Joe Claussell is on the brink of an exciting project, along with Brian Bacchus - they’re all set to work on remixing the Miles Davis catalogue. It’s a task that the Body And Soul star is approaching in a typically philosophical way, “whatever the universe puts out we will accept it,” he muses.
Based in Brooklyn, New York, Joe aka Joaquin came from a large household where every room held a different sound system. It’s a musical picture that’s formed the roots of his career as a well-loved house hero, also working with Francois K and Danny Krivit as part of NY Sunday club Body and Soul. His taste and passion in music means that he’s well equipped to reveal the seven tracks that hold a special place in his heart.
Words: HELENE STOKES
What is the track that really sums up your childhood?
“I grew up with so many genres, it’s hard. A song by the group Malo called ‘Suavecito’. It’s a song that’s been played a lot in my house. Everyone gelled to this. It went from my mother to my older brothers to my younger siblings and we absolutely loved this song. When I listen to it, it’s one that brings me right back to home in Brooklyn. It’s also a great album, it means ‘things being smooth, life being smooth’.”
What’s the first record that you ever bought?
“’Led Zeppelin’. I grew up in a multi-musical family, really hardcore. We had different kinds of vibes in different rooms. I was really young when I bought that album. From the rock side, my brother Larry introduced me to that genre and at the time he had the bigger stereo, so his music was the loudest, he was the oldest. He also had a rock band and that band used to rehearse in our basement, so there was a drum set and all this kind of set up, so rock was heavily influenced. We were into all kinds of things and I remember going into my neighbourhood into a store that still exists in Brooklyn on Fifth Avenue, called Records and Tapes. I was fifteen when I purchased the album.”
What’s the most embarrassing record in your collection?
“Again, I listen to a lot of different genres of music and some of it might be thought of as corny. I can’t think of something embarrassing but maybe I have something that other people might think is corny. For example, I love The Carpenters. I can go from funk, soul, African, jazz ,whatever, but I can go to my Carpenters, my James Taylor, you name it from that era. If you sit back and listen to the arrangements and productions, or just the vocal harmonies, you hear how great this music was put together. I would say ‘Close To You’.”
What’s the track that’s guaranteed to make you cry?
“Something like James Taylor’s ‘Shower The People’. That song is beautiful. The song is basically about showering the people that
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you love with love. Your friends, your family, your loved ones. Appreciate them, show them. That’s the great thing about music, back in the days, back then they were saying something, they were really saying something. That song really touches me, because it’s definitely in line with what we should be doing today. I tell my friends I love them all the time. But there’s a lot of songs that make me cry, it could by lyrics, harmonies or melody, for sure, music, yes.”
What’s an album that you’re currently into?
“When it comes to the newer music, there’s a lot of great stuff but it’s not touching like the older stuff. So I listen to a lot of older music. It’s a most recent record for me and it’s by Kip Hanrahan. It’s from a label that’s been about for a long time and his album is called ‘At Home In Anger’. It’s kind of a Latin jazz influenced album. One of the songs on there is called ‘Gift, No Woman Knows’, it’s a really good album.”
What’s the most valuable record in your collection?
“To be honest, I’m not coming from a collector’s mentality. It’s really about the music speaking to me, but I do have a lot of expensive records.”
So, what’s the most expensive record you’ve ever bought?
“A double acetate with unreleased remixes of Herbie Hancock’s ‘Flood’, it’s a Japanese concert from him. It’s a test record, a triple acetate, the duplicates of what’s been mastered and remixed. It’s different variations and remixes, stuff like that. And I paid something like three hundred dollars.”
What’s your all time favorite track of all time?
“That is so hard. Any genre? I would say probably right now, ‘As’ by Stevie Wonder. The lyrics
are genius and it’s a very touching song. Just the way he put that song together, for a blind man to come up with such wonderful lyrics. I can relate to it. It’s brilliant. That would be the song, it’s just powerful. Stevie Wonder was a great influence. He’s one of my heroes. That’s the song, today, at what time? Here it’s 12.07. At 12.10 it could be something else!”
Joe Claussell
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