Theo Parrish

On December 3, 2014 a grand jury fails to indict a New York policeman who applied a chokehold to Eric Garner and ignored his dying pleas of "I can't breathe". Within 24 hours these words become a cry of protest at demonstrations across the United States. Just over a week earlier, a grand jury had failed to indict the officer responsible for shooting Michael Brown, reigniting civil unrest that had been a familiar sight since the shooting of the unarmed black teenager.

This is the backdrop to Mixmag's meeting with Theo Parrish on December 4.

"America has gone in the past few months from being a tolerant-seeming place that's hiding the fact that it has a deep-rooted issue with black people, to being in full-on lynching mode. All while a black dude is in office!" rails Parrish, a DJ steeped in the experience of inner city America. He escaped a life of gangs and violence thanks to the arts and a schooling in the music culture of his two home towns: Chicago, on whose notorious south side he was raised, and Detroit, where he chose to live. With the support of fellow independents Rick Wade, Moodymann and Claude Young he established himself in Detroit as a producer of such singular vision that he's sustained a fanatical audience ever since.

But it's London where we meet, a city in which Parrish has spent lots of time sporadically over recent years. After smoking a cigarette outside our rendezvous point, he settles his tall frame into a seat and orders a flat white.

He's initially wary, warning us that he'll skip any questions he doesn't like. Maybe this is because he's not previously done a feature with Mixmag, but more likely because the standard tale of Chicago/Detroit DJs being burned by promoters, bootleggers and journalists has made him this way. But he warms gradually to the questions, and passes on none.

He's informed and opinionated, with a strong midwest accent. As in his DJ sets, he's prone to veer off on tagents, but he's never less than fascinating as he covers ground encompassing politics, DJing, the culture of Chicago and Detroit, and music production – especially that on his primary label Sound Signature and its latest release, his album 'American Intelligence'.

The album, Parrish's fifth, is almost a recap of his adventurous, nearly two-decade career to date, covering the dark, roots-indebted house and techno hybrids ('Drive', 'They're Here') and percussion master-classes ('Tympanic Warfare', 'Cypher Delight') he was initially known for, as well as collaborative efforts with some of the live musicians he's just toured with (Ah, Be In Yo Self, Footwork). Although instrumental in the main, on the dark skit 'Welcome Back' he documents one of the frequent occasions when he's been stopped by police – in this instance on his way from the airport. "I've had an easier time going to Dubai and Israel than I have going back to Detroit, where I have an address, " he states, before describing how slowly he will reach for the requested driver's license.

"That's something I've got to teach my son as he gets older," he says, with regret. "Looking at how America is operating, I'd be a fool to think he wouldn't need to know these things. That's a conversation my parents didn't have to have with me. They didn't tell me, "Be careful son, the police might think you have a gun when you reach for your wallet".

Having taken his love for Chicago's music with him, he put it to use in Kansas, honing his skills as a DJ and focusing on sound creation within his sculpture studies. So strong was the pull of this music that it was always clear he wouldn't be staying there.

The roots of dance music, the culture of Chicago and Detroit is something Parrish feels passionately about, and protective of. It informs everything, from the way he plays to the props he gives and the young artists he showcases on Sound Signature.

"We know we've got Europe's attention, so let's keep putting the music out, let's keep playing there, but let's make sure the cultural values stay intact," he says. "Because anybody can say, 'You didn't take care of your roots'. You have to make those efforts. I've been consciously looking at how to. That's why Jay Daniel, Kyle Hall, Piranha, Marcellus Pittman, Delano Smith, all those guys, they all need to get out here and do their thing. And they are. That's why everybody's so obsessed with Detroit, this continuation. The reason we survive is because everybody has that DIY ethic. Thank you Mike Banks, thank you Kenny [Dixon, Moodymann], Derrick, Juan, Kevin and Carl, because them doing it by themselves has created a legacy for that city and set a template that others can follow."

As much as Parrish has amassed a fevered fan base for his and others' Sound Signature releases, it's perhaps his DJing which has had the most profound effect on European audiences. His genre-melding, mind-melting sets have been revelatory experiences for those hearing them over the last 20 years.

"I'm only as good as the crowd," he says, while stirring his second flat white. "If the crowd's whack, I'm going to be terrible. If they're dope, then I'm dope. It comes down to not giving a shit about preconceived ideas. Maybe the name sold the ticket to get them through the door, but fuck your name. I try to have the approach that there's gonna be twenty per cent of people who might know, twenty per cent who have expectations and sixy per cent who don't know, don't care or are too fucked-up to know or care – and they are the raw audience," he says.

"Now, that ratio might be totally off, but if I play with that idea in mind, I'm thinking that a) I've got to do my level best and b) don't you dare dumb that crowd down. Never think they aren't ready for you to do something unexpected."

Mixmag gets the opportunity to reacquaint ourselves with his approach the following night. The party is a split showcase between Sound Signature and Gerd Janson's Running Back. Theo seems cool with it, admiring Janson as a DJ. Only Janson is not himself playing, and Theo is slightly concerned by the lack of contact from the venue with regards to how the night's going to run.

Turns out the plan is for Theo to play in the largest space from 3am–6am, straight after the night's other most high-profile act, Motor City Drum Ensemble. Characteristically, these plans go out the window at Theo's request. He ends up playing in the smaller room alongside the two less well-known Sound Signature DJs, Marcellus Pittman and Jay Daniel. He also ignores the allocated time slot and the three play the entire night together in stints.

These turn out to be good moves. The sound is warmer there, and aside from the congestion caused by people cramming in there to catch Theo at his supposed start time, the night flows incredibly well between the three. Their composite sounds of soul, disco, house and techno are often indistinguishable from each other, but easily identifiable compared to what's happening in the next room. Each of the Sound Signature DJs lean on the EQs in the unformulaic way you only hear Chicago or Detroit DJ do, highlighting jazzy solos or specific lyrics and bringing the kick back spontaneously, sometimes mid-bar. They frequently ignore intros and outros, mixing songs during peaks to maintain momentum, and we go for hours without hearing a single breakdown, the energy only dissipating when they specifically dictate: by dropping a lower tempo soul cut. Not even taking into consideration that almost everything they play is on vinyl, this is some next-level shit.

Although Theo disagrees.

"I'm alright [as a DJ], " he says, candidly. "I'm average compared to the guys who came up around me in Chicago, or the generation older. You guys never heard them. There are so many bad motherfuckers who can play outta Chicago and Detroit, they could burn some of these names out here that y'all know, could murder them. That's because we come from a place where there's mad competition."

It's difficult to believe there are untold legions that equal Parrish's DJ mastery – though his sincerity on the point is just as genuine as as when he speaks of his first priority, his seven-year-old son, who lives in Detroit. Parrish's dedication to his art is dwarfed by that to his son – to the extent that he is scaling back on his DJing in order to be the father he aspires to be.

"I often wonder whether, with that Michael Brown kid, if his father had been around, would he have ended up being the kind of kid that was stealing out of the store and strong-arming, so that this establishment could justify killing him.

If I can be there and prevent some kind of bullshit like that happening to my kid..." he trails off, his mind momentarily distracted by the fear of potentialities which are all too real.

"Luckily, his mother is great. But he needs his father too. There's all kinds of things I have to teach him. Especially if he's gonna grow up in America."

Theo Parrish's album 'American Intelligence' is out now on Sound Signature

[Photos: Kevin Lake]