DAN PRINCE: RAVE´S PATRON SAINT

Dan Prince is the patron saint for a generation of ravers – a clubbing culture icon. Since Nineteen-Ninety-Nine, his “Back To Mine” regularly puts its demanding audience “Back to Theirs” – often enough without knowing what’s gonna happen. But sure to witness another rare intimate set of a Superstar DJ – like his father Tony Prince was, back in the sixties. 

He was little Dan’s inspiration. A hero, adventurer, leader, discoverer and maker of music history. “My father was one of the first Pirate Radio DJs, on the pirate radio ship Caroline. Along with Tony Blackburn, Emperor Rosko, John Peel and all those people.”

Caroline was anchored three miles off the Felixstowe coast, from 1964 – broadcasting solid rock’n’roll to the mainland and the world. Post-war kids were not used to hear in public radio: “The BBC didn’t like and play that music. Pirate Radio DJs did – on a ship in the North Sea and one in the Irish Sea. My father hired 19 DJs who lived there and played rock music – a dream come true for these young men.” 

From Liverpool to Luxembourg 

Not for Dan: “One day Radio Luxemburg contacted my father and offered him a job. So we moved to Luxemburg, where I spent the first ten years of my life.”

1972, Hesperange, Luxemburg: Dan Superstar DJ Tony Prince and his kids, Gabrielle (front) and Dan (middle).

In a nutshell like Luxemburg. A culture shock for a Northern England kid. “It was okay and nice there, I learned the language quickly. I didn’t realise at that time how famous Radio Luxemburg was. The BBC still wouldn’t play rock music in the early seventies, so all the famous pop and rock stars came to Luxemburg for interviews, went out for dinner and partied afterwards with my parents – in the Blow Up.”

A nightclub where today’s legends of rock hung out and played live. “These people would often come to our house in the middle of the night. To me, they were strange adults in funny clothes who liked to sing. My parents and everyone else called them Elton John, The Rolling Stones and The Beatles.” (Laughter)

United in Rock´n´Rolll, divided in Football: Tony Prince (r.), Paul (middle) and Linda (left) Mc Cartney

Strange adults in funny clothes wearing wrong club colours

Dan recalls: “My dad took me to the club on an early night. ‘Let’s take Daniel with us’ he said to my mom, who didn’t mind. So we got in, and I saw this man wearing brown sunglasses and lying motionless over a drink on his table. I thought he was asleep. It was Elton John, being totally drunk.” (Laughter) 

What was Paul Mc Cartney like? “Very nice, a great person, only he supports the wrong football club – My heart is blue, beats for Everton, and as he’s a Red, it was pretty likely that we won’t become best friends forever.”, Dan says with an eye twinkle.

“Bohemian Rhapsody’s” Saverolet Camaro 

Dan loved his dad’s Chevrolet Camaro and jumped in on every occasion. Magical attraction to a car that later became the setting of a significant moment in music history: “Dad, DJ Mark Wesley and my mom were picking up Queen at the airport for a promo. Freddie and Brian got into the car, asked my dad, who they considered a star: ’Tony, listen, there’s this song on our new album, the management says it’s shit – but we love it. Can we play it for you? So they put the music cassette in the sound system of dad’s Camaro – and silenced it for the next twelve minutes. My mother cried. It was ‘Bohemian Rhapsody´.”

Rockstars were always late – and sorry, Mama, I didn’t mean to make you cry!

Tony Prince heard this iconic recording as one of the first and told the guys how incredible it was. And that he’ll pass it on to his friend Kenny Everett at Capital Radio in London, who was a famous gay DJ. He played it up and down – the rest is music history.”

Confetti defense system against business techno

Of uprising superstars who were Dan’s dad´s friends, wearing too much make up, high heels and fancy clothes. Talents his father had recognized and supported against all odds – cause noone else had the balls to do it.Dan has that fire too – and still doesn’t give a damn about conformism. This now 53-year-old boy is the anti formula to confetti cannon business techno. 

While most kids of famous parents have failed to become the 2.0 of their seniors, Dan Prince created his own sport – with no competition. Emancipating from a father who was Elvis fuckin Presley’s fan club president.

Just imagine how normal the life of a kid, with surname “Prince”, appears to be, coming home from school and having this dude sitting on the family sofa, they all call “The King”, being your dad’s best friend – asking you “How was your day, kid?” – with a voice you swear you heard on the radio just minutes ago, whispering something about fever and knowing nothing at all.

“My dad gave me the confidence to do it my way – and make dance music explode in the late ’80s. No-one knew my dad there. But they knew Mix Mag – and respected what my team and I did for the scene on a daily basis. We moved things – and never stopped opening people’s eyes.”

DMC puts black music culture on the world map

Dan Prince, who studied sports and journalism at Liverpool University, and was a captain in all his football and cricket teams, is one of the most infuluental promoters, publishers and event organisers in dance music history.

He started when he was nineteen – filling 40 pages by 60000 words per issue for Mix Mag, what became the undisputed DJ bible. Every damn week. How did it start?

“My dad witnessed sets of Grandmaster Flash, Africa Bambataa and these guys in New York´s Bronx, in the early 80s – and was blown away by their skills and this movement. He wanted the whole world to witness this and created the DMC World Championship. With national qualifyings in different countries being part of the DMC club. Like Spain, Germany, France, Italy – DMC was spread around the globe. To find and award the biggest talents in mixing and scratching. We had one who mixed with bicycles, the other with a chain saw – 1990, DJ David won by scratching with his head.”  

And Swiss representative DJ Keys, straight outta Steffisburg, won a bronze medal at the world championship finals at the Royal Albert Hall in London, 1989.

Swiss Christian Knutti aka DJ Keys was inspired by Dan’s Mix Mag – and won the world cup bronze medal.

“Oh yeah, that’s right. He was unbelievable. An awesome DJ name, by the way. And that’s what we wanted: Enable someone from a country like Switzerland to make it to the top.” 

I just wrote the story about Phibe Cornu, who promoted and organised Keys’ participation at Zig Zag Records. “Philippe?” Yes. “Is he still alive?” Sure – and how alive he is. Just launched a new hip hop festival. “Please put us in contact again – I want to talk to him.” Sure, I’m happy to do so.

Dave Seaman: “Dan, do an interview with a Chicago DJ!”

“We lived in Home County, outside London, on the M25 motorway, where these M25 raves were starting to take place. This was interesting to me, I dived in there, and in 1987, Dave Seaman, the editor of our DMC house magazine, Mix Mag, hired me as an assistant editor. On the first day, he said to me, Dan, I need you to interview a Chicago DJ today. I said, sure. It was Frankie Knuckles.”

Chicago is the cradle of house, alongside Detroit – and Knuckles the founding godfather. Born in the Bronx of New York, he moved to Chicago in the late seventies, where his buddy Robert Williams opened a gay club for blacks, called the “Warehouse”.  Knuckles fired shots of disco and funk into the heads of the white hetero neighborhood – that soon started to queue for miles to get into the gay club. The Warehouse Chicago gave House Music its name. Where Knuckles soon started to invite an uprising talent from Detroit – called Derrick May. And the story took its course. 

Acid Ware House, Trainspotting and EcstasyAt the same time, acid house was emerging in Manchester and London – and Dan Prince witnessed the madness every night in another British city – for Mix Mag: “I was in Brighton on Tuesday and Bristol on Wednesday. Wrote event reviews each and every day. It was exciting. And at every arrival, club owners asked: “Want a pill? Or anything?” (Laughter)

Even rock bands like The Primal Scream were hanging out at the parties every week, got inspired by techno and created iconic tracks like “Some Velvet Morning.”

“Of course I said no, otherwise I couldn’t do my job!” (Laughter) Just like Spud in Trainspotting in the hilarious job interview scene: ´I love holidays! I can talk, yes I can talk! You´re the guy in the chair – I am merely here – obviously I’m here!´, right?´ (Laughter) 

Stress Records causes moving stress 

How come Dan even managed this label? ”After Hacienda in Manchester, the next big thing in the north of England was the Shelleys club in Stoke On Trent. I used to go there every weekend – DJ Sasha was playing. We became friends, and I asked him: Do you have a recording studio and a management? He had none, so my parents and I started Stress Records.”Sasha not only signed a record or management contract, he also got a new home: “My father said, let’s bring Sasha to our house. Because he knew he liked to party – and wanted to keep an eye on him. So my dad said: ´Dan, you are moving out – and Sasha moves in here.´

I was like, fuck… Alright. As you know today, it worked out – they loved him, and we loved each other. Until today.” 

The offer you can’t refuse

In 1998, big publishing houses offered Dan’s father a whole bunch of money to buy Mix Mag. “He thought the sale made sense – I disagreed.”

Why? And why did he agree? “My parents come from very humble backgrounds. Dad’s first job was to repair TVs in a small store on a main street. He said to himself, if we take the money, the family would be safe forever. And he thought, who knows how long Dance Music thing will last.”

And you? “I felt that Dance Music had become too important, so many people were putting their whole lives into it. It was just the ten-year anniversary – and so much energy in the scene. That was here to stay, not to go.

No colors anymore, I want them to turn black, I see the girls walk by, dressed in their summer clothes

I have to bow my head, Until my darkness goes.

Charlie killed Rave – Liam Howlett must bleed

And yet, a groundbreaking band initially killed the vibe of the scene. “The Prodigy released ‘Charly’, with that cartoon voice refrain, and suddenly a warehouse scene became became hip. The crowd wasn’t wearing hoodies anymore, they were coming to raves in fancy clothes – we couldn’t leave that unanswered. So we invited Liam Howlett to the studio for a photo shoot. Telling him he would be on the cover. And put a gun on the desk. Which he was supposed to hold against his head. We aimed for the headline: ‘Charly killed Rave’. And Liam came in, saw the gun and asked: What the hell is the gun for? I said, just for fun, not for Mix Mag, just for us, hold it onto your head – and we had the front cover.” (Laughter)

Well deserved, Liam. Well done, Dan.

The stunt even worked twice: “Now comes the story with Sasha: He just became the biggest DJ in the world, and we wanted to do put him on the cover with the title ‘Son Of God’. So our journalist told him, while the photographer was ready to shoot: Sasha, fold your hands together just to set the picture. He said, well, that looks like I’m praying, and he said, nah, it’s fine, just to set the camera – and the moment he does it, the photographer shot – and we got the `Son Of God` cover.” (laughter)

Nah, you don’t look like ya pray.

Back To Mine – Superstar DJs who remind of the rare

In 1999, Dan’s legendary “Back To Mine” was born. An event series in a class of its own, because it constantly brings back the original vibe of the Warehouse parties for one night. In a familiar, private atmosphere. With no headliner announced – only the category: A Superstar DJ.

“When Fatboy Slim has put together his tracklist for the ‘Back To Mine’ sampler, he said, “Dan, I’ve partied all over the world and played most of the records several times – but for ‘Back To Mine`I remember records I had stored in the back of the wardrobe years ago. Which I haven`t played for ages – and it`s so awesome. You remind me to remember the rare.”

2016, at Ibiza Rocks. Dance Music was bigger Dan ever. Still six years later, Maxi Jazz sadly died in his own church on December 24th, 2022, to rave in paradise – on Lemmy´s birthday. To heal his hurts.

One percent makes it on the billing  

The selection of “Back To Mine” artists reads like a Who Is Who of all time superstars. Whose managements keep on asking Dan to get their DJs on the billing of “Back To Mine”, not the other way around. “In fact, we get requested, and sometimes I say yes, most of the time I say no – 99 percent of them I wouldn’t let play on my event.”  (Laughter)

DJs who would are happy to renounce a 50 K EUR fee for a regular gig in order to get paid about fifty times less at Dan´s “Back To Mine”. 

“Because we keep up the spirit – and stay relevant by remaining authentic. We continue to open eyes and move things. That’s why everybody comes knocking on our door.”And gets rejected in 99 percent of all cases. By the prince of light in fuckin darkness.