Chicago house veteran Marshall Jefferson came into his prime in the 1980s, just as the Windy City started to redefine the genre. Sure, everyone over 40 seems to be described as the father or godfather of house these days, but this guy has a better claim than most. We fired some quick questions at him ahead of his set at Migas on Friday, May 13.
If you’re the ‘father of house music,’ who’s the young upstart cousin of house music?
Too many to choose from, there’s no one guy.
Got it. 'Move Your Body' is credited as the first house track to use piano, but what instrument do you think hasn’t been used enough in house music?
Oboe – a beautiful instrument.
‘Move Your Body’ was featured in one of the Grand Theft Auto games. Did you ever go on a digital killing spree to your own music?
No, I play a lot of games, but never GTA.
We have! Thanks for keeping our crime rampage entertaining. You started a Kickstarter campaign to make an album using a ‘binaural’ microphone – what is it and how are you using it?
A binaural microphone is a microphone that records with a full 360-degree sound field, instead of just left and right. In a binaural recording you’re able to hear things behind you, above you, below you and in front of you. However, you can only hear the binaural information with headphones. I built a binaural microphone and I’m using it in all my upcoming records.
Having spent long periods living in the UK, how do you think the house music there compares with in your native Chicago?
I think everything coming out of both the UK and Chicago is heavily formatted. A place is hot one week and another the next week – it’s all in the songwriting and who writes a great song that week.
True that. What will your friend and collaborator, the late Frankie Knuckles, be best remembered for?
Frankie was our ambassador for all things house-related. I think more than any one song or remix, he’ll be remembered as the embodiment of house.
You release tracks on a label called Trax. What are your top 3 tracks on Trax?
‘Move Your Body,’ ‘The Jungle,’ and ‘Time Marches On.’
Choose one: Thomas Jefferson or Marshall Mathers?
Eminem – Thomas was a slave owner.
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