From a Miami rooftop to dancefloors around the globe, let’s get weird
Cr2 Records welcomes Lazy Rich to the make his debut on the label with ‘Let’s Get Weird.’ Rich is an exciting artist with a buzz name and a reputation for unique productions, having already seen great reactions to his remixes for Avicii and Zedd and with the massive Brainfreeze on Doorn last year Rich kicks 2014 off with a bang with his first original track of the year. As the title suggests ‘Let’s Get Weird’ is a quirk banger,with the A List support already lining up from the likes of David Guetta, Zedd, Deorro, TJR, Thomas Gold, Chuckie and Morgan Page, this looks set to be a monster club hit in the making…
Interview : Dan Prince
Hey Rich welcome back to DMCWORLD, where in the world are you right now?
“Hi Dan, I’m currently at home in Vancouver, getting my bags packed ready to start my Australia tour!”
You have started 2014 with a bang, your massive ‘Let’s Get Weird’ already getting support from the likes of David Guetta, Zedd and Chuckie. Talk us through the tune which is seeing your debut on Cr2 Records…
“The idea for the track came from a gig I was playing in Miami last year, we were on some hotel rooftop at 4 or 5am and a guy shouted out “Let’s Get Fucking Weird!” at the top of his lungs. We instantly knew we that was a perfect line for before the drop in a track.”
Love that! Well another piece of Lazy Rich magic comes in the excellent form of your remix of the Showtek/Justin Prime ‘Cannonball (Earthquake)’ tune…how did you approach that rework of such a huge track?
“It’s always tough when you start off with a track that EVERYONE knows, I figured it was best to keep familiar elements in there but to give it a Lazy Rich twist with a fat bassline as opposed to the hardstyle kicks. I’m really pleased with it and it goes off like crazy each time I play it.”
Please tell us that this wasn’t the remix that took you a mammoth 3 weeks to complete?
“Hahaha no, that would be the remix of Chris Lake’s track ‘Helium’ that I did with AFSheeN and just finished today!”
“What I love the most when I’m DJ’ing, is when it’s an underground club with three hundred people, really dark, really dingy, smelly, sweaty, where everyone is just raging like crazy. “ What clubs spring to mind when you read that…?
“Top of my list is The Whiskey Bar in Portland, I come out of gigs there dripping in sweat and with a HUGE smile on my face.”
What is the current top 10 you are spinning?
Merk & Kremont vs Amersy – Charger
Medroq, Hyder & Ribo – National (Frank Caro & Alemany Remix)
D.O.D. – Stomp
Darth & Vader – Howling
Showtek – We Like To Party
DJ Helena – Breathe
Jerry Rekonius – Mutant
Fast Foot & Farleon – Springboard
Dyro – Black Smoke
Hix – Alarma
Watching James Bond films in bed all the day whilst eating pizza pops…not the best role model activity Mr Billis?!?!
“Oh come on Dan! Everyone needs a James Bond day once in a while! It’s pretty rare for me to take a whole day off without working, let alone a day without checking emails or social media, so I figured I deserved it!”
I was reading something where you were talking about how important the DJ and his live show is going to start getting more and more important. That DJs should be seen having a good time like Dada Life and how when you see certain DJs huddled over the decks you think ‘why are you here?’. I can think of certain DJs such as Sasha who is quite a shy guy who uses his music to speak for him, Pete Tong is another incredibly shy guy who you would never see jumping around. Thoughts on that…?
“It depends on the genre I’d say, you need to act in a way that matches the music you are playing, and that matches the mood that you to bring to your performance. If you’re playing tech house or minimal then no I wouldn’t expect the DJ to be acting crazy, but if the tracks you are playing say “Everybody fucking jump”, then huddling over your decks probably isn’t the best way to work the crowd.”
Who are some of the young up and coming producers we should be looking out for in 2014?
“We have some great stuff coming out on Big Fish soon actually, one artist who keeps putting out great stuff is Thomas Feelman, he’s putting out some really original sounding stuff which is kinda rare at the moment. We also just had a great EP from a guy called Minero – incredible tracks and very under-rated!”
One issue we did give you props for at DMC was the Beatport issue with so many labels and artists buying their own tracks to gain higher chart positions. People out there don’t realise just how few copies it gets to top these charts huh?
“It really me sick actually, people don’t realise that purchasing tracks is more than just downloading a copy, it’s a vote saying that they like that artist and that they want that artist to perform in their city. If you don’t buy the tracks that your favorite artist makes then the only people that are going to be popular are those who are being managed by the labels that buy their own music. If you don’t buy music you have no say whatsoever over who deserves success.”
Tell us about Label Engine, how’s that going…?
“We’re on a roll right now actually, we’re just about to launch a brand new promotion system that looks absolutely incredible and are ready to start distributing music to the new Beats Media store that’s launching soon. We’re working incredibly hard on new features all the time and are proud to offer the absolute best deal for distribution around.”
So you are about to go on the decks and the guy before you is playing pirated versions of your music.Do you say anything?
“Definitely! If you are making money from DJing then you really should be buying your tracks, there’s no excuse.”
Where are some of the big dates already in your DJ diary that you cannot wait to hit?
“Right now we are getting things ready for Miami, had so much fun last year so really can’t wait to get back there!”
And finally, what is coming out next from you studio wise?
“I’ve got a few cool things on the go, an absolutely HUGE remix that I’m not allowed to mention yet and a couple of collabs with some of my favorite artists!”
Thanks Rich, appreciate your time dude…
“Thanks Dan, again it’s so great to get an interview from someone who has actually done their research!”
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