The cat’s out of the bag. New album forthcoming from the Suara main man
Interview : Dan Prince
Hey dude welcome to DMCWORLD, where in the world are you right now?
“Home Dan. Barcelona. Making a break from the studio to answer these questions. Then some gym…and football time. Even if I’m not a Barça supporter, I love to watch football. Today we have a dope match. Two of the best teams in the world. Unfortunately Agüero is not gonna perform tonight. He’s one of my fav players.”
Yup it’s a massive night of football tonight with Manchester City taking on Barcelona. If it wasn’t for a bad injury when you were 17, who knows, the world of music could have lost you to sport. Any regrets?
“Football was my full-time passion, almost an obsession. But something similar is happening with music right now. I guess music was the perfect substitute to football. Anyway I’m sure I’m a better DJ than football player!”
We love your approach as a producer, you are one the few artists out there who admits to be happing taking on a different musical genre every day; one day you are content doing a techno tune for Cocoon, the next conjuring up a 80 BPM experimental track. Is this just because you have such an eclectic taste in music or because you just like surprising people…?
“I always say I have a very eclectic mind in music terms, although probably 99% of the people out there don’t know it because many of my productions are techno or tech house tunes. That’s why writing an album that gives me the chance to open my musical borders in terms of production.”
How important was your mother’s Brazilian roots to your tastes of music?
“I’ve listened to a lot of bossanova, samba and latin music at home because my family spent around 30 years in Brazil. I guess I love percussive music because that.”
Dude, been checking out your Facebook site – there is one very cool chef in your household – that you?
“Hahaha, no! I had the Sunday off and I spent a very good time with my friends. We ordered an awesome paella from a top restaurant. I cook but I cannot do a paella like that. It was delicious.”
2013 was an incredible year for your magnificent Suara imprint sweeping Resident Advisor’s most charted label of the year and always all over The Buzz Chart and Beatport. What are the next plans release wise for Suara…?
“We have a lot of big records upcoming from top artists – Dosem, Tube & Berger, Technasia, Edu Imbernon and Kaiserdisco amongst others. We’re also doing a lot of Suara Nights over the world. Good times.”
Let’s talk about the label. You admitted that after the success of 2013 you want to push Suara more as a brand with label parties and even a clothes line. So where are we at with the brand extension, what are the plans…?
“We just opened the Suara Store, we’re starting to run Suara PodCats and looks like Suara is gonna have very nice Ibiza season. 2014 is gonna be even better than 2014 for the brand.”
Well the biggest news of 2014 however is all about YOU and your debut artist album you just mentioned. So, where are you at with it, what can you tell us about the direction/collabs/timescale etc.?
“I’ve been thinking about the album thing for ages…and now I have finally got enough courage to do it. It’s gonna be quite different to my usual records. Some of the tracks will be clubby, but the main of the album is just for listening. I wanna do a proper ALBUM. An album like in the 90s. Not a collection of club tracks but something that you can hear in 10 years and say, hey, this shit it’s still good. Hip hop, house, pop, techno, trip hop…everything I like or liked is gonna be reflected there. Not an easy thing, but it’s my thing, my first album, and it’s gonna be exactly like I want.”
What is the current top 10 you are spinning?
01 The Deepshakerz – Acid Train (Coyu Edit) (Soon on Suara)
02 Coyu & Ramiro Lopez – That’s Not Happening (Soon on Bedrock)
03 Jewel Kid – My Reaction (Vox Mix) (Suara)
04 Ramiro Lopez – Clunk (Coyu Remix) (Soon on Waveform)
05 ME & Her & David Keno – Walking Boots (Suara)
06 Charles Ramirez & Baum – Fire Alarm (Coyu Edit) (Suara)
07 Vario Volinski – Falling In Love (Soon on Suara)
08 Sonic Future – L.O.V.E. (Soon on Suara)
09 Taras Van De Voorde – Chasing Autumns (Dosem Remix) (Soon on Suara)
10 Metodi Hristov – Earth (Coyu Edit) (Suara)
Something you said on Facebook last week when discussing piracy…”Some people would say I’m a hippie but I’m not a hippie, I just feel music is for everybody, not only for rich people.” Discuss…
“Sometime ago I played in a South American country. When I arrived to the club my laptop died. I had to play with the laptop of the resident DJ and he had many of my tracks…but downloaded illegally. He saved my night thanks to the piracy. The country where that DJ lives is quite poor, he cannot spend 40e per week (around 20 tracks) for downloading music, but he still supports me playing my music. And this is only an example. I’m not saying piracy is a good thing, I’m just saying that I wanna get supported by the people. If you have money, pay for my music. If you don’t have money support my music.”
Cool. You have had a busy start to 201 4 behind the ones and twos, where have some of the stand out gigs been for you these past few weeks?
“A lot of the gigs were top ones. The Suara Night in Reverse (Madrid) was off the hook. Same with Albeniz (Gijón, Spain), Watergate (Berlin), Gate Clubbing (Corredoria, Italy) or my new DJ residency at Octagon (Seoul) where I’m gonna play every 3 months. Was a great start of 2014.”
2013 was all about ‘Insane’ at Pacha in Ibiza with John Digweed and co. You must have been happy with your residency last year, are you back for more this summer at one of the world’s finest nightclubs?
“If I were a prisoner my lawyer would say: I’m not allowed to say anything within out consulting him first. It’s a similar situation with me at the moment. My manager doesn’t allow me to speak about Ibiza yet. But you will get news about me regarding Ibiza very soon. Promise.”
Take that as a yes then! Anyway, pretend you have a night off in Ibiza, what club and DJ do you go and see?
“Insane, Enter, Carl Cox, Cocoon, Used & Abused, Music On, Defected, Paradise, Technasia at Blue Marlin, Ants, something cool on Sankeys…there are tons of good parties out there.”
Your favourite beach and restaurant on the white isle?
“I love the North of the island. S’Illot des Renclí is one of my faves. It is a very little “cala” for 50-60 people with an amazing restaurant. If you love paellas and a little relaxed place, you must go there.”
What is the best and worst thing about living in Barcelona?
“I love the big cities but I don’t like to live in the centre of that big city. That’s why I live 15 mins away on the South of Barcelona, beach side. No traffic, no madness, only birds and the waves of the sea.”
You spent some time in another big musical city, Berlin…?
“Some people think I was living in Berlin for a while but it’s not true. My friend Edu Imbernon did though. I have just spent weeks there, but not more than 7 days. I couldn’t live in Berlin, it’s too grey from October to April. I need the sun, the sea, the heat. But I still love Berlin, best city in terms of cultural life.”
Who was the last great new/unknown/emerging DJ/producer you have seen/heard…?
“Vario Volinski. He’s gonna release his first EP ever on Suara. And I bet it’s gonna be one of the biggest releases of the year. Not only on Suara but overall.”
An interesting thing you said in an interview 2 years ago when talking about Spain…”We tend to prefer a strange foreign name than a Spanish one, you can check the line-ups from clubs and festivals and you will see very few Spanish names there. Anyway, the Spanish artists are fighting all day long… to change this situation.” 2 years on, have things changed?
“Not too much Dan. Similar situation. The economic crisis is helping to the promoters to bet for local talents…but only because they are cheaper, not because they feel they dserve it.”
It is a year ago to the week that you released your Fatboy Slim ‘Right Here Right Now’ Remix. You produced a mighty fine rework of a timeless tune, tell me, what was Norman’s reaction to the mix…?
“He roadtested it the same day I sent to Skint at a party near to Valencia. I heard it was one of the biggest moments of the night. I was very worried because Norman had the last word…but he liked it. So all good. I’m very proud to have had the chance to remix one of the biggest songs of the electronic music history.”
And finally dude, we couldn’t let you go without mentioning your other passion outside of music…cats! Your Suara Foundation helps find, rehome and basically look after our feline friends out on the street, your girlfriend is a veterinary nurse which must have helped develop this side of your life! What has been the most heart warming rescue your foundation has been involved with…?
“All the rescues are heart warming and emotive. It’s all about love to the animals and give them back something because animals help us to be better people and cats help Suara to be a well know label. The Suara Foundation makes me proud. Help is the nicest thing someone can do.”
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