When you’ve influenced the electronic dance music scene for as long as Gary Richards has, you earn the right to stop caring what other people think. In fact, that’s when things start to get interesting.
“I got really lucky when I was younger,” says Richards, the promoter and festival founder who DJs as Destructo. “I worked with [producer and Def Jam Records co-founder] Rick Rubin. He made the Beastie Boys’ first album, and I loved that album when I was in high school. That was my sh*t. So I was like, ‘What was your secret?’
“And Rick was like, ‘I just make stuff that I like.’ So I try to do the same thing.”
Rubin’s advice not only stuck, it set Richards on a 30-year musical trajectory, landing him on Rolling Stone’s list of the 50 Most Important People in EDM. His legacy dates back to the ’90s warehouse rave scene in Los Angeles, around the time he hosted the first two Electric Daisy Carnivals; and stretches into his creation of the Hard Summer Festival, where many major acts cut their teeth; and Holy Ship, a dance-music cruise party that inspired Richards’ follow-up called FriendShip.
Throughout all of these endeavors, Richards has always done it his way. Now the kingpin of G-house and techno has hit the road again for his new F With Me tour, coming to Fremont East’s Discopussy on July 23. The tour is inspired by the eponymous ’80s-infused party tune he funked up with electro-funk duo Chromeo and songwriter Tima Dee.
“My dad was on the radio in New Orleans, and he had this station called Wail 105. It was the No.1 urban R&B radio station in New Orleans,” Richards says. “He had a club that he used to go to and DJ, and he would take me there when I was eight years old. And it was like Rick James and the Gap Band [playing], all this funk music was hot. He was playing it when it was all new, and all that sh*t was in my head.”
“F With Me” serves as a worthy sequel to Richards’ and TroyBoi’s 2021 release “You’re the One for Me,” a fresh take on a silkened disco anthem. “There’s nothing better than funk. It’s better to dance to instruments played by people and not a computer. That groove is different,” he says. “It’s hard as sh*t though to mix. That’s probably why more people don’t play it.”’
So far, Destructo’s happily accepted that challenge on tour. Because ultimately, it all goes back to doing what he enjoys. “It’s a blessing and a curse,” he says, “because for my soul and my creativity, it’s a 10. It’s amazing. But to fit into the algorithm on Spotify, with ‘F With Me’ and the TroyBoi song, those songs don’t fit anywhere.”
Still, that’s not enough to put him off. Rather than chasing the charts, Richards seems to be chasing that genuine feeling. The kind where you’ve got “500 people on the dance floor,” he says, “just losing it because it’s just so f**king good. They can’t stop dancing.”
One project he’s most excited to reveal is his sessions with the masked DJ known as MxNxSTxR (pronounced “Minister”). The duo released the infectious dance track “All of Me” in May, but not much was known about this mysterious collaborator until now.
“You saw Drake and Beyoncé just put out house records. The MxNxSTxR is on that level as an artist, writer, singer and producer, in the hip-hop and R&B world,” he explains. “During COVID, he was like, ‘I want to make house records and I thought that you would be the dude to help make sure it’s f**king dope.’”
One upcoming track they worked on together, called “What You Need,” features Thundercat on bass and rapper Channel Tres. “And that’s one of 40 of them,” Richards adds, citing the MxNxSTxR corralled a ton of high-caliber artists. “I’ve been in the studio with a lot of cool people but this is just different,” he says.
DESTRUCTO With DJ Glen, July 23, 10 p.m., $15. Discopussy, seetickets.us.
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