Lee Burridge has been a leading force in dance music for close to a decade and shows no sign of slowing down anytime soon. His quirky personality and attention to detail whilst on the decks are a unique combination in today’s scene. With his 365 project, and his new ‘Balance 012’ triple CD mix out on Australia’s EQ label this month, Lee is setting a torrid pace that will be difficult to catch. Lee recently sat down with Harry Avers and talked about life and his views on the music we love.
Tell me a bit about the concept behind your new Balance CD?
I thought long and hard about this CD. It took me over two months to compile and mix the three discs, and as it was three they allowed me to stretch my legs a lot more. There were times of frustration, including it being rather difficult to get new music out of labels this time around There seems to be a lot of paranoia these days that tracks will appear on the internet before their release dates, and this has lead to labels, like Poker Flat, for example, ‘eventually’ sending me three promos – when two actually had already been released and the third came out a few weeks later.
The way things are now, with the instant availability of music via sites like 3 Beat Digital and Beatport, and also with people file sharing, the days are gone where the ‘upfront’ aspect of a CD release has become less and less important as a sales angle. Exclusivity is a difficult thing to obtain and for me it now boils down to the DJ’s track selection. As I said earlier, I thought long and hard about these CDs and have put together a collection of tracks – new and old – that will hopefully still sound good when you put the CD on in a year or five or more. I’ve always had this approach with my mix CDs. Some DJs take the direction of releasing a mix with each track being unavailable but at some point these tracks all become available and eventually after a few months it boils down to whether or not they are good tracks or not.
Each of my discs has a concept in its own right, but I also looked at all three as a journey as a whole. Sorry if that sounds a bit cheesy and contrived! This approach caused me a few problems and about a month in I was on the phone with the very understanding Tom from Balance crying that “one of the discs just wasn’t working out” and “could I actually only do a two disc mix”. I decided not to give up and the disc ended up being, in my opinion, pretty damn good! These are the best mix CDs I’ve made since Craig Richards and I made Tyrant and I’m really happy with all three.
Is it difficult to find time to tour and fulfill your musical obligations worldwide?
Not at all. I love it. This is a fantastic job and fortunately I have an amazing agent who, since we started planning a little better, has made traveling from place to place much easier. The days are gone where my schedule was so random and punishing that I didn’t know which way was up. I’d be in Sydney one day, the next in New York and the next in Amsterdam. We plan ahead a lot more these days. As for time, I won’t have much in the next six months as my tour is pretty heavy! It’s a hard life!
What went into selecting the tracks to be used on the Balance CD?
I keep a mental list of tracks all the time I’m not making mix CDs, which I’ll drag into a huge pile when I do make one. As I said earlier, I contacted a lot of labels and producers whose music I like and asked for upfront stuff – that didn’t turn out so well this time – and then I immersed myself in my basement for as long as it took. I think I went about thirty two hours straight one night/day/night, and other times it just wasn’t happening so I called up a few friends to see if they had any track recommendations.
I spent a lot of hours in Phonica Records with Hector who works there having him throw new music at me, and Bill Patrick helped me out with some great suggestions. It was a little strange this time around though as during the two months I was compiling the records released were few and far between. I went to the shop every week and would come home with one or if I was lucky tow records. Everyone was holding back for summer and when I finished, of course, I went to the shop two weeks later and bought about thirty tracks, some of which I’d liked to have used on my mix. Balls!
Throughout your career, you have had many great projects. Which are the ones you’re most proud of?
My 365 project of the last few years really taught me a lot more about people and the cities I visited and set up shop in. I loved the slower pace of the project and the fact I got off my arse and wrote some music with various talented producers was a bonus. I’m actually proud of Tyrant to this day. Craig is a very talented man and being involved with him and Tyrant pushed me into the public consciousness in a way that probably wouldn’t have happened that quickly, if at all. Our mix CDs – still to this day – get talked about in an amazing way and I think we really expanded people’s musical tastes back then. As I said before, my Balance mix is, I feel, the best thing I’ve done since then, so I’m really proud of it too.
Comment on the state of dance music as you see it?
It’s very healthy. Add up all of the genres and people who appreciate them and that equals a lot of people. It’s a shame there is so much segregation and snobbishness. Everyone always thinks they know best and of course that they have THE best taste in music. Come on, open your minds a little more. I’ve played so many different types of music and you know what, in the end it’s all good. it’s people going out and having fun and dancing. I’m not too excited about the continuation of ranking DJs via voting in various magazines and online sites around the world though. I agree whole heartedly that people who play trance like Paul Van Dyk and Tiesto, are by far the most popular electronic music DJs, BUT this doesn’t make them the best. They are just playing more accessible music which is easier to understand and therefore will appeal to more people. There’s nothing wrong with this but I feel people have looked to this chart that have no real idea about music in general and thrown ridiculous amounts of money at these DJs. The whole thing has gotten a little out of control.
It’s unbalanced the way DJs are booked and more and more club owners or sponsors, and even the crowd in some countries, has been talked into only booking or hearing commercial names. The music outside what they play has suffered a little. It’s a big business. The whole minimal techno thing, love it or hate it, has closed the gap a little as people have realised there’s other music out there. The ranking of DJs is impossible nowadays as it’s all about planning a campaign, having a million friends on myspace and facebook, and bothering to go after votes. I predict with 99% accuracy that this year I won’t appear in the DJ Mag chart. I can’t be bothered begging for votes, but that’s a definite way to get into the list. It’s gotten a little sad. I’ve been number 10 to number 88, and nothing changes. If I’m not in the list this year I don’t expect anything will change other than I might not get a gig in China sponsored by a whisky company who need a list of DJs to be talked into parting with their money. Surely, at the end of the day, shouldn’t it actually be about which DJs are great and play good music? The mystique has gone and now some are relaying on a list to judge DJs by. These charts are a bit of fun each year but taken a little too seriously by some. Dance music isn’t going away but it definitely expands and contracts and at present it seems in a state of expansion. Music is good right now and there is some interesting stuff out there.
Do you think drugs are still an important part of dance culture?
Definitely. Drugs are important in all music cultures, not just dance music. Listen to Bill Hicks rant about The Beatles when it comes to the creative process of making music. We would be without many amazing musical moments if the artists were all straight when they made them.
‘Balance 012’, mixed by Lee Burridge, is available now on EQ/Stomp. Lee touches down in Australia for his whirlwind launch tour this weekend!
Fri 7th Sep – Sydney, Sweetchilli
Sat 8th Sep – Melbourne, Darkbeat
Sun 9th Sep – Brisbane, Empire
untitled-1 says...
why put this on front page for perth when hes not coming here...this is bullshit
untitled-1 says...
why put this on front page for perth when hes not coming here...this is bullshit
i_have_ADD says...
umm, because he also has a cd out that he's promoting - and you can buy that anywhere. no need to be so hostile matey!
niallmurphy1979 says...
cant wait, saw him at the metro, musica boat party and his surprise appearance at candys afterwards in jan 07, i wasnt exactly dressed for candys after a boat party but lee waited for me outside candys with his records until i followed in a taxi, so he could say i was with him to the door men, hes a gent, as well as one of the top djs still around the tech/prog scene :)
Reno_ says...
Oh yeah! Bring on Burridge this Friday! One of my fav all time DJ's.
verdi says...
Burridge in Brisbane for FREE!! - Fark Yeah!!
Suspekt says...
great interview! Leigh sounds like hes really grounded and down to earth...i really like his opinions on the modern state of dance music (ie music polling, etc) great read!