Live at Ushuaia
to break; this shouldn't be in Ibiza, and even Ushuaia you can transform to a nice intimate club atmosphere.” That’s something he knows a lot about, because as well as playing the biggest events and festivals around the world (he's set to play a headline b2b set with Carl Cox at London's SW4 on 24th August, "Playing b2b with Coxy on two mixers is always a great experience…a true battle of beats. It will be full of energy and lots of laughs," he says) Dice also sporadically embarks on his Under 300 tours, playing clubs with capacities, you guessed it, under 300 people, and installing the local hero as the resident DJ. Part of the reason for this stems from the valuable lesson Dice learnt as resident at DC10 when first emerging. “You go there, you play and have to build something up. You have to impress people with the rare tracks and weird selections, and that was my intention moving from hip-hop when I came to Ibiza. I thank God I had this education warming up for several DJs, so I could learn about different systems and be open-minded. That helped me in Ibiza and helped make me better. It helped me evolve as a DJ.”
Communication
because for me every gig is like the Champions League. I'm never an educator, I have a message but the message is not dominating, even when I was travelling with Richie [as part of the CNTRL: Beyond EDM tour that saw the pair play parties across the US and host seminars and Q&As to engage the EDM youth of the day]. My message comes in different ways… let's forget the political madness around the world, the financial crisis. Let's forget everything and have a great time. We are all together, I need you, the crowd, to have this party and I never forget that. Each bass drum, snare drum, hi-hat rattle or big eruption, there is someone reacting to it. I need that feedback and that's why I refuse to do a lot of radio, because I need people and communication.”
Those lessons undoubtedly explain how Dice has become one of the foremost DJs in the world. His driven, chunky cut grooves and careful teasing of percussive and vocal elements is what stands him apart. Always balancing tension with release, deepness with dopeness, DJing is a vital outlet for Dice that gives him “responsibility and perspective on life”.
“It balances me a lot because I go on stage and give 100%,” he says. “It's more tiring than my workout or playing football with my friends,
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The one concession Dice makes to doing things alone is official DJ mixes. Following on from one for NRK in 2009, long-running Defected series 'In the House' has come calling for his services. The result is a two-disc selection that has no real agenda other than to make you dance, calling on tracks from a typically wide array of sounds and scenes — from Robert Hood to Kerri Chandler, Marcel Dettmann to Kyle Hall. “It was a nice and natural process. I don't give a fuck about things like keys and I never did to be honest. Is the groove right? Is the feeling right? Does it go in the right direction? They are my questions. I just listen to the music and it may be by Your Mamma from Nagasaki, but I don't care. If it is the baddest groove, this will be the record I play or sign.”
Santana ‘Everything’ (1971) “I grew up with Carlos Santana. The drums will be
the element that follows me my whole life.”
Roger & Zapp ‘More Bounce to the Ounce’ (1980) “My uncles brought me to funk. There is so much energy, so much soul and hip-hop.”
Afrika Bambaataa & the Soul Sonic Force ‘Planet Rock’ (1982) “Electro meets hip-hop. How could I have known that it all started in elementary school?'
Danny Tenaglia ‘Elements’ (1997) “I knew that this would be the kind of music I would do. The drums, again.”
G Man ‘Quo Vadis’ (1995) “I discovered this one very late, but it's never too
late for such a tune, and the time is always right to discover it. Sometime in 2003 I needed new inspirations for my drums, and ‘Quo Vadis’ sent me the right way.”
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