“I’m always getting asked about Sasha” John Digweed casually remarks. “Over the years, we’ve enjoyed a close bond...we've obviously played a lot together. But that doesn’t mean we live in one another’s pockets. I think we’ve always been good at doing our own thing but, I guess, some people think there are problems when we’ve not DJ’d back-to-back for a couple of weeks.”
Esteemed DJ, producer and Bedrock Records founder, John Digweed is answering clubland speculation that his relationship with long-time compadre Sasha – the man that gave him his break – has not been quite so solid recently. It’s a typically assured answer from someone who has firmly and quite impressively steered his club career to lofty heights since those early days back in 1993.
John Digweed & Sasha
Digweed first started DJing at the tender age of 13 before Sasha heard a demo and gave him a breakthrough slot at the Renaissance Club in Mansfield in 1993. After that it was rapid world domination, Digweed successfully defining the progressive house sound and then delivering it to Europe and the US over the next 10 years via tour, studio and label. Such domination has also generated plenty of misconceptions.
“People still think I’m a prog-houser” he laughs, “but that, today, is just a fraction of what I do, and what Bedrock puts out. I mean, if I continued to release the records with which I launched Bedrock in 1999 then I’d be dead and buried in no time. You have to move on. Bedrock has been releasing all sorts of music for a long time… deep house, breaks, techno, tech-house….”
A smart reflection of that is Digweed’s new mix compilation Structures, which, over two CDs, collects Bedrock’s latest output, a variety of unreleased and exclusive tracks and some new remixes of material from last year’s comp, Bedrock 11. There’s also a bonus DVD documentary, Eye Of The Storm, which glimpses the last Digweed tour of South America; that same disc includes Digweed’s first ever commercially available live DJ mix, taken from his Bedrock set at this year’s Miami Winter Music Conference.
“As a package, it feels pretty complete” he suggests. “Bedrock is multi-faceted today; it has to be to engage the new, younger generation of listeners coming through. They simply don’t want one sound all night in a club, or when they’re listening to an album like Structures. I think that, over the two main CDs [featured artists include Wiretapper, Quivver, Marco Bailey, Nic Fancuilli and, of course, Digweed] I’ve offered a range of ideas and a flow between them. There’s a lot of moods and textures there, which can be quite difficult to convey by compilation.”
At the same time, there are those clubland commentators currently arguing that dance music has lost some of its quality – the rise of bedroom artists, in other words, has led to fast, automated and ultimately soul-less assembly line-style production with little reliance on vocals, instruments and melodic arrangement.
“A lot of dance tracks today probably are more straightforward and simple” Digweed agrees. “They’re being made by younger, laptop producers, yes, and many of them aren’t as painstakingly produced and arranged as some of the older, classic tunes. But does it matter? You could be playing the bleep-iest, most minimal record but if it works for the dancefloor, and for the people, then that’s what counts.
“Carl Cox and I were playing a set of older, classic dance tunes together the other week and saying how much we were enjoying it but you can’t do that week in, week out. The kids today don’t care; at the end of the day they want a more direct and punchy soundtrack.”
In terms of the future, Mr Digweed isn’t thinking much beyond this year and promoting Structures “on tour.” But, clearly, he’s been busy re-structuring Bedrock so that its future, in these difficult financial times, is secure. “Not massive re-structuring” he replies. “But the administrative side of things has had to streamline. I’ve had to cut the office back and really focus the music in the right way - as I’ve mentioned, make sure we appeal to a lot of different people. The past couple of years have been a challenge but the music is a labour of love so you embrace everything that comes at you.”
That includes nurturing new talent and getting pro-active with everything from Twitter to Facebook. “It’s not good to suffocate the scene by shutting yourself off to the next generation of music-makers” he offers. “Nor can you ignore technology. There’s a huge audience for dance music today through the internet, so why not use it? I don’t understand those people that try to bad-mouth change.”
It all helps explain why, during the height of recession in October 2008, Bedrock was out happily celebrating its 10th birthday, all whilst a zillion other independent labels were being dragged violently into administration. Digweed is already planning Bedrock’s 12th birthday blowout (at London’s Brixton Academy, October 2) and, meantime, touring relentlessly and broadcasting via his popular Kiss FM show.
“I don’t have any long-term goals” he concludes. “I’m privileged to be in this position; I’m not looking for any radical new career directions. I’m happy. Why change anything?”
