Funk D’Void has been in the game for a LONG time. He’s released on labels like Bedrock, Cocoon, Octopus, Soma, Tronic and remixed the likes of New Order, Kevin Saunderson, Deetron, Laurent Garnier, Stephan Bodzin, Slam, Christian Smith, plus also recorded mix compilations for Balance Series, Soma and Cocoon.

Funk D’Void, credits like yours earn you a place in our masters category. So how come your achievements are not really reflected by your number of Facebook followers?

Funk D’Void: I guess it’s because my sound isn’t mainstream, and I have never paid for followers either.

Since Facebook changed from a free site to a paid marketing platform the people with the most cash to burn will have the most likes and visibility. Being a tight Scot I’d rather not give them a penny! Facebook is a horrific drain on humanity.

My good friend used to work behind the scenes at Facebook and has told me some eye-opening stories on how it’s run. Choose life!

A lot of PR agencies or clubs, DJ bookers etc… take Facebook likes purely as a measure of popularity. Yet I completely believe your likes are 100% organic and real in the same ways ours are. Does it piss you off that newer artists are getting all the gigs? And the same names are dominating line-ups around the globe?

Funk D’Void: You’ll always have the bigger events’ promoters less-willing to gamble on newer names also, unless they have a huge track out or have garnered some recent popularity.

Seeing the line-ups at a lot of events these days it seems like the promoters are stuck in 2005, it’s turning into the dance version of the Donington Rock Festival! I’m continually pushing out the retro sound of 1998, so I’m always post-ironically relevant 🙂

The continual dumbing down of the world through 24/7 media garbage pumping out will of course mean that popular culture will embrace the lowest common denominator of entertainment.

The older you get, the more savvy you are so I think fans will search out and support the artists more directly.

“Underground” stars that employ the PR machine to level up cannot be expected to continue to cater to that visibly smaller demographic. You can’t blame them for not being the same artist they were when they played to a crowd of 300. I have watched all my peers blast off into stratospheric stadium brands and fair play to them. I can’t dial it in like a lot of them do.

It just wasn’t my path, through a combination of laziness and not giving a fuck.

I’ve switched off to the scene noticeably over the past few years, it’s fun to play and meet old friends and spend a whole weekend in one place instead of running around doing 4 gigs in as many countries. It’s just not the focus of my creative drive anymore. Sure, age plays a part. I’ve always said I’ve been on my “Goodbye Tour” since 2010, if it continues then fine, if it disappears tomorrow then that’s fine too. I’ve left my mark.

We’ve founded with the mission to promote new talent yet we’ve also been supported by a lot of big names on this site, who respect what we’ve been trying to do for the scene. How do you think you’d go on if you were starting your career in 2017?

Funk D’Void: I’d HATE to be a new artist trying to break through right now. All the chips are stacked against you. Props to the ones that do manage to claw up through all the mediocrity that’s being spoonfed to audiences globally. We need more quality filters like yourselves to to net out the real talent, on the plus side the quality bar should rise as the market forces it to improve itself for the new artist to stand out from the crowd. Unfortunately money can also help you skip the queue to some extent as PR can make a huge difference in your visibility. You see it all the time with an anemic act’s name suddenly appearing everywhere without a deserving sound to accompany it.

We also saw you’re taking care of your own bookings now. What was the reason for this?

Funk D’Void: The agent route wasn’t really working for me. I’m a bit long in the tooth and a veteran of the scene so being lumped in with a big agency actually worked against me. I find dealing directly with club promoters who take the time to search you out and contact you directly works infinitely better and more smoothly. Most gigs takes five minutes now to organize where before it would take weeks.

Your collab with Quivver is out which came out sounding really proggy. I talked to John about who said you were feeling that kind of sound for the collab. You’ve always been known and loved for techno, so are you simply following a trend here or experimenting musically?

Funk D’Void: I don’t think about what direction I’m going for in the studio. It’s funny how anything with a melody or more that a one-note bass line is seen as progressive. I’ve never been a follower of trends, I guess you can pigeon-hole me into the “comfortably retro” category. I enjoy creating emotive melodies with Rhodes/ Solina sounds and play over them with old drum machines. Sometimes it comes out more house, progressive or techno. I hate my music and have no thought on when other people categorize or comment on it. Music has always been a fun creative release for me, with no agenda and definitely not a PR plan on which target audience I need to tickle.

What other projects do you have in the pipeline?

Funk D’Void: Some singles coming out soon, “Chasm” and “Feel So Good”, a remix for Van Czar on Electropical, Weisses Licht on Lucidflow and my electro Kein Mainstream moniker EP coming out on Dead Rose. Finishing a remix of “To Ya Waistline” (with Joe Brunning) also which is fun.

https://soundcloud.com/changeunder/c-u-essentialmix-068-funk-dvoid

Can you share with us a few names of new artists who have caught your attention at the moment?

Funk D’Void: I play a lot of Yan Cook, he’s got that technofunk groove. Also Black Loops for the deepness. SQL is a great new producer and I like Voiski’s trance vibe.

Who do you think is the most underrated artist in the scene?

Funk D’Void: Fuck knows. Me? Hee hee! JOKE.

Where are you playing next and how can fans keep in touch?

Funk D’Void: I’m playing at Suicide Circus, Berlin on the 4th July. Come and say hi and I’ll buy you a shot. You can also bag yourself a slamming T-Shirt through my store www.funkstees.com