Interview #5: Ian Bazehead

Por: Michael Maurer
Hoy tenemos en entrevista al DJ local, Ian Bazehead.

Interview #2: DJ Trixx @ Electric Daisy Carnival Orlando

1) Cuéntanos de tu experiencia
acerca de tu presentación en el Electric Daisy Carnival de Orlando este pasado
Viernes.
Bueno, para ser sincero, pues no puedo decir que fue mejor que mi
experiencia en EDC PR 09 o 10, ya que en 2009 le cerré a Diselboy y en el 2010
le abrí a Nero. Esta vez me pusieron a abrir una tarima de 2 a 3:30 mientras la
gente empezaba a llegar y veian los grounds del evento. Desde que lleguú la
organización fue excelente y no tuve ningun tipo de problema... desde poder
entrar con mis invitados hasta llevarme con mis cosas al camerino y cuando era
hora de ir a tocar me llevaron en carrito de golf, un trato excelente so no
quiero saber como trataban a los dj's reconocidos y de renombre. Una vez en el
escenario pues los stage managers se presentaron y me empezaron a hacer
preguntas sobre como iba a tocar y que necesitaba. En este momento me sentí muy
bien ya que les dije que tenía todo y no necesitaba nada asi que me
respondieron con un wow eres uno de los pocos djs que viene preparado con sus
cosas, muy profesional de tu parte. Cuando terminé de tocar habían unas 30
personas de público ya que era muy temprano, pero tan pronto terminé de tocar
solo recibí alagos y cosas buenas. Conocí a mucha gente y fue una experiencia
bonita y sé que se va a seguir repitiendose ya que los organizadores del evento
salieron muy complacidos con mi labor en el EDC Orlando 2011.

2) Este guiso, ¿De qué forma compara con los demás en los cuales has tocado?

Como dije, era algo bonito ya que es
en un país nuevo, pero nada se compara a los de Puerto Rico, por lo menos para
mi. Es algo dificil estar acostumbrado a estar tocando en unos spots,
especialmente para mi, que el 90% de los eventos que toco es cerrando la noche.
Nunca había abierto una área así, así que fue algo raro para mi pero la gente
que me vió se disfruto el set y la pasaron bien.

3) Y el público, ¿como estuvo?

Siempre habia su gente..
desafortunadamente no fue un público bueno pues lo mas que tuve en un momento
eran alrededor de 30 personas. Pero siempre habia gente entrando y saliendo del
área y disfrutandose la música y vi a mucha gente brincando, bailando y
disfrutando. Al final recibí mucho feedback bueno y gracias a eso tengo unos
bookings pendientes en los proximos meses a través de Florida.

4) Algunos tracks que tocaste:

Como siempre trato de tocar de todo
un poco desde nuevo hasta Viejo. Toque cositas como Basher - Xerox, LoHi Stereo- White Noise, The Kox - Its Ok, Loadstar - BLVD, Subzero - The Weakness, LoHiStereo - Bioshock, London Elektricity - Meteorites (Danny Bird Remix), Rusko -Everyday (Netsky Remix) entre muchos otros. Toque algo como 35 o más canciones
en 1 hora y media… muchos teases double drops y hasta un chin de scratching :P

Claude Von Stroke

Interview by Nick Stevenson. Originally published in Mixmag in November 2009.


What did you want to be when you grew up?
I have this documented in a picture book I made when I was a kid. I wanted to own either a toy factory or a cookie factory. We took pictures of me with a top hat and a cane and a bunch of cookies and toys. When I retired I wanted to be a hillbilly with ?a huge beard and a farm.


What’s the worst club you’ve ever been to?
I’m from Cleveland and Detroit so I know what it’s like when people bad-mouth your city, but I’ve had some bad luck in Birmingham [UK] – three times in three different clubs. I’m finally ready to go back and see if I can make it right there. It’s got to be a coincidence.

What’s been your worst job?

I had just graduated from University and moved to LA to try and break into the film biz. My first job was selling fake perfume out of the trunk of my car.

What are you obsessed with?
Finishing everything I start.

And what do you hate right now?
Kanye West and Jamie Fox’s auto-tune tracks. Fake-ass fools!

When and where were you happiest?
When we were positive our second kid was a boy and she came out a ?girl. I must admit I cried. We got one of each. Amazing!

What’s the best record ever made?
My favourite dance track is Cajmere ‘The Percolator’, but I don’t believe there is a ‘best record ever made’.

What’s the coolest thing in your house?
I have a robot that prints commercial full colour CDs. Everyone loves watching the robot arm go to work picking up CDs and putting them in bins when they are done.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever had?
To summarise Derrick Carter: “I worked the door, I worked security, I worked the bar, I did my own parties, I showed up every night just in case someone else didn’t. You gotta work hard, and then when you ‘make it’, you work even harder.”

Who’s your all-time hero and why?
Rick Rubin. He started Def Jam out of his college dorm room producing Run DMC, LL Cool J, Public Enemy and The Beastie Boys. His parents told him he was crazy until he sent them a copy of his first label royalty check for $600,000. Later on, he jumped genres and produced Chili Peppers, Slayer and even went as far out as the Dixie Chicks. And he has a huge beard.

What do you collect – apart from records?
Nothing, and if I don’t use something for six months it’s going on eBay or to goodwill.

Who was your first love and what happened?
I bit her in the sandbox and she cried.

What were you doing at 2pm last Sunday afternoon?
Having a BBQ at my house with all the Dirtybird crew and my family.

What’s your answer to everything?
Work harder.

On a scale of one to 10, how good are you in the sack?
On the main event I’m no porn star but my fingers are quite nimble and I’m not afraid to use my tongue. Let’s say eight.

What’s your most prized possession that you’ve still got from when you were a kid?
Like I said, I don’t really keep anything around. But I have a few oil paintings by my grandfather in my house. He was a real artist.

Have you ever had a homosexual experience?
Besides admitting Brad Pitt is hot, no.

What was your last treat for yourself?
Some new T-shirts from Upper Playground.

What do you spend your money on?
My kids.

What’s your drug of choice?
Ganja, but I barely smoke it any more.

What can’t you live without?
I couldn’t make a living without the internet.

Do you have a recurring dream?
Nope, but I certainly have a lot of crazy non-recurring dreams.

What would you change about yourself if you could?
I’d get a bit more healthy.

What’s the worst item of clothing you’ve ever worn?
A tan and white pirate vest type thing with matching pants a girlfriend bought me in the 90s. I wore it to work and halfway through the day I saw myself in the mirror and couldn’t believe what a boy band-looking twat I was.

If you had a Tardis, what time would you go back to?
1984, to produce hip hop beats.

What’s your lamest claim to fame?
My remix of ‘Put Your Hands Up For Detroit’.

Entrevista a Sasha

Sasha can be reclusive, shy even, but speaking from his New York studio he’s in a chatty, anecdotal mood. He has much to celebrate. Splitting his time between homes in London and the Big Apple, he’s about to become a father, but is currently busy working on his ‘Involver 2’ album for Global Underground.

Undoubtedly one of the most famous DJs in the world, Sasha was born in Wales, discovered acid house at Manchester’s notorious Haçienda, honed his trade at illegal raves, made his name at Shelleys in Stoke-on-Trent and entered the DJ premier league when he regularly headlined at Renaissance. His highly successful on-off partnership with John Digweed has seen numerous incarnations, tours, events, and mix CDs. But Sasha was never happy with his ‘superstar DJ’ status and was particularly miffed when Mixmag put him on the cover with the tagline ‘SON OF GOD?’ in 1994. He’s always been much happier embracing technology in the studio and his recording output is prodigious, from his Top 20 hits in the 90s to his most recent releases with Duncan Forbes and Charlie May of Spooky, on his own new label, Emfire.

Interview by Thomas H Green. Originally published in Mixmag in December 2007.

What’s this story we hear about you, Dave Clarke and the boot of a car?
We were both playing Creamfields in Poland. They talked us into flying into Berlin then driving. It all sounded great and we were doing 110 mph in a brand new BMW on the German roads. But as soon as you get into Poland it’s all potholes. At the end of the night the BMW Series 7 had magically shrunk to a Mercedes Series 1, the size of a Ford Ka. I walked up and Dave had not only bagged the front seat but reclined it all the way back and was pretending to be asleep. I had to squeeze in the back with his assistant. About half an hour down the road I was so uncomfortable I thought I’d be better off spreading my clothes in the boot and curling up so that’s what I did. I passed out and woke up an hour later and we were in a layby, everyone fast asleep. I woke everyone up shouting, ‘Oi, you fucking twats, we’re going to miss our flight!’

You pioneered laptop DJ sets in the UK. What’s the next step?
I’ve just built a second version of my Maven Controller which I’ve been testing and should be ready next year.

On 15th December you’re playing Ministry for the first time in over a decade for Renaissance. When was the last time you were there?
It was Northern Exposure which we used to do on Mondays. It was full of people dying to get sacked from their day jobs. We elected my good friend Sparrow as tour manager. He traded his car in for an American people-mover that could sleep six. After the Ministry thing we talked him into piling thirteen or fourteen people in the back. He hit a bollard on Hammersmith Bridge, ripped off the front axel and wedged his van in the inbound lane of a main artery at 5am on a Tuesday morning. By the time the police arrived the tailback was a mile long.

How many tunes do you get sent a week?
150-200, with 30 to 40 good ones.

What pop stars were you into at school?
I was a bit of a rocker. I fancied Deborah Harry, loved The Police but my first record was a Rainbow tune when I was eight, ‘All Night Long’.

Your new single ‘Coma’ is faintly reminiscent of Vangelis and Jean-Michel Jarre. Are you a fan of those early electronic innovators?
Yeah, absolutely. Probably my first experience of electronic music was listening to [Jean-Michel Jarre’s] ‘Oxygene’. I’m glad to see they’re re-releasing Blade Runner [which has a Vangelis soundtrack]. I’ve always been drawn to those cinematic synth sounds.

What are your abiding memories of the spectacular 31-city Delta Heavy US tour with John Digweed in 2002?
It was so much fun I want to do it again. The hangover and fallout was maybe not so fun. It was arranged in such a way that nobody walked away with any cash. It was amazing to go out on the road with that level of production to places like Albany and Albuquerque. The only gruelling part was that halfway through the tour they gave us a five-day break in Vegas and we all went mental. The next few days were really hard as we were battered and bruised from five nights of debauchery.

In Central and Eastern Africa ‘Sasha’ is the name for the part of the afterlife when your surviving relatives are still alive. How do you think your ancestors would view the way you live?
No way! That’s really interesting – thank you. I think mine would be tutting and frowning and wondering what’s wrong with the planet. I’ve had a lot of shows I’m very proud of, like when I played to 23,000 people in Buenos Aires. If I could choose when they looked down on me I’d probably choose those rather than the naughty after-hours.

Are you tempted to write an autobiography like Paul Oakenfold?
Not really, no. That’s something you do when your career is over and you want to look back and pat yourself on the back. I find it quite distasteful, these 23-year-old football stars and B-list celebrities who write their autobiographies and then put out parts two and part three before they’re 25. Maybe when I hit my 60th birthday, if I’m still around and relevant…

Do you think dance music and club culture has ever been successfully captured in a movie?
No. I think they got close to it with ‘24 Hour Party People’, with the whole Haçienda thing. I thought they captured something there but 99 times out of 100, when you see a club shot it looks really silly. ‘Human Traffic’ was great, too, but that was relevant to me. It wouldn’t be relevant if your halcyon days were spent in a field watching Tiësto banging it out.

Is contemporary New York clubland the wreckage everyone says?
It’s pretty bleak, but New York’s always gone through crazy peaks then it destroys itself. What happens is a big club opens, everyone goes mental, someone ODs, and as soon as a club is mentioned in the New York Post it’s pretty much its death knell. Crobar’s gone, Spirit’s gone, Avalon’s closed, the only regular big club is Pacha but it doesn’t have any competition. There’s a lot of smaller clubs that are great – Cielo, Love and others – but a lot are functioning by charging $500 for a bottle of vodka and a table then playing shite r’n’b. It’s certainly not the days of Twilo, or 3000-capacity clubs with queues around the block.

What’s the funniest rumour you’ve heard about yourself?
I’ve been dead in various hospitals a few times these last 15 years. Thankfully, that hasn’t been true.

Entrevista a Eric Prydz

When a young Swedish producer called Eric Prydz burst onto the scene back in 2004 with his chart-topping ‘Call On Me’ cover of Steve Winwood’s ‘Valerie’ (Winwood liked it so much he personally re-recorded the vocals) Mixmag immediately snapped him up for a covermount CD.

He’s since sustained his career with his many guises (Pryda, Cirez D) and become a globe-trotting superstar DJ rocking clubs all over with his big-room house (which helped carve the electro house sound of today). Maybe it’s because, like us, he’s also got an arena at Creamfields or maybe it’s because he’s headlining multiple nights on the Mixmag Terrace at Cream Ibiza that, after a couple of years of chasing him, he’s finally checked in with us again.

Interview by Craig Torrance. Originally published in Mixmag in September 2010.

We’ve been chasing an interview with you for a couple of years now but you’ve only just relented. So what’s changed?
I’ve always been a bit press-shy. It’s not that I have anything against the press. I just like to let the music do the talking. Sometimes you need to use the press as you can tell people how things are. It’s a great way of reaching out to your fans.

You’ve got a Pryda arena at Creamfields this year. How does it differ from programming a club?
It’s the first time I’m doing an arena and I’ve tried to get a good mix of different DJs. You don’t want six playing the same sound, that’s boring. I wanted to hand pick DJs that I like who have their own style, like Joris Voorn or Sebastien Leger. Keep it interesting and fresh. Funk D’Void is also doing some amazing stuff, we’re glad to have him.

Will you play early and build it up?
I will play in the evening. I just want to give everyone enough space so they can do their own thing.

Do you play differently at festivals?
Yes! Festivals have all sorts of people with different tastes and so I will definitely play a more big room set. Some tracks work well in a club, but not an arena. You can’t build it up, you need to entertain straight away.

You’re currently in Ibiza preparing to play the Mixmag Terrace at Cream. What do you love about Ibiza crowds?
It’s a mixture of English, New York, Spanish and even Swedish crowds because everyone comes to Ibiza in the summer from all over the world. They’ve been planning to come for months and they just explode.

Any plans for a big live show, like Daft Punk or Deadmau5?
There should be something coming towards the end of the year so keep an eye out. I haven’t got plans to do a live show, I prefer to DJ. There’s more flexibility. Expect something spectacular.

Any plans to work with the Swedish House Mafia?
We’re all close friends. I just got off the phone with Sebastian [Ingrosso] before I spoke to you. I’m probably closest to him. No plans to work with them though as musically we’re in different places right now.

Do you have any rivals in the business? Or people who you’re really into?
I don’t really see it like that. I do my own thing and create my own path. I have my own sound. It’s not a competition. I make music because I love it and I’m not trying to compete with anyone. The people I mentioned before like Joris and Sebastien, that’s why it’s great to have them for Creamfields.

You’ve made some of the big summer tunes over the past few years. Do you have a formula?
I have absolutely no idea. I make music all the time. Sometimes a track I make is loved by ten people, sometimes by ten million. It’s hard to tell, there’s no formula. You can hear if someone has tried to make a hit record and it’s not for real. I just start out playing with beats and drums and then other sound and then the melody forms. It just happens.

What’s currently big in your sets?
The recent Pryda went to number one on Beatport. It’s called ‘The End’ and there’s a big buzz about that. That’s an underground record but it’s exciting. I have some stuff in the pipeline that has potential.

Is there a certain element of euphoria in your big tracks?
Definitely. I like to make music that touches you more than just a kick drum will do. I love to play around with melodies and create some hands-in-the-air moments.

Your 2005 track ‘Aftermath’ is one of the original tracks that pioneered the current electro house sound. Would you agree?
Yeah? Thanks man. I haven’t played it in years, maybe I’ll dig it out and play it tonight.

Which of your musical personas do you prefer?
All of them are my favourites. I like to play and produce a wide variety of styles so recording as Cirez D or Pryda means I can step into someone else’s shoes and do something different. I can make something and then the next day make a banging techno record.

Are you still based in Sweden?
No, I’ve been living in London the last few years, in Clapham, but I’ve recently moved to Chiswick, which is west. It’s a bit quieter and also I wanted to buy. I found this old factory that’s been redone and I fell in love with it and bought it. It’s good because it’s central.

Is your fear of flying still an issue?
Yeah, it’s the main reason I moved to the UK. It’s easier for me to travel to gigs. I fly sometimes when I go to the USA. I flew a few weeks ago back to Stockholm. I had a show to play for 100,000 people for Princess Victoria of Sweden. I couldn’t say no to that so had to fly.

Do you have any methods? Have you tried anything like hypnosis?
I eat shitloads of pills – tranquilisers – to help knock me out and then hopefully I’ll wake up and I’m there. I’ve seen doctors but nothing else has really worked for me.

Has anyone ever tried to spike your milk like BA from the A-team?
Ha ha, no, it’s been suggested but I’m strongly against it.

When was the last time you played or picked up a vinyl record?
I stopped playing vinyl five years ago. When I started it was 100 per cent vinyl, but then I started using CDs with new material I wanted to try out. We still do vinyl for all my labels, but it’s just so hard travelling around with the vinyl. I use only CDs, with lots of different music.

Have you considered using software like Traktor?
All I hear are horror stories about computers crashing at gigs. Then people say ‘bring spare CDs’ but the whole point is that you don’t take CDs. So not right now, but maybe in the future.

You’ve used samples in the past. Is there any record you would never sample?
Anything by Depeche Mode. I’ve made my own edits but I would never sample them and make an original track, that will never happen. I’ve been following them since I was a kid, since their ‘Speak And Spell’ album. They played a huge part in the music I make and are a huge inspiration for me.

What do you get up to in your spare time?
I don’t have that much free time but when I do I try to go home to Sweden and see my friends and family. And do normal stuff like go to the movies and have people round for dinner. I cook, my special is Penne Prydz.

Entrevista con Steve Lawler

Interview by Craig Torrance. Originally published in Mixmag in July 2010.

What did you want to be when you grew up?
I just wanted to be taller, I guess, which didn’t happen.

What’s the worst club you’ve ever been to?
I played a club inn Tenerife which was abysmal. It was like an 18–30s place with people doing bucket shots at the bar and wet T-shirt competitions.

What’s been your worst job?
When I was 14 I worked in a butchers. I lasted three days.

How do you describe what you do to someone who doesn’t know you?
I tell people I run a record label. I don’t like saying I’m a DJ as it opens up a world of requests.

Have you ever been arrested?
When I was a kid, for climbing on roofs. We were accused of breaking into a jewellers, which we didn’t.

What’s the best record ever made?
‘The End’ by The Doors. When I listen to it I get lost, and for me that’s what music is all about: being locked into it.

What’s the coolest thing in your house?
My poker table. I play a lot with my mates on a weeknight.

Who’s your all-time hero and why?
Jim Morrison. I’m a big, big fan of The Doors, mainly because of his no-fear attitude; he didn’t give a shit.

What do you collect?
Wine. I wouldn’t call myself a connoisseur but I know what I like, and I know a little bit about it. The most expensive bottle I’ve ever drunk was 800 Euros.

What’s your vice?
A combination of vodka and being afraid to go to bed.

What were you doing at 2pm last Sunday afternoon?
I played at Shine in Belfast, so I was on the flight back on Sunday afternoon.

What’s your answer to everything?
No!

On a scale of one to 10, how good are you in the sack?
I’d give myself a zero because there’s no way I’m going to say I’m a ten and ?a total stallion.

What’s your most prized possession that you’ve still got from when you were a kid?
The only thing I still have is my records; that’s all I really had when I was younger.

Have you ever had a homosexual experience?
I haven’t, no; why? You offering?

What was your last treat for yourself?
It was my new studio. I changed my wine cellar in the house and fitted in a soundproof studio, the whole works.

What do you spend your money on?
Properties. I save up my money, get enough for a deposit and lump it down on a property somewhere. I’m 36 so I’ve got about 10 years left touring; I’ll pass the label onto my brothers and this is like my pension.

What’s your drug of choice?
I’ll be honest: MDMA.

What can’t you live without?
I can’t live without my heart.

Do you have a recurring dream?
I have the same one where I’m sitting at the edge of a warehouse dancefloor in 1989 and I’m watching people dance.

What would you change about yourself if you could?
I wouldn’t change a thing, really. My height only bothers me if I stand next to Andy from Groove Armada.

What’s the worst item of clothing you’ve ever worn?
I use to wear dungarees and a hooded top that was all psychedelic and fucked up colours, and loafer Kickers.

If you had a Tardis, what time would you go back to?
The Sixties, I reckon. It was a time when everything was new and exciting. People smoking and drinking – people were free and didn’t have the government clamping down.

What’s your lamest claim to fame?
Do you remember the TV programme Emu’s World? I danced on that when I was a kid, wearing blue or green tights.

Check out Steve Lawler's Music on SoundCloud

http://soundcloud.com/steve-lawler

Entrevista con DIPLO

Interview by Nick Stevenson. Originally published in Mixmag in February 2010.

What did you want to be when you grew up?
Something cool like an astronaut. I still got a chance. You gotta start somewhere.

What’s the worst club you’ve ever been to?
I’ve been to some baile funk parties in Rio that were full of gangsters, guns and children running around. It’s always cool, but there’s a lot of pressure you feel at these parties. It’s uneasy, but it’s always exciting.

What’s been your worst job?
Working at Subway making sandwiches. I had the graveyard shift when all the crack-heads would come in.

What are you obsessed with?
Sleep! [He was asleep when we rang]

And what do you hate right now?
Waking up!

How would you introduce yourself to someone who’d never heard of you?
‘Hi, my name is Wes. Hey, I have this record label – you should buy some ?of our records.’

When and where were you happiest?
On my 29th birthday two days ago. I was in New Orleans, I rode a horse, I saw Soldier Boy – it was fun, people pinned money on me with safety pins.

Have you been arrested? What for?
Four times, always for trespassing. It’s the lamest excuse they can give you for being arrested. If they wanna make an example of you, you get trespassing which is the weakest fucking thing. They just want to put you in jail for the night so you can pay bail in the morning. I got arrested once for parking tickets and when it went to court I was down for assault cause I pushed the officer in the jail – that’s what he said, anyway.

What’s the best record ever made?
I like ‘Astral Weeks’ by Van Morrison. It’s a record I got when I was starting to get into music. It just hit me. I like the all-round vibe of it, I guess.

What’s the coolest thing in your house?
I’ve found paperwork from hundreds of years ago. There’s an ad from 1840 in my building which says, ‘Come see the native American Indian guy, he’s selling magic potions!’ That’s pretty cool.

Who’s your all-time hero and why?
Obama. It’s just crazy that we elect the president that gives you a little faith in America. It was looking kind of bleak for us for a while.

What do you collect – apart from records?
Girls’ numbers.

What were you doing at 2pm last Sunday afternoon?
I was jumping a fence to see Soldier Boy perform at a football stadium at New Orleans. I didn’t have a

Who was your first love and what happened?
Her name was Elizabeth, I was six, my parents moved and we broke up. There was a girl in the new city though. I got through it.

On a scale of one to 10, how good are you in the sack?
20. [Thinks for a bit] …that was so lame. Just put zero.

What’s your most prized possession that you’ve still got from when you were a kid?
My skateboard. I was terrible.

Have you ever had a homosexual experience?
Wow – deep! I guess everybody has one at some point, even if it’s not physical. ?I dunno – that’s pretty hardcore.

What do you spend your money on?
I don’t, I put it in jelly jars in my back yard.

What was your last big treat?
I needed to go from New Orleans to Atlanta but I missed the tour bus, so I bought myself a flight after hitching a lift to the airport.

What’s your drug of choice?
Aspirin.

What can’t you live without?
Sunshine.

Do you have a recurring dream?
Yeah, that alligators are eating my family and I gotta run from them and fight them. Every night I dream about alligators one way or another.

What would you change about yourself if you could?
I’d erase my attention deficit disorder. My ADD is horrifyingly bad. When I’m in the studio I start 700 beats every day. To finish one takes me like a month.

What’s the worst item of clothing you’ve ever worn?
Skidz – they’re these things you wear when you’re growing up down south. They’re like plaid overalls.

If you had a Tardis, what time would you go back to?
I’d go back 2000 years and hang out with Jesus.

What’s your lamest claim to fame?
My success in DJing. It’s all a fluke!

Check out DIPLO's Music on SoundCloud

http://soundcloud.com/diplo