Interview with Larry McCormick - 11th Hour Technology

Electro is a sound that we have all met in one guise or another at some instant. Whether it was the obscure DJ in the back room of a major club, through an older brother who was into it during the 80's together with conventional Hip-Hop, or through the advent of the Detroit Electro style alongside it's Techno brother. Regardless, it is impossible to get away from the fact that the many forms and personal takes on this timeless genre have formed the foundations of what we have come to acknowledge as Electronic music today. But is Electro anything more than a breaking point in the history of the Electronic music scene, and how exactly is it alive in 2001?

Unaware to most of us out there, the whole scene is going through a global turning point at the moment. Many prominent Techno DJ's bored with the current linearity of the sound are turning to the free-form structure that is Electro in order to take things that little bit further. They are being inspired by a new generation of Electro artists advancing on the past with fresh ideas and concepts, who themselves are also beginning to be recognised and accredited individually as key figures in the development of the Electronic music scene as a whole.

Hailing from Palm Beach, Florida, Larry McCormick aka Exzakt is one such Electro artist. Having played an integral part in the conception of the labels Frajile, Exceleration and his own project Monotone, Larry has also helped push the sound of his contemporaries, and is in a perfect position watching this 'second coming' of Electro. 11th Hour are proud to present Larry McCormick aka Exzakt, to talk about the current Electro scene and the part he plays in its continuing evolution.

We are proud to present: Larry McCormick aka Exzakt

11th-hour What style of music did you first get into, and how did you find your way to Electro from there?

Larry McCormick I guess the first style I really got into was early hip hop which I consider one of the early forms of Electro. Here in South Florida in the mid 80's you would hear anything from Grandmaster Flash, Kraftwerk, Africa Bambatta, to Dynamix II. To me it was all the same. I feel personally that the Electro today is the evolution of all that. I guess Electro has always been in me.

Larry McCormick Electro for myself and most that I'm close to, is truly a passion. The reason I live Electro so much is because in a way it's life. A lot of my thinking goes hand in hand with the music. Whenever I get a really deep thought I try to bring it to life with a song. With Electro there are no limits on ideas. It allows you to express anything you can imagine.

11th-hour What made you want to start producing your own records, and to start Djing?

Larry McCormick I have always had an extensive love for music. I used to have these little samplers that I would loop beats and melodies and over dub to create a song. The quality of the recording was quite awful I'm sure, but I was doing it for fun. When I found today's movement I began to go to clubs. At first I heard music that was awesome. Some early Electro tunes from the mid 90's that were incredible. After some time dj's started playing more domestic sounding stuff that I could not get into. I started DJing just to be able to hear the stuff that I liked. From there I saw a chance to share music with people that wanted to hear the same stuff as me. The same could be said for the reason I got into producing. Not enough of the music that I like. As time passed I never imagined I would be doing what I am today. I feel very lucky but at the same time I have worked hard and made many sacrifices.

Larry McCormick When I first expressed my desire to produce it was the same time I started to hang out with James Wolfe. He was in the process of making his first track on the Techtonic Plates EP. When he started the second song I started going over with him to Dave Noller's (From Dynamix II) Prior to that I planned on getting a sequencer and decided on the MPC 2000 since I liked what I saw at the studio. James and I started working on our first Resident Alien track. It took us quite a long time to complete this because we were working in different studios at spread out times. We finally finished it when we got enough money together to get the Akai. That song came out on Frajile Recording's Florida Electro Artists EP.

11th-hour What are the different objectives of your Exzakt production, and your Resident Alien production with James Wolfe? Do you have any different production projects lined up for the future?

Larry McCormick For Exzakt I plan on continuing the sound that got me here. I will be releasing on Monotone USA many collaborations with different artists. Soon to be a follow up Exzakt album down the road. For Resident Alien I will take a bit of a break to let James Wolfe work on some other projects. Right now we are shopping our album around so that will do it's fill for a bit. The other main project is an album I am working on for PSI49NET under Larry McCormick. I could tell you more but I would have to erase your memory.

Larry McCormick It will be kind of hard to find me. DJing is kind of a rarity. I love to play but hardly get a chance much because I am more focused on producing. I will be touring the states with Anthony Rother at the end of the year and perhaps onto Europe but nothing set just yet. Actually I am going to be doing live shows now. I'm really looking forward to that.

11th-hour Exactly how much of an influence has the 'Miami Bass' Electro scene had on you, and do you still draw any influence from it now?

Larry McCormick I would be a hypocrite to say that I was not influenced by the bass scene. I still love all that. It would be very cool to see more people bringing back that old sound. I feel that parts of what I do in my production draw from that. And there is something to be said about the old covers with the half naked chicks on them.

11th-hour Your work also seems to draw inspiration from a wider field of styles - particularly the harder Sci-Fi cuts of Detroit. Is this a fair assessment, and what do you feel to be most influenced by in general?

Larry McCormick Funny. People say that a lot. The thing is that I was never really into the Detroit Electro but respect it for what it accomplished. My influence is mainly from German & American Electro. I think that's how it all started. Kraftwerk got it going and people like Arthur Baker etc. from the U.S. came after. Together I think that's what made Electro what it is. Now there is a new generation that will bring it back.

11th-hour What kind of Electro sounds are interesting you at the moment, and where are they coming from?

Larry McCormick Like I said before mainly Germany and America. But Electro is worldwide. There is good stuff coming from England, France, Netherlands, etc. That is what I love about this movement. It brings the world together. I am really into the people that are putting character into the music. I think it is easy to just do minimal Electro. I think it is a little more to have interesting vocals and intriguing melodies. There are not many people doing that and I would like to see more of it. But yet there is no turning down just a real simple but effective groove.

Larry McCormick The only gripe I have about any electronic music is the people I see that try to capitalize on something just for money. If you truly love what you do then I respect that. It's just like anything in life. Greed is one of the worst killers of the human mind. It is funny to see people switch their music style all of a sudden because it is blowing up. I see a lot of that today with Breakbeat. In the end I would like to see how it all turns out for them.

11th-hour What were your reasons for getting involved with running, and setting up new Electro labels?

Larry McCormick Mainly because there were no Electro labels in the states. Even today they are rare. It is funny because there are some incredible artists that are not getting their stuff put out. I think that will all change very shortly. There are a ton of labels around the world though. I would like to see some more unity with the labels. That is something that Anthony Rother and I are trying to do. Organization is very key for our vision to come to life.

11th-hour How does the day-to-day running of a label take its toll on production and Djing time?

Larry McCormick It can be very hard at times. I pretty much do everything myself when it comes to the day to day business of things. Dealing with distribution is the real pain. Here it is very hard to do exclusive unless you are a major. It is very political between all of the distributors and that makes it a huge headache. At times it is hard to be creative when you have a million things going on with the labels. I would love to be able to have someone just handle all the label stuff and become a pure producer. That seems like a dream in a far distant world.

11th-hour What kind of world-wide listener is attracted to your sounds? How has response to the labels been on a global scale?

Larry McCormick Unreal. E-mail's from every part of the world imaginable. I don't even know how they get it because we have no international distribution. As far as why people like the music I think it is because Electro is worldwide. When Kraftwerk was doing their thing they traveled the globe. That planted the seed for us to be noticed by the sound.

11th-hour Electro seems to be getting more and more attention around the globe at the moment, and it certainly seems like exciting times for the scene are imminent. How do you see the scene evolving in the near future, and where would you like it to be?

Larry McCormick I feel very strong about what is going to happen. I would love to have a time machine and jump ahead a year just to see how it will turn out. This is going to be fun!

11th-hour Despite the rise in attention to the music, Electro (in the UK at least) always seems to be second at parties and clubs in the UK, mostly taking the smaller back rooms than the main room. Why do you think this may be?

Larry McCormick I think that has to do with politics. But the one thing that erases that is notoriety. If our music is big than we don't need to worry about that kind of thing. The whole line-up would be Electro. We need more leaders for that. We need internationally known DJs & producers. That will come in time. Right now there are only a handful.

Larry McCormick To become more organized. To bring more people together in the music. Projects right now involve an album for PSI, building my label Monotone USA, and promoting my upcoming releases. These include Evolve album, Musik is the Drug Remixes, & Monolove Remixes. Besides that I would like to travel to DJ & perform more. I love going to different places and meeting people.
Thank you to everyone at 11th hour for giving me a chance to share my music and views.