If you’re not familiar with Ewan Pearson or his rather large back catalogue yet, following his first whirlwind Australian tour in December last year you should be. Let me name check a few remixes you may already own, Ewan’s discography includes the likes of Playgroup, Goldfrapp (for whom he remixed both ‘Train’ and ‘Strict Machine’), Depeche Mode, Black Strobe, Freeform 5, Ladytron, Seelenluft and the Chemical Brothers/Flaming Lips collaboration ‘The Golden Path.’
Apart from being hailed as the demi-god of the remix scene, Pearson’s also one of the UK’s most respected and in-demand producers. Working with an array of artists such as singer-songwriter Jed Loy Nichols (Rough Trade) and former Gus Gus vocalist Hafdis Huld on her solo project. Whilst still releasing his own material under the name ‘Maas’ on Soma Records and ‘World of Apples’ on the Giant 45 label. His DJ career soon picked up and saw Pearson playing regular stints at Berlin’s Watergate Club, Pulp in Paris and Manumission’ s Music Box in Ibiza, sharing the stage with the likes of NY cool kids Har Mar Superstar and The Rapture.
So getting the chance to chat down the line with Ewan all the way from his new home base in Berlin was a rare treat I gladly accepted. Fresh from an all night drinking binge helping a friend drown his break-up blues, Ewan sheepishly apologised for missing last night’s scheduled interview and answered the questions I threw his way. “First of all, I must apologise, I’m usually very sober, I tell you. And I’m normally very reliable”, laughed a lethargic sounding Pearson, who has been busy at work since the crack of dawn (hangover and all) on a few upcoming projects he’s keen to spill the beans about. “I’m just finishing off a track for some friends of mine in Berlin, who have a club called Spot. They’re doing a compilation of new tracks from various people that have played at the club. So, I’m just finishing up a track I’m going to have on that.” Ewan shares excitedly, before continuing, “Oh, and I’m also working on a DJ mix album this week. I’m doing my first DJ mix album, which will be on Soma Records. We just got all of the licensing down, so I can actually get started on the mix, which should be out in the summer.”
When pressed about what we could expect from this release, Pearson was happy to oblige. “It’ll feature a lot of good new stuff from many Western and European producers. There’ll also be a couple of new tracks and a couple of things that haven’t been released before. Although it’s a dance mix, I try to put a bit of actual music in there, so it’s not just an album of beats. I want it to have a bit more content, so that you can actually listen to it again and again. I don’t know, I guess I like music in my music (laughs). I’m not really into the whole minimal thing. I like mix records with a few tunes on them.” Hardly surprising for a boy who grew up on a steady diet containing a diverse mix of The Pet Shop Boys, Depeche Mode, New Order et al. “Another one of the things is, now that I live in Germany, so I’m just kind of anxious to differentiate myself from the minimal and trance scene. Which seems to be prevailing here in Berlin. It was pretty eye opening coming here to Berlin. You see, being from London, we play a lot more diverse stuff. So, I’m just anxious to keep my own identity and differentiate myself from the other artists coming out of Berlin at the moment.”
Ewan then began to talk candidly talk about the reasons behind his recent relocation to Berlin and the contentedness his new home has brought. “Me moving here didn’t have anything to do with music. Although, now there’s this big hype around Berlin since last year and now a lot of producers have moved here. I actually moved here cause I was fed up with London after 8 years, and I just needed the change. I didn’t really feel that there was anything necessarily keeping me in the UK. I only knew two people when I moved here, and I didn’t speak a word of German, so in one sense it was a big move. But in another sense it wasn’t, cause I’ve got a job and if I really hated it here, I could have moved back. But, Berlin is a beautiful city. It has this nice balance, because it’s a nice place to live compared to London. Living over here is ridiculously cheap and it’s a beautiful place to get some peace and quiet when you need it. It’s also great to be living somewhere quite new; it brings on a whole new lease of life. I’ve started to learn German finally, so I’m starting to fit in a little better too” laughs Ewan. “A lot of people here are from the UK or the states and a lot of German’s speak a good level of English, so you can actually live here without speaking a word of German at all. I know a lot of people that have lived here for years and don’t speak it at all. But, I hate that really, I think if you live somewhere you should at least try to learn the language.”
Moving on to the subject of his last Australian tour, Ewan reminisces about his love affair with Sydney’s Chinese Laundry and why he’s so keen to get back out here. “I fell in love with a venue in Sydney last time I was out there, so I’m keen to re-visit the place when I return. After playing at the ‘We Love Sydney’ show, I did a DJ set at Chinese Laundry, which I would have to say was my favourite show. You see, when I had my first clubbing experiences, they were in little house clubs in the UK. In smaller venues and dumpy cellars, which held 200 people, which got all sweaty. I don’t know, I still seem to have a very romantic attachment to those little clubs with heaps of people packed in when I’m DJing and Chinese Laundry just took me back to those early days again. It’s nice playing at the big events and festivals and stuff like that, but it’s very different, cause you’re up on a high stage and far away from the crowd. And to me, what it’s really all about is when I feel like I’m in amongst the crowd and that I’m part of it, cause we have the communication there.”
The great Aussie weather and ‘no worries mate’ attitude also struck a chord with Pearson. “I had a really really great time when I was there. The people I met over there were really lovely, so I’m looking forward to coming back over, especially since I managed to extend my stay by a week this time. So I’ll get to spend some hanging out.” After a little more probing, I’m told what we can expect from his upcoming shows in June, “There’ll be lots of great records played…okay (laughs), in half decent order and hopefully mixed (laughs). Whatever current records I like, I just try to make them work in a live context for 2 hours or 3 hours. The shows should be a lot of fun. I had such a good time in Melbourne and Sydney last time, the crowds were brilliant, so I’m really looking forward and playing there again and bringing some new material their way. A lot more house has made it’s way into my set again lately. There’s loads of really good house, especially from the UK, from people like Switch and Solid Groove, who are doing a very art/funky thing, with garage-y elements, fusing it all in a very interesting way. I’ve also been into a lot of producer’s stuff at the moment. I think the quality of new material at the moment is just really strong, and I’ve been enjoying playing more in the last year and a half to two years, than I have in the last five or six I think.”
So, there you have it, if you managed to miss out on Ewan’s last run of Aussie shows, be sure to make the effort to catch him on this run of dates:
Sat Jun 4th – Empire Hotel, Brisbane
Sun Jun 5th – Ministry of Sound Sessions, Perth (BUY TICKETS)
Fri Jun 10th – Bamboozled, Melbourne
Sat Jun 11th – Absolut Cut Bar, Melbourne
Sun Jun 12th – We Love… Sydney, Hordern Pavilion (SOLD OUT)
Fri Jun 17th – Absolut Cut Bar, Sydney
Sat June 18th – Laundry, Sydney
