Hey Tim hope you’re well! You’ve picking up massive props with your productions of late, with notable plays from John Digweed and Paul van Dyk.  These are two djs at pretty far ends of the spectrum, so how would you describe the Tim Davison sound?



Ahhh I hate this question! In short I would say 'progressive house' but that has become such a meaningless term and encompasses such a wide range of sounds. Ultimately it is always some derivation of house or techno, with melodic/techy/deep/electro influences. It can range from stripped back techy tracks to more driving peak time sounds. It's interesting to see how the often ridiculous boundaries between genres are being broken down again and DJs are starting to play more diverse sets once again.

I've been incredibly fortunate to get regular support from DJs including Heran Cattaneo, Max Graham, Marco V and Paul van Dyk (no, he doesn't just play trance!) *distant clangs of several names being dropped (with suitable levels of reverb and delay of course)* and they have helped open a lot of doors for me.

How did you first get into production?

What I came to realise a few years ago that there is a certain glass ceiling when DJing in London and that you can only get so far by playing out alone, irrespective of how much hard work, networking and dedication you put in. You soon reach a point where you start to exhaust the venues and promotions you can play at and the jump up to headline the major promotions (particularly in house/trance genres) is insurmountable without producing your own music. In the modern digital world, your tracks can be heard instantly by anyone throughout the world and you can build a large reputation in places you have never visited. For me, Eastern Europe, is a perfect example.

The digital world is, however, a double edged sword. To get a track released is now incredibly easy. If you are struggling to get a track signed you merely start your own label. Seems simple. However, you just need to looks at the weekly e-mails from digital sites to see how many of these labels are springing up every week and therefore there is a lot more rubbish to wade through. To get your music out there and working for you, you really have to get leading DJs to support your work or get your track on the major labels who can afford to give sufficient promotion. Major DJs are also unlikley to listen to complete unknowns as they get sent so many links/CDs etc. As such, while certain aspects are easier, these can be outweighed by the surge in people now producing. The leaps in music technology can peversely now make it harder to get your music heard by the right people. That said, there is still something very satisfying about holding something tangible, like a vinyl record, in your hands that you were responsible for creating. 

You've been playing a lot of overseas gigs lately, is there any particular reason for seeking to play outside the UK?

This year really has taken off in terms of playing overseas and my agency Sedition DJs are doing an incredible job. As a result I'm playing an overseas gig at least every two weeks right now. The whole 'progressive scene' in this country has been disappearing raipdly in this country for some time and there are very opportunities to play at small intimate venues, whule big venues are dominated by the A-list DJs. As such it's very hard to break through as the chasm is so large. That said, people in the UK foretelling the death of dance music forget have to stop being so introspective and look at just how vibrant the dance music scene is outside the UK.

In Eastern Europe, however, the scene is rapidly expanding and the crowds are much more open minded to new sounds. It's a wonderfully emerging and evolviong place right now where you can experiment and introduce new sounds to an increibly energetic, fresh and unjaded audience. At 10pm the club opens, the dancefloor is usually packed and going off by 11pm and they're there right through until the bitter end. They can certainly teach us Brits a few things about how to party I can tell you....

Sounds pretty amazing, is it all fun and games then?

Well it has made me realise just how hard the leading DJs work. All the travelling is incredibly demanding on the body and mind, making a large effort to make new friends at each venue and then having to start all over from scratch again the next night. You often hear of DJs having to take time out from their touring due to becoming seriously ill and I can understand why. You also often don't even get a chance to see the city you visit and one airport and the next hotel room can get to look rather alike. I recently returned from a 5 day, 3 gig tour in Russia involving 6 flights and trying to get track of the time/day wasn't always the easiest! 

What have all these overseas gigs taught you?

The langauage barrier can also make it difficult to be completely spontaneous and convey your true personality when everything has to go through your interpretator. You learn to sleep and eat whenever it is possible and you really have to be as professional as possible when you are flying from gig to gig to make sure you can give your best each time. Don't get me wrong though, it's wonderful and I wouldn't change anything. To get paid to fly round the world to DJ, stay in fantastic hotels, visit new cities, experience different cultures is just fantastic.

That said, the hospitality and warmth that I have experienced is something to behold. The promoters make so much effort on your behalf it's really humbling. I still find giving sigantures and doing TV interviews for local TV and radio stations, including MTV, can be a little embarassing though!

Any funny stories along the way?

At recent gig in Omsk I was playing a 3 hour set and had to visit the toilet during the set. The club was packed and therefore the only really accessible toilet close to the booth was in a room directly behind the booth. What I didn't realise was this was also a strip bar that was part of the clubbing complex. Myself and the promoter therefore proceeded to dash through a door into the strip bar, run across the middle of this room, through the bar past women on poles and people getting lapdances etc and then shortly sprint back through on the way back to the booth. Goodness knows who the patrons in there thought we were!

Quite notably, you've been a Gallery 'Future Hero'. How did this come about?

About 4 years ago, The Gallery ran a competition to find new DJs that could play at their legendary night. My mixtape was selected and my first event was playing at Nick Warren's Future Heroes night in December 2003. Following this I was rebooked to play at Dave Seaman's Future Hero night in August 2003. I have now played there about 15 times or so, the majority in the main room and it has been a fantastic experience that has taught me a huge amount. Whatever you think about The Gallery and the Turnmills venue you will simply not find such consistently high standards of DJ line-up in theis country every single week in the house and trance genres. Really looking forward to playing there again in June with Hernan Cattaneo. 

What do you like to do when you're not djing/producing? 

Well I'm actually a corporate lawyer during the week so between that, my music and my girlfriend there is simply no time for anything else......being able to organise your time is paramount and unless you really love what you are doing it would never be possible. I am fortunate that my law firm and girlfriend are very understanding regarding all the time that has to be taken off to accomodate all the travelling overseas. I find that my clubbing and partying days have been significantly reduced as a result but I love to catch up with friends whenever possible and sink tequilas like civilised people....errrr. Oh top hint learnt in Russia - try downing tequila with cinnmaon rather than salt.....you will never look back.

You're headlining 'The Terrace' at Hidden. Have you played at Hidden before? What are your thoughts on the venue?

Yes, but only a couple times of late. As my friends will attest, to see me south of the river is a rare experience so make the most of it! I have visited it more as a clubber and it has a great intimate feel with excellent sound system. Have also heard excellent reports from DJ friends who have played there recently. Will be an excellent opportunity to showcase new tracks I've recently finished and great to play back in this country.

What does the rest of 2007 hold for you, any exciting plans?

I have a large number of releases scheduled for 2007 including remixes forthcoming from Jody Wisternoff (Way out West) now he's back from his honeymoon and Max Graham so hopefully I can continue the momentum I've developed. I am hugely ambitious and always want more so who knows.

Gig wise I have plenty more dates and festivals in the pipeline across Europe, Asia, North America and South America so no let up. (Naturally disappointed not to land any gigs in Antartica yet....but the year is but young).



If you weren't involved in dance music, what would you do?

Right now, I would love to become a professional sleeper......can that be arranged? Failing that, a professional scarf wearer/sunglasses wearing Shoreditch twat.

www.timdavison.net

www.myspace.com/djtimdavison

www.seditiondjs.com 

Link to mix can be found here:

http://www.yousendit.com/

"Really into Tim´s stuff. All his tracks work really well”

Hernan Cattaneo 



"Been totally into your stuff lately, looking forward to remixing the parts for waking strangers and lost children, keep up the solid production"

Max Graham



"Tim Davison is one of my favorite producers of the moment. Crisp and clear productions with great basselines. Love his work!”

Marco V