John Digweed :: The Exclusive InternetDJ Interview

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John Digweed, having released the ten year anniversary edition of his Renaissance CD set with Sasha and launching a new full-length mix, Fabric20, speaks to InternetDJ about his success, gear set-up and an original track in the works. (InternetDJ)You just recently celebrated the 10 year anniversary of your legendary Rennaisance CD set with Sasha. This also comes at a time when Sasha has released his ambitious "Involver" project and you offer quite an interesting new direction with your fabric mix. How interesting is it for you to look back in time? (John Digweed) The biggest compliment I get is when someone says, "This album is different from your last one." I always try to put projects out there that are different and I also want to have a different sound within the mix. I think you can have a winning formula, but people don’t want to hear it over and over again. For me it’s always about finding exciting music. There’s some exciting music out there right now that’s a little bit more up, a little funkier - It all goes with the times. I think the music that was around at Twilo suited that sound system and era, and now we are in a different era, and this is the music I really like. (InternetDJ)London’s Fabric is a club that is largely known for displaying the talents of more underground DJs and genre’s. When you play at Fabric, do you need to play a little bit differently than at a place that usually hosts full-on house music? (John Digweed) I think the thing with Fabric is that the sound system is so good. I buy so much music and sometimes I get to a gig and can’t play it because the sound system isn’t quite up to it or it’s not right for that venue. When you get to Fabric, it’s just perfect for everything. It’s just one of those dream come true clubs where the mood is just right, the sound is right, the crowd’s amazing, so you can go in there and play the really cool stuff alongside the banging stuff. There’s something about playing somewhere that has a sound system that brings records to life – they just sound amazing. (InternetDJ)How did the idea to do a Fabric CD come about? (John Digweed) I’ve been playing there since it opened, twice a year. Keith [Reilly], the owner I’ve know for many years. He’s an amazing guy and had a vision of how he wanted the club right from the start. I admire what he’s done with the club really pushing underground music. They really think about the line-up of the club and how each room works. The fact that it’s still the most popular club in London, if not the UK, after 5 years shows that the formula works. When Keith asked me to mix a CD for Fabric I jumped at the chance because I think the whole series is cool and the way they market things is fantastic. Also, because I’m a usually doing stuff on Bedrock or other labels, this gives me a chance to put myself into a totally different camp and to let people hear what I do. (InternetDJ) If this CD wasn’t specifically mixed for Fabric, would it sound different? (John Digweed) I don’t think so. Musically I’m into all of these tracks. Obviously, I wanted to represent what I play at Fabric, but I think musically I’ve changed – a bit more up, a bit more funky, a lot more bass driven – it’s definitely a change of vibe for me at the moment. (InternetDJ)We hear you were in LA for NYE…what was that like for you? (John Digweed) It was fantastic. It was a big outdoor event and I think they had just under 12,000 attendees over the age of 21! The crowd was solid right through to the end, not wanting to leave at the end and I had a real blast. On Monday, I did a charity thing for the tsunami appeal at the Monday Night Social and that was a lot of fun as well. I think they turned about 3 or 400 people away and it raised about $5,000 dollars for the appeal. (InternetDJ)How quickly did the event come together? (John Digweed) They asked me on NYE and I said “Sure, put me down.” I posted up on my website right away and sent out e-fliers. It was a great gig to do bec…

Author
Michael Bordash
Published
2005-01-07
Category
Interviews
Source
Originally published on InternetDJ.com and restored from the Internet Archive.

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