Phuture

Phuture is a Chicago acid house group that forms in 1985 and remains active. It begins as a project created by DJ Pierre, Earl “Spanky” Smith, also known as DJ Spank Spank, and Herbert Jackson, known as Herb J. The group comes out of the early Chicago house scene and is closely tied to the music played by Ron Hardy at the Music Box in Chicago, where the three friends spend time listening to house records and discussing making their own music.

Formation and early work

The idea for the group comes from Smith, who suggests that Pierre and Herb J form a band so they can make their own tracks and supply material for Hardy’s sets. In 1985, Spanky finds a Roland TB-303, an instrument that had been dismissed at the time, and the group uses it in a way that helps define a new sound. By adjusting the controls while patterns play, they create what listeners later call acid.

Phuture’s debut track, “Acid Tracks,” becomes a key release in the development of acid house. It first causes a strong reaction on Chicago dance floors in 1986, and Hardy plays it from cassette in his sets. The track then gains wider attention in Great Britain, where Marshall Jefferson produces it for an official release on Traxx Records in 1987. It becomes one of the most influential records associated with the style and is widely credited with helping to spread acid house internationally.

Line-up and later activity

DJ Pierre leaves the group in 1990, after which Spanky continues Phuture with different members over the years until 1996. Other members associated with the group include Roy Davis Jr., Darrel Lewis, Ron Maney, Damon Neloms, L.A. Williams and Earl Smith, Jr. In 2014, Pierre and Spanky reunite as Phuture with Rio “The Musician” Lee and continue to work on new music.

Style and significance

Phuture is identified with acid house and deep house, and is one of the defining Chicago acid house groups. Its early work, especially “Acid Tracks,” is central to the history of the genre and to the wider spread of Chicago’s electronic dance music sound.