DSI meets the legendary John Digweed. Consistently voted into the upper echelons of DJ Mag’s Top 100 DJs poll, he’s been a pivotal figure in the dance scene for more than a decade. He and fellow superstar DJ, Sasha, released the first ‘proper’ DJ mix compilation, Renaissance back in 1994 and he’s made the Top 40 Singles Chart twice with his Bedrock project.

While many Superstar DJs have – or should have – hung up their headphones, Digweed’s enthusiasm shows no sign of waning… just don’t be deceived by the demeanour. Seen as a serious face in the notoriously po-faced Progressive scene, can DSI raise a smile? Backstage after his recent SW4 set, John looks far from dour, with a cherubic halo of curly locks!

Thanks for talking to Don’t Stay In. How was SW4 for you?
It's been fantastic actually. I mean I always get a bit nervous of these big gigs cos it's open air, you've only got a short amount of time to play… You've gotta prove yourself in an hour and 20 minutes and I'm obviously used to playing a lot longer sets, but I really enjoyed it tonight, the crowd the seemed to be really into it. I'm gonna stay around for Carl, he seems to be rocking it out there.

Sasha’s playing at TDK up the road, is it weird playing two different gigs?
Well, we're not joined at the waist! Ha ha! We don't do as many shows together as we used to: we were in Italy a couple of weeks ago; we did a gig in Istanbul last Friday; we do the odd ones and it's nice. I think it makes it more special for the crowd, a bit more magical when we do play. He's doing his thing, I'm doing mine and then when we do play together it's kinda fun!

What about that ‘odd couple’ reputation. Sasha’s a renowned caner while you're supposedly more straight laced - is that fair?
No comment! Ha ha ha! I can't answer that question!

Well, you’re known for having a serious, moody image, but you seem quite smiley…
To be honest, it's that whole thing - what is a DJ supposed to act like? Are you supposed to wake up in the gutter in the morning to get your badges of honour to be a DJ? To be honest, for me it's all about the music and delivering to the crowd, it's not about getting wasted and er, stuff like that. I know a lot of DJs get wasted and rock the crowd and I'm not, you know... For me personally, it's about being professional and going out there and doing my thing... Of course I'm not moody! I mean anyone that knows me, knows I'm taking the piss the whole time...

Tell us your favourite joke then!
Ehm, Paddy's on [Who Wants To Be A] Millionaire. Chris Tarrant’s first question, “Which one of these is a Great Train Robber? Ronnie Corbett; Ronnie Biggs; Ronnie Barker; or Reggie Kray?”
And Paddy says, “I've had a lovely day Chris, but I'll take the 200 pounds".
Chris says, “Come on Paddy you're not that thick are ya?”
And Paddy says, “I might be thick but I'm not a grass!!”.

With your name Digweed and label Bedrock, were you hinting at another career in horticulture?
I mean to be honest, when I was at school I used to have the piss taken out of me cos of my name but when you've got an unusual name people always remember it. I mean if it was John Smith DJing… You know, people remember something unique. I think when you're younger, you kinda soak up piss-taking and stuff like that so now i just give it!

You weren’t tempted to put a “00” or “Bassline” in the middle then?
Nah, i like to let the music do the speaking. It's not about image or trying to portray this like, showboating behind the decks. I want people to dance to what I’m playing, not dance to me dancing, you know! There's two different aspects to DJing and for me it's about playing quality music.

Have you ever thought about getting some dancers in or jazzing up your image?
Do you think it needs jazzing up?! Ha ha! Are you trying to tell me something? I just think that whole aspect is... You know the whole reason people go clubbing is cos they wanna hear good music and if I'm there with a bunch of people dancing behind me, it just looks a bit gay really, doesn't it?! Ha ha! Nothing against gay people! I think my music suits the way I am as a DJ, and that's the most important thing, I'm not trying to be something I'm not, I've been the same for as long as I've been DJing and it's worked for me!

...and that's been a while now. What would you be doing if you couldn't do music?
Well, I'd be in horticulture like you pointed out! Ha ha! [Talking about his film scores] Well we did Stark Raving Mad, which is a movie, then we did the music for Spiderman, for MTV, for the animated series. So we did that but you don't get the buzz of being in front of 25 thousand people when you sit in a studio in Tooting. So it's horses for courses, as much as the film stuff is good and you get the buzz out of creating something, my passion has always been in front of a crowd. I might look stiff as a board when I'm DJing - ha hah hahhhh! - and I haven't got a bunch of people mincing around behind me - ha hah! - you know I am really having a good time!

No retirement plans then?
No, when you're doing what I do on a weekly basis, fuck, you're living the dream!

Where do you feel you fit into the dance scene? Do you feel less restricted by genre cos you’re so big?
I'm not that big am I?! I try to watch what I eat... Ha ha! I think the main thing about what I play is, I just play what I like so it doesn't have to fit into a specific genre. I mean there's a lot of records which crossover into different genres and are being played by different DJs which is good for the scene. Whereas before you'd have, you know, maybe the techno guys playing one style, the trance guys, progressive, house DJs... It's all good, all good.
The fact that this year I've been all around the world, and the club scene is very healthy y'know, downloads are really starting to pick up, people are starting to buy music online, which was always a bit of a worry for people in the industry cos for someone producing music, they wanna make sure they're gonna earn a living from it. And clubs are really starting to be busy. Not starting, but there was a little bit of a dip, probably 18 months ago, when it seemed a little stagnant, but you need those dips to appreciate when it's good. If clubbing was at this constant high you would never realise, it's as good as it is. So you need those points when it's a bit… shit! Also it gives the promoters and the DJs a kick up the arse, cos when things are good people get complacent they think, “Ah, I'll just turn up, it's busy”, or the club owner's like, “I'll just open the doors, I don't need to try so hard”. What it does is creates an element where they have to work hard to earn their money which it should cos people pay their money to come in, it should be good quality.

You’ve got gigs in China and Greece coming up, what are you most looking forward to?
Obviously going to Manchester for the Warehouse [Project] party should be interesting cos of the history with the whole acid house, warehouse scene in Manchester. And I'm doing the opening night at the Boddingtons Brewery [on Friday 6th Oct] so it should be fantastic.

What differences in club culture have you seen while playing around the world?
I think the unique thing about what I do is that you can go to certain countries and even though you can't speak the language, you can communicate with people through music; so with that aspect, you're reaching people by what you do, not by talking with them. I think the most fantastic thing about electronic music is that it reaches people around the world - with the internet now, I can do my radio show and you can have people in Brazil listening to it, Lebanon to Australia, to Russia, China, all on the same night, all getting affected by it and wanting to find out more about that music, so I think globally it's in a healthy place.

How important was it being voted Number One in DJ Mag’s Top 100 DJs poll?
It's kinda one of those things where, it's relevant cos it's nice to be voted for and in the Top 10 - I think I've been in the Top 10 for about 10 years now. So that aspect of it is nice, but I think the real important thing is, that when you go to a club, the clubs are busy and you give people a good time, week in, week out. I think sometimes people read too much into the polls, “He's in this position, he's gotta be this good a DJ”. But how can you say, y'know, “Tiesto's a better DJ than Laurent Garnier”? [Hilarity ensues at the very idea] Ha ha!! Or how can you say Grooverider's better than Richie Hawtin? You know, everyone's different. There's a lot of DJs that are fantastic DJs in their own right, that if it was divided into different genres like techno or progressive or trance, I think it would be more realistic, cos it's all about stadium filling DJs then.

Yeah yeah, enough of being serious, WHO wrote this bit of your press release? “John’s lack of pretense is enveloped in imagination and invention… His sinuous dj’ing and production sound has become its own convincing dance ethic. He is centered to the principles of life, living and friends in such a way that he generates an aura of self-explanatory excitement and enthusiasm. Without heroic pretensions his sets are filled with moodiness and musical mystery but held down with a punchy distinctiveness and earthly rhythm. Always emanating a sense of boundlessness he overlaps dream events that spill into reality with an enormous certainty.” AHEM!
Ah, my mum wrote that! Ha ha! She used to be an English teacher... No, she did!! [Does she come to your gigs much?] Well, she used to carry my records for me, but it got a bit much, all the late nights. She had to get back, you know, we had a lot of sprouts coming in that season and the potatoes, all the horticultural things! Ha ha!

All right, I take the point; you're a very funny man. Did you feel a bit bad about taking that [M People] track off the re-issued version of Renaissance?
[Huge long pause…] I'm hoping your battery's about to run out... Um, it was just one of those things, we just needed to keep it a little bit relevant and there was just a couple of tracks on there which didn't quite... [make the cut]

Did you look back with hindsight and think, “They're rubbish”?
I mixed one of 'em! Ha ha! We only took two off, we just thought if we replace them with something else... And there was another aspect to it, which was people who've got the original one - there was a little bit of an outcry, cos people were like, “I've just paid 300 dollars on ebay for this one!” We just wanted to make it a little bit different, so people with the original ones could be a bit proud, stroking their original copy!

So what are you plugging?
[Totally forgets to mention his Transitions mix CD or any of his Bedrock products]
Vote for me or you'll be subjected to another year of trance!

Sorry John - it's too late to vote now!

John Digweed's official site

Manchester's Warehouse Project

Diggers on MySpace

Bedrock at Heaven