As a producer, when you make a track, sometimes it’s hard to gauge its magnitude until it hits the world at large. “Free At Last” by San Francisco-based DJ Simon Pearson is one such example. Originally released last year on his own label Future Dreams, copies of the track were handed out as white labels to some bigger name touring DJs that passed through the Bay Area—standard operating procedure.

Next thing he knew, his chunky, dubbed-out creation, which samples Martin Luther King’s inspirational “I Have A Dream” speech, became one of the standout anthems at the 2000 Winter Music Conference and would soon be found firmly lodged in the flight cases of dance music’s most influential tech-house DJs Terry Francis, Mr. C, and “Evil” Eddie Richards. It later crossed over to the likes of global faves Erick Morillo, Steve Lawler and John Digweed. U.K.-based label Positiva won out in the bidding war for the track and has re-released it with fresh remixes from The End’s Matthew “Bushwacka” B. (of Layo & Bushwacka! fame), Chicago acid house legend DJ Pierre, and progressive remixers of the moment FutureShock.

Publicity-shy Simon agreed to this exclusive interview with DJ Times via e-mail and sheds some light on his involvement in San Francisco’s legendary Come-Unity parties, his under-acknowledged production credits, his surprise at “Free At Last’s” massive appeal, and his future dreams for his label.

DJ Times: Tell me about your involvement in the long running Come-Unity parties.

Simon: Come-Unity has been going on for close to 10 years now. My main involvement has been DJing, but during the years I’ve helped out organizing the party.

DJ Times: How would you describe your DJ style?

Simon: I’ve been playing records for about 10 years and I would say my style is based mainly on house, ranging from vocals to a more hard-house edge.

DJ Times: Was “Free At Last” your first attempt at producing?

Simon: No, I had previously made a track called “Two Crates.” It did pretty well and was the only thing to be released on Come-Unity Records before I started Future Dreams.

DJ Times: Have you done any remix work?

Simon: The first remix I did was of “Mother Earth” for a local band Dubtribe, followed by “ESUOH” by Re2or1 on Rampant Records, “Disco Recovery” by the LumpHeads on Primal Records, “20 Minutes of Disco Glory” by DJ Garth and ETI on Wicked/Grayhound Recordings, and I just finished a remix for a track John Digweed is licensing to Bedrock Records called “Groove Is in the Air” by Tijuana—soon to be released.

DJ Times: Is Future Dreams your own label?

Simon: Yes, I do own the label, and “Free At Last” is its first and only release so far. The unseen success of the track has thrown me into the deep end of the music business, but I’m learning quickly and it’s very exciting. I plan to concentrate more on the label with new releases, which are coming soon.

DJ Times: What is your next step production-wise?

Simon: There are several unfinished projects I need to get done and plan to remix “Two Crates.” The track got a lot of attention [before], and I’ve had a lot of requests for it to be re-released. Also, Positiva mentioned some remix work for Boris Dlugosch and a new Spiller track, no word yet as to if or when.

DJ Times: Of all the U.K. labels that chased you to license/sign the track, what made you choose Positiva?

Simon: I liked what Positiva proposed to do with the track and felt confident in their abilities to take it to its full potential. They’ve had great success with other tracks, for example “Groovejet (If This Ain’t Love)” by Spiller last year and they are really enthusiastic about “Free at Last,” with the strong belief they can do the same for it.

DJ Times: MLK’s speech has often been sampled in house music. What was your inspiration behind using it?

Simon: I accidentally got the idea while DJing at a gig. During my set I mixed the speech over the top of a record, this gave me the idea to add it to a track I had been working on but was unable to complete. It took me several weeks to decide which parts to use and then fit his words into the music.

DJ Times: With so many different DJs playing the track, did you ever think that it would be as massive as it has become?

Simon: No, it took four attempts to finally get the track mastered, each time the pressing would either be too low or skip at certain places. At one point I considered scrapping the whole project altogether. When it was finally released my only hope was to recover my losses. I knew it was a powerful track from testing it on the dancefloor, but had no idea that it would have this much of an impact.