With his unique combination of beat-mashing, juggling and scratching, Eddie Halliwell is a bona-fide star. The man can always be relied on to deliver a dazzling performance, combining technical smarts with a rapid-fire selection of trance, techno and electro.

After holding his own at Summadayze and Summafieldayze over summer, Manchester’s high-flyer is on his way back here to ‘Fire It Up’. As ITM discovers, Halliwell is itching to get back to the clubs and show off some of his new tricks.

You got into DJing at an early age, what would you say was your big break from getting out of the bedroom and into the clubs?
My big break was starting on the Manchester scene. I started at a night called Two Club at the time as well as another club. I started playing house at one of the clubs and then techno at the other. Exposing myself in Manchester was really the beginning of things then one of the major things that got me out there was doing the front cover CD for Mixmag. Then from there I scored a residency at Gatecrasher. Really from starting in Manchester things just went from there.

As you just mentioned quite early on in your career you were picked up by Mixmag. You’ve also been their DJ of the year twice and more recently being voted quite high up in the DJMag Top 100. How have you found that these accomplishments have helped your career?
Massively! It got me exposed in territories and areas that I would not have been exposed to before. ‘Cause I suppose people pick up the magazine and read about you and that definitely gets you places you wouldn’t have been before. It’s a great thing for evolving in the dance music scene.

Over your highly successful career, what would you say would be one of your favourite gigs?
My favourite gigs are always the intimate ones where people can feel what is really going on and interact when they are close. I also like the big ones too. One of my memorable ones would be playing New Years Eve in 2008/2009 on Barra da Tijuca in Rio de Janeiro with Paul van Dyk. There was an estimated 1.5 million people on the beach. There was an amazing firework display. Just the amount of people on the beach and you could see them as far as the eye could see. I really wouldn’t see myself being in that situation again so something like that is really a once off so it definitely was a really memorable gig.

And what would be one of your least favourite?
I suppose my least favourite gigs are when things don’t work out technically. There was one time when I first started playing in Scotland when I had to play off 1 turntable because everything packed up in the club. I couldn’t even mix the tracks. So it is those times when it gets stressful that are my least favourite.

You are coming down to Australia later in the month for a nationwide tour. Have you got anything hiding up your sleeve for this coming tour?
The firing beats as usual. Last time I was in Australia I was there for Summadayze so I am looking forward to getting into the clubs this time. Because I started in the clubs I really appreciate being back there and you never really know what direction you might take it. It really comes down to what the crowd is up for.

How do you find the atmosphere and the crowds differ between festivals and clubs, and do you have a preference between them?
I really do enjoy playing the festivals and especially in Australia as the crowds are well up for it. Plus the weather makes it a big difference, because across Europe the weather is so unpredictable, but every time I have been down to Australia it has always been fantastic. I think it really adds to the event, especially during the day.

I do enjoy the clubs just as much though and you can see the crowd and they are really close to you and you can see them interacting with you. I really get my drive from actually mixing and the energy from the floor plus you can create a lot of energy from creative mixing opposed to just playing tracks.

In addition this time round you are touring with some other heavyweights in the trance scene. How do you feel about touring with an all trance line-up instead of a festival line-up when there are different performers from different genres?
It is great to be travelling with the festivals, with the different people and different line-ups, and you get to spend some time on the road with other artists that you wouldn’t normally get to spend time with. This time round there will be a variety of different DJs, which will be fun. But I really enjoy doing it both ways.

Could you please tell us about what different instruments and software you are using?
I use a variety of different things. At the minute I am using the JazzMutant Lemur, which connects to various different software programs and the main ones I use it with are Ableton Live and Traktor. Ultimately it is just a control surface which you can customise templates and work with the software and program it however you want. It is very versatile. You can program it to link up with things that you never thought was possible. It gives me a lot of enjoyment when playing cause you can be so creative with it. I think that is very important with the way things are evolving and I have always been into technology.

Software wise, just mainly using Ableton Live and Traktor, but also now I have been playing with the new Pioneer CDJ-2000s and the DJM-2000. I have had the samples of them for the last year and working closely with them developing that which these kits are getting into the clubs as we speak. They are really good, especially the CDJ-2000s. Pioneer have really covered all angles with the multi-platform surface where you can play the traditional way with CD or you can play via SD card or USB drive or pocket drive.

What are some tunes that are rocking for you at the moment?
The new one that Carl Cox has done which is a rework of a classic track by Joey Beltram, Slice. It has been absolutely been fantastic and I have been playing that for the last couple of months and getting great reactions. Glow, the new one by Cirez D, is quality and there is another. There are loads of tunes going around at the minute but those two are the only ones that spring to mind.

Eddie Halliwell tour dates:

Fri April 16 – Perth, Villa Nightclub
Sat April 17 – Sydney, Manning Bar
Fri April 23 – Adelaide, HQ Complex
Sat April 24 – Brisbane, The Church & Planet Nightclub
Sun April 25 – Melbourne, Room 680