Latin/jazz/ house fusionist Kenny Dope Gonzalez remains best known for his Masters At Work collaborative duo with Lil Louis Vega, though as a solo artist and producer, he's equally well respected and admired.

"It's annoying when you're in a restaurant trying to enjoy your food and you get someone smoking from the back, it's the most disgusting thing ever. I think the smoking ban it's the best thing that ever happened, if you really want to know my opinion."

Hailing from the 'it's-all-about-the-music' school of club culture, he's a no nonsense, straight-talking New Yorker whose loathing of tobacco smoke contrasts with his abiding commitment to House.

"I'll always be associated with house music, house music got me where I am today, I've met amazing people through it and I don't intend to drop it," he told Benedetta Skrufff.

"House has exposed me to production, to working with top singers, great musicians... things that I wouldn't have had the chance to learn if I would have come straight from hip hop."

In fact, hip hop, Latin and jazz have also contributed to a career that's developed to the point where he's now one of America's most respected and influential serious house players.

"The American music industry doesn't take house seriously anymore, it's at a standstill," he complains.

"Compilations do well instead because they're good value for money, kids are more inclined to spend on a CD featuring 10 or 15 of their favourite tracks rather than a CD with just one track they actually like."

And certainly good value for money is Kenny's new triple mix CD In The House, coming out on UK label Defected. Including cuts from jazz greats Nina Simone and Tito Puente alongside contemporary songstresses like Ultra Nate and Neneh Cherry it's a heavily vocal and richly soulful selection of a style of music that in the 90s would have been called garage, though Kenny would disagree.

"I can't stand all these labels," he says.

I've got two styles of music, good and bad."


Skrufff: What was your approach in mixing the new Defected CD, what were you trying to achieve?

Kenny 'Dope' Gonzales: "I wanted to make a mix CD the way I used to make them in the past with lots of records playing simultaneously. So it combines lots of soulful house overdubs with more aggressive tunes, and some classics together with acappellas, different beats from different songs, and so on."

Skrufff: The press release for the CD says you're keen to revive your solo career; how different is it working on your own, instead of with Louis as Masters At Work?

Kenny 'Dope' Gonzales: "It is different working on my own because we're two different people, so my whole approach is different. Of course we've made some incredible records together, and we'll continue to do so, but we're at a point where we also want to develop our own careers and Louis has just finished his own album too. Personally, I haven't been able to concentrate on my solo projects, partially because I didn't want to let our fans down, but I also didn't want to dilute my energy when I was fully involved in a partnership. I didn't want to jeopardise the hype and the momentum we had, though now I feel there's room for me to concentrate on myself and that's what I'm doing."

Skrufff: Do the two of you disagree much or ever have huge rows?

Kenny 'Dope' Gonzales: "No, we've only had one disagreement in the 13 years we've been working together and it had nothing to do with our business, so we have an incredible relationship, it's a marriage now. We're very open with each other, if we don't like something when we're in the studio, we'll just say it and move on. We don't take things personally, we trust each other's judgement, because we both know we have each other's best interest at heart. And that to me is what Masters At Work is about. We understood that from the beginning, that's why we are where we are and that's why there's no jealousy interfering between us when we get involved in solo projects."

Skrufff: P Diddy's recently started embracing house producers in a highly visible way, something you've been doing the other way round for years, do you still believe house will ever cross over in America?

Kenny 'Dope' Gonzales: "I say No because house labels, producers and artists don't take it as seriously as the hip hop and R&B people do their music. You don't have album projects and lots of the artists just do one record and that's all. They don't have images or concepts like other artists do, and we all know that you have to play the game in order to gain more. In England, things are very different and, in fact, house music has crossed over and it's more successful. By now things should have happened over here, but instead the industry doesn't take house seriously anymore. It's at a standstill. Compilations do well instead because they're good value for money, kids are more inclined to spend on a CD featuring 10 or 15 of their favourite tracks rather than a CD with just one track they actually like."

Skrufff: Lots of UK labels, magazines and the superclubs are closing or struggling, why do you think these problems are happening?

Kenny 'Dope' Gonzales: "It's all fucked up at the moment because computers are out of control. You can shop and buy music over the net, which even I prefer, since whenever I go to record shops I always end up being disappointed. People prefer shopping on the internet because they can do it whenever they like, listen to the tracks as much as they like without having to put up with anybody's attitude. In the past, you'd get people travelling to London or to New York to buy records, but they don't do it anymore. Why should they?"

Skrufff: What's brought about the closure of magazines and superclubs, though?

Kenny 'Dope' Gonzales: "The music and the DJs are not interesting anymore. R & B, hip hop and reggae are going through a good phase and kids feel that dance music has become too sophisticated. The crowds from our generation have all grown up and there aren't any records around right now that appeal to the younger generations, so they go somewhere else. I play all that other stuff (hip hop and R&B) in my sets right now, but there are tons of DJs out there who've never even thougth of playing a hip hop record."

Skrufff: How do you view the whole superstar DJ pay issues, are you one of those DJs who'll play for 20 people for 20 bucks rather than stay home, or do you prefer to hold out for full scale rates?

Kenny 'Dope' Gonzales: "The only reason why I would have to hold out for higher money is because I have a lot of financial activities that I have to take care of, so in order for me to travel I have to get paid, to cover all my expenses at home. Back in the days when I started DJing was for the love, but it's become business now, the rates are what they are, but that's not to say that I haven't done free parties and that, if I liked the party, I wouldn't just show up and play. I've done that before. Of course, if I get a booking for a 150/200 people capacity event, I'm not going to charge them an arm and a leg- I have to be realistic. I've just played at a party in Scotland where they had no budget basically, and I did it just because I wanted to. Then I had a really well paid gig on a Saturday, so I played at this other party for a really cheap fee. I do know many inflexible DJs, though."

Skrufff: How do you view the whole globe trotting aspect of DJing, is something you look forward to, or does it become a burden?

Kenny 'Dope' Gonzales: "The thing is, after doing it for so many years, you get to know where the really good spots are around the world and you do enjoy and look forward to going to those places on a regular basis. The hardest part is when you're on a three week tour playing every day in a different city, to a different crowd, staying in a different hotel, hearing a different language and if you become ill, because your body shuts down, that's the worst... I mean, it becomes very demanding because you must give 110% at each party. I don't think people fully realise how intense the schedules can get, when you turn up at these clubs and you may not be in the best of moods. We have off nights, but ultimately the energy comes from the crowds and that's what keeps you going. Sometimes you can be totally shattered, but you see those kids so into it and that's where the energy comes from. You find it and give it back to them."

Skrufff: Have you been inspired at all by this 80s electro revival?

Kenny 'Dope' Gonzales: "Nah, not really. I was there when it first happened and that's it. I just don't follow trends because there are always too many- too many labels, too many genres... I've got two styles of music, good and bad... I can't stand all these labels."

Skrufff: Josh Wink told us recently that he believes the RAVE Act is seriously affecting dance music and DJ culture in the States (discouraging potential bedroom DJs, which in turn hits record sales); what's your take on the RAVE act?

Kenny 'Dope' Gonzales: "I don't know about that whole drug scene, I only play records, so..."

Kenny 'Doppe' Gonzalez' In The House mix CD is out now on Defected Records.

http://www.defected.co.uk