Danny Howells and his Dig Deeper night will return to the capital later this month.
It will have been almost six months since Danny Howells last set up in London for one of his epic solo sessions. Ministry Of Sound was the last venue to play host to the event back in June. Its comeback on November 22nd, however, is set to turn the party's premise on its head. Taking place at the 200 capacity Notting Hill Arts Club, Howells will eschew guests and warm-ups for a seven-hour Sunday evening session. We grabbed Danny via email to fill us in on the Dig Deeper tale, and tell us what to expect from his smallest scale UK gig for many moons.What was the initial idea behind the Dig Deeper parties?
The idea came during one of my long promotional tours of America years back when I was promoting one of my CDs and playing two-hour sets all over the place and getting a bit bored of them. I'd always enjoyed playing from open to close in places such as Arc in New York, so decided to start a night where I could bring some of those all-night vibes to different places around the world.
Are there any specific musical areas you are able to dip into during these seven hour sets that you otherwise wouldn't?
I think the main attraction of these nights for me is the fact I'm really able to delve into the deeper side of things which, sadly, is not always possible at regular gigs. Quite often the role of headline DJ is influenced, to a certain extent, by whether the opening DJ is doing an appropriate job or not. By doing the opening myself I get to really create my own vibe.
What prompted you to downsize the party for the latest edition?
When I used to go to Lazy Dog years ago, I always said that a venue like the Arts Club would be my dream venue if I ever did my own night. I never really intended Dig Deeper to be about Saturday nights in big clubs, but I suppose that kind of just happened! It's going back to my original plan, and I hope people will come out for it.
Is this a permanent departure from the city’s large established venues on Saturday nights?
I don't know really, but when it comes to pulling power, I'm no PVD, and you tend to find the bigger venues start panicking when they're not packed to the rafters two parties in a row. I enjoy guesting at the bigger clubs, but in terms of Dig Deeper, I think it needs to be held at places where there isn't that main room Saturday night pressure and where the focus can be totally on the music and having a good time.
What have you got coming up?
This, obviously! Up until New Year I'm playing out only at weekends, then I'm off to Australia and Asia for a few weeks, then an exciting American tour coming up leading up to WMC. Label-wise, I'll be releasing maybe one or two more releases this year backed with some great remixes that have been coming in. Also I'm about to start working on my next mix comp for release early next year.
Tickets are available now directly through RA Tickets.