Decade Dance

Shop keeper: ìGoths, punks and Palestinians are my family,î says Nigel Richards.

Shop keeper: "Goths, punks and Palestinians are my family," says Nigel Richards. Photo By: Michael T. Regan

Ovum’s Josh Wink and 611’s Nigel Richards celebrate 10 years on Fourth Street

by A.D. Amorosi

Fourth Street is a haven for the fashionably funky. But over the past decade, off-South Street neighbors Nigel Richards and Josh Wink have been more than town-watchers.

As artists forging unique takes on techno, trance and acid-house, or as businessmen pursuing labels and commerce, Wink, owner of the Ovum label, and Richards, CEO of 611 Records, are craftsmen in line with South Street's history.

Though Wink, 26, travels between Mediterranean and European outposts for DJing gigs, Fourth Street is his comfort zone. "It's not as hectic as Manhattan, [or] as grim as D.C. and it's 13 minutes from my office and my house in South Philly to the international airport," says Wink from a Marseille hotel. For Richards, 33, Fourth is his bread-and-butter, home to stores and offices selling all things 611. "Goths, punks and Palestinians are my family" said Richards, just back from Santo Domingo. "After 10 years I'm still proud and excited to walk in the door. I fall over every time I see a piece of 611 merchandise on someone."

To celebrate that off-South feeling, Wink, whose re-animated Ovum label nears its 10th anniversary, just released his first mix CD in four years -- the remixed remix-CD Profound Sounds V.2 as well as his first all-original CD since 1998, 20 to 20, dropping within the month. Richards is celebrating the first decade of 611 with his 611 label's first DVD, Intellect, a documentary on tech-house packaged with a DJ tutorial by Richards.

Wild-child Wink's last 10 years have had as many downs as ups. He built Ovum with his pal King Britt to be their dream label, a respite for two highly-regarded artists seeking their own plot of land. In 1994, Ovum went under the wing of Chris Schwartz and Joe Nicolo's RuffHouse/Sony deal. "[They] believed in the music that King and I were doing and signing."

But by 1999, after putting out Wink and Britt's Sylk 130 mixes and solo CDs, the deal ended, with Ovum going independent till 2000, when Britt also departed to pursue his own FiveSix Media. "We didn't fit into the major label scenario. The music was a little too åleft' for them. But we were happy with what took place in the end." While Ovum -- solely under Wink's ownership -- soared on to become the tastemakers' indie, catering to house-, techno- and electro-heads, it's unclear what's become of the friendship between Wink and Britt. Wink forged forward, allying himself with System, a world leader in dance-music distribution that also handles 611 -- with deals to release records by pals worldwide.

"Running a label is a labor of love" says Wink, pointing to a decade filled with Internet music hassles and the glut of inferior mix CDs. "How can you go into a store with $20 in your pocket and choose?"

On his new double disc Profound Sounds, Wink has recreated, re-edited and post-produced licensed songs (like Swayzak's "Form Is Emptiness"), crafting brand new versions, like having a suit tailored to fit. The second disc includes a digital movie explaining how Wink did it all and what software and hardware he used.

Since opening his first 611 shop in August 1993, Richards has had a bumpy but bountiful decade, too, recording and releasing 29 records, "modernizing" '80s hits for the dancefloor, scoring commercials (like F.C. Kerbeck radio spots) and generally feeding the dragon of DIY music. "I ran 611 myself back then and I have come way back into the picture with our current shit economy" he says. "Time to buckle down, trim fat and hustle music."

After having run pirate radio stations, parties and promotions while at University of Rochester, the Philly-born Richards returned to home and commuted to Manhattan to work at Eightball Records. All the while he yearned for his own biz. But how? "South Street was too expensive. After throwing åraves' -- yeah I said the four-letter word -- I found the parties too inconsistent in terms of pay." After a few decent parties, he invested in a cheap spot on a street that was still not too corporately infected. He snipped the logo of the famed long road, made T-shirts and shopping bags, and the rest is history. "In that first year, we gave away 500,000 stickers and sold over 10,000 T-shirts, not to mention wholesale. I'd like to think people still have their shirts and are wearing a little taste of Philly on their chests right now wherever they are."

Richards looked for "specialists" like Carl Michaels to run 611 DnB or designers from Pink Room Design and We Work For Them. "The criteria is whomever I know does cool shit, I buy designs from them." Along with opening a second 611 dedicated to non-music merchandise (that was 612, now closed) Richard sees expansion on the web, not storefront.

Like Wink, Richards is a DJ who's seen the mix-CD business spin to lower numbers in recent years. And looking at Richards' personal catalog, he's only had three CDs, a scenario that makes him jealous of prodigious peers like Wink, Dieselboy and Pete Moss. "Those guys you mention are all my friends -- and they all have half the responsibility I do. Sure, they have their own commitments to live up to, but running a shop, hands-on as I am these days, is like having several children." Besides, a business based on sound trends is riskier than most. "My role is to keep the fire burning. Who cares we have been around for 10 years? Someone who just heard a dance song wants attention and comfort, not attitude 'cause they weren't there when it peaked. Those who were around patronizing 611 in '93 are grown up and not into this music. I have no qualms with audiences moving on. I'm proud that I helped shape the path of their musical lives."

As for his own artistic life, armed with a PowerBook to make music on airplanes, Richards is seeking to take advantage of his business' 10th year with his self-discovery as a recording artist. His next CD, his fourth, will be out within six months. Until then, fans of Richards techno-ideal will have to dig his first double-DVD project, the Intellect documentary. Co-starring Juan Atkins, Ming and FS, Sandra Collins and countless others, Intellect -- filmed in Richards' home studio and at the Winter Music Conference 2002 in Miami -- offers audiences a peek into the professionalism of his sound and the rigors of the techno-DJ road. As for his own performance, Richards is proud. "It's been worth it, if even for the comments I get from people all over the country who have watched it and laughed along. I have the acting bug now."