As a DJ, producer and label head, Steve Bug is never far from the action. Since the last time he spoke to inthemix about his artist album Collaboratory, the man has had plenty to divide his time. This month, Bug released The Lab 02; a typically high-finesse mix of deep house and techno across two discs. The release bears all the hallmarks we’ve come to expect from the DJ: precise programming, steady groove and a surfeit of tracks worth investigating. Around the same time, he turned in a two-hour session for Pete Tong’s Essential Mix, swiftly earning calls of ‘EM Of The Year’.

It’s these kind of sets we can hope to hear when the Poker Flat boss makes his way back to Australia in a matter of days. Bug’s last visit here included a warm-up for Cocoon caner Sven Vath in Melbourne and a triumphant showing under the stars at the Playground Weekender festival – both gigs he remembers fondly. On the eve of his return, Bug spoke to ITM’s Jack Tregoning about his many guises.

When I spoke to you back in July, you had a string of gigs coming up to support the album Collaboratory. How did that go?

Yes, it’s been good, but I’m glad it’s slowing down now. I also wanted to focus more on the studio, so I’m happy. I say ‘slowing down’, but I’m still playing two gigs a week. I’m not travelling overseas until I come to Australia though.

So you’re already back in the studio working on new material?

Yeah, I’ve managed to finish a 12-inch for Cocoon and that’s going to be released in October. I did the Lab 02 mix for NRK and I’m working on remixes now for Will Saul for a new label. I’m not sure what it’s called, but he did a remix for one of the tracks on Collaboratory, so this is pay-back.

Soon we will release two 12-inches of several artists remixing Collaboratory, including Ben Klock, Deetron and Motorcity Drum Ensemble. Then afterwards I’ll find time to work on some original stuff. I’m happy with how they’ve turned out. Sometimes you ask one of your favourite artists, and what they turn out doesn’t fit in a way. With remixing, it’s important to find something you really want to work on, because I don’t care about any big payment. I’d rather do something I really appreciate.

As you say, you’ve recently mixed The Lab 02. Was it good to have two discs to work with?

Usually you don’t have the chance to do two CDs in the one project, and I liked the idea. I split it into a deeper session that I might play at the start or the end of a party in a smaller club; then the second disc is more of a main-floor set. Both have a build-up though, but they kind of work together. That’s maybe just because of my musical taste.

When I’ve seen you play in a club, you take your time to build a set and the shifts tend to be quite subtle and gradual. Is that harder to achieve in the condensed format of a mix-CD?

Yes, with 80 minutes as a limit it’s kind of difficult! Sometimes the build-up in a club for me can take one-and-a-half hours, then it’s really going to take off. You have to cut that down to fit the CD. I didn’t want to build up on the first disc, then have the second take off or anything like that. Each disc is a finished product, with its own build. That’s why I have started using Ableton to do my mix-CDs. You can go into smaller details, cut tracks down and do edits. I always try to keep the original feeling of the track as well.

Your Bugnology mixes are very intricately put together; with lots of looping and edits and so on. Was it as considered on The Lab?

I’ve been cutting a lot, but not looping so much. It’s really dependant on the track you choose. On the deeper CD, most of the tracks have…I don’t want to say a ‘song structure’…but the build is very important. You can’t take that much out or loop for too long. There’s not so much extra editing on The Lab I don’t think, but I can’t really tell ‘cause I’ve got so used to doing it!

You’ve included some great tracks on there. Has it been an exciting year for music for you?

I think we’re going back into the housey vibe again, and all these percussive house labels have come up. We’ve seen house grooves come back, then the chords came back. There are a lot of vocal tracks as well, and they’re not even cheesy [laughs]. It was something that was missing from clubs in the years before. It was only about drums, big sax and big breaks. You know, dropping the kick drum back in every two minutes. I still hear a lot of DJs just banging deep, with long breaks and a kick drum filtered high. Banging it back in so everyone throws their hands in the air, you know? That might work for me for half an hour, but it’s not what I’m focusing on on the dancefloor. I prefer the music you can lose yourself to.

There does seem to be a craze at the moment for tracks with a lot of percussion and Latin-style drums.

Yes, a lot of DJs play like this and it’s getting boring. I think people are fed up with it. But I can also see a development in the techno sound, with labels like Ostgut releasing some really great records. They’re not doing something that hasn’t been there before, but the way they do it with drum programmation and so on is a new way. I especially love the Ben Klock stuff. This sound will continue to get interesting.

It seems like at one point, the house, electro and techno guys were all fixated on this thing called minimal, which wasn’t even minimal. There were of course some interesting records, but in the end it was difficult to find something different. If you went to a festival with three dancefloors, even the house floor would be playing the same as the techno floor. What’s the point? I’m happy that it’s spreading out a little more.

You’re coming back to Australia for some shows soon. Did you enjoy the last visit?

Totally. I played a very nice show in Melbourne with Sven together, and another live act [Gui Boratto]. Chinese Laundry is always great. I was also there when Tiefschwarz played. We drove back from the festival with Peter Kruder, who was also playing. That Playground Weekender was just amazing! At first I wondered why they put me on the small floor, but when I started playing it was just the best vibe ever. It was just crazy. I’ve been telling all these people when I got back about the costumes.

The feeling around that little stage was pretty amazing.

Even for me, though! It was very, very fun.

Steve Bug tour dates:

Tues 3rd Nov – Melbourne Cup Day Party @ Alumbra, Melbourne
Fri 6th Nov – Subtrakt @ Barsoma, Brisbane
Sat 7th Nov – Pulse Radio @ Agwa Yacht Club, Sydney
Sat 7 Nov – Yacht Club after-party, Lady Lux, Sydney
Sun 8th Nov – Cuckoo Club, Adelaide