Knuckles rapt by success
We are in the age of the celebrity DJ. Club culture has provided a road to stardom, and one of the first to walk down it was Frankie Knuckles. The Elvis Presley of the house world was one of the first club DJs to attain superstar status, and 25 years later his name is still uttered with admiration and respect.
But Knuckles, 43, is uncomfortable with the cult of personality built around him as the Godfather of house. He is not above the masses he says, an ideology he has clung to throughout his time in the industry.
'I don't put myself in the position where I'm unreachable or untouchable. That's what works in my favour, people can feel the energy I'm putting out. I hate playing in nightclubs where the DJ booth is so far away from the dance floor that you might as well be in another building. I like being as close to the crowd as possible.
'I've learned over the years that people can look in your eyes and feel exactly what you're feeling. If they see you having a good time, it's contagious.
'It's not about me, it's about the music. There are too many DJs that think it's about them. The reality is we're just conduits, I've never lost sight of that. The minute I start trippin' like that, I'll be in serious trouble. I think I could lose a large portion of my audience.' Describing himself solely as a vehicle for the transmission of music is perhaps a tad humble for the Grammy winner. The renowned re-mixer who added his signature soul-dance sound to tracks by Toni Braxton and Michael Jackson, among others, won the first Grammy award for remixer of the year in 1997, beating such luminaries as David Morales, Todd Terry and Armand van Helden.
Knuckles - up for the award again this year - admits the fallout from receiving the award was not quite what he expected.
'I think a lot of people were under the impression that it was probably going to change my life. There hasn't been as much work on the production end because people automatically assumed that I was priced out of the ballpark.' Whatever he was lacking on the 'production end' he made up with a tour schedule that next weekend includes Hong Kong. Knuckles says his schedule has tripled, keeping him out of New York for most of the year. For all that he loves travelling - his recent itinerary has included stints across Europe and South America - he has been partly forced out of New York by the club scene there.
Once a mecca for house music, Knuckles says the city's nightlife is not what it used to be. A recent blow to the scene was the closure of the legendary Sound Factory, a veritable New York house institution where Knuckles was resident DJ. For Knuckles, strict, elitist policies have contributed to the decline in the scene.
'An attractive club to me would be one that has owners and managers who are willing to cater to the people who are coming to support me. I don't care how good the club is, these are the people keeping the club open, if you're gonna treat them that way, personally I'd rather not be part of it.' Knuckles' roots are in New York City. Born in the Bronx in 1955, Knuckles - his real name - got his start in the early 1970s learning how to DJ with fellow luminary, the late Larry Levan. He spent a few years playing funk and soul at various gay venues, before taking a residency at Chicago club Warehouse - the reputed birthplace of house - in 1977.
His residency eventually opened production doors and by 1989 he had returned to New York and launched the hugely successful Def Mix Productions with David Morales.
The face of club culture today is dramatically different to how it was in Knuckles' early days. New York has lost its prominence as an epicentre for quality house, while industry pundits now look to Britain for the latest dance music mutation.
'There's always somebody trying to re-create the wheel, and that's OK because it shows how creative a lot of these artists are,' Knuckles says.
'They're trying to stretch the boundaries and push the envelope. Sometimes you can listen to some of it and think that they're just trying a little bit too hard. But that's the nature of the game. The only problem with Britain is that they never stick with anything long enough.' For Knuckles, consistency has been the key to his success. His critics have accused him of not moving with the times and frequently playing old club hits. He dismisses the criticism, arguing that classics are classics and will always move a crowd.
'It's more important for me to keep a certain kind of groove, a certain kind of vibe, as opposed to following someone else. I've been at this too long to be following somebody else. You don't come this far in your career and then all of a sudden just start changing strokes mid-stream and start following someone else.
'I don't think it would be possible for me to do that. Before I do that I have to quit, and that means I've exhausted everything I can do, that I have no other ideas.' That, however, is not the case: he is set to drop two mixed compilations, one of early house hits, before the middle of the year. He is also in the process of writing a new album, a follow-up to albums Beyond The Mix - which spawned the number one dance hit The Whistle Song - and Welcome To The Real World.
He sees no immediate end to his career but admits the pressure to consistently live up to expectations has been a struggle.
'Some people could have heard me play once, and for them it could have been a spiritual experience, so every time they come to see me they automatically expect it to be exactly the same way. If I were a tape machine, then I would be easy to duplicate. But I'm a human being and I'm prone to fall victim to things, we all have off days.
'I have to keep remembering that it's their expectations and it's not my job to live up to them. My job is to do the best job possible, and be myself in the process, without sacrificing anything.' Knuckles at 5th Avenue, Basement, Chinachem Golden Plaza, 77 Mody Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon. Saturday, February 20, 11pm to 7am. Tickets available from HMV and Midnight Express for $260. $320 at the door