James Zabiela is one our favourite and most respected artists and the awaiting for his gig in Poland seemed endless. Finally he came, played and tore the Sfinks club apart. If this interview was done after his performance, there wouldn’t be much to publish. Even journalists become speechless sometimes...
Thanks go to I&I Records for hooking us up with Jay Z.
Unfortunately we’ll have to make it quick as it’s high time you went behind the decks. It’s all because you overslept! (laughs)
Yeah, I’ve been asleep all the time I’ve been here. Sorry
Lots of travelling or something?
Yeah I’m just all over the place at the moment and I’ve also just finished the CD so I gotta do a lot of press, interviews.
How should we pronounce your name?
You tell me.
We say Zabiela.
Yeah, in England everyone says Zabiela.
Pete Tong says Zabelia. Don’t you mind that?
No. People can call me what they want.
Do you have Slavic roots or something?
A long, long, long way back, I think. Actually I was told there’s a village here called Zabiela.
In Polish Zabiela is what you do when you add cream to a soup. Then it gets white.
That’s not very cool. When I went to Prague they told me that in Czech Zabiela means killer.
That is cool. I wanted to ask about Prague and the Reason residency.
That was ace. For me it was a real learning experience. To play to a different type of crowd. I did that for over a year so I got very fond with the place.
Bastek: I saw you there for the first time three years ago. All I remembered were great technical skills and Depeche Mode tracks.
Wow!
Why did the residency end?
Because they had a big flood that destroyed everything and they lost a lot of money. They had a hard time. But I’ve been back a couple of times. And I played on a big event called The Roxy Festival.
We perfectly remember the flood as we were watching the pictures on their website and seeing how they are coping with it. We were hoping they would make it before New Year’s Eve.
Yeah but it smells there though. (laughs)
What does your dad think about the fuzz around you?
Oh, he’s obviously taking all the credit for it (laughs)
I haven’t seen him in the magazines though.
No, you don’t see my dad. He’s obviously very proud.
Does the record store you worked for has a special plaque or something?
No, no. It’s not even opened. It’s a tanning salon now.
Wow, have you been there since it changed.
No.
Have you ever learned from turntablists?
Yeah, all the time. I find it really fascinating and I try to employ a little bit of that into what I do.
Have you got any favourite artists?
I don’t know. There’s lots of them. Everyone brings something different. I just look at everything.
Would you take your chance in a DMC contest?
Oh no. That’s too stressful. You got 5 minutes to show them what you’ve got. If you screw up - that’s it! You have to wait until next year. Anyway, I don’t think I’m that good to do anything like that. I have a lot of respect for those guys. It’s like going for a job interview. It’s pretty weird. Too much pressure. Have you seen the film „Scratch”?
Yeah we did. Loved it!
Amazing.
Word! It has a special, very real feeling.
Yeah, they’re very passionate about what they do.
I’ve always wondered. Do people complain about your long scratching? What are they doing on the dancefloor when you go crazy for 2 minutes?
Oh, I don’t really go that crazy.
Nooo. 30 second backspins. We’ve heard that!
I don’t know, I just play around. Just have fun.
OK, but do you see what people are doing when you’re “having fun”?
Yeah, yeah. Sometimes
Sometimes (laughs). I’m not complaining but I was always curious about it, ‘cause you mostly play for people from a different (non-scratch) dance culture.
Yes, I know what you mean. I think you just have to introduce it in a different way.
So you don’t want to change you’re music...
No, I’m not gonna start playing hip hop, don’t worry (laughs) The real Jay Z.
One is too many.
Yeah.
Do you often meet envious people? People who think you got way to high in your career?
Sometimes, I guess. Everyone’s entitled to their own opinion and they have their opinion for different reasons. It’s fine.
Has anyone tried to make it harder for you?
No, no. No one ever tried that. In the industry most people have been very nice. I’ve been very lucky.
Have you noticed many imitators? People trying to do exactly what you did to become famous?
Sometimes. But it’s the best form of flattery I guess so I don’t mind. It’s nice to have some sort influence on another DJ.
And are there other DJs that you want to help like Lee Burridge and Sasha helped you?
Yeah, there’s a lot. I have some friends in Southampton, where I grew up. They are my good friends who play great music but they do that only in Southampton.
Dan Goodal...
Yes, he makes music. Dave Robertson – he makes music and DJs. PJ Davy...
Well, in two weeks we’re doing two parties with Dave Robertson.
Oh, I know!
Really?
Yeah, I knew that, he told me. And Jeff Bennett.
Correct!
See? I know. Jeff Bennett is a next release on my label Hearing Aid.
I wanted to ask you about Jeff as I took a glimpse on the tracklisting of your “Alive” album...
Yeah, it’s the last track on CD1.
Did you remix it?
Well, I’ve just done like an edit of it. It’s kind of a strange record. It’s melodic but there’s hardly any beats. It’s almost like an ambient record. The beats come in for a little bit and then they go away. Then the beats come again for a little bit. So I took almost all the beats so it’s even more like an ambient track.
(laughs) I expected you’d do something completely the opposite!
No, it’s almost like a film score music.
Did you know that Jeff is Polish?
I didn’t! I heard that he lived in Norway but then someone said he lives in Sweden.
He’s Polish. He moved to Sweden when he was six. We’re not sure where he lives now though.
I don’t know. Have you heard of Nils Noa?
Yeah, I know him personally. I interviewed him and we spoke about you few times.
Yeah, I played at his night in Norway. We’re pretty good friends. How was it when he played in Poland?
Excellent! For me that was one the best parties last year.
Yeah, he’s good. He gave me a new record I’ll play tonight – Nils Noa & Tronso.
You and Nils have a lot in common. Dirty sounds...
Yes.
On the editing side, you and Phil K are very similar, don’t you think?
Yeah, I guess. We played back to back three weeks ago.
You did?! One of our questions was: “would you play back to back with Phil K?”!
Yeah we did! It was amazing. We played one CD each for 4 thousand people in Juarez in Mexico. It was really good. We’re gonna do something else together I think. I’m going to Melbourne in a few weeks time and I’m gonna stay at his house. It’s a lot of fun to DJ with him.
Do you play tracks that other DJs play?
Yeah sure, if the record is good. It’s nice not to just play the same everyone plays, ‘cause people have already heard that. There’s lots of great music out there that people haven’t heard.
And you’re laughing at trainspotters who are scratching they’re heads.
No, it’s great. But it’s funny when I get e-mails: “what’s the record that goes eek, eek, krkr, boom”? Umm, let me think... (laughs)
I’ve heard that there’s more DJs in England than regular clubbers.
I think it’s a lot better than it was but yeah - there was a while when it was really bad. It was good for me, ‘cause I’m not a massive superstar DJ like Tiesto, Sasha or even Nick Warren and Steve Lawler. I was a lot cheaper and when there was some sort of clubbing recession in England they never played there, ‘cause no one could afford to book them and have enough people. I was flying all around England playing, ‘cause I was cheaper (laughs)
You cheap bastard! (laughs)
Would you perform if it occurred that CDJs are broken and you’re left only with decks?
Yeah I would but I wouldn’t enjoy it as much. Once upon a time I said “I’m never playing a CD”. I used to just play records.
I understand but you are at some stage in your career. That’s your job and you need the best conditions to do it.
Yeah, exactly. To perform to my best ability but I’d play if there was just one turntable.
What?!
Yeah (laughs). You can make feedback loops with the effects unit. If you got a DJM 600 you can move a feedback loop from one channel to another. You can move it there and mix a record back in. So you can do that on one turntable. I’ve done that once.
It is possible... technically. What do you think your career will look like in 5 years? Are you planning to implant another hand or something? What else there is to do.
(laughs) I don’t know. I’ve got this DVJ thing at home which is a lot of fun.
DVD?
Yeah. You can scratch with DVDs and stuff. It’s really cool
(laughs)
It’s pretty mad you know. You can loop up people moving around and make them walk backwards. If you put Blade Runner in you can start scratching with it. Hot cues, hot loops – it works exactly like the CDJ 1000.
Daleks dancing.
Yeah I’ve got scratch samples with robots and stuff.
As for samples. Do you like Vanilla Sky a lot? Which Cruz/Cruise do you prefer? Tom or Penelope?
Oh, Penelope! (laughs)
Phew. And how’s Hearing Aid doing?
Good. Hernan Cattaneo has put “Can It Happen” as number one in his chart - the PJ Davy remix which never came out. So we decided to put an unreleased remix on beatport.com every time we’re doing a release. The next thing is to get a contract with them.
Do you know how many people buy tracks this way?
I guess quite a lot. Outside of iTunes, Beatport is the most popular on the dance music scene.
What about EDM Digital?
They are cool as well but they are mostly progressive, whereas beatport is for all areas of dance music. I like the variety about it. It also has a nice interface.
We’re running out of time so last few words. The “Alive” album. When is it out?
End of July. At the moment we’ve just mastered it. We’re producing it now and the artworks are being done.
I’m really looking forward to it. Was it done the same way as “Sound In Motion” - in one take?
Yeah. All in my room, three CDJs and the effects unit. But I don’t like “Sound In Motion” anymore.
What about “Airdrawndagger”. Do you like it?
I like “Airdrawndagger”. There are couple of tracks there that I really like. Like “Magnetic North”
“Bloodlock”?
Correct.
We feel the same way and we were surprised by the criticism it triggered off.
Maybe a lot of people were expecting something different. Something like “Xpander”. A whole album of big trance records. It was nice he surprised a lot of people.
And what about “Involver”. Have you heard it?
I’ve heard a sampler.
And?
And it’s good. It’s really good.
And do you think the cover is gay?
Yeah. (overwhelming laughter)
James was interviewed by Lucas and Sebastian Napora
~|DmX| (Lithuania) (February 16th, 2005):
James Zabiela u are perfect dj we wan't yuor journey to Lithuania @ global ! :)
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