Gotta Lovefingers!

Blackdisco records are like little solid gold nuggets! Once you find them, you feel richer than Christmas pudding! This label of disco re-edits has appeared in DJ boxes all round the world from James Murphy to DJ Harvey and the debut 12" was at the top of Tim Sweeney's Best Of 2008 Beats In Space.

The label was founded by Lovefingers, aka Andrew Hogge, who is on his way to Sydney for a one-off gig for the Picnic posse on January 9.

His DJ sets are legendary and his blog Lovefingers.org has been a secret pleasure for years. I thought I would lay down my best disco moves and delve into the world of Lovefingers and see which glove actually fits.

Did your parents have disco records in their collection?

Nope! Mostly doo-wop and pop stuff, lots of crap musicals and then some random stuff like Sabbath.

Have you always been into disco? What was it that turned you onto that sound?

I came into disco from a punk rock route and I used to play lots of funk, soul, freakbeat and fuzzy stuff when I first began to DJ. When you're digging for that stuff, the cut-off for that sound is a certain year, so when you feel like you've exhausted all the record bins you start adapting other sounds out of necessity, as was the case with disco for me...

Blackdisco Social Club was formed in '01. You seemed to be ahead of your time. What was the idea behind it?

I met my friend Kevin Carney (aka Nitedog) back in '01 when we worked together at Freshjive in LA. We both dug the same sounds for the most part and just started playing around as a duo. We blew threw heaps of venues that all sucked until finally settling at one for a few years. We played loads of Italo and house and built it from there. There were a good few years when nobody played anything like that in LA. I mean, of course the LA house scene has been around forever, but mixing it all up for this newer generation was not happening - LA has got to be one of the worst cities for good dance music. The only thing really keeping it alive is DJ Harvey (and Nitedog). Well I guess now there is another newer generation of kids, but they're all laptop, meh.

I love the name. Where did it come from?

Hmmm, I think we just had to think of something for a flyer quickly and went with that. I mean its not the most imaginative name, at least not now with all the other parties with similar names. But it works I guess, after things are around for a while people kinda stop worrying about the name.

How was it trying to create a club with that sound back in '01 in LA?

The party is still going! Its never been a totally regular thing, usually once a month or so, but not like the first Friday or anything regular. We've done lots of collabs and variations, Green Disco, White Disco, Pink Disco.... Nitedog now does a new one called Bears In Space at this longstanding LA gaybar - Akbar. Its all the rage for the gay scene in Silverlake (where we're both kinda from).

Why the move to New York?

Hmmm...my wife got a great job so we just did it. I'd wanted to for ages and it was just a good time to go. Lots of great friends here. I can't imagine going going back to Cali Cali, except for visits and maybe the occasional camping trip up North.

When and why did you start the Backdisco label?

Well we just had a pile of edits we played at the parties and thought they were worth committing to vinyl. Its a DJ service, like any good edits should be - tracks tweaked for the floor (most of the time).

How do you pick the edits for the releases? Have you had any legal hassles with the releases?

Nope, no legal issues. We run a small batch and don't repress so if you get 'em you get 'em. As for picking the edits, either we do 'em ourselves or have good buddies get in on it. We don't take submits or anything like that. It's a family affair. Once in a while if we hear something that needs to be on vinyl and have heard it in more places than we can play at, we'll request it for the label, like a track (BD003) by Julien Love from Brisbane.

Your gigs have been very eclectic, especially in New York. Tell us about the most bizarre gig you’ve done?

We did a party a couple months back in this old Chelsea bath house that had been untouched since the 70s. It was amazing, all wood paneled walls and mirrors. We built the dancefloor in an empty swimming pool. Great party and it went till 7am or so (which is good for NYC) ...too bad the venue got raided by the cops a week later tho.

Tell us about the Stallions with Lee Douglas. Sounds like an amazing partnership. How did you two hook up and what do you want to achieve with the act?

We're old buddies. I got asked to remix a track for Findlay Brown and we ended up doing it together, so we ended up getting more projects and making our own productions and went with the name Stallions. I guess it was partially influenced by us having just watched Bill & Ted's on TV one night. We almost went with the name Dudes or something even more silly. But yeah anyway, we've just dropped a 13-minute Spaghetti Western Disco loft jam that was another collab with Findlay Brown which we wrote in the studio. Its on This Is Music (Findlay's label) and in stores. We also just did Beats In Space which is airing on December 29 and we played a heap of our tracks on there.

Will ESP Institute, the new label, be all original material? Why was it set up?

Yes, ESP is all for new music. Things I feel are pushing boundaries and things that are just simply beautiful. Its got no particular sound but it will all make sense together. It may or may not be a popular label in the long run, but the music that will be released through ESP is really important to me. The first EP is by Sombrero Galaxy and has a remix on the b-side by Stallions. Its dropping first week of February.

How is the New York scene at the moment? Is it as exciting and productive as we in Australia think it is?

It's like many places I've been really, a small tight-knit community of music freaks that consistently support each other (or not) and every party is hit or miss. I'd have to give it up for the No Ordinary Monkey party as being my favorite - great dudes, great jams, great sound and a true underground spirit.

What have you heard about the Sydney scene?

Steele Bonus is the president of the Sydney scene, non?

And lastly ,what are you spinning at the moment? Is there a track you play at every gig?

I tend to keep it in the family somewhat. I will always drop TBD and tracks we all chop up round here, but hmmm what else, I really love Hunee's 12" on Willy T (and Willy T is my man) ....and a bunch of new stuff from Tokyo.

Don't miss out on this. Grab tickets from RA here. An epic journey of psycho disco!

Murphy.