Thu, 31 Mar 2011 / Post a comment
Hello Russ, do you usually prepare meticulously the evening party or play carefree?
A mixture. You have to do some planning if your playing tracks you haven’t played before to get a feel for how they start and finish and an idea where they’re gonna fit. As for the set in general I typically have different blocks of tunes which are of a certain direction, say for example one block would be picking up the pace a bit. Depending on the crowd you can then pick the point in time when it’s best to pick things up, when that time comes i’d play that block which would typically consist of four or five tracks which mix well and steadily gain in pace. One thing that people always underestimate is the ability for a great mix to do some serious disco damage. If you can find two records which when mixed a certain way provide a key change, say one bass comes out as the other slams in in a lower key, that can cause a crowd reaction as big as the peak of the tune. Though you obviously need to prepare in advance to do that.
Do you need information about the place you will play, the type of audience and what pulls in that particular club?
It of course helps in some situations, though there is an element of doing what your known for since the people that matter are the people who’ve come there to see you. Of course if no one’s digging it then you need to rethink!
Do you ever dwell on the DJ who opened the evening or would you rather go in and impose your sound?
Similar to my answer above, you have to sometimes put your faith in the promoter and hope you’ve been booked because there is an audience for your sound. If the warm up DJ is doing something wildly different to what you’re about to do then he’s doing his job wrong. Again, if it turns out the warm up DJ was bang on and everyone hates your sound then another rethink is needed!
Do you ever think “I definitely want to play this music tonight”?
Of course. At least half my set is surefire definite plays. Amazing tunes are few and far between, if you choose not to play them you are doing the crowd a disservice. It’s about them, not you. Ok you may be sick of them but as long as they’re still fresh then it’s your job to entertain. The other half will depend on the vibe of the club of course, but some tunes can be so good any vibe of any club will dig them.
When you play are you afraid of making a mistake or you’re always sure of your performance?
To be honest once everything is set up right I don’t really think about it. Alcohol helps . Though since I’ve started using a Traktor I’m more concerned that it will fuck up than I will. When I’m setting it up I’m literally praying to the Traktor gods that they’ll grant me use of their software that night without any surprises. They don’t always answer my prayers.
What do you do with the promoters and the public, you prefer to interact with all or you just want your space?
I like interaction. I don’t mind people asking tracks, people dancing in the booth, I get lonely otherwise . People who are off their heads is a different matter, sometimes u really do have to be firm and then quite rude if they persist since if they knock a drink on the mixer then it’s your fault for not kicking them out sooner. Never mix loose wires and drunk people!
