A stupendous year for the man from Miami! ‘Panty Dropper’ another juicy dancefloor anthem
Interview : Dan Prince
Dude welcome to DMCWORLD, where in the world are you right now?
“Thank you! Right now I’m finally back in Miami but only for 3 days then I’m back on the road. Been on tour all month now, I’m glad to be home even if it’s for a bit.”
You have put a lot of smiles on people’s faces yet again thanks to your music, this time at No. 1 in the Unsigned Buzz Chart with the fan named ‘Panty Dropper’ – talk us through the history of the tune…
“Well ‘Panty Dropper’ is a collaboration between myself and fellow Miami artists Twinz Beatz. Real talented dudes coming out of the Magic City. They actually hit me up about a track they had started and they shot it my way, I really liked the idea of it as it was different. So they sent me parts and I did work on it then we got in the studio and finalized it together. We didn’t know what to call it in the beginning so we did a contest to see who could come up with the best name for the track. That’s how “Panty Dropper” was born haha. Thanks @heatherx333 on twitter for that genius name.”
When I told the Buzz Chart crew that I was interviewing you today, Guy Garrett shouted out “I can’t believe this track is unsigned!” – what’s the latest with record company interest…?
“Haha that’s a good reaction! We haven’t actually sent it out to any labels yet…or DJs…we actually sent it to DMC first before anybody else!”
So Heather Calderone was the lucky winner of your name this track competition – share with us some of the stranger suggestions our fans bombarded you with…
“DOPPLEBANGER, CHEEKY MONKEY, WOBBLE BEEP, FEED EM, BLOWN SPEAKERS, but of course…had to go with Panty Dropper…who doesn’t love a good panty dropper? WHEN PANTIES DROP EVERYBODY WINS…”
Hahaha! Let’s rewind for a moment, love the photo on your Facebook of your dad at your show a couple of weeks back. How much of a support has been from the beginning?
“Oh my dad is my biggest fan/supporter. Since the day I started DJing 6 years ago and I told him this is what I wanted to do, the first thing he told me was..”if you’re going to do it, then do it right”. What more can someone ask for right? He calls me and texts me everyday when I’m on the road to see how my shows were.”
Was a career in music the only thing ever in your head – was there anything else that interested you?
“Ah yes for sure. I did a lot of real estate investments when I was younger, I started my music career later than most people. The thing is that once I decided to start DJing then that’s all I cared about. I dropped a lot of things in my life just to focus on my career.”
What was your first break in the music industry?
“My first break? Hmmm I guess my first club gig when I started which had about 5 people in the club which was all my friends haha. I signed some music to some labels years back but mostly underground stuff. First label I ever signed to was my friend Charlie Solana’s label here in Miami. He’s a local underground DJ. Name of the label is SouthSide Records.”
What is the current top 10 you are spinning?
“Tough one, a lot of my new stuff for sure. I like what TJR and Blasterjaxx have been doing, the Revealed guys have been doing very good as well. I don’t like putting stuff in top 10 as every record works differently at the time you’re playing it. Plus my sets consist of a lot of mashups so to give a top 10 would be hard Dan…”
I interviewed Steve Mac a couple of weeks ago, he came out with this nugget… “It was different when I started out back in the day, there was no glamour side of travelling around the world, getting paid fortunes for gigs, it was all about the music. I think people get into it for all the wrong reasons today.” What are your thoughts on that?
“I actually agree with him. Back then it was mostly for the music not for the money but hey, in the end of the day it’s a business. But yeah there wasn’t much glamour back then but it comes with the territory I guess, once something goes mainstream that tends to happen. Hey rappers in the 70s/80s weren’t throwing money how they are now lol. It happens, its just a matter of accepting it lol…”
What is the best and worst thing about living in Miami?
“I love everything in Miami except for the humidity! When summer hits the humidity is out of control, you can’t walk out of your house for 5 minutes without having to go back in and shower again haha. I dont think there’s one ‘best thing’ in Miami. I love everything about this city.”
What do you think has been the greatest development within the North American club/EDM scene in 2013…?
“I think the greatest development in America has been the festivals. We have some amazing festivals here now but America still has a lot of to learn though. Sometimes I’ll play an old classic track and people have no idea what the hell it is…whilst in Europe they’re more educated. I think the new era of ravers should learn more about the culture of our scene and where it came from.”
It was the DJ Mag Top 100 poll last week, what are your thoughts on this annual blag – do you give a shit about it, there was some weird entries this year…
“There was definitely some weird entries in there that I’ve never even heard of – but there was also ones that I agree with. The #1 spot was definitely correct. Hardwell deserves it! Honestly it’s more of a popularity contest than an actual DJ contest. If it was about actually DJing there’s so many guys that should be up there including A-Trak, Dirty South, Thomas Gold and guys that should be ranked way higher, like Steve Angello, Carl Cox, Craze, Oscar G and so many more.”
Where have been some of your stand out gigs of the summer, we loved you in Ibiza!!
“Ahh Ibiza was definitely one of them! Tomorroworld and Life in Color for both Mexico City and Monterey were out of control. Mostly all the Super You and Me shows have been pretty crazy!”
What was the funniest thing to happen on your GRID tour across America with Bassjackers and Dyro…?
“Haha damn there was so many awesome moments. I think probably my drunk interviews lol. I was usually the most drunk one by the end of the night because since I was the first one to play I usually started drinking before anyone, so by the end of the night it was game over haha…”
What has been your anthem of the summer?
“My anthem for the summer has probably been ‘Hit It’ and ‘Jumangee’. I’ve been opening up with a mashup of ‘Jumangee’ all summer and ‘Hit It’, no matter where I play it, it never goes wrong haha…”
You are very vocal in your ambition to one day own your own label just like Steve Angello has with Size and Hardwell with Revealed. Are you any nearer fulfilling this particular dream?
“Oh yes I really hope if all goes well by the end of 2014 I’ll have my own label up and running. It’s really about timing honestly. You want to make sure that when you do open a label it’s at the right moment. Timing is everything in this industry.”
What is coming out next from you studio wise and what is the latest with the ‘Jumangee’ follow up?
“Well my next release will be ‘Raverz’ that Steve Angello has been supporting, there’s alot of music in the works right now and almost done, so 2014 is looking big! As far as the follow up to ‘Jumangee’, we have finished it but we’re not too happy with some things, so we’re going to change it up a bit in the upcoming weeks. There’s always room for improvement is how I see it!”
I interviewed Kaz James this week, something he said was kinda interesting…”I don’t think it’s necessary these days to actually be a good DJ like it was 15 years ago at the start of my career. These days you can get away with pressing play on a laptop.” Discuss…
“Unfortunately he’s right. It doesn’t matter about your skills anymore, it’s mostly about the music you make. You can go on tour now without ever touching a cd player. With the technology of this day and age you don’t really need to know how to, it’s just a matter of pressing play and sync on either a laptop or cdj. Sucks that it got to this point but that’s just reality.”
You hadn’t played live until WMC this year at Laidback Luke’s ‘You & Me’ event at LIV. What was that experience like, did you shit yourself?
“It was an awesome experience, I wasn’t too nervous as since I was the rookie I had to open up the club haha…”
Okay some quick fire qs…
The record you wish you had made?
“I think this year probably Alesso Vs One Republic – ‘Lose Myself’. In general maybe Pink Floyd – ‘Wish You Were Here’ or Queen – ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’. Amazing records!”
The record that makes you cry?
“Eric Clapton – ‘Tears In Heaven’. It was written for his son that passed away of course…”
Your dream collab?
“Hard to just name one as I would love to collab with so many great artists. In EDM we have Steve Angello, Axwell, Tiesto, Hardwell, Luke, there’s a few! But there’s also guys like Dr. Dre, Timbaland, Jay- Z and then we have guys like Coldplay, Pink Floyd and Adele. I like music in general so I don’t have a specific genre or artist I would like to collab, there’s so many great ones.”
The cheesy pop record you always sing a long to…
“Ha! Right now probably Blurred Lines lol. I think it’s funky.”
Not many people know this, but Henrix is really good at…
“Being on time! I’m the most punctual person you can ever meet and I hate when people aren’t…”
The producers from around the world you are giving high fives to right now…
“Hardwell, Steve Angello, Axwell, Marco V. I really like Third Party a lot they’re one of my favorite producers. Sander van Doorn is also an amazing producer. There’s a few out there that deserve high fives!”
And finally, gotta ask…what the fuck was that Nutella pizza like you ate a couple of weeks ago?
“Just the most amazing thing I’ve ever had in my life lol. Had it in Washington DC and my life hasn’t been the same since! J/K lol but it was pretty amazing…”
Thank you dude, appreciate your time.
“Thanks man! DMC is the shit…”
Twitter: @HenrixMusic
Soundcloud: http://soundcloud.com/henrixmusic
