Let’s talk about the America tour. Have you played in the States often? “It will be my second time. It’s supposed to be my third, but the gigs before this I had to cancel because I did my back in. But I’ll be back in for Miami, I would imagine, then probably Detroit — whether I get it or not I don’t know, but, hopefully, fingers crossed, I might get it.”
Do you play any different when you come to the States? “The main reason I would say I have a following in America is because of my Dirtybird angle, I do generally tend to give it a little bit more… I play a little bit heavier in America. I don’t think in America they’re so much into the garage-y house kind of stuff that’s big in the UK at the moment. I don’t think that’s quite crossed over as much as it has here. That’s starting to now get really popular, I’m talking almost mainstream popular — guys like Disclosure, things like that ‘Benediction’ record, Jamie Jones and Hot Natured and those guys, they just hit the (UK) charts with that. But these are exceptional records and exceptional circumstances. So I tend to stay a little heavier, but I didn’t have a bad gig when I was in America last time. I was a lot less
known than I am now, and every gig was pretty much sold out, and just a really, really great atmosphere. I was really impressed, the way I was treated there.”
So you tend to lean more towards the Dirtybird sound when you come here? “I’m going to be completely honest — I couldn’t tell you what I’m going to play until I’m standing on the stage with my USB stick. Obviously I know certain tracks I’m going to play, because they’re brand new or big ones of mine or new edits I’ve made of old tunes of mine, or whatever, but generally I don’t know what I’m going to play.”
So how did the US tour come about? “It kind of came about because Pete Tong [DJ and host of his own long-running dance show on BBC’s Radio 1] really wanted me to come along to do some of the bigger places, like Exchange in LA and XS in Las Vegas or Beta in Denver. Those kinds of places I might not quite be a big enough act to sell out. But if I come with Pete, I would imagine it would pretty much be sold out.”
I’ve read a bit about your upcoming album. Is there any progress on that? Have you started that at all?
“Yeah, I’ve started it. Well, I say I’ve started it, but really I’ve just been putting ideas down and I’ve got a few vocals done. It’s not going to be, well I hope it won’t be, but it’s not going to be… well, back when I did my Essential Mix, my Essential Mix was live, and I was playing on the same night as Calvin Harris. I had to play a club set. So I’m kind of known as the guy who comes and plays all the bangers, and while I love that, there’s a lot of stuff that I love that I don’t get to play, so the whole point of the album to me — and this is not detriment to anyone, I love being that guy, going places and everyone going crazy, I absolutely love it and don’t want to stop doing it — but with the album, I can reach out to a few different people. “It’s not going to be underground or moody, and it’s not going to be a full club banger album, it’s going to be a full mish-mash. It may completely fail, I may completely fall on my ass, but I’m just going to make music that I really, really like. I like a lot of different kinds of music, so I’m working with a lot of vocalists I love, and I’m trying to write music that I wouldn’t play in a club and just see what happens. I’m just going to make as much music as I can, then sit there with friends or anyone that will listen and say, ‘What do you think of all these records? Which ones are shit, which ones are great?’ and just see where it goes. I’m a very quick worker. I can make 30 quality tracks in quite a short space of time, I think, and then it would just be a case of taking 12 out of that 30 and really polishing them and making them shine. “It may turn out differently. Until I start, I’ve got no idea. I mean, I’ve made a few things. I’ve made a couple of really great tracks, but I’ve got no idea which direction it’s going to go in until I really sit down and work on it.”
What kind of tracks have you made so far? “I’ve nearly finished one with a vocalist called Jamie George who was on a track called ‘Love 2 Nite’, which is proper underground, he did with an
“I’m just going to make as much music as I can, then sit there with friends or anyone that will listen and say, ‘What do you think of all these records? Which ones are shit, which ones are great?’”
www.djmag.com 017
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