The Weirdo boss simply Smashing The Disco
Juan Kidd has set himself as one on the most prolific producer and remixers of 2012 so far, having released on labels such as Great Stuff, Monique Musique, Rebirth, Size Records, Toolroom Records, Defected and CR2, many of them hitting the top of the Beatport charts. Juan Kidd has just launched his debut label ‘Weirdo’ with the first release ‘Smash The Disco’ coming from the main man himself!
How did you get into DJing and producing?
“I used to go to the old raves and Hacienda back in the day and someone always used to have decks at the afterparties where we would be messing around, then I spent the summer in Marbella (when it was a cool place), and got my first gig where I learnt how to mix properly. I came back to the UK and got a residency in Manchester where Andy Daniels from Hed Kandi dragged me in the studio and got me hooked.”
Where was your first gig?
“It was Club Asia in Puerto Banus but my first real residency was the notorious Peruvia in Manchester that opened just after the Hac closed, it was an amazing club playing soulful house.”
Did you ever think after your first gig thing would ever get so big for you?
“No, I was told I was tone deaf at school and I probably was but what the idiots didn’t tell me was that with hard work you can achieve anything.”
What’s one piece of advice you’d pass on to budding DJs and Producers?
“Learn Music, it is the difference between a good producer and a bad producer, it has always been my downfall until I took up piano.”
You have played all over the globe, where was your favourite place and why?
“I love the Australia festivals and Ibiza. Australians are crazy and the weather is always amazing but Ibiza is the home of dance music for me. Nowhere will ever be able to replace it as people go for the music, not for the tables or the bling, mostly the music.”
Who would you most like to collaborate with?
“Oooh, good question. Alicia Keys, I’d love to make a great piano house record with her. She oozes talent and is one of the few people that brings me close to tears when I see her live.”
What made you want to set up your own label?
“I wanted an outlet for the music I like and play but doesn’t fit on the labels I am signed to. Over the years I have sent labels records that have turned them down then they come asking for them when they hear someone else playing them, so if I truly think a track is worth a release I have the outlet.”
How did you come up with the name ‘weirdo’?
“We spent a week at Ushuaia last year and all my mates were calling each other Weirdos, I thought it was a good name and it was as simple as that.”
Where do you think House music, and all its sub genres, will be 10 years from now?
“Probably back to where it is now going round in that big circle it does. I love the fact deep and soulful house is cool again, that’s what got me into house music.”
What is the oddest thing that has happened to you while you have been playing?
“A girl asked me if I wanted oral sex, I declined then five minutes later I turned round and she was doing it to the lighting guy. Only in Liverpool.”
Do you have any habits or ritual you have to do before you play?
“Usually a shot or two.”
What can we expect to see coming from the label soon?
“Some deeper vocal bits plus some of my signature grooves with an uplifting big room feel.”
Other than your own, what labels are your favourite?
“Great Stuff, Toolroom, Defected, Floorplay, 303 /Hotfingers are all my faves that is why I put my records out on them.”
What’s your current fail-safe roof lifter?
“Federico Scavo “I Do” on Toolroom is a big one, slightly commercial but not too much. One for the girls.”
http://www.myspace.com/juankidd
http://www.twitter.com/juankidd
http://www.youtube.com/djjuankidd
