One of the most important figures in the dance music world continues his sonic blaze
Welcome Tim to DMCWORLD young man. Where in the world are you right now?
“Back in Brighton Dan for a few days before another crazy weekend in Brazil, the clubbing mecca of the world.”
You started out your DJing career making mixtapes in the 80s before kick starting your own club night ‘Unity’ when you were 18. What would have been the soundtrack to those early tapes and nights back then?
“Crikey. At Unity, downstairs it was ‘Rave’ and I hosted the lounge playing Jazz, Funk and Rare Groove (no less). I’d just done a year working at Jazz FM and hanging out with Gilles Petersen, Chris Philips and meeting all kinds of cats from Ella Fitzgerald to Galliano clearly had it’s effect on me. When we did Unity, Durham City had never had a rave before and we sold out. I then brought Primal Scream, Utah Saints and the Orb to Durham (…well, it was 1991).”
Are you comfortable being known around the world as the Don Corleone of Electro House?
“I don’t lose sleep over it Dan. When I started the Coburn project with Pete Martin back in 2001, we were making Electro-House, it’s just that the genre hadn’t been coined yet. Pete Tong was all over our stuff – druggy, heavier house, with rock influences and all at around 128 bpm. Electro-clash was born and then came Electro-House, so technically, I was there at the start – for what it’s worth.”
Your label Surfer Rosa has exploded onto the scene with quality release after release. Banvox has continued that trend with his brilliant ‘Instinct Dazzling Starlight’ EP that has started to shift copies. What is coming next release wise…
“It’s bloody hard work selling music in 2012. There’s so much noise, and anyone can have a label, because there are no production costs. That being said, running Surfer Rosa is a total pleasure. We get bombarded by high quality demos, and it’s really hard choosing the releases. We can only stick out so many singles, EPs and LPs a year. The Banvox EP is a culmination of months of work with this extremely talented producer. I wish him the best of luck. Next up we have our first compilation: Kick Out The Jams 1.0 – which has 17 of our best sellers, and 3 new exclusive tracks on one bundle for an outrageously low price, then there’s a spanking EP from Italian producer, Fatso, and then the Brazilian masters of bass, Dirtyloud will be back with a new EP.”
What is the current top 10 you are spinning?
1. Banvox – Instinct Dazzling Starlight (Surfer Rosa)
2. Kongman – Fat Lip (Surfer Rosa)
3. Alter Ego – Rocker – Prok and Fitch vs MDE re-work (CD-R)
4. Felguk vs Tim Healey – I’m so happy (CD-R)
5. Jeff Daniels ft Bethany Browne – Wanna Ride (Surfer Rosa)
6. Black Spark – Funky Music (Surfer Rosa)
7. Ralfstar – Microheart (Surfer Rosa)
8. Blur – Song 2 – Tim Healey edit (CD-R)
9. Tomcraft vs Tim Healey – Heaven & Hell (Surfer Rosa)
10. Calvin Harris – Sweet Nothing – Dirtyloud remix (Sony)
Tell us the Paris Hilton story…love it.
“This is several years ago…naively, I thought I’d really arrived when I got invited to DJ for Paris Hilton. The reality was it was some launch party for her new scent and single (!) featuring loads of cardboard cut-outs of her at this ludicrous building next to Buckingham Palace in London. Anyway, I got the place rocking, and then I got asked by some minion to play “Madonna – right now because Paris wants it”. I explained that I didn’t have any Madonna, but I had a load of other relevant pop boot-legs and remixes if they’d like to choose. Then a more senior-looking dude in a suit approached “Hello, I’m XXXX, head of PR for Paris – she wants Madonna right now”. I explained for the second time the situation. Then Paris herself comes up and says “If you don’t play Madonna right now, I’m going to leave my own party”, behind her was Mrs HIlton who just gave me this long-suffering nod as if to say “Just do what she wants, it’s easier”. So I packed up my stuff and left, armed with a cardboard cut-out from the event, which we used as a dartboard in the studio for a while.”
What city around the world do you love returning to the most and why?
“Very hard. My top 5 in no particular order are Sao Paulo – the endless skyline, the food; San Francisco – the food, Burning Man posse and Golden Gate Park; Tokyo – fashion and food (again), Melbourne – what a city; Almaty (Kazakhstan – always a winner to drop into conversation – but also a truly great place).”
Your first ever international gig was in Israel in 1996. That must have been a bit nerve racking?
“Yes, the promoter, still a really good friend, DJ Zoo-B, said “if I say we must leave – do not put another record on, you must grab your stuff and we’ll leave – ok?” So everything was great, but 40 minutes in it was “let’s leave” – we snuck out the back and there were armed police arriving and a load of up-for-it ravers taunting them. That being said, I had a residency in Tel Aviv for 2 years. I love the country, the people and the parties there. Great times.”
What do you think was the most important moment in your life. The first time you heard M/A/R/R/S ‘Pump Up The Volume’ or the day you discovered the genius that is Decoded.co and it’s one day crash code in deciphering code?
M/A/R/R/S really did change my life it put my love of electronic music into perspective. I stopped dead when I first heard it in 1987. I light came on in my head. What a tune. Love it. Suddenly I got the sample and dance bug in one. But these days I am also a founding partner of media disruption company, Shroom, (www.shroom.biz <http://www.shroom.biz> ) so you need to keep up on tech, and code was something I knew nothing about – Decoded.co do a great job of demystifying the whole thing.
Favourite ever Ibiza story?
“That cannot be printed. Manumission, the now defunct Pink Pussy Motel and a soap star who is still on Eastenders feature prominently.”
How did the chef’s training day go? Have we a signature dish under one’s belt already?
“I have this gentleman’s dining club in Brighton, and Chef Sam Metcalfe (of Sam’s of Sevendials, Brighton) offered to host, so he invited me to do the prep for him in his restaurant kitchen last week. It was brilliant. He’s extremely skilled so being under his wing for a few hours was killer. As the dinner had a British theme, we made Beef Wellington – it rocked.”
What is your guilty pleasure record?
“‘Miss You’ – The Rolling Stones – nothing guilty about that, just a pleasure.”
What is the best and worst thing about living in the Brighton area?
“Brighton offers you a small but perfectly formed extremely cosmopolitan London-centric city, with fashion, music and creative types akimbo. The worst thing is the shingle beach. I’ve been swimming only twice in 13 years of living here.”
What has been the best festival for you in 2012?
“Green Valley Winter Festival, Santa Caterina, Brazil – where I played with Marcus Shulz and Tocadisco on the main stage in July. People argue about which is the biggest club in the world. For my money, it’s Green Valley with its 15,000 capacity main dance-floor. They also look after the artists beautifully there.”
Who are the producers from around the world that you are giving high fives to at the moment?
“Well the crew on my label take some beating, but I also rate Wizard, Black Spark, Felguk, Dada Life, Major Lazer, Mark Instinct – anyone that does big sound with style from whatever genre – even Labrinth’s epic “Earthquake”. I’ve been expanding my classical collection lately, after years of neglect – kind of the complete opposite deal to the jagged electro-dub sound that’s massive right now. Best recent purchase: Sir Harry Christopher and The Sixteen – Spem in Alium – choral singing that’s literally like going to heaven… “other-worldly” doesn’t even begin to do it justice.”
This year saw you introduce Kongman to the world, a collab with Brighton tech-house producers My Digital Enemy. What is coming next from the gorilla stars…
“There’s more Kongman coming, the super talented guys from My Digital Enemy are on fire right now with their label, Zulu, and their tech-house sound. It’s a little known fact that they also make slamming electro and dub step. So we have days booked in the studio in the next month.”
What else have you ready to release in the coming months…?
“I’ve been producing and directing videos lately, it’s something I really love doing. The last one I made was for my great mate from Munich, Mr Tomcraft, ft Sam Obernik “The Noyz” – you can watch it here: http://youtu.be/xk2UwdugyPI – and there’s a couple more in the pipeline…”
What has been the proudest moment of your career to date?
“There have been 2: the birth of each of my daughters (they’re 11 and 6 now).”
And finally, has there ever been any embarrassing incidents concerning the similarity in names with that dude off Benidorm?
“Yes, there’s a wanted IRA terrorist who also shares my name. Always a winner when arriving in the US – even with a professional visa. “Step this way sir…”
www.surferrosarecords.com
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www.mixcloud.com/djtimhealey
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www.myspace.com/surferrosarecords
www.residentadvisor.net/record-label.aspx?id=6904
www.soundcloud.com/tim-healey/sets/surfer-rosa
www.beatport.com/label/surfer-rosa-records/15596
