Dance music has few multitaskers as adept as Ewan Pearson. 2010 has already begun with a flurry of activity for the erudite Brit-in-Berlin. Having recently finished production work on new albums from Tracey Thorn and Delphic, as well as a suite of typically high-class remixes, the man is now on the promo trail for his new mix CD We Are Proud Of Our Choices.

Commissioned by Cologne imprint Kompakt, We Are Proud Of Our Choices sees Pearson’s esteem as a tastemaker once again on display. Taking inspiration from enduring mixes like Michael Mayer’s Immer, it’s a heady and immersive experience that showcases the DJ in a different mode from his Fabric 35 excursion.

This month, Pearson is making the long haul down under for an encore appearance at Playground Weekender and a few club gigs on the side. ITM’s Jack Tregoning tracks down the gentleman of house burning the midnight oil at his Berlin studio.

What’s keeping you at the studio this late?

I’m doing some prep for a session that I’m doing with Tracey Thorn next week. I’ve produced her new album, which is coming out in May. We’re doing a filmed performance next week, which is going to go onto the internet in the lead-up to the album. We’ll be playing some songs live.

Is Tracey’s album all done now?

It was actually finished in October, but the reason it was delayed was that Tracey has changed record companies. This one isn’t coming out on EMI. It’s on Ben Watt’s label Strange Feeling in Europe, and Merge in the States, which is Arcade Fire’s label. It’s appropriately going back to indie roots. It’s Tracey going back in some ways to her early days as a solo artist; not the style of Marine Girls, but certainly in its sensibility. It’s sort of more like the plaid half of the last album.

Have you found Berlin a good place to base yourself?

I have. ‘Base yourself’ is the right way of putting it; I live in Berlin, but I’m still in the UK a lot for production work. Here is very peaceful, which is something Berliners find weird when I say it to them. But compared to London or New York, it’s just beautifully calm and stress-free. It’s quite a big place but there’s not a massive population. It’s just quiet. Delightfully quiet.

Having listened to your new mix We Are Proud Of Our Choices, I was curious to know if it was designed to fit within a certain Kompakt aesthetic?

I think I imposed that on myself a little bit. With them, it’s not so much an aesthetic. You could go for certain clichéd things, but with them it’s almost a sensibility. I did make a concerted effort to pick tracks that would be more suited to them; to craft something that’s a continuation of things that I loved from Michael Mayer and DJ Koze. Michael has been a really big inspiration to me, both as a producer and a DJ. I wanted it to have melodic stuff, with transitions and key mixes. Hopefully it sounds fresh and not like a re-treading.

Did you approach this one differently from your Fabric 35 mix?

The idea with Fabric was definitely to do a heads-down, dirty Room 1 sound. This starts slower and I wanted the first section to be ridiculously intense and melodic. I wanted it to be quite overwhelming. Then it settles down into deepness and houseiness. It’s definitely led by harmonics rather than groove.

You’ve included your own remix of Little Dragon on We Are Proud Of Our Choices, and your Junior Boys remix is a real highlight of Dixon’s Temporary Secretary CD. Is it enjoyable working with vocals in remixes?

I love it. I almost think it’s the reason my remix career went well, because I basically did vocal mixes when most people avoided them like the plague. Most people would take a few snippets and make a completely new version, or do a dub that bore no resemblance to the original. I realised I had this early-‘80s, post-disco notion of the extended mix. Most times, I’d be doing as little as I could, just enough to make it work on the dancefloor. When you get given an Alison Goldfrapp vocal, or a Courtney Tidwell, you’d be crazy not to do a full vocal mix. You’re so spoiled when you’ve got material that good to work with.

You’ve come to Australia in so many different capacities, from playing huge rooms at We Love Sounds to close-quarters clubs. How have the experiences compared?

I would certainly hate to be doing only big festival gigs, because you do have to play with broader brushstrokes. I guess my heart is still closest to the places I would go when I first went out – the little sweaty clubs with low ceilings, condensation and a strobe light. The sort of places where you can play quite trippy acid and just sort of lose yourself in it. But at the same time, when you play Fabric or Space in Ibiza, it’s really good fun. It’s a different exercise.

And you’re returning to Playground Weekender this month for a second year running.

[Laughs] I’m actually quite nervous, because last year I was lucky and it went quite well. I’m thinking it can’t be as good this time, so I feel the weight of expectation, let’s put it that way.

You’re also doing a five-hour set at the Civic in Sydney. Do you relish those longer sessions?

Well, it’ll be a few hours after I arrive so it could be an interesting set [Laughs]. It might be quite a weird and trippy excursion into Ewan’s jet-lagged brain. I like if I’m able to start playing earlier on; if I can effectively warm up for myself and play some of my slower stuff and work it up gradually. I’ve had a residency at the Robert Johnson in Frankfurt, one of the best small clubs in Europe, and I played four times there last year. Usually I’d have a guest, but at the last one I played for almost six hours. Working it up gradually like that is such a nice way to play.

So, how many hours is too many?

[Laughs] It depends, really! I’ve done six hours, much more than that can become a slog. I haven’t turned into Danny Tenaglia yet, let’s put it that way. It gives me a chance to go ‘round the houses’ a little bit and play a range of stuff.

I look forward to those five hours, then.
Yes, if my eyes are going in different directions, you’ll know I’ve just spent 24 hours crawled up in a little ball on a plane!

We are Proud of our Choices is out 19 February 2010 on Kompakt through Stomp. Ewan Pearson is here this month for Playground Weekender and a few club dates.

Saturday 13 Feb – The Civic, Sydney
Sunday 21 Feb – Playground Weekender
Saturday 27 Feb – New Guernica, Melbourne
Sunday 28 Feb – Elsewhere, Gold Coast