A few weeks back we were given the rare opportunity of a sit-down with progressive house legend John Digweed, and so we figured, what the hell—more than enough time has passed since the ’90s Ibiza trance revolution, and why not check in with one of its biggest names? Here, we chat with him about his marathon sets, his lessons learned on the road, and his stint as an actor.
XLR8R: Any particular reason for deciding to use your middle name, John, rather than your first name, Kevin?
John Digweed: Hahaha… my Wikipedia has been hacked. Not the best place to get your info from. Try my website.
You’ve got enough world touring experience under your belt to be considered an expert. What’s the most unexpected lesson you learned along the way?
That you will never be surprised by anything after spending many years on the road. Sometimes I wish I kept a record of some of the crazy stuff I have seen on the road. I think there is a book in there somewhere.
You’ve been said to have a number of 10-hour-plus sets to your name. What do you think it takes for the crowd to keep dancing with you for those long hours (aside from drugs)?
Well, playing good music is a start, and knowing how to pace your set so it stays interesting for that amount of time.
How did the name Bedrock come about for your label, promotions company, and collaborative works with Nick Muir?
Bedrock is a solid foundation to build on, and what better base to use as the foundation for your business. I first met Nick Muir through a friend of mine when I was playing at Rage at Heaven. He passed me some tracks he had made, which I told him were okay. He suggested working on a track together, and we have been working together ever since.
Bedrock has amassed a huge discography (somewhere around 100 releases now) since its founding over 12 years ago. If you had to define the label’s output to date in five words, what would they be? Alternately, feel free to make this a haiku.
Consistent quality electronic house music.
You played yourself DJing in the movie Groove back in 2000. What’s harder: pretending to DJ or actually DJing?
I was DJing in the film. I am not an actor—I am a DJ.
What’s your guiltiest pleasure?
Alan Partridge albums.
