After a brief (ish) mid season break we’re finally back with the next edition in the Slutty Fringe Mix Series and this time we’ve found ourselves boarded by the piratical Danny Berman aka Red Rack’em.

Danny’s been one of my favourite producers and DJs for some time now, going way back to when I ran a record shop and his naughty disco/soul edits would fly off the racks.

Since then he’s clocked up hits under the Hot Coins alias, signed a deal with those lovely people at Tirk Recordings and established himself as a major player with the likes of Todd Terje, Gilles Peterson, Bill Brewster and Prins Thomas all supporting his releases.

A great DJ to boot, his fortnightly Smuggler’s Inn podcast is essential listening for anyone into leftfield beats, and if you see his name on a flyer you can be pretty much guaranteed a good night.

This month he’s just pulled together and released a retrospective of the early Red Rack’em releases on his own label Bergerac and we figured it was as good a time as any to get him in to do a mix and have a natter.

SF: The first Bergerac release is out, why did you choose to start your own label with The Early Years, a career retrospective?

I don’t actually know when I decided to do The Early Years, it was just a vague idea at first.  I wanted to put together a strong artist album and I thought rather than put together a traditional album with 5 or 6 good tracks and some not so good ones, why not pick out some of the best tracks I have released so far and put them onto one CD?

Most of the tracks had been released on limited run vinyl only releases or on very vinyl based labels so the tracks haven’t really been available to many people outside of the the record shop scene.

I love vinyl and my primary goal is still to make vinyl singles which will be played in clubs. But the majority of music bought today is in a digital format. So I would like my music to be available to those listeners as well.

I also wanted to draw a line under the work I have produced so far and really focus on the future. Bergerac was initially set up as vinyl based singles label.The first release was actually the single How I Program which came out about 2 weeks before The Early Years.

SF: Have you been pleased with the response?

The response to both the album and single has been amazing with support from a broad range of DJs including Motor City Drum Ensemble, Kyle Hall, Jazzanova and The Revenge. Gilles Peterson played Bonn (B side of How I Program) on Radio 1 which was a great boost for the first release.

To be honest though, the emails from people who have bought the record have been the most inspiring though. The album has also had quite a lot coverage too which has been great.

How do you measure success though? Is it in profile? Virtual column inches? Or the quality of the music? I would like to think ultimately it’s the latter.

I am trying to make quirky, thoughtful underground dance music which can move people on the dancefloor and in their heads and I think I have achieved what I set out to do.

SF: What’s going to follow it in the coming months?

I am just about to get Berg 002 manufactured. It’s looking like it will be Courting which is a dark garage house thing, Feel My Tears which is some deep techno thing and How We Do which is kind of ecstasy jazz techno. Still not 100% decided on that yet though.

I am also doing a bit of a tour to promote the album so I am off to Japan next monday for a week to play at http://www.dommune.com (live stream club in Shibuya) on 27/10/10 and XEX Nihonbashi on 30/10/10.

Then I’ll be in Berlin, Belgrade and Zagreb sometime before Christmas too. It’s nice to get to play some new places.

I am also putting together a Smugglers Inn compilation album which will feature artists who I play a lot on my Smugglers Inn radio show/podcasts.

SF: You also have a vinyl only label prepped in Nettles, what’s the focus there?

Nettles is going to be more quirky, sample based tracks. Stuff which wouldn’t be appropriate for the digital market. First release is Bill George and Transfer List. Hopefully out before Christmas but it’s looking doubtful now. Where’s the year gone!

SF: Reading between the lines you seem to have an affinity for John Nettles, which is cool everyone needs a favourite TV detective (mine’s Quincy) where does this love for Nettles transpire?

It all stems from Bergerac. I just wanted to call the label something which people already knew and would register in their minds and memories. It’s a place in France so the detective connection was kind of secondary really.

I have always loved the Bergerac music. French accordion reggae anyone? I vividly remember enjoying Bergerac from my childhood in the 80s so it felt appropriate to reference that in the label. Nettles is just a pun and I think it’s a cool name for a label as well.

SF: Who would you back in a ruck between Bergerac and Quincy?

Bergerac for sure. Quincy is wet I think.

SF: Leaving behind my televisual fantasies, take us through your mix – would you say it’s representative of a Red Rack Em DJ set right now?

It’s a bit of a radio mix if that makes sense. I would probably be more banging in a club scenario. I try to start mixes off in quite a mellow way normally.  I tried to include tracks by artists that I am enjoying right now really.

Some new names like Chicago Damn and System Status as well as some older hands like Seiji and Office Gossip. I particularly like the Roman Rauch track on the mix.

I also included a couple of Juju and Jordash tracks as I play at lot of their tracks on the radio and at gigs. It’s quite housey really. I am also feeling a lot of the garage type stuff right now so it could have turned out differently depending on the day…

SF: Gilles Peterson quite famously claimed you couldn’t put a foot wrong, who do you feel similarly about at the moment?

Well I have to say that most artists I like still make the occasional track I don’t fully understand but I am currently digging a lot of stuff by Kyle Hall, A Made Up Sound, Dexter, See The Road, Souled, Juju and Jordash…

The best thing to do is check out my smugglers inn podcasts  @ http://www.redrackem.com or search itunes store for ‘Smugglers Inn’. Thats what I am digging on a week to week basis.

Red Rack’em Slutty Fringe Mix Tracklist
Chicago Damn – Time Waits For No Man (Cdr)
System Status – Planet X (Cdr)
Red Rack’em – How We Do (Bergerac)
Souled – Changin’ (Fresh Minute)
Chicago Damn – Be Your Man (Merc)
Ordell – Court and Paste (Juju and Jordash Remix) (Minuendo)
Red Rack’em – Bonn (Bergerac)
Roman Rauch – Can’t Get Enough (Tjumy)
Lone – Cloud 909 (Magic Wire)
Darling Farah – Berline (Funkineven Remix) (Civil)
Jimi Oh Vs Baby Ford – Fordtrax Edit (Cdr)
Office Gossip – Ver 2 (Dark Energy)
Soul Minority – Six Nine (Bleep District Remix) (Kolour)
San Soda – Shouts In Peace (We Play House)
Julian Love  - Untitled (Cdr)
Juju and Jordash – Tattoos Island (Philpot)
Robotalco – Is The Nite (Cdr)
Seiji – Elevator (Seiji)
Red Rack’em – How I Program (Bergerac)

Stream now from Mixcloud, AND NOW due to popular demand you can finally download the mix to add to your collection.

Download: Red Rack’em – Slutty Fringe Mix 16