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.

Sound Revolt: 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)
James Zabiela: Yeah, I’ve been asleep all the time I’ve been here. Sorry

Sound Revolt: Lots of travelling or something?
James Zabiela: 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.

Sound Revolt: How should we pronounce your name?
James Zabiela: You tell me.

Sound Revolt: We say Zabiela.
James Zabiela: Yeah, in England everyone says Zabiela.

Sound Revolt: Pete Tong says Zabelia. Don’t you mind that?
James Zabiela: No. People can call me what they want.

Sound Revolt: Do you have Slavic roots or something?
James Zabiela: A long, long, long way back, I think. Actually I was told there’s a village here called Zabiela.

Sound Revolt: In Polish Zabiela is what you do when you add cream to a soup. Then it gets white.
James Zabiela: That’s not very cool. When I went to Prague they told me that in Czech Zabiela means killer.

Sound Revolt: That is cool. I wanted to ask about Prague and the Reason residency.
James Zabiela: 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.

Sound Revolt: Bastek: I saw you there for the first time three years ago. All I remembered were great technical skills and Depeche Mode tracks.
James Zabiela: Wow!

Sound Revolt: Why did the residency end?
James Zabiela: 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.

Sound Revolt: 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.
James Zabiela: Yeah but it smells there though. (laughs)

Sound Revolt: What does your dad think about the fuzz around you?
James Zabiela: Oh, he’s obviously taking all the credit for it (laughs)

Sound Revolt: I haven’t seen him in the magazines though.
James Zabiela: No, you don’t see my dad. He’s obviously very proud.

Sound Revolt: Does the record store you worked for has a special plaque or something?
James Zabiela: No, no. It’s not even opened. It’s a tanning salon now.

Sound Revolt: Wow, have you been there since it changed.
James Zabiela: No.

Sound Revolt: Have you ever learned from turntablists?
James Zabiela: Yeah, all the time. I find it really fascinating and I try to employ a little bit of that into what I do.

Sound Revolt: Have you got any favourite artists?
James Zabiela: I don’t know. There’s lots of them. Everyone brings something different. I just look at everything.

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