The End is near

>> And techno champion Mr. C is just getting started

by KRISTA

Though Mr. C's illustrious career began back in the early '80s with a residency at the Clink Street club alongside Dy-Na-Mix founder "Evil" Eddie Richards, his sweet ride to fame came in 1992 as the MC and lead singer for the Shamen. He and his then-cohorts lit the proverbial fire under dance music's ass with a platinum-selling album called Boss Drum that basically changed the world, launching seven top-10 hits including a number-1, the classic "Ebenezer Goode," and resulted in Mr. C being awarded a British Music Academy Award.

Since then, Mr. C (real name: Richard West) has been a permanent fixture on the Rolls Royce tour-bus of fame. "I have been doing this for 14 years," Mr. C confirms over the phone from a record shop on San Francisco's Haight Street. "And things have always been so good. Sometimes I can't believe it myself!"

This owner of End Recordings and London club the End is currently back in North America on a tour of sorts. Though he was originally booked to play both the Mekka Festival and L.A.'s massive rave Juju Beats, the cancellation of both of those events has reduced Mr. C's schedule to a series of small club gigs across the U.S. Despite these unforeseen changes, he's fully content to DJ the more intimate venues, and the tone in his voice bubbles over with excitement.

"I played the DNA Lounge last night, which was really cool and then tonight I'll be at [San Francisco landmark] the Top, and then off to NYC for a boat party in Manhattan Sound with the Matterform crew, then Philly with [End recording artists] Tigerhook, then Montreal--"

All this in the next seven days?

"Yes," he says, "and then I'm off to Mexico. I just got married and my wife is Mexican so we're heading down to see the family and celebrate our union."

Even with this whirlwind schedule, the entrepreneur finds time to manage his highly sought-after tech-house label End Recordings and put out an astonishing number of funky-tech-tinged gems himself.

"The next three End records are ready to go--Echomen, Layo & Bushwacka and the Tigerhook boys. And I just finished my own album, which will come out next March. And I'm more excited about this than I was about the first Shamen album. It has been years in the making."

But well worth the wait, no doubt.

With Nav Bhinder and Tiga at SAT on Thursday, Aug. 23, 9pm, $9