What a way to start the day. Another Greg Wilson mix.

feel like i'm half way up jacobs ladder...

Nearly 20 years later I still have the original tape in my car.

I remember having this on tape in 96. Matt was one of our mates back then.

To tie-in with my 200th blog post, this was the last mix I ever tape edited, putting it together on my original Revox B77 reel-to-reel, which I’d bought 14 years earlier, back in 1982. See the post with accompanying images at the blog:
http://www.gregwilson.co.uk/2012/11/the-monastic-mix/ 

THE MONASTIC MIX:
‘The Monastic Mix’ was very much a labour of love, gradually assembled in stages, as I bounced between reel-to-reel and DAT in order to add further textures. I did it in collaboration with a young DJ from Liverpool, Matt Shannon, who was into the Trip Hop / D’n’B vibes of the time, which I really liked myself, but didn’t have any of the records (I was, as you might say, on the bones of my arse brassic back then, so I wasn’t in the position to be buying anything other than the bare essentials). We fused Matt’s tunes with mainly older stuff from my own collection for the mix, which appeared on one side of a free cassette that was given away to everyone who attended the launch of 'The Monastery', an experimental monthly club night on Merseyside (plus a couple of Wednesday specials at London's 'Mars Bar' in conjunction with Microdot, the design company ran by Brian Cannon). We made things particularly difficult for ourselves, holding the night on a Sunday, and choosing an off the beaten track venue, Stairways, a Birkenhead Rock club, to which we bussed people through the Mersey Tunnel from Liverpool, as well as attracting others from The Wirral. However, despite all the drawbacks, we somehow managed to keep things afloat for the best part of a year, enjoying some great memories and much musical mayhem along the way.

‘The Monastery’ brought together a collective of DJ’s and musicians who were largely disillusioned with the local dance scene - Derek Kaye, Bernie Connor, DJ Trix, Phil Jones, Desa, Girls On Top, Phil Melia, Kerry Harrison, Ciaron Bell, Matt and myself all played our parts, doing it for the love rather than money, with Martin O’Shea (who, as it would work out, went on to manage the successful girl group, Atomic Kitten) promoting the nights. The basic premise was that we didn't go down the four-on-the-floor path, as this was being played pretty much everywhere else at the time, concentrating instead on groove-based music from the 60's to the 90's.  

Featuring Soul, Funk, Electro-Funk, Hip Hop, Indie-Dance, Trip Hop, Drum & Bass and more, ‘The Monastic Mix’ became cult listening for many of the people who got hold of the cassette, although I’m sure that others found it a bit too eclectic for the time and never gave it a second hearing. I’ve been told that it’s quite a demanding mix to listen to, dark in places and somewhat ‘druggy’ (‘one for the heads’ being a comment made about it back then). 

It’s close to my heart because it reflects my state of mind at the time it was made, which was pretty turbulent. Since my production work had ground to a halt a few years earlier, I was very much in no man’s land, completely detached from the music scene and with no means of expressing myself. I was still totally illiterate as far as computers were concerned and I remember feeling old and out of touch. There were moments when I wanted nothing more to do with the music industry, being punch drunk from the knocks I’d taken during recent years, but, having never had a ‘proper job’ in my life, I was pretty much in a catch 22 situation. I had no money and no prospects, life was passing me by and I was more or less washed out creatively. Suffice to say it was a very bleak period for me.

It was during this time that my friends, seeing how much I was struggling, were urging me to get back into deejaying, telling me that I could make good money by trading on my reputation of old. However, there was a big catch, which was that I’d have to decide what area of dance music to specialise in, which was an alien concept for me, having made my name playing the best of a whole range of styles, rather than just one narrow area. Thankfully (and I can only say this with hindsight) I resisted the temptation to take this option, which would have amounted to selling my DJ soul for a quick cash-in.

The idea behind The Monastery was planted in my mind by my friend, Kermit, who, following on from the Rap Assassins, had hooked-up with former Happy Mondays mainman Shaun Ryder to form the band Black Grape.  Just before they were about to do the final mixes on their debut album, ‘It’s Great When You’re Straight…Yeah’ (which would subsequently top the British charts), Kermit came to see me in Liverpool with a cassette of all their tracks. I was blown away with what they’d come up with, but it also served to highlight my own shortfallings. I commented that he’d done so much while I’d been wasting away at home doing nothing, but he told me that the time I was spending, in relative seclusion, with my music, books and videos, would prove to be time well spent. He likened my existence to being in a monastery – a comment that very much resonated within me and somehow gave me renewed hope for the future.

The following year, when the idea of a putting together a club night was put to me, I suggested it should be called The Monastery, with the music policy and presentation completely unlike anything else that was happening, combining DJ’s with live musicians. When it came to putting the mix together, I wanted to reference as many of my musical influences as I could, even if it only be a tiny snippet. I managed to cram a lot of them in and I can guarantee that, even after numerous plays, you’ll still recognise new elements hidden away in there. There’s a lot of stuff going on in the detail and, listening back to it later down the line, I became aware of a definite autobiographical slant that didn’t seem so obvious then, reflecting the struggle and soul searching that summed up my life at the point it was made. A mix will, obviously, always have something of yourself within it, but this is undoubtedly more personally revealing than anything else I’ve done – there’s some kind of twisted narrative in there, and I can hear me talking to myself via some of the samples I chose (for example, when you hear the words ‘does anyone remember who I am?’, I really meant it, trapped in obscurity as I was). Even the discordant parts, the bits that jar with me now, show me exactly where my head was at.

It was an important personal step for me, and I thank Matt Shannon for what he brought to the table – I didn’t have all the ingredients myself, and he was also pretty handy on the decks, so Matt was, of course, key to this. He no doubt reads it in a different way to me, but I know it has its own special symbolism for him, especially given he never followed the DJ route, and instead carved out a rewarding career working in the computer, rather than in club realm. 

‘The Monastic Mix’ very much informed what I did later, especially the Teenage DJ project, which built on that autobiographical slant I’d stumbled across. It’s echoes can also be heard via my use of samples in a live context - people who know my mixes from more recent times will, no doubt, recognise many of the samples I’ve subsequently used, which are spun from the same tape, but in a different context – from another time and place.

I think it’s a mix that’s most conducive to a chilled-out environment (and state of mind). I might have given the impression that it’s pretty heavy-going, but you’ll find lots of familiar stuff throughout (it makes for a great game of spot the sample) and I’m sure it’ll raise a smile, and perhaps even the spirit, here and there. 

Greg Wilson - November 2012

THE MONASTIC MIX (by greg wilson and matt shannon for the monastery 1996)

Bookings: matt@thepool-london.com 
Promos: promo@gregwilson.co.uk 
DJ Dates: https://blog.gregwilson.co.uk/upcoming-dj-dates/
Greg began DJing in 1975 and is regarded as one of the most important figures on the UK dance scene. He enjoyed hugely popular residencies in the early eighties at Wigan Pier and Manchester’s majorly influential Legend, having originally started out in his hometown, New Brighton. A pioneer of mixing in the UK, he became the first ‘dance music’ specialist hired for a regular weekly session at Manchester’s now legendary Haçienda club in 1983. Greg was instrumental in breaking the new electronic, post-disco records coming out of New York, a sound he has dubbed ‘Electro-Funk’.

In 2003 he set up electrofunkroots, a website documenting this crucial era in the evolution of dance culture. After a two decade hiatus from the booth, he returned to DJing and soon welcomed bookings throughout Europe and, subsequently, worldwide.

Greg was the first DJ to mix live on British TV, putting together the first UK radio mixes of their type for Piccadilly 261 in Manchester and showing a certain Norman Cook (later Fatboy Slim) how to scratch.

Nominated by DJ Magazine for outstanding contribution, and also named amongst their top twenty remixers of all-time, Greg’s remix credits include Grace Jones, The XX, Groove Armada, Bryan Ferry, Confidence Man, Gilberto Gil and Simian Mobile Disco, whilst he’s edited tracks by A Guy Called Gerald, Talking Heads, O.M.D., Electronic, Imagination and Missy Elliot.

In January 2009 Greg’s reputation was further enhanced when his Essential Mix on BBC Radio 1 received almost universal acclaim and was selected as one of 10 classics that spanned the show’s near 17 year history.

Greg’s Blog, ‘Being A DJ’, was launched in June 2010 for observations on various aspects of club culture now an online touchstone for an ever-increasing amount of dance enthusiasts and aficionados.

In August 2010 he co-curated areas at the inaugural Vintage Festival at Goodwood, which was named ‘Best New Festival’ at the UK Festival Awards.

He has produced a series of documentary podcasts, Time Capsule, Random Influences and Early 80’s Floorfillers, as well as the long-running blog series, Living To Music.

Greg has given talks on music and DJ culture at a number events at venues The Tate Gallery in Liverpool and London's Southbank and Institute Of Contemporary Arts, whilst in 2013 he was invited onto a panel alongside legendary figures Nile Rodgers and Giorgio Moroder @ ADE in Amsterdam. 

In 2014 he unveiled the multi-media label Super Weird Substance, focusing on recording and live events. In 2015, the label released 8 vinyl singles, brought together in the 2 CD comp, 'Greg Wilson Presents Super Weird Substance'. September 2015 saw a memorable Festival No.6 Happening in Portmeirion and Greg rounded off the year with the Liverpool-based celebration of the 40th anniversary of his first club date in 1975 as well as being presented with DJ Magazine's Industry Icon award.

Greg launched his Credit To The Edit club collective at 2016's Festival No.6 and since then has taken it to Liverpool, Berlin, Brixton, Bethnal Green and finally back to Portmeirion for Festival No.6 2017.

2017 saw his label host the epic 14 Hour Super Weird Happening at Liverpool's Florrie, following a mixtape collaboration with Alan Moore, who also appeared at the Happening, whilst it also saw the digital release of The Super Weird Society's 'Gone With The Vibe', released the following year on the first Substance Select 12" vinyl alongside 'The Ghosts Of Watling Street', 'The Best Is Yet To Come' and 'Summer Came My Way'. 2018 also saw the release of Vol.3 in Greg's long-running Credit To The Edit compilation series.

After a handful of further releases, the label was put into hibernation with the onset of covid. Diversifying, ‘Greg Wilson’s Discotheque Archives’ was issued during 2020 lockdown as a limited run paperback, with more books, both Wilson’s own projects and by other authors, now planned.

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