anderswolleck

Its hard to believe thats it has been ten years since the seminal dance album, Renaissance: The Mix Collection, was released. Now Sasha and John Digweed have teamed up to digitally remix and remaster the album for the modern age. I got a chance to talk with Digweed about the long influence of his work.

Check out the official website of John Digweed

Daniel Robert Epstein: Hey John, what did you do on New Years Eve?

John Digweed: I was in Los Angeles at the GIANT Village event in Los Angeles for the third year in a row. Then on the Monday afterwards we did a fundraiser for the tsunami.

DRE: How was it going through all those older songs for the 10th anniversary of the Renaissance collection?

JD: They bring back a lot of good memories. They are all great tracks and I think the reason the album got re-released is because they stood the test of time. Ten years on they still sound good which shows that albums longevity.

DRE: Do you still play them at shows?

JD: Yeah, there are certain tracks that people associate with Sasha and me so when I play one of those at a gig, the place goes nuts.

DRE: I read that you actually used brand new equipment to remaster them.

JD: It was just some EQ to fine tune it and make it sound a bit up to date.

DRE: I know you and Sasha toured again a couple of years ago. Would you do that again?

JD: Were not going to do heavy month long tours but just special events which are special just because we dont do it very often.

DRE: How was it working with Sasha again just on the remastering?

JD: We reminisced. It was funny because when we first put the album together we had never worked on a mix album before. We just took like 50 tracks and just messed around in the studio until we had that album so it was kind of trial and error. But we both have similar tastes so it really gelled. To listen to it again brings a lot of memories of how it first came together and to be part of something that had such an impact on the scene is really fantastic.

DRE: What did you learn from working with Sasha that you still use today?

JD: Obviously we both have certain ways of DJing. Sasha is an excellent DJ in the way he paces and gives you little moments. Hes an excellent programmer and mixer. Weve got similar tastes in music but well play our records totally different.

DRE: How much has your work ethic changed in the past ten years?

JD: When I did that mix I definitely wasnt as well known and I hadnt played places like Australia, South America and Russia. At that point I was playing in the UK and a few places in America. Now the world has become a massive nightclub for me. I do a lot more international stuff because the world is an exciting place to experience.

DRE: Were there tracks you didnt want to put on the reissue album?

JD: We removed a couple of tracks that just didnt seem to fit anymore.

DRE: How do you think your kind of music has changed in the past ten years?

JD: I think the CD compilation market helped push DJs all over the world. Suddenly you had people in Australia who got ahold of a compilation and then wanted the DJs to play over there. It really did start the DJ culture in a lot of places. Before you had to go to a club or you had the odd cassette but once the mix got really nice packaging and was sold in the shops people realized they should take it seriously. Once we got to that stage people knew it was the real deal.

DRE: I read quite a few articles where they called you the grandfather of dance music.

JD: Grandfather? I havent heard that. I dont even have any kids yet [laughs]. Im just 37.

DRE: Do you listen to a lot of newer DJs?

JD: Yeah I work with a lot of them. Like Desyn Masiello and Jonathan Lisle from the UK. These are guys who are making a big impact on the scene.

DRE: Since you kicked open the door for them, what are they doing to advance it farther?

JD: They are doing their thing. The one thing to make a DJ stand out is to not sound like anyone else. If you want to get noticed you have to sound like yourself and thats the key to being successful. People dont need another John Digweed or Sasha because theyve already got one.

DRE: I dont know how it is in the UK; do you think DJ music will ever hit mainstream radio?

JD: For a while it was huge in the UK. Now its gone back to the guitar based stuff which I prefer because it was always the crap stuff that ended up on the radio. So it was never doing the scene any good. Also I like some of the rock stuff like Franz Ferdinand and U2 came back with a great single.

DRE: You were in your mid-20s when you got popular. How did you keep your head?

JD: I had been DJing for a long time before I gained success so it was a long hard process. I was pretty well schooled in how to deal with success. I also knew what was waiting for me if I messed up so that gives you a good incentive to keep your feet on the ground.

DRE: I read that while Sasha has musical training and you never did. How did you teach yourself?

JD: I was always into music anyway. The way music was taught at school made me eager to get out of those classes. Its funny that I ended up in the music industry because when I had the chance to study music I ran away from it. There was nothing exciting about playing the violin or the recorder. I had a friend that showed me his decks and I just got bit by the bug at an early age. It was definitely one of those things where once I discovered I loved DJing in front of people thats all I wanted to do.

by Daniel Robert Epstein

SG Username: AndersWolleck