Winter Music Conference. When we put it up to show the different parties involved, the rough, we put it up on my YouTube account because it’s an easy way for everyone in London, Chicago and New York to be able to get it quickly. Unfortunately, every time that you put something on there, whoever is on your YouTube video will get a notation saying that there’s a new video up, so Perez thought that it was up for him to put up. So he ran with it before we could even get it approved.
CP: That will probably get a lot of hits since you guys are well known.
Larry Tee: Oh yea. And also there’s already some Latin chubby dude from the middle of nowhere who does this really tacky version of Licky with just him licking a credit card and it’s already gotten 172,000 hits.
CP: So how did Conference treat you while you were down there?
Larry Tee: Great. I go down there really to run into people. To be honest, I don’t really want to throw my own party down there. I got to play two parties down there which was great, and I got to run around and have fun and go to other people's shows, which is really where the fun is for me.
CP: What were some of the notable shows for you?
Larry Tee: I thought that Jesse Rose was fantastic. He’s my favorite. And I really did enjoy the line-up with Erol Alkan, Boys Noize and Simian Mobile Disco. I thought that was great.
CP: How do you feel about the music scene here in Miami?
Larry Tee: Oh, I love Miami. It is one of the bigger cities here in America. There are only so many cities in America where you can really get some good DJ performances. I give much props to Miami for being one of those cities.
CP: Can you talk a little bit about how you got started?
Larry Tee: I started in bands in Atlanta, Georgia; the first one was called The Fans. That’s actually how I met Michael Stipe and all of the Athens guys. The Fans produced the B-52’s first single, Rock Lobster, when they were signed to Warner Brothers. And then I joined them right at the end of their ten-year career, but I wasn’t there when they produced Rock Lobster. But that was my first jump into the music scene, which you can kind of actually get from the music that I make. It’s still kind of ridiculous. I’ve always liked ridiculous. After that I started a band called Now Explosion and we had guest stars like RuPaul and Lady Bunny 'cause we were crazy.
CP: Really? And then?
Larry Tee: So we moved to New York and when I got up here I started doing parties almost immediately. My big party when I first got here was called Love Machine. That’s where we got the idea for the Supermodel song that I wrote for RuPaul. All the supermodels would come in a big lump, Linda, Christy and Naomi, which were the first three that I listed in the song, would all come with a big mob to Love Machine each week. Ru had a deal with Tommy Boy, so I thought, “Man I gotta write something that he can’t resist.”
CP: A lot of people may not know that.
Larry Tee: Some people may not, but that’s ok too. A lot of people don’t know that in the early '90s I used to do the rock scene for two and a half years on Saturday nights at the Roxy, which was the longest run at the Roxy. That was like the biggest club in New York during the time. Also, I named and launched Disco 2000, which was the first techno party in the clubs with Michael Alig.
CP: A lot of people know that you’ve coined the term "electroclash."
Larry Tee: Well they may. That span of people is pretty short. It’s funny, there are so many people now that are really into Licky and they really have no reference to me outside of this track I did with Princess Superstar. Literally, the life span of a clubber is a couple of years, so a lot of the kids that are into the Licky thing or Princess Superstar may not have a clue to what electroclash is.
CP: How would describe electroclash?
Larry Tee: In one quick sentence I would say that it’s when the rock and roll attitude meets electronic music.
CP: What does it mean to you on a personal level?
Larry Tee: It means electronic music with a personality. What had come before, with electronica or trance house or a lot of the other electronic music, it comes generic. Electroclash kind of gave everyone an excuse to put whatever kind of music they want to put out but it can also have a personality with the dance music.
CP: What stage do you think that electroclash is at now? Is it still in its early stages?
Larry Tee: Oh no. As far as I’m concerned, any of these things that come, they are only good for a short period of time and then they are too exposed to us.
CP: So you would say it’s bad to hold on to something like this for too long?
Larry Tee: Well no, it’s not bad if people really like electroclash. If you’re 17 now and you stumble on Miss Kittin or Mount Simms or Ladytron, you might go, “Wow, I love this. This is a lot more fun than Jesse Rose.” If you might have been a goth ten years ago, now you might be into this. I don’t think that there’s anything wrong with people liking it, but I would say that it’s past its influence time.
CP: Can you go into the Dance Music Invasion a little bit?
Larry Tee: We did our first one last year. We had everybody from Loco Dice to Little Louie Vega to Princess Superstar and Arthur Baker. We basically had a bunch of different clubs with guys like Kele from Bloc Party and JD from Le Tigre DJing. We had a combination of mainstream dance and underground dance with the idea of doing something each year in New York, like Miami, where everyone wants to come. And you just have a lot of options during that week.
So, the first time our goal was to not spend that much money, and yet get it going. Because without some sort of track record, even though the electroclash and outsider festivals that I did are certainly a start, it wasn’t really the same thing we did. We really didn’t invite everybody to this party. It was like a hipster festival. So, this time we wanted to do something where everybody was included. Where everybody could hear all kinds of music whether it was the stuff at Pasha or the stuff at Hiro or Studio B. We got everybody to bring in cool acts that week, to try and kick it off. We were very happy about how things went off. So, A, I didn’t lose $80,000, like I did when I did my electro clash festival. We probably spent about five or six thousand to do the whole festival and got all the clubs involved to help pay for the event.
CP: How about this year?
For this next year, we already have somebody working to get us sponsors because it’s totally unbranded so it creates an opportunity for someone to jump in and give us some money. If you were looking ahead to the fall, what would you say would be the best act to have? Just imagining ahead to the fall. The chances are we aren’t going to get Justice, unless we’re doing Coachella. We’re not Coachella yet. So that’s one of our hopes and goals. We hope to do something as cool as Coachella, but in New York. This year we want to try and bring as much attention to the event as possible, so we have to try and tie in some act that would make everybody say, “Oh God, I gotta go to that.” We’re trying to think out of the box. What we might do is get Perez Hilton to come out and curate it and bring in the electronic acts that he likes. And then we can maybe get one of the ‘oh of course’ guys, like a live show by Digitalism, or The Teenagers. That’s about as good as you’re gonna’ get for a group that’s about to break out. The trick is trying to find out what’s going to be the next break out hit of the year.
CP: So you’re going to be doing some predicting as far as your lineup goes?
Larry Tee: Yea you have to do some predicting as far as whose going to break out this year. In the electroclash festivals, even in the first two years, I had Fischerspooner, Peaches, Chicks on Speed, Erol Alkan, James Murphy, Too Many DJs. The trick is to play buzz hunter for whose going to break out. I’m seeing a lot of action in the Baltimore area. A lot of their talent is starting to break out and that could cross over to R&B too. This year we’re definitely looking to put together a lineup that will make everyone go, “Woh!”
CP: Can you say something about yourself that people normally wouldn’t know?
Larry Tee: How about that I’ve been in recovery for ten and a half years. I haven’t had a drink or a drug in ten and a half years. I’m a real supporter for people that go to AA or NA if they need it. That’s one of the most genius things that you could do if you’re an artist. I have seen so many artists that I think have a lot of talent…just shoot themselves in the foot when it comes time for them to take it on to the next level.
CP: You seem to understand what’s going to be a hit as far as upcoming trends go, relating to music or fashion. What do you think is the next wave that’s coming in?
Larry Tee: Well as far as music goes, that’s kind of a hard one. I see dance music going funkier again after the super white electro and a lot of the disco punk started taking on the DFA style. I even see the DFA guys going a little funkier now. I’m seeing a lot of the acts in Europe that are really influential and are taking the big room dance out. The funky stuff like rap or Brazilian rap, just white guys talking, sounds really good over up-tempo beats. I think there are really gonna’ be some hits coming out of that. I’m seeing that certainly as the direction. Minimal is very non funky, and it doesn’t have a way to project personalities on top of it. I don’t think it’s going to have a big breakthrough here in America if I were to trend spot. I think it’s going to be hard for people to connect and know which cool minimal track they’re listening to. But I do like all the Baltimore and Brazilian stuff, and I do like some of the European groups like The Teenagers. They definitely have a good shot at breaking out.
CP: How about as far as fashion trend spotting goes?
Larry Tee: We’re in for another good five years of the hipster. Meaning skinny jeans and the rock clothing. I’m thinking that the hipster will morph into the hipster nerd pretty soon. That super cool is gonna’ go to a sterile kind of super cool, but dorky. So, what was that kind of like that indie college kid thing, will turn into the indie college kid cool dork. It’s still gonna’ be sort of the same thing with the skinny pants and the fun glasses.
CP: What are some of your favorites out there as far as fashion goes? What’s trendy for Larry Tee?
Larry Tee: Well, as far as I think I have terrible taste.
CP: Really?
Larry Tee: Well if you’re wanting to look good, I wouldn’t recommend following my fashion advice. If I dress to be silly and to be noticed as a DJ, it’s because everyone else is trying to be cool. For the kind of music that I do, there really is no pay off to try and be cool when you’re making songs like My Pussy. It doesn’t really work for what I’m doing. But then, not many people are doing what I’m doing. The whole gist of my latest collection is YouTube. The whole idea behind Club Badd, which is my latest collection, is to bring what was happening on YouTube, with the popularity of artists like Perez Hilton, Amanda Lepore and Princess Superstar. To me, what this whole collection is really about is a bunch of artists that are earning popularity on YouTube, and reaching the audience with making really fierce songs with unlikely artists.
CP: So in a way, YouTube was your muse for this album.
Larry Tee: Oh yes. YouTube was definitely my muse for this album. Even though I can’t say I’ve really seen so much, a lot of the acts on the album are gonna have videos. CD’s are not sexy. When you get a CD in the mail it’s not the same as when you used to get a record in the mail. To me, that’s why I headed in the direction I did with this collection.
CP: If you were afraid to be considered something what would it be?
Larry Tee: There aren’t too many things that I’m afraid to be considered. When it comes to reaching people with my music I can’t say that I’m afraid to be considered anything. If a company wanted to take ‘Licky’ and felt that it would reach more people in a trance version I would be ok with it. Because really the key these days is not so much that artistic integrity thing. For any artist, artistic integrity is to reach as many people as you can with your aesthetic. So there are not too many things that I would be afraid to be. I don’t care if people think I’m straight or gay, or if I’m a sell-out.
CP: I’m gonna throw some words at you and I want you to give me back a short description of what it means to you or how you would define it.
Larry Tee: Ok.
CP: First word: indie.
Larry Tee: A subsidiary to the majors.
CP: Hipster.
Larry Tee: I’m all for it. Two thumbs up. I mean, I rather be hip than not hip if everybody’s doing it.
CP: Skinny jeans.
Larry Tee: Good for tall and thin people.
CP: What about for the shorter types?
Larry Tee: I’m thinking that parachute pants are the next big thing.
CP: Music.
Larry Tee: It’s important.
CP: Pop.
Larry Tee: I think that all underground music should have a chance to go pop.
CP: Miami.
Larry Tee: Sun tanning.
CP: Brooklyn.
Larry Tee: The best place in America for me.
CP: Any last words for your fans on Clubplanet?
Larry Tee: You can write it and make it sound really sexy!
CP: How about I just type that in?
Larry Tee: Sure.
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For more on Larry Tee, check out his MySpace page at www.myspace.com/nylarrytee.