Daniel Robert Epstein: John Digweed

Well by all means John Digweed is the grandaddy of the club scene. By far the most recognizable talent. If you havent seen him live, i suggest you do. It would probably end up leading to an outerbody experience. Its a total mind trip and its hard to handle. I didnt know untill just viewing the interview that JD has been working with Desyn. (Listening to him right now @ Space w/Howels) I hope to see a complitation with them two together sometime soon. JD needs to spend some more time here in the states, but i guess traveling the world kinda beats it all. Well im off to class but im SOO STOKED to see that Digweed was on the SG homepage, it kinda makes me feel more at home.
_ONE_
-Musics one thing, but soul is another-

John Digweed is definitely one of the most recognizable faces in electronica, but, at the same time- I know I'm gonna ruffle some feathers here-, his version of electronic music is akin to a band like Sum4

(sorry about the above...)

John Digweed is definitely one of the most recognizable faces in electronica, but, at the same time- I know I'm gonna ruffle some feathers here-, his version of electronic music is akin to a band like Sum41 being punk rock. Digweed along with Sasha and Oakenfold have, in many ways, top-40ized people's perceptions of what electronic music is. Their djing skills are top notch, no doubt about it, but they style of music they play is so very basic, linear and oftentimes flat. The structure of trance, prog house, etc seems to be as base (1,2,3,4 change, 1,2,3,4 add...) as can be. Suggestions for interviews in the future w/n the elctronic realm: Richie Hawtin, Derrick May, Jay Haze, Surgeon, Aphex Twin, Jeff Mills, Francois K, Tresor Records.

BTW- I have seen Digweed live. It was okay. It just seems to me there are a lot more musically interesting people out there, pushing more boundaries with time signatures and sound than he is. He just gets the long end of the stick because he is one of the most poplular.

[Edited on Feb 01, 2005 by robotik]

you are looking at it backwards.
clearly, because you are biased with your tastes in the "electronic realm"

digweed is not like sum41, cause sum41 did not create and push punk rock into the main stream veins. digweed and sasha did. i hear tons of dynamics in their music. they arent finished either. i know sasha is working his first residence since twilo in NY last decade. i guess he isnt even using records or cd's now. but hey, thats not interesting or pushing musical boundaries i guess....

good point. you are right about this. i didn't mean to come across like these guys were inept or anything. in fact, these guys (sasha, digweed esp) were a large part of my gateway into electronic music in the early to mid 90's.
i guess my point was that the structure of trance leaves something to be desired.

often, it seems to rely on the dramatics in order to evoke emotion. it is simpler music. i think many people can latch on to it easily. none of this is necessarily bad.

it's obvious that my preferences do not lie in this genre, but there are many on the fringe of trance that are doing good, forward thinking things that don't get the publicity these guys do (ie swayzak, john tejada) and that is too bad (for the uninitiated the names i dropped earlier are more on the techno, minimal tip).

you are also right in that these two have pushed electronic music closer to the mainstream (let's face it: for the most part the US is a rock-n-roll crowd). i guess i just wish people would dig deeper into that realm and discover some crazy new pioneers that are and have been out there for a while.

apologies to any sensibilites i have offended.

Sorry but I don't think Sash and Dig have "top 40ized" electronic music in the same way that Paul Oakenfold has...there's a great distinction between songs like "Xpander" and "Starry eyed surprised" <---

Good to hear from Digsy, brings back alot of memories. Cold mornings driving to school listening to Northern Exposure.. I was always more of a Sasha fan myself of the pair though. He's got that "mad-genius" energy where digweed had solid, brilliant performance.
Resident_Diesel, its definately too easy to associate digweed with oakie simply because of their parallel success at that critical time in electronic music ('98-'99), which is entirely unfair of course

definatly an influential person
great interview
nice to hear something from digweed

I would never compare digweed to Oakenfold either. Good to see this interview here though. I'm psyched about Sasha's new residency in NYC, to bad I don't live in that part of the country anymore. I'm a big fan of their "darker" sounding days from the end of the twilo period 99-2000.

Xpander is such a great song.

Digweed is great. I'm still annoyed I didnt make it out to Giant this past New Years Eve. I have yet to see him live, but I wouldnt compare him to Oakey, who was really disappointing live, terrible in fact.

[Edited on Feb 01, 2005 by SoSleepy]

[Edited on Feb 01, 2005 by SoSleepy]

HAHA, oakey disappointing live....understatement. People who think oakey is a good dj have a very skewed idea of good djing. His skills MIGHT have been pretty good once, but not any longer. He doesn't do anything but cross between songs and play a little bit withthe EQ. Oh well, this isn't about oakey. It's good to hear from diggers and good to see the interview here. Though I don't really enjoy Sasha and diggers live (I've only seen either of them together, not separate), I can appreciate their mixing styles

At last I see some recognition about our US dance music scene on this website!! Kudos! DJ's such as Sasha, Digweed, Tietso, and Paul Okenfold have given such a hugh boost to electronic music culture for anyone to start bitching about commercialism or "selling out". Digweed is even a movie star nowdays in the movie Groove, a good movie but, lame attemtp to capture the "rave" scene on film.
I may only be 27 but, I was definitly in it in the begining in Florida in the mid 90's when SouthBeach, Gainsville, and Tampa brought "underground" to the masses. Simons in gainsville, Zen parties, Zoolu in New Orleans, and Diamante in Miami Beach. That vibe and scene is loooong gone. There are many nights where I can pinpoint where he lifted me spirtually to another level while playing. Wether it was in a nightclub in Chicago or sunrise on the beach in Key West. Progresive teky trance at its best always!

finally some people that know what they're talking about...Oakey is by NO means a good DJ...I agree that he was decent at one point but Bunkka was a load of bunkum and well...he sucks. Long live Sasha and Digweed!!!

yep

This is fantastic to see this interview on SG.com; nice job, Daniel. I caught Digweed at Crobar NYC a couple of months ago and it was fucking incredible. I just got the 10th anniversary edition of this Renaissance mix promoted here- it will always remain a classic.

If you're looking for something more musically intricate, might I suggest Sasha's new remix CD Involver. I promise you won't be disappointed.

And I'll be there- with bells on- when Sasha makes his appearance at his new monthly residency at Crobar N.Y.C. this Friday (it's actually a bi-caostal residency, each N.Y.C. date being the first Friday of each month, a few days apart from each monthly date at Avalon L.A.).

Yeah man im going to hop on the bad wagon with this one, your definately WRONG (sorry to be so blunt) about digweed going commercial. Oakenfold is one thing, his past Bunka album was very mainstream, and as far as creamfields goes im going to have to say the same. Digweed has paved way for all of you vinyl spinnin fiends, and hes still doing it. Les just be happy hes kept his place in the industry and not gone mainstream.

Yeah man im going to hop on the band wagon with this one, your definately WRONG (sorry to be so blunt) about digweed going commercial. Oakenfold is one thing, his past Bunka album was very mainstream, and as far as creamfields goes im going to have to say the same. Digweed has paved way for all of you vinyl spinnin fiends, and hes still doing it. Les just be happy hes kept his place in the industry and not gone mainstream.

deal. i'll go check it out this week.

uhhhhh what ever happened to dave ralph? in my experience with all of these live, dave ralph rocked shit harder than sasha or digweed. i've seen them all seperate and together, and dave ralph knows how to play a croud. so what happened to dave ralph?

anyone?

and correct me if i'm wrong, didn't they release this over a year ago?

i know it was re-issued, because i bought it.??????wtf

its definitely a classic!! i cant wait to see them both at the same time on the 25th!

Nice interview, thanks…

Back in the mid 90s Sasha and Digweed used to DJ for these parties in Brighton (UK) called Babealicious, and they were so damn good