Every year seems to bring a new hot hand in the DJ/producer world. As 1994 belonged to MK, 1995 was all about Wink and 1996 belonged to Masters at Work yet again, last year was all about New York-based Armand Van Helden. Everywhere you turned, people were grooving to his beats. For the last half on '96 into late '97, having Armand remix your song was the same as getting King Midas' seal of approval. CJ Bolland "Sugar Is Sweeter," Tori Amos "Professional Widow," Rolling Stones "Anybody Seen My Baby," Nu Yorican Soul "Runaway," Sneaker Pimps "Spin Spin Sugar," two for Puff Daddy, "Been Around The World" and "All About The Benjamins" -- all kinds of records that in other hands would have been just remixes. With Armand, they were THE version. The one you heard in clubs, the one you heard on the radio -- the one you heard. Couple that with his cosmic funk track "Funk Phenomina" and itÕs easy to chart just how big the man became both in the dance world and outside of it.
Success was not uncharted territory for Van Helden prior to that spate of production. He had already carved out a name with original tracks such as "Witch Doktor," Hardhead's "New York Express," Pirates of the Carribbean and Deep Creed, as well as remixes for Real McCoy, Jimmy Somerville and about 100 others before people started saying that his sound was tired; that he was another victim of "remix-itis." Just when everyone counted Van Helden out is when his Phoenix rose again. It was the summer of '96 and it was for the most unlikely of sources -- folk singer Tori Amos. Johnny "D" DeMairo, long a fan of Armand's, gave him an acappella for Amos' "Professional Widow," a massively dejected weirdo folk song about... well, no-one really knows. At any rate, Armand dropped his filtered synth, hard-drums sound of previous remixes, opting for a more funky, bassline-heavy take -- and for once he used a good portion of the vocals. With this mix, he had married the basslines of jungle with that of house and the genre known as speed garage was born. People responded. Quickly following with the CJ Bolland remix, people who six months ago had called him 'over' were now calling him their 'favorite remixer.' This of course was only the beginning of what was to come.
Born the son of an Armed Forces dad, Armand grew up overseas in Holland, Italy and Turkey before ending up at school in Boston. He was not, however, the ghetto street kid his image portrays. "I didn't grow up in the bricks, like we had to put cereal and water together because we didn't have milk. I didnÕt grow up rich either -- it was basically a middle class set." But growing up a military brat allowed for Armand to taste lots of different cultures before he even left high school. "I learned to be open to a lot things. Not just music but of theories and perspectives on life as a whole; not to be sheltered." Growing up hanging out with all kinds of people also gave him many perspectives on music. "I hung out with soul brothers, disco kids and early hip hoppers. At the same time, I also hung out with straight-up funk heads who listened to nothin' but George Clinton and Rick James and they didn't even like Earth, Wind and Fire. All of that aside, I also hung out with white kids who listened to Kiss." It is this upbringing which never traps Armand. Hell, mix a few house beats with some reggae/jungle riffs -- disparate sounds to most, but to Armand, it's just another day in the studio.
