Exclusive Interview: Craig DeGraff

Craig DeGraff is the man behind the fantastic Future Retro album and here is Home’s exclusive interview with him. Craig talks about his thoughts on Future Retro, Depeche Mode, and much more!

What were some of the main inspirations that made you want to put this collection together?

The idea for Future Retro mostly came out of my love for classic alternative ’80s artists and dance music. One of the first compilations I produced for Rhino was called Machine Soul. It was a historical overview of electronic music from 1978-2000 with artists like Kraftwerk, Depeche, O.M.D., KLF, The Prodigy, etc. Once that came out I started planning a more ambitious project – trying to take classic songs and modernize them. I’d heard enough cheesy tranced-out ’80s remakes so I wanted the original artists to be involved and approve of the project.

Once you got the clearance to make the album, what were some of the biggest challenges to get it done and out there?

That’s a great question. I’ve commissioned remixes for current artists before but dealing with catalog proved to be a whole new ball game. The first thing I did was to make a wish list of artists and remixers I wanted on the album. Our legal team had to research our rights for doing new mixes and such. Once I got the green light from them I approached the individual artists to gauge interest. At the same time I started reaching out to producers to see who they would be interested in remixing. This ultimately meant dealing with 28 separate entities on this release. Fortunately there was overwhelming enthusiasm from almost everyone. After I had a rough list of who would remix what we started pulling the multi-track tapes. This proved to be a bit of a challenge as several of the tapes couldn’t be located. So after a bit of reshuffling the remixers did their thing and turned in some great mixes. I had to then get final signoff from the original bands, solidify the track list & artwork, help figure out a marketing plan and other fun label stuff. From the initial project approval stage to release took about 21 months!

Why do you feel that so many current DJs and producers are so connected to these bands and the music they pioneered?

The DJs and producers today grew up on these artists and probably played a part in them actually becoming musicians. Bands like New Order and Depeche Mode were pioneers in bringing electro-pop to the mainstream. Without them (and many others obviously) there could very well be a world without house, techno, electro, breaks, etc. I enjoy going back listening to a lot of these older songs and hearing how well they hold up with current dance tunes – they all were well ahead of their time.

I always find it odd when fans of classic new wave and alternative don’t see the connection and influence that its sound had on current electronic/club music when those were the bands that helped bring this sound to the mainstream. Aside from putting out updated mixes, did you also want to document the progression and connection of the music on a certain level?

I think it’s easier to document that musical progression on an anthology where you can have a definite start and end points. I tried to pick current producers that I knew loved the originals and would do these remixes with respect and admiration for the songs they were working with.

Were there any songs that you wanted to use that you couldn’t get cleared?

Yes, there were a few other bands that unfortunately couldn’t get cleared in time. Ultimately we ended up with more than enough material (hence the alternate mixes on the vinyl) and I didn’t want to cut anything that had already been done.

How important was it to have a song from Depeche Mode included and were they pretty open to the idea? Any challenges there?

In my mind there was always a holy quartet – Depeche Mode, The Cure, New Order & The Smiths – of bands that needed to be included. Robert Smith was one of the first artists to show interest and was extremely friendly and supportive from the start. I had worked some with New Order on Retro and International and had a good relationship with them. There had been quite a few new mixes done of their tracks and they were very open to the idea of a Bizarre Love Triangle mix. Morrissey has always been one of my heroes and I know (well what I read in the press anyway) about how he loathes dance music and remixes. I felt the only way he’d go for it would be to have one of his idols do the remixing. I’m also a big Sparks fan and was delighted that they were into it. When Morrissey heard the finished “reconstruction” he said he felt it should be released as a single.

Depeche Mode was the last band to agree to the compilation. I knew that I’d have one shot with the mix – it had to be the right song and the right remixer. They are very particular about their mixes and rightfully so.

Was “Shake The Disease” your original song choice or was this mix already something the band had and offered up for the collection?

Before contacting the band I wanted to see what songs would be easily available. I had a list of what tapes were in the vault, which was limited to six songs. The rest of the original tapes were in the UK and I knew it could take awhile to get them. It was fortunate that one of the six songs was Shake The Disease. That has always been one of my favorite Mode songs and it hadn’t been touched since 1985. Of course there are probably two-dozen other songs I would’ve loved (Strangelove, Dangerous & But Not Tonight to name a few).

Can you tell us a little about how Tiga was commissioned to remix and do you think this remix lead to him remixing “Suffer Well” at all?

On my wish list I had Tiga remixing Depeche from day one. I’m a huge fan of songs like “Pleasure From The Bass” and his cover of “Louder Than A Bomb” and felt that he would fit their remixer profile perfectly. Tiga is a huge DM fan as well and was thrilled to do the mix – when it was finished he threw it on at a club in San Francisco for me to hear and it sounded amazing. I do think this mix led to the Suffer Well mix – Fletch mentioned that Tiga came up to him at Heathrow shortly after the Shake The Disease mix had been approved and Fletch told him how much the band loved it. That was back in early 2005 so…

The vinyl version of Future Retro has 2 exclusive mixes for New Order and Yaz, why not Depeche Mode? Is that something you wanted to do?

I wanted to do another more up-tempo mix but due to budget and time constraints we didn’t. I was honestly happy to have the one! Since the album was released there has been another mix done which hopefully will be promo’d in the future…

I would think putting together a collection like this must be rewarding, but putting one together with an exclusive Depeche Mode mix is quite impressive. Is there any one thing you are most proud of this album? Anything you would change?

At the end of the day, the most rewarding thing is when I see a comment about the CD on a website or on-line store with someone saying they love this mix or that mix and knowing that I played a part in it. Working with all of the artists involved was quite thrilling as well – it was a bit surreal to deal with artists of this caliber at the same time.

There are a ton of remixers I’d love to use if there is another volume on the horizon. Black Strobe, Phones, Whitey, Tiefschwarz, Ellen Allien, Booka Shade, the list goes on. I’d probably like to take a darker, more underground approach next time.

How has the feedback from fans of the other bands on the album been? I would have to assume the Cure fans, for example, are pleased to see Infusion make a new exclusive mix for “The Walk”?

It’s been great. I think the biggest reaction has come from the Morrissey remix. It seems like fans either love it or hate it. The Cure mix has gone over really well. The INXS mix peaked at #16 on the Billboard dance charts and there has been good radio play on the Yaz and Nowhere Girl mixes. At the Winter Music Conference in Miami Peter Hook threw on the Crystal Method mix of “Bizarre Love Triangle” during a DJ set – that was pretty cool.

Can we look forward to a Volume 2 of Future Retro and are there other projects you are working on?

Right now the main project I’m working on is the new Pet Shop Boys record Fundamental. We will be releasing it in the U.S. on June 27th and I’m very excited about that. I’m also wrapping up a best of Electronic with help from the band – that should be out late summer/early fall. We’ve got the Depeche Mode catalog reissues coming up as well (and I’m confident the U.S. releases will mirror the international dates on the next batch) – the video documentaries are amazing on those. There are loads of projects I’d love to work on (including another volume of Future Retro)…I’m just fortunate that our label deals with such incredible artists with great catalogs!

As a big fan of the collection and especially Tiga’s mix for “Shake The Disease”, I just want to thank you for getting this out there and look forward to more.

Thank you as well – keep up the good work with the site.

For More Information on Future Retro and other Rhino releases, please go to:

www.rhino.com

Interview by Element. (C) Home. Do not steal this article without giving full credit and a link! Photo appears courtesy of Rhino.

Look for your chance to win copies of Future Retro from Home in the next few days. We will be giving away copies of the CD, Vinyl, and a Grand Prize Winner will win not only the CD and vinyl, but also a watermarked promo 2 disc version of Future Retro as well! Keep watching the site for more details soon!