STREAMING AUDIO INTERVIEW

When it appeared as though minimal might be conquering the world, Berlin based Dixon took it upon himself to redefine and reinstate the genre he’d come to know and love – house music.

Starting out in the early 90’s, Dixon (AKA Steffen Berkhahn) learnt the ropes by doing what the name of the game suggests – actually DJing. Believing that “there is no way to learn quicker how to become a very good DJ than by making people dance throughout a set that lasts the whole night, on a very regular basis,” Dixon threw himself into the Berlin club scene and for a solid decade played residencies at some of the cities most popular clubs.

Despite entering the world of production and creating his own label, Innervisions early in the decade, it wasn’t until 2007 that the name Dixon started to really prick ears outside of Europe. It was his striking Body Language 4 compilation, with its seamlessly crafted blend of “deep house, funk, soul and everything in between”, that got people talking, and it was something that he followed up cleverly with last year’s similarly successsful Temporary Secretary compilation.

Despite entering the world of production, Dixon still considers himself first and foremost a DJ, and as such will be touring in Australia this month to remind us where his allegiance lies. ITM’s Melanie Mahony caught up with Dixon ahead of his arrival in Australia to talk about his approach to live sets and plans for 2010.

Dixon tour dates:

Mon 25th Jan – New Guernica, Melbourne
Tue 26th Jan – Agwa Yacht Club, Buzzin Fly vs. Innervisions, Sydney