From Berlin with love, Irish eyes are smiling
An established figure on the global DJ circuit, Irish born and Leeds based Gavin Herlihy has built up an illustrious career over the past five years, including a stint in Berlin where he crafted his trade at Panorama Bar, Bar25 and Watergate. Gavin has dropped releases on some of the most prestigious labels on the planet, championed by pioneers like Pete Tong and Ricardo Villalobos. A recent collaboration with Detroit legend Delano Smith on split EP, ‘Krypton Factor’, was widely regarded as one of last year’s standout tracks and the latest on Culprit ‘Endless Feeling’ has been one of his most successful releases to date and also marking a shift in style. 2012 is going to be a massive year for a producer who is going to be here for a very long time indeed.
Words: Dan Prince
Hi Gavin, welcome to DMCWORLD towers. Nice to speak to you again pal, last time we spoke was ten years ago in Tiesto’s dressing room in a Bristol club putting the world to rights at silly o clock. How times change…
“Yes indeed although I think the last Mixmag staffer to make the jump to DJing was former editor Dave Seaman so I think you can blame him for starting that particular trend!”
True! Before you discovered the world of electronic music you spent your teenage years listening to the likes of Rage Against The Machine and Sonic Youth over in your native Ireland. This all changed however after going to a festival around the age of 13 when at 8am crashing out you heard the distant thud of bass. So how did this long haired kid get converted?
“There was a couple of key festivals that did the trick. The first was an Irish one and I vividly remember falling back to my tent at silly o clock and seeing an outdoor rave in the distance with everyone going for it at full pelt. As I passed out for the night after an evening of moshing, I made a mental note that I was obviously on the wrong musical team. The second incident happened at Reading Festival a year later. A couple of friends and I jumped the gates (we were two young to afford the tickets) and did some older ravers from our small town a favour by letting them stay in our tent for the night. They repaid the favour by taking us to our first party. A few days later with these hypnotic beats still racing around our heads we went to stay in London and discovered early jungle on a pirate radio station. I was completely transfixed by the futuristic nature of it and obsessed with electronic music from that point forward.”
You once said: “Unless you’re running in the very, very top flight of the DJing game, surviving solely as an underground electronic artist, it is almost impossible.” Do you think that is still the case?
“Yes very much so. I made that comment while arguing with someone on Facebook who was defending illegal filesharing by saying that it acts as promotion for artists. Not everyone gets to play a couple of gigs a weekend however. These days everyone wants to produce and DJ but the fact is only a small percentage really make money at DJing so for everyone else the only other means of earning money from music is from royalties and in this age of people stealing music that’s impossible. I’m sure Bono isn’t going to go out of business if you fileshare the latest U2 album but the up and coming producer will really struggle to get to second base if things continue the way they do. The way I see it underground electronic music is still very niche and if you count yourself a fan you should support the music by buying it. Just like the way metal fans support their favourite bands by buying t-shirts you should support us by paying under £2 for a track or doing your ears a favour and buying vinyl.”
What is the top 10 you are currently spinning…
Omar S – Wayne County Cops – FXHE
Mr G – Soundboy Dub – Phoenix G
Franck & Terry – Hustling Peoples – Realtone
Fletcher Joseph & Georgia Girl – Moonlight – Act Natural
DJ Ali – Make It Hot – Illusion
Alex Arnout – Movements In Soul – Laura Jones Remix – Turquoise Blue
Mathew Burton & Kate Rahod – Warehouse Fool – Visionquest
Milton Jackson – DSI – Freerange
Gavin Herlihy – Witching Hour – Crosstown Rebels
Gavin Herlihy – Positive Thing – Inxec & Droog remix – Get Physical
You are spinning at the huge Mulletover 8th Birthday in London in April with Carl Craig presents 69 live, Maya Jane Coles, Geddes and Midland amongst others. We love the Mulletover parties at DMC, why are they so good?
“Mulletover’s success is primarily down to the guys always staying true to their rave roots. I don’t think they’ve every put a party on that they themselves wouldn’t go to as punters if they were on the other side of the fence. Also, their line-ups are always great quality and not just pandering to whatever the next new trend is like a lot of promoters tend to do.”
Carl Craig at the head of affairs for this one, what is it about Carl that makes him still stand out?
“Consistency. As a producer myself the big lesson I take from Carl’s career is that longevity is not about having a big hit, it’s about sustaining a constant stream of quality and always progressing and diversifying while never getting too sucked into trends. While he’s most closely associated with techno, whether techno is in vogue or not Carl is always in demand and always taking his sound to the next level.”
Your massive ‘Get Loose’ track is huge, coming out on Leftroom. Can you talk us through the tune…
“While learning to produce I went through a period of making really long and complicated tracks. So I decided last Summer to simplify things and make some shorter, club jams. I’ve always been inspired like many people by Inner City and their hits always struck a balance between being cool and underground but also party friendly and vocal. ‘Get Loose’ was an attempt at delivering that sort of vibe but with a modern twist.”
When asked about the music you play, you once answered that ”if it’s good it gets played’. Now let’s be honest here. There must have been a time when you drew a line somewhere when someone asked for a request?
“If someone requests a record and it falls within the realms of what I’ll play (and it’s not too over done) I’ll try and play it. I’m there to entertain at the end of the day and it’s a party so why not? I do have a strict rule of only playing tracks that pass my own particular quality test however. A lot of DJs test tracks out but one lesson I learned from listening to Prosumer when I lived in Berlin is that if you only play those tracks that you know to be quality, you can’t fail. Everyone has excitedly bought a track at some point only to discover a few days later that it wasn’t quite as good as it sounded in the record shop so if you’re a DJ I think it’s important that you are sure you are only playing the tried and tested good stuff.”
During your time as one of the editors at Mixmag, you became a resident at Rob Tissera’s Kissdafunk night, a night notorious for it’s hedonistic house vibe. At the same time you were getting into the sounds of labels like Traum, Get Physical and Cocoon – how difficult was it for you juggling all of the music you were playing and writing about, but your true love of electronic music really lay elsewhere?
“I’m very greatful to Rob for giving me my first main room gig at Mint Club in Leeds. They could only ever really put me on first though as my style of house wasn’t really suited to the party so in the end we had to part ways. Around the same time I was booked to play Moneypennies and at the end of the night some of the regulars complained that if I was booked again they’d stop coming to the club so my career as a funky house DJ was obviously never meant to be! Juggling styles wasn’t too hard however as I’ve always loved house as well as techno. I started reviewing techno for Mixmag before I started DJing house but at the time the only route I could find into DJing was playing the house rooms of events like Sundissential or Godskitchen. These were always quite a funny experience as the kids used to think of my room as the chill out room whereas to me it was pretty peak time house and techno”
What is the finest record you have ever played to a dancefloor?
“There are too many great tracks that I love to define which one is the best. Today the one that springs to mind might be Davina’s exteneded mix of Don’t You Want It. It’s a perfect end of set style record to leave the crowd with a positive frame of mind.”
You left London and your desk job at Mixmag to relocate in Berlin. It’s cheaper there, there was/is a huge amount of creativity there and you thought it was the right to place to head as a rookie producer. How hard was it there to begin with?
“I’d only been learning to produce a couple of years and moved in the Autumn of 2007 just as the recession was kicking into gear so it was really really tough. Gigs were thin on the ground and I was literally producing tracks to put food on the table. I couldn’t even use a sampler at the time and I lived on a really gnarly street full of squats and punks so it was a pretty gritty experience and I had to learn on the job pretty quickly. Moving to any city is a challenge but when you’re skint and the future is completely uncertain it’s a real test but that experience made me work that little bit harder so it was for the best.”
Your new years resolution is always discover, learn and love and have a good time doing it. What are the best things you discovered, learnt and loved about Berlin?
“I discovered that the supermarkets are really not up to scratch. Fish doesn’t really seem to be high on the priorities of shoppers in Friedrichshain for example. I learned that the secret to succeeding in life is sometimes just throwing yourself into the unknown as it’ll teach you to land on your feet so long as you have your head screwed on. I obviously loved the clubs – The Panorama Bar /Berghain in particular is such a an extraordinary, compelling place but I also loved the sense of history in the air. There are still bullet holes in walls here or there that echo back to darker times so the city for me is a symbol that even in our bleakest times good can prevail.”
What is the best festival story you have participated in?
“I played a small stage at Glastonbury a few years ago and heard a commotion in the crowd. On closer inspection it wasn’t a rapturous reaction to one of my records but a naked hippy mum falling around the place pleasuring herself in time to the music. This particular woman became a minor cult celebrity as everywhere you went that weekend you’d meet someone who’d seen her for pretty much the entire weekend and even Q magazine ran a picture of her happily wandering along a pathway in the nude. Who says the older raver doesn’t have stamina!”
So we head back to your gaff after the club, what is the Gavin Herlihy Back To Mine Top 10 you groove us to…?
“Strictly fun music…”
Eurythmics – This City Never Sleeps
Zapp & Roger – So Ruff, So Tuff
Lyn Collins – Rock Me Again and Again
ODB – Baby I got Your Money
Anita Ward – Ring My Bell
Patrice Rush – Forget Me Nots
Chic – I Want Your Love
Prince – When Doves Cry
Kate Bush – Cloudbusting
Gil Scott Heron & Brian Jackson – Peace Go With You Brother
Back to your Mixmag days. There was only one DJ who ever did our heads in when DMC owned Mixmag. I think he did your head in too, always harassing you to feature him. Any ideas who…?
“There were a few of those to be honest! Although the particular guy I think you might be referring to was a constant source of laughter. He was hilariously once caught on camera rooting through my records afterhours when the office was empty and attempted to deny it until we presented the evidence. We gave him a fair bit of stick for that one as you can imagine!”
And finally, what can you tell us about your future releases…
“Over the next few months I’m releasing a split EP with Laura Jones on Crosstown Rebels called ‘Witching Hour’/’Inner Place’. After that there’s the ‘Get Loose’ EP on Leftroom, a collaboration with Alex Arnout on a Dogmatik VA with Maya Jane Coles. ‘My Positive Thing’ EP is out on Get Physical in April as well as a remix of Matt Tolfrey and Maher Daniel’s biggie from last year ‘It Ain’t Over Yet’ and another collab track with Back To Basics’ James Barnsley for Overall Music in Spain.”
For full details on the Mulletover 8th Birthday check…http://maouris.co.uk/event-detail.php?e=121
Date: Thu 05th Apr, 2012
Time: 10pm – 7am
Location: Pulse, Southark, London
Price: Advance £12.50, £15, £18, £20 and £25
Line Up:
Carl Craig presents 69 live
Maya Jane Coles
Geddes
Gavin Herlihy
Midland
George FitzGerald
Gavin Herlihy / Laura Jones – ‘Witching Hour / Inner Place’
Crosstown Rebels (CRM091)
Release Date: Monday February 27th, 2012
Gavin Herlihy – Witching Hour
Laura Jones – Inner Place
Digi Only: Laura Jones – Inner Place (Beatless)
airlondonmusic.com/gavin-herlihy
