Juno Daily: In The Mix & interview – Ritzi Lee: “When I’m playing I still feel like the kid”

by Juno Daily on 19.10.2022 at 12:24pm.
Last edited: 19.10.2022 at 14:40pm.

Dutch techno titan prepares us for the Amsterdam Dance Event

Celebrating the release of the third in his Negentropy series of 12″s this week, not to mention preparing for the Amsterdam Dance Event this weekend, Dutch techno titan Ritzi Lee somehow found time to treat us to a special hour long mix and give us some very in depth answers to some questions we put to him. What a legend….

What are your earliest musical memories – early listening, parents’ tastes etc, first instrument and embarrassing bands here please!

My earliest musical memory is a funny one. I was two years old and my father had a big vinyl collection of all kinds of music in the living room. I remember sitting on the floor pulling out one record, observing the cover, which was double sided full colored, and which you could open up like a double cover. Then there were the inner sleeves, and in there the vinyl records. I remember I was very much triggered by it, and it smelled great. You know the smell of vinyl and the cardboard. My father always took very good care of his record collection. However, at the end of that day he observed the living room floor fully covered with all the records and sleeves! I’ve made a mess, but I don’t remember anymore how everything was cleaned up again afterwards…

My dad’s early music taste was all about disco, rock, soul, rhythm & blues. My mother had similar tastes, but also was very much into country music. My father loved to play the guitar, and also played in an indie band in his younger years. My mother, when she was young, she had a big talent in singing, and could have pursuit a professional singing career. However, her late father prohibited this, because of his old-fashioned principles.

My parents always tried to motivate me to play an instrument, to go to music school or something similar. But I was never motivated to play an instrument. I’m a kid from the early MTV generation. It was actually the moment when I saw the video clips of early hip-hop DJs and all the mashups/mix-up showcases that got me triggered I also wanted to do that. That was the moment my search began to develop my own taste in music. It was 1989 /1990. I was 12. With very little resources I’ve started experimenting with overdubbing cassette tapes and playing with record players with no pitch. Because we couldn’t afford buying Technics SL’s. That was too far out of my reach, but a long time on my wish list. But my imagination had no limits.

Are there any particular nights or events that counted as ‘breakthrough’ moments for you?

I have to think back to my high school era. 1991 – 1997. I feel very lucky to have grown up in this period of time. I still remember one defining moment during Queensday in 1992. There was an outdoor stage, where they were playing house music nonstop. I remember how the DJ played in front of a full square. Looking around me I realized how many more people were so into house music and for me it was the first time at a real party. Love at first sight! That moment I’ve decided I want to be a DJ.

Because I was already visiting all the record shops in Amsterdam and listening everything that was possible to listen to, shops like Blackbeat (after that changed to Basic Beat), Rhythm Import, Outland records, Groove connection. These places played a big part of my musical development in electronic music, these places also gave me access into the early DJ scene / club scene. And I’ve made many friends. Some of them I still have contact with after all these years. I was introduced in the RoXY club and Chemistry at a very young age already. I had the chance to observe a thriving scene where DJ’s like Marcello and Dimitri were doing their thing every weekend. Outland records played a big part of provisioning new records to the Chemistry DJ’s, while Blackbeat was the source for all the music played in the RoXY. Knowing these things at a young age also gave a direction where to find those specific sounds if I was looking for something.

You’ve had a few ‘leg ups’ from a few people along your journey, care to give them their props here?

It’s crazy when you’re mentioning ‘your journey’. It sounds like a long road. Let me try. I want to thank my parents to allow me as a young kid making noise to experiment with music when I was living with them. I want to thank my record shop friends always providing me the rare records since 1992. A special thank you to Mario Manganelli from RILIS records for giving me directions at the time how to bring my music to the next level.

A special thanks to Dave Clarke for pushing my music since 2003 in all his DJ sets and on the radio. It opened a lot of doors for me. Same counts for Ben Sims his unconditional support on my music since the beginning. A big thank you to all the record labels that I had a chance to work with. And a special thanks to my girlfriend supporting me with everything and experiencing together with me all the ups and downs during this journey.

Tell us about the session you’ve recorded for us – what were you trying to achieve? Any advice for the listener on creating the right atmosphere for hearing it in full effect?

We are at a packed industrial warehouse location. It’s 4AM, and we’ve just finished listening to a great live-act. But now It’s time to push the limits on the dancefloor a bit more because the people want to dance. So, we start mental, building up tension before throwing in a big dark but straight beat to shake it up. At least that is what a DJ would do with a ‘techno rebel’ mindset. From there on we’ll flow into the morning hours.

You’re about to drop the third in the Negentropy 12″ series…. A quick Google tells us the concept of Negentropy was invented Erwin Schrödinger in 1943 and is the reverse concept of entropy, describing the order that can emerge from chaos… How does that idea link up with the music?

The Schrödinger equation expresses the concept of wave-particles. Where one or a system of particles can be expressed as a collection of possibilities how the system can be in a state of different mode configurations. Even though there is entropy where a process in nature is irreversible (like when you mix a colored fluent with water and you can’t separate the fluent from the water after mixing it), on an atomic/quantum level it’s just reconfigurations of the same type of systems. With advanced Fourier transformation it’s possible to find all the fundamental parts back. I had the idea to link the concept of physics with concepts of technological developments, where on that side things are pretty much deterministic. I’ve realized that each newer improvement is based on restructuring and optimization of previous ideas and architectures. Pretty much how all types of developments take place; talking about software development; cloud technology and so on.

I wondered if there was a way how to express this in a “techno music” way. During the COVID period I wrote a lot of tunes. Some intentional and some spontaneous. The so-called set of rules for making techno music is very suitable for expressing abstract concepts in science and technology. Which is the thinking part that has to work. Next to that there is a big part of what feeling or emotion a sound expresses. Rather subjective. However, it is in my opinion still an art form. Like painting. Each artist applies their own color pallets as tools to create / express something, using their feeling and mind. When I did the tracks for all the three parts of the Negentropy series I wanted to develop a story line about past, present and future. Taking in account all my observations and experiences when relating science and technology. From the track selection, sequencing, the track titles, EP names up to the graphical design for each part. In the end when all three parts are dropped you have a complete picture where all the little puzzle pieces fall together.

Your track ‘Upside Down’ is also surfacing on the Contaminated Culture EP – tell us about it…

Thanks for asking! Maybe you’ve noticed that the type of sound somewhat matches up with the tracks done on my Negentropy series. It was actually recorded during those sessions. I’ve recorded so many tunes around the time. I think during the COVID time it was like everything felt totally the opposite. Also talking about life. I remember I did this tune as an inspiration from all that, doing everything the opposite, production-wise. In a weird way the result sounded good. But the way how the mix was done is totally counter intuitive for my feeling.

I’m happy it found a home on the EP.

What else does the future hold for Ritzi Lee, from ADE this weekend to the long term?

Every year I really hope the best for the local scene. Many years to much attention is payed to only the big productions, setting it up with (on paper) the most iconic line-ups that you can find in all festivals. But it’s also the price we pay for ADE being the biggest (?) electronic music conference in the world. I still remember how ADE started in the early 90s in one conference building with just 2 rooms.

On the Saturday I will play at an event called “Amsterdam Techno Sessions”. The people behind the event I know for a long time, and I know they go for it for 100% supporting the local scene and showing people there is more than just what you see on the festival line-ups now. And they manage to have a full club every time when they have a night. For me that looks like a healthy development for the local Amsterdam techno scene. And that people really want to see and hear something different. I’m super happy to be involved in this as a regular name on the bill.

For the long term: I’m in this now for around 30 years. When I’m playing I still feel like the kid back then excited to do it for the first time. Despite the ups and downs during the years. This kind of displays the passion that I have for the music. I’ll keep on doing my thing. Releasing music, playing gigs. Exploring new scenes and win new supporters for the music.