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John Digweed Reveals His Future 10

John Digweed took some time out of his busy schedule to answer our questions from his hotel room in Seoul, still revelling from his weekend of back to back gigs with Sasha. Here he reveals his Future 10 picks and more information about his forthcoming Bedrock Frequencies album.

So Bedrock Digital is finally 100! Congratulations! How does it feel to have formed one of the most iconic imprints in dance music? Is there anybody in your team who’d you’d like to thank?

John Digweed: Well, it was over 100 on vinyl so reaching 100 on the digital side of things is great too. There are so many great artists coming through at the moment, that I feel we could reach even 200 quicker! It’s a small team at Bedrock, so Scott who manages the label and David who does the design are both key parts to making things run smoothly.

Given you could have collaborated with anyone on your centennial release, can explain why you and Nick chose to work with Darren Emerson?

John Digweed: Well, firstly we are not that organised to have planned this months out and it just worked that way in the end re ‘Tracer’ being the 100th release. Also, I’ve been working with Nick since ‘91 and Nick and myself are both huge fans of Darren, so it’s always great to be involved with him, especially after our first track together -‘Fanfare’ – did so well. Darren is on fire at the moment, he really seems totally focused in the studio and is making some killer tracks and remixes.

You’ve started your world tour with long time partner in crime Sasha. How does it feel to be reunited again? Is the chemistry still there behind the decks after all these years?

John Digweed: I’m writing this in my hotel room in Seoul and we’ve just done Singapore and Seoul together this weekend. They were really good gigs and so much great energy from the crowd, people are really excited to hear us play together again, and I think the Ibiza residency is going to be big news over the summer as the production and line-up is really on point.

Musical boundaries are becoming really blurred across so many productions these days. You’ve spent a long time establishing Bedrock as a diverse musical platform. Sometimes it’s club music. Then techno. Sometimes progressive. Does Bedrock represent you and the way you’re playing at the moment?

John Digweed: No, I just want to really showcase how much great music there is out there. The forthcoming new ‘Bedrock Frequencies’ album is something I’m really proud of, with loads of new faces and a great range of electronic music.

You’ve been playing pretty much every weekend for years. We recently saw some mind-blowing stats on the number of flights you’ve taken. What things remain for you to achieve in dance music? Or what keeps you in the game?

John Digweed: I have the best job in the world, something I wanted to do since I was very young. I love what I do and just worry about finding the best new music and playing it.

I don’t care about polls or what’s in or out, it’s the people that come see me week in week out that I need to give 100% to.

Next year marks the 25th anniversary of your DJ career in the major leagues. Are you mindful of this? And if so, do you have any special projects to celebrate it?

John Digweed: 25 and the rest… Age is just a number and the number of years playing at this level only shows how committed I’ve been to live and breath music 24x7x365 and give my fans great nights out and mix CDs that they want to listen to over and over again.

C-U’s mission is to promote new talent and to maintain an egalitarian media platform for the underground. Can you name share your ‘Future 10’ list of emerging producers who people should keep their eyes on?

John Digweed: I mentioned the ‘Bedrock – Frequencies’ album earlier and there’s some great new and rising artists on there who are worth a mention: Lily Pita, Philipp Straub & Charlie Thorsenson, Joris Biesmans, Alex Kennon, BOg, Etai Tarazi, Stelios Vassiloudis, Rob Hes…

Will you be treating fans to another live album anytime soon? Plus do you have any plans to release an album with Sasha again?

John Digweed: No album plans at the moment for me, and nothing in the pipeline with Sasha. Keep an eye on the Bedrock socials for all the latest info.

Emerson, Digweed & Muir – Tracer (Bedrock) Beddigi100 is released 19.06.17

Various Artists – Bedrock Frequencies – Curated by John Digweed (Bedrock) is released 14.07.17

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