• Together WMF interviews: John Dahlbäck

  • John Dahlbäck

  • 2011-10-19


  • The first Together Winter Music Festival touches down at Alexandra Palace in London for two nights on Friday November, 25th and Saturday, November 26th. Saturday sees Eric Prydz headline with top names from the house, techno and electro scenes including Vitalic, John Digweed, Pete Tong and Ed Banger’s SebastiAn. Swedish house producer and DJ John Dahlbäck will also be appearing, incorporating pure house through to electro, techno and progressive. We caught up with him to find out what he’s got planned for the Alexandra Palace show.

    Where in the world are you right now and what are you doing?
    Right now I’m in North America on tour. It has been amazing so far!

    Describe you sound in four words.
    Dirty, melodic, bassy, catchy.

    You had a busy summer in Ibiza, playing the Thanks FU!K It’s Friday parties at Sankeys, as well as spinning at Pacha and Space, what was the summer like for you?
    It’s been a beautiful summer. Ibiza was fantastic as always and the festivals have been amazing. But also studio-wise it’s been good. I’ve had some time during the weeks to work on things. Couldn’t be happier.

    Sweden seems to be the new hotbed for skilled producers and DJ’s. Why do you think this is? Meatballs?
    Apart from meatballs, Swedes have music as a subject in school and we get the chance to learn how to play an instrument for free here, so maybe that has something to do with it. Also, Swedes are really focused and many Swedes don’t have regular jobs. We’re very creative people.

    Tell us about your label ‘Mutants’? Any upcoming releases?
    It’s been great so far, just establishing the name now. We’ve got some of my music coming up, since that was the idea from the beginning. But I’ve also signed a couple of newcomers, which I’m really excited about.

    Any advice for people wanted to set up their own label?
    It’s really easy to get out there right now. It’s not like before when you had to pay for distribution. Now you can put that money on marketing instead. Another thing is to keep things original and not just follow the trendy music.

    I just hope things don’t get too commercial. House music can’t lose its underground touch.

    Can you give us three tracks that are currently going down really well in your sets?
    John Dahlbäck – “One Last Ride” (Tommy Trash Remix)
    Swanky Tunes & R3hab – “Sending My Love”
    Albin Myers – “Loud Noises”

    Three things you always take on tour with you?
    My iPad, my computer and a lot of clothes.

    Do you enjoy playing in London?
    I love London! Always been great to me. Plus I have a lot of friends in the city, which is nice for whenever I’m there DJing here.

    Together is all about bringing together different styles of dance music, do you like playing on very diverse line-ups or ones a bit more focused?
    I think it’s nice to have some diverse music if there are different floors. It’s fun to walk around and check everything out.

    What do you think is the future for dance music?
    It’s hard to tell. Things are developing and going back at the same time. I just hope things don’t get too commercial. House music can’t lose its underground touch.

    Finally, a message for your fans coming to see you at the Together Winter Music Festival.
    I’m really exited to play there and I’ll bring it!!

    For more information and tickets go to www.togetherwmf.com.

by Mike Barnard

blog comments powered by Disqus