London’s Egg awaits the return of our greatest musical playboy
Interview : Dan Prince
Dimitri welcome back to DMCWORLD, another crazy summer for you! Where in the world are you right now?
“Hi Dan, I’m finally back in Paris in the studio where I get to work on the stuff I had to push back due to all of the summer gigs.”
Defected Records sent out a wonderful email this week congratulating themselves about finally cracking it at Booom! in Ibiza. That was quite some night huh?
“I was very happy that they stood as the best party at Booom! and proud to have been there too. The club is quite unusual by Ibiza standards, and I’m very happy the way it came out.”
What are your thoughts on the white isle this summer, do you still love playing in Ibiza?
“Like everywhere else, when you get to play in the right spot, it’s always a great experience. There’s a lot on offer in terms of clubs, and ultimately, the clubbers have to pick and choose what’s best for them.”
What is the current top 10 you are spinning…
Alejandro Paz – El House (Comeme)
Late Night Tuff Guy – Do I Believe In God (Prince – Controversy LNTG Edit)
FCL Vs Chic – It’s You Vs I Want Your Love (DFP mashup) (Defected/WEA)
Chic – Everybody Dance (Zimmer re-edit)
DJ Rocca – Pizza On Wednesday (Dimitri From Paris Is Nightdubbin’) (File Under Disco)
Breakbot – You Should Know (The Swiss remix) (Ed Banger)
The Swiss – Elouisa (Original) (Kitsuné)
Peter & The Magician – On My Brain (Partyfine)
Eurocrats – Black Hole Bass (TBC)
Erodisco Unlimited – Disco Shake (TBC)
You also hit Tel Aviv for the very first time two weeks ago, what were your thoughts on that crazy city?
“I couldn’t stay long unfortunately, but I really enjoyed playing at The Block, a club owned and designed by a DJ, so it doesn’t get much better than this as venues go.”
June saw your Dimitri From Paris ‘Back In America Tour’…dance music has finally exploded over there, how did you find the crowds over there on your 7 date trip, would you say they are more educated these days?
“I’ve been touring in the US for 15 years to music loving crowds, the whole EDM craze is not something I’m part of. And same with the venues I play at. It may or may not drive a new generation to other less manufactured forms of dance music, time will tell…”
You fell into the art of DJing because you needed to make some money and thought that perhaps your beloved vinyl could start paying you back! Do you miss the days of vinyl?
“Now as a DJ, we have much more tools allowing me to be more creative than ever playing music live. For as much as I still enjoy looking at a record cover, I love the music more than a sleeve containing a piece of plastic it’s engraved on.”
You created your first remix using a trusty old cassette deck. Today we are seeing teenagers creating number one records on their laptops. Have the new producers of today got it too easy?
“The tools won’t make you creative, period. For a few number one records there are zillions of mediocre (at best) recordings. The positive side of this is that you can find genuine and heartfelt music on sites like Soundcloud. The downside is there is way much more to sift through to pick what you like.”
London is bracing itself for a massive night at Egg in September with yourself headlining. This club is on fire at the moment, you looking forward to it?
“Absolutely, my career really started with London rather than Paris in the late 90s and I have had some of my best gigs there lately, so very much excited indeed.”
When you used to come to London in the 80s to buy records you once claimed that you were given bad treatment because you were French, a sort of ‘oh you French guys know nothing about club music’ vibe. Could you see our point of view back then???
“No…but it gave me,= and a few other French fellas, enough energy to overcome that. So I guess a thank you Blighty for the kick in our butt is of the order.”
A famous quote from you : “If you’re honest and genuine, people will see that. If you’re just making music because it’s trendy, people will see through you straight away.” Do you think there are many within dance music guilty of that?
“Sure there are, and not only in dance music. It’s all down to what people ultimately look to get for their money. Sometimes they don’t need (want) to look at the tricks behind who’s entertaining. I believe the audience for that kind of entertainment always existed whatever form it took. My only gripe is although we’re all named “DJs” I sometimes cringe at being seen as the same kind as the not DJing ones…”
Fact or fiction? You don’t listen to music at home?
“Not as most would do, I go THROUGH music non stop, but listening to a whole album is a very active thing for me and mobilizes all my attention, Unlike most do I’m totally unable to walk/run/cook/talk etc AND listen to music at the same time. When at home, I work so much in my studio with music on non stop, that I don’t take the time to stop everything and just listen to something the way I imagine others would.”
What is coming out next from you release wise…?
“Well, I’m putting the finishing touches to various, scheduled for not so distant releases a remix for my Erodiscotique partner DJ Rocca out on File Under Disco and a new Eurocrats my collaborative project with Aeroplane. There are also a few Disco classics remixes the pipeline, but I don’t wanna jinx anything before I get my hands on the tapes.”
Who are some of the producers you are giving high fives to at the moment?
“Relatively new on my radar would be: Alejandro Paz, DJ Rocca, Late Night Tuff Guy, Kay Tranada, Skream, Shook, The Swiss, Yuksek…”
And finally, not many people know this, but Dimitri from Paris is really good at…
“I’m the family cook at home, and I’m known to spend as much as 3 days cooking a stew (and it’s worth every minute).”
http://www.dimitrifromparis.com/
http://soundcloud.com/dfp
www.egglondon.net
