Massive productions, he remixes Rihanna, can play ping pong and his wife is a superchef. Sorted.
Gregor, welcome to DMCWORLD. Your life in music started early, like so many dance music artists of today, you began by learning a classical instrument. With you it was the piano. Was this a case of parents pushing you into this, or were you genuinely interesting in learning the ivory skills?
“I always liked music and my grandfather used to play the piano – he was cool so I thought I had to play the piano too! I just didn’t like practicing while my friends we’re playing outside, so my parents had to push me a bit there yeah…”
Love how you were first enticed by dance music. Now, most of us in the UK will remember our school discos as a time of cheesy chart music and awkward slow dances with girls really not interested in a snog. You sir though were treated to the aural pleasure of hearing Royal House’s ‘Can You Party for the first time! Talk us through that acid house debut, what was going through your head…?
“I wouldn’t call it acid house, but yeah I guess listening to house music is part of a dutch upbringing! Ps. we got plenty of the cheesy stuff too.”
You borrowed your father’s Commodore Amiga to begin making music soon after – what did he think of your potential career choice?
“Both my parents have always supported my career to the fullest. As long as I made sure my grades were good they were fine with it. They knew I was very very serious and although it took me quite a while before really getting some recognition (almost 10 years..) they always got my back.”
Many tracks followed under different monikers but it wasn’t until ‘Can’t Stop Playing’ crashed into the Dutch Top 40 in 2004 that the world really sat up and took notice. Why do you think a while for you to break through to the global stage?
“Three reasons Dan…
1. I didn’t DJ at first. A DJ to me was just a guy playing some records. I wanted to be the guy making them. However, I leant that the combination of both can actually make you a better producer. It wasn’t until I started DJing that I started having success with my releases.
2. I didn’t go out much, I was too young when I started. I remember being 18 and not getting into the legendary Roxy in Amsterdam. Every time the bouncer had another reason not to let me in…well at least he was doing it in a friendly way.
3. I had no clear musical direction. Ever since the beginning I wanted to combine soul, latin and jazz into my electronic house and techno based music. However, all the DJs in the clubs that I went to, played either very loud and aggressive techno (the type that sounds as if you were standing between two passing trains going in opposite directions) or trance. I just didn’t feel that. I tried, but obviously you are never going to become good at something that doesn’t really hit you. So at the end of the 90s I started discovering Mike Dunn, Masters at Work, Armand Van Helden followed by Gregory, Martin Solveig, Bob Sinclar and Mousse T. At last I had direction. ‘Can’t Stop Playing’ was actually meant as an electro funk kinda experimental track. I had the melody lying around but got stuck. Then a year later my friend Dr. Kucho heard it while visiting me, he loved it, we finished it and I had my 1st hit.”
What is the current top 10 you are spinning?
“Right now I’m on my first US / Canada tour so my tracks are quite EDM sounding. If I was in say, South Africa or Angola right now, the chart would look totally different.
Anyway, here it is:
- 1.Gregor Salto & Funkin Matt – Foxy
- 2.Melody In Harmony (Original Mix)
- 3.Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike ‘Wakanda’
- 4.Miss Nude (Vocal Mix) Sebaxtian
- 5.GTA, Digital Lab, Henrix ‘Hit It’ (Original Mix)
- 6.Funkin Matt ‘Elevate’
- 7.U & Me (Original Mix)
- 8.Gregor Salto & DJ Chuckie ‘Toys Are Nuts 2013’
- 9.Wiwek ‘Magua’
- 10.Gregor Salto & Kit ‘Otro Dia)
2006 was an important year for you, it was the year you teamed up with the madman DJ Chuckie for a series of massive tunes released through your G-Rex Music label. How did the collaboration begin and how did your styles work together?
Well Holland is a small country so once you start touring you see everyone a lot. I remember the first time I saw Chuckie, it was at Slam FM in Amsterdam. He played a set mixing urban, Caribbean and house tunes and I was thinking: that guy’s doing something fresh. So I told him let’s hook up and we did. A funny detail: we wanted to do a vocal song so he brought Eva Simons with him. Unfortunately the idea didn’t work out (she’s a great singer though) and late that night we stripped the whole track down, started almost entirely over and Toys Are Nuts was born…”
A massive tune of yours and Funkin Matt’s is currently blowing up everywhere, ‘Foxy’ out on Mixmash. Talk us through the history of the tune…
“I keep telling everyone, Mats is the most undervalued producer in ‘electro’ right now. He’s in a league of his own, problem is that most DJs don’t listen with their ears – but with their eyes on the charts. I met Mats through Sidney Samson and later Mats joined our Dadadam label group with his label Fjordin. Last year he had a gig in the Netherlands. I invited him to my studio, we worked from the morning till late at night and had the first outline for Foxy. Watch out for this man, he’s dangerous with the beats!”
What is next on the studio release agenda…?
“For Miami we did a compilation of a lot of remixes and stuff that I did last year. Many people were asking me for my Rihanna – Cheers remix, but they couldn’t get it anywhere. So now we put together a compilation on G-REX with many of these tunes.”
Favourite DJ gig from over the winter?
“I played on the breathtaking island of Azores. I spent a whole week chilling and then got the crowd jumping.”
You have remixed some major artists over the years; Rihanna, Rita Ora, George Michael, Bob Sinclar, Jennifer Lopez and Loleatta Holloway to name but a few. What remix have you had the most fun with and what do you think has been your finest rework to date?
“I think my remix for Rihanna – Diamonds is the best for 3 reasons:
1. Rihanna is cool.
2. It showed that I can work as a pop producer too, which is something I’ve always wanted to do. It really felt like a relief not having to play by the ‘EDM’ rules; meaning I didn’t have to pitch up vocals, adjust tempo, make big build ups etc. – we could just focus on creating a nice song.
3. It was featured on her album, so that was quite nice for my profile.
However, I must say remixing George Michael was a huge honor. I was a big fan of Wham as a kid and I most heavily respect him as an artist, composer and songwriter.”
You are heading off to Miami WMC in a few weeks for another crazy Conference. What are you looking forward to the most…?
“It will be my first Ultra Festival gig ever. I can’t wait!”
How do you expect WMC to change in 2013 now that Ultra have extended it by a week?
“It will probably only get bigger and crazier.”
It’s twelve months on from EDM really started to go massively mainstream in the US. Looking back for a second, how do you think the scene has progressed/digressed in the States over the last year?
“I could argue for both. However, change is good whether in the short or in the long run. Perhaps the most important thing the whole EDM rise will achieve is that many young kids will grab their father’s computer (or Iphone – things have changed…) and do just what I did years ago. Some of them will be doing really cool stuff in the future.”
What are the big festivals / summer gigs you are looking forward to right now?
“Well this whole North America tour is really an eye opener for me. I’m coming to places I’ve never been before and see how differently people react on different kinds of dance music. This whole tour, not only the big gigs but also the smaller ones, is a great experience.”
Who are the producers from around the world you are giving high fives to at the moment?
Sooo many.. Here we go:
Wiwek, Funkin Matt, Roul & Doors, Chocolate Puma, Afrojack, DJ Madskillz, Mastiksoul, Franky Rizardo, Sidney Samson, Chuckie, Laidback Luke, Lafuente, Mothafied Beats, Biggi, Undercontrol, Djeff, Dj Fresh SA, Euphonic, Liquideep, Soundriders, Genairo Nvilla, Michael Mendoza, R3hab, Dave Lambert, Boddhi Satva, Jojo Flores, Stefan Vilijn, Rancido, Leroy Styles, Buddha, Bingo Players, East n Young, Nari Milani, Firebeatz, Joey Suki, Jason Cheiron, Miguel O’Syrah, Tony FItz, Afrobros, Marl Dex, Chris Rox, Steff da Campo, Faya, Bryan Dalton, Franklin Rodriguez, Benny Rodrigues, Wesley Monteiro, Cincitys Jazz, D-Rashid, Phunk lechique, Eric Santana and I probably forgot another 100.”
Not many people know this, but Gregor Salto is really good at?
“Well not really really good, but I’m quite good at playing Ping Pong. My wife’s an amazing cook though, I mean in a superchef style.”
Come on, everyone has one. What is your guilty pleasures record that you secretly love?
“Ohh man there are so many. I grew up in the 80s. I could give you a list of 100 tracks that I shouldn’t like but love. Okay here’s one…
Five Star ‘Rain Or Shine’.
What are your thoughts on the state of the club scene in your home country in 2013, do you still get to play out there much?
“Holland is always moving when it comes to dance. I still play a whole lot in NL and it keeps me sharp. People are so critical, there is so much competition, you just gotta stay on top of your game.”
What are your plans for Gregor Salto LIVE in 2013?
“I want to do a huge charity event for youth education in South Africa together with SA based label SoulCandi and the Tutudesk foundation. Let’s hope we’ll be able to pull it off.”
And finally, what is the best piece of advice you can give to the thousands of aspiring producers reading this wanting to follow in your footsteps?
1. Work hard.
2. Work harder.
3. Do you what you like, not what others like (at least not too much).
4. Try to be different, please.
5. Don’t sign deals with people that give you this ‘I don’t know if I can trust this guy’ feeling.
http://www.gregorsalto.com
http://www.g-rex.com
http://www.youtube.com/user/djgregorsalt…
http://www.youtube.com/user/grexreleases…
