‘Wonderlust Bug’ hitting our ears sharpish
Hi Tim, so talk us through the new album ‘Wonderlust Bug’ – your debut artist album…buskers and acoustic bands on the beaches of Brazil both an influence…?
“Yeah, there’s an amazing band called the Portico Quartet who I first saw several times busking on the South Bank and my girlfriend also caught them playing outside somewhere near Hastings. She bought their album from them which then having landed in the right hands, got nominated for a Mercury award so we’ve since gone to see them play at Ronnie Scotts. Anyway, their use of the Hang Drum inspired me as well as having heard Manu Delago perform live many times. So there’s a little tribute to them in my album…”
What are the big ten tunes that you are playing at the moment…?
“Well there are some amazing records out there at the moment, but I’m playing a lot of my own material in my DJ sets recently to promote my album and remixes as well as other releases from my label.”
But…
The 10…
Louis Vega vs DJ Pierre ‘Da Jungle’ (Timo Garcia’s Wild Pitch mix) on Afro-Acid
TRNSSTR ‘Not a Poem’ (Timo Garcia remix) on Berwick Street Records
Yousef ‘Departure (Yankee Zulu remix) on Berwick Street Records
Timo Garcia & Ricky Stone ‘Driving Olivia’ on Sick Watona
James Harcourt ‘Proton’ on Twisted Frequency
Sasse ‘Le Deep’ on Berwick Street Records
Mark Broom ‘Meltin Pot’ on Saved Records
Timo Garcia ‘Boom’ (DJ Pierre remix) on Berwick Street Records
Guy J ‘Lamur’ on Bedrock Records
Timo Garcia feat Manu Delago ‘The Hang Drum Track’ on Berwick Street Records.
You have DJ’d all over the world – all the big clubs in the UK such as The Ministry of Sound plus worldwide venues in Russia, Ibiza and Brazil – what has been your best ever club you have played at?
“Best gig has to be the MOB festival Boat party in Brazil this January. A 72 hour non stop party on a massive cruise ship with some of the biggest names in the industry on board. I’m very happy to be booked again to play the next one in January 2010.” www.mobfestival.com.br
Your production style mixes up a huge plethora of different sounds, which were the artists/albums that have influenced you over the years and also growing up listening to the radio in your bedroom?
“Many of the artists “I’m now lucky enough to be working with people who were my biggest inspiration back in the early 90’s. Producers and DJs like Eric Kupper, DJ Pierre, Louis Vega, Frankie Knuckles, Francois Kervorkian, Laurent Garnier, Jnr Vasquez etc. I come from a real house background.”
What artists that you have championed through your Berwick Street Records label are you most proudest of, what tunes stand out?
“I released the first D Dub record called Genesis which immediately got picked up and put on a Global Underground compilation which was exciting for all of us. There were remixes from myself and Audiofly, but it was the original that got picked up. They recently went on to have a Beatport number one in the Deep House genre, sadly though they gave that release to a different label. Also TRNSSTR are a reasonably new outfit consisting of Smokin’ Jo and Pete Gleadall. Their first couple of releases were on Steve Lawler’s label and I’m expecting big things from them this year as they have a great live show going on.”
How important is nurturing young talent to your label?
“I love to work with the ‘nu breed’ so to speak because I’m one of them myself. It’s fantastic to also be able to include well established names on the label too, but helping my friends get releases out there and hopefully noticed and taken seriously makes me tick.”
DJ heroes that you still love to see or remember?
“Am very happy with Sasha at the moment and would love to see him live again since he’s playing my song out at his gigs. He put ‘The Hang Drum Track’ on his Beatport top 10 last week at number 5 which helped it back up the House charts.”
Best ever Ibiza moment?
“My first ever Ibiza sunset was pretty special! A tear even came to my eye, and I hadn’t had a drink or been out clubbing yet so it wasn’t a come down of any sort! As far as gigs go though, headlining both Es Paradis and El Divino were special times and playing Space was fun too.”
What’s your favourite track from the album and why?
“I love the last song on the album most because it’s got amazing vocals and lyrics by Amber Jolene. The song is an ambient track with Hang Drum, acoustic guitars and spaced out effects. It was great to make a song that isn’t House music for once, just to see if I could do it!”
The IMS event in Ibiza last week. A huge success, some interesting answers coming from all of the delegates in the poll who attended:
Thoughts on…
Do electronic artists need labels in the Beatport era?
Yes: 76.5%
“I think it’s important to have labels out there so that many different artists can all put music out of a similar ilk through the same channel and also so that DJs can recognize if a song will be good even if they’ve never heard of the producer just because it’s linked to a certain label.”
Would you welcome a new DJ Top 100 style chart based on actual audience figures?
Yes: 76%
“By its very nature, the top 100 is a popularity contest and not a talent contest, but we’ve seen the result of them and they don’t come out much better either do they?!”
Should DJs aged over 50 be forced to retire from playing in nightclubs?
No: 63%
“Haha – I hope not… I’m no spring chicken myself!”
Would you buy the new Cocoon release (for example) if it was only available only from CocaCola.com?
No: 58%
“Interesting question that one, I don’t think it would bother me unless the brand was offensive.”
What’s coming out next from Mr Garcia?
“I’ve got a huge remix project on the go at the moment putting together loads of remixes of all my album tracks from some amazing artists including Eric Kupper, DJ Pierre, Onionz, Timmy Stewart, Lutzenkirchen, Jon Gurd, Swen Weber, Kid Blue, Akashik 11, Jenkinsound, Justin Harris, Shifter & Carvell, Reuben Keeney & Demarkus Lewis! This lovely lot should be out over the Summer on a series of single releases and then the remix album in September. Also my remix of Louis Vega vs DJ Pierre vs DJ Pierre’s Da Jungle has just come out and is doing the business on Beatport so it’s going to be a busy few months.”
