We caught up with the cut and paste master at Lovebox Festival to put him through his paces with our quick-fire Q&A.
Whats the best advice you’ve ever received?
Stay completely honest to your tastes. Be totally true to what you love. Don’t be embarrassed about anything, even if you think, “Oh that’s not a cool song” – it’s not even selling out, it’s just to do with playing what you genuinely love. I see so many DJs who don’t do that. Best piece of advice I’ve ever heard is to stay true to what you love.
Whats the worst gig you’ve ever played?
I’ve played some dreadful gigs. You’re not a proper DJ until you’ve played to an empty room. So probably the worst gig I’ve ever played has been to no one. In fact what’s worst than playing to no one is playing to like eight people. I’d rather play to no one. Trying to make eight people dance is really difficult, and I’ve definitely done that a few times. Luckily not for a long time though.
What’s the easiest way to make it in the industry?
I don’t think there is any easy way to make it. I think it comes down to luck, who you know, and then thirdly your skill. I wish it was skill first but it doesn’t seem to be that way.
Whats the worst track you’ve ever released?
The worst one was a track I did with a rapper called Large Professor and I just wasn’t happy with the production. When the track was finished I was not happy with it, and then it came out and I was like, whoops. Didn’t like that one.
What’s the best track you’ve ever released?
At the moment I really like the track with Boy George on my last album, the extended remix of that song. It’s like an epic eight-minute Ibiza sunset track, which is not my normal kind of thing but I was just really happy with it when it came out.
Which song do you wish you wrote?
Wow, you’re asking deep questions. I’m just going to say ‘Ring Of Fire’ by Johnny Cash.
What or who is overrated?
Oh, I can’t say that! I’d be in big trouble. What I will say this: I think there are a lot of very big DJs who are overrated. Especially the kind of big A-list EDM DJs. I won’t say any names but I’ve watched some of those people play and I can’t believe that they’re called a DJ. That’s the only thing that annoys me. It’s the fact that they get called a DJ when all they do is press play on a CD player. For someone like me who values DJ skills so highly, I think it’s really awful and overrated when that happens.
What’s your greatest regret?
These are real psychiatrist questions! My greatest regret is not carrying on with learning languages at school. I can speak Spanish and French really badly and I would love it if when I’m in countries that speak those languages, I could just smash it in that language.
If you could only listen to one more track, what would it be?
John Lennon – ‘Imagine’.
Whats the strangest place you’ve ever written a track?
Really weird places these days ’cause all you need is a laptop or even a phone sometimes. I’m always working on music on trains and planes, but that’s not that weird. But for me, I’ve been camping in Africa and worked on music in a tent, in the middle of Africa. That’s pretty weird.
Whats your single biggest frustration in the music industry?
It kind of goes back to what I was saying before – that the majority don’t favour skills as something that they want to see.
Tweet us a tip. What’s the best production advice you can give in 140 characters or less?
Try and make sure that when you’ve finished your track it doesn’t sound like anyone else you can think of.
DJ Yoda headlined the Russian Standard Vodka House of Davai stage at Lovebox. Find him on Facebook, Twitter and SoundCloud.