Richy Ahmed, South Shields born and bred producer and DJ, claims he doesn’t pay attention to chart music, insisting “dance music is going to live forever”.
And yet the dance music Richy grew to love at the tender age of 20 is a far cry from the technicolour of sound that we know and enjoy today. This sound that can often be attributed to Richy and his tight knit group (Jamie Jones, Lee Foss) responsible for record label Hot Creations, founded in 2010. In these short five years, Hot Creations has managed to move the underground House music scene, upwards, onwards, and just about everywhere. The sound that has been created is new and fresh, combining different genres such as funk and techno, to revolutionise and popularise house music, and ultimately, completely changing Britain’s music foundations.
Richy makes regular appearances on both the British and European club scenes, maintaining and creating his own sound, whilst simultaneously keeping his eye out for new talent, constantly producing fresh sounds in collaboration with amateur artists, songwriters and DJS, giving them their own chance to shine.
Here he talks about some of this new talent, his inspiration, his predictions for the future and about some of the perks of the DJ’s life of luxe.
Who was the most influential person in your life on your musical tastes & what were you early tastes in music?
The first genre of music I got into was hip-hop. I was really into people like Wu Tang Clan, Public Enemy, De la Soul; all of those 90’s era Hip-Hop guys. Obviously it’s moved on from that now, but as a kid that was the music that I was passionately into. I didn’t get into house music until I was about twenty.
Is there one record in particular that sparked your interest in electronic music?
Now this probably a bit mad, but I got into it on my when I first trip to Ibiza – Stardust. It was the first song that caught my attention on the first night of my lads holiday & I just wanted to play it on repeat! It was so catchy. Then a year on, I was looking down completely different avenues but that has to be the first record that stands out for me.
Where do you look forward to playing the most? Where’s the best place for a party?
I look forward to playing the Amnesia Terrace the most. I’ve played there 3 times already this year and they’ve all been incredible. I’ve got one more gig there this year with Marco Carola on September 4th and I can’t wait for it.
The best place for a party would have to be Row 14 at El Row in Barcelona. Its got that old school, DC-10 pure party vibe. Don’t take yourself too seriously and you’ll have a really amazing party.
Who’s rising up at the moment & one to look out for for this year?
I think Jey Kurmisis going to have a big year for our label (Hot Creations). He’s got so many good tracks and they’re just getting better and better – you can hear the improvement per track. 12 Stories is another one to watch. The use a lot of old analog equipment so the sound is really raw but at the same time has energetic elements that mean it’s still great on the dancefloor. I think they’re both ones to look out for definitely.
Is the DJ life as glamourous as it seems? What do you consider to be the perks of your job?
The perks are absolutely next level. Some of the villa parties that we have after club nights are amazing – some silly money gets spent on those trust me! There are some parts that are more glamourous than you’d expect but there are some parts that are a proper grind that I don’t think anybody would be remotely ready for. Like 18-20 gigs in a month, surviving on no sleep; it’s intense! There’s a duality I guess. There are some extreme highs but there are parts that people don’t see. I don’t have any complaints though – its well worth it!
The UK charts are dominated by house music – do you think this will continue for long or do you think another genre which will take over soon?
The charts are pretty much dominated by what the major labels think will be big. But I think even the watered down stuff in the charts mean people have a gateway to the proper music.
The kids are getting into more and more cooler music early on. So who’s to say that it won’t be taken over by deeper stuff soon? You never know. There are no set rules. You would’ve never thought that RnB & Hip-Hop would’ve gone to number 1 in America but it did. At the end of the day I don’t care either way, because dance music is going to live forever – I don’t really pay any attention to the charts.
Do you still go to parties if you’re not DJing? If so where do you go and who do you go to see?
I go to parties all the time. That’s my problem, I go to too many parties haha. I like a lot of after parties. I only started in 2010 so I’m still a raver! I’m not too cool to go and see my peers, if they’re good then I’ll want to go and see them. People like Mathew Jonson I would pay good money to see play live. It’s good for my job because I’m the A&R and I help curate the line-ups for Paradise so it benefits me too.
How has the ‘Can’t You See’ EP been received? Out of the entire catalogue for Strictly, how & why did you decide to remix The Warning?
It’s being received really well, especially by DJs – everyone’s playing it and I’m getting such good feedback.
The Warning was my favourite out of them all and I just knew it would work better for me out there on the floor. Out of all the tracks, it has the best vocal. I wanted to make it more clubby and I think it really works.
Richy plays The Social festival 12th September in Maidstone, Kent, along with Sasha, Richy Hawtin, Marco Carola, Seth Troxler, Jackmaster and many more www.thesocialfestival.com