Rennie Foster: "Buying a computer and making a track does not make you a producer..."

For all of the bullshit that seems to pervade the contemporary electronic music scene, it’s easy to forget that a host of artists are still involved for the right reasons. One such man is Rennie Foster, and in spite of the fact that the Canadian has perked up on some of the industry’s leading labels, it’s telling that even he doesn’t consider himself a ‘producer’ of music. Foster’s modesty aside, there’s no doubting the potency of his wide body of work, and it’s an output that tends to revolve around a vehemently discerning house music agenda. With his latest EP, the brilliant Childish Things, still earning repeated airtime from all of us here, we decided to check in with the man himself to talk parenthood, Japan and past successes…

I want to start by asking about Devil's Water, a track that opened up a lot of doors for you. Did you have any idea at the time how pivotal the track would become to your career?

Actually, I was more surprised at how many doors the popularity of that track DIDN'T open. It really taught me a lot about the dance music industry actually. It was great to see youtube videos of DJs like Sasha, James Holden and Zabiela playing it to thousands of people at the world's best clubs and festivals, however, those clubs and festival's remained off limits for me as an artist, and that record's popularity pointed in their direction, not mine. It's a shame really because "Devil's Water' is just a peek at what I really have to offer as an artist and DJ. I am grateful that I was able to touch a lot of people with that song, and the feedback I have received from it, over the recent years since, has been rewarding. However, in terms of the music industry, like real artist support or bookings, not a lot of "doors" were actually opened for my music as a result. I have still never played with any of those DJs that made that record so "big" apparently. As it is now, I play mostly small clubs with working class DJs and real underground folks, I do a few large festivals in the summer, and travel modestly. It is what it is.

How long were you producing at that stage? And how do you look back on the track now? Fondly? Or would you never play it again?

I don't think of myself as a "producer". To me, Quincy Jones is a producer. That title has really been de-valued I think with the ease that people adapt it as their identity. Buying a computer and making a track does not make you a "producer", to me anyway. I realize the meaning has changed now in popular culture, but I still can't claim that title easily, I respect the lineage of the craft too much. I am just a creator, a musician and DJ. I have been making music in some way or another since I was a child. Or drawing, painting, rapping, breakdancing... it's all been part of the same process for me. Making art and just living creatively. As for "Devil's Water", I play it when I feel like playing it, it is still one of my works, no different to me than the ones people choose not to make a big deal about. I love it and play it, but I would love it and play it if it wasn't popular too.

I don't think of myself as a "producer". To me, Quincy Jones is a producer. That title has really been de-valued I think with the ease that people adapt it as their identity...You've had a lot of aliases over the years, so what's it mean to be producing under your own name again? How did those other EPs differ from the Rennie Foster releases?

The "Futago Technologies" material started as a collaboration that I ended up doing most of the creative work for. It was an experiment really in defining a specific sound, the fusion of "tribal" African, Okinawan, and other traditional folk influenced music, and different aspects of underground dance music, dominantly Detroit techno and raw, jacking, house trax. Hence the label name "Futago Traxx". Futago means "twins" in Japanese, I have twin girls, and my former business partner is also a father of twins. He eventually decided to leave the music game all together, for reasons still unclear to me and others. I am planning to re-release some of the Futago Traxx and Futago Technologies material that I created on my own, under my own name, as part of the new "RF" label project, later this summer.

And where are you at now in terms of your production techniques? Are you a pretty confident producer these days? Or are you still searching for the perfect beat as they say?

I am confident in the studio, and have a solid workflow and methodology, but I am still always trying to learn, and experimenting with new tools and techniques. I hear other creator's records and wonder how they achieved that. I am a music fan firstly, and my music is full of influence and reference. I have a very "hip-hop" background, I was raised in that culture, so I sample more than the average "techno" artist, whatever that means these days, but I also don't "bite", so I value uniqueness and originality, but my focus may be on that in a different way than many modern house music and techno creators.

And what was your earliest introduction to electronic music?

In the early 80s I was into breakdancing, like many kids. An older instructor, who was a DJ, gave me and a friend some mix tapes to practice to. It was that point that really ignited the spark in me. Those early records, like Cybotron, Kraftwerk, Bambaataa, as well as the "new wave" synth sounds of the time, really stuck with me, even during my time within more "rap" focused hip-hop, so the early sounds coming from Chicago and making their way onto New York mix-tapes was a natural attraction to me. "Hip-House" wasn't a phenomenon to me, it was a perfectly natural thing that I understood as soon as I heard it. It was really who I was already. So house music has been the driving force in my life since the late 80s.

You've released on a host of Detroit labels. What is it about Detroit house music that so appealed to you way back when?

Well, one of my DJ mentors, who has since passed away, Brent Carmichael, introduced me to a DJ from Detroit by the name of Drivetrain, Derrick Thompson. He released my third piece of vinyl in 2002, a track called "Monochasm" on his label, Soiree. From that release I started to connect with many Detroit cats, and I think my music just vibes with what they were into and we naturally had a similar approach to music.

It wasn't a calculated thing, I didn't consider what I was doing "Detroit" style, but as the awareness for my music grew in that area, opportunities were presented to me, and I made friends with folks like DJ 3000, Aaron Carl, Claude Young, Gary Martin, Gerald Mitchell and Derrick May. I am a little, white, b-boy dude from Western Canada, so I am not sure exactly how it came to be that I would release for labels like Transmat and Subject Detroit. It may be my long relationship to black music subculture and involvement with "pre- rave" electronic music that drew me in that direction?. I have a raw, "un-produced", slightly "weirder" sort of vibe to my tracks maybe, so perhaps it vibes more with that area than the typical European industry, maybe?. I'm also really adverse to pretentiousness, and have a grass roots, DIY sort of mind-set. I keep sh*t pretty real, you could say, and tend to get a long with people who are also like that. It has been a very organic relationship, and lots of mutual respect. I want to add that it is not a "way back when" type situation, I continue to be inspired and surprised by the talent and creativity that flows from that city and the extended scene surrounding it.

Actually you would be surprised at the creative people who have come out of my little home town, Cobblestone Jazz, Mathew Johnson, The Mole, Noah Pred, HRDVSION, etc...You were born and raised in British Columbia. Was it a good place to grow up for house and techno music? And in general?

Actually you would be surprised at the creative people who have come out of my little home town, Cobblestone Jazz, Mathew Johnson, The Mole, Noah Pred, HRDVSION, etc. I think it was a really good place, in retrospect. The 90s there was really a bustling scene and the club night I DJed at, in the early part of the decade, really was wicked. There is another club there, called Rumors, or until recently, Hush, that has been a cornerstone for me, in terms of what I am as a DJ.

I think the hardest part was when I was finally releasing records and getting going with my music, I experienced a sort of indifference that really stung in some ways. Other artists experience it too, which is one of the reasons they all leave I think... I am quite sure this is not unique to only that area though, many artists in my circle of peers have felt the need to move away from home in order to make a go of it. Perhaps that is another reason I related to the more underground, underdog contingent of the Detroit music industry. I am always a bit of an underdog, no matter where I live really, I think true artists often are.

I believe you resided in Japan until recently. What prompted the move?

The move back to BC? Many things. One major thing that most people don't know about me, is that I am a single father of two incredible twin girls, now 14 years old. I have raised them by myself since they were toddlers. Their mother is Japanese, and I first went to Japan in hopes of making a somewhat normal family out of an "unusual" situation. That didn't work out. I became, as you may know, very involved with the music and club industry there, and stayed.

My children, born in Canada, became to know their Japanese heritage, and language, and did their whole elementary school there. However, it can be hard to be a foreigner there, alone, with two kids and trying to build a career in dance music. My kids made it fun though, and easy, they really are remarkable. we have been on such a journey together.

Now is the time in that journey to come back, to know their grandmother more, and do high school in this part of their culture. Me too, I just felt it was time not to live in Japan. I also work for a great company, macProVideo, and AskVideo, that many will know from their long time domination of the audio software tutorial game.

I do AR, and various other creative things with them, and have been working friends with the CEO of this company, a former club/rave promoter, for many many years.

What is it about the Japanese culture that you so admire? What were the biggest challenges facing you when you first moved over? Language? Culture?

Well, like any culture I would imagine, there is much more to Japanese culture than the stereotypes on the surface. So I am not sure "admire" is exactly the word I would use here. Although there is certainly many aspects I do admire greatly. One thing that fascinated me with the coexistence of ultra modernism alongside absolutely ancient. This pertains to everything in Japan from the landscape and architecture, technology, to the social attitude, to the individual state of mind. Think of the Chinese Yin and Yang symbol, and imagine that Yin represents tradition and conservatism, the other Yang represents "cutting edge" or "futurism", that is the tension of Japan to me, it can be stifling, and also inspiring. I can say, with certainty, that my many years there has greatly effected who I am as a person, and I feel like "fitting in" now in Canada is just as tough as it was in Japan in many ways, although I may not look like a "gaijin" here, I feel like one. The challenges I faced living in Japan, are different than the challenges I face moving back after a decade, however both situations are based in balancing my own individual ethics and common sense, with social expectations.

As an artist, how did the move effect you?

Well, the move back to Canada has certainly resulted in less gigs for a while. Although that has started to pick up with some club residencies taking shape and playing some high profile regional festivals like Basscoast and Rifflandia...

It may have taken some time for N.American promoters to know I am around. "Hey everybody, I am over here now!" I am grateful for that "down time" in a way though, because it has allowed me the studio time necessary to really focus on what's next for me as a recording artist and lay the groundwork for my new label, "RF".

I also wanted to ask about your latest EP, the brilliant Childish Things. Were your kids the inspiration behind it?

Actually, yes and no. I initially started the title track after I had scolded my daughter Dahlia for some misbehaviour, and felt sad about it. We are very close, my children and I, so feeling any kind of rift between us can be emotional, hence the melancholy vibe of the melody.

But that is not where the title, or the theme of the EP comes from. The trumpet playing, on both "Childish Things" and "Traders" is by Alfons Fear, who happens to be the brother of one of best friends and artistic mentors, the celebrated graffiti artist Hans Fear. Hans tragically suffered greatly from mental illness, and took his own life some years ago.

Then in 2012, our mutual dear friend and graffiti artist, "Jamer" Lindsay, died tragically as well. It was memories of my first, and perhaps most inspired and pure, artistic efforts, by the side of Jamer and Hans, that inspired the theme of this EP. You can hear the love, sadness, and joy, in the musical communication between Alfons and I, as we both remember the childish things that shaped the men we are.

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And can we expect you to be delivering the goods any time again soon on your label? Or what else can we expect?

Oh yes. "RF" will serve as a platform to release a lot of work. I plan to "re-release", digitally, some of my past work that has been only available on vinyl until now, as well I have reaquired the rights to some of my past material released on other labels, and will be releasing some of the strongest work under this new banner.

There will also be a lot of new material being released alongside this simultaneously. The label is focused on my own work, and remixers include artists such Amir Alexander, Mark Archer, Samuel Session, Santiago Salazar, Nubian Mindz, Jay Tripwire, etc. It will be a busy year for "RF", so please keep an eye on us. I am also dropping some music on Soiree, Detroit, a label from Seattle called "Viva", a local label "Deepen", Noah Pred's Thoughtless Music and trying to find the right b-side for a single "Floatilla" on Derrick May's legendary Transmat label. Among other things.

Finally, what's next for Rennie Foster?

I have some new Eps planned, and will drop a full length album "Tracks and Fields" in the fall. I never know what is around the corner. I will just keep doing the best I can with the opportunities I encounter, and continue to make the music that I want to make. The new label is my focus right now. Much respect to all those who have supported my efforts, I appreciate it a lot, this interview included. Domo Arigato.