Influences: Big Strick

Music

When it comes to house music there are an array of unsung heroes, some shy from the spotlight and the culture associated with dance music whilst others relish under the glow. Big Strick is a producer who has perhaps not received the acclaim he is rightfully due. The Detroit based producer has remained an influential figure for years having released music on the likes of FXHE. In 2011 he launched his own label in the form of 7 Days Entertainment, an imprint which has helped to inspire a new age of musicians. A keen driving force amidst the Detroit underground he has helped to curate and narrate the sound of the city ensuring that a new generation rise from the depths when it's time to hang up the headphones.

We caught up with him to talk influences.

Follow Big Strick on Facebook HERE.

LISTEN

Glenn Underground - Forgotten Art (Music)

Glenn is one of my favourite producers. This guy is very musically inclined
and in my humble opinion, very underrated on the so called dance music scene. Funk, soul, jazz and a 808 kick drum… what else could you ask for? It’s always gratifying to see people around the globe grooving to a vibe that you bring when you play a song like this, taking people to a higher plateau off the vibe you provide. This one definitely sets the tone!

Glenn Underground - Forgotten Art (Music)

Glenn is one of my favourite producers. This guy is very musically inclined
and in my humble opinion, very underrated on the so called dance music scene. Funk, soul, jazz and a 808 kick drum… what else could you ask for? It’s always gratifying to see people around the globe grooving to a vibe that you bring when you play a song like this, taking people to a higher plateau off the vibe you provide. This one definitely sets the tone!
Marshall Jefferson - Move Your Body [The House Music Anthem]

In my younger days this song would get the party going into overdrive! Just one of those songs that you would hope would never end. Its classic sound still holds its weight today! Every time I play it it’s like its 1986 all over again.
Marshall Jefferson is highly regarded in the dance music scene for being one of the pioneers of what we call house music. I have been a big fan of his for years and he still is a favourite of mine to this day. As I said, when I was younger some friends and I would drive to Chicago to do some record shopping, and we would always take a recorder so when we get to the hotel room we could record WBMX, which was house music station with some of the baddest DJ’s the Chi had to offer.

Names like Farley Jackmaster Funk, BadBoy Bill, Julian ‘Jumpin’ Perez just to name a few. What they all had in common was this song… because every set that was played this song was in rotation! A timeless classic indeed…
Cybotron - Alleys Of Your Mind

My first love! This song is one of the reasons I wanted to DJ. There was a DJ called The Electrifying Mojo, a radio personality on 107.5, who would play the long version of this song and I would tape it and mix it with a tape deck and on one turntable. Man… they were the good oul’ days! Being native Detroiters, Cybotron were always on rotation on the radio, as well as a dance show on TV called The Scene, which later became the New Dance Show.
If you wanted to hear the latest new songs out, you either tuned in to MoJo or The Scene.

Cybotron has put out a lot of classics and will be forever considered a techno pioneer – founded here in Detroit!
Kraftwerk - Trans Europe Express

Kraftwork! These guys were so far ahead of their time and are still very much relevant and you still hear their sound in new artists today. I don’t know how best to describe it myself, but trans dance seems to fit nicely. Whatever you choose to call it, you have to put funky in there somewhere. These guys were the truth! Computer programming at its finest! What more can I say? Absolute living legends…
Donna Summer - Bad Girls

Last but not least, the late great Queen of Disco… Donna Summer. This one’s such an inspirational song that always has a special place in my heart and my bag. You can’t talk house music or techno without disco, which is where it all started as far as the form of music we’ve come to love all came from. This song brings me back to riding in the car as a youngster, hanging out with my aunt Carol in her convertible Couger, riding with the top down cruising through Detroit. Most of these jams were produced by the legendary Giorgio Moroder, and I can’t think of a better collaborative duo. Again, you can’t speak of Dance music legends without the mentioning these two legends!