Five Minutes: Red Greg

A series of personal interviews with our artists about club memories, favourite setups, recent finds or dream DJ sets. All within five minutes.

Red Greg aka Darren Griffiths is a veteran of the London scene ever since his first blues parties in the 80s. Growing an impressive collection of Rare Groove, Disco and more worldwide gems. Highly respected amongst his peers and some may know him through his close connection with Melodies International and b2bs with Sam Shepherd aka Floating Points. For our first edition, Darren tells us about playing acid parties in the early years, records from Florida and catching Earth, Wind & Fire live.

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What is your fondest memory of a DJ set and why?

So many fond memories from over the years but one that springs to mind, was an acid house party back in 1988. It was a local gig in a disused sauna in east London, the place was completely blacked out with just strobes and it was a complete sweat box. It was the first time I played acid all night and was at the peak of the short lived scene, so just a lot of fun. 

"It was a local gig in a disused sauna in east London,
the place was completely blacked out with just strobes and it was a complete sweat box. It was the first time I played acid all night"
 

Is there a certain way you like to evolve your sets?

It all depends on the gig, I enjoy playing longer sets because you have space to move around musically but standard sets are 2 hours. So, I try to reset and play something different from the previous DJ or change the tempo, which gets people’s attention and then move through slightly different styles building it to suit the room. I guess the main thing is flow, consistency and of course selecting the right records to achieve that.

"I enjoy playing longer sets because you have space to move around musically"

Can you tell us about 3-5 recent in-person record discoveries of yours and maybe some details on how you found them?

I’m actually enjoying re-discovering a couple of these albums, that I picked up over the past few days in Florida. I rarely see these sort of records around Europe. There was a couple of nice tracks on Clarence Smith and Pretty Purdie albums, so they were new discoveries for me.

Is there a type of selection DJ set you always wanted to do and were never asked? Or this could be a type of music you would like to play out more?

I generally play the latest records I’ve picked up, so never really thought about playing a specific sound outside of what I play. I still like the original US garage sound from the 80s and 90s, so it could be nice to play the occasional house set. So many people think I only play disco but in the 80s, I’d play, house, hip hop, steppers, reggae, acid, jazz funk, street soul, funk, boogie, techno, disco and the odd bit of pop.

What is your preferred set-up?
I mostly play records and like them to be heard the way they were recorded, not looped or with annoying delays. So a super basic set-up. Technics 1210mk2’s and an E&S DJR400, I find it’s the most comfortable rotary mixer and I like the fact you can use one hand to mix, which is pretty essential when playing music that requires a lot of pitch bending for blending.
 

"So many people think I only play disco but in the 80s, I’d play, house, hip hop, steppers, reggae, acid, jazz funk, street soul, funk, boogie, techno, disco and the odd bit of pop" 

Do you get to see live music apart of your dj gigs and if so, what was your last great live memory or -ies?
I don’t get to see enough live music, as weekends are usually busy and if not busy, it’s nice to relax but I caught Earth, Wind & Fire earlier this year and they put on a great show and it was great to see my mum dancing and having a sing a long. The Pointer Sisters were amazing too, they took it to church, which really highlighted the vocals. Last but not least Chocolate Milk! They were one of my favourites in recent years.

Is there any stuff from the J.A.W Family crew you’ve enjoyed recently?
I must say the J.A.W Family Reunion party in Berlin was extremely enjoyable, it was really sad to go home, despite being there for 3-days. Could you make it a week long summer festival, thank you!