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 The Bedrock label spearheaded by prog legend JOHN DIGWEED has long been at the forefront of dance music. He tells MONIQUE MITCHELL about his early days in the acid house, and what we can expect in the future from Bedrock.
MONIQUE MITCHELL: Firstly welcome back to Australia. We sure love having you here, you tour here nearly every year; what is it that keeps you coming back?
JOHN DIGWEED: The parties are always great and this time I am doing club show, which I am really excited about doing.
MM: What is your favourite city to play in?
JD: I always love playing any city in Argentina. The passion from the crowd there is something else. I have never had a bad gig in the last 10 years.
MM: I always ask people from overseas if Australians match up to the perception of people travelling here, what do you think?
JD: Well, I have been coming down under for many years and always love my time spent in Australia, the lifestyle food and parties are always amazing. You guys live in an amazing country (it’s snowing here [UK] right now).
MM: What equipment and programming do you use when you tour?
JD: Pretty stripped down now, three pioneer CDJ 200`s, one Allen & Heath DB4 or Xone 92 mixer and a Pioneer EFX 1000 effects unit.
MM: Is there a special item that you take with you on every tour?
JD: Not really, as long as I have my headphones and SD card with my music I am ready to go.
MM: I read your blog last week and was interested to see that you first started out in the acid house scene – who blew your socks off at the time?
JD: At the time, half of the time you never really knew who was playing as you just went there to party. Carl Cox has always been a standout and has been rocking it from the very start.
MM: How would you describe that scene?
JD: It was crazy times, nobody thought it was going to last so we were just going to each party and having fun thinking, this will never last, there were no rulebooks. We were learning as we went along.
MM: How would you describe the journey that your sound has taken since those acid house days?
JD: I have always loved quality music. I’m always looking for underground tracks rather than playing big anthems that everyone else was playing. It’s more rewarding for me to get a crowd going mad to music they have not heard rather than playing top 40 records to get them to put their hands in the air
MM: Who has been your main inspiration to help you get where you are today?
JD: I came from a small town in the UK, so we did not have a big club like the Hacienda nearby, so I just bought music that I liked and played it the way I thought made the most sense. So I never really was inspired by watching a DJ, I just created my own style and sound.
MM: Tell us more about your Bedrock label. How did the idea come about?
JD: It started back in 1999 and has gone through peaks and troughs just like many labels dealing with the downturn in vinyl sales and adjusting to the digital market. The last few years it really seems to be back on top with some great releases including singles, artist albums and mix compilations.
MM: Congrats on the 12th anniversary of the label; what can we expect to see come out of it over the next few years?
JD: We have a new mix compilation called Collaborations mixed by Oliver Lieb and Jimmy Van M and new comp from me and an Underground Sound Of Miami all due out in the next few months as well and some great single releases.
MM: How do you keep your label different and set apart from others in what some might call a ‘saturated market’?
JD: Quality control is the most important thing to maintain – every release needs to be a winner.
MM: You’ve toured with some pretty legendary artists, producers and DJs; which tour has been the most interesting experience for you?
JD: Moby and David Bowie was a lot of fun and it was great to part of that tour.
MM: Are there any up-and-comers that you would suggest for us to keep our ear on?
JD: New producer Richie G from Montreal at 17 years old has some amazing productions already at such a young age. One to watch.
BEDROCK with JOHN DIGWEED happens at The MET on Sunday Feb 12, with support from local guests. Visit www.bedrock.uk.net for more info.
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