DJ Evil Eddie Richards

Evil Eddie Richards is a world class DJ and music producer, plus, founder of DY-NA-MIX, a remix, production, and booking agency that represents over 80 well known DJs and PAs internationally. He resides in Milton, Keynes in the UK, where he also keeps his main office.

First things first. How did you get your nickname "Evil" Eddie Richards?
I joined the Camden Palace, which was based around New York's Studio 54 layout in 1983 when it had just opened. The club was hosted by Steve Strange and mainly attracted New Romantic type bands and pop stars of the time such as Grace Jones, Yello, Spandau Ballet, Culture Club, etc... at one of the Halloween parties all of the staff, including the DJs, were given tags to rhyme with their names, evil went with Eddie and from then on I kept it.

When and where did you begin your journey into the "underground" house music culture?
The Camden Palace music policy was one of the newest, up front dance clubs in comparison to most clubs. It was "underground," but around 1987 warehouse parties were becoming popular, the Dirtbox, Shoom, and Clink St. were among the first. Clink St. became a regular spot for me for a few years.

What other parties were you playing then?
The first parties, this is one off events as opposed to regular weekly events in warehouses were Sunrise and Energy. They choose locations like film studios, equestrian centers, and aircraft hangars and brought in huge sound systems and lighting rigs. Within a few years the parties were pulling in up to 15,000 people through word of mouth.

When did you go international for the first time?
In 1987 I put together a simple acid track for Colin Favor to play on the then "pirate" radio station KISS FM, I had a call from Virgin Records, who released the track, and it went into the national top 20.

Are you still associated with Colin Favor, Mr. C, Kid Bachelor, Graeme Park, or any of the other DJs from back then?
All of those DJs are still involved in playing parties, I see them quite often.

You've traveled quite a bit and observed several parts of the world that have established house cultures. Having seen what you've seen, what direction do you see the movement going in as a whole?
Each region or country that I've been to has a scene that has developed in different ways. Germany has mainly hard machine style house, whereas Italy has a different sound altogether, France as only recently started an active scene.

Ok, let's talk about DY-NA-MIX, the booking agency you founded in 1990 in the UK. What inspired you to begin a company of this nature?
DY-NA-MIX started because of a bad experience using another booking agent that ripped off a promotion company I was involved with. To get DJs from then on I approached the individuals direct and offered to get additional bookings for them to keep our costs down. Things just grew!

In conclusion, do you have any projected visions for the future of the house music movement as a whole? And what contributions are you willing to make on a personal level?
Ideally I'd like to see house music become an international language helping to bring people together. Unfortunately, some people see it as a quick way to earn a buck, which can make one disillusioned at times. I don't have a mission or any kind of objective. I just enjoy playing deep, black, and new music and observing different people and cultures.

M Collins