Hey Tommy, welcome back to DMCWORLD. A intensely busy few weeks for you right now, festivals, Miami, new releases and a big tour coming up. Let’s kick off with the new tune and video, ‘Monkey See Monkey Do’ out now on Mau5trap. Tell us a little about the track…
“Hey Dan, guess it’s kinda like a part 8-bit, part love song, part rave tune.”
The video was released this week and sees you teaming up with members of the Jim Henson Company. The puppateer was famous for his creations on such seminal shows as The Muppets, Sesame Street, Fraggle Rock, The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth…and believed that television puppets needed to have “life and sensitivity”. You are the one of the few producers in our electronic world willing to go that one step further and bring your music to life with videos. Why is that, it surely isn’t just a financial thing?
“Videos are a great way to showcase your music to a wider audience. They can, however tend to be a little pricey sometimes – which I’m sure turns a lot of artists off. But that’s not to say that you need to spend a shit load of cash to have a good film clip. There’s plenty of cool clips made on hand held recorders and edited at home on the cheap…I think it’s more about the idea of the clip than how much money you pour into it…but sure, a bigger budget helps.”
If The Muppets had to be played by superstars from the EMD world…who would play
Kermit The Frog – “The Scumfrong – the perfect name.”
Animal – “Kill The Noise or me.”
The Swedish Chef – “Most Dutch DJs…”
A big remix of Sub Focus’s ‘Endorphines’ is out May 13th, another great re-work from your goodself that is drawing comparisons to your remix of The Veldt from last year. Is it a case of less is more for you with the amount of remixes you take on, or is simply a case of hours in the day…?
“I only remix tunes that I love and it’s been a while since I’ve received a vocal that I really loved straight away. That said, I’ve definitely made a conscious decision to pull back on remixes over the last year and focus on making more original music.”
‘Endorphines’ features the vocal talents of Alex Clare. In a recent interview he claimed that all you need in a song is the bass, the kick and the snare, the rest is just commentary”. Thoughts on that?
“I’ve been to clubs where kids go crazy over just a kick, so maybe we don’t’ even need the snare or bass!”
You are playing at the colossal Hakkasan Nightclub in Las Vegas on Sunday night. Over in Europe this is the first year that Sin City is having a real affect on Ibiza, many DJs are putting Vegas ahead of Ibiza in the priority stakes. To many, it reeks of producers seeing the bigger pay day. Is this a sign of the times, has Ibiza lost top dog stakes?
“I think they’re completely different places. I can’t see one replacing the other. There is such a special vibe in Ibiza, and no amount of money will replace that!”
For the past couple of decades the unwritten rule for producers when playing in a certain city is that they will stay exclusive to a certain club. You’ll have The Ministry in London, Cream in Liverpool etc.…I see a lot of DJs playing at a lot of venues in Vegas, how do you see the whole exclusivity subject?
“There are many clubs I enjoy playing at around the world, none of which I’m tied to except Hakkasan in Vegas – as the general trend there is to have residencies rather than to move from one club to another. Vegas has a long tradition of residencies – Elvis, Sinatra, Elton John, David copperfield etc etc.. so it only makes sense that the world’s biggest DJs would follow suit.”
What are your plans for Ibiza 2013?
“I’ll be doing a bunch of shows at Ushuaia for Guetta’s night as well as Departures for Axwell and Ingrosso. Oh and also a show at Privilege with Steve Aoki!”
What is the current top 10 you are spinning?
Nom de Strip – Nippleodean
Traques – Claque Traque
Alex Metric – Ilium ft. Mark Yardley (Original Mix)
Felix Da Housecat – I Just Want To Be A Lesbian feat. Romina Cohn
Mason – Peer Pressure
Sub Focus – Endorphins
Bingo Players – Buzz Cut
Moguai – Champs
Sebastian Ingrosso, Tommy Trash, John Martin – Reload
How much work do you get done on tour, do you come home laden with production done or do you find it impossible to work on the road?
“Depends on the schedule. Sometimes I get a lot of work done when I’m away, but other times, especially if I’m dealing with jetlag, I’m not the most productive person I could be.”
You played at Coachella a couple of weeks ago, how was that – what was your favourite story from the event?
“Some dude wanting me to sign his butt cheeks.”
I also saw one of your followers on Facebook asked you to “sign their tits at Coachella”. Does this shit happen a lot to you?
“No Dan. It’s mainly butt cheeks.”
What is your most cherished piece of vinyl?
“Probably my copy of Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness.”
Looking back at a crazy 2012 – what was your most satisfying piece of production from last year?
“Maybe Reload or maybe the Veldt remix.”
What are the big Summer festivals you are looking to this summer?
“EDC Vegas, Tomorrowland, HARD Summer and Creamfields!!”
What is coming next from the mighty Tommy Trash studio?
“A release on Size Records called ‘Monkey in Love’. It’s the follow up to ‘Monkey See Monkey Do’ and we have a Muppet video to match! Oh also, I have a remix coming out on Boyz Noise Records for a Destructo track!!!”
And finally, to many Jim Henson will always be remembered as the man who brought Kermit the Frog to life. How do you want to be remembered in life?
“A slightly grumpy party animal who could put his money where his mouth was” – my manager.”
Thanks Tommy. See you in the UK, hopefully you can sign my girl’s tits?
“Only if I can sign ur butt cheek Dan.”
‘Monkey See Monkey Do’ is out now on Mau5trap:
iTunes: http://smarturl.it/MSMD
Beatport: http://smarturl.it/MSMDbp
