Dimitri From Paris

The Parisian playboy discusses teleportation and disco in our quick-fire questionnaire. Oh, and food. Lots and lots of food.

If you weren’t making music what would you be doing?

Cooking professionally.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?

Believe in what you do – no one else will otherwise.

What inspires you?

Curious and passionate people.

What’s the next big thing?

I don’t care for next big things. They’re just the has-beens in the making.

Best club experience?

Magic Session at WMC Miami 1998.

What’s the worst job you’ve ever had?

Pouring vats of chemicals in the dark at a Kodak film factory. I quit after one hour.

How do you know when a track’s finished?

Usually silence is a giveaway.

When did you realise you could give up your day job?

When I was fired from my day job for being away to DJ too often.

Which song do you wish you wrote?

Any that Ashford & Simpson wrote, except ‘Solid’.

What’s the easiest way to make it in the music industry?

It’s much easier if you don’t give a shit about music.

What’s the worst track you’ve ever released?

It’s too shameful to be mentioned.

What or who is underrated?

Craftsmanship.

What or who is overrated?

Any celebrity.

What are you addicted to?

Cooking and eating.

What do you lust over?

A red Berkel mechanical slicing machine.

What one thing would most improve your life?

Teleportation, but a private jet could do in the meantime.

What’s the worst gig you’ve ever played?

Roskilde Festival. It put me off festivals for life.

Collaboration: rich creative experience or pain in the ass?

Both. It works better online now, so you don’t see the other person’s face when you submit a change and vice versa.

If you could only listen to one more track, what would it be?

Change – ‘The Glow Of Love’.

What one piece of software/kit could you not do without?

Pro Tools.

Art or money?

Art should drive the money, not the other way around.

What’s your single biggest frustration in the music industry?

Most people need to know what a song is before they enjoy it for the first time.

What’s the worst thing about making music?

Not finishing a track you started.

What’s your motto?

Think before you speak, Google before you ask.

Tweet us a tip. What’s the best production advice you can give in 140 characters or less?

Using some light touches of reverb can make any mix sound far less sterile.

Dimitri’s new double mix CD, Dimitri From Paris Back In The House, is released on August 27th on Defected.