Since the early 90's, Grammy nominated remixer/ producer Richard Vission continues to rock dance floors around the world with his remixes of major artists like David Bowie and Lady Gaga (to name a few), as well as his hot new original release 'I Like That' with Static Revenger and Luciana on vocals. Over the last decade, Vission consistently ranks as one of the Top 30 DJs in the U.S. His label 'Solmatic Records' has grown from releasing some of the top underground bangers of the year to chart busting releases with a roster of high profile artists.
Vission has amassed an extensive résumé of remixes and original productions to his credit, many of which have charted well on the U.S. dance charts. In addition, he was a member of dance music acts 'The Movement' and 'Pure Sugar'. Richard also co-hosts a weekly radio show in L.A. with Swedish Egil entitled 'The Power Tools Mix Show' on KPWR (Power 106). His accomplishments in the dance music scene seem endless; even with a hectic schedule, Vission was kind enough to let us unmix his past, present and future.
CD: Richard, you were solely responsible for introducing me to dance music back in the early 90’s. How did you first get introduced into this genre? RV: I went and heard Frankie Bones in the early 90's and that night changed my life. My mind was blown away with all this music I had never heard before. I went to the record store the next day and said, "I want some house music". They gave me 'I'll House You' - Jungle Brothers, 'Can You Feel It' - Todd Terry and 'This Is Acid' - Maurice Joshua.
CD: You were born in Toronto, Ontario and raised in the LA area, what were you into as a kid? RV: I was a Bee Gees and Kiss fan. I've always had my foot in both doors. My mom, who is a piano and flute teacher, listened to a lot of Jazz, so I learned to appreciate artist like Miles Davis at an early age.
CD: You helped bring dance music to the LA airwaves with the introduction of Power Tools on Power 106 back in 1992; are you still
part of the line-up? RV: Yes! yes! We do Powertools every week on Power 106 in Los Angeles. We are starting to syndicate it to a few different cities. I mix the first hour and we have guest DJ's for the 2nd hour. Swedish Egil and I host the show.
CD: We’ve been seeing and hearing a lot of collaboration between hip hop and dance music artists lately; being in the mix, where did you see this collaboration start? RV: This type of collaboration was happening in the early 90's with artist like Jungle Brothers, Technotronic, Monie Love and Snap rapping over house beats. We are seeing a lot more of this now because I think there's a great appreciation for dance music in the U.S. again, and thus peeps like LMFAO, BEP's and Luciana are doing there thing now.
CD: As a Grammy nominated remixer/producer you remixed everyone under the sun from David Bowie to Lady Gaga. Who’s next? RV: This week I finished Blackeye Peas - 'Meet Me Halfway', Lady Gaga - 'Bad Romance', Aoki -'I'm In The House', JamX Beam - 'Vace 'Pressure' which is coming out on Solmatic.
CD: You have been consistently ranking within the Top 30 DJ lists for the last 10 plus years, what’s your secret? RV: Honestly, I don't really care about lists; they are not important to me. I love what I do. I work hard at what I do and more importantly, I care about what I do.
CD: Earlier this summer you released “I Like That” through your label Solmatic Records. You got to work with Luciana who was the vocal star behind Bodyrox - Yeah Yeah. How was it working with Luciana? RV: Luciana is f#cking amazing! We've written a few other songs with her...she is sick! We might get her out to LA for 2 months and knock out another album.
CD: Who wrote the words to “I Like That”? Was it you or Static Revenger? RV: I had written a few ideas that I thought weren't very good and sent them over to Static Revenger and he keyed in on one of the phrases and said, "this is it"! I thought he was f#ckin with me - after I heard how he wanted to use it, it was cool. If it wasn't for him, we could've had a song called, "why did you give her your number" - not as cool.
CD: How much acclaim has this single received by the not only the dance community but the industry? RV: It's crazy how peeps have responded to it. It's being released by EMI Europe in 23 different countries and by Vicious in Australia. We have some sick remixes coming from Angger Dimas, David Garcia and Ant Brookes. It will be on a major label in the U.S. come January 2010.
CD: The video for “I Like That” is fun, what were you going for in the direction of that video? RV: Static Revenger directed the video. It was all his vision. He is an amazing director. He just did a killer video for my artist Vassy as well. What's cool about the 'I Like That' video is that it was shot here and in London. We never met Luciana til she came to LA a couple months ago, after we had done a song and video. It's almost like having sex with someone and then an hour later saying, "whats your name?" Weird, but kinda cool.
CD: What would your dream performance be? RV: I think playing at a small club while having U2's Bono sing over some of my beats, Prince playing his guitar over the breakdowns and Gene Simmons stand next to me, sticking out his tongue every time I mixed. This could happen...hellooo
CD: What can we expect from Richard Vission in 2010? RV: There will be a follow up to 'I Like That' - possibly a whole album. I have a few singles I'll be releasing as well called: 'Never Be Alone', 'Get Down' and 'Far Away'. I will also be producing and co-writing Vassy's album (myspace.com/vassymusic) which is coming out on Ultra records...thats more on the pop tip. I'm sure there will be a couple of remixes sprinkled in there somewhere.
CD: Richard, you were solely responsible for introducing me to dance music back in the early 90’s. How did you first get introduced into this genre?
