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Here is an interview I did W/ D:Fuse for a different site:
Q: D:Fuse -You started your DJ career spinning industrial under the DJ name 'Culture Industry?"
-Yeah it was a live band, I was the lead singer and the drummer and
writing industrial music. But industrial music was going in a new
direction while at the same time I was wondering what I was going to
do with my life. Then one night I walked into a club in Houston called Proteus and the DJ was playing some banging house music. The next day I bought turntables.
Q: How is the electronic scene in your home state of Texas? Has anyone ever broken out into a square dance at one of your shows?
-Not yet but I live in LA now and you can be damn sure it's not going
to happen out there.
Q: What happened to your signature cowboy hat?
-(Laughing) Man I wore it for 5 years but it was as much a personal as a career decision to stop wearing it. I didn't want to be identified as 'that DJ that wears the cowboy hat' which is what was happening. I've still got it though.
Q: A lot of the people on this board have a hard-on for minimal.
What's your take on the sound?
-In EDM a new sound comes around and tons of DJ's run to it at 100
miles per hour but then they get stuck. I think a great DJ should be
able to play everything in one set, from minimal to electro to
progressive to tribal, etc.
That being said, you really have to be a talented DJ to make minimal
make sense to a dancefloor without losing all the energy.
Q: What's your average listener-ship on your radio show, "The People's Radio" on XM?
-I get about 300,000 people each week! I love it man. It's a ton of
work but it gives me a chance to play music I wouldn't play on the
road. As a result, I get inundated with promo tracks from all colors
of the house rainbow- which is great but it takes a long time to go
through it all. I do listen to every song that I get though, at some
point.
Q: A lot of the artists we've booked travel constantly by themselves
over long distances, leaving families and lives on hold for four
nights a week but arriving to adoring audiences. What would you say
are the best and worst aspects of success in the international DJ
circuit?
-The travel is both the best and worst thing. You're right, you're
alone a lot and it's exhausting. It also has a huge impact on your
personal life. I went through a divorce a year and a half ago and a
large part of it was because of how much I travel.
On the flipside, I get to see new cities, share my passion with new
people, experience new cultures and new vibes every weekend and now
that I've tasted that, I couldn't live without it.
Q: What do you think is more important to putting together a great
set, mixing or programming?
-Programming is %80 and mixing is %20. I'd rather hear a DJ trainwreck all fucking night whose playing new, great shit than have a DJ layering music seamlessly but not creating any excitement.
But people still focus so much on mixing. I truly only know a few DJ's that can program worth shit.
Q: What's going on with 'DJ's Are Alive'?
-DJ's Are Alive is kind of on hold right now. It is an amazing
experience playing live with talent like Scumfrog, Static Revenger and everyone but it's a tough thing because you have an all-star lineup of DJ's that all have separate booking agents and schedules and who together, are way out of a club's booking budget.
But it's a thrilling experience putting something like that together
because with all those live elements you know that when the curtain
goes up the whole thing could be fucked sideways – no matter how much
you rehearse. Which we did, a shitload.
Q: When on tour you're lugging drums and other percussion instruments
around the world. Is it tempting to just pack your laptop and use
software? Do you feel there would be a quality difference?
-I'll never abandon my drums, but I can see myself combining software
with my sets more and more. Mike Hiratzka and I have a gig in Vegas
coming up with us spinning, playing drum kits and guitars and having
two hip-hop MC's free-versing over it all. I love mixing a whole bunch of live instruments and seeing where it goes.
Q: You were discovered by Paul Oakenfold in 2001 and your career took
off. Would you say that your goal is to reach his level of exposure to other segments of the music market? Do you fear that you would
jeopardize your core fan base by doing so?
-I would love to be there. I feel like I've built a great fan base of
people that understand and appreciate what I do but there's a lot of
things I still want to accomplish.
On what Paul is doing? Look- I don't think it ever hurts to reach out
to the masses. He exposes a lot of people to the music we love who
would never know about it otherwise, and how can that be bad? To me
it's unlikely that someone who has never heard house before is going
to see an underground DJ the first time and be converted. Paul makes
our music accessible to people that then discover the rest of us.
Q: You're touring in support of your latest album, People: 3. What was your vision when you started assembling the tracklist?
-Basically I looked for a lot of tracks that I think are going to sound good 10 years from now. It's a pumped progressive album that is a good sample of what I think I sound like live.
Before the album was finalized I had to take it running with me for
weeks to just try and get a feel for the energy levels. Finally I was
happy with it and it's something I'm real proud of.
Q: You've played Sullivan Room several times over the years and know
its managing partner, Serge Sklarenko well.
-Yes.
Q: Even though his birthday is always a wild party there are some
murky years from when he left the Red Army to when he came over here
to try to become a model. If you had to venture a guess, how old would you say Serge is?
-(Laughing) Man… he looks good but I'd say anywhere between 58 and 63!
Q: Finally, you're albums are named People, your radio show is the
'People's radio show' and the marriage is now complete with your
playing for the PEOPLE NYC crew. Any words for the crowd that is going to be at Sullivan Room on Friday night?
-Wear your dancing shoes!
D:Fuse will be performing live on Friday, August 25th at Sullivan Room for the monthly PEOPLE Party. For reduced admission email:
[email protected]
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www.PeopleNYC.com
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