Prosumer

Do you play for yourself, like Craig Richards says he does, or more to the crowd, like Move D admits?

It’s a bit of both. Ideally, you have a connection. For some reason I feel I’m getting more and more shy. I think it’s to do with the setup in the club getting more like it’s for rock bands – all the light towards the DJ, and I keep thinking, “why aren’t there lights on the dance floor, that’s where it should be,” so that’s me getting more shy and self conscious when DJing. I realised that, where before I looked into the crowd more openly, now it will more be me [mimes sipping a drink and peeking his eyes over the glass].

You should rewrite your rider and stipulate about lights.

Ha! If things worked like that it would be great, but nowadays, unfortunately, getting my technical requests right doesn’t always happen so I’m not going to start with that. Maybe I should. Even if I don’t look at the audience all the time, I still see someone smiling to a track and that means a lot, I connect a lot to that emotionally. I know what to do then. That situation creates a playlist for me that I can follow.

What about the live show, though? You really will be the focus then.

It has a very different energy. You’re busier also, doing things instead of standing there and dancing.

I feel I'm getting more and more shy. I think it's to do with the setup in the club getting more like it’s for rock bands.

Will you sing?

Yeah.

You put yourself in the spotlight a lot for someone who doesn’t like it.

Erm, I mean it’s part of the game. Years ago I would have been terrified and nowadays I’m OK with it. I wouldn’t say I’m comfortable, but it’s what you have to do. I’m not over confident about my singing, but I’m happy I get away with doing it.

And what will you sing about? Should dance lyrics be socially aware and politically conscious?

I’ve written lyrics where I’m pouring my heart out and I’ve written party lyrics and I’ve written lyrics that are a bit of both. If you look at ‘The Craze’, the lyrics are easy, “hey, come on, dance with me,” poppy, happy lyrics, but there’s another level to it: I was a depressed kid sitting at home who was asking really shyly and not believing it would be possible that people would come and join me and dance with me. At that time it was unthinkable for me.

So those words might seem throwaway and flippant to people listening, but for you it was a big, emotional and personal thing.

In a way it was. I think I only realised afterwards that I hear a lot of longing and desperation in my voice when I hear the recording from back then. Sorry, back to the question – I don’t know if stuff should have more of a message. It’s great and nice if it does, but I think we need a bit of both. Who would go out if all the tracks said “be nice to each other, don’t kill dolphins?” It would be rather depressing, but if someone is just screaming “hey yeah yeah” that’s also not what you want all night long. It’s about balance.

So let’s talk about Fabric. What comes into your head when I say that word?

[Laughs] Definitely my first night there in 2000. It was the first time I’d been to such a big club. I was very, very impressed – the sound and light I had never seen before, nothing like that existed in Berlin at the time – or not the clubs I went to, like WMF. For me Fabric will always be linked to that night, when I met Judy [Griffith, Fabric’s promotions manager] for the first time.

Every DJ I speak to about Fabric mentions Judy almost immediately. 

She’s such a lovely, caring person. She’s so warm and welcoming. I was an insecure kid at that time and it felt so good that she was so nice. When I meet people on the plane or airport on the way to London and they play Fabric and I ask them where they are playing, they say “oh, I’m playing for Judy,” rather than for Fabric.

People also say they save certain records for Fabric.

Yeah of course, for every club I play I consider what works. Also at Fabric it also matters what room you are playing. One of the tracks I included on the mix, I-F – ‘The Search’, was playing the first time I ever went so when they asked me to do the CD it was the first on my list. For me, it is a complete Fabric track.

So did you build the mix round that?

I wouldn’t say that. It’s maybe like cooking – you have one ingredient in your fridge and go through what else you have that combines with that. You come across stuff that isn’t immediately connected, but then if you add ginger and lemongrass it all works together.

You bump through 24 tracks, don’t play many in full, drop some straight  in… why is that?

I got them all licensed and didn’t feel I could drop any! I like to leave some to play longer later on, the melodic ones, so people leave with something in their head. I like leaving a club singing something on the way home.

Putting together a mix is maybe like cooking - you have one ingredient in your fridge and go through what else you have that combines with that.

Why is vinyl so important to you? You recently cancelled a gig where you didn’t have records, refusing to play off your digital back up.

The stick is just to play stuff that isn’t available, stuff I’ve edited, and as a backup if a turntable stops working so I can play for half an hour until it’s fixed, but I cannot with a good conscious say, “hey everybody, this is my emergency set, enjoy!”

As I’ve said before, records are my friends. God, that sounds horrible – “I enjoy being around my records.” But yes, I do.

Fabric 79 mixed by Prosumer will be released on December 8th (pre-order here), with a launch party on 20th December (tickets on sale soon). Find Prosumer on Facebook and SoundCloud.