Ivan Smagghe

I don’t have many heroes, but the few that I do, have remained constants over the years. I’m sure there is something in whatever attracted me to them in the first place is also part of their enduring appeal.

I’ve been fortunate to meet most of them by now and Ivan Smagghe is one who continues to loom large. His Suck My Deck and Death Disco mix CD’s were pretty seminal among my group of pals who became regulars at Le Pulp one summer in Paris. We first met at various nights he was playing, either at The Arches or during my Megabus trips to fabric era around 2004/5. Over that time we had fun interactions which led to a friendship that involved sending each other CD’s to share troves of music we were finding. He opened my mind to so much music away from 4/4 stuff. It would have taken me many more years for Scott Walker to reach my ears were it not for Ivan’s introduction, one that has likely impacted my enduring SW love to this day. This also applies to all the Wierd wave stuff and loads more.

I’ve always admired Ivan’s singularity and have related to his restlessness. I’ve learned lots and he’s shown me much encouragement, support and graciousness over the years. He has played at various H+P parties here and there over the years and it remains a huge honour to have released a Smagghe & Cross record together.

There have always been questions I’ve wanted to ask and had reached out a while ago with the idea of discussion his various long running partnerships. Little did I know, but he was cooking up a book - Nul si découvert - which features more than a glimpse some of these important figures in his life and much more. For someone who is quite mysterious and private, the book has bits that are shockingly intimate and deeply personal. After working my way through the book and Ivan reading the Twitch chat, we resolved to have an in person conversation, so I booked some cheapo flights up and down to London on a sunny Tuesday in February and we got to it.

It’s worth mentioning that the book has sold out, so this conversation might at times be more of a companion piece to whoever bought one, but hopefully there are enough jumping off points to make it illuminating for everyone else. I happened to catch Ivan at the Sub Club a few weeks before - as he played b2b with Domenic - and the room was electric and a real buzz to experience a new generation becoming initiated into the intruiging world of Ivan.