Russia’s No. 1 DJ getting us all Delusional…
Interview : Dan Prince
Dmitry welcome to DMCWORLD, where on planet Earth are you today?
“Hi Dan, thank you! At the moment I’m answering this interview in a nice hotel in Sydney, Australia.”
Well you have had the Buzz Chart crew and dancefloors all over the world going mental thanks to your latest release! Please talk us through the sound, history and of course the vocals of Shahin on ‘Delusional’…
“In the beginning of the year I released a tune which was called ‘Refuge’. It was same styled vocal part but that was a sample. So during a meeting with Black Hole I mentioned that at the moment I kinda liked the idea of Arabic voices – it sounded fresh to me as not too many people were using this in EDM. So after that I got connected with Shahin Badar…I’d heard of her before as she did the vocals for The Prodigy’s ‘Smack My Bitch Up’. When the vocal was done I just made the tune, which is a mix of progressive house, trance and breaks.”
Next up is ‘Nos Encontramos’, your fans are loving this. Again, please talk us through the tune…
‘”’Nos Encontramos’ means ‘we found each other’. Before it was just an instrumental tune but I had a strong feeling it needed a special sample in Spanish cause the guitar in the record has that “Ibiza vibe”. My friend from LA (and in LA many, many people speak Spanish!!) helped me to get that one. Glad people like the record – it’s not 100% trance and it’s not 100% house – but I like to mix different genres in my tunes.”
It’s that time again, the DJ Mag Top100 !! In this magazine last week we interviewed legendary NY producer Arthur Baker who claimed that… “there are too many DJs and genres for a realistic competition, it should be split”. What are your thoughts on that idea?
“To be honest I think the DJ Mag Top100 is purely voting for clubbers and their favourite DJs…let’s leave it up to them to see what is realistic and what is not!! I would just like to thank people for their support, it’s not that my career depends on such events and I do not care too much about these things, but it’s nice to have a healthy position and see how people react to what you’ve done during the year. Every week I meet different people in different parts of the world who say different opinions about the poll but I try to respect everybody’s point of view.”
A couple of weeks ago you played in Lebanon for the first time. What are some of the memories you took home from that trip…?
“It’s a very nice place and it was a fun pool party. I met a lot of nice people there, great food!”
The 5 big records in your box today?
“If you mean my box for club sets – it’s 90% packed of my own tracks / remixes / mash ups. So it’s really hard to say top 5, sorry J. I produce a lot of material nowadays and sometimes getting tired of my own stuff really fast.”
Best and worst thing about living in Moscow?
“The best thing is that it is my home place where my family live and everything is open 24 hours. It’s a really special place because of this. You can easily buy a Sony Playstation or iPhone at 4:00 am – tell me another place in the world where this is possible? The worst thing – hmm… probably the traffic jams but now it’s August it is less busy on the roads as this month is the most popular for people to go on vacations. Another thing is that Moscow is for sure the most expensive city in the world…but I can’t really decide whether this is good or bad?”
A recent quote from a certain superstar DJ…“I believe true DJing is actually an art, but it’s a dying art, as everyone is pushing the sync button…it’s a real shame when you see a ‘DJ’ plug his laptop in and call this DJing. Music will always evolve but sometimes not in the best way.” What are your thoughts on that?
“As I’ve said already – different people have different opinions. I have been DJing for over 10 years so I don’t need the sync button, but you have to remember what the important result is here…it is to make people dance. A DJ’s job is to feel the crowd…sometimes a lot more difficult than the technical part of a DJ’s job.”
Not many people know this, but Bobina is REALLY good at?
“I am good at explaining difficult situations to people…I have been told this by so many different people. When there is a problem I will sit people down and go through things and after they will say, “wow…well yes that now makes sense!”
You are given 1 million euros for a party. Where is the location, who are the big 3 DJs and who is the singing star?
“I would make a party on Red Square in Moscow during the summer. DJs – well gimme 1 million and then we’ll decide haha…”
Who is the last GREAT young up and coming DJ/producer you have spotted around the world?
“In Russia we have a guy called Vigel. We did a collab this year with him called “Crunch” for Protocol Recordings. I really like his music – this is the only name which came to my mind from ‘up and coming’. Wanted to mention Andrew Rayel as well but he is known enough already.”
What is the record that…
…reminds you of your childhood?
Roxette “Queen of Rain”
…always get you dancing?
Avicii “Wake Me Up”
…reminds you of being broken hearted?
Not happened yet!
…you wish you would have made
Armin van Buuren “In & Out Of Love” or Ferry Corsten “Beautiful”
What is the last studio toy you bought yourself?
“Nexus 2. It’s really just a toy and I only got it at the beginning of 2014…”
Best ever festival moment…
“So many. But from this year, when everybody put their hands up during the long vocal sample in Bobina ‘Refuge’.”
The last non dance music album you checked out?
“The last Lana del Rey album.”
And finally…what is coming out next from you studio wise?
“At the momrnt I’m finishing two new remixes and one new original Bobina tune. J.”
Thank you dude, appreciate your time.
“Thanks for the interesting questions Dan, see you soon!”
