Preview
JOHNNY FIASCO
Wednesday, February 12
The Embassy
Don’t let the name fool you – rather than a beautiful disaster, Johnny Fiasco is one of the most adroit spokesmen for the music he’s produced for nearly a decade. Fiasco is one of the few house DJs whose roots are in rock ’n’ roll rather than soul and funk. Interestingly, though, he’s equally adept discussing music and politics.
On this particular occasion, en route to a performance in France, the subjugation of global order courtesy of the rootin’-tootin’ cowboy George W. Bush seem to weigh on his mind.
"It used to be easier to travel," he says. "But with the threat of war it sort makes the process much more difficult. Will we? Won’t we? It’s not a good situation…. It’ll take years to play out and he’s not making anyone’s life better with this."
On the topic of music, Fiasco got his big break with Chicago’s Cajual label, and has built a career on what began as passionate dabbling. Part innovator, part dedicated pitchman, his legend is the culmination of his pursuit of the well-timed beauty of 4/4.
"For me, it’s really the upper echelon of dance music. It’s the thing that grabs me the most."
Despite several years in the trenches of the world’s clubs, Fiasco is anything but tired of his enterprise.
"It’s a chance to get to do what I want, which is produce and play my music and what I consider good music."
That doesn’t mean he’s making enormous cash, though, or garnering any attention outside the confines of the community.
"I’m really happy doing this – it doesn’t mean that I have a house that a record label bought me or a large record deal," Fiasco says. "What I do enables me an opportunity to keep on."
While he’s more than modest about his celebrity and his capabilities as a pioneer in the genre, his impact has been widespread, whether with his own production work or the work of his current label, Viva. Like many of house music’s foremost producers, Fiasco seems to be able to add a new twist to it with almost every single. Whether in his reconfiguration of disco-charged loops with a dark percussive beat or his sparing use of samples, Fiasco has a talent for spotting the evolution well ahead of the industry.
"You constantly have to retool what you do," he says. "Part of that comes from being out and listening; the other is from understanding your own music and style and trying to keep pushing it on."
If Fiasco had his druthers, his next few steps would be to produce tracks under an alias so he could experiment with a harder or deeper edge. Regardless, he intends to see the current cycle through its next phase.
"It’s certainly one of the strengths of house music – it can change, it does change and what people want from it changes. But, either way, it’s house music – that’s the adaptability that’s built into the equation and that’s really why it’s such a strong musical force."
As for playing in smaller centres like Calgary, Fiasco highly recommends the experience to his peers. He does it not because another cheque is waiting in a nameless city, but because he’s had nothing but good experiences with the revellers.
"My experience with some centres in Canada are a lot like Chicago used to be. The scenes are relatively new and people generally just want to have it off rather than just show up to impress," he says. "Many of us really enjoy Canada."
Fiasco will join Domenic G, Jon Delerious, Jonus Jordon, Fever, Al Testa and Disoriental as part of Fehrenheit’s sixth anniversary. |
