PURE Powell Sauce
Eric Powell is a ground breaking, edge pushing DJ who’s not afraid to try new things in his efforts to create a journey for the listener. For Eric, the journey is the important part in delivering music to an audience, whether it’s in Australia, Ibiza or New York. His & Carl Cox’s events PURE and Mobile Disco have become some of the country’s favourites through the two super names approach to respecting the audience that they are playing for. With the Rosebud Hot Sauce event and the PURE series running through April we thought it was a great time to ask the electronic music icon some questions about Hot Sauce, Mobile Disco & PURE, working with Carl and some of those pinch yourself moments from his long standing career.
2020/21 were years full of uncertainty and change, for some the years came as a blessing, for some a curse. How do you rate your Covid Years?
I would have preferred not to have experienced it, it was definitely a really, really challenging period without COVID I probably wouldn’t haven’t spent as much time at home with the family and kids and I also skilled up in the studio as well. I used it as a time to improve my studio knowledge and skills. It was really challenging and if I have a choice, I’d prefer not to have gone through it
I think, as a professional or amatuer, I look at music and where the genre is and you can improve how you put it together . You know, when you're making music a lot, and you can improve how you put it together is great and it's good for the audience, it’s good for the musicians or the performer because we're all kind of coming in at a different level. But, I still wouldn’t sacrifice that for all of the experience.
“I don’t think you can replace the experience of everybody being in one area, whether that’s a rave or whether it’s an outdoor area, all experiencing that same emotion at the same time”
The Australian PURE tour is running through April. Are you excited to be a part of a globally followed tour?
Absolutely you know, Pure is an event myself, Richie McNeil and Carl Cox put together. It was something that we decided that we wanted to do in Australia as a one stage solution toTechno events which would keep everyone happy. Because at that stage, you know festivals were the focus, and as good as festivals are, I don't think you can replace the experience of everybody being in one area, whether that's a rave or whether it's an outdoor area all experiencing that same emotion at the same time. So that's what we wanted to do and we put it together. Even then, live, it was about the music rather than about you know, the co2 kind of main stuff. The music came first. So that was the idea of the wanting to do it, and we did it for a couple years and people look at it and it gained some respect on a global basis, and we got the Prague and Ibiza and New York, and then COVID came, and as I've been saying, so rudely interrupted, and now we're back. We did Pure during COVID But that was with restrictions and we had different parameters, and so this Pure will be the first one where there isn’t any restrictions and so we're going to get back to doing the proper Pure event at a reasonable quality. I'm excited
What makes PURE different from other festival tours?
First of all, I think between the team we’ve got, Carl, Richie and myself. So Richie is one of the best and that he wants to implement the best. He is one of the most experienced event organizers in Australia, and he would compete globally with anybody
Carl is consistently in the top five DJ’s, top 5 gentlemen, top five techno DJs, and I do ok DJing. I love the music. We still push our cards. We've got a great team. And then we've got other great people that work with us. What I do know is the reason why we can deliver to such a high standard are the people that are involved, and then from an audience point of view, it was getting back to that, groups of people going out and spending all their time together rather than leaving and going from stage to stage. It was just something important to have that one stage and experience the DJ that is in front of you, good or bad, who maybe takes you on a journey. When I say good or bad what I mean there is, the DJ who plays the track, that doesn't resonate with you. You don't turn and immediately go off to another stage. And you listen to that track and you never know where that track might have taken you or it could be when a DJ takes you on a journey, sometimes they play something so he can get you to a certain place. And that's what I enjoy about DJing.
Pure has a reputation for its audience being able to make a special connection with its DJs, Does this explain the world wide popularity of the event series?
Well, I think there's a connection, because we genuinely have a passion for the music that we play and we generally go out and play and I think the audience can see that. I also think it's because the other DJs respect each other and it's curated in a way that the performance times work for the artist and we look to the audience reaction and maybe tweak to make sure that they have the best experience. We genuinely genuinely love what we do. Carl and myself have been DJing for a long time , for years now and I think we are as passionate now as we were before and Richie is a machine. I don’t want to rest on my laurels and I'm not one of those. We want to keep hunting and increasing what we do.
What have been your favourite moments so far?
It turned into something that we never expected in the most positive way, and kick started about six people. We just invited people to the day where we've played our favorite music, the music that I've heard from that generation, who introduced me to music and that we kind of put on to and then something that could have been released yesterday, but it was kind of Carl and I playing music that meant a lot to us throughout the years. We kind of dived into it musically and it's gone from 100 people to 10000 people at Myer Music Bowl in St Kilda .I still have to pinch myself and without compromising the music that we play. So I think there's a few favorite moments, because we try and find pretty unique venues to play at, Myer Music Bowl and then we played in Brisbane Mobile Disco. We did the King’s Hall, that was incredible, Mobile Disco isn’t just disco. We call it the mobile disco because that was the last place people would expect us to play. So we do play disco and, going to New York and being able to play soul funk & disco. You know? Coming back from Ibiza with one or two established, is incredible. So there's King’s Hall In New York but everywhere honestly, is it difficult to choose because there are pinch yourself moments.
Those pinch yourself moments, where you’re just in awe and amazement of what you've been able to achieve…
Incredible, the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. Sometimes I have to collect myself to be made professional. Like oh my god. I feel really, really fortunate. A lot of hard work goes into it but I feel very fortunate That Covid interruption came just as we were about to step up and adding some more elements and mobile disco was rudely interrupted for two years. It almost feels like we have to start over because people want to experience what they had, just before COVID So I don't I don't want to move forward too fast with what we were going to do, so we're going to kind of try and deliver those experiences that were akin with, November 19 January February 2020 and trying to get the whole feel back in the experience and enjoyment.
More of a natural progression.?
Yeah, that's what I mean, that's pretty funny because it was that natural progression and we got there and then we feel like the interruption was kind of a weird business, just horrible. We had to reassess that you are lucky to be able to go back and that's what that was all about. It was 150 in one year, 300 the next, then 600 and it all grew without doing any advertising, it evolved all by word of mouth and before you know it you have 10000 people, but I still enjoy doing smaller events. So we've got Hot Sauce as well, which is a sister brand of mobile disco on Easter Saturday, April 16
That's the one in Rosebud, Victoria?
That ones a little bit different, cause the Mobile Disco is Carl, myself and a singer or band as a guest, It's Carl and myself all day but Hot Sauce gives us the ability to book some of our favourites. It gives us the opportunity to support some of our favorite DJs. So Richie Rich is doing a Balearic set , which will be fantastic. Then we've got Simon Pentz, who does a lot around the peninsula and regularly plays Hot Sauce and then I have to calm myself for Christine Anu, who' s gonna do a couple of tracks. She's gonna help out on a couple of our favorite tracks which will be fun , and that's allowed it to get back to that about the 2000 people mark you know, the smaller more….
A boutique, more intimate setting ?
Yeah, because when we do the Mobile Disco we get people asking can we get back to being small but that was often the question of how many people .The first one that we came to do, was 10 of them. And the last one we counted was 100. And it's like, well, how do we do it ? if we went back to 1000 people , there would be 3000 people that would be really really upset, you know, so, so we decided to cap Hot Sauce and that's to keep it a little bit more at a boutique for people that want that.
“What Carl has is he’s so approachable to everyone, genuinely approachable with everybody”
Carl Cox and yourself worked together a lot, and make great partners in crime. What do you enjoy most about working with the great man himself?
Well, It's always fun, you know, he always has a smile on his face even if I don't, he’s always serious about wanting to deliver to the best level possible and then we have a friendship and we have similar backgrounds in West Indian culture, both his parents are from Barbados and my dad is from the Caribbean. a similar musical upbringing, and then when it comes to meeting as friends. It's kind of been late when I think we were about 20 and we've been best friends forever. From mutual appreciation. What Carl has is he's so approachable to everyone, genuinely approachable with everybody. And I think we can all learn from him, just because anyone can approach him at any time. even if we haven't got time because I know that we've got 30 seconds to get on a plane . And he'll have to be dragged away from somebody asking for a photo, we're about to miss our plane, but Carl treats everybody the same way.
Is there anyone you would like to perform or collab with in the future that you haven't already?
Well, one of the things that we do that makes it possible is the mobile disco, we did an album which is only available on vinyl. Then when Covid came in it gave us the opportunity to go back and revisit the track and tweak it, it was all live musicians recorded in Australia, in the UK, in America. some of them have been deleted. You can no longer get hold of it but we play it in the Mobile Disco. Not violently but we've gone back to being really really true to the original. A couple of remixes, including Needed by Funkadelic. So we recopied the album and then was going to put some musicians together and it would include the musicians/singers that would of appeared on the album, so that was the next stage before COVID came in. So that's what we're going to do next is basically working with more bands. And musicians and then kind of putting groups and our favorite musicians together. Finding the young bass player and, and then giving other current musicians the opportunity, younger musicians the opportunity to play within the establishment. That's what I'm really really looking forward to, that, that would be next year in the middle and the end of next year. So I'm really looking forward to doing that. The artists, musicians i,d like to get are some of the guys, one or two from the 60’s, 70’s & 90’s, people that are in right now, slap bass, we'd like to just get some of those some of those great musicians that Carl and I love.
I mean it may not be that popular but you pair it with some of our favorite tracks. . That's the exciting next stage. I hope that makes sense.
You deserve your chance to play with musicians that you respect and enjoy. It doesn't always have to be about what's popular or what sells….
Yeah, that's right. We're really fortunate with both Pure and Mobile Disco going so we can be a little bit selfish, you know, you need to pay the audience respect but you cant let the audience completely dictate what you do. Otherwise, you're going to be going round in ever decreasing circles so with Mobile Disco, we may just so happen to play a track that became a hit, we don't play them just because it's a hit and when tracks that come out and they become a hit or we play stuff that has never been released and only Carl & myself and a few people have got. We will decide on the day how we can select and place those tracks, on a track where there may only be five copies in the world . It would get peak time play, just the same as a track with a much much bigger profile. we're lucky that we can be selfish but we still have to be respectful of the audience.
“I think when you have failures you learn much, much quicker than successes”
Where was your first gig and was it a success or was it a flop
I've Had a few flops lol, they’re the only ones you remember. Sometimes some of the flops are absolutely mind blowing, back in the day when I was learning, it might have been, I didn't see that flyer or, I didn't do that last year. So it's about making sure that we tick all the boxes. I think when you have failures you learn much, much quicker than successes. I just remember one locally and my sister went out of her way to make sure, my older sister went out of her way to make sure that she knew the guy that ran the venue she's young, only about 18. She didn't need to go to London ideally. It was only established promoters who got in there and then I got in and I didn't really put the work in. It was a flop, The guy fell out with my sister . I learned, I learned some hard lessons. Especially if somebody gives you a chance to make sure that you don't embarrass them .
In your journey as a DJ musician, have you changed, Is life much different for you from when you started out?
The Industry has changed. So the technology has changed, I hope that me as a person hasn't changed that much, if I have changed it's more respectful and protected more with the knowledge that you gain, you have more of an understanding of what other people go through. So I hope I haven't changed that much, maybe a little more cheekier
We cherish the industry and its changed in the process, being a DJ is a career choice, and I'm not sure it was when I started. It was something that you could do. I teach music and I've been doing it for about 15 years, I teach 16 to 18 year old’s. I have 15 and 16 year old’s walking into the class and they want their career to be a DJ, but they want to be a DJ. And it's not necessarily that they want to play a specific type of music. They just want to be a DJ and they see it as a career choice, which it is now.
I mean when they walk in, they're walking two feet in the air because that’s what you do when you're 16 and then when they leave they look outward. And it's great to see , I mean even in that 2 years in 16 to 18 year old’s, you see them change, that the personality matches trusting people, to just have a more and more of an understanding of life.
“It’s difficult to put into words but there’s a raw energy that comes from the audience”
Small intimate club style gigs and big arenas are obviously very different in energy and audiences, which do you find is easier to engage for crowd participation, which do you prefer
Club show's are an event where you can see everybody's eyes. You can see each, see each individual and you can see whether they're into it, you can treat a smaller venue as one, and, and you're able to meet the audience emotionally so they're coming to the same place and take them on that journey. Now there's been a small piece of a baby it's a great ride, a great emotional ride for the DJ as well. When you do think about the bigger events and it's like everybody has that one moment whether it’s the ultimate success or whether they all shout at the same time, the energy is incredible. You get a raw energy, it's incredible, it's difficult to put into words but there's a raw energy that comes from the audience. That sometimes knocks you off your feet. The more intimate venues are more of an emotional ride I will do a big event and then I will go do an after party with 500 people and the buzz that I get, I guess. It's not the same, but it's not very different.
What is your go to song to fill a dance floor quickly?
I don’t have one lol, I might be going in one direction and then going in that direction track after track and shockingly locking people into the groove or into the feel. It's not about filling the capsule straight away, it's about the journey.
“It’s not about filling the capsule straight away it’s about the journey”
What's on for Eric power for the remainder of 2022 What can your fans look forward to?
We're going to start the next album, we have got a series of events in June, there is something major, definitely on my bucket list of people, but it's 99.9%. Then we're gonna do a PURE in Prague. Again just before COVID we did PURE in Prague and we’re going back again in July, and then a couple of smaller events, Eat the Beat with some of the guys around the country and just going to get back to it. Absolutely. And I love it and I can't wait. Even now, I think we're all a bit wary of jumping in with two feet , Oh and I made a reggae track ! Damani is to going to press on a seven inch and I’ve got a guy called Papa Michigan. He was a 1970s MC. to do the MC and rapping and John Rocks on vocals. Dr. Packer ,Greg Packer is doing a jungle basement mix. So I'm pretty excited by that.
For Hot Sauce Tickets: https://bit.ly/HOTSAUCERosebud
For PURE Tickets : www.purecarlcox.com.au
Interview by Michelle Symes
March 2022