Helena

One of the most exciting DJs in the world right now

Interview : Dan Prince

Hey Helena welcome back to DMCWORLD. Where in the world are you right now?

“Hi Dan! Thanks! It’s good to be back! I am currently at home in LA after a heavy weekend of shows, I was in Boston, Detroit and New York at Pacha, a lot of travel, late nights and heading to the airport on no sleep. I’m exhausted lying on my sofa. No plans to move off it for the next 24 hours except to the fridge and back.”

When I first met you when you were an up and coming DJ in the UK, you obviously had a British twang. When I last spoke to you your accent had a massive Aussie drawl thanks to your time living in Sydney. Well now little lady you are now living in Los Angeles…whaddya sound like now?!?!

“Haha!! I have no idea what I sound like now! From living in Australia so long you pick up all the lingo like “how you going maaate” and “that’s heaps good” and so on. No mater how English you are saying this stuff you will sound Australian. Ozzies also have a tendency to go up at the end of their sentences, which is a real give away. You can’t help but pick up the accent, people either guess my accent as English Or Australian, I think I’m pretty much 50/50. When I return to the UK I get paid out for sounding so Ozzie, but Australian’s think I sound really English. I have a tendency to adapt to my surroundings on accents, so I am sure I will start to pick up the American accent a bit now from living in LA – then shit will really start to get confusing.”

How was your first Thanksgiving in America? It’s mental isn’t it?

“It is mental, I spent most of it on a train by myself from Boston to New York, I had actually accepted the fact that I would miss Thanksgiving and was going to buy a turkey roll on the train cart. Which I was ok with, as we don’t celebrate it in Australia, so wouldn’t know any different. But when I got to New York, Rob Fernandez from Pacha New York saved the day and invited me to Thanksgiving Dinner with him and a crew including Deniz Koyu and Danny Avila which was cool, we then went onto to the Cielo club for the Chus + Ceballos guys which was sick, such a dope club. So I got to have my first Thanksgiving dinner after all. It’s been mad to see the differences here in the US, Halloween here was also so crazy; how much people get involved in the theme of it. And to experience Thanksgiving, what a huge deal it is, it’s been good to see it all.”

Things are going from strength to strength for you at the moment with a very hectic release schedule ahead of you. Let’s kick off with the mighty ‘Legend’ coming out on Basik Rkrds on December 13th. Talk us through the track…

“‘Legend’ is the first track for me really kicking things off properly as a producer, I have had other releases out before, but only now I feel things are really coming together for me on the music side.
Hardwell played the premiere on his Hardwell On Air show at the weekend, amazing! To get the support on it from the newly crowned World’s No. 1 was amazing. A really great start – it will be released on Dec 13th on Basik Rkrds which is Sony Music’s new imprint. It’s a fairly new label, but the releases so far have been solid including MEGA by Samual James which I was caning in my sets. It’s a really cool label focussing on new talent, particularly in Australia as there are so many talented artists coming through here. The track itself is a dirty big room building track. I have been dropping it in my sets and the floors have been going off, I can’t wait to get it out there.”

2014 starts with one bang after another for you with 3 months and 3 big releases. You kick off in January with a big remix of Morten’s ‘Look Closer’, how did you approach that particular rework?

“For the Morten ‘Look Closer’ remix I felt it needed a more powerful drop then the original. I wanted something that would fit well in my sets with my sound. I wanted the big room drive behind it, I got together a few similar reference tracks of how I felt the remix should drop and went about creating a similar vibe. It was a bit of a challenge as the vocal is amazing but not particularly uplifting, so to then create an uplifting drop was a bit harder. But I think the remix has achieved this, I really love it and have been playing it in all my sets. I heard back that Morten loved it too, which is awesome! So glad he was into it. I’m playing before him at Create Nightclub in Los Angeles on Friday but I don’t think I’ll be playing it then!”

How cool! So two huge tunes follow in Jan and Feb, ‘Breathe’ coming out on John Dahlback’s Mutants label and ‘Whattup’ on Big + Dirty. What can you tell us about these two big room releases…?

“‘Breathe’ that is coming out on Mutants is a more dirty electro track, with a melodic chord break which sounds really unique – I got a vocal tag done for it saying ‘Breathe’ as it was almost like the last breath of calm air before the drop goes hectic. It was really great that John Dahlback was into it, I have followed his work since day one and Mutants is a really cool respected label. Pretty much every major artist has had a track out on Mutants as some stage in their career, so I was honoured to get a track on there. ‘Whattup’ – is coming out on Big + Dirty in February, it’s a track I did with Nilson from Holland. I am a big fan of his stuff and I met him through Nicky Romero, they are best of mates and Nicky put me in touch with Nilson and we then worked on a collab together. Nilson is awesome and we get on so well, we always have such a laugh working together. We started the project while I was over in Amsterdam for ADE and then finished it through numerous Skype sessions. It’s called ‘Whattup’ as there is a vocal snip that says ‘Yo Whattup!’ right before the drop that kinda sounds like Lil Jon.”

How do you think your production style has developed over the last 12 months?

“Music is always evolving even through my overall style has remained the same; my personal tastes on tracks are forever changing. Tracks I made a year ago do not represent me now musically, for instance my track ‘Girl From The Sky’ which was released a year ago is not where I am at now. I still love it  – but sounds are always changing and what sounds great a year ago would be dated now in a lot of cases. That is why it’s so frustrating when you make a track and a label can’t get it out for 6 months, you know it will sound old even In 6 months and may no longer represent where you are at. Music needs to always be on point, unless you make a classic hit in which case people will be dropping it in their sets for years to come. When music is timeless like that you know you are onto a good thing. I hope I make a track that people will be playing in years to come!

True or false : The real moment you decided to leave the UK and move to Australia was when she texted you a photo of herself drinking a glass of wine outside The Opera House?

“TRUE! My sister texted me a photo of herself outside the Opera House drinking wine. I was living in Birmingham at the time, looked out at the grey city in the rain and thought ‘what the F*** am I doing?!”  I was so jealous of her cruisey life in the sun, I had an Australian passport I wasn’t using that people would die for. A month later I packed a suitcase, moved to the other side of the world and never looked back. I have family in Australia, the UK and Spain, so it’s hard to see them all that much. I try and go back to the UK once a year and Australia I will still be going back a few times a year on tour. At least now living in LA I am in the middle, so it should make it easier to see both sides more easily.”

You have had a busy time on tour over in the States getting to know the various towns and cities rocking the EDM scene. New York you cite as your favourite, Las Vegas you described as a “Disneyland for adults”. Sin City is an interesting place, every weekend a superstar will be in town but the crowds there  have absolutely no knowledge of their upfront music, they are just there to party. Still, it makes a change for a DJ huh?

“I think to be honest it doesn’t matter where you play if the crowds are up for it and into it. A good show is a good show. The main thing I am still trying to get used to over here is when you play the real VIP style bottle clubs where everyone is too VIP to really dance and let loose. I am a DJ’s DJ – I love the true clubbers and party vibe. I work off the crowd and read them…it’s hard to properly enjoy it and get into the set when you are not getting any reaction from them no matter how hard you work. It’s not saying that they are not having a great night, it’s just not the cool thing to do in these style clubs, it’s more about flashing the cash and popping bottles then the music. Vegas though I have had some crazy sets there, they might not be the most educated crowds, but they are up for it, which makes it really fun to play. I have been playing at Marquee Nightclub and Dayclub on numerous occasions, headline and support slots with the likes of Avicii and Benny Benassi and all these shows have been unreal. I think Vegas is so fun. But they are spoilt for acts. It’s no biggie to see pretty much every major DJ in the world there on the same weekend within a few mile radius. You wonder if there are any other major headline acts left playing anywhere else in the world sometimes….”

Where have some of the new ‘stand out’ US locations you’ve discovered this year been? Where have really surprised you…?

“Besides the more obvious New York, LA, Vegas, Miami etc.? Places like Seattle, Detroit, Boston and Chicago have been amazing. I really fell in love with San Francisco too, I played this dope smaller venue called Harlot and totally let loose on them, playing whatever I wanted dropping, house, tech, techno, electro and they went off. It was so much fun. I am heading out to Montreal on Saturday to a club called New City Gas which is touted as one of the best clubs in the world, I’m so looking forward to that one! I am not going to lie – every show I have done here in the US so far has been good and busy. Not been let down by a city yet. I am really loving playing over here, the scene is so fresh it’s really inspiring.”

Who are some of the producers you are giving high fives to right now?

“Sick Individuals are killing it – I’m so happy to see them starting to really break throug…I have been following their stuff for a while and they are such nice guys, they deserve it. Dannic and Dyro are also really starting to get great profiles now, I love these guys and their stuff. Massive high fives all round.”
 
What is the current top 10 you are spinning?

1.     HELENA – Legend (Original Mix)
2.     R3hab & Lucky Date – Rip It Up (Nicky Romero Edit)
3.     Dannic, Sick Individuals – Blueprint
4.     Dimitri Vegas, Like Mike, Borgeous – Stampede
5.     DJ M.E.G., N.E.R.A.K. – Mascarada
6.     MOTI – Heat It Up
7.     Morten – Look Closer (HELENA Remix)
8.     Thomas Gold, Kaelyn Behr – Remember
9.     Dubvision – Riffler
10.  Axwell, Sick Individuals, Taylr Renee – I AM

You are returning to Australia for a five week tour kicking off at Family in Brisbane on New Years Eve, it’s a bit soon to be getting teary eyed going ‘home’ and playing to so many familiar faces…but still, it must give you great satisfaction going back with America going so well?

“It is great satisfaction going back to Australia on tour with the US going so well, the last thing you would want would be to return home with your tail between your legs. I took a risk moving over here, you are leaving your comfort zone of regular shows, regular income and moving half way round the world where you don’t know that many people chasing the dream. It’s not the easiest thing to do, but I did it once before moving to Australia. I felt I hit a peak in Oz where I couldn’t grow anymore, the scene is capped there I feel and it’s so far away it makes touring the world hard. I needed to move; I felt it was the right time for me. America is a bigger market and there are more opportunities being based here. Work wise I had no doubt this was the right thing for me. I will have been away for 5 months when I return so it’s not a huge teary-eyed event, but I just couldn’t resist going back for 5 weeks of Australian summer, it’s just the best time there. Plus January has always been one of the best months for me for shows in Australia and the US scene in January is not the greatest month I have been told. So it made sense for me to come back on tour then. I love Australia. I’m looking forward to heading back. It’s also good not to be available in any one country all the time as it creates more demand. That’s why it’s good to disappear to Australia, Asia, Europe and the rest of the world too, but the US is the perfect base for me. The next time I will be returning to Australia will be in March to play Future Music Festival which is huge! I have been confirmed for the full national tour, which is unreal. Such a good line up, it will be a real experience being on tour with everyone, I can’t wait. There is a huge buzz around it this year, they really nailed it.”


True or false : You used to live on Bondi Beach but are scared of the sea…?

“This is true. Sad but true haha!! I have a phobia of the sea. I can honestly say I only actually ventured into the sea on Bondi Beach about two times during all my years living next to it. I hate the sand too. Gets EVERYWHERE!! The most annoying thing ever when you are still finding grains weeks later in random places. I think it’s the Jaws films and the fear of the unknown things that you can’t see swimming past you and touching your legs – and of course getting eaten by sharks. Then there is the getting smashed with huge waves, choking on sea water, getting my hair wet, Steve Irwin…oh I could go on…”

Tell us about the tour of Australia coming up, where can we catch you?

“It kicks off at my favourite club in Australia – Family, Brisbane on NYE. It was one of the first major clubs in Oz to support me and still my favourite to this day. I have never played a NYE show there so was so excited when the offer came in to do it. It seemed like a perfect start to the January tour, at this stage I believe there are about 14 shows confirmed including Platinum Gold Coast, HQ Adelaide, Anyway Melbourne, Family Brisbane, Marquee Sydney, Eaton’s Hill and a big show in Perth on Australia Day with Laidback Luke amongst others. All my favourite spots – It should be a really good tour!”
 
What is your favourite ever festival story?

“I was playing on Bondi Beach Christmas Day Festival once to 5000 backpackers going nuts and just as I was opening, some guy in the crowd took off his boxer shorts and threw them at me – landing straight on the deck that I was about to play on. I was laughing so hard it totally put me off my opening. I mean you hear about girls throwing their panties at male rockstars on stage, but I can honestly say I wasn’t expecting to get a pair of Calvin Kleins pelted at me. I held them up and the crowd all cheered – I then threw them back into the crowd, I don’t even want to know who they came off.”

Aside from your tunes and your phone, what are the 3 things you can’t do without on whilst on tour…?

“1. My laptop, I am always working either writing new tracks in Ableton, making mixes or mashups and edits for my sets, I am glued to it 24/7. Where I can on the planes in airports in hotel rooms I am always on it. Occasionally I take a rare break from music and watch some series on my laptop for a distraction…I am obsessed with Homeland, Suits, Person Of Interest and Game Of Thrones –
I don’t ever watch TV, I’ll just watch a series and the occasional movies.”
 
2. My sunnies, especially for those 3 hour or less sleeps and then being zombied out at the airport, it seems so much easier when you have a massive pair of sunglasses to hide behind.

3. Girl Stuff – ie. Make up and hair straighteners. I wish I was a guy that just wore the same jeans and t-shirt to gigs, but being a female artist us girls need more preparation. ie. make up, hair straighteners and outfit changes.

I know that’s more than one Dan but I put it all in the same category!!”

What has been your tune of 2013?

“I’m loving Calvin Harris + Alesso – Under Control. Such an awesome track.”

What is the best and worst thing about living in LA, try and answer that question without mentioning the weather or the traffic?

“Best thing about LA is Yogurtland – this place is just epic! I have never seen so many amazing flavours of yogurt in my life. And Umami Burger across from where I live is the best burger I have ever had – big call I know. The worst thing about LA is just that it is so spread out, it doesn’t have a homely feel to it. I’m not used to that. I still need to get a car so I’m sure it will help when I get one when I return from Oz – you have to have a car in LA, it’s too big otherwise. Uber has saved my life.”

True or false : You have a tattoo that allows other wizards to recognise each other?

“True I am part of the wizard cult. I have a large symbol on my right forearm which represents the Grey’s school of magic and it’s how wizards recognise other wizards.”

Everyone has them – fanatical, over the top fans. Tell us about your BIGGEST FAN…!

“I have a few super hardcore ones that reply to absolutely everything I post on my medias within a few seconds, they must have alerts on me as I have no idea how they can get to it so quickly day or night no matter what time zone they are there commenting. I also have one in Australia that follows me show to show at every end of the country – I won’t mention names but it’s a little creepy, he just keeps popping up and like – GUESS WHO!?!!! HELENAAAA!!!!”

Some quick fires…

The tune you wish you would have made…

“Sebastian Ingrosso + Alesso  – ‘Calling.'”
 
The record that always gets you dancing at a wedding…

“Haha I haven’t been to many weddings, ermm…Queen ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ is always fun for a dance and singalong. I know all the words. Should I admit to that?”

The record that reminds you of an ex…

“’Don’t Hold Back’ which was a huge No. 1 track in Australia by the band the Potbelleez – of which my ex was a band member. When we broke up I was haunted daily by their music on the radio, I couldn’t escape it. Never date a musician!”

Your proudest piece of production to date…
 
“My new track – ‘Legend’ it’s filthy, powerful and get’s the crowd rocking, love it.”

When I spoke to you last year you were walking your dog by the beach, what has happened to him now that you are living in America?

“He has had to go and live with my sister in Australia, I got him before I started touring so heavily, it was becoming harder and harder to look after him being away so much. I love him to death, he is my best friend and I miss him so much, but bringing him to LA would just be too hard on him and me. I’m living by myself and I’m away too much, it’s just not fair on him. My sister, her fiancé and new little baby have a big house on the central coast in NSW, he has a big garden and he gets spoilt with so much attention, he is better off living with her. Every time I go back though I will try and see him as much as I can.”

And finally, so Helena if we were walking past a music shop and there was a cello sitting in the window, would you still be able to knock out a few Pablo Casals’ numbers?!?!

“I probably could belt out a few strings, I guess it would be like riding a bike huh? Don’t get too excited though, it definitely wouldn’t be any Pablo Casals…!”

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