Interviews
One Man & His Dog - Interview With House-Trained Label Boss Phil Loraine
By Mostwantedkat
Jan 29, 2008 - 11:39:52 AM

Is it my imagination or is there a dog on the dance floor?? No, your eyes do not deceive you, there is indeed a new dog in town and to be fair he’s about to drop some severe shit – of the musical variety party people >;)

New label House-Trained launches with a stunning party at London’s hottest little club, The Island on Saturday Fe bruary 16^th. This summer will see them drop the mother of all remixes of DJ Disciple’s 2007 Miami WMC and Ibiza smash hit ‘Work It Out’. With Disciple flying in from NYC to spin at the party, plus Manchester duo and production whizzkids Audiowhores, Raymundo Rodriguez, Shoom’s Steve Proctor, the Layabouts and Phil Loraine & Stu Hall, it’s categorically going to go off the wall.

We caught up with the brains and the obvious beauty behind the whole shebang, Phil Loraine. A veteran of the music industry, Phil’s worked for the likes of Mercury Records, Manifesto and Serious Records before taking on the challenge of building his own imprint under the House-Trained moniker. Not only is he getting together with the likes of DJ Disciple but he’s also on the look-out for hot new talent, both DJs and producers, to work with, nurture and break out onto the market.

To find out more about the man, his label, whether you could be a part of it (including how Hillary Clinton helps Phil get his groove on – mmmhmm!) read on my friend…

So Phil you’re the brains behind House-Trained. Tell us more about the label and what you intend to do with it.

To be honest, that question is a potential banana skin for a label that has yet to release a record! I certainly have some ideas about what I would like to happen but I’m experienced enough to know that things will probably end up looking very different to how I had intended in a year’s time. Actions speak louder than words, so I just want to get a few records out and let things develop organically.

What’s your label philosophy?

Well the accompanying slogan for the House-Trained club night has always been ‘No shit on the dancefloor’ so we’re going to do our best to carry that philosophy over into the activities of the label. I can’t start banging on about only releasing quality records though, because I will only set myself up for a mauling from the purists! There will always be someone out there who is critical of what you are doing, so the strapline is a bit tongue in cheek really, but it’s a nice ideal for us to strive towards.

What kind of sounds can we expect to come from the label? What influences do you look to or are you going to do something completely fresh and new?

It very much depends what kind of tracks become available to us. It would be futile to pigeon-hole the label by saying we’re only going to be loyal to one particular brand of house music because the scene re-invents itself so frequently now that we would almost certainly be left with egg on our faces. We just want to take each release on its own merits and see what develops. That said, it would be nice to have the opportunity to find the next big dance act like Orbital or The Chems and conquer the global festival circuit, but those kind of quality dance artists are few and far between these days.

The label comes off the back of your earlier parties which started up in 2004. You had some seriously hot DJs playing there – Mylo, Terry Farley, Bill Brewster, Steve Proctor. How do you think your new night at the Island will compare with the original?

Like most underground club nights, the original parties were only ever intended as an excuse to get all our mates together under one roof and have a spectacular blow out. Not much has changed since then, except that the majority of my mates are now married with children and we need a new set of punters! Joking aside, the Island is a far more polished club than the venues we previously chose, so with the Function One sound system to support the cali bre of the DJs we select, hopefully the nights will smack of quality whilst continuing to be supported by friendly, like-minded people who we can get to know and love.

You’ve got some seriously big backing for the label from Universal Music. What freedom and flexibility has that given you, or has it?

I have plenty of flexibility now which is good but it hasn’t always been that way. I started working at Universal seven years ago, initially for Giles Peterson’s label Talkin’ Loud and Def Jam in the early days. There were some management changes around the time that Talkin’ Loud went down and the company I was at (Mercury Records) started to move away from underground music and become more bands focused. Manifesto and Serious Records were also put to the sword during this era. Back then I was gutted about this switch of direction and I have had to wait patiently for a few years for this opportunity to get my ideas heard. Now I am in a different place all together and I am extremely grateful to the people I am working with for granting me the creative freedom to develop House-Trained into something bigger. So far, it has been a fantastic experience and hopefully this is just the beginning.

Will we be seeing any Girls Aloud vocals on forthcoming House-Trained releases seeing as they’re also with Universal?

Oh dear… believe it or not, my brother heads up their label so I should be careful how I answer this. The girls were actually in the canteen a few weeks ago so I seized the opportunity to give them all pink ‘House-Trained’ t-shirts. Celebrity endorsement is all good by me but in terms of musical direction, I can only say the words chalk and cheese spring to mind!

You’re playing at the label launch night on Feb 16^th but you eased yourself back into it all at the last ever Friday at The Cross. How was it for you?

Yeah, I took a much needed break from the party scene and from DJ’ing last year and stopped accepting some of the tiring, soul-destroying gigs I was being offered. After fifteen years of relentless attachment to the club scene I was basically burnt out, so I took a step back and made the time to evaluate where I was trying to get to. So it’s nice to be back behind the decks again after a period of relentless grafting and the excitement and buzz of it all is slowly returning. I was probably sadder to see The Cross go than I was excited about getting to play there, but I am extremely pleased to have had that opportunity to do so. I spent many a lost night in there in my twenties and the fact that I left it so late to get a booking made the experience all the more memorable. It was nice to get my DJ partner Stu on board for that one too, I think he enjoyed it more than I did!

Times they are definitely a-changing in the world of house, and dance music in general. How are you going to ensure that House-Trained manages to stick out in an increasingly turbulent market?

I think the secret lies in not trying to make it stick out really. Attraction rather than promotion is the core philosophy to building a successful club brand these days, the younger punters are far more marketing savvy than we give them credit for, particularly in London where there is so much noise to compete against. Hopefully our events will continue to attract more of the down-to-earth, fun-loving people that the early parties did and word of mouth will do the rest.

What is your personal experience in the music industry?

I have had mixed feelings about the industry as a whole over the years and the broad spectrum of strong-minded characters I have come across along the way, but looking back I wouldn’t change a thing about the path I have taken. My experience is that you need to develop a thick skin, which took a while for me, but only then do you become more accepting of the trickier people you encounter. In the end everyone has their foibles, me included and you learn to take something new from every experience. It’s going to sound very clichéd but passion and perseverance are essential requirements too. At eighteen, I was working in a meat factory in Liverpool and pumping my disposable income into buying records. I’m 32 now but I still feel that I have a hell of a long way to go to get to where I want to go. One year I had interviews at Azuli, Defected, Hed Kandi and EMI and got rejected from them all. Sometimes it felt like all the doors had closed on me but on reflection I am definitely happy that it happened that way, despite my obvious disappointment at the time.

Being the boss of your own record label, you must have to keep up to speed with all the changing formats of distribution and just generally getting your message out there to the buying public. What new areas have emerged in the last year or so that you want to tap into at the moment?

As much as I hate to say it, the whole Facebook phenomenon is a God send and seems to have moved club promotion into a whole new stratosphere - it’s an incredibly user-friendly tool for getting your message out to the right people.   I lived in Stoke-on-Trent for a few years and when I look back at the times I stood out on the street talking up my nights and handing out tapes and flyers in the pissing rain… it makes me sick to think how much easier it all is now! As for music distribution, I sometimes focus on the negative effects of the digital revolution a little too much, but there’s no denying the positive aspects are there for all to see, so we just have to embrace the change.

Do you think the whole digital era has been good or bad for music on the whole?

As I said, there are two sides to this argument and both have some very valid points. So far, many smaller companies have been unable to adapt to the new model to make it work for them and the period of change has caused so much turbulence for these people. It’s sad to see that side of things but there’s no denying the obvious advantages of being able to send and receive tracks in literally minutes and shop for tunes on-line etc. I still marvel at this side of things on a daily basis, though it has taken a while for me to adapt. I still like to use vinyl when I DJ but every time I play a broad, I have the ridiculousness of this stubborn resistance hammered home to me when humping my box through customs and around a foreign country!

In the last few months, three of the major distribution networks including Amato have gone under. How do you go about distributing your sound now?

It’s extremely sad to see how the distributors have been affected and the knock-on effect this is having on the shops and the labels that rely on them. There are still plenty of alternative ways to get your music distributed though, obviously digital being one of them, there are just fewer options now which can only be bad for everyone involved with making new music.

Speaking of your sound, it’s a pretty damn fierce release that you’re launching with the 2008 mixes of DJ Disciple’s massive stormer ‘Work It Out’. How did your relationship with him come about?

I’ve actually had very little interaction with Disciple so far, though that’s all about to change in the run up to the launch of the single and the club night. We signed the track from Alex Gold of Xtravaganza fame so the whole connection was initiated through him primarily.

What are the new mixes like and how do they differ from the original?

The original was actually a soulful house style mix by Gilbert Le Funk that blew up in Miami first time round. UK radio supported this version too at the time but it was really the Ruff & Tort mix which did the damage in Ibiza and in the UK clubs. I had heard it on pirate radio a few times, but when I saw the incredible reaction to it on Space Terrace one Saturday afternoon last summer, I knew it would be perfect for House-Trained and I had to try and locate it and sign it. The new Mischa Daniels mix is a huge electro-style re-work and there a number of other mixes in the pipeline that also do the damage whilst staying true to the original. It’s a fantastic record still and it deserves to go all the way.

Any plans to work with him further?

We are working on a track by track basis but ‘Changes’ was another huge anthem of last year and no doubt there will be more tracks in the pipeline from the Catch 22 stable in 2008. Disciple and Ruff and Tort are incredibly talented producers and I’m excited about their productions. For the moment, we’re just looking forward to having Disciple over for the launch party and witnessing him play for us in such an intimate environment. Usually I get nervous before any event I promote but with so many other great DJs on the night, I’m looking forward to this one enormously already!

Who else have you got in the studio at the moment?

We have about five releases lined up for the months ahead but no artists signed to the label exclusively or for album projects as yet. The main thing at the moment is for us to increase awareness and create a positive image, so hopefully we attract the right artists and the producers of the future to the label.

You’re on the look-out for new talent, artists and producers. What are you looking for and how can we get in touch with you?

We are actively on the look-out for new DJs, artists, tracks and talent. You can send us demo CDs via the address on our website ( www.house-trained.com ) but we are only a small outfit at present so we cannot guarantee everyone a response, though we do promise to listen to everything we are sent. Please only send material you think will befit the ‘House-Trained’ label though – we are not acting as A&R for any other labels within the Universal Group so please think before just sending us anything!!!

What resources and commitment can you offer them? What makes you different from the rest and why should they put their work and talent in your hands?

Ha ha... we are not making any promises to anyone other than the one I made in the last question to make an honest commitment to listen to everything we are sent. If you’ve ever seen the size of an A&R man’s mail bag, you will appreciate that is a tall order in itself!

In a perfect world, where would House-Trained be in five years time?

Obviously an Ibiza residency would be a dream come true for me, or alternatively a return to my beloved northern roots to become the next superclub brand to conquer Liverpool… move over James Barton! Ha ha… Failing that, I’d be grateful if I still have my health, my happiness and my hand in a scene that has so far had a detrimental effect on the former but an immeasurably heartening effect on the latter.

Describe yourself:

Humble, hostile, loving, respectful, honest, hard-working and unstable. A well-mannered acid casualty for short.

Perfect DJ and why?

All back to ours for a 24 hour after party and find out for yourself!

What do you think will be in heaven and hell?

Me and my dream partner in heaven; hell for the vast majority of my exes.

What are your thoughts on Hillary Clinton?

Hillary Clinton is someone I only ever think about when I’m in the throes of passion and want to enhance the experience. I’m not going to describe those thoughts for you I’m afraid.

Gym freak or couch potato?

Both. One month on, one month off each the whole year round usually to ensure I never get particularly fond of either.

Best party you’ve ever been to and why?

I think it would have to be my first taste of Ibiza. We hired this enormous villa for dirt cheap and invited a boat load of randoms back one night for a totally unplanned party. There were people I didn’t know in every room but nothing got taken or broken, everyone just respected the situation for what it was. I just remember standing on this gigantic roof terrace at lunchtime the next day in the blazing sun, party still on-going and seeing all these strangers dotted around the pool and just laughing inwardly. I didn’t have a care in the world and naturally I fell in love with the island after that. The tunes that year were phenomenal too; it was the perfect Ibiza experience.

If you could do one thing to yourself, what would it be and why?

Halt the ageing process permanently. Not because I’m vain but because I’m bald enough already!

Good looking girls or funny girls?

Good looking, funny, intelligent girls who aren’t mental. Introduce me to one, let me sleep with her and then I’ll show you you were wrong.

Finally, tell us about your Dad on Bora Bora beach J

It was my Dad’s 71^st birthday on Friday and I’ve just spent the weekend with him; the guy’s a living legend and I idolise him. It just so happened he was in Ibiza with his mates last year when I went over, so I met up with him at Bora Bora and made him get amongst it. He’s got a metal knee these days but he’s still active and he’s completely young at heart. I got some great footage and pictures of him dancing and being talked into oblivion by all kinds of nutters, but I felt terrible when I played them back to him on UK soil. He said he had actually been ill with food poisoning that day but tolerated the whole thing almost entirely for my benefit. Fair play to him though, he was spinning stories to my mates all afternoon and he put that twat who dresses like Spiderman to shame! It was priceless looking back on it, though probably not something I will ever do again…