post all of the interviews here, either video or text but prefferably video of your favorites. I find them pretty informative about the EDM scene and it also introduces you to different DJs in different genres, so thats why I did this. If enough interviews are posted i'll start making an index of them.
let me start off with a Steve Lawler interview click
P.S. the more recent the better
:)
FunkyCrew
*paging Katie*! she did tons of amazing interviews :gsmile:
Bassi77
Pete Tong's Fast Trax, a really good show btw
here is week 29 with an interview with Bodyrox, well its not really an interview, but still click
here is a interview with James Zabiela and Nic Fanculli click
rT19
cool... Bruno interviewing lawler
Skipper
Misstress Barbara @ Sundance festival 2006, talking about the Montreal crowd and why she still plays vinyl.
jesus christ that interviewer sounded like a total idiot
Skipper
I noticed that as well - it's painful watching or listening to really awkward interviewers!
me@t k@tie
quote:
Originally posted by FunkyCrew
*paging Katie*! she did tons of amazing interviews :gsmile:
Heheheh awww. <3
Here are a couple of interviews that I found:
I really wanted to interview Dieselboy, and after I did (December 06?), I decided to donate it to dogsonacid.com because I didn't want all the information to go to waste. Cosmic Fur helped me out on this one. It was lots of fun. :) http://www.dogsonacid.com/showthrea...95&mode=article
quote:
DOA: How does Toronto stand out for you as a place to spin?
There was a point in time - years ago, that Toronto had the strongest scene in North America. I remember how it was such a big deal for me to get to play in Toronto because it was so hard to get in. They never booked American DJs. It was always UK DJs or local DJs. It was awesome when I first started playing here, and now whenever I am booked to play in Toronto, I know that it's going to be a really good show, based on the last few times I played at System and Kool Haus. I think I have gotten progressively better each time I come here. As far as the vibe goes, I really enjoy coming up here. It's good times.
DOA: What is currently in the works right now?
Right now, I have a bunch of stuff lined up for my record label from artists such as Demo, Evol Intent, Infiltrata, etc. I have a lot of tours coming up. I even have one in Asia, and one in Australia. Also this year, I think I might be doing another Human Violence tour with Hive, and maybe a tour with my H.U.M.A.N. artists. Other than that, I am working on some T-shirt designs with my friend Joel for Human that should be coming out soon. I was on the cover of Urb Magazine years ago, with this awesome design with a skull. So we decided to go with that for the T-shirt design. The design is inspired from a line by a clothing company in New York, and they do 70s album covers, where the faces are replaced with skulls. It's pretty cool.
I want to start working on my new mixed CD, which I started thinking about back in August, but I had to put it on hold because I have been really busy. But I want to start thinking about it again. It's going to be kinda like Dungeon Master's Guide. I have some big ideas for this one, but I just have to get it moving soon.
DOA: Oh wikkid. What will the theme of this one be? I know that Dungeon Master's Guide had a very fantasy like theme to it.
Yeah, I agree that it was definitely a fantasy theme. I have some ideas for the next one, but I don't know exactly what it will be. So far, what I have come up with is: it will most likely be called "Substance D", and it will be related to...not like "rave drugs", the concept is that the CD will be a drug, and it will be designed with very futuristic, pharmaceutical packaging. It's going to be the idea of listening to music, as if it were a drug. I have an idea for the intro, and some of the graphics. The guy who did my last CD design will be helping me with this one as well. If it comes out the way I am imagining, it will basically be all about putting the CD in, and just ing yourself up. (laughs)
DOA: Out of all the mixed CDs you have made, which one is your favourite?
Hmm. It's weird because once I do them, I don't really listen to them. Once in a while, I will be in someone's car, and they will have one of my old CDs. I will put it in, and listen, and be like "holy crap, I haven’t heard this in ages!" I like "6ixth Session" because it really came out at a good time, and it was basically the peak of my career. It did well, and I am happy with how everything came together. I also like Project Human and Dungeon Master's Guide. I feel that all three of those together are what I am most proud of. It's just what I wanted to do. I feel that they are really unique from all the other mixed CDs, so I am happy with them all.
DOA: In the future, do you see yourself spending more time as a producer, or as a DJ?
Ideally, I would like to be a producer. However, I can come up to Toronto, go out, have a few drinks, and DJ, and have that quick response time - like a very quick burst of energy. I feel like that's my job. I can sit in a studio for days on end, trying to write music, which can be very frustrating. There's more longevity in writing music, but it's just hard. Maybe once my DJing tapers down a bit more, I will focus more on production, but right now, I have been spending a lot of time DJing, and very little time producing. To be honest, it is not exactly fun to write music. If you've ever been in a studio, you know that the music doesn't just write it's self. It's very dull. It is a lot like writing a term paper - it's work. It is one thing to write music, but to write music that people want to hear is even harder. There is no magic formula. You just have to sit there and go over and over again until you like something you did, and feel that it is worth expanding. It can take over a month to write a tune if you can't get yourself motivated to do it.
DOA: Do you feel that you have to force yourself to write, or do you ever have moments where you are really inspired?
Well, sometimes you get a vibe. Once you're in a studio and start messing around, you can have a moment where something sounds really good and inspires you. But I have definitely been in the studio, and knew that what I was doing didn't sound good at all. You get stuck in there for days, trying to make it sound right. It can actually be very de-motivating. DJing comes very easily for me as compared to producing. Maybe some people who are very proliphic can just go in there and bust out some new tunes, but it is so much harder for me. I am a DJ first, and a producer second.
DOA: If you had a night off, and could go see any DJ, who would you see?
It's funny - I was at a music conference last year, and had a night off, and I was with my girlfriend and some friends. We had a choice of going to an event called "Viram" which is this huge drum and bass party. I could have gotten in for free because of a friend who was DJing in there. But instead, we went to Bob Sinclair and Armand Van Helden, which was so much fun. So I would probably rather go see a disco/house style DJ. Someone like Armand Van Helden, MSTRKRFT, or someone like that. It's something different. I wouldn't go to see a DNB DJ because I hear it all the time, so I like to hear other stuff.
DOA: I noticed that last night after your set, you did a bit of MCing. How important do you think it is to have an MC in a live DnB set?
I think that a good MC definitely adds to the show. But sometimes when an MC is there, the people don't get into the vibe. If I don't have an MC, I don't see people responding on message boards with, "Why the hell didn't you have an MC?" but I have had them go on message boards bitching about the MC if I did have one. So I feel that to play it safe with the crowd, it's sometimes better off not to have one. The MC can actually detract from a show. But that being said, there have been situations where I have had my MC with me and they took the crowd energy to another level that I would not have been able to do on my own. They really interact with the crowd. It is important for certain shows, but it is not necessary for every show.
DOA: Speaking of message boards, I noticed that you seem to have a lot of haters out there. Dogsonacid is an example. People seem to do anything they can to get to you. They make fun of the way you look, or the clothes you wear. They personally attack you. How do you deal with all of that?
Oooooh yeah. You are so right. I used to go through a lot of drama on dogsonacid. I used to be much more involved with posting, but eventually I just lost the energy to do it. To be honest, I realize that everyone has an opinion. I feel that myself in general am a pretty positive person. I have never really felt compelled to get on any message board - even before I was a DJ. Even before I was a DJ I never really felt compelled to get on a message board and diss somebody JUST to diss them. It's one thing to go on a board and say, "I went to this party and saw this DJ, but I wasn't really feeling it." That's your own opinion, and that's fine. I never personally would go on a board, jump in a thread, and talk about somebody. That's not my personality. I've never been like that. There are definitely things that I see on message boards that are so hard for me to understand. Why are people like that? It just really frustrates me. I try to not respond to stuff unless it is totally personal and totally wrong. For example, people might tell a story about me that never even happened at all. It's a TOTAL figment of their imagination. It is absolutely ridiculous. Also, some people will discuss something, hypothetically speaking, about why I did my CD a certain way, and then they'll come up with their own reasons and conclusions on why I did it.
They talk about it like they know. As if they know from experience. They are so ignorant because they come off like they know what they are talking about, when in fact they have no clue.
That really irks me. I have met some of these people that talk on message boards, and I think, "Why would I let this person bother me?" It is frustrating.
DOA: The Barrier Break track on Human Resource - what inspired you to come up with that? It has a mix of hip hop and DnB, and it has a really dark, heavy feel to it.
We were doing a Project Human tour and had to write some music. Messinian did vocals and he rapped all his stuff. Nothing really worked, except for this one thing that was really catchy. So we started writing it, and at one point, we got to the drum and bass part, and we had no intention at that time to do the break down at all. We were going through some beats, and I found something cool, and was like "maybe we should make a break down at this part." It kinda just happened one day in the studio when we were ing around. The idea came up, and we went with it. I felt like naming it after the Dungeons and Dragons module called "Expedition to the Barrier Peak." I named it "Barrier Peak" and then my friend at the recording studio got the name wrong, thinking it was "Barrier Break." I thought to myself: "Barrier Break. What a perfect name." It has breakdowns, and it breaks the barriers of what Drum & Bass should sound like. It has it's own sound. So yeah, he named it accidentally, and we went with it.
DOA: You worked a lot with Kaos in your last CD. Why not Technical Itch?
Kaos and I were best friends for a long time. We don't talk that much anymore, but we used to be really close. I respect him. He is a good guy and a talented producer. He was literally at my house every single day, so we worked together a lot. It was good working with him because he was at the same level as me. We had a lot of texture going on in the songs. The reason why I didn't work with Mark (Technical Itch) is because he lives so far away from me, so it would not have been as easy to collaborate with him.
DOA: Do you write songs for the clubs, or for listening to at home?
If I am working in the studio for a certain amount of time, I want to come out of there with a track that I can DJ. If I can't DJ it, I see it as a waste of my time. I want to give myself ammo for my DJ sets.
DOA: Damian, thanks a lot for your time.
No problem at all. It's all good.
Mike Foyle (sometime last summer)
It was a just for fun interview. :p
quote:
Kate: Approximately how long does it usually take for you to produce a track, from start to finish?
M: Well I have got unfinished tracks on my hard drive that are 2 or 3 years old still waiting to be finished. One particular one, "broken piano" will definitely be finished one day, when I can be bothered lol. I've also completed entire tracks in no more than 2 or 3 days, so it really varies a lot!! If I'm full of inspiration and prepared to work solidly for a few days I'll get a track done.
Kate: Have you ever received any formal music training? Or did you teach yourself? (What instruments can you play?)
M: I have played violin since I was a child. I stopped taking lessons a few years ago but still play it for fun. I played in several local orchestras as lead violinist. Without the classical background, I don't think I would be as passionate about music as I am today. I always hated playing the violin as a kid, but I am so thankful now to my parents for encouraging me to stick with it.
Kate: What DJ or producer do you most admire, and why?
M: I admire anyone who is unique and makes the music they enjoy making. There isn't really one person who I admire over everyone else though.
Kate: Tell me something about yourself that most people don't know!
M: Most things that people don't know about me are secrets haha. But ok.. how about..... ummmm.... i don't know! I have a trampoline in my back garden?! Great I bet that's made your day!
Kate: Oh wow, that really did make my day!!! Thanks for telling me that! Do you ever go out to events, as a member of the crowd and not as a producer/DJ?
M: Of course!! I love going clubbing. I think it's essential for any DJ to feel the clubbing experience from the other side of the decks!
Kate: Mike, would you like me to suck your cock?
M: Filthy girl..
Kate: Ok, I will take that as a “yes”….How and why is your producing different from your spinning?
M: It isn't. It's just that I haven’t bothered producing much lately, just random remixes and reworks of older tracks. Soon you will hear some harder stuff from me I can assure you. I just grew out of the slow boring stuff!!:D
Kate: In a few years from now, where do you hope to see yourself?
M: In space! Haha no seriously, I really don't know. Hopefully I'll graduate and go on to get a really interesting job in the Sound or Music industry. Possibly producing music for TV adverts or films. I'd like to keep up the DJing and releasing my own tracks for as long as I can as well though. Hopefully I won't get too old for that in a hurry.
Kate: Mike, thanks for your time! I hope to see you in Toronto really soon!!! =)
M: Thanks, I hope so to!
Mike
John 00 Fleming @ WEMF 2006 (my first DJ interview)
quote:
Originally posted by me@t k@tie
Interview with John '00' Fleming By Katie Olsheskie
First of all, I have to say that you played a fantastic set! I couldn't stop dancing, even to take pictures!
- haha, that's great to hear! I had such a great time spinning tonight. Now look, Mark EG is up there!!
Oh , he looks crazy! haha
- He IS crazy! ahaha
Good point! Ok here we go. What brings you to WEMF?
- I don 't think I even have to answer that. Just take a look out there (points to the crowd). I'm gonna come back every year if I can!
Oh that's wikkid! Throughout the years, WEMF has changed a lot. An example is the fact that they introduced the rock stage this year. What are your thoughts on that?
- I think it's brilliant. At this festival, it's all about the music. You can just go to the stage and be a part of it. There's something for everyone to enjoy, depending on what mood you're in. I think it's brilliant. It's a really, really good idea.
When you are spinning, you look so happy and energetic. Where does all that energy come from?
- I just love music. I have so much passion when I'm spinning because I love my job. When I'm playing in front of a crowd, I get so excited - I'm sharing my music with everyone out there. It's just really exciting!
Well, your love for music definitely shows when you are performing. When you produce, do you tend to do everything on a schedule, or do you do do it when you're inspired?
- I prefer to do it when I'm inspired, but I unfortunately can't always work that way because my life is so busy. I'm always flying everywhere, so I have to work on a schedule most of the time.
How do you deal with constantly traveling and having a tight schedule? Do you find it stressful?
- Yeh yeh, but I think I have gotten used to it. I find that now I can deal with things like that, especially with the flying. One day I will have a 15 hour flight, and then the very next day I have another 15 hour flight. I'm fine with it. You'd be surprised - now I have become an expert at sleeping on airplanes! hahaha
I've noticed that lately a lot of DJs such as Sasha and Johan are changing their styles from trance to house. What do you think about that, and do you ever see yourself changing your style?
- I have progressively changed over the years. I think it's important to keep moving along to keep people interested in your music. Sometimes the DJ's music becomes really boring and predictable. I mean, if they've been doing the same thing for so many years, you want to hear something new.
What do you think about the way DJs are rated, such as in DJ Mag? Do you think it's a fair system?
- Well, to be honest, I think it's very sad. I respect everyone on there. I just think that it's such an unfair rating. Don't think that those DJs don't deserve to be on there - they do, but there's lots of people that have worked very hard and should be recognized, but they aren't. They should be more open to more DJs so they can be given a chance. Yeah, so I think it's a really unfair poll.
I know you enjoy spending time in Canada, specifically Ottawa. What draws you there?
- haha yeah, I love it there. I haven't been to Ottawa in a little while but I really enjoy spinning there. I would love to go back soon. I really like small clubs like surface. It's a great little place with an amazing atmosphere. That's why I like it there so much.
If you could say something to the people who are just starting to mix, what would it be?
- What I would like to say to everyone is: play music that you truly love. Don't play music that you don't like just because you are trying to be recognized. Just play the music that you love if you really want to be recognized. That's really important.
Thank you sooo much for taking the time out right after your brilliant set so I could talk to you!!
- haha no problem at all, I enjoyed it. Now get back out there and enjoy the rest of the night!
World Electronic Music Festival in Tweed - Enormous Success
Hundreds of national and international musicians gather together in small community
By Katie Olsheskie
Special to the Intelligencer
Thousands of music fans flocked to Tweed this past weekend for the 12th annual World Electronic Music Festival, known better to many as WEMF.
From July 21 to 23, Trudeau Park was transformed into a massive three day all-ages music festival, hosted by Destiny Event Productions. Approximately six thousand people packed up their tents and sleeping bags and congregated to the area to enjoy over 200 DJs and bands. Many artists such as John ‘00’ Fleming, Anne Savage, Thrillseekers, and Jackal & Hyde arrived all the way from Europe, while Canadian breakthrough rock and roll bands such as Pilot, Mobile, and Broken Social Scene also performed at WEMF this year. It was, to say the least, extremely successful.
Jason Phillip, a 24 year old WEMF attendee from Newmarket, Ontario, had a great time.
“I didn’t come here for any specific artists. I came here for the vibe.”
When asked for his thoughts on this year’s festival compared to the previous ones, Phillip explained,
“Every year WEMF travels in different directions. Not necessarily improving, but always changing. Change is good.”
Not only did the fans enjoy WEMF this year, but the artists also had an amazing time playing for the crowds. John ‘00’ Fleming, one of the world’s best known DJs, has spun at WEMF many times. After being questioned on why he keeps returning to it, he looked at the ecstatic group of people dancing in front of a stage, smiled, and quickly replied,
“I don’t think I even have to answer that. Just take a look out there at the crowd! I’m going to come back every year if I can.”
A question that many people want to know is - why Tweed, of all places, to host WEMF? Why not somewhere that is used to the electronic music scene, like Toronto?
“After searching across the province, the WEMF collective chose a site that will allow it to create an event that is true to the roots of where WEMF came from and what it has become,” answered Ryan Krueger, president of Destiny Event Productions. “We were looking for a venue that featured both indoor and outdoor stage areas, large forested campgrounds, and a lake. We wanted to find a location close to civilization, but not too close. Our goal was to allow the tourism benefits of the event to support a community without any negative impact to that same community. Tweed is the perfect location in all these respects.”
The small town of Tweed had greatly profited from this event. The economic benefits were staggering.
“With a smaller community, we are able to have a major impact with regard to tourism and event spending,” said Krueger. “Our post event research has indicated that there is an influx of between $750,000 and $1,000,000 in direct and indirect spending in the local community as a result of our event each year. A certain percentage of these people will return for travel unrelated to our event and create an additional benefit that many people overlook.”
By Sunday evening, the thousands of tents and vehicles had cleared from Trudeau Park. All of the delighted music lovers had left with experiences and memories to last a lifetime.
A portion of the proceeds of this year’s WEMF are being generously donated to Skate 4 Cancer, and to the Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation.
geroin
Kate: Mike, would you like me to suck your cock?
M: Filthy girl..
wtf why would you ask that
me@t k@tie
quote:
Originally posted by geroin
Kate: Mike, would you like me to suck your cock?
M: Filthy girl..
wtf why would you ask that
Hahahhahah. You would have to ask kkefka.
I don't think that Mike really minds that kind of talk...
basilisk
DJ interviews: always insightful :)
Kate Manus
I really enjoy reading/watching interviews with DJs but I find all too often the interviewer doesn't seem to put very much effort into the questions.... which usually results in a boring interview.
I started doing interviews with various techno DJs last summer and have since done about a dozen for various websites - livesets.com & edmm.ca.
My personal favourite was when I got to interview Carl Cox, it was great to just sit down with him for 20 minutes and do the interview before his gig at Stereo... just wish I had a transcription of it!
My favourite in recent months was with Chris Liebing in December, he was a very nice guy to chat with and I felt he made the effort to expand a bit on some of my questions... overall I thought it turned out to be a good read. :)
I hope to be able to do some video interviews later this year too.
From his humble beginnings in the early 90s, Chris Liebing has since secured his place as one of today’s leading techno DJs. As fate would have it, Chris’ schedule these days largely consists of touring the globe for DJ bookings instead of a career as an airline pilot which he left behind years ago. His latest mix CD was released a few months ago and was recorded live at the legendary Womb in Tokyo.
I had an opportunity to chat with him last week about his upcoming projects for 2007 and he also revealed some of his plans for the holidays!
Kate: By the sounds of it you had a great season at Privilege in Ibiza this past summer and you’ve even talked about doing Spinclub parties around the world, have you had any so far?
Chris: No… the planning is still in the making (laughs), some things take longer and I think next year will be the launch of maybe the first Spinclub party, and um… it’s a little different concept. It’s a concept with a role of resident DJs and always one live act in the middle of the night coming on. It’s basically always the same DJs including myself, and this was the concept which we had in Ibiza which was working amazingly well… and I will try to see how that is going to work in the rest of the world (laughs).
Kate: So you plan to have the same resident DJs you had in Ibiza then?
Chris: Yeah that would be the point behind it; it would be these DJs, since we had a good season in Ibiza. The good thing was these DJs didn’t know of each other before the season and they all became good friends, so the main thing when I do a night or if I want to do a party or something like this is that the people involved all get to know each other well and have a good time together. If you as an artist have a good time it always projects on the crowd and this was working really well this summer so that’s is why I would love to continue with these kind of people and always add this element of a live act who fits into this certain vibe as well.
Kate: You have a long history of supporting new talent, from your remix contest on C.L.R. to the DJs you hand-picked for your Spinclub nights in Ibiza this past summer. What was it that made them stand out in your mind?
Chris: Well it’s definitely the 3 residents which I was very happy that they agreed to be part of the Spinclub thing, all 3 have in common that I met them in completely different parts of the world, Benny in Holland, Angel Costa which I had a little tour in Spain with at the beginning of this year and Nick in New York, and what they all have in common is their passion for DJing and for just performing the music without having really that priority to be a big DJ… you know? It’s like they are DJs because they really feel it, like I want to make music and I want to play music and umm… they are all just getting into producing music as well and it is so interesting for me to see because they all do it not because to get famous or to earn a lot of money or to do whatever, they do it because they really have it in their heart. They all come from a little bit different directions so it’s not necessarily the music which I would say like “oh I need to get them because they are playing such great music” they do play great music but not necessarily for my tastes needs to be great, If that would be the case then I would be playing the same music obviously, I’m not playing the same music as they are but I really like the way they perform the music and they have that effect on the crowd. That is something that you rarely see, or maybe I rarely see because I rarely get to see other DJs in general, but that feeling for the crowd and to play for the people and not necessarily only playing your own music no matter what the crowd does.
Kate: Have you started working on the second (Demon) chapter of Stigmata yet with Andre Walter?
Chris: No we haven’t started working on it. It has been a little bit difficult, since the whole Stigmata series, the first chapter, was done between 96-97 and 2000… it’s been awhile since then and we’ve been talking about continuing this chapter but within that time the music has changed and the music which I like and I like to play and I like to do has changed a bit as well. So it is a bit difficult and we are still thinking about how to get the idea of Stigmata and the point behind the music, which is sort of a dark kind of hard vibe, into sort of a modern production method, umm… So that it does not sound like the old stuff, still sounds fresh but still will not disappoint people who like the old stuff…. and not disappoint us as well of course (laughs).
Kate: Speaking of Andre, do you think you will ever perform a live act with him like you have been doing with Speedy J?
Chris: Umm… No it’s mainly because Andre is more like an introverted kind of person… he’s not really that much outgoing and never really had a tendency to perform on a stage, he’s more of a, very much studio guy, doesn’t even like to travel much so…umm… there are enough reasons for him not really wanting to go out there.
Kate: Are there any upcoming releases for any of your labels?
Chris: Yeah, I am basically already started working in my new studio which I moved into two months ago… and I am working on my next 12inch on my own label C.L.R. 16 right now which I hope to get finished within the next two weeks so the release should be somewhere beginning of next year. Besides that the plan is for me to work on an album for myself, I have no idea in what time span this is going to be possible. And an overall plan for next year is to do a new album together with Speedy J.
Kate: You have a new mixed CD recorded live at the legendary Womb in Tokyo, what influenced your decision to do the recording there?
Chris: Well they asked me to do it! (laughs)
Kate: Ah ok - as simple as that! (laughs)
Chris: I played Womb the club about three times before and I know for their series of live mix CDs, I was actually the third one to do it. I do like the idea, my last mix CD was also a live recording in Belgrade, about two years ago. As they were asking me, it was for me a total must because I do like the club.. the Japanese people, especially in Tokyo are quite crazy….party people, and I did like the idea to record it there, because it would fit the series of mix CDs I am releasing anyways which always have that live element… I want to keep that going and have probably perhaps in half a year a new live mix CD. It was very professionally made, like the whole recording and also the recording of the crowd…of the atmosphere with loads of microphones located in the room. It was probably the most professional recording I have seen so far, and I was really happy with how it turned out, how it sounded…I was happy that I didn’t do any major mistakes or anything like that, so I am just really happy and proud of that CD.
Kate: You started a technical column earlier this year that was to appear in a number of publications worldwide including Kick Magazine here in Canada, I saw the first article but nothing since, is this something you are still doing?
Chris: (laughs) Yes the person who is working for me in our office, responsible for these columns, she is already very mad at me as well (laughs), because she’s basically telling me to keep on writing these columns. But the thing was, this year I was moving my studio, I was preparing for Spinclub, I also started an Internet radio show called Noise Control already last year… which I did the last show also before the summer, sadly, and of course it is always that I have way more plans and ideas than time to actually accomplish them, or get them accomplished, and this year was especially hard due to 15 continuous weeks on Ibiza, which made the whole travel plans for the summer a nightmare, plus playing all these festivals. It shouldn’t sound like excuses but there was loads of stuff going on, and I always like to write a column when I have some urgent tech issue or something new which I really want to talk about… and I basically sort of said everything I wanted to say in the last columns and I wanted to wait until this little spark comes which inspires me to write the next one, that didn’t really happen so far but actually this week I had a good idea about something to write about, also of course about new technology, so I think the next one will not be too far away.
Kate: In that same article I read, your theme was good vs. evil – and you said you feel sometimes (quote) ‘torn between two worlds’, referring to vinyl and what you’ve been using mostly these days – Traktor and Ableton. You’ve obviously been a DJ who has embraced new technology, what do you feel has been the most exciting new product/development in recent years?
Chris: Well it’s definitely got to be Traktor by Native Instruments. I started to more work with this as Joachem and I, Speedy J and I, started to think about and plan our Collabs tour, due to the fact that we were using a lot of hardware and machines which needed to be synched, it started to be a bit more difficult for me to just put turntables next to it and play off the turntables, so we were really trying to find a way of including other people’s music, mixing it with our own music, and because I was working with Final Scratch a long long long time before and Final Scratch and Traktor basically morphed together at Native Instruments who did an amazing job developing the software, and it is exactly the right software which we needed. Partly of course because we were also telling them a little bit what we want and what we need and partly because of different inventors of different sides came together, like Final Scratch was a whole different invention and Traktor, these programs came together. It makes a lot of sense and that is such a big step into a new direction of performing music on a stage, which of course has a lot of critics talking about “oh a real Dj needs vinyl” or “a real DJ needs to beatmatch his tracks and synch them”… I am way beyond that problem by now, I don’t see this as a problem at all anymore, I see the big advantage, the big positive side on the other hand.
Kate: I remember reading many years ago that you had never owned a pair of turntables at home… is this still the case?
Chris: Right, yes that’s true. Well I do actually have two turntables now, one is in the studio and one is here at my place, but in the first 3 or 4 years that I was working more, let’s say, professionally as a DJ, and working like in a club and really actually getting money for that, I did not have even one turntable at home which was due to the fact that I always had a key to the club where I was playing so I didn’t really need to buy a pair of turntables for myself every time I wanted to listen to records I just went there or practiced mixing there or whatever.
Kate: Better sound system I am sure too! (laughs)
Chris: Yes (laughs) better sound system definitely. Well not all that great at the time but good enough… and by the time I moved to Frankfurt and had other gigs and different gigs I didn’t really bother getting turntables and eventually I got one because I wanted to listen to records at home…but I have never really had a DJ set up at my home really.
Kate: What do you hope to accomplish with respect to your career in 2007?
Chris: Well I definitely want to do another season in Ibiza because I thought that was an amazing start for a new night, and it was very exhausting, a very hard summer for me, but still the nights made up for it…. I do get a lot of inspiration out of this for the studio. I would say one thing is to maybe get the Spinclub parties on the road and maybe also for myself, really digging deep into my studio and find hopefully new ways and sounds and tracks.
Kate: You have undoubtedly had a busy tour schedule worldwide for quite some time now, are there any countries that you haven’t played yet that you hope to visit?
Chris: Well China is one! I’ve never really been to China, so that is one which I might be going to next year, so that would be interesting. I have never really been to the continent of Africa so that would also be interesting if something there could be worked out.
Kate: You’ve stated before that with the emergence of new technology that DJ’ing is now much more accessible to people, and that consequently the competition is getting harder for the new generation especially. As a result of this increased competition, do you see marketing playing a much greater role these days in the overall success of an artist?
Chris: umm… yes actually I must say sadly that there is a lot of marketing going on in order to get out as new DJs, especially when you like at these DJ top 100 lists, this is a list you can really have big big discussions about because suddenly you see names on this list that you have never heard of in your whole life before and umm… you see these names maybe 50 or 60 places in front of people where you would expect, for example a guy like Richie Hawtin, or Dave Clarke I think who was not even in the top 50…. And then there are people in the top 5 where you must think they can only be there because they have done an amazing job marketing or getting word out to all their friends and families to do some internet voting. Suddenly you have all these DJs and you are not sure, are they actually doing a good job, are they making good music? And people are influenced by things like that and maybe they go out and not have a good night and lost interest in electronic music. That’s the biggest fear I have because people who you know who are really doing it for the love, they don’t really care with where they are placed in whatever lists because they love the music.
Kate: Before your career took off as a DJ you had done the preliminary testing to obtain your commercial pilot license, have you flown any type of aircraft since then?
Chris: never have actually!
Kate: Oh I thought maybe you had done some flying as part of the testing!
Chris: I actually did the testing well and managed to pass all the tests which I was really happy because I think at that time only maybe 0.3% of all the people who did the test actually managed to pass the test, so I was really happy to pass them…. but I don’t know if it was fate but I was supposed to start with Lufthansa, my pilot school, and the moment it was supposed to start, in that week, they basically closed down the pilot school due to financial problems they had at that time, and they didn’t really think they needed any more pilots in the next year… so they can sort of find a new way for their pilot school. So that was in 91 I think or 90 even, where they closed down the pilot school for, they just said a year, and they offered me that I could start in exactly one year like we are just going to close it down for one year while we think of the financial issues and structures but that in one year I could start, and within that year basically I decided that this is probably not the thing that I wanted to do and that I really should do what I more believe in which was music then.
Kate: Do you have anything on your Christmas wish list this year?
Chris: Umm… (laughs) we started actually, because most people I know, or the people who are close to me all have our birthdays in December, so we started to not give presents for Christmas but we give each other the presents for the birthday. I am just looking forward to this Christmas because it is going to be my first Christmas with my daughter; she is now 11 months old, so this is going to be a lot of fun. I mean she is probably still too young but I think future Christmas’ will be fun because Christmas is much fun with kids.
Kate: What is the last book you read?
Chris: The last book I read was Georges Simmoneau, do you know George Simmoneau?, he is a French author, he is already dead but he wrote a lot of books about a detective called McCrea and that’s a really nice read actually.
Kate: I am not sure what it is like in Germany yet but here in Canada we’ve just gotten our first big snow fall of the year, do you have any ski trips planned for this season?
Chris: Yes… (laughs) I am actually a heavy skier, I used to ski a lot when I was younger… even teaching skiing and financing my ski trips by going with groups to the Alps and stuff, and every year in January we are trying to go away for 3 or 4 weeks to Switzerland and this is planned for this January as well… but we need snow for this so maybe you can ship some over! (laughs)
Kate: (laughs) That’s the end of my questions for the interview, thank you for taking some time to speak with me…. I also just wanted to mention that you’ve been an influence for me behind the decks for many years now, and I hope to see you again soon!
Chris: ah thank you, it is always nice to hear that!
Special thanks to Betty at Pacha and Leslie at Mute for coordinating this interview!
