Richard Henry Interview: SXSW 2010

Posted on Mar 2nd 2010 11:00AM by Andrea Grimes
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Richard Henry -- a DJ, promoter, musician and man-about-town -- has traveled the country collecting musical and cultural inspiration for his soulful, sweeping songs. A New York native, he now calls Austin, Texas home, where he spins night after night in the city's club-lined downtown. During SXSW, he's scheduled to appear on two separate nights, bringing his experimental electronica to Austin's southern sector. In advance of his appearances, Henry shared some words with Spinner about being one of the Austin's best known citizens of the music scene.

Describe your sound in your own words.

Very beat-oriented, experimental, psychedelic, cinematic music.

How did you become a DJ and promoter?

Stumbled into promoting by default. When I was younger, back in the early '90s, my friends all were in bands and looking for something to do on the weekend. [I] convinced everyone to have a little get together with bands and what-not in my backyard while my family was gone out of town. It became a little bit more popular than I thought. Since then, I've been throwing shows here and there, but started getting more serious about it in my early '20s in Austin.

[I] saw Portishead long ago with Andy Smith opening up, and then saw Mixmaster Mike open up for the Beastie Boys right after that. [I] just thought that was the coolest thing ever. [I] worked random jobs around town to save up to purchase some turntables, then guested on DJ nights ranging from breaks, film soundtracks, hip-hop type tunes. Making soundtracks with records for film on mute at home is still a favorite pastime of mine.

What are your musical influences?

It's a mouthful, for sure. Matt Sharp from the Rentals, Damon Albarn from Blur, Boards of Canada, Geoff Barrows from Portishead, Eli Janney from Girls Against Boys, Black Keys, Danger Mouse, the Beatles, Premier and Prince Paul, to name a few. Late nights watching black-and-white YouTube videos of bands from the '60s.

How did you come up with the Platypus Productions name? And why have you opted to remain "Richard Henry" as a DJ, as opposed to having some other clever DJ name, as seems to be the trend?

After throwing a few shows to promote myself as a DJ, I came to terms to create a production name that would reflect what I do. A platypus is a little bit of everything -- part duck, part beaver and part ... something. [I] also wanted something that wouldn't pigeonhole me into a category, and that's also kid-friendly. I'm kinda all over the place with tunes, a friendly beaver-duck. I was always trying to come up with a clever "DJ name," but just thought my name would be fitting after a while. More of my friends or strangers I just met would recognize it on the street. I [have] never been into trends.

How would you describe your musical philosophy?

Since I was little, I was brought up with a do-it-yourself aspect toward things. [I] as influenced from my friends that were in the punk scene at the time. I'd rather learn how to do something myself, rather than going through formal training. It leads to accidents to occur, which sometimes turns out for the better in whatever I'm doing.

What's the DJ/electronic music scene in Austin like? Any serious competition with the local dudes-with-guitars contingent?

The DJ scene in Austin is very healthy with a mixture of different styles of music. You can go out pretty much every night and find a quality DJ playing some style of music, from reggae to hip-hop to dance music. It's Austin.

I don't see any competition with the band scene at all. Maybe some DJs do, but I just see it as an opportunity to do something different, a miniature music festival in a club. I've been lately working with bands to play between sets and afterwards -- just seems more fun and interactive than a standard four-hour DJ set.

Your music incorporates a lot of global themes and sounds. Why?

I've just been traveling since I was very young and picked up tunes while on the road that caught my ear. I always enjoy introducing new tunes to friends while playing to see their reaction. [With] lots of the foreign music, I'm clueless on what they're talking about but enjoy the beats they produced to create it. Lately, I've been just traveling with that intention of grabbing new tunes in different cities from around [the world]. Last year, I went to Monterrey, Mexico to grab cumbia from the flea markets, besides a beer buzz. I would love to venture to Eastern Europe and Africa for tunes some day. [It's] mostly street music culture from around the globe.

What's your musical guilty pleasure?

I tend to listen to opera while in the shower.

Andrea Grimes is a contributor from Seed.com. Learn how you can contribute here.