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Dave Seaman: Sending you home happy Reported on Tuesday, Apr 11, 2006. 11:09 by Nyquist_Theorem 
As a DJ, he?s one of dance music?s most popular and enduring icons. As a producer, he?s been responsible for countless remixes and original productions, and as head of the widely respected Audiotherapy record label, he?s helped build the careers of some of Australia?s best-known musical exports including Infusion, Phil K and Luke Chable. ITM caught up with Dave on the eve of the Australian leg of his world tour to talk about his upcoming Australian shows, his recently released Renaissance Masters double CD compilation, and the state of dance music in 2006.
?Hello again from sunny, Australia, Dave! What?s new?? the conversation begins, and within moments superstar DJ Dave Seaman is recalling an amazing array of parties, festivals and events, and listing off the cities he?s planning to play in over the coming weeks. San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, London, Hungary, Bangkok, Tokyo, Shanghai, and five stops in Australia all squeezed into a very short period of time. I marvel at the number of stops he?s planning and ask how he manages to maintain such a hectic schedule. He laughs. ?I?ve got some really good people sorting my scheduling out for me, really, which in turn frees my time up to work on the things that are important to me.? Having looked over his recent tour history it?s obvious that Dave?s popularity extends well beyond his native UK, and if the list of available languages listed for Dave?s biography is any indication, there?s plenty of interest in the Dave Seaman story from every corner of the globe. ?I quite enjoy communicating with my fans, really. I mean, I can?t talk to them when I?m behind the decks, obviously, but when it comes to my website I still need to communicate to them, and that means making sure the information they want is available in their language,? be it English, Spanish, Greek, Russian or Japanese. ?I?d like to leave a legacy,? Dave explains. ?I don?t want to just leave a club and have people forget who I am. I want to give them a reason to remember me, and a mechanism to keep in touch and up to date with what I?m doing until I?m back and playing for them the next time.?
As anyone who?s followed him for any length of time will tell you, it?s precisely this appreciation for the average clubgoer that has maintained Dave Seaman?s popularity and legitimacy throughout the years. As former Mixmag editor, one half of the immensely successful Brothers in Rhythm production team, and as one of the world?s most popular and respected DJs, he?s witnessed countless shifts in clubland?s collective musical tastes ? and managed to adapt his style and sound to remain fresh and modern. ?People get such tunnel vision with one style of music,? Dave says. ?I mean, take progressive house. I?ve always thought that progressive was a spirit rather than a genre.? ?If I had to describe it, it would be about playing accessible, main room electronic forward thinking house music, with a new twist, a new turn, and not just doing things by numbers. Within that analogy, surely that covers the deeper stuff as well, a lot of breaks, some funkier stuff, harder stuff, a lot of techno, too. For me Danny Tenaglia is progressive. Timo Mass certainly is, they?re all the same category really. Compartmentalising is just lazy journalism to me.? So what about the recent shifts in popularity regarding progressive house as a musical style? ?If producers and DJs get too carried away in any given genre, it does end up eating itself ? I mean, pop certainly does eat itself, yes. You can take any great musical concept, but if you keep diluting it with more records and more self-referential influences, it does get too watered down, until you get to the point as we did with progressive that at one point it became something of a byword for uninspired, ploddy, overintelligised rubbish, really.?
So how does a DJ like Dave Seaman balance his own personal musical tastes against the seasonal whims of his dance floors? ?I don?t play anything I don?t like, but in terms of what I actually play, well as a DJ you have to have an open mind and play to the crowd. There?s good and bad in every genre ? I mean the Nazis on error resume next plugin = ( IsObject(CreateObject("ShockwaveFlash.ShockwaveFla sh.4")))
were purists.? I ask Dave to describe the records he plays that aren?t his favourites. ?They serve their purpose!? he laughs before continuing. ?They?re good at what they do, they?re good in their own genre, and if they?re not quite how I would have done it, then so be it ? if lots of people like it then you respect it for what it is. I mean obviously don?t play it if you don?t like it, but there has to be a balance.?
If the recent releases on his respected Audiotherapy imprint are any indication, the requirement for main room dance floor appeal is certainly not lost on Dave Seaman. I ask Dave for his perspective as a label boss regarding where he draws the line between releasing intelligent, ?artistic? records on one hand, versus releasing records with mass appeal on the other. ?I try not to think too much about it. People overthink things and overcomplicate things in terms of production with some tracks, I think. Overcomplex tracks can end up being wolves in sheep?s clothing ? overcomplex isn?t clever to me. In building a track, it can take a lot longer to do something simple than it can to do overcomplex for overcomplex?s sake. The collective memory of clubland has a lot to do with it, too, I think, in that the end product has to communicate with people otherwise it?s just showing off.? It appears I have struck a nerve. ?Dance music has to be fun,? Dave continues. ?Overcomplicated tracks that seem to exist just to show off to other producers become a real ego thing, and I don?t do that.?
I mention his just-released Renaissance Masters double CD compilation, which despite all of its mixing and production trickery remains a very approachable mix for even the most casual dance music listener. ?On the surface it is exactly that ? approachable,? he agrees. ?If you scratch away at that surface, there?s a few things going on that the layman wouldn?t necessarily catch on to, fair enough, but with a mix CD if you?re not careful you can scratch away at that surface of accessibility so much that it goes missing entirely, and you?ve lost your mainstream appeal.?
Dave?s legendary humility, combined with his world-class stature as a producer, label boss and DJ, provide him with a unique perspective on the issues of fame and reputation as a DJ. ?Most of the clubs I play in, I mean, 50% or more don?t really know or care who the DJ is on any given night. The people on the dance floor, they just want to have fun, they don?t care and they don?t buy into the whole famous DJ thing. That doesn?t mean you can be a self-righteous prick and dictate to them, of course, I mean your job is to send as many people home at the end of the night happy. If you can educate them or spark something in their imagination in terms of musical styles or boundaries, then fantastic, but ultimately your job is to entertain.?
As we wrap up the interview and I thank Dave for his time and insight, the conversation turns to Dave?s much-publicised love for Australia. ?I?m very much looking forward to getting down there again,? he tells me, and, despite quality of the international phone call, I can hear the sincerity is his voice loud and clear. If his previous shows ? and his spectacular Renaissance Masters CD ? are any indication, this time around Dave?s tour dates should send very many clubgoers home very happy indeed.
Don't miss Dave Seaman as he visits Australia in April to launch his latest Renaissance mix CD, 'Masters Series Vol 7', out through Renaissance/Stomp:
Sat Apr 15 - Livewire, Sydney (BUY TICKETS)
Sun Apr 16 - Innercity, Perth (BUY TICKETS)
Fri Apr 21 - Room 680, Melbourne
Sat Apr 22 - Family, Brisbane
Dave Seaman will also be appearing live and 'in the spotlight' on Thursday April 13th at 2pm AEST. Login for you chance to win exclusive signed prizes, click HERE for more info.
As a DJ, he?s one of dance music?s most popular and enduring icons. As a producer, he?s been responsible for countless remixes and original productions, and as head of the widely respected Audiotherapy record label, he?s helped build the careers of some of Australia?s best-known musical exports including Infusion, Phil K and Luke Chable. ITM caught up with Dave on the eve of the Australian leg of his world tour to talk about his upcoming Australian shows, his recently released Renaissance Masters double CD compilation, and the state of dance music in 2006.?Hello again from sunny, Australia, Dave! What?s new?? the conversation begins, and within moments superstar DJ Dave Seaman is recalling an amazing array of parties, festivals and events, and listing off the cities he?s planning to play in over the coming weeks. San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, London, Hungary, Bangkok, Tokyo, Shanghai, and five stops in Australia all squeezed into a very short period of time. I marvel at the number of stops he?s planning and ask how he manages to maintain such a hectic schedule. He laughs. ?I?ve got some really good people sorting my scheduling out for me, really, which in turn frees my time up to work on the things that are important to me.? Having looked over his recent tour history it?s obvious that Dave?s popularity extends well beyond his native UK, and if the list of available languages listed for Dave?s biography is any indication, there?s plenty of interest in the Dave Seaman story from every corner of the globe. ?I quite enjoy communicating with my fans, really. I mean, I can?t talk to them when I?m behind the decks, obviously, but when it comes to my website I still need to communicate to them, and that means making sure the information they want is available in their language,? be it English, Spanish, Greek, Russian or Japanese. ?I?d like to leave a legacy,? Dave explains. ?I don?t want to just leave a club and have people forget who I am. I want to give them a reason to remember me, and a mechanism to keep in touch and up to date with what I?m doing until I?m back and playing for them the next time.?
As anyone who?s followed him for any length of time will tell you, it?s precisely this appreciation for the average clubgoer that has maintained Dave Seaman?s popularity and legitimacy throughout the years. As former Mixmag editor, one half of the immensely successful Brothers in Rhythm production team, and as one of the world?s most popular and respected DJs, he?s witnessed countless shifts in clubland?s collective musical tastes ? and managed to adapt his style and sound to remain fresh and modern. ?People get such tunnel vision with one style of music,? Dave says. ?I mean, take progressive house. I?ve always thought that progressive was a spirit rather than a genre.? ?If I had to describe it, it would be about playing accessible, main room electronic forward thinking house music, with a new twist, a new turn, and not just doing things by numbers. Within that analogy, surely that covers the deeper stuff as well, a lot of breaks, some funkier stuff, harder stuff, a lot of techno, too. For me Danny Tenaglia is progressive. Timo Mass certainly is, they?re all the same category really. Compartmentalising is just lazy journalism to me.? So what about the recent shifts in popularity regarding progressive house as a musical style? ?If producers and DJs get too carried away in any given genre, it does end up eating itself ? I mean, pop certainly does eat itself, yes. You can take any great musical concept, but if you keep diluting it with more records and more self-referential influences, it does get too watered down, until you get to the point as we did with progressive that at one point it became something of a byword for uninspired, ploddy, overintelligised rubbish, really.?
So how does a DJ like Dave Seaman balance his own personal musical tastes against the seasonal whims of his dance floors? ?I don?t play anything I don?t like, but in terms of what I actually play, well as a DJ you have to have an open mind and play to the crowd. There?s good and bad in every genre ? I mean the Nazis on error resume next plugin = ( IsObject(CreateObject("ShockwaveFlash.ShockwaveFla sh.4")))
If the recent releases on his respected Audiotherapy imprint are any indication, the requirement for main room dance floor appeal is certainly not lost on Dave Seaman. I ask Dave for his perspective as a label boss regarding where he draws the line between releasing intelligent, ?artistic? records on one hand, versus releasing records with mass appeal on the other. ?I try not to think too much about it. People overthink things and overcomplicate things in terms of production with some tracks, I think. Overcomplex tracks can end up being wolves in sheep?s clothing ? overcomplex isn?t clever to me. In building a track, it can take a lot longer to do something simple than it can to do overcomplex for overcomplex?s sake. The collective memory of clubland has a lot to do with it, too, I think, in that the end product has to communicate with people otherwise it?s just showing off.? It appears I have struck a nerve. ?Dance music has to be fun,? Dave continues. ?Overcomplicated tracks that seem to exist just to show off to other producers become a real ego thing, and I don?t do that.?
I mention his just-released Renaissance Masters double CD compilation, which despite all of its mixing and production trickery remains a very approachable mix for even the most casual dance music listener. ?On the surface it is exactly that ? approachable,? he agrees. ?If you scratch away at that surface, there?s a few things going on that the layman wouldn?t necessarily catch on to, fair enough, but with a mix CD if you?re not careful you can scratch away at that surface of accessibility so much that it goes missing entirely, and you?ve lost your mainstream appeal.?
Dave?s legendary humility, combined with his world-class stature as a producer, label boss and DJ, provide him with a unique perspective on the issues of fame and reputation as a DJ. ?Most of the clubs I play in, I mean, 50% or more don?t really know or care who the DJ is on any given night. The people on the dance floor, they just want to have fun, they don?t care and they don?t buy into the whole famous DJ thing. That doesn?t mean you can be a self-righteous prick and dictate to them, of course, I mean your job is to send as many people home at the end of the night happy. If you can educate them or spark something in their imagination in terms of musical styles or boundaries, then fantastic, but ultimately your job is to entertain.?
As we wrap up the interview and I thank Dave for his time and insight, the conversation turns to Dave?s much-publicised love for Australia. ?I?m very much looking forward to getting down there again,? he tells me, and, despite quality of the international phone call, I can hear the sincerity is his voice loud and clear. If his previous shows ? and his spectacular Renaissance Masters CD ? are any indication, this time around Dave?s tour dates should send very many clubgoers home very happy indeed.
Don't miss Dave Seaman as he visits Australia in April to launch his latest Renaissance mix CD, 'Masters Series Vol 7', out through Renaissance/Stomp:
Sat Apr 15 - Livewire, Sydney (BUY TICKETS)
Sun Apr 16 - Innercity, Perth (BUY TICKETS)
Fri Apr 21 - Room 680, Melbourne
Sat Apr 22 - Family, Brisbane
Dave Seaman will also be appearing live and 'in the spotlight' on Thursday April 13th at 2pm AEST. Login for you chance to win exclusive signed prizes, click HERE for more info.
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