RS: Talking about these weird things aligning and magic happenings for one instant, how did you meet Chris Cox and become Thunderpuss?
Barry: I met Chris in 1990 or 91 when I was making the second Kon Kan album in New York during the New Music Seminar when it was held near Times Square. Because I was a DJ since 1984 I knew all the Hot Tracks stuff. I didn't know him because he was just starting doing edits and mixes, the "new kid on the block".

He'd done a re-edit of "Puss In Boots" which he'd gotten to my A&R guy for consideration to release. We invited him over to the studio to meet because we were working at the Def Jam Studios also in Times Square, so that's where I met him. We became friends over the phone for the next five or six years and he was much more technical than I was and he was pretty much my "tech support". When I was getting into doing more of my own producing and learning all the ins and outs of all the technical stuff, I had never wanted to be technical (and still hate it), I just wanted to be creative, but you have no choice. He was so much more technically orientated and we realized that we hit it off and we became friends over the phone.

RS: I heard once said, it's the software that brought you two together.
Barry: Well probably. Yes, Digital Performer.

RS: I think the remix that really got you all noticed as a remix team was the Billie Myers, which led to the Whitney Houston, would you agree with that?
Barry: Yes, and then we had a double punch, because quickly after that Amber "Sexual" happened and stayed for like seventeen weeks at number one.

That was another double whammy huge thing too, all in the same year.

RS: I get the feeling that you were really excited about Thunderpuss in the beginning, but then your interest, I don't know if it waned or you didn't feel the projects you were being presented with after a while. Is that a fair assumption?
Barry: No, not necessarily. I had a one-hit wonder success with Kon Kan, and you always say 'gee, if I ever get the chance that I could do it again I would do it so much differently.' So suddenly, accidentally... "Thunderpuss" took off. It was never an intention of mine strive to become a successful remixer. I came to L.A. to write and produce with Chris and Jeff Johnson and just do Interhit records with them. Thunderpuss was a side thought, like our little part-time job. The Billie Myers record happened because that same guy, Mark Nathan, who introduced us in 1990, asked if we both wanted to remix this Billie Myers song called "Kiss The Rain". Because he heard? oh gosh, I'm going to get in trouble here, I'm only going to tell you this story because?

RS: When he heard a cover version of it?
Barry: He heard a cover version of Merrill Bainbridge's "Mouth" which was his baby as an A&R guy and he hated it. He said I want you to do a version of Billie Myers "Kiss The Rain" before someone else does and ruins it.

RS: Why would you get in trouble with that? You're saying a producer and A&R guy wants you to protect his vision of the work by being involved with the dance version of it?
Barry: Whatever..., it's just we did the Billie Myers, simply "doing what we do". You don't know what's going to happen week-by-week. Thunderpuss happened week-by-week, we didn't know what was going to happen next. It's just a matter of fact with any band, any relationship that you're in, they "run their course". You just tire, you just don't want to be around each other 24 hours anymore, you want a break from simply "being together". It's just like being in any boyfriend - girlfriend relationship, very difficult to keep going, and we had a very intense five years and I came out of it going just stop, beep, enough. We'd basically done all that there was to do, done the indie thing record etc. The only people that we didn't remix were Chaka Khan and Mariah Carey. Of course, yes, Madonna was a goal, yes, the other divas were a goal, and we had done them twice, Britney twice, Christina twice, maybe three times.

We did all the biggest, biggest people, and I was just 'OK, now what?' I was just "had it, done it, been there, did it", and I REALLY don't mean that to be arrogant, I'm very grateful and very proud and very happy of our work together. There's a few times when the record company didn't like (what i thought was) an interesting, fresh idea and wanted a pop mix, so I just gave up and did it, because you have no choice at that point, you already were eighty percent into the remix.