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CLUBBERIA PODCAST 093 : DAVE TWOMEY
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日本語 http://www.clubberia.com/music/podcasts/93-CB-093-Dave-Twomey/
LISTEN NOW http://www.clubberia.com/music/podcasts/93-CB-093-Dave-Twomey/
INTERVIEW (English)
For this mini-interview we asked Dave to ask some of his friends & contacts from around the world for a question they would like to ask him. The only thing he asked them for was to be original! This what came back…
Q. How has your music been changed by living in Japan so long? (Hernan Cattaneo // DJ/producer www.hernancattaneo.com)
A. Tough question. I think fundamentally my DJ aesthetic has not changed from then (2002) to now, just matured - quite substantially! I still think technical ability is very important, that a key goal is to surprise (to have records no one else has or before they have got them), to entertain is not to sell-out and that every set has the potential to be a journey. Moving from long warm ups with plenty of time to build a story for the likes of your good self to smaller venues or back rooms as the guest or support act definitely changed my style for some time. What I saw as the crowds need for release made me play funkier & faster and to be honest I regret trying to play too many gigs and not being a bit more selective for a few years. However, as my first Labyrinth festival experience in 2007 unfolded I realised my original philosophy to play quality deep & emotional music - boring to some - was something I could play - I just had to find the right gigs & crowds. The success of Mariana so far has proved that 100% right; its still my favourite place to DJ by far.
Q. Bass, mid or treble? (Peter van Hoesen // DJ/producer www.t2x.eu) He he… treble for breakfast, mid for lunch & bass for dinner and beyond
Q. If u could choose any nite, any club, any crowd, where, when, what, to what ppl would u like to play to? (Hiroshi Naka // journalist)
A. I certainly wouldn’t say no if I was invited to play Berghaim in Berlin (!) BUT I do find myself less and less comfortable in this dark & sweaty, smoky environment - but some place out in the open air: mountains, beach or river would be perfect. Nature, a quality sound system & open-minded people, not too many. It’s no secret that the Labyrinth is my favourite place in the world for a few days every September and thats the closest I have found to the perfect party … so far!
Q. With technology giving us multiple ways to play in the last ten years what is the main format you are using to DJ now (vinyl, CDs, Traktor etc etc)? If you have recently changed how does the preparation vary between formats for you before playing out? (DJ Three // DJ/producer www.HallucinationLimited.com)
I now have lots of options open to me when I DJ. I will never stop doing vinyl-only sets, my standard set up over the last 3 years has been vinyl plus Serato (with CDJ’s occasionally) and now most recently I have started preparations to use Ableton for DJing. I don’t see why I shouldn’t have all these methods at my disposal, depending on the gig or my mood. Sometimes nothing beats the tactile simplicity of vinyl, and doing the last hour of any gig on vinyl is an absolute pleasure. But, I like to travel light really. Serato gave me a way to have music no one else in Japan had, when the stocked vinyl was limited, plus stripped the weight I had to carry to gigs. Now I am getting more and more comfortable to use Ableton for my main sets; pre-gig preparations are lengthy having to warp all the music I might play in advance but that has the massive advantage of making me know the music in my ‘box’ better and be more selective with what I get ready. So in a way its a bit like going back to the days of just having one record box. Add to that the flexibility of Ableton with a good midi controller with assignable FX available on each channel & the time formerly spent (wasted?) on beat matching now free for creative mixing and blending.
Do you have any visions of the future of electronic music? (Cio D’Or // DJ/producer www.cio-dor.de) Music like life is about contraction & expansion - sounds will get wilder still in some circles (the music coming out of the dubstep scene in the US?) yet more and more minimal in others (Raster:Noton?). That much is certain I feel. While the world seems to get more and more standardised the one thing that seems to keep surprising is music, and the crazy shit people can do with their instruments & machines. I really hope more ‘live’ acts will take responsibility for themselves & what they do and actually do proper live shows, with a large degree of spontaneity but I am afraid it will only get worse in some circles, and acting like a robot will be in some ways seen as post-post modern expression itself.
Q. How did it feel seeing the news of the earthquakes & tsunami on TV, knowing the only reason you weren’t there was your illness? (Falko Brocksieper // DJ/producer http://www.falkobrocksieper.net)
A. Horrible. I was spending a few days in an ashram in Wales so only saw the full scale of the disaster the Monday after. Seeing the newspaper I was shocked to tears, walking around a small Welsh town in a total daze. My family and friends contacted me immediately to check about my friends in Japan which moved me, but often adding ‘we are so glad you aren’t there right now’ which filled me with seriously mixed emotions; wanting so badly to be in Japan in many ways yet absolutely not at the same time. I felt painful empathy like never before for those affected I suppose due to my time in Japan, yet a distinct helplessness I felt in the pit of my stomach.
Q. What made you want to go to japan in the first place and why do you still want to have your parties in japan (tokyo)? Yuko Asanuma (journalist)
Pure chance really. I was in my final year of a law degree at Bristol University, wondering what the hell to do with my life and wanting at all costs to avoid anything relating to what I had studied! An old friend mentioned there were good employment opportunities for graduates in Japan (I knew nothing except the usual ‘ninja’, ‘samurai’ - thats about it) so I went for it. I love travel and have spent time in many countries including my early childhood in Berlin so I was comfortable moving abroad & the idea of going somewhere so different appealed to me a lot. Plus I thought my chances of being noticed as a DJ were much greater in Japan, which I was absolutely right about; lucky me, I was invited to play the main room of Yellow within 4 months of arriving!
As for why I want to continue doing my events in Japan, its quite simple. I think the right japanese crowd can be the best in the world to DJ for - open-minded, respectful, sometimes very noisy & always energetic! Plus the fact that after 5 years or so of event organisation, with Mariana I feel like I really have something worth holding onto. Mariana gives me a great excuse to come to Japan as many times a year as I can, even through this difficult time in my life.
Many thanks to Hiro & Yuko for their translation and proof-reading!