Terry's all gold

2001 has been the best year of Terry Francis’ career. Apart from releasing a steady stream of sublime tech-house EPS on Eukahouse, Pagan, Eye 4 Sound, Swag, Wiggle and Laus, Francis’ residency at London’s Fabric super club and world wide travels have seen him do more than any one else to further the transition of tech-house – or ‘house no’ as Francis prefers to call it – from the preserve of underground parties like his own Wiggle events to a more mainstream audience.

In fact, such is the allure of tech-house and its catch-all sounds, that the likes of Digweed, Sasha and even Radio 1’s Seb Fontaine and Pete Tong have accepted and incorporated it into their play lists and DJ sets. So what does an underground regular like Terry Francis feel about the big names muscling in on a sound he’s helped develop slowly over the last half-decade?

“Getting the big names behind it means that the music gets the really big push it always deserved,” a jet-lagged but amiable Francis reasons. “After all, music is there to be shared and it’s great that there are more and more people interested in what we’re doing. And even though there is a danger that, tech-house is being picked up on by the big DJs like a fashion, the way they jumped on other styles like trance and progressive house, it’s great that their support has made it more available and accessible. I’ve no real reason to be bitter.”

It’s an attitude that’s indicative of Terry’s refreshingly laid back and modest approach. Even when he won Muzik’s Best New DJ award in 1997 Francis didn’t let his new found fame go to his head; staying true to his roots, he interspersed his studio work by promoting the Wiggle parties and making appearances at The End’s Subterrain night, a venue he credits with having initially taken the sound to club land’s Saturday night crowd.

“At the time, the other promoters were too scared to put on tech-house nights and, apart from our own parties, The End were the only ones willing to take a risk,” Terry recalls. “When Fabric opened, they were also brave enough to take it to a big space and make it work. Fabric has also shown that this music can work with Saturday night clubbers. I think the club has also proved that the people who go there aren’t stupid; they won’t accept cheesy music anymore.”

With a mix CD representing the underground music he pushes at his Fabric residency pencilled in for an early 2002 release, Francis believes tech-house will never go truly over-ground in the same way 2 step has infiltrated the charts – “it doesn’t have the hooks” – but he’s still adamant it’ll “get bigger before it gets smaller.” The main reason for this across the board appeal has a lot to do with the fact that it consists of a wide range of musical elements, from electro, breaks and techno to house, tribal and acidic components. “Everyone has a different under standing of what tech-house is,” he agrees, “and the result is that, outside the UK, in places like Croatia, Greece, Holland, Belgium and the States, it’s a scene that’s as popular as trance or progressive house.”

Indeed the global growth of the sound is also borne out by the fact that tech-house labels have sprung up in everywhere from Northern Ireland (Slide Recordings) to Canada (Northern Lights) and Belgium (Visitor) and that a scene veteran like Francis enthuses about newer UK producers Asad Rizvi, Haris, Gideon and the Swag collective.

However, with the exception of Layo & Bushwacka’s Low Life album, tech-house is a scene still devoid of albums by its main proponents, the traditional route used to promote their work in the outside world. It’s a dilemma the most popular tech-house DJs are aware of and, with Colin Dale currently preparing his first album, Francis is also readying himself to put out an album.

“I had planned to put out an album on Eukatech a while ago but it never happened, “ he admits, “so now we’ve gone back to the drawing board and we’re working on a real concept album. I’ve got a studio in my home which means I don’t have to work to a schedule and we’re getting singers and percussionists involved too,” Francis adds, pre-empting the cynics who’ll argue his use of ‘real’ musicians means he is about to turn his back on tech-house. “The beauty about this music is that it’s always morphing, always moving forward. It might use a speed garage bassline or take reggae influences, or a more commercial strain may even break through into the mainstream, but it’ll never stagnate,” he says, adding mischievously. “anyway, it keeps me out of the pub and that can only be a good thing!”