Interview: Larry Tee

May 12, 2009

Larry Tee is a peculiar looking fellow hailing from Atlanta, Georgia where back in the late 80s he worked as a dj and ran with the drag crowd. Back then he was rubbing elbows with other local musicians like REM and The B-52s. Larry djed in the Atlanta area and got his feet wet as a producer, but he eventually ended up moving to New York with his friends, Ru Paul and Lady Bunny.

In New York, Larry’s career as a promoter bubbled over like champagne on New Years. His legendary parties like Love Machine and Disco 2000 made club kids go insane. He was instrumental in making that scene what it was – a giant, crazy mecca for personal expressionism. He also was producing and co-wrote Ru Paul’s hit, “Supermodel (You Better Work)”, which is now double-platinum. He then received much more notoriety which led to gigs all over the world including all the great NYC clubs like Palladium, Twilo and Roxy where he held a residency.

After the club kid heyday, Larry took some time off to regroup after a battle with drug addiction but remerged onto the scene in the late 90s. While hunting for a fresh sound to latch onto, he planted himself into the world of some newer bands like Scissor Sisters, Fischerspooner, Ladytron and Peaches. Larry, with his new found ambition and energy, created and hosted the Electroclash Festival and put those very bands front and center. Tee actually coined the term electroclash, which later landed in the Oxford dictionary. He also ran a successful label devoted to the genre called Mogul Electro. All in all, the electroclash movement was a package deal that came about because of Larry’s hard work and it has undeniably has made its mark in music history.

Since then, Larry has gone back into the studio again and put more focus on his production work. He just released his first full length album titled "Club Badd", which appears on Ultra Records. He’s collaborated on the album with so many people I can hardly name them all - Princess Superstar, Perez Hilton, Amanda Lepore, Roxy Cottontail, Sébastien Léger, and oddly enough, a 7 year old little girl named Amanita. The first single, “Licky” has literally been played all over the world by you name it – Justice, Armand Van Helden, Pete Tong, etc.

I got a chance to pick Larry’s brain about his current life and music career. Come to find out, he’s is a mix of hardworking, funny, and creative all rolled into one.

NYCELECTRO.NET: You have an impressive resume of remix work and production work, not to mention all the parties and festivals you’ve been responsible for as a promoter. But I must ask - why haven’t we seen a full length album from Larry Tee prior to this?

LT: I gotta say that as a music fan and supporter of interesting artists, I always preferred to hide behind exciting artists as opposed to being in the limelight. Even being dubbed Mr. Electroclash came with a real beating from the media AND hipsters. There is a tendency to destroy the artists we love after we tire of them. I have to admit, I am the same way though. I want NEW NEW NEW, and by being the brand…people expect you to stay the same…and sell the brand. If I had to play and produce house music like I played in the 90s, for example, I would slash my wrists. And I couldn’t stay sober for sure playing music I don’t believe in.

NYCELECTRO.NET: Does this album mark a shift in your career? Will we see a slow down on the promotions side and an increase in studio time from you? Or is everything still going to be in full force, just as before?

LT: Even doing the press and set-up for this album, because of the number of guests included, has prevented me from being the New York club promoter/festival producer. But I feel after having djed in NYC for decades and hosted the most parties, I need to get to travel and express myself in new ways. It DOES mean more writing and producing. In fact I have written a whole album for Mel Merio that has none of my normal trashy trademarks…it is all SONGS!! Eeegad!

NYCELECTRO.NET: Tell us about working with 7 year old Amanita on the “I Love You” single. What was she like?

LT: Amanita’s mother Mo is a friend of mine from way back in the clubkid days. Amanita was often hanging out with Pat Fields and being babysat by gorgeous transsexuals. The highlight of her recording was watching Amanita do a spot-on impression of Amanda LePore!

NYCELECTRO.NET: Licky is an insanely sexy song and the video is just as sexy. Will we ever see Larry Tee in heels again?

LT: Never again! I threw a temper fit at the shoot. Funny you asked because they wanted me to balance on a ball while I held my shoe up at the end of a grueling shoot! I leave the complicated job of cross-dressing to others who aren’t as handsome and macho as I am.

NYCELECTRO.NET: What’s on the horizon for you in 2009 besides the album release? Are there any new projects coming up?

LT: Well there’s the Mel Merio album project, writing songs for Fire and Reason and a few other projects that I can’t mention yet. I’ll be running my label and helping other remixers and artists that I can’t ignore put out their music. I did the electroclash thing because I thought if no one else championed this music, we might be stuck with another 5 years of boring trance and intelligent dance music…which is to me the definition of DEATH!!

NYCELECTRO.NET: Tell us about your label.

LT: Well I had Mogul Electro as my label for the electroclash era and stopped putting things out under that name. I have a new label now, So What? It’s associated with the DJs Are Not Rockstars label, run by Alexander Technique, my remix partner in Blogula. So my new label is just starting next month with releases from Mom and Dad and Jeff Doubleu, two hot new producers who made records I couldn’t refuse to put out!! My own recordings are now available exclusively through ULTRA.

NYCELECTRO.NET: What do you think of the NYC dance music scene now? How has it changed from when you first moved here?

LT: You know those people that say, “New York ain’t what it used to be?” I am never going to be one of those people. There is no Sound Factory or Roxy these days, but the amount of great music coming out of NYC and Brooklyn is unparalleled in the world right now. Maybe you have to close the after-hours sometimes for great music to be made…or maybe you have to have an after-hours to inspire great music. I don’t know.

NYCELECTRO.NET: What local DJs or producers would you recommend our readers check out?

LT: New York always has amazing new djs but the ones I like the best are the ones that produce too. I love the work of Alexander Technique, Christopher Just, Drop the Lime, Lauren Flax, Nita, Johnny Dynell, Tombstone/Kevin Graves…Wow! Long list! But these guys never fail to inspire me with their slamming tunes.

NYCELECTRO.NET: Since you’ve gigged around the world and back, how does NYC compare to all the other places you’ve played?

LT: New York will always have a special place in comparison to other cities…Yes, Panorama Bar might be the most exciting club in the world at this moment in time and there might be more radical experiments in dance music in Sao Paolo right now, but New York always seems to compete in the world of electronic music and will steal back the crown when everyone least expects it. For that reason, I will always be a New Yorker and will always honor New York as my spiritual home…and the spiritual home of dance music.

— Words by Nina K

http://www.myspace.com/nylarrytee
http://www.ultrarecords.com
http://www.electroclash.com

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