URB: As in somewhat dangerous?
FLG: I mean kids were acting like thugs. And trust me we don’t have any ghettos in Holland but still they just wanted to act like it. And then a friend of mine from school introduced to me house music and in the beginning I was like – Nah I don’t know but then I found that there was this super funky stuff as well.
URB: Such as?
FLG: Well back in the day it was a lot of stuff from America like Chicago house and a lot of just really funky stuff. So to me the switch even just vocally from hip-hop to disco house was not so big. And the thing I like most about it especially from the DJ point of view, it’s so easy with house music to incorporate new tracks. And with hip-hop it was always like if you didn’t play the hits people will get disappointed. So that made me like it more and more and more. And another amazing thing is that especially in the beginning of house in Europe it didn’t matter how you look like, what you’re wearing and whatever – it was just a bunch of people that like the same music – from very rich people to alternative to poor and that’s what I liked about it also.
URB: So how did it get from there to starting your record label Flamingo Records with Funkerman?
FLG: We met by playing at the same club – he played on Thursdays, I played on Saturdays and we had generally the same taste in music so we clicked right away. I was already producing then and had a couple of tracks on some Dutch labels which were ok. The funny thing was I had this one track I was really proud of because it was kind of weird and strange but still I thought it was really cool. But no labels liked it. They were kind of like “We don’t know what to do with this. Please go away.” So I gave it to him and he played it a lot.
URB: Which track was that?
FLG: “Get this Feeling.” And that’s the reason why he actually started the label at first. And it was the same with the 3rd or 4th release, which was already “Put Your Hands Up For Detroit.” And again, no one liked it. Really, just no one. So it’s funny because we just said (excuse the language) fuck it and we’ll just do it ourselves. And that’s the cool thing about most of the tracks we’ve done – it was actually the people that decided that it was a good record and it wasn’t just some executive somewhere saying “Oh well this will sell so we’ll take it.” That’s another thing about house that’s cool, it’s getting a bit harder in Europe though, but I think in America where it’s not as mainstream yet, the people still decide what track is good or not. The thing is in general if you just hear a track over and over and over, 9 times out of 10 you’re going to like it. And house is really honest because you get an honest reaction from the dance floor and you see right away if people like it or not.
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