November 11th is a Polish Independence Day and this year we’re celebrating it in a very special way. John Digweed finally comes to play in Poland and here are few words from the man himself.

Sound Revolt: Whose idea was to re-release the Renaissance Mix Collection? What was your and Sasha’s first reaction on it?
John Digweed: It was the idea of the founder Geoff Oakes. Sasha and myself felt with the demand and following of this album we should re release it again as original copies were selling for £200 plus on e bay.

Sound Revolt: What’s the story behind your set from Beirut? There are opinions that it didn’t leak out accidentally. It’s one of the best mixes this year and it could help a lot in the “DJ Mag’s” poll.
John Digweed: It upsets me when I get recorded at clubs when permission has not been given especially when I used a lot unreleased stuff in my set. It shows a lack of respect from the promoters. At the end of the day a good mix is a good mix but I would like to decide which mixes are released.

Sound Revolt: Who encouraged you to liven up your site? Who’s doing all the text on it?
John Digweed: It was my idea to revamp www.johndigweed.com and keep the site updated and up to speed on news, releases and new events regularly plus all my Kiss radio Shows to keep people interested.

Sound Revolt: I absolutely love “Stoppage Time” but there’s one thing that is constantly on my mind. Guy Gerber’s piece is very similar to “Knights of The Jaguar” by The Aztec Mystic. Where do you think is the line between being similar and being plagiarism? Do you hear a lot of plagiarism on the electronic scene? And when you hear it – do you still play it, ‘cause it works good on the dance floor?
John Digweed: You can hear some influences from Guys record however it works when you see the reactions on the dance floor. Music in general has always revolved around people using someone’s idea not just dance music. Basically when you see the crowd reaction it’s up to them to decide if it’s a good track or not.

Sound Revolt: There’s a lot of discussion going on around Soulseek and other p2p programs. Producers complain that people steal their music but loads of them are using unlicensed audio software for producing their tracks. What do you think about this hypocrisy? Do you always make sure that Bedrock Records stuff was made on legal programs?
John Digweed: Nick and myself buy our own software as we feel it’s important to keep the development process moving forward. With file sharing I am more than happy for tracks to be shared on the internet as long a permission has been given by the owners. When it is not that is when I think it is wrong – producers / labels need to sell records to make a living.

Sound Revolt: Why do you release your compilation on Fabric? What can we expect from it?
John Digweed: Fabric is one of the best clubs in the world and this CD reflects just a small part of one of my sets when I play there. I am really happy with it and the reaction has been great so far.

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