Chilling with Mr C

The mischievous Mr C

12 April 2012

Naughty, naughty, very naughty Mr C shot to fame in the early 90s when his raps for the The Shamen made him one of the most ubiquitous MCs in Britain. Love Sex Intelligence and Move any Mountain stormed up the charts in 1991 and 92, but it was Ebeneezer Goode which caused the biggest stir for its outrageous lyrics. Who could forget...?

"There's a guy in the place
He's got a bittersweet face
And he goes by the name of Ebeneezer Goode..."

By the end of that decade Mr C — real name Richard West - had hung up his mike, picked up his earphones and mixed his way up into the spheres of the most respected DJs around the world.

Keeping his beloved pseudonym — the C is for Chelsea (he’s a fan) - he turned his expertise to clubland and hooked up with Layo Paskin (of Layo and Bushwaka fame) to form The End in 1996. One of the only underground clubs in London at the time, it was the first to give out free drinking water and rapidly spawned the adjoining AKA Bar and End Records.

Today The End rivals the likes of superclub Fabric - and Mr C happily will tell you that it has shifted position from its underground roots.

"I don't like to call The End underground because I feel that what I do is commercial," he says. "I'm going to go against all the underground people now and say 'look, we're all making commercial music. If it were underground we’d be giving it away for free and we'd be DJ-ing for nothing. We're not, we're getting paid for it, so let's get real.'

"These people, who think like 'we're the most underground, only the underground is relevant' are the people that don't know how to dress up and have a good time when they’re out."

But some commercial tunes must be banned from The End?

"Oh yes. Trance - or anything cheesy, lowest common denominator childrens’ stuff, I'm a grown-up - and I'm not interested in listening to Pinky and Perky or whatever it is they put in their trance records nowadays!"

Where could we take you for a beer?

"I'm not a pub person, I've never had a pull towards them. On a nice hot day I never think 'I could kill a cold beer'. I think 'I could kill a glass of water.' Don't get me wrong, I love to drink, but I'm a night person, you're more likely to find me in bars and clubs."

So what's your favourite tipple when you're out?

I like Kettle One and tonic. It's the best vodka there is, it's Dutch and very nice, with a quarter of a lime, it's lovely.

Mr C, you're a bit mischievous and, dare we say, a little eccentric?

"Mischievous for sure, I've always been referred to as a bit of a naughty boy. The thing is I'm easily lead. If someone says like "let's do this" I'm like "yessss!!!" and that makes me naughty.

"But eccentric? I don't think eccentric is a good word - bonkers more like! I wouldn't say I was an English eccentric or anything whacky, my madness is a bit more calculative. A bit more rebellious."

You DJ all around the world. What do you miss most when you're out of London?

"When I'm out of London I really miss the edge. The only other city that doesn't bore me is New York. I always feel like I've got too much to do and not enough time to do it when I'm in London, but as soon as I leave then it becomes the opposite. I miss the vibrancy."

Do you DJ in New York often?

"I like to spread myself out. Even at my own club I only play once every other month. I'm next playing at Superfreak at The End, on June 26. It's a German special - I'm so excited about it — there’s going to be a lot of footstomping going on! (laughs) We’re going to have a really big party — we get silly up at Superfreak."

Could you see yourself opening up The End 2?

No, a big fat No! It's been wonderful being part of that something special, but to do it again? [shudders]

The only way that might ever happen is, let's say hypothetically, we were to sell the club in like ten years time and I had two or three nippers running around me trousers, then it might be nice to go somewhere like Ibiza, buy a nice little restaurant bar that I could have as a little early club that I could runn on my own. Something nice and small that's really beautiful and personal, then maybe. But right now I'm not even thinking about that shit. My mind is in other places, I’m an entertainer, that’s what I do best.

"I'm off to Ibiza in four weeks, here we go, here we go! I'm only working every second week in the summer as well, so I can spend eleven days on the island, then three days working, It's going to be tough."

Sounds it. What else is in the pipeline?

"I've been working with Francis Harris in the studio in Paris and New York, we call ourselves the Sycophant Slags, great name innit? The Sycophant Slags cometh! That's been fun.

We've had a single out on Sexonwax Recordings and we've got another two lined up. You're a Freak on End Recordings has just been cut this week, it's a solo effort from myself, coming out in July.

You're a writer, producer, DJ and club owner. What's your favourite of all these professions?

"My favourite part of entertaining? Well right now I’m really buzzing about being an actor. I reckon I'd be suitable for all the sort of roles that Anthony Hopkins would be cast for. Anything from a gentleman aristocrat to a psychopath villain or a cop — I've got that sort of look that can lend itself anywhere. I've been doing classes with an amazing tutor and they’re going swimmingly well.

"I'm finding out a lot about myself in doing it. I've been on a quest to learn more about myself as an individual since I was 17, the power of the subconscious mind, the visualisation of positive thinking and what can be achieved through meditation and stuff.

"I feel like the last couple of months I’ve really came alive again. Not that I had died but it’s like the sleeping giant is waking. I'm loving the Djing at the moment. I’m just buzzing about everything. I’m just lucky, life’s good."

You sound quite philosophical, what is your life philosophy?

Obtain Bliss. And anyone who’s unsure what Bliss is, it's joy without object.

Profound!

"No. It's simple. That's what we all strive for, even though we don't know it. It's the primary purpose of every human alive. I think if everybody were to know that, there would be no war, no thieving, no murders, no negativity. Nothing like that. Why do we do all these things, it’s to be happy, and what is the ultimate happiness? It’s bliss. It would sort the world out if everybody knew it."

Chilling with Mr C

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