The inimitable Tim Sheridan has been a purveyor of weird & wonky techno mischief for nearly quarter of a century, during which time he’s played at pretty much every club venue you care to name and become as much an Ibiza fixture as the clubs themselves. His veryverywrongindeed label and clubnight have ensured Sheridan remains one of underground techno’s most prominent – not to mention entertaining – figures.

We caught up with him in typically gregarious form as he prepared for the live debut of the VVWI Limited Love Orchestra – a 5-piece live band, who’ll perform on a bill that includes Trentemoller, Will Saul and Shlomi Aber at matter on Saturday 7^th November – to discuss the show, veryverywrongindeed’s next Room 2 takeover, Martin Chuzzlewit and medieval weaponry…

 

Can you tell us a bit about the VVWI Limited Love Orchestra live project, that will make it debut at matter this Saturday?

Sure. A bit is all I have! We are merely about 4 weeks old as a band.

I've been playing electronic music live for all my adult life and lately the avalanche of johnny-laptops all claiming to be live really annoys me hahaha! So I thought it might be time to remind people what "live" is. Unless it can go tits up every beat then it just isn't live. Shit, sorry that sounds really negative I didn't start a band cos I was angry hahaha!

I've done it a while and I got to a point where I had a body of work again, a new sound sort of. By now, having a lot of tunes and a record label my DJ sets were 90% VVWI material... so people were paying me to DJ my own tunes it seems a very obvious step to perform them. I'm out of shape though I tell you. It's not easy. I've been hiding away, training myself like Rocky. But instead of hitting sides of beef in a freezer I've been practicing drumming on a bit of frozen chicken in the garage.

 

What’s been you favourite recent gig, and the best crowd you’ve played to in recent weeks?

I've done nothing recently but practice like a bastard. Like four hours a day for four weeks. I had to clear my diary for a month cos going out on motorways and planes at weekends and missing sleep was not going to help me get my lungs back innit.

Best crowds are always South America and Eastern Europe. People who are skint really know how to have a good time. I tend to find the further afield you go the more fun things are. In the UK I enjoyed very much playing back to back with Mr C not so long ago at Jaded. Halloween with Heidi at our VVWI residency at Junk in Southampton was ace. I had a good laugh recently in Brighton too.

 

What are you up to in the studio at the moment?

It's all about reproducing my records live in the studio right now. It's a full time job for Craig in our band. Our sax player is in Paris. The other two are in Yorkshire. It's a job of work to get a live band together and attempt to sound as clear and well produced as a record. Which is what we are trying to do.

We break down all the parts into scores, so the musicians can all read the thing. We use a clock too so we don't ramble all over the place and overstay our welcome haha! We use the studio to break the tracks down into individual parts and we email things to the chaps and then we come together a couple of times and pray it works. It's a bit like a transporter from sci-fi: We break up the thing into it's component molecules and hope when it comes to putting it back together it resembles the original and not a pile of glands. Urg.

 

What new releases have you got coming up on the VVWI label?

My new one Bionic Language, with Adultnapper remix, has just come out as an exclusive on Germany's whatpeopleplay site.

Next one after that is our end of year release - Max Cooper's Inhale Exhale, with a Spektre remix and one of mine. It's out 14 Dec. It's a bit like "oh right yeah loads of stuff of your own!" haha! but actually I've not put one of mine out on VVWI for a while. Then in late Jan, we're going to release the first 12"s of the VVWI Limited Love Orchestra all being well.

 

What’s big in your record box at the moment?



I dunno I don't play records anymore. I would if I still lived in London but when you live out in the sticks you just can't get stuff unless you buy online and I was so far out in the sticks in Ibiza they didn't post to you. So after about 5 years of being a Hermit I just ended up making and playing my own stuff. Then the label came. It's a lonely but strangely ace life hahaha!

 

Which new artists should we be keeping an eye on next year?

Again I really couldn't say. I keep away from everything, I don't watch telly or read magazines. The people on my label I tend to meet on my travels. So I'm bound to say the youngsters on VVWI but I think after Spektre doing so well I don't need to make predictions anymore. We have some great chaps on VVWI but I'm afraid my Mystic Meg powers end there really. I mean apart from me everyone on VVWI is pretty new, that is the point of it.

 

Who would be your dream collaborator, either in the studio or live on-stage?

Lord I dunno. Is this one of those 'alive or dead things?' Now? Tom Waites. I think he is great. Mark E Smith? I like One-Man-Awkward-Squads.

I used to worship Frank Zappa when I was a nipper. I would die if I got to work with Earth, Wind and Fire or Trouble Funk. Prince would be a good one but he doesn't strike me as one of nature's collaborators.

I've got to work with a lot of fucking brilliant people over the years... I mean I try to DJ back to back with someone great as often as I can. Worked in the studio with some proper legends so I'm very keen on working with people it's very.. er... productive. I find it so, definitely. I don't really have a wish list as I tend to work with anyone I can. It would appear I am a total fucking slut haha!

 

Tell us a bit about the bill for VVWI’s Room 2 takeover on 28^th November…

Well it's tricky for us to find suitable DJs as we have a particular sound that really only people who already know and work with us get, or there is a few random people out there who have a bit of a leaning towards our thing.

Richard Seeley is a great VVWI success story as we got to know him when he was in talks about joining Fabric's publishing and we just put out a couple of his tunes... always stood by him and believed he'd make it... now he's working with Rekids, which is just brilliant!

I have worked with Ryan O Gorman a lot in Ibiza and London and he is an Irishman like myself and very much underground. We both did free parties together and separately so again... he is one of the many friends of VVWI that just 'gets it' and we like to work with.

Guido Schneider was one of those 'big German names' that came along and people would keep saying to me "oh, your tune sounds like a Guido Schneider record" which was annoying cos I didn't know who he was! One of the downsides of being a Hermit hahaha! Anyway... when the chance came to work with him we jumped at it cos as I said... there isn't a lot outside of our circle of mates who fits in, certainly not as well as Guido. Also credit to matter cos the lineup in room one is not a million miles from one of our own lineups so the thing as a whole is very nice! What we in the biz call "a very strong line up" hahaha! I am such a tosser!

 

Caught any great movies recently? What are your all time faves?

No. I've been busy. My mate is the manager of a multiplex so in less busy times he gets sent the reels of new films about a week before they come out. So I got to see... I think 'Watchmen' was the last one I was giddy about.... I got to see it on my own at like.. 9am on a Monday morning. While my mate checked the print. Wooo!

All time faves!!? Cripes I dunno. I really liked er... "Magnolia". Ace. Er... Oh I can't think, everyone says 'Withnail and I' don't they? I really like Laurel and Hardy. I have an asthma attack with laughing whenever I watch them.

I really like BBC adaptations of Charles Dickens! haha! I really do. I love Martin Chuzzlewit like nobody's business. I love the work of Alan Moore but I get really angry at attempts to film them but I thought "Watchmen" was the best try. I really like sleepy films like Merchant Ivory shit and things like "84 Charing Cross Road" or "Remains of the Day". Oh.... anything with Richard Burton in is good.

Ah! I tell you what is an all time fave. "Venus". With Peter O'Toole and Lesley Phillips. Those monstrous old luvvies are the best at swearing in the universe haha! Great film. Very touching and funny at the same time.

 

What else do you get up to outside of music – any current hobbies occupying your free time?

hahaha! “Free time”! hahaha! There's a recession on! I have a large dog. I mention he is a big dog cos he needs a lot of exercise so I suppose walking qualifies cos I enjoy it and am fairly serious about it. I go out every day no matter what the weather and now and then I take him in the car somewhere proper like the Lake District. I always wanted a horse haha! Seriously. Maybe you could rephrase the question to ask "are there any interests you have that don't make you sound like a 14 year old girl" hahaha!

Hang on... I made an English longbow for our youngest the other week. It had to be and I quote "of the finest yew, with fire hardened arrows of oak" haha! So yeah.... dog walking, ponies and medieval weaponry hahaha!

 

What have been your favourite moments of 2009?

Waking up on Jan 2nd and still being alive.

 

What should we be looking forward to in 2010 – from yourself and VVWI, and in general?

I reckon you should look forward to continued existence. It's not at all bad when you think about it. I'll be around still, probably doing what I've been doing since the 80's haha! We've not changed the basic model at all. I've always been bang into electronic music since I first heard Kraftwerk in about 1980, and I've been failing to copy them ever since haha! Who knows, maybe next year I will get a bit closer.

 

 

Tim Sheridan and the VVWI Limited Love Orchestra perform live at matter on Saturday 7^th November



veryverywrongindeed take over Room 2 at matter on Saturday 28^th November, with special guests Guido Schneider, Ion Ludwig (live), Ryan O’Gorman and Richard Seeley.

 

www.matterlondon.com