24HOUSE//ELECTRO//TECHNO

THE GUESTLIST NETWORK | APRIL 2010

Joe Le Groove´s

I truly have absolutely no idea, I could be

headlining Sonar or working as a waitress in a cocktail bar… But I look forward to finding out !

How long have you been djing and what was your inspiration at the time?

I’ve been djing for around 10 years now and my inspiration at the time was the same as it is now – just go- ing out clubbing and hearing good dj’s play. I never really planned to be a dj but as I started going out more and more I wanted to buy my favourite records that I was hearing week in, week out. More as a souvenir to remind me of a good night than anything else. But, as I amassed a reasonable collection of pretty cool records, my friend was having a party and didn’t have a dj, so I stepped in….

I remember you saying to me when I met you a few years back that you like myself used to be hooked on Hip Hop, I started as a Hip Hop DJ. Did you also?

Hip Hop was the first music I really got into when I was younger, staying up late to tape Westwood’s show on Capital FM and buying records by the likes of Organized Konfusion, A Tribe Called Quest, Gangstarr, Geto Boyz etc etc but I was never a hip hop dj. As I actually started going out to clubs I was bitten by the house bug and that was the first music that I re- ally got into seriously buying on vinyl.

Name one annoying thing that comes with being a DJ?

Well, there aren’t really that many an- noying things that come with being a dj, to be honest. Like any “job” there are certain aspects that aren’t as much fun as others but I think that’s true of most vocations. The only thing I would really say that can be annoy- ing is that sometimes people feel they have the right to come up to you and demand, in a pretty rude and arro- gant manner, that you play certain re- cords or a certain style of music. Not ask, but demand. This can be pretty annoying, especially when you have a packed club of people having fun and this one individual wants you to completely change the music just to suit them…

You currently live in Germany why did you decide to move?

Heartbreak. But, at the same I had

SOSHO: an end to so many begginings

On the 11th of last month popular east end nightclub Sosho suffered form one of the worst fires to hit London recently. Twenty fire engines and 100 fire- fighters were called out to fight the blaze, which spread across a

number of buildings on Tabernacle Street. The fire caused millions of pounds of dam- age, including the destruction of at least £50,000 pounds worth of artwork. Due to the extensive dam-

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always harbored a dream to live in a foreign country for a decent amount of time and I had some good friends already living here in Berlin, so I decided to give it a shot. Berlin is a truly beautiful city in so many differ- ent ways and I’m really happy here at the moment, so I think it was a good move for me.

I personally think there is good music coming from every around the globe but Germany at the moment for many is so called “ where its at”. What do you think about this?

I’d agree with you – there is great music coming from Switzerland, Ro- mania, Italy and the UK, to give just a few examples. But I think a lot of the reason Germany, and Berlin, in par- ticular, get so much attention is be- cause of the clubscene here. I don’t think there is another city in the world that can rival Berlin for good, cred- ible house ,techno and disco nights in interesting locations. And I think this amazing clubscene maybe gives people the perception there are, for some reason, more amazing produc- ers here, than there are in other parts of the world…

Don’t you think it’s about time the UK had its period like Ger- many has as we have some awe- some talent over here?

Maybe. But the only way this will hap- pen is if the talent in the UK makes good enough records – simple as that. No intelligent person buys re- cords because they are made by Ger- mans, people buy records because they consider them to be good.

You foremost started as a DJ and doing A&R, how long have you been actually producing and what set up do you use?

I’ve been producing for around 4 years or so I guess and still com- pletely consider myself a novice that is learning as he goes. I simply use a Macbook Pro and Ableton Live ( I think I’m on 7 at the moment). I have a couple of plug ins but mainly use whats in Ableton already. My motto is KISS ! (keep it simple, stupid!)

What Dj/Producers in other genres do you rate?

In other genres I’d have to say people like Diamond D, Pharell Williams, DJ Premier, Pete Rock, Quiet Village, The Revenge, Tom Moulton, Swizz Beats, Quincy Jones, Stuart Price, Nile Rog- ers the list goes on and on…

I would like to work with Prince or James Brown (RIP) if it was possible. Are there any pop stars past or present that you would like to work with?

I’m good friends with Jake from Scis- sor Sisters so maybe we might work on something one day but apart from him, again, the list is endless but would definitely include Mini Viva, Rhianna, Cheryl Cole, Nikka Costa, Jay Z, Pet Shop Boys, Donna Sum- mer, Sylvester, Prince, Fine Young Cannibals, Blow Monkeys, Keri Hil- son, Daryl Pandy, The Beach Boys, The Cure etc etc etc

What advice could you give to bedroom djs and producers who have just started?

For dj’s - buy your favourite records and play them, create your own style and search out tracks you love that everyone else ISN’T playing. For producers – maybe start off by doing some edits of tracks you really like to get some experience and progress into making your own tracks. The most important thing is to make something you are proud of and, if you dj also, something you are happy to play in your set. As long as you do that, even if no one else likes it or wants to play it/sign it – you have a secret weapon that you have, exclusively, to play.

If you were stuck in and eleva- tor for 7 hours who would it be with?

I’d have to go for the dream team of Penelope Cruz, Paz Vega, Monica Belucci and Cheryl Cole.

Name one killer tune, which is not out yet?

The new Justin Drake single is phe- nomenal – definitely my biggest track of the last few months and had 4 peo- ple running to the booth to ask what it was when I played it at Panorama Bar last weekend.

age the nightclub, often open 7 days a week, will have to shut down for the foreseeable fu- ture. A great loss not only to its owners but to London’s 24 hr licensed night life. Stuart Langley, former General Manager (2003-2007) said ‘It took a while to let people know that we had a 24 hour licenced 450 capacity venue hidden round the corner from Old

Street. Kev Beadle’s weekly Mind Fluid quietly became London’s second longest running club night (second to Gilles Peterson over at Bar Rumba). Dirty filled the place before 7pm every Bank Holiday Thursday with club lovers from the City. Joya saw us giving Mojitos away to 600 people on a Wednes- day night. Lasermagnetic gave us Metro Area. Sunday Rocks caught the atten-

tion and the moment when London embraced minimal house and stay- ing out till Monday morning. When Sunday Rocks fell apart, Retox was there to fill the gap. For lots of peo- ple, Sosho started here. I had a really good time while it lasted. The people are the thing I’ll miss. I’ve never had such lovely staff. I’ve never met so many lovely people.

I don’t miss it, but I’m glad I was there.’ Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40