Published
Wed, Sep 6, 2006, 20:35
- The Poker Flat don is at the top of his game, but you don’t get this far without a ruthless streak. Or do you? Steve Bug talks to RA.
For Steve Bug the show must go on, even if that means keeping an airsickness bag beside his decks. “I usually show up to every gig unless I am almost dead, lying on my back and can't move,” says Bug. “Even if I have to puke all night I'll do it. If there's any chance that I can make it, I'll do it.”
Quiz time. How many gigs has Steve Bug missed in his career? Here’s a hint: fewer than Sasha. In an era of “lost” passports, twenty-four hour mystery illnesses and temper tantrums, Bug’s professionalism is refreshing. It’s a work ethic that’s enabled him to build a little empire: these days Bug runs three respected record labels (Poker Flat, Dessous and Audiomatique) and DJs top of the bill at the best clubs around the globe. The minimal house sound that he’s been championing since the late nineties is now slowly bubbling overground: latest Poker Flat release ‘The Last Resort’ by Trentemoller even threatens to break into non-dance markets. And Poker Flat are now up to 12” number seventy-five with no sign of slowing down yet. But hang on. You don’t get this far in the notoriously shark-infested waters of the music biz without a ruthless streak, do you?