Progressive house legend Dave Seaman returned to Australia in April to launch his latest mix CD, the newest installment in Renaissance’s ‘Master Series’. This will be Seaman’s third ‘Master Series’ CD to date, and the 7th in the series overall. To celebrate we invited Seaman ‘in the spotlight’.
nickbrauer: Hi Dave, long time listener first time caller. Brothers In Rhythm have always had a talent for remixing pop artists. Two of my favourites include the remix of Kylie – Too Far and Garbage – Special. Are you planning to do further work with anyone else? Jessica Simpson perhaps :p
Dave Seaman: Not at the moment as Brothers In Rhythm. Steve is working with Kylie at the moment, on her comeback dates. We haven’t done anything for a couple of years now. I have been doing some stuff with other guys though, did a remix for Bedrock, Gabriel & Dresden, and one for Oxide in Italy. Steve’s off doing his pop concert tour at the moment, so not for a little while!
awallis: You’ve always had an affinity of sorts with Australia, touring here regularly and promoting some of our producers heavily on your compilations and Audio Therapy label. What is it about us Aussies that you love so much?
Dave Seaman: I just seem to get on really well with people down here. I love the country, you’ve really got things sorted out down here as far as quality of life. Considering how many people you’ve got here it’s amazing how much talent is down here. Because you are so far away geographically I feel you sometimes get overlooked, which is why I like to stick the flag in down here. The Melbourne GU CD was one of the first where we used music mainly from the city, and I’ve put out Infusion, Phil K, Luke. So many things really!
Roguebelish: Do you have plans to keep touring indefinitely? Or do you have a limit?
Dave Seaman: I don’t know really. I got married and have had a baby now, so it’s the first long tour where we’ve all gone. 3 weeks is too long to be away from home and it’s working quite well. If it works this well always we could be doing it for a few years yet. I don’t think there’s an age limit, as long as I’m still enjoying it and people are enjoying it, then I’ll keep going.
awallis: Can you remember your first tour of Australia, where did you play? Do you know if those clubs still exist?
Dave Seaman: The first ever gig I did was in a place called Zoom on Oxford St in Sydney. It was a successful night and I got paid a visit by the immigration authorities at 7am because I wasn’t working on the correct visa. A rival promoter tipped them off, and I was banned from playing here for 3 years! I did another gig in Melbourne at The Palace, they let me stay to do that. It was not a good start!
adamhatfield: G’day Dave, welcome to Oz, looking forward to Saturday, how do you feel about playing a 4-6 set? Do you approach playing later sets differently or just see how things go?
Dave Seaman: I’ll just see how things go. I’ve come to do my thing, and I kind of know what Anthony does – you can’t be too strict with what you do though, you’ve got to ad lib a bit. I’m excited, haven’t played Home for a few years! It’s great to see Sweetchilli, Sounds and Renaissance doing this together!
Mr Sexton: Hi Dave, how do you rate your new album compared to the previous, especially style wise?
Dave Seaman: I’m really pleased with how it turned out. It was a labour of love, one of the most difficult ones I’ve ever done in terms of mixing together. None of the tracks seemed to work as a ‘ready mix’. We had to work hard to make it flow. I didn’t approach it any different to past CDs though, I just put the word out to find music and picked the best of what was available to me at the time. Albums are a snapshot of what’s around at that time, so I don’t set out with an idea of what it’s going to be, I wait until I get the ingredients.
awallis: Over the past few years a lot of DJs who would have once been happy to be known as ‘progressive’ have started to shy away from the tag, do you still consider yourself a ‘progressive house’ DJ? Do you think these DJs are jumping the bandwagon a bit?
Dave Seaman: I never really knew what that whole thing was really… progressive to me has always been a spirit rather than a genre. I’ve always playing different styles within my set – house, harder, techier, electro. I’ve always tried to play the best of what’s around. Progressive became slow and plodding, and progressive shouldn’t be like that, its everything from Timo to Sander, Danny Tenaglia, Infusion, Slam. So many people are ‘progressive’ to me, it’s a mindset not a genre.
Roguebelish: Are you writing your own stuff at the moment?
Dave Seaman: I have written some stuff recently, I’m waiting for Stell to move over and then we’ll get into it. We might even move into more pop areas, like Kylie’s ‘Confide In Me’. We’ve done some clubbier stuff too, like Thumbsucker which is on the latest CD. This year we’ll be a lot more prolific in the studio.
Mr Sexton: Any plans to move to Melbourne, as you said on Global Underground DVD you would love to?
Dave Seaman: I actually put an offer in for an apartment on Chapel St, but I was arguing over the price and a plot of land came up in Ibiza! Long term I’d love to, but it’s not really feasible for me at the moment – to fly from Melbourne every weekend. Maybe in a few years when things slow down on the DJing front, it’s a place I’d love to end up retiring to
nickbrauer: Which Aussie artist have you booked for the third installment of Therapy Sessions?
Dave Seaman: I haven’t actually!
Kittins Sister: You seem to have focused a lot of your time of late on your Audio Therapy label, tell us a bit about how it’s going. What new projects do you have on the horizon?
Dave Seaman: The latest thing we’ve done is the Audio Therapy Sampler – it’s 10 unmixed full length tracks. It was due to the ‘This is Audio Therapy’ comp from last year (mix cd + unmixed cd). It got a really good response from DJs and listeners. It’s difficult to release CD singles so it was great value for money. We’ll probably do 2 or 3 of those this year, it’s probably the format we’ll put out a lot of our music. We have another ‘Across Borders’ CD for Holland too. Vinyl sales are dying off, and while digital sales are increasing, the revenue is small so it’s hard to make ends meet. But we have some strong series running on CD format, so it’s our bread and butter at the moment.
Kittins Sister: Who do you like more, Phil K or Luke Chable? Don’t be diplomatic, you have to pick one!
Dave Seaman: It depends if you’re talking as a DJ, producer or partier! They’re both great guys and have their own positives… and weaknesses!
nickbrauer: You have included Matt Rowan and Jaytech’s tune Tomorrow on disc 2 (of your new Renaissance CD), any further plans to work with these guys?
Dave Seaman: Yeah I may well do something. I just got a new Jaytech track called Starbright and I’ll definitely be playing that in Australia. The guys in Canberra gave me stuff a while ago and I’ve been following their progress.
Kittins Sister: Sharing a name with a famous English soccer player, have any amusing mix-ups ever occurred?
Dave Seaman: I once booked a flight on Virgin Airlines to go to America and they asked if I’d like the press alerted I was leaving the country. I said yes and there was press waiting, because I knew they meant the footballer! It’s quite good for getting tables in restaurants.
awallis: Who do you think are “hot names” in prog at the moment?
Dave Seaman: There’s loads of people coming through all the time – Jaytech and Matt are certainly some that have impressed. I had a few Luke Dzierzek tracks on the CD. Delta Sierra Clinic, my mind always goes blank when I’m asked this!
Roguebelish: Are you doing anything with Gab Oliver or Zero Tolerance, or have plans to?
Dave Seaman: No, I haven’t seen him for a while. I’m hoping to catch up with him when I go to Melbourne next week. I hope to catch up with Stuart at DMC too. Nothing is planned, but never say never!
adamhatfield: On a technical note, how are your sets comprised? CDs, vinyl, Ableton? Do you use samplers/effects/etc.. 2 decks, 3 decks?
Dave Seaman: CDJs – I use all CDs these days. I’ve still got an aversion to using computers in nightclubs – I don’t trust computers at the best of times! I played with Sasha and John in Miami and Sasha was having some wobbles with his computer. It made him nervous, which of course transferred to the crowd. Who knows though, a few years ago I never used CDs and now I haven’t used vinyl for over a year.
awallis: You were editor for Mixmag many, many moons ago. What do you think of what the magazine has become today? On a broader scale, what do you think about dance music journalism in the UK in general?
Dave Seaman: I’m a bit disappointed with the way Mixmag has gone, it’s lost its strength and its way a bit. I understand that the people who bought Mixmag from DMC just recently bought it again, so I’m hoping we’ll see a turnaround. It’s not so bad, a lot of dance journalism was unhealthy for a while – it was very down on everything and very lazy. For the people doing reviews they probably hadn’t seen me live for 2 or 3 years, they just pigeonhole you and that’s where you stay. If you want to be on the pulse you have to be there checking people out all the time. it’s turning the corner this year though, there’s certainly more exciting things happening.
Roguebelish: Does it take a lot of prep to get you out here to play? I have no idea how promoters work..!
Dave Seaman: Yeah, it does take a lot of organisation. I’ve come through Asia, so they try to tie is all together. From a financial point of view they try to keep costs down with flights, etc, and I don’t want to be tired, arriving at a gig without having slept for 3 days. Visas and so forth, hotels, and my wife and baby… it’s not something thrown together at the last minute!
Mr Sexton: Do you get a chance to go clubbing yourself?
Dave Seaman: Occasionally! Usually places like Miami or Ibiza. I wouldn’t do it myself if I had a weekend off back at home though, it’s like going to the office on your day off!
Kittins Sister: Do you DJ predominately off CDs now?
Dave Seaman: Yes, entirely! Unfortunately vinyl is a dead format pretty much. I can’t see us making anymore of it a year from now
Kittins Sister How was Miami for you this year?
Dave Seaman: It was good to see everybody. I didn’t actually get there until the Monday, so by the time I got there everyone was a bit shot really haha. I played really late at Space after Sasha and John, everyone seemed a bit tired. I did a party with Hernan also, it was fun.
Kittins Sister: Have you experimented with Abelton, do you think you’d ever convert to using it for all your DJ sets?
Dave Seaman: I’ve used it, I did the last few CDs on Abelton and radio mixes. I think it’s a great program, I just don’t like the idea of DJing from a comp in a nightclub. I like the hands on feel of CDJs, which follows on from turntables.
DRi_2004XL: I’ve heard you have been playing some of the work of Brisbane producers recently… do you get a chance to listen to music from the regions you play?
Dave Seaman: I always get at least half a dozen CDs at a gig, and I try to keep up and listen to them. That’s how I’m now working with Stell, and he’s moving over to work with me as Group Therapy. He gave me a CD one night in Greece and we signed it to the label, and the relationship started from there.
awallis: This is the third Renaissance Masters Series compilation you’ve done, what was your reason for returning to the series now in its 7th installment?
Dave Seaman: I was asked! Jeff from Renaissance asked, and having done Therapy Sessions 1 and 2 I was quite pleased with the chance to do a double CD again (Therapy is mixed by 2 DJs). Doing both CDs appealed to me, it gives you more scope to express yourself.
CLuBbERCHICK21: Are you looking forward to playing in Perth on Sunday?
Dave Seaman: Yeah, can’t wait! The last time I was over here I was on the Two Tribes tour and the Perth event was the best of the lot! I’m looking forward to it.
awallis: What sort of sound can we expect to hear at Livewire on Saturday?
Dave Seaman: I’ll just be doing my thing really. I play what I play, and however people describe that… one man’s prog is another man’s tech house, is another man’s trance. There’s so much blurring between the lines these days! There’s so many influences on different records, Swedish acid lesbian 2 step for example… I think dance music is always about that fundamental tribal instinct. About just enjoying the primitive tribal rhythm of it all. as soon as you intellectualise it, you lose the fun.
peepyfun: Dave, who do you see as the emerging stars of today and what advice would you give to aspiring DJs and producers who want to make a career out of it?
Dave Seaman: I would say the best thing to do is make a big record. If you make a great track then the phone will start ringing for you.
Mr Sexton: Do you prefer DJing at large events or an intimate club?
Dave Seaman: I prefer intimate clubs probably. Although the spectacle of a large event is great. If you did one thing constantly all the time it would become routine and that can become boring after a while! If I had to choose though, small and intimate. You can make a better communication with your audience.
Dave Seaman: Thank you everyone for logging on and asking questions, I hope to see you out and about at the gigs over the next few weeks.
