by PETER LIGHTBURN

Chicago native Nathaniel Jones, aka DJ Pierre, has his place in electronic dance-music history etched in stone—with acid. His 1988 tune “Acid Tracks,” on the Trax label, caused a stir in Great Britain as the track, rather unintentionally, became an anthem of acid house, the precursor to the brewing rave phenomenon. Upon relocating to New York City, DJ Pierre busted out with influential barnstormers such as “Generate Power,” “Master Blaster” and “Horn Song” for the Strictly Rhythm imprint. These days he continues to trot the globe with numerous DJ engagements while feverishly readying his long, long, long-overdue first studio LP Afro Acid Project for late-summer release.

Mirror: The British dance-music press interpreted “Acid Tracks” as a musical retread to ’60s acid psychedelia. Were you floored by this assertion?

DJ Pierre: Back then, in ’89, I didn’t get it. I don’t drink alcohol, let alone do drugs, so it was surprising to me. “Acid Tracks” was just a name, just like the terms acid rock or acid jazz.

M: In retrospect, “Acid Tracks” unleashed the ghost in the machine, namely the Roland TB-303.

DJ P: Exactly. However, we didn’t know how to program the 303, which had all these weird sounds. Right out the box, we found this one and thought it sounded really good—sort of like someone liking how a washing machine sounds.

M: You moved to New York for the “Wild Pitch” period of your career. What did that entail?

DJ P: Wild Pitch was a party in New York that had a Chicago-like underground feeling. I met the promoter, Greg Day, and he had me playing alonside DJ Camacho, Tony Humphries, Nick Jones and Bobby Konders. The crowd was really feeling my track “Generate Power,” so when it was released on Strictly Rhythm, I entitled the mix “Wild Pitch.”

M: “Master Blaster” stands out because it brought something special, something that influenced the industry.

DJ P: The impact that “Master Blaster” had is amazing. While playing around with the midrange to EQ a sample that was looping, I discovered that it changed the sound, and I said to myself, “Hey, I’m recording this.” I had no name for what I was doing, so some people started calling it filter sweeps. When DJ Sneak came around, his filters sounded better than mine. It turns out that he was using a machine designed for it.

M: Afro Acid Project is your first studio LP. Is it a musical autobiography of sorts?

DJ P: Afro Acid represents the culmination of everything I have learned musically for the past 20 years. The Afro concept is the soulful, funky, disco side, the Acid is the gritty cutting edge of techo and electro. It will incorporate different styles, genres and various producers.

M: It appears all DJs have a take on the vinyl-vs.-MP3 debate. Care to weigh in?

DJ P: On the upside, MP3s make your flight case lighter, and make music easier to have access to if it’s sold out. Yet it’s better for people to see DJs perform with two copies of the vinyl rather than press buttons on a laptop or loop a beat on a CD turntable. Reliance on advanced technology can take the DJ out of the game.

With David Morales at Stereo on Saturday, May 27, 2 a.m., $20

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