Building Creative Culture – The Guiding Force of Frankie Knuckles

The origins of house music

In 2001 a young, wide-eyed lad from Scotland travelled to Chicago to sample the essence of the city from where it all began – house, house music. On the outer fringes of Chicago, you could still find the incredible rhythm and blues clubs. These iconic, venerable institutions still sounded out their mellifluous, soulful funk; their melodies and grooves. Music that was very much part of the city’s cultural fabric and history. Alongside disco, the tunes emanating from these clubs influenced the sound of house. And from Chicago it would go on to infiltrate the rest of the world. Music to make people feel. Music to make people move. The Chicago scene would ignite a spark that many years later took this lad in his quest from home to the roots of house. A scene that would be influential towards this lad building creative culture in the workplace.

The influence of Frankie Knuckles

Chicago was the home of the since defunct Warehouse nightclub. The club that gave house music its eponymous name. It was home to DJ sessions by a certain Francis Nicholls, A.K.A. Frankie Knuckles. As electronic music gained a foothold, it was here where Knuckles began to mix New Wave records with his usual soul and disco cuts. House music and nightclubs have long influenced and inspired generations through creativity and innovative musical craft. Indeed, the cutting and editing of disco tunes was such craft that Knuckles largely introduced. At this time, Knuckles and a few of the other club DJs began exploring mixing and beat-matching records, applying editing techniques and experimenting with what was limited technology. For example, as reported in Mixed In Key, Knuckles’ edit of The Dells ‘Get on Down’ would repeatedly tease two bars of crowd noise alongside the spoken word, “All right, let’s get it on!” before launching into the rest of the break.

Open minds and bringing people together

Sadly, Knuckles passed away in 2014, aged 59, due to complications with diabetes. At the time of his death the President and First Lady of the United States, Barack and Michelle Obama wrote the following tribute: “while he will be dearly missed, we trust Frankie’s spirit will remain a guiding force. Frankie’s work helped open minds and bring people together, blending genres to capture our attention and ignite our imaginations.” That this should come from the highest office is testament to the regard and esteem in which he was held. A true pioneer and innovator of his craft.

Contrast these words from the Obamas with those 25 years earlier from arguably, the less soulful Margaret Thatcher. It was she who had tried to quash the house movement and rave scene in the UK that Knuckles had so inspired. Thatcher stated “if this is a new fashion we must be prepared for it and preferably prevent such things as happening.” However, the indomitable spirit of the house clubbing culture would not be denied.

Together in electric dreams

House music has given generations a sense of freedom and liberation – often a hedonistic escape from the daily mundanity and sludge of the working week. A release; an elevated superpower experience shared by a community that came together briefly but had a complete sense of collective unity. It can’t be underestimated the influence that Frankie Knuckles had over defining a whole musical genre and spin-off cultures that are still felt and seen today.

The guiding force of creativity

It’s always struck me how high a percentage of those working in the creative agencies enjoyed and indulged in house music culture. They embodied the spirit of house music through their energy, love for life, and creativity. Building a creative culture in an agency meant working hard with like-minded energetic, people; then playing even harder. The symbiotic nature of creativity with play is well researched and documented. It’s perhaps no coincidence, creative agencies would give me a cultural working home.

I have now set up The Craft Works – a creative marketing agency network. A virtual agency where creative individuals come to together as a collective. A place where building creative culture through the mix of people and work is at its very essence. The burning ambition to produce work that really connects with people, to make them feel, to make them move. Frankie’s spirit will always remain a guiding force.

 

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See our next blog ‘Who Cares? Why Empathy is a Critical Part of your Work Culture‘.