Australia’s dance music maverick kicks off the new MOS series
Interview : Dan Prince
Backed to the hilt by some of the world’s finest in Tiesto, David Guetta and Swedish House Mafia, Trash enjoyed a vastly successful 2013, performing on the main stages at an array of internationally acclaimed festivals including Tomorrowland, Coachella and Creamfields, as well as summer appearances at Departures in Ibiza. With high-profile remix work for the likes of Zedd, Empire Of The Sun and Steve Aoki already under his belt, a US Grammy nomination for his remix of Deadmau5’s ‘The Veldt’ and a Swedish Grammy nomination for his platinum selling collaboration ‘Reload’ with John Martin and Sebastian Ingrosso, Tommy Trash is a natural choice for the inaugural transmission in the ‘Inspired’ series as the compilation series looks for artists to tell their own story through records and documenting those that have inspired their respective journeys to the very top…
Hey Tommy welcome back to DMCWORLD, where in the world are you at the moment?
“I’m currently in the beautiful city of Miami sipping a Margarita!”
Exciting times in the Tommy Trash camp as you launch the new Ministry of Sound ‘Inspired’ series, a great idea where the artists tell their own story through records that document their respective journeys. How did you approach the choosing of the records on your mix…?
“With CD 1 I collaborated with two of my good friends in Sydney who are DJs and were DJing back in the days when I was just a clubber. These were the guys playing the music that I was clubbing to (Habebe & John Glover). They really helped me remember what some of these tracks were called! CD 2 reflects my sets at the moment really. It is a combination of stuff that I’m playing out right now as well as tracks that I just really dig and think people should hear.”
The first CD ‘Past Inspirations’ includes many tracks from the 2001-2007 period and a lot of producers on there that must have made a big impression on you…?
“Yeah I mean every track on CD 1 has influenced me in some shape or form as a producer. A lot of the tracks off CD 1 I’d listen to and try to figure out how to make tracks like that. I guess that CD is some kind of production school for me.”
CD2 includes three fresh and exclusive tracks, talk us through them…
“First off there’s ‘Freshwater’. It’s a brand new original that is debuting on the compilation and I think there’s a real throwback vibe with it and the chordal synths/arpeggiated bassline that I’ve used. I had this memory that came back to me of lying in the desert in the middle of Kakadu, listening to the Chicane album. Basically ‘Freshwater’ for me evoked a similar kind of feeling of that experience in Kakadu. The next two are bootlegs that I’ve been playing in my sets for a few months now. One is a mashup of two of my more well known tunes, ‘Cascade’ and ‘The End’. It was a happy accident that they worked so well together! I thought it was a great way to start CD 2 as these tracks really marked the beginning of my international DJ career. These songs in a way changed my life. The last one is ‘Kick Out The Barbaric Mother Fucker’. This is a mashup I’ve been playing at a bunch of my shows; it’s perfect for festivals. It combines the classic Dada Life track with the awesome drop of DJ Bam Bam’s ‘Barbaric’. It’s a sure-fire club weapon!”
iTunes pre-order link…
Who were the artists that inspired you when you were just starting to get into music, The Smashing Pumpkins were big in your life right?
“Yeah I was into the whole Seattle thing in my teenage years when I was playing in rock bands. ‘Siamese Dream’ would have to be one of my favorite albums of all time. Damon Albarn was a big player as well, firstly through Blur and later down the line with Gorillaz. That is some of my favorite songwriting of all time. It’s almost Beatle-ish in a way and coincidentally or not the Beatles are another massive influence of mine. Dance music wise I think the most influential album for me has to be Felix Da Housecat’s ‘Kittenz and Thee Glitz’. Without sounding too cliché this album changed my life.”
Dance music stars were all over the Grammy’s last month with Zedd and Cedric Gervais winning and Daft Punk obviously grabbing the main headlines. Over in the UK there has been a lot of mocking of Daft Punk winning best album “with only one song on it”. What are your thoughts on the big night in Hollywood?
“No matter what anyone thinks of the Daft Punk album, it’s nothing but a positive thing seeing a dance act doing so well.”
What is the current top 10 you are spinning?
Chvches – Tether (Junior Sanchez Remix)
Henry Fong – Stand Up (Destructo Remix)
Tommy Trash – Freshwater
Deniz Koyu – Ruby
Mercer – Breathe
Jordy Dazz – & Bassjackers – Battle
Hard Rock Sofa feat. Eva Shaw – Get Down
DJ Snake & Mercer – Lunatic
Arty – Flashback
Tommy Trash & Killagraham – The Little Death
After your shows in LA and Vegas last week you told the world you were hibernating for a while and making some new music. What can you tell us about your studio activity…?
“I’ve been really busy in the studio preparing a bunch of new tracks for the year. There’s some really cool collabs on the way as well as some solo club tunes and a couple of vocal tunes. It’s felt like a real luxury to have so much time in the studio, I can’t remember the last time this happened!”
It may not be good for my image, but I really love…
“Watching the Real Housewives of Miami.”
You are packing your bags yet again next month for a huge European Tour hitting the likes of France, Italy, Germany, Austria and the UK. What clubs/cities are you really looking forward to smashing up?
“I’m excited for the whole tour! I’m touching down in a bunch of places I’ve never played in which is awesome so definitely excited to play Paris, Abu Dhabi and Amsterdam. And of course I can’t wait to hear Glasgow’s notorious ‘here we fucking gooo’ chant again!”
What is on a Tommy Trash rider in 2014?
1 black American Apparel t-shirt
6 Heinekens
1 bottle of Jaeger
1 Bottle of Grey Goose
1 Bottle of Veuve Cliquot
Moroccan oil shampoo and conditioner
A pilates roller
An orange
A Christmas tree
A blowup santa claus
A garden gnome
A boombox playing whale calls
You promised us 2014 would be the year you took your music “back to the clubs” with more vocals…is the way things are heading for you?
“Totally, 100%. I’m doing a mixture of stuff but the first half of the year’s releases will definitely be more club-focused.”
Who are some of the producers from around the world you are giving high fives to right now?
“Botnek, DJ Snake, Mercer, What So Not, Kill The Noise, Deniz Koyu, KillaGraham…”
What do you think are your best qualities that make you a brilliant producer?
“Well I don’t think I’m a brilliant producer…but I’m always trying to improve my craft in hopes of one day that I WILLl be a brilliant producer!”
Have you ever been star struck?
“I was on a flight with Will Ferrell from London to LA one time. I was too scared to say hi to him but he did show me his butt crack for like 7 hours of the journey.”
And finally, what was the last great album you heard?
“I’m tossing up between Bon Iver – ‘Bon Iver’ or Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City’. Pusha T gets honorable mention as well.”
Tommy Trash ‘Inspired’ (Ministry of Sound)
Release date: 16th March 2014
Pre-order from Amazon: http://amzn.to/1hEOm53
2014 Tour Dates
28 February – 79 Paris, Paris, France
1 March – Cream, Liverpool, UK
1 March – Gatecrasher, Birmingham, UK
3 March – Duel Beats, Naples, Italy
6 March – O1NE, Abu Dhabi, UAE
7 March – Colours, Glasgow, UK
8 March – Ziggodome, Amsterdam, Netherlands
10 March – Flex, Vienna, Austria
13 March – Tunez Festival, Tel Aviv, Israel
14 March – Hands Up/Mach 1, Nuremberg, Germany
15 March – Ministry of Sound, London, UK
16 March – Academy, Dublin, Ireland
For more information on Tommy Trash, please visit:
https://twitter.com/djtommytrash
