Fancy Footwork

The story of Chicago house has been often told. Now the city's music underground has new renegades. And, no, we're not talking about Kanye West, who actually started out cutting house alongside E-Smoove, but the likes of footwork soldier Deejay Earl, aka Earl Smith. Yet ask Smith, 23, about his '80s forebears and he sighs.

“Quite honestly? How can I put it without being too straightforward… I like house music, and it's a part of the evolution of the music that I make today, how it exists – I know the roots of it. But some of the older guys are not really embracing the new generation. I think I'm part of a whole new generation of music, as far as what house music turned into – like from house to ghetto house, from ghetto house into juke, and then juke into footwork. I love house music, I love all music, but I definitely feel a part of a new generation.”

Footwork is as much a dance as a music “culture” – and Smith was battling as a dancer in his teens. He met the pioneering DJ Rashad and DJ Spinn around 2008 and, now producing, joined their Teklife (or Ghettoteknitianz) crew. Smith's track Hit Da Bootz was included on Planet Mu's 2011 comp Bangs & Works Vol 2. Alas, his mentor Rashad passed away suddenly in April. “I want Rashad to be remembered as one of the best producers-slash-DJs – because that's what he loved to do,” Smith says. “He loved to let the world know what he'd do and perform and make people happy – and that's how I want people to remember Rashad, as a very talented, creative individual who went hard all the time.”

Is this South Side Chicago kid taken aback by the popularity of footwork in such distant places as Australia? “I'm a little surprised. [But] the music has a lotta energy in it – and I think most music that has energy, and it has soul as well, grabs a listener's ear.” Occasionally those DJ/producers associated with a specific style rebel. But, for now, Smith is content to be tagged 'footwork' – although he's experimenting with jungle and breakbeats. Still, he stresses that footwork is influenced by all manner of things – he might even recreate the drums of “a hardcore rock record”. Indeed, Smith cites as his favourite artists everyone from Miles Davis and Roy Ayers to the more contemporary Timbaland, Jay Electronica and Ab-Soul.

Probe Smith on his recent studio activity and he laughs loudly. “I'm always working. I try to stay busy – keep it fresh.” In fact, he's working on “a full album”. “I want this next project to make a statement.” It won't necessarily be footwork. “I don't want to even place any genres on it.”

Smith doesn't plan his DJ sets – and on his first Australian visit there'll be no exception to this rule. “I'm gonna bring my A-game,” he promises. However, Smith typically drops jungle and footwork and anything between. “I'm gonna be playing a lot of forward-thinking music.”