Martin Solveig must be the envy of DJs and producers from all over the world. A relative spring chicken at 30 years old, he’s achieved an extraordinarily huge amount in a very short time. If you’ve never sung or danced to ‘Jealousy’ or ‘Everybody’, then you’re probably in the minority. ITM chatted to him from his home in Paris and discovered that he considers himself a lucky, lucky man.

Like many other Europeans, Solveig is happy to be escaping the chilly winter and heading down to the southern hemisphere in the coming months. “I’m just working at the studio at the moment,” he says. “Now is my regular winter life. I spend five days working on my projects. The Australian summer is something I’m waiting for. It’s the peak time of winter, so I’m always looking forward to a slice of summer. It’s always a pleasure to fly over to Australia.”

It’s also perfect timing for Solveig to promote the release of Defected In the House to the hordes Down Under. “The concept of In The House was to give a few of my DJing styles,” he reflects. “There are two CDs. The first one would be the more recent CD. Some of them are not released. It’s the club CD.” The second one is more personal, Solveig says. “It’s more intimate. It’s more the kind of songs I would play for my friends.” And how did he choose his own songs for the compilation? “They are my native productions. They are singles I’ve released all over the world.”

Solveig has enjoyed immense popularity with tracks like ‘Everbody’. Did he ever expect these songs to become so well known? “You never know whether a track will be so successful. You use your heart, and you might feel good about it, but it’s never for sure. It’s always the audience and the people who decide.” So, given that he’s already soaked up such success, Solveig can retire early, right? “Yeah, I think so!” he laughs. “I’ll probably relieve my DJ career. I’m thirty now, so maybe when I’m thirty five. But if I still feel as excited as I am now, there’s no need to stop.”

And there is no stopping him. Currently working on a new album, he’s relatively secretive about it, and says he’s only just working on the direction at the moment. “It won’t be completely different to my others. I don’t feel a complete change. Of course there will be new arrangements, new vocalists.” His regular vocalists are still number one though. “I love my singers,” he says. Does he write a song with a singer in mind? “Yeah, of course. We came to work together because I was a big fan of their vocal skills. They are great people. One of my main singers, Jay Sebaz, is someone who is very talented. He’s really able to sing low, he has a great range. He’s someone I can really do things with. I write songs with them in my mind. It’s the best.”

As well as his own singers, he listens to an impressively wide variety of music. “I’m always listening to a lot of things,” he muses. “I keep on listening to music all the time.” He cites everyone from Bach and Chopin to “some rock of the early 80s,” including Talking Heads and The Clash. Like many other artists in the electronic field, he doesn’t listen to dance music at home. “It’s to dance to clubs at,” he says firmly. His influences are just as varied, including Stevie Wonder, UK rock’n’roll, The Strokes (“I love them,” he says), Lenny Kravitz, and of course, African music.

Of his upcoming trip to Australia, Solveig says he’s very excited. “Australians have a fierce dancing style. They really dance and participate. It’s never really [about] the DJs, it’s the party. I believe the people (Australians) are there to have fun.” What about the Melbourne shuffle? “I’m looking forward to the Melbourne shuffle,” he laughs.

‘Defected In The House’, mixed by Martin Solveig, is out now on Defected/Stomp. Check ITM Whatson for details of Solveig’s upcoming summer tour of Australia.