The new superstar of house music
April 30th sees your brand new EP coming out on your own Pigeonhole This! label, talk us through ‘John’s Poem/Hear U Calling…
“In the spirit of the label this EP consists of two totally different tracks but I put them together because there is a strong vein of “Epic” running through them, both have been the swansongs of my sets of late and something I can drop when I hear that “one more tune” chant!”
An incredible few years for you – Ibiza, America, teaming up with major artists. Let’s go back to the beginning though…when did you first start to get interested and the desire to become a DJ and producer begin?
“I was initially attracted to DJing by watching Fatboy Slim play, I just loved the energy and party spirit he had when he played. Production came much later, almost 10 years into my DJ career when I was asked to do a Radio 1 Essential Mix and I realised I had nothing of my own to put into it and it was just a kind of a wake up call that I’m so glad I got!”
What was your first break in the music industry?
“I worked on a bar in a club and the DJ didn’t turn up one night and I had a few CD’s so I jumped on and somehow got the job even though I was awful!”
Your incredible Afterparty night goes from strength to strength up in Yorkshire. What have been some of your highlights?
“Standout bookings have been Armand Van Helden, 2manydjs and of course Fatboy Slim, but the biggest gig was recording that first Radio 1 Essential Mix live from the club with Pete Tong himself there to intro me on! Wow!”
When did you first set foot on Ibiza where you now live all summer long, what were your first impressions?
“I first went there on a holiday (the year before I started playing there) and, to be honest I hated it. I think I just went to all the wrong places, stayed in a bad hotel and just spent a lot of money seeing things that didn’t really appeal to me. I went back the year after to play a one off show at Ibiza Rocks and immediately saw the side of Ibiza that I was looking for and haven’t looked back since.”
How did the Ibiza Rocks role happen, what a job hosting and residing on the biggest live show of the season?
Best job in the world, well I only went out to do that one off show but I picked up the mic and introduced a band properly and they realised that was something that was missing from their events, so Andy Mckay and Shane asked me if I’d consider staying for the full season as a resident and host so I cleared my diary and accepeted!”
Ibiza it seems is changing every season. This year whilst the techno nights are at war with one another, there is yet another massive line up of chart live artists flying in. Even Capital Radio are getting in on the game. What are your thoughts on the state of the white isle in 2012?
“It’s great that something we started, and slowly carefully built is becoming a huge part of what happens on the island now, it just means that there are more like minded people around to come to our shows. It’s a shame when people come to the island and copy our model exactly and try to go directly up against us because there is room for everyone and more than enough talent to go around, but we will continue to pioneer fresh talent at our shows because people trust that the support acts on our bill this year will be the headliners at other events next summer.”
Who are the acts you are looking forward to the most this year?
“It’s great to have Kasabian back, almost unbelievable that they will be playing such an intimate show to be honest. New Order will be amazing! This year we’re also doubling the shows and adding a new weekend gig W.A.R which is more DJ led, the atmosphere in that hotel venue is unrivaled on the island so I cant wait to see people like Major Lazer in there too!”
Which beach and restaurant would you recommend to an Ibiza virgin this summer?
“If you want to push the boat out then try Atzaro and put a few hours aside, it’s set in a beautiful garden and has a great cocktail and wine menu which is a must for me.”
“DJing should be about a live and visually exciting performance, not the back of a laptop!” – what was behind that quote and tell us about your DJ performance, what do you bring to night…
“I’m not hating on laptops, I love my macbook and take it everywhere…except the stage. I just feel that it looks a bit boring watching somebody constantly with their heads down in the screen and what really winds me up is when somebody bills themselves as “Live” when they have Ableton and a controller, that couldn’t possibly be less live in my opinion. I try to bring as much actual live action to the stage as possible, as many CDJs as i can get the promoter to provide and a couple of samplers / synths so every performance is unique to that crowd. I also don’t really beleive in planning out a set because you never know what kind of a crowd you’re going to be facing until you’re stood up there. I love Pioneer’s rekordbox software because en route to the show I can take an educated guess of what kind of a gig I’m on my way to and put together a folder of music, but I can always flip it if neccesary and call on old playlists or archive tracks.”
A big season of festivals coming up, I was on the crowd at Global last year, loved the moment you were going to scratch with your foot when the link cable fell out…
“Hahaha! Yeah I got a bit cocky there! I now take 3 usb sticks with me to shows because of that exact incident! I love festival time, Snowbombing was unreal last week! I’m probably most excited about the Hideout Festival in Croatia this summer, last year was so good that I’ve cleared my diary for 4 days this time around so I can stay for the whole thing and play more shows, plus it’s sold out already!”
What other outdoor fests are in your diary for this summer?
“It’s still quite early so there’s quite a few I’m actually not allowed to announce yet, also I’m spending a lot more time in America this summer so won’t be at things like Global this year but here are the ones in my diary for Europe right now:
Musicland Festival (Madrid), Big Beach Boutique 5 (Brighton), Beach Break Live, Boardmasters (Newquay), Peace & Love Festival (Sweeden), Hideout (Croatia), Pukkelpopp (Belgium), Leeds Fest – also I’m curating my own 4000 cap dance stage at Brownstock Festival in Chelmsford in September and wait til you see that line up!!”
What is the current top 10 you are spinning?
In no particualr order…
1. Joy O – Elipsis
2. Adam F – Circles (Eats Everything Remix)
3. Hard Drive – Deep Inside (Mak Booty)
4. Doory Feat Reverend & The Makers (Skype @ Night)
5. Mele – Beamer
6. Lobster Boy – Mosquito
7. Doorly – Hear U Calling
8. Grandmaster Flash & Doorly – I’ve Got Something To Say
9. Jimmy Edgar – This One’s For The Children
10. Extra Curricular – Last Day
You have remixed some mighty acts including The Prodigy, Dizzee Rascal and Basement Jaxx – what rework did you have the most fun with?
“Probably the Nicki Minaj remix I’ve just done. I had to do a remix that matched these crazy million dollar visuals then go and actually perform it with Nicki in Times Square to 40 thousand people live! That was pretty fun!”
You know the American music scene inside out after touring the country for months,. Did you ever expect it to blow up so big? In an interview with us this week, Tommie Sunshine came out with…”The music is exploding but sadly the culture got left behind in the process. It’s a festival culture for the youth in most of the country and a money driven adult experience for those in Vegas.” Thoughts on that?
“Vegas is awful, but then it always has been, just these days douchebags also throw money at DJs as well as prostitutes and cocaine. There is a great music scene in the rest of the States though, yeah they like things a bit more full on and obvious, but they’re Americans and that’s how they roll. I love the spirit at shows over there, the crowd are so massively excited about music now and it’s really nice to see. Theres much less negativity over there for DJs that get popular and will be hated for it in Europe.”
How did the whole DJing with Usher come about, was there a lot of panty dropping going on?
“Haha! Put it this way, there were girls fainting when we walked past them, I’m pretty sure it was because of me but Usher being stood next to me might have helped. Yeah another great experience, his music guy came to me and they wanted to do some stuff in Ibiza which was less R&B and more club so I helped design them and produce a short energetic dance version of his set which was really fun and so rewarding to perform it with him at Pacha and Ushuaia. Hopefully we’ll be doing some more of that this summer.”
And finally, what is coming out next from the Doorly studio bin 2012…
“It might feel like I’ve been not doing much for a while but that’s because I’ve been in studio mode all winter. I’ve made enough music to last me like 3 years I reckon! I’ve got some great collabs coming with Grandmaster Flash, Jake Shears (Scissor Sisters), Riton, Reverend & The Makers, The Jungle Brothers (to name but a few) and a shed load of my own stuff that I cant wait for everyone to hear! Lock into my Rinse show where I have a naughty habit of previewing stuff that I’ve finished that day in the studio to see what people think!”
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