Interview: John Digweed

If you're not an avid follower of dance music but are tuned into popular culture at all you've likely experienced music touched by the hands of John Digweed. Originally hailing from England but having clearly arrived on the global scene nearly a decade ago, John Digweed began DJing at around the tender age of 4, yup that's right, 4. His breakthrough came in 1993 however when he got a gig at the Renaissance Club in Mansfield, UK after fellow DJ Alexander Coe (a.k.a Sasha) heard his demo.

Known for promoting the progressive house sound that became popular in Europe and North America in the late 1990s and early 2000s, he eventually started his very own the record label Bedrock Records to further promote the music he was playing at the time. Today the label has effectively served as a foundation for artistic expression and a medium for creative output. To have a record released on Bedrock serves as the global stamp of production quality, ingenuity and integrity for producers worldwide.

Between 2000 and 2005, Digweed promoted his Bedrock sound with monthly UK club nights featuring numerous guest DJs including Danny Howells, Phil Thompson, Hernan Cattaneo, and Chris Fortier. As Digweed's international schedule increased, these events eventually drew to a close. Digweed celebrated 10 years of his Bedrock club night at Matter, London on 10 October 2008 with a close to 10-hour set.

Digweed has featured in the top 10 from 1998-2008 in the DJ Mag top 100 polls and was voted number one DJ in 2001. Last year he was voted 8 in Residents Advisors top 100 DJs poll and this year was voted 13 - This is the one that counts!

Due to play two intimate gigs at Mumbai's blueFROG this weekend and one in Bangalore we thought it only fair to catch up with this dance music legend to see how he felt about it all:

So, looking forward to coming to India?

Really looking forward to the shows in India, last big tour was great with great energy from the crowd.

What are you looking forward to doing?

It's quite a tight schedule on this trip so might not have much spare time. Am pretty easy going though, so lets see what happens.

You've already been out here before. Tell us a bit about what you thought then, and what you're expecting now in comparison.

Last big tour was Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore. All the gigs were great and packed so very excited about coming back as I am sure the scene has developed a lot since then.

Have you been keeping an eye on the Indian scene? Any guesses where it'll be 5 years from now?

All I know is that a lot more international DJs are touring India now which can only help build the scene and help it develop a strong electronic music culture with more artists and DJs coming out of India.

Hows life with you - What are you up to at the moment?

I have been very busy. Bedrock label is going from strength to strength with some amazing releases this year, I have been in the studio with Nick Muir working on several projects including a big remix of Psycatron's Memories of the moment. Gig wise been very busy all year with tours in North and South America, Asia and all over Europe. It's been a great year of clubbing for me.

THE SAME 3 QUESTIONS:

3 most inspirational artists:

Kraftwork
Georgio Moroder
New Order

3 favourite albums of all time:

Vangelis - Bladerunner Soundtrack
Pink Floyd - The Wall
Heaven 17 - Penthouse & Pavement

Favourite 3 artists of the moment?

Josh Wink
Jozif
Max Cooper

**For more info on John Digweed's shows in India this weekend head over to our events page here**