Interview #110: DJ Deep

He’s been named as Masters at Work’s “favourite house DJ” and Laurent Garnier took him under his wing, now DJ Deep is releasing a compilation series that celebrates house music and its roots. I Like Music caught up with DJ Deep to chat about house music, inventing new mixers and the dance music industry.

“I Like Music because… music is my life." DJ Deep

ILM: So your album, City To City Party Two: Travels Through Chicago, Detroit And New York's Underground House Sounds is out in June. Can you tell me a bit about its vibe?

DJ Deep: The City To City Volume II compilation is really a sample of some of my all time favourite house records. Obviously I didn't include the anthems or the records that everybody can somehow get, because I think there are really good compilations available with those on, but this is a more personal, point of view, my own little vision of some of the records that were a shot when they came out, and really unique in the way they were sounding and the character of them.

For instance, on the CD there is track by Giovan called Can't Make Up My Mind. And it's quite funny because Giovan is doing an impression of an older man in a club wandering around and wants a drink and to pick up and trying to speak with the ladies and stuff. It's funny because I remember when the track came out, even though we didn't speak perfect English or whatever, we'd feel the sense of humour that was in the track, like a little joke, no big deal and it was funny to have a fun track to play out in the club, it was pretty original. And when I speak with Giovanni he's always pretty shy about this track, and says it's not his best but I tell him, "but it has a sense of humour y'know, it has character." And, in my opinion, today, a lot of house music is very politically correct, and everybody has their own section: deep house, vocal house, and I remember back in the days with those tracks people had more freedom in a way, people were more enthusiastic to experiment with jokes or just having more fun with the tracks.

ILM: Laurent Garnier has called it pure house music, rather than minimal or techno. What makes it pure house?

DJ Deep: For me, those tracks are definitely house. You know, I could pick up A Sense Of A Dream by Kay-lexi and play it to someone and say if you were to listen to only one track, it would be a good example of house. I'm not saying this track is house music and I'm defining what house music, but it has the essence of what I like in house music, it has character, it has the drums, the swing of it, the dark atmosphere, the sexy talking... for me it is house, it's hard for me to explain why that is, but people who enjoy this music it's pretty clear it's part of the house family. Basically, all of the tracks included on the mix album, I could the say the same thing of them.

Those tracks have in common the fact that they have the essence of house in them somehow.

ILM: No doubt you’ve got a busy summer planned, what are you most looking forward to about summer 2006?

DJ Deep: I'm doing a few album release parties, one in London, one in Berlin in July 22nd (for the Jazzanova party, Panorama bar, and a few in the States and Canada and one in Amsterdam in July and I'm looking forward to doing this because it will allow me to play some of those tracks as well as some new stuff, so the music they're going to listen to is going to be slightly different to what they would expect. And I'm curious to see how people are going to react to this.

ILM: Laurent Garnier took you under his wing. How did that come about?

DJ Deep: I met Laurent when I was 18 and was verey impressed by his DJing and I wasn't sure if I wanted to be DJ and I loved his music, he was playing house in a very unique way. And one day he came over to me and said, “I see you everywhere, you seem to follow me everywhere I play and you're always around the DJ booth, you seem to show a lot of interest in the mixing technique, what's going on?”

So we met up like this and through the years we became friends and pretty soon he offered me the chance to work with him. Because at the time he was getting extremely famous and successful and couldn't do all the gigs he was asked to do. So he needed someone by his side and he's been very kind and generous to offer me the chance to work with him, because at the time he was already the most famous DJ in France. So that's how it started.

ILM: It must be great from just watching him to now working with him?

DJ Deep: Yes especially at that time, because the music was so diverse, he would play hip hop house, techno, funk, disco in the same night in a very smooth and natural way and that was pretty unique.

ILM: You’ve come a long way since handling the warm up slots at Garnier’s Boy In Paris and Le Palace. Tell me about that time and how things are different now?

DJ Deep: Well things are different because, I tried to follow my own path and have set up my own labels, Deeply Rooted House and House Music records and I'm very happy to have the chance to release music of people I really admire, such as Kerry Chandler, Frankie Valiciano, DJ Gregory, Frank Roger, Manu and as well I have this reissue label, called House Music Records and the CD II compilation is a joint venture with BB and my label so it's important for me to try to keep doing things looking in the future and still give people who are interested in this music the opportunity to check what was house music back then when it started, because to me its very different what people make of house music today and how we interpret this term, it has really changed.

ILM: So, for new people starting to get into house music, its important to educate them to say this is real flavour of it and how it began.

DJ Deep: Yes, totally.

ILM: You invented the DJR400 CD Mixer, how did that come about?

DJ Deep: I met up with an engineer in france called Gerom Barbay. He's a great guy. He was working for a famous American brand called Manlay, and he saw I was very passionate about my uri 1620 mixer this old American classic rotary mixer and we started discussing why I liked it so much and in the culture this mixer seemed to be so important and why so many DJs think this is a very unique mixer. So the first step was to try to reproduce the sound quality of this. So we did our first mixers which are called DJR100s and our challenge was to get a sound quality that was identical to those mixers and we succeeded in doing this. So then we got the inspiration to do a travel mixer that would be very helpful for American DJs, who sometimes have trouble finding equivalent mixers as the ones they have in the States in Europe, so we came up with the idea of doing a portable mixer that you can put in a night bag and carry with you.

And we were lucky that Kerry Chandler, who's a sound engineer himself, was really interested in the project and helped us a lot developing the project, so he came to Paris and in the end we came up with this product, which is a good success for us. We never intended to become millionaires with this product, but we feel really happy when we see Frankie Felaciano, Carl Craig, Kerry and Danny Krivitz, all those people that I admire so much and know how much they love their sound and know about sound systems quality, to have their trust in our product, for us that's the biggest reward.

ILM: You play out and experience people enjoying the music you're playing, and making your own albums with your own label and making your own equipment, so you're covering all bases.

DJ Deep: Next thing you know I'll have amplifiers and speakers and a club, an empire

ILM: What piece of music-making software and hardware could you not live without?

DJ Deep: I am very attached to my ProTools and I use an old 8820 DJ design soundcard, which is not the latest with the highest bit rate, but somehow it has some grain or something in this soundcard that I love. So this and my protools I love and I wouldn't go without.

ILM: What’s been your best live experience as an artist and as a punter?

DJ Deep: It was in the same club, Club Yellow in Tokyo. I was listening to Danny Krivitz. I arrived in the club at 11am and came out of the club at lunchtime the next day. He did an amazing set, and I had a chance to play in the same club with my very good friend Alex from Tokyo and Frankie Feliciano, and we had an amazing night. I was completely jet lagged and a bit out of it, but the vibe of the people and the way the music went and what all the DJs including Frankie, who's one of my favourite DJs were doing, it was amazing. For me a good night, you could be the greatest Dj and playing the greatest set but if the audience aren't playing with you, its not a good night, but when people are going your way and are with you, you feel like you're not even mixing the records, the people are mixing the records for you with their energy.

ILM: You’re a producer, label owner, and DJ - what advice do you have for young DJs/producers starting out on the road to success?

DJ Deep: It's always difficult to give advice, because you don't want to sound pretentious. But the one piece of advice I'd give to anyone starting in the music business is to stay true to what you believe in. Since I've been doing what I do, always people have said I should compromise or not be so passionate, play some commercial stuff, do this, do that. No. And I never wanted to be snobbish ,but I have the feeling that I’m a very lucky person and I get paid to play music that I love to people, so the balance of this is I want to make sure I give to people what I believe 100% in my heart is beautiful music. When people trust you to do your job, you owe them to give them the best. I'm not saying what I think is the best is the best, it's just my opinion, so I'm not saying my judgment is better than anyone else. I'm just a little guy loving music. But when people trust you enough to pay to come and listen to you, you owe them to give them the best.

It's very in this business to get compromise and get influenced by people. I'm not encouraging people to be close-minded.I try to stay very open-minded and listen to everyone's opinion. But when you strongly believe in something and and have it in your heart, you shouldn't compromise, that's the best advice I could give anyone.

ILM: And you don't want to dampen the passion at all.

DJ Deep: Exactly

ILM: As a DJ as well as a producer, what are your two floor-fillers that always make it into your record box?

DJ Deep: There is one house record that is difficult for me to live without. It's a very underground obscure track and its on the compilation. It's Vincent Florid and the track is called I'm So Deep. It's a very simple track, extremely basic. But to me it has something so unique and specific. I never went to a gig without this track. This is where I picked up my name, DJ Deep from.

ILM: So it's your lucky track as well.

DJ Deep: Exactly.

ILM: What is in your CD player and on your decks right now? And which bands are rocking your world right now?

DJ Deep: I always have admired and love to listen to what Jo Classale does. He's a great inspiration. He's a great guy and DJ. He has such charisma and he's very unique. I have my very good friend from Canada, called Dino from Dino and Terry, who is an amazing DJ and he has his own groove in playing records. He's unique and consistent and always inspirational. Keri Chandler. Listening to a new track from Kerry is always such a rush. It's always inspiring and motivating. Carl Craig at the moment as a producer is amazing me, his sound and way of approaching music and blending different styles of music is so incredible. I like speaking with Pete from BB records about music. He always has an interesting point of view and is open minded and taking in each style what is best, so it's always good to speak to him. On the left side is Round Trance Altered State it's the first record that came out on Warehouse records in 1990. on the right turntable is a hip hop artist and nothing to do with house music. Its called Allaway Black a hip hop artists on Stonethrow, I love this artist.

ILM: Can you describe your favourite place on earth?

DJ Deep: A beautiful island with great sunshine and all my favourite DJs playing in an open air club. I think that'd be a great spot.