Underground tech house hero Actress has revealed that he’s currently working on a new record. The South Norwood-based DJ/producer (aka Darren Cunningham), whose November 2008 album ‘Hazyville’ became a word of mouth sensation, has signed a deal for his forthcoming long-player with one of his favourite labels.
“I’ve signed a deal with Honest Jons, who’ll be putting out the next album,” unveiled Cunningham. “I appreciate where they’re coming from — I really like the last few releases they’ve put out, from the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, to Carl Craig and Moritz Von Oswald’s album. My next record is going to be slightly different.”
Actress’s debut album and clutch of remixes for Alex Smoke and Various Productions have marked him as one of the most singular — and interesting — artists to emerge in UK house music circles in years. Taking the Atlantis-deep disco tech of artists like Moodymann and Theo Parrish as his first point of reference, Cunningham’s cuts have a uniquely London flavour, submerged in blurry, smudged sonics that conjure as much atmosphere as they do danceability.
“As well as the Detroit guys, people like DJ Pierre, Virgo, Gemini and Green Velvet are all influences. But there are also things like Prodigy, and Daft Punk, Quincy Jones, Sam Cooke, Aretha Franklin, all of those in terms of the texture of the sound and the emotion. I love songs, it’s not just about electronic music for me. But I am quite demented at the same time, quite random, so when you mix all that together it can be quite an interesting experience.
“I smoke a lot of weed so really my sound is going to be quite blurred out and that’s how I like it,” Cunningham explained. “But in terms of ‘Hazyville’, it was called that because that was where I was at that moment in time. There were a lot of restrictions on ‘Hazyville’ that shaped the record but my newer stuff has drifted in a different direction.”
Actress’s own influence extends beyond his productions: alongside Gavin Weale, he runs Werk Discs, whose recent run of releases from Lukid, Disrupt and most famously, Zomby’s ‘Where Were You In ’92?’ album have made it one of the hippest and most collectable labels in the land. More a musical hothouse than a typical imprint, Cunningham allows his artists free rein.
“Werk doesn’t run like a conventional label. We’ve got artists who have the opportunity, a canvas, to put some work on. I don’t tie any of my artists exclusively to Werk, they’re free to work with other labels.
“Our next big release is from Lone, who’s doing his album ‘Ecstasy and Friends’, it’s amazing. People will compare it to Boards Of Canada but it’s a lot more washed out and woozy. It’s heading back towards the ’80s sensibility, very slick.”
Beyond his album, Actress has several other new projects in the works. A collaborative EP with dubstep enigma Zomby, entitled ‘Paint, Straw And Bubbles’ and remixes of Anthony ‘Shake’ Shakir’s classic ‘Arise’ arrive shortly; in the meantime, get acquainted with ‘Hazyville’ and find out why Actress ain’t playing…
Actress Essentials
‘Hazyville’ (Werk)
Like Theo Parrish heard through a gauzy London ganja smog: funky, atmospheric and otherworldly.
‘Ghosts Have A Heaven’ (Prime Numbers)
Exclusive track for Trus’ Me’s excellent label and further proof that no one is doing that trippy disco tech quite like Actress.
Tom Trago ‘Lost In The Streets Of NYC (Actress Remix)’ (Rush Hour Recordings)
His latest re-lick, this speedy techno number is old skool, granite tough fast Detroit rawness, peppered with strange soulful samples.
