GQ INTERVIEWS DIPLO...

The noisemaking producer-DJ-remixer Diplo talks about his insane touring schedule, the night he was arrested and blew off a Beyoncé recording session, and why the critics have got him all wrong.

"People don't know exactly what I do, they just know I'm 'cool.'" That's Diplo, a.k.a. Wes Pentz, the producer-DJ-remixer, on his peculiar version of fame. Primarily, he's creating music. Though being cool is probably just as important. And this year—after nearly a decade of mining (some have said exploiting) far-off dance music like Brazil's baile funk, London's dubstep, and New Orleans's bounce—he's finally having a pop moment. The laconic 32-year-old Floridian is experiencing a rare level of exposure for someone who doesn't sing, rap, or dance, thanks to brain-bending bangers for Chris Brown, a reunited No Doubt, and Beyoncé, not to mention the torso-throttling success of Major Lazer, his cyborg dancehall group. "My whole crew has been the catalyst of a lot of things, but we don't capitalize on that stuff," Diplo says. "We're happy to be on the underground, making influential records." Whether that's modesty or a persecution complex at work, he is capitalizing. Though he's a self-saboteur, too. Like this spring, when he missed a session with Beyoncé thanks to a bar fight that landed him in jail. "I had to go to anger-management courses in Compton with teenage gangsters that beat their cousins," he says. "That was pretty grounding." Still, that persecution thing doesn't appear to be going away anytime soon. "I never planned to be the face of the ghetto," he says. "I'm a fucking white dude from Florida. But as long as people pay attention, like, Fuck this guy, at least they know who I am now." While he was traveling to the Kanrocksas Music Festival (seriously) to perform on the same bill as Eminem, we talked with Diplo about his insane touring schedule, the night he was arrested and blew off a Beyoncé recording session, and why the critics have got him all wrong.


GQ: How many days a year are you booked for shows?
Diplo: Probably like 300. Maybe more.

GQ: Do you feel like you're going to burn out?
Diplo: Nah. This week, I'm having a hard time. I'm having a hard time fuckin' coughin' a lot. I've had like one good night of sleep. I've been fighting a cold for like a month. But, uh, I'll get over it soon. I have a day off tomorrow.

GQ: When someone asks you what you do, what do you tell them?
Diplo: I'd say I'm just a creative person, I like to make stuff. Music, art, film, but the best way to reach people no matter what is doing shows, where there are a thousand kids in a different city every night. I'm a distributor of different things, whether it's the stuff we do on our label or stuff I produce. I'm a cultural distributor, I guess.

GQ: How do you find the time to make music?
Diplo: Today I was trying to sleep, it was a tiny jet that took us from San Francisco to Kansas, but I usually work on the planes. I get rough ideas. With a good Bloody Mary I can watch whatever Miley Cyrus movie is on the plane, work a little, and get inspired that way. I'm home a lot. I spend most time rushing out ideas, like when you put an idea together, it's the tip of the iceberg, the rest of the iceberg is mixing it and delivering it, you know? There are so many iceberg tips, for every ten thousand tips, I have a hundred icebergs. Big, giant icebergs, you know? You gotta weed out what works, what goes which way, and just kinda wrap it up.

GQ: Will you pass them onto somebody?
Diplo: Recently, I've been doing more and more of that, with this guy Derek who programs my computer for me, fixing stuff for me, being there for like five years, he's my right-hand man and I work with him in the studio doing chord progressions. I do a lot of collaborations and productions, whether it's Switch or Steve Aoki or No ID or Will Smith or No Doubt—I always like to collaborate and be a quality control person for the people 'cause I have my own taste in music and bring that to other peoples' brands and help them learn a little bit. I do that a lot these days.

GQ: Is it hard to not be too selfish in that situation? And has it been hard to manage some of those bigger personalities?
Diplo: I don't say no to anybody, really, I'm pretty eclectic. If you're gonna look for me, you gotta know what you're getting into. I'm not a commercial machine, I do a certain type of thing. I usually want to collaborate. No Doubt, I just got lucky, I wanted to do something for them, I'm not telling them what to do, their record speaks for itself, we're just trying to make it the best record. Sometimes, like with Beyoncé, I'm not there to give her a lot of direction or coaching, like, This is what's hot right now or whatever. Sometimes I'm star struck. Working with someone like Sia, a songwriter like her, I let her do whatever she wants. She's weird enough. She has her own thing, and I try to take that and make it something I can use after we write a song. You gotta feel it out, man, you gotta feel how much you can push and pull, you know?

GQ: Are you surprised when folks like Beyoncé or No Doubt reach out to you?
Diplo: I was surprised with No Doubt, and Gwen Stefani knew a lot about my personal life because she had M.I.A. on tour with them four, five years ago, and they used to talk about their relationships and stuff. That was definitely pretty weird, that someone like her, knew anything about me. Most of the time people don't know who I am or what I do or what Major Lazer is. It's just a bunch of names or idioms for a lot of people because they're so caught up in their own things. There are so many names and everything nowadays with culture and the Internet, it's hard to figure out who's responsible or the history of things. People don't know exactly what I do, they just know I'm "cool." I did stuff with Shakira and she just learned about the XX and the Pixies for the first time in her career—it's weird to me that people don't know those kind of records. Even with Beyoncé, she's an artist, but she doesn't know a lot of stuff, she knows R&B and pop, but they don't stray from it. They're at the top of the tier within their genre so they don't need to know a lot of stuff. They have cool friends. Major Lazer was just everywhere last year, but not on the radio. Every club played our records. We were the fuckin' retarded stepson, never got on the radio, me and Switch and my whole crew have been the catalyst of a lot of things, but we don't get part of it. We're always inspirational but we don't capitalize on that stuff. We're happy to be on the underground and make influential records. We're breaking through now with some of our influential stuff and writing records that reach more people. We've always been the black sheep, making things that inspire people, to write more records and be out in the open.

GQ: Was the Beyoncé opportunity an awakening?
Diplo: I still haven't really slept since that whole thing started. That week was so crazy. I was working with Roc Nation and they wanted to produce some other stuff—I was there, I did a show, got arrested, had to go to jail, after jail had to fly to Vegas. Every weekend is just getting weirder and weirder. I feel like I'm a snowball, I don't know what is going to happen. I'm not catching up to what is going on in my life. I got in a bar fight and the guy pressed charges. Nobody in Beyoncé's camp knew about it, but I thought it was embarrassing. I had to go to court a bunch of times and had to go to anger management courses. It's the one part of my day or week that's all fucked up—going to some anger management class in Compton every Tuesday with teenage gangsters that beat their cousins and listen to them talk about their lives. It's pretty grounding.

GQ: Do you fit in at your anger management classes?
Diplo: Definitely not. The first thing I said in my anger management class was, "I know everybody's gonna say this, but I definitely don't belong here." The lady was like, "Yeah, whatever. Shut up and read this book." It really is a bunch of teen gang members that beat their moms and stuff. It's depressing. I'm always grounded. I smoked DMT last month and that grounds you really quickly. That's ego. It's all bad things. It's like, every ounce of paranoia you get from smoking weed magnified by a million. You also get like a tripping-out, crazy, intense experience. It's mind-blowing. That's my advice for all celebrities. Go to some anger management classes, smoke DMT once every two or three months, and you'll be good.

GQ: What led you to smoking DMT?
Diplo: I'm not into those kind of drugs, no hard drugs, but that's something that's inspiring, to do other things. It's a catalyst for a lot of ideas. I don't even know how the ideas come anymore; we had Bruno Mars in the studio and were going to make a Bruno Mars record but he ended up rapping on a totally different record that made no sense, and it ended up being a really good record. Nothing ever comes out like how you expect. It's not pop stuff. It was like a joke accident. For [The Major Lazer song] "Hold the Line," it was like, how did it end up like this? We did a record with Vampire Weekend. Everything we do is an accident. Everything that we have, that happens, just happens in a certain way that's inspiring to us. We don't dismiss anything. We take advantage of anything strange that happens. All the underground guys...it's how we developed. We're not the best songwriters, we're not good singers, we're not the best looking, we just see the little cracks that need to get filled.

GQ: You're probably one of the most famous people in the industry that doesn't sing or rap.
Diplo: A lot of producers get famous because they decide to be superstars for their own reasons, but I'm inspired by Timbaland and Pharrell and Swizz Beatz 'cause they're doing things that are so different. I like how they're introducing ideas I never would have thought of. The same way I love Radiohead. We're in a different world where we aren't selling as many records as we used to, but everything I do has gotta be a part of the brand, a part of the Internet presence, the art side of things, you work really hard being just everywhere. The new tool is doing everything. Putting out everything you can. What Lil B does, he puts out thousands of songs. It's not about the quality, but it got him famous because you can't get away from him. They were so obsessed with his honesty and his outright craziness, you know? It's not even about quality. You just gotta do everything you can.

(Source - www.gq.com)

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SKREAM & BENGA INTERVIEW...

Rounding the corner into the new millennium, in a historically smoggy industrial town outside London, two 14-year-olds met at a record shop. Stocking and selling UK garage, 2-step, and drum & bass would have been a very agreeable way to make some cash for any kid at the time, but sometimes fate works in ways stranger than fiction: the musically-inclined duo worked at Big Apple Records in Croydon, which turned out to be the epicenter of a nascent dubstep scene.

At the shop, Oliver Jones (Skream) and Beni Adejumo (Benga) met vinyl-hunting DJs and Producers like DJ Hatcha, Digital Mystiks (Mala and Coki), and Arthur “Artwork” Smith and fell into a crew of like-minded people who mixed wobbly bass lines and syncopated rhythms to create music for themselves. DJ Hatcha played Skream’s first dubplates at the club night FWD>>. And, just like that, a new genre was born.

Fast forward 10 plus years. Dubstep’s sub-audible frequencies have radiated past those early pockets of skinny, solemn, hoodie-wearing young men and now ensnare gleeful, glow-stick brandishing audiences in the tens of thousands. Filthy facemelting is all the rage.

And Skream and Benga are still in the thick of it — since dropping iconic tracks like Skream’s 2005 “Midnight Request Line” and Benga’s boundary-pushing 2008 album Diary of An Afro Warrior, in 2010 they formed the supergroup Magnetic Man with old pal Artwork. At the ripe old age of 25, Skream and Benga are the pioneers of a sound that’s broken through to mainstream success.

A few days after a sold-out show at one of NYC’s biggest venues, the old friends met this harried, traffic-delayed interviewer at an Euro-swank hotel in the area formerly known as Hell’s Kitchen. Ensconced in a booth at the hotel bar and joined by fellow-legend Sgt Pokes, MC and co-founder of DMZ Records (with Mala, Coki, and Loefah), who toasts for them on tour, Skream and Benga quickly displayed why they’re the most beloved figures in the scene.

In between the shouts of laughter, non-stop teasing, and overlapping responses, they discussed crazy dubstep fan arguments, certain rumors concerning Prince Harry, the hunger to create, paparazzi attention, parenthood both literal (Skream) and figurative (Artwork), mother love in the form of ham sandwiches and jollof rice, and why everyone picks on Skrillex.

You couldn’t get this kind of rapport if you scripted it.


How was the Terminal 5 show in NY?
Skream: Amazing.
Benga: Sick.

You have a crazy show coming up with Skrillex, FatBoy Slim, Rusko, a long list of very different styles.
Skream: We’ve been planning hard for a while. They’re always amazing shows. They’re like mini festivals.
Benga: Mixed lineups seems to be the way for it. That’s the way to keep people’s attentions wrapped.

So what are you planning to do to keep people’s attention?
Pokes: We’re mental.
Benga: We crowd surfed on Friday-
Skream: Saturday, Thursday.

Benga, is it true that you pushed Oliver into the crowd once and he ended up breaking three ribs?
Benga: [Laughing] He had crowd surfed before.
Skream: We had done it before then, but this is one people like to remember.
Benga [to me]: Do you need to split us up?
Pokes: No one pushed anyone, I was there, all right? This guy [pointing to Skream] is a liability. No one pushed him–
Skream: I was pushed.
Pokes: Floated off the stage.
Skream: I was pushed.
Pokes: I distinctly remember Benga and me saying, “This is a bad idea. Don’t do it. It’s London. They won’t catch you.
Benga: It all stemmed from me doing it successfully. I was the only one who crowd surfed at the end, before it was shuttin’ down…I’m sorry, I can’t stop laughing, it was too funny.
Skream: Nah, that’s fine.

The windups…are you still pranking people on tour? I heard that you played a trick on a maid in a hotel by pretending to be dead.
Benga: She had a breakdown. She cried-
Skream: She thought she found a dead body-
Benga: We should go out and visit her again. Don’t we?
Pokes: She’s now in permanent psychiatric care.
Benga: It’s mental.

I heard this other one about Artwork — he told somebody that Prince Harry was a fan of yours?
Skream: Well, yeah-
[Benga and Pokes start laughing]
Skream: He told the national newspaper, and we were featured in the paper the next day. But what you’re stemming from — we had invites to go and see a show at Buckingham Palace, but we didn’t meet Prince Harry.

But then, after, Artwork got drunk, rang the Sun newspaper because we know someone there, and was like, “Yeah, he went up to Skream and was like, ‘Love your music, mate!’”

And it all got a bit out of control because my mum rang me the next morning, “You didn’t tell me you knew Prince Harry!” “Mum, clearly, I don’t.” There have been a few.

Are you still partying, as you always do? You’re kind of famous for it.
[All three start cracking up]
Skream [Points to Benga and Pokes]: These two have been having nice times together. They’re doing most of the partying.
Pokes: They be playing drafts.
Skream: Playing checkers
Pokes: Discussing poetry. Shopping.
Skream: Me and Pokes have been playing Scrabble with the eyes.

I was curious because you’re a new dad, Skream. Congratulations.
Skream: Yes, thank you. I don’t drink when I’m home. I only drink on the road.
Pokes: He goes outside his house and drinks.
Skream: I don’t drink when I’m home. Unless, if I have the baby, maybe a glass of wine.
Benga: I’ve seen the liquor underneath his sink.
Pokes: I’ve seen eight bottles of vodka underneath his sink.
Skream: That’s the party drawer, that’s why it’s there.
Pokes: Never gets used, no?
Skream: Somebody did drink all three bottles, but it wasn’t me.
Benga: Really, I think I know who it was then.
Skream: Jesse. [Laughs]
Pokes: He loves it. Jesse is the name of his son.
Skream: Jesse Jones. He’s three months. Well, three and about-
Pokes: Three months and a week.
Skream: That’ll do.
Pokes: What, is he five?
Skream: How long have I been on tour? But no, he’s great. It’s amazing.

Skream had a birthday at Dub War here in NY, in 2006. And now you just played Red Rocks with Pretty Lights. Changes you’ve noticed in those 5 years?
Skream: Bigger crowds, more lights. More lights are definitely something that’s happened since then.
Benga: The shows just got bigger, production-wise, everything.
Skream: There’s a lot more money in the shows. On the production, I mean. Crowds getting younger.

Really?
Skream: We’re not getting older. We’re still the same. We’re still the fun wunderkinden.

[All three burst into laughter.]

Is that something someone called you?
Pokes: The dupstep wunderkinden!!!

I’m guessing that was in a German newspaper?
Skream: Yeah, and then it got used in EVERY bit of a story after. I loved it. I’m one of the wunderkinden.

Well, you kind of are…You’ve both been doing this since you were 14? 15? Has working and doing music together changed?
Benga: In our time, we’ve done, what, 14 records together? We had the Magnetic Man album, then done The Judgement-
Skream: Yeah, we done a crap remix of The Judgement. We’ve never really sat together and finished a record. We can’t do it.

Why not?
Benga: We talk too much.
Skream: We’ve known each other too long — we just talk and talk. And we know all the same people! We’re gossips. So we just sit there talking gossip.

Benga: Literally. “This happened! THAT Happened!”
Skream: And it gets to the point where we’ve been sitting there for eight hours. Artwork sits in the middle of us.

Benga: We did do one wicked record that we never finished.

Benga and Skream [taking turns]: Bleep–bleep–bloop–bleep–

Pokes [dryly]: Awesome.
Skream: We know what it sounded like! Blom–blom–
[Skream and Benga dissolve into laughter.]
Skream: F*@cking #1 record!

It sounds a little minimal.
Skream: It was. Extremely.

So Artwork’s the sort of the Dad, I suppose?
Pokes: Wow.
Skream: You can refer to him as that if you’d like, but we cannot!
[Benga and Pokes flop over each other laughing. Overlapping "he would freak," "daaad!" "oh my god!" etc.]
Skream: He keeps everything moving, whenever we get sidetracked.

What’s it like on tour with Skream and Benga vs. Magnetic Man?
Benga: To be honest, they just merge together, now.
Skream: It’s kind of the same thing. Pokes obviously does the Magnetic Man shows as well.
Benga: This is Magnetic Man minus Artwork.
Skream: Yeah, our tour manager is the same…Magnetic Man does get a bit crazier because Artwork’s there.
Pokes: You’ve also got a much more substantial rider for Magnetic Man
Skream: Yeah, the rider’s like, you can’t-
Pokes: You can’t actually finish the rider.
Skream: Yeah we have. Definitely.
Pokes: There’s been times when the red wine’s gone and the cheese is gone…

Is it more substantial because Artwork requests more?
Skream: It’s a bigger budget, it’s different…
Benga to Skream: We don’t actually request a lot in our riders do we?
Toby [the tour manager]: You don’t request anything in your riders. You ask for a bottle of vodka.

[Skream, Benga, and Pokes explode into laughter.]

Benga: We ain’t gonna change that! Thank you.

You could! You could ask for an all-white room, absurd all-white leather couches–
Pokes: I’ve always asked for a wooden bike. I’ve yet to receive one.

A wooden bicycle?
Pokes: Yeah, a wooden bike. [Responding to blank stare:] Exactly! Deal with it.
[Fits of giggles from all three]

Benga, I’ve seen your name come up in two different ways: as Beni Uthman and as Benga Adejuma.
Benga: Adejuma is my name. Uthman is my mom’s maiden name. [Pause] Should I have said that?
Pokes: Ohhh…the taxman!
[laughter]
Benga: Nevermind, that’s not me, NOT ME.

You’re Nigerian?
Pokes: Flygerian!
Benga: I AM Flygerian! Have you seen my jacket? This is my jacket. This is my phone. This is why I’m a Flygerian.

[Pause while we all admire his zippered leather jacket and iPhone.]

Since you’re known as the dubstep wunderkinden, how do you feel about how things have changed in the US vs. the UK?
Skream: We like it. We like change.
Benga: We love change.
Skream: When other people change something it’s better for us. We need it as well, we need other people to change things, to keep us mentally stimulated. I think it’s great. We’ve got a really close connection with everyone in the States. We’ve been friends with a lot of people in America for years, for like the last six years.
Benga: You just got to remember, like, when we first came here, they were just getting into dubstep.

Skream: Yeah. They [US dubstep producers] were coming to watch us, to our shows, a lot of the people who are doing really well here now. So for us it’s great.
Benga: They’ve embraced it.

Skream: And we’ve always welcomed them. It’s not like since it’s blow up here they don’t want us anymore. There’s never any hostility. The hostility never gets caused by anyone making the music, it’s generally the people writing about it. Like this Hipster Runoff sh*t, it’s like the worst blog ever. Now I’m probably gonna get attacked now. I probably shouldn’t have said that.
Benga: He said it! I’m backin’ it!

Skream: I’m still trying to get my head around whether if it’s a joke or not. Whether the whole blog’s a joke. Some of the writing is so bad, and they misquote people.

There was an exchange between James Blake and Skrillex — they changed James Blake’s quotes around to make it sound malicious when he was just stating how he sees the American crowds, or something. It’s really weird, it’s mad, because there wasn’t as much media attention. There was just music being made and music being heard, rather than SO many people talking about it.

Benga: That’s what I find I can’t get my head around. I never ever thought there’d be anything like that, like that blog. Cause I always thought it’s going to be like, everyone’s quite real.

[Skeam and Pokes talk over each other: "Yeah, it explains-" "Other people get in the mix-" "Yeah cause-"]

Benga: It’s tipping over the edge of that, kind of…you never know, we might start getting papped. If that sort of thing’s coming about.

Really?
Skream: It’s happened.
Benga: It has happened.

Skream: We were just in Barcelona, coming out of McDonald. We didn’t see any flash or nothing.

And then suddenly there’s this picture on a blog of me and Benga coming out of Mcdonalds, and it mentioned something about our dietary requirements.

That you eat McDonalds?
Both: Yeahhh!

That’s part of it too, though, the fans, the people who were into dubstep back then–
Skream: –Are there to argue. Dubstep fans argue so much online, it’s crazy.

Anywhere where you can write something…like, if you look on YouTube. I used to go to YouTube to get a general feel of how the record was going, but now you can’t find one dubstep track [on YouTube] that doesn’t end up with someone arguing about Skrillex. It’s ridiculous!

He’s become a bit of a lightening rod…
Skream: Yeah! He’s a really good friend of ours, and people can’t get their heads around that!
Benga: Why is it hard to like someone, as a person?

I think the argument is that he is somehow defining dubstep in the US?
Skream: I think he does for the US, but that’s how it is. It’s also the time. People have a problem with how long he’s been around.
Benga: We like his music. We don’t care about where it has come from. We just like his music.
Skream: Everyone should just like it for what it is. Or don’t like it.
Benga: In regards to trying to put someone down…everyone’s being like, go hate him, he’s like the go-to-guy [for that].
And [expect us] to be like, “Oh, we don’t like him, duh , duh, duh.” [Meaning more irrelevant chatter.]

Skream: So many people, I’m not going to say any names, but like, high-up DJs from radio stations and stuff, they’re like, “Oh, you don’t play Skrillex, do you?”
And I’m like, “what was the last Skrillex record you heard?”
And they’re like, “I can’t tell you.” It’s almost become like–
Benga: Trying to fight his fame.
Skream: –a fashion.

Benga: If you go back to us in the UK, we were like the poster boys of dubstep. We have such a range of sound, and I think peoples got their head around that he’s flying it.

Skream: The thing is, we’ve had that. We’ve had that situation where one minute everyone loves you, and then you get the diffident. It picks up as soon as you start to become successful. It’s such a weird thing.
It happens to everyone, because it’s like people want to keep the music for themselves.
Benga: There are some people out there who actually don’t like his music, and that’s understandable. But there are people out there who don’t like him–
Skream: As a person.
Benga: I don’t get that.

It may be that thing that happens in every genre — early adopters don’t like it when it becomes more popular and mainstream.
Skream: But it makes it better for everyone!
Benga: Everyone benefits.
Skream: Everyone is hating on him. Even the smaller dubstep shows with the deeper sound — they’re playing bigger rooms than they were playing before. So it is actually beneficial for everyone.
Some producers who…they find it really hard, because they have been making music for so long, and have never really had a break. And, I think, there starts to be this bitterness.
Benga: I think people [who are] not benefiting that much are not progressing.

Skream: You need the hunger, to get success. Like…I remember, when I done “Midnight Request Line,” I was so hungry to make more music after that.
Because finally you’ve got a listener. An outsider, as opposed to the same people who’ve come to the shows. And you get a mad crazy hunger. And I think some people don’t quite get that break, and then you end up getting quite bitter.

Benga: It’s half due to mindset. Time and time again, I go back to this — how ambitious and how much desire we had when we were young.
“Night” and “Request Line” didn’t come about by accident. We sat there, constantly, making tunes, 20 hours a day. Literally.
Skream: Since we were 13 or 14.
Benga: People seem to forget that. So if they’re not doing what they should be doing, if they haven’t been sitting there 20-hour days making music, they don’t have a reason to complain.
Or to say “oh this isn’t working” or “that isn’t working” when you haven’t been doing 20-hour days for 10 years.
That’s it.

Are you keeping it the same pace?
Benga: Let’s say we are, but we’re touring at the moment.
Skream: At the moment it’s a lot harder. And obviously children, well, child. I want to spend as much time as I can home.
My studio’s being repaired, but when I’m home and that’s done, I’ve got to get back on the regime again.
When I moved out of my mom & dad’s house, my studio was still there–at my mom’s.
So I’d get there at 9 and leave at 6. I’d just do that every day.
Benga: And then meet his girlfriend.
Skream: Yeah, meet my girlfriend when she gets home from work. I fit it into that work pace, which is good.
It’s just been hard, it’s festival season. So little music gets made in the summer in England. We’re doing all the festivals, and clubs shows,
Benga: We do two shows, right? We do Benga and Skream seperately, and together, and we also do Magnetic Man, and-
Skream: And we do radio shows, Radio 1. [laughing]We do quite a lot!

How’s Radio 1 different for you from your Rinse FM show?
Skream: Language. The crazy thing with Rinse is that it was so off-the-cuff, everything that was said.
Benga: I forgot about some of the beauty of it.
Skream: Yeah, some of the greatness. We are going to be doing a Rinse show, we just need to figure out what day of the week we can do it that still benefits the Radio 1 show.
Benga: It has to be a lot more structured. We’ve always done it like, “We just want to do everything all at once!” But now we structure it.
Skream: We don’t answer the phone to too many people because it gets quite irritating for us and them, specially the people at Radio 1. It drives them mad.
Benga: I think it drives everybody mad.

So now you might have to bring people on to help you to organize and structure things?
Skream: Yeah. We love having people do stuff for us. We love it. It’s great.
Benga: It always stems back to Mom.
Skream: Yeah, mommy’s world!
Benga: In fact, mom, you always used to–
Skream: Thanks for making me spoiled — giving me ham sandwiches in bed for breakfast.
Benga: Giving me jollof rice.
Skream: All the time! [Laughs]

Speaking of home, what is it about Croydon that so many musicians come from there? Ghostpoet, Imogen Heap, Amy Winehouse went to school there…
Skream: It’s the performing arts school. Loads of creative stuff. David Bowie, Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss is from Croydon. I think it’s because it’s such a sh*thole that it just makes people to want to-
Benga: -get out.
Skream: -be successful to get out. It’s not that bad. There are a lot worse of places.
Benga: It’s a good mixture. I’ve found a good mixture. I guess you have something to go home to, but there is nothing to do outside. But we also had a TV.
Skream: That’s why most people wait ’til they can go clubbing.

If a fan at a club wanted to buy you a drink, what would you ask for?
Benga: Depends, will you be buying me the drink?
Skream: Beluga Gold Line on the rocks.
Pokes: Alka-Seltzer

Benga what about you? Say a fan at a club wants to buy you a drink?
Skream: Anything with Rohypnol in it, wouldn’t it? Roofies.
Pokes: Rohypnol and coke, on the rocks. [Laughs]
Benga: If it was a lady friend, a WKD.
Skream: What you should know — if it was a lady friend, she would definitely be buying me a drink. [Meaning Benga attracts ladies.]
Benga: Oh, POW, gentlemen! Equal rights, so I guess I’ll buy the gentlemen a drink.

Benga, did you get a haircut?
Benga: No. I’ll tell you what, I can press my hair down. That’s what I do. I can have it messy if I want to.
Pokes: There’s a cord on his back. You just adjust it and it goes off.
Benga: I’ve got the most famous hair in dubstep, standing. I bring it out when I want to bring it out. [Pointing to Skream:] He really thinks he’s got the most famous hair in dubstep.
Skream: No, I haven’t. I haven’t been around the whole time. The french crop was the most famous haircut in dupstep, until you got the afro.
Benga: I brought the fire.

The new Magnetic Man album coming up…
Skream: 2012. Not even been started. But I’ve got a single coming out in the states, on November 14th, “Anticipate.”

You guys did an autonomic tune. I don’t know if you plan on experiment with other genres at all? Witch-house, tecnobrega…
Skream: I would make the autonomic stuff all the time. I love it. Still do loads of it now. I got a track coming out on Skreamizm Vol. VI which is out late November.

Toby [the tour manager]: We have to go to a photoshoot.

Yeah, sorry! One last question — do either of you cut dubplates anymore?
Both: No.

Right, because I’ve been hearing from a lot DJs that turntables are in such bad shape.
Skream: Blame the clubs. It’s so odd. It is blaming the clubs, I think.
Benga: Andy C even moved away from vinyl, and he was the last one.
Pokes: People never understand — when you’re playing a record that jumps, and they think you’ve got crap records, they don’t realize that it’s the way the thing’s set up. You can’t go out and play a set where every record goes [makes skipping noises].
Skream: Also, technology nowadays…endless possibilities to make shows so fun, do you know what I mean? It’s crazy now the interaction between things like, Ableton to Serato to…the way you can link it all together now. It adds a new excitement.
Benga: And do perfect shows. Like literally, perfect DJ shows.

Toby: We have to go.

OK, just one more question. Skream, I know you hate gabba…
Skream: You know, I don’t anymore. I was being a musical Nazi. I’ve found some gabba records I really like. It was a stupid young comment for me to say. I’ve made it a point to check it out ever since then.

What are you listening to right now?
Benga: I listen to a lot of bands.
Skream: Massive Arctic Monkeys fan, Miles Kane.
Benga: I’m starting to listen to that drumstep. It sounds mad, they’re playing it in the clubs and sh*t. I like some of the riffs. I’m listening to some folk’s remixes of Rusko at home.
Toby: We reeeaally have to go.

[Herded by their tour manager, they walk towards the elevators trailing "Do I still have time to go to my room?"..."No"..."Yeah, shut up"..."I need clothes!" etc. behind them.]

(source- MTV)

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BLOODY BEETROOTS INTERVIEW...

Interviews with the Bloody Beetroots don’t come around often, so Auzzie bloggers inthemix had plenty of questions when they got on the phone to leader Sir Bob Cornelius Rifo last week.

Recentlly The Beetroots have been rockin' crowds under the Death Crew 77 guise, but Rifo is warming up to the idea of DJing again...

“It’s been a while since I’ve spun records,” he said. “I’m trying to find new records to play because the music around is pretty bad. I’m downloading tonnes of new promos. It’s a new challenge for me to make a real good summer DJ set for Stereosonic. There’s going to be lots of new bootlegs. I cannot tell you now what I’m going to play, but I’m going to play hard, for sure.”

The Beetroots brand of brazen electro has certainly spawned its share of imitators, and now dubstep (or whatever you want to call it) is going through a similar cycle.

“I like people that are making really big dubstep but with different sounds, but I hate people that are trying to copy,” he mused. “Skrillex was one of the pioneers of the new dubstep and everybody now is copying the Skrillex sound. But I like people like Skrillex or Skream or Benga, those old school UK guys who are making dubstep in a new way now.”

It’s been a long two years for fans since the release of Romborama, but Rifo told inthemix there’s plenty on the way. Upcoming single 'Church Of Noise' teams the Beetroots with longtime friend Dennis Lyxzen, former frontman of Swedish hardcore punks Refused.

According to Rifo, it’s “a mix of the old school punk and the new electro sound from The Beetroots”, and there’ll be a few more singles to come before another album is delivered...

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THE SQUATTERS TALK TUNES, IBIZA & FUTURE PLANS...

In preparation for the Judgement Sunday closing party taking place on the 25th September at Eden Ibiza, The Squatters are getting ready for their final DJ battle.

The boys are currently rounding off a few special bits in the studio that have been prepared especially for this final Judgement event: ‘We can't wait to get back on the island for the final battle! Alex is hitting the sun beds as he doesn't tan very well, he usually looks like a lobster. Oli on the other hand is half Italian so he goes golden brown instantly!’

This is certainly not their first time playing at the Judgement Sunday events. All summer they’ve been sending crowds crazy with their tracks. ‘A track we always play that gets the crowd going at every gig we play has to be our remix of the oldskool track "Up To No Good" by the Porn Kings. We never released this so it still remains a weapon of choice in our DJ sets.’

They’ve been playing a few of their brand new tracks "Sucka Punch", which was released last month and their forthcoming release "Zippyshare" which is released on 10th October: ‘These have been doing some serious damage on the dance floor. After all we did create them especially for this crowd.'

They describe Judgement Sundays as different to any other event that takes place on the island. ‘We have been going there as fans for many years and now it's great to be behind the scenes of it all. Everybody in there feels like part of the event from the clubbers to the organisers. It's like one big Judgement family. '

They added: ‘We have had a lot of international fans come to see us and it's great to be able to get up close with them. With Ibiza being the central hub for clubbing it's not just a British crowd and it's great to see everyone enjoying themselves together.’

Year in, year out The Squatters end up in Ibiza, even if it’s just for a couple of days in between gigs: ‘We love the place! It’s starting to feel like a second home. There's something magical about the island! And where else in the world is totally devoted to partying on this scale?’

The boys favourite places include a little Tapas bar in Ibiza Town, at the bottom of the castle entrance, which they say does the most amazing food and wine. They also enjoy spending time at Golden Buddha: ‘Chilling out with a few mohitos, watching the sunset. We don't often get chance to hit the beaches but when we do Cala Banirras is a beautiful place to chillax.’

The Squatters cannot believe summer is almost over: ‘We’ve had so much fun out in Ibiza this year, especially playing for Judgement Sundays. We’ve made lots of new friends on the island and will be venturing to see them through the winter months. We’ll be sad to leave here.’

The fun does not end there though, as The Squatters have plans of getting back in to the studio, lots of photo shoots and performances around the world. ‘We are running events back in the UK as well and we want to make them extra special through the winter to keep the excitement going for our fans until the summer is back.’

With many plans in the pipeline, the future is looking far from bleak: ‘Our record label is going really well (What's Your Status?) and we have even bigger plans for it for 2012. We are also looking forward to playing in the USA next year and a whole other bunch of international gigs.'

'We are working on collaborations with other artists in the studio and we will continue to listen and talk to our fans, as they are the people we do this for.’ Watch this space...

Judgement Sunday closing party takes place at Eden Ibiza on 25th September.

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NORMAN DORAY TALKS 'STRICTLY IBIZA TO AMSTERDAM' & PARTYING LIKE A FRENCHMAN...

Norman Doray plays with the big boys. Coming straight from Ibiza where he hit up the Swedish House Mafia's Masquerade Motel, Mr. Doray is dropping into Arkadia at the Fontainebleau this Thursday for the weekly Subliminal Sessions party.

Co-producer of "Chase The Sun", last summer's epic track that's been ripped in virtually every big-room DJ set ever since, Doray has just released another Beatport charter last week. And October brings a first for Norman with the drop of his debut two-disc compilation Strictly Ibiza to Amsterdam that offers some disco, funk, and club hits.


You're coming to Miami straight from Ibiza, and we'd love to believe we have some things in common with that famed city. Do we?

Norman Doray: Yeah, you're right. You have some similarities: sun, girls, money, and clubs. But it's two completely different cultures. Ibiza is way more European with wild landscapes and a bit of farniente [Note: Crossfade had to look this word up. French to English dictionary says "lazing about."] and Miami is all about America.


How did you go about splitting your latest compilation, Strictly Ibiza to Amsterdam, into "Day" and "Night" CDs?

Norman Doray: I wanted to do two different CDs to show the people two sides of me. One side, "Day," is more based on funk groove and disco vibes, which are my roots. The other CD, "Night," is more of what I play all around the world in clubs -- more big room and progressive sounds. I love both of them!


The compilation features some of the biggest names in house, like Erick Morillo, as well as a lot of upcoming artists, like Sebjack. How did you decide which songs and artists to feature?

Norman Doray: To be honest, it's not about the names here in the compilation. It was more about the tracks. If the tracks are good and I feel them, I wanted to put them in the compilation. And it's even better if we have young artists like Sebjack or Sebastien Drums alongside legends like Erick Morillo or Todd Terry.


It seems to me like disco house has been making a comeback. What's your take on it?

Norman Doray: I think you are right, but in a different way. Clearing a sample is way harder nowadays. So it's more about cutting the disco sound and mixing it with more progressive and clubby elements. I really like it!


You've had some awesome collaborations in your career, like a recent one with David Tort. Are these productions done by sending tracks back and forth online? Or do you ever get together with your colleagues to produce?

Norman Doray: No, I never do tracks via the Internet. I really prefer to be in the studio with my friend and exchange the ideas straight. I think that is way better for the track and the atmosphere in it.


What was the idea or inspiration behind your latest release, "Kalifornia"? Why is it spelled with a K?

Norman Doray: The inspiration was to do like a tribute to my roots and where I come from, France. With all the French touch heritage we have in Cali, I wanted to call this track "Kalifornia" because I love this place. It may be one of the best in the world. I thought it was funnier to spell it with a K than with a C.


What was the music scene like growing up in France?

Norman Doray: It was so good: Daft Punk, Cassius, Phoenix, and more. It was a new thing and everyone was excited about it. Clubs were packed and there was a big energy. It's a bit different now.


When you're not touring or making music, what else do you spend your time on? Do you have any interests people might not know about?

Norman Doray: Yeah, I love spending time with my girl, friends, and family. I also love sports and eating great food. Everything is simple but so good.

(source- http://www.miaminewtimes.com)


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MICHAEL WOODS INTERVIEW...

Impressive is a word that springs to mind when you consider Michael Woods’ steep rise to notoriety; from being associated to all things Ministry, including the kick start to a new series of compilations aptly entitled 'Residents'; being asked to emanate his sound through other people’s tracks; to holding residency at Cream Amnesia; and producing Example’s number 1 smash hit. His soaring popularity knows no bounds and transcends Europe’s dance culture boom right through to the USA – it’s clear that the turning of each of these chapters is a precursor in what is looking set to be an epic novel of booming success....
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..
.

Hello! Firstly, how are you and what’s been going on in the past week?

Michael Woods (MW): I’m good thanks. I’d just come back from a crazy tour in North America and headed straight to Ibiza for a show at Cream Amnesia.

Your name is out there, people are aware of who you are, but how would you best describe your sound? Can you do it in 3 words?

MW: I love to make music that gets the dance floor rocking. I’d describe my sound as Big – uplifting – memorable

Congratulations on producing the number 1 single with Example (Changed The Way You Kiss Me) – how did you react to having a number 1? What does it mean to you?

MW: I remember being in a pizza hut in Latvia when I found out! I was pretty chilled out considering I never expected the track to do that well. It means a lot to me because now I know people are buying in to my sound and also its opened a lot of doors for me.

Because of such a rise to fame, do you ever feel pressured to produce consistently revered tracks?

MW: I know I have to deliver the goods now on every production but I don’t feel under pressure in any way – people either like my music or they don’t.

Tell us a little bit about your forthcoming single.

MW: My next single is called White Sky, I’ve been playing it out in all my recent sets and its been going down really well – originally I made it because I needed some new material that no one else had to play on my North American Tour, and due to the amazing reaction I’ve decided to release it as a single.

Have you got an artist album in the pipeline, if so, anything you can tell us about that?

MW: I will definitely release an artist album in the future but there are no immediate plans right now – at the moment I’m concentrating on making some hit singles and once they’re in the bag I can concentrate 100% on the album, which I really hope to have out by summer 2012.

Exciting stuff! How is the American tour going, how do they react to you over there?

MW: The American fans are absolutely amazing! Every single gig had the crowd going completely nuts, like I’ve never seen before. I love playing there and can’t wait to go back in September and November this year.

You’re playing all over Ibiza this summer – is there one particular night you’re looking forward to play? And what night do you like to go out and party at?

MW: So far this year I’ve played at Cream Amnesia, Space and Sankeys in Ibiza and I’ve had an incredible time. These are amongst the world’s most prestigious clubs and its an honour to play there. If I’m there to party I love to go see either Tiesto at Privilege or Luciano at Pacha.

How was Sankeys Ibiza – how does it better the Sankeys in Manchester?

MW: It was totally incredible – the club is huge and has an amazing sound system with huge sub woofers embedded under the dance floor, and also had a fascinating light show.

What else is in store for you?

MW: I’ve got lots more travelling in the near future, I’m playing at Electric Zoo Festival in New York followed by Pacha NYC this month, and also Nocturnal festival near Los Angeles. Along with the touring I’m in the studio working on more productions and also remixes for Benny Benassi and Armin....
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Check out Michael Woods' live set from the Electric Zoo here: http://www.dirtysmart.com/news_article.php?id=608

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SONNY WHARTON INTERVIEW...

Sonny Wharton, one of the finest new producers around with quite simply, amazing production skills. Labels flying after him, his own super cool club night and, all in all, someone we are going to be hearing about for a very long time to come...


An amazing twelve months for you Sonny, with tracks out on the likes of Size, Toolroom, Spiinin', Skint, Defected and Positiva as well as running the super cool Whartone Records label and club night. Tell the DMC world all about your first big break that led to all of this success...

"It's been a long old slog but my first break was a while back when I won a DJMag competition with the prize to play for Renaissance at Amnesia - and things kind of snowballed from there really. More recently I knuckled down to learn to produce and make music rather than just playing it which is something I’m absolutely loving right now."


How did it feel to suddenly having Mixmag quote you as one of their 'Future Heroes' alongside the likes of Nic Fancuilli and Gareth Emery?

"It was all a bit surreal to be honest getting props in such a prominent magazine and it’s really interesting to see how everyone involved in the original ‘Future Heroes’ has evolved and progressed since."


What music were you into as a kid?

"I grew up listening to all sorts of stuff. Mainly influenced by what my parents would play with anything from Bob Dylan or The Beatles to Michael Jackson or The Mama’s & Papa’s."


What were the first clubs you started to party at and who were your favourite DJs?

"I grew up in mid Wales and there weren’t that many clubs really. We had a few small club nights called The Rockit and Delicious where the likes of Tony De Vit would guest and the residents were people like Matthew and Leon Roberts (who became King Unique, UBU etc.) and these were the first places I used to go to frequently along with a lot of free parties."


What's the biggest crowd you have ever played to?

"Collectively, I suppose the Berlin Love Parade which was around 1 million people."


What's the best thing your parents taught you?

"Always respect other people."


What are your current 10 tunes you are spinning right now?

"
1. Trisco - Muzak (Sonny Wharton & Paul Thomas 2011 Remix)

2. D-Nox & Beckers - 19909 (Sonny Wharton Remix)

3. DJ Chus & D-Unity - Burn In Hell

4. Robbie Taylor - The Sound

5. Fatboy Slim - Everybody Needs A 303 (Sonny Wharton Remix)

6. David Herrero – Rio Rio

7. Sonny Wharton – Loko Kik (Gabriel Rocca Remix)

8. Dom Kane & Sick Elektrik - Space

9. Mark Trophy – Ripper (Sonny Wharton Remix)

10.Tom Novy & Danny Freakazoid – Underground People (D-Nox & Beckers Remix)
"


If we came back to yours after a club, what are the 10 'Back To Mine' tunes you play us?

"
1. Leftfield - Swords
2. The Roots – Meltin’ Pot
3. Nu Yorican Soul – Black Gold Of The Sun
4. Jurassic 5 – Concrete Schoolyard
5. Bent - Always
6. Zero 7 – This World
7. Brand New Heavies – Sometimes (Dimitri From Paris Mix)
8. Sia – Breathe Me
9. MJ Cole – Sincere
10.Jamie Cullum – Frontin’
"


Not a lot of people know this, but I am very good at...

"Boxing."


What is coming next from the Sonny studio?

"Remixes for Fatboy Slim, Trisco and Frankie Knuckles along with collabs with X-Press 2, Joel Edwards and K-Klass."


What profession did you want to follow when you were a child?

"After quickly realising that being a JCB driver probably wasn’t the strongest of career paths, I switched to wanting to be a graphic designer or teacher."


What is your guilty pleasure song?

"Vanilla Ice – Ice Ice Baby."


What is your greatest weakness?

"Saying no - I've got a annoying habit of taking on way more than I can realistically achieve."


Best club in the world you have ever played at why?

"I've been lucky to play some amazing clubs like Space in Ibiza and Pacha Sao Paolo but on a purely personal level, I think it's got to be Renaissance at The Cross in London (RIP) - the atmosphere in that place was something else!!!"


What has been your proudest date in life so far?

"Seeing my younger brother's first film premier at Bafta’s in London."



Tell us about your club night 'Sound Of Whartone'?

"It just started out as an excuse to throw a party to be honest - somewhere where people we all speak to day in day out predominantly online can all get together and have a fun night out without talking shop. I thought it would also be a great platform to showcase some of the artists from the label in an environment where people appreciate good music. It’s all pretty informal and focussed heavily on having fun more than anything."


What is the current song you can't get out of your head?

"Jay Z & Kanye West - 'Otis'


Tell us about the Ortofon and Ecler deal?

"I’ve been involved with them for couple of years now after first showcasing the Ecler NUO5 mixer at Plaza and this lead to hooking up with Henley Pro who distribute them here in UK. Recently I’ve been getting more involved with the development side of things as well as focussing heavily on pushing the new EVO mixers."


What has been your best production to date?

"Probably my remix of X-Press 2 ‘Opulence’ on Skint."



And finally, it's your birthday - money no object, what 3 DJs and 1 live artist do you book?

"For sheer performance value I'd choose Carl Cox, Danny Tenaglia and Zane Lowe to DJ and as the live artist, Adele."

(source- www.dmcworld.net)

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JUDGE JULES & MARCEL WOODS INTERVIEW...

Every world-class electronic music festival needs a world-class compilation album to bring those on-site memories back. High Contrast Records brings you back to the Sunrise experience with the release of ‘Follow The Sunrise’ – their Judge Jules & Marcel Woods compiled mix-companion.
Both Marcel Woods and Judge Jules speak about this year’s Sunrise Festival, mixing the CD, DJ Top 100 and more!

How did you experience this years’ Sunrise festival?

Jules: Sunrise is an institution in Polish clubbing. I’ve had the pleasure of playing the festival twice and each time it has been truly memorable. From the production behind the festival to the energy of the crowd, Sunrise delivers on every level and is one I look forward to returning to with much anticipation!
Woods: Was a great party with a solid production! And I just loved the crowd, was awesome! so loved it…

You’ve been a regular guest at Sunrise Festival throughout the years. Seems like you enjoy coming to Poland?

Jules: Poland is one of those countries that every DJ looks forward to performing at. The Polish hunger and knowledge of dance music is one of the most superior in Europe and for my kind of sound it is a real joy to experience that from the booth. I’ve had some incredible gigs in Poland over the years.
Woods: Yes I enjoy Poland a lot!

You’ve mixed the official Sunrise Festival compilation ’Follow The Sunrise’. Did you compile the track list any different than other compilations you did?

Jules: Not really, I approach all my mix compilations with a view of recreating the energy of the dancefloor but capturing that in CD that can be listened to at home or in the car. I try to pick records that have some longevity to their sound and which work well with the mix as a whole. Keeping the records as box fresh as possible can often be difficult, especially as music is so widely available these days.
Woods: Nope it’s always a reflection how I want to play on a event.

Any favorite tracks on your mix, people definitely have to check out?

Jules: That’s actually a tough question because I’m really pleased with the entire mix but some personal favourites of mine Lee Osborne’s ‘Questions’, the Myon & Shane 54 Summer mix of Andain’s ‘Promises’, Tristan D’s ‘Interstate 5’ and Marcel Woods’ ‘sunrise’ single.
Woods: Number 1, and 2, and 3, and 4, and 5, and 6, and 7, and 8 and 9, and ow yes, track 10, 11,12,13 and 14, and not to miss track 15, track 16 and 17 are also cool ;-) hahaha

It’s the first time you are working together on a compilation and you’ve been around for quite some time now. To Jules: you’ve been playing a lot of Marcel’s tracks in your sets and shows, how you rate his music? To Marcel: Jules has been a frontman for electronic music with his long running radio show for many years. Have you experienced the influence of his show in the scene?

Jules: Marcel is one of those producers whose sound is incredibly difficult to nail down! He’s something of a chameleon of sounds but one thing is always certain with a Marcel Woods records is that his trademark stamp of quality will always be there. He never lets anything that isn’t above his own standards get out of the studio and because of that he has a back catalogue which is literally punctuated with arena smashing releases; which probably explains is longevity as a festival regularly for events such as Sunrise – very few producers have been able to maintain such a high standard of quality for such a long period of time without being labeled to one specific genre.
Woods: Ofcourse Jules is one of the guys you want him to play your music, the industry looks always to playlists with such a high profile as jules show. So yes def he influenced the scene.

Summer is the time for festival and that means crazy times for DJs. How’s your schedule and can you keep up with the festival madness?

Jules: As a DJ I love nothing more than performing to a crowd of people in a large festival surrounding. The freedom of dancing in a field alongside hundreds of likeminded individuals is something that comes naturally to humans. I’ve a few remaining festival dates on the calendar with the imminent ones being Creamfields and South West Four towards the end of August, coupled with a good few Ibiza dates to look forward to.
Woods: It’s sometimes exhausting with 6 flights in 2days, with barely any sleep, but the music and the crowd keeps you on your feet.



Any new material you are working on and you like us to tell about?

Jules: 2011 has been a very productive period for me in the studio. I took the decision about two years ago to get back in the studio and focus more energy on my production. I’m really pleased with the reaction from my last few releases most notably ‘Verano Loco’ and ‘The Greater Good’. My current single ‘City Lights’ is a really mash up of my musical loves and something I think most people will find very different from what they’d usually expect from me out of the studio. Additionally to this I’m just putting the finishing touches to a couple more as yet unnamed singles – so watch this space.
Woods: Yes a huge album will be coming out in oct from me… :-0

As every year the DJ Top 100 voting has started. What are your thought on this and why should people vote for you?

Jules: For me the poll is a great indicator of what is popular in the scene at that given moment in time. I think some people take the whole aspect of the poll a little too seriously and regard it has a negative, or even damaging effect on the scene, but in my view it’s a great opportunity to see what genres and sounds have been successful over the past 12 months. A lot of new DJs and producers are broken into the spotlight through the poll so it offers a lot in the way of moving the artists’ behind the music forward.
Woods: People need to vote for those who made their world rumble, and if they loved my sets or my music I wish they vote for me… J

Any rising stars who would deserve to be in the top 100 this year?

Jules: I think Lee Osborne, Ben Nicky and Ummet Ozcan are a few names that are doing incredibly well for themselves at the minute. All are making great music and have potentially long careers ahead of them if they can keep releasing the quality of music they have been of late.
Woods: W&W will explode in this years poll, those guys are getting HUGE!

Will we see you again next year at Sunrise Festival?

Jules: If they’ll have me again then it’s a big “yes” from me!
Woods: I Hope so!

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STEVE AOKI INTERVIEW...

With the Identity Festival, starting Thursday, Steve Aoki has his studio, and nearly all the Dim Mak Records team, packed and ready for a road trip.

Kaskade, Avicii, NerVo, Skrillex, Afrojack, Steve Lawler and Aoki are among the performers who will hit more than 20 cities on the inaugural festival. Aoki will be the featured performer on the Dim Mak Stage, and he's planning to debut a new stage show on the tour.

"I don't want to give away anything that we've been developing the past eight months, but it's pretty epic," Aoki told MTV News recently. "It's the only way I could do it, the only way I could really bring it out is with a bus. So this tour allows me to do that.

"I always do these crazy festivals, hopping tours in Australia or even Europe. But in America, this is the first of its kind, the first dance touring festival with all these different DJs," Aoki added. "And I'm gonna be on a bus — it's my first bus tour as well."

Aoki's bus will be hauling a retail store loaded with merchandise designed by Tokidoki specially made for Dim Mak Records, including T-shirts, flash drives, iPhone cases and more. The Dim Mak tour bus includes a production studio that will mirror Aoki's normal setup, and the producer hopes it will help him find more time in the studio while on the road.

"Being on the road, when you're flying and your downtime is in hotel rooms and transports to the airport or back to the shows and stuff like that, you have zero time to produce, zero time to make any music," he said. "And on the bus, I'm outfitting it with my own studio. I'm rigging my monitors. So it's gonna be a productive month for me."

This week, Aoki released "No Beef", his latest collaboration with good buddy and Identity tourmate Afrojack, featuring Miss Palmer. Aoki and Afrojack have a few new songs in the can — and there's a chance they might try them out during the Identity Festival.

"Nick [van de Wall, a.k.a. Afrojack], I regard him as one of my best friends," Aoki said. "So when we get in the studio, we're just having fun, man. It doesn't feel like work. We're going in there, we're just being creative and doodling, and all of a sudden we come up with these tracks, and we're like, 'Holy sh--, this actually sounds really good.' So we have a couple different ideas in the vault, and we have to let them out properly."

The monthlong Identity Festival begins Thursday in Indianapolis suburb Noblesville, Indiana — an ideal setting for Aoki to debut his new show and try to reach fans who have never had the chance to see him before.

"It's given me a lot of opportunities to try new things and travel the U.S., hit these smaller cities like Indiana, Indianapolis, and bring this kind of show. It's gonna be a lot of fun, all these DJs roaming around the country."

You can find a complete list of tour dates at IDFestival.com

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MUSTARD PIMP INTERVIEW...

The French duo Mustard Pimp (Baron and eKa), have carved out a cult-like following with releases under the label DIM MAK, by lighting remixing fires with Acid Techno matches to tracks of artists like Steve Aoki, Dada Life, Steed Lord and more than a handful of others.

Mustard Pimp recently released “ZHM”; an EP featuring the self dubbed “North Korean Pop” track entitled “ZHM”, remixed by Geht’s Noch, The Subs, Cyberpunkers, Tom Staar, and Dada Life.

If you’ve caught their video on Youtube, you were one of the lucky few before the video was taken down by none other than Youtube. The music video was risqué, yes, but how risqué can you really get with puppets and fake blood? You can be the judge of that...

http://vimeo.com/26742440

Mustard Pimp aren’t to be taken seriously when their personalities are in the spotlight. Their interviews, despite the attempts to get into their minds, are typified by sarcastic jaunts of one offs and comedic satire in less than fluent English. But by reading between the lines and beyond the jabs at H&M and the other Mustard Pimp, you’ll see that the story Mustard Pimp tells is a candid one. The duo embodies entertainment, without the deceit. You just have work a little harder to decipher it.

Interview by Musebox:

Musebox: What goes through your heads when you’re mixing and making a track?

Mustard Pimp: Well it’s easy. You wake up in the morning, you take your MIDI electronic wind instrument and you try to make the Titanic theme perfectly (or the Mexican national anthem) with the pan flute preset. If you make any mistake that means this is not the day and there’s no use to try producing today. However if it works well you open Cubase and try to find that boom-boom factor.

MB: What is it like to be part of the DIM MAK family? How did you get signed onto their label? Have you gotten any recent perks?

Mustard Pimp: Well it’s cool. We have free shirts, but there’s still not a free buffet at the DIM MAK office so we’re kinda sad about that.

How did we signed? Well, Steve wanted to sign that Russian band also called Mustard Pimp and made a mistake and took us. Been lucky on that. Since then we sued that other Mustard Pimp band and made sure they spend the next 5 years in a gulag.

MB: What’s the first word that comes to mind when some kid is requesting Dubstep at your shows?

Mustard Pimp: When we’re in a good mood we gently think that this poor kid went to the wrong show. When we’re in a bad mood (like when we lost at the horse races) we just think “Eat a dick” or something like that.

MB: You said your approach to music is constantly changing. What’s one track that you’ve attempted to remix but found to be too challenging?

Mustard Pimp: We tried to remix the part in “Waterworld” when Kevin Costner sings, but we failed because obviously you can’t beat Kevin Costner. And the one we failed? Well, we pitch them at 150 BPM and add all the factory FX and release them as a Trance alter ego.

MB: Do you have any old vinyl in your stash that you’re just waiting to pull out and mix?

Mustard Pimp: La Compagnie Creole – “Socca Party On The Beach”

A signed Basshunter of “Botten Anna” (he drew an heart and a cat on it too)

A signed vinyl of Bowie & Jagger – Dancing in The Streets (actually signed by the Chinese impersonator of Jagger – it’s a touring souvenir)

MB: What’s a fake DJ and what’s a real DJ?

Mustard Pimp: A fake DJ is a guy wearing white pants in a club and only play the top 20 Beatport (but not the latest one – the one in 2008).

A true DJ is a guy that will probably die from an heart attack, AIDS or any other sexual disease, or in a plane crash around 30-y/o.

MB: What gear and equipment do you use to mix your tracks?

Mustard Pimp: A MIDI electronic wind instrument and obviously Pioneer CDJs since other brands have been too lazy to make a proper CD player.

MB: How many more years do you think you have it in you to be Mustard Pimp before your ears blow out and your fingers show signs of arthritis? Or will you still be playing even then?

Mustard Pimp: Zero. House music is a has-been now. We’re joining an Equatorial band playing only with MIDI electronic wind instruments and we’ll do a metro station tour all around Europe.

MB: You wrote that “ZHM,” your newest EP, stands for Zara and H&M because of the “typical house crap you can hear when you go buy underwear at Zara or H&M”? Is “ZHM” something Zara and H&M should be playing at their stores while I’m trying on their underwear in their fitting room or is the EP a parody of the “typical house crap” they play?

Mustard Pimp: Ahaha, yeah we’d be surprised to hear ZHM in a Zara or H&M store. At least we’d make a sufficient crap to be played there. After that’s a kind of old inside joke too, every time we receive like chill house promos we always wanted to answer, “Sorry but your music is made to buy underwear in a shop.”

MB: When you settled on “ZHM’s” track, how did you know this was the track that you were going to settle with as the “ZHM” standard for the other DJs to work off of?

Mustard Pimp: Well we don’t know what to answer to that so we’ll say “YAHTZEE!”

MB: How and why did you approach Dada Life, Tom Staar, Cyberpunkers, The Subs and Ghet’s Noch? for this “ZHM” collaboration?

Mustard Pimp: Well everybody thinks we are The Illuminati since the “Money Shot” vid, so we took advantage of it and they’ve done the remixes.

MB: So Youtube banned your music video for “ZHM” because of “nudity,” while we’re able to watch animals fornicating on Youtube. There must have been unhappy mothers who came across the music video. Who came up with the concept of puppets, sex and fake blood for the music video? The track itself is intense, and I’m assuming the creative direction of the music video was intended to keep up with that intensity, which culminates in none other than death?

Mustard Pimp: Well since I quit school I have troubles to read 4 sentences in a row. I asked my assistant (that I just hired for the occasion because I hadn’t one before to help me out) So uh to make it quick, Behn Fannin made the video and came up with the concept + Youtube = Nazis + that other Mustard Pimp band probably have internet now in their goulag and probably flagged us + I lost it now + what I was talking about?

MB: What do you think of the American fans in comparison to the European fans when it comes to House music?

Mustard Pimp: We don’t make comparisons between fans. We’d just wish to sign more boobs because Kurt Russell did it in 1986 for the release of “Big Trouble in Little China” and we’re kinda jealous since then.

MB: A “free lunch” in terms of music is not a trick like our mothers may have told us, at least today, so in all seriousness, how do you think musicians should make money these days?

Mustard Pimp: Do an awful Dubstep remix of popular tracks on hypem with a lot of reverb and it should do the trick, and well if you don’t like Dubstep then you can still sell shirts like “I DJ’ed an empty party in Saint Louis,” or “I survived that dumbass DJ in that empty party in Perth.” I don’t know, be creative or bet on horses.

MB: Do you have anything that you’re working on and would like to tell your fans about? Will we ever be able to one day listen to the beautiful French voices of yours?

Mustard Pimp: Well the album is done and set to be released at the end of October and I started to learn how to play Jokari (but had an accident and lost an eye).

MB: Do you have any advice for aspiring musicians?

Mustard Pimp: Go to school (unless you’re a friend or in the family of Kurt Russell, then if you can, introduce us to him and I’ll give you advice).


Grab a copy of Mustard Pimp's 'ZHM' EP HERE

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LAIDBACK LUKE'S PLANS FOR 'NATURAL DISASTER'...

Veteran Dutch producer Laidback Luke is known for leveling some of the most explosive live sets in the business, as was certainly the case last month, at the main stage of Boom, Belgium's Tomorrowland Festival. Luke dropped his rendition of Kanye West's, "All of the Lights", "Timebomb" (with Jonathan Mendelson) and crowd favorite "Turbulence" his hit single with Steve Aoki and Lil Jon.

In the pantheon of Laidback Luke bangers, according to the producer himself, "Turbulence," ranks among the greats.

" 'Turbulence' is one of the harder tracks I've made," Luke told MTV News just before his set at Tomorrowland. "Steve is a big influence in that. When we made it, I could see him doing his stage dive and taking shirts off. And for me, when I play that track in my set, it's definitely a peak. I'll be jumping myself too, not taking shirts off or stage-diving, but Steve definitely adds up the energy for me."

With Tomorrowland now behind him, Luke has big plans for the rest of the year: He's linked up with British singer Example for a whopping single called "Natural Disaster," the instrumental mix of which is out already (and the version with Example's vocals has leaked online too). Judging by the TL crowd's response to the song as his set-opener, it certainly makes sense that Luke and Example are hoping to do more with it.

" 'Natural Disaster' is doing really well for me right now," Luke said. "We are shooting a video soon, looking at treatments right now. We have a couple of young directors we are looking at, so it's gonna be great."

And after the success of his remix of Wynter Gordon's "Dirty Talk" last year, he may come to New York to shoot the video for another collaboration with her.

"Wynter came through with a video concept for, 'Speak Up,' " the producer explained. "She wanted to have, like, a block party, and we are gonna shoot it where she grew up in New York."

"All the focus is on, 'Natural Disaster,' for the moment," Luke added, when pressed for details on the new single. "And then we'll go full force on, 'Speak Up.' "

While, like most dance music artists in the summer, he's busy touring the world in the world, but he did drop one sliver of a "maybe," EDM fans will be excited to hear: He just might be working with Steve Aoki again.

"DJs are working hard this summer!" Luke exclaimed. "We'll see after the summer is done, [then] we'll do more studio time."

Buy the tee worn by Laidback Luke *HERE*
Dirty Smart - Big Beats

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(source- www.mtv.com)

DEADMAU5 INTERVIEW...

Dance music’s biggest star deadmau5 takes off the mask for an exclusive chat with 'Time Out Chicago' before his Lollapalooza show...

“How much does your head weigh?” asks Joel Zimmerman, mockingly throwing me the question he gets asked all too often. It’s the end of our conversation and he’s done talking about himself. When Zimmerman dons his much-talked-about mau5head, as he will for thousands of screaming ravers at Lollapalooza on Sunday 7, he transforms into deadmau5, the biggest dance act since Dutch trance megastar Tiësto. Without the cartoonish rodent head, the tatted-up, nail-biting chain smoker looks more like the computer programmer he once was rather than the club-music rock star he is now. The 30-year-old is a frantic ball of energy when I reach him by phone in his Toronto studio. He’s knee-deep in all the gadgetry that will become the laser-light show at Lolla.

On the new live show
“Can you tell us about it?” I ask. “No,” he deadpans, followed by his Beavis-like rapid-fire chuckle. With a little prodding he opens up: “We’re all freaking out. It’s awesome…. Right now we’re working on the actual technology to control all the cool stuff. Otherwise it’s just going to be a lot of expensive stuff up on a stage and everyone’s going to go, ‘Woo… But what does it do?’ And, we’ll go, ‘Well nothing, because we can’t get this fucking thing to work.’ But we’re working on it and I think we’ll figure it out. My career depends on it.”

On being a gearhead
It becomes apparent that the techno toys trump the techno itself. Has he been a dance-music fan since an early age? No. “I’ve been converted. I grew up a little metalhead: Slayer, Megadeth, Metallica, that kind of shit. I was a bandwagon jumper. If everybody in high school listened to it, so did I.” More so than the classic rave-informed tech-electro he makes, it’s the futuristic spectacle of the performance—and the requisite gear—that fuels Zimmerman. “I’m just a little artsy-fartsy computer dude,” Zimmerman says. “It’s not an alter ego. It’s not, Now it’s time for crazy time, put on a mouse head—adventure! I’m the same guy in and out of it.”

On the evolution of the mau5head
“Oh, wow, if I had a nickel for every time I had to tell this fucking story,” Zimmerman mumbles. His most recognizable attribute, the mau5head, has seen seemingly endless permutations: red with bugged-out white eyes, solid black with a glowing mouth, chrome. Most recently it’s become a glorified LED screen with pixelated lights for its eyes and mouth. “It was a 3-D model years and years before it was anything else,” he explains. Then a friend convinced him to turn it into a mask. “I wore it out for my first official deadmau5 gig, and everyone was looking at me like, What the fuck? It was a combination of that, the big brand identity, and the music, that pushed it all forward. It was so tongue-in-cheek, it’s like, No fucking prisoners. Fuck it, if I do this, I do this. If I fail, I’ll go 3-D model my head off till I’m old and gray and still sitting behind a desk. I’m happy either way. Now I can’t take the fucking thing off.”

On the Disney rumors
In May, spoof conspiracy-theory blog tropiganda.com ran a story claiming Disney bought the trademark to deadmau5. “Dude, that is such bullshit,” Zimmerman bellows. “Disney fell asleep at the fucking wheel when I trademarked my shit. I have a thing with a big grin and mouse ears. If you blacked it out, everybody would be like, Oh, Mickey. Someone over at Disney was taking a nap.” The only interaction deadmau5 has actually had with Mickey was a gig in Orlando at Disney World. “I’m thinking that I’m gonna go into the dressing room and the door is gonna slam shut and Goofy and fucking Minnie are gonna come out and I’m going to get a beat down.” He came home bruise-free.

On the fame and fortune
Does it still surprise him? “No, I knew it was going to happen when I was five,” Zimmerman says, dripping with sarcasm. “I’m kidding…. It was a total fucking shock, are you kidding me?” His fans adore him, often sending him their own renditions of the mau5head. As an example, he shares a story from last Christmas. “My mother goes on the Internet and downloads pictures of people with all their mau5heads and she made this massive, fuck-off poster of hundreds of thousands of mice—all different ones. Not a single one is the same. I love that about my image. How many fucking Tiësto fans go to a Tiësto concert with a photo of Tiësto for a mask?”

Buy the tee worn by deadmau5 *HERE*
Dirty Smart - High-Tops

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MICKY SLIM TALKS GLOBAL GATHERING '11...

Global Gathering hit the UK this weekend for it's 11th year of EDM madness.
Global Gathering is an annual dance music festival by Angel Music Group, the company behind Godskitchen, and is a key player in the international festival market. With 10 music festivals across the globe in countries such as Ukraine, Poland, Turkey, Russia, Belarus, Australia and the UK every single event has surpassed all expectations with top class electronic music artists and market leading production.

The festival has been running since 2001 and the concept came about following an unprecedented interest in the opening of Angel Music Group’s new club Code (now renamed Air) the home of Godskitchen, the organisers recognised that there was a real gap in the market and potential to expand out of the club and into the fields, and what an excellent decision that turned out to be….

This year, an array of Dirty Smart artists took to the stage including Funkagenda, Michael Woods, & Micky Slim.

After Slim opened the main stage on Friday, Clara from Kiss FM caught up with the Birmingham bad boy for a quick Q&A.

Check the link below-

http://youtu.be/rmNpgwqQYmo

FYI Clara, its Micky Slim NOT Micky Finn...

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