 |
Caspar Pound
Almost a year ago, Caspar Pound tragically died at his home due to heart
complications, coupled with (as some reports may state), a brain tumour.
It seemed fitting at this point in time to write a few words about this
individual's influence on electronic dance music, particularly in UK.
The fall and rise of the late 80s acid scene was so short lived, if you
blinked you missed it. Almost immediately the music fled back to the
underground clubs, fermenting for a couple of years. The Madchester
scene put a human (almost!) face to the ecstasy culture along with chart
hits. Meanwhile, the club scene was getting on with things, albeit in
a blind and yet unrestricted and carefree way. True to the original
ideals, anyone who went to an underground dance club was pleased to hear
underground dance music. Techno? Breakbeat? House?
Trance? The terms in 1990 say, meant nothing - the population of dance
attendees cared not, there was room enough for everyone. Anything
went, and it did.
First of all, we have to tip our hats to UK acts of the time who were either
breaking new ground or (in majority of cases) emulating the sound of Chicago
and Detroit: 808 State, Nexus 21 etc etc. However, the UK appeared to
have a fear of making real noise, real beats, and unadulterated and
meaningless techno. By 1990/1 the UK clubs had heard the likes of
Beltram, Underground Resistance, Speedy J and Frank de Wulf - electronic
dance music with austere style, raw power and freedom from melody.
However, they all had something in common, they were all foreign, and like
their "Summer of Love" predecessors, they soon spawned a British son.
Step in Caspar Pound.
Still in his late teens, Caspar Pound, along with Mark Williams, formed A
Homeboy, A Hippie and a Funky Dread, releasing the classic "Total
Confusion". A UK tour alongside the Plus 8 crew cemented their
credibility as a known hard techno act and shortly after Pound went on to
found Rising High Records, undoubtedly the most important UK techno label of
all time.
The first release, in limited quantities was "Rainbows in the Sky". To
say that this record took the UK club scene by storm, would be an
understatement. Manic stabbing synth lines and a vocal sample culled
from the cult-ish Science of Happiness recordings by Ken Keyes Jnr, this
record was the definitive UK techno record that spawned a million copies,
perhaps even Pound's own. Remaining an underground hit for many
months, Caspar was quick to follow up with the massive "The House is Mine"
series, whereupon the label took off globally and never looked back.
With releases from Robert Hood and Mixmaster Morris, the label not only
paved the way for hard dance but also for electronic music as a whole.
Moving into 1992, Caspar founded the Sapho label (named after his daughter)
and kicked off proceedings with the brilliant "Let There be Light", penned
by himself and sampling a multitude of clips from the John Carpenter film
"Dark Star", from which the artist alias takes its name.
From then on the various labels, remixes and incarnations were
numerous: need we mention the classic "Barbarella"? Possibly not.
Pound networked quickly with the European scene, and before long German and
Dutch names began to appear on the credits of the Sapho and Rising High
releases. Returning from whence it came? Perhaps.
Pound's visionary qualities may have been short lived however.
His ventures into the more experimental elements of electronic music (as
opposed to cut and paste techno) were few and far between, even though he
was known to have a love of many varied types of music, his vinyl heart lay
in the hardcore, and the more hard the better: "I just want to make music
that fucks with your mind" - or something along those lines. Much in the way
Jeff Mills has failed to stick his neck out and investigate and pursue a
series of experimental projects, on vinyl or otherwise, Pound stuck to what
he knew best, almost in stasis from the point of ultimate creativity in his
early 20s to his death at the age 33. A much loved character with a
sharp and sometimes abrasive tongue in his mouth, Pound's legacy is perhaps
almost lost on the current clubbing youth of today. I am personally
lucky enough (and unfortunately old enough) to remember him as the Pioneer
of the Warped Groove.
Phase 6, Scotland, April, 2005. |
