WITH over 35 years experience, disco veterans Chic can show their younger peers at RockNess a thing or two about getting their audience up and dancing.
For band founder and guitarist, super-producer Nile Rodgers, sometimes getting people on their feet becomes a personal mission.
"We are definitely a party band, that’s for sure," he said.
"There’s no such thing as people not dancing to one of our shows. There was one festival we were at and the promoter said: ‘This is a very corporate crowd, so don’t expect anyone to dance.’ I told him we needed to clear some room for dancing, but he told me: ‘You better understand, no-one dances here, it’s not that sort of crowd.’ So I told him: ‘You’d better understand — this is a Chic show everybody dances.’"
And of course, with the band behind disco classics "Le Freak", "Everybody Dance" and "Dance, Dance, Dance" playing live, the audience did get up and dance.
Getting his listeners on their feet should not be such a challenge for hit-maker Rogers — the man behind some of the biggest hits for Madonna, David Bowie, Diana Ross and Duran Duran — when Chic take to the main stage at RockNess on Sunday, the band’s first ever Scottish festival appearance.
Rodgers already has good memories of the Scottish reaction to the funky sound of Chic, recalling the band’s last Scottish show in the the HMV Picture House in Edinburgh.
"It was amazing. Two hours after the show we still had people out on the street, still partying," he said.
Now he is looking forward to getting a similar reaction at what is probably Britain’s most scenic festival venue.
"I actually haven’t seen a picture of the site, but I can imagine it," he said.
"Some people were describing it to me and it sounds amazing."
Now 59, Rodgers has been a professional musician since his teens when he toured with the "Sesame Street" backing band before becoming a house band guitarist at the legendary Apollo in New York.
"The very first gig I played there, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins jumped out of a coffin in skeleton make up and with a skull rattle in his hand. It scared the life out of me," Rodgers laughed.
Today, after overcoming his own battle with cancer, he continues to maintain the Chic legacy following the loss of his fellow band founders Bernard Edwards — who died on tour in Japan just hours after playing his final show with Chic — and drummer Tony Thompson.
"It’s amazing to me that here I am, the last man standing, keeping the message and the inspiration alive," he said.
"I always remember what Bernard said to me on the last night of his life. We looked out at the Budokan Theatre in Tokyo and it was our third sold out show in a row and Bernard said to me: ‘This music is bigger than we are.’
"Chic is what I do."
As one of the music industry’s best connected figures — from playing with Areatha Franklin at the Apollo with working with Scissors Sisters, Daft Punk and Mark Ronson today — Rodgers can assemble his pick of players to perform as Chic.
"Even the youngest member of Chic has been with us six years, almost to the day," he said.
However, do not expect to hear just the Chic back catalogue on Sunday afternoon.
One of music’s most successful producers, his many credits include David Bowie and Diana Ross’s biggest selling albums and "Like a Vigin", the record that made Madonna an international star, so he is happy to add in some of the hits he created with other artists.
"That’s the great thing about our show. You hear more hit records than anybody else — 13 or 14 No.1 records in a row," he said.
"All I’ve really wanted to be is a working musician and a composer. The fact that I’ve also been able to write and produce hit records, that is amazing.
"Because I have these musicians around me and because I have this musical history behind me, I never have to play a song I didn’t write or produce. Our show is two hours long and we never have to play the same song twice."
Describing himself as "not a songwriter, I’m a song rewriter", Rodgers loves the collaborative process of creating an album.
Yet with all the star names he has worked with, is there anyone he would still love to get into the studio for the first time?
"I don’t really think like that. The only person that I have ever pursued in my life was Peter Gabriel," he said.
"I’ve never had a manager, I’ve never had an agent. Most of the collaborations I do happen just because I bump into people."
Despite his recent health problems, however, Rodgers is not planning on taking things easier.
"As long as I have breath, I’ll keep on doing what I do," he declared.
"It’s the greatest job ever. I love playing guitar, I love solving problems in the studio — I love life."
• Nile Rodgers and Chic appear on the main stage at RockNess on Sunday.
