RS: Do you work out of a home studio?
Darren: When I am not working at the In-house Studio at Turnmills which is where the Gallery is located I tend to work from home studios. But considering the development of Logic and Apple Macs it is quite to work from this kind of set up.
RS: Are you mac/pc? Logic/protools/cubase?
Darren: I have worked on all these sytems on various productions, but I would have to say Macs and Logic as this is what I most familiar with.
RS: What's your favorite keyboard? Other piece of gear?
Darren: The Virus or the supernova are excellent pieces of kit!!!
RS: What was it like working with the Disco Brothers in the studio?
Darren: It was an experince, these guys are very talented and it was something that had been planned for ages. They are good mates of mine also so it was pretty easier working with these two.
RS: How does being signed to a label like Duty Free affect your musical style?
Darren: I am very fortunate to be surrounded by great talent at the label especially Tall Paul who has been a massive influence on my productions. I think that with some many styles being represented at the label that I get to sample the best sounds from House/Progressive and Trance which can only be a good thing.
RS: How essential do you think production is to your DJ career?
Darren: These days production is essential for a successful DJing career. I have been out of the studio for 6 months and it has been great to get back in and start working on productions again. To be honest, the first thing promoters these days want to know are what productions do DJs have to their credit unless they are especially lucky, so I do think that the two come hand in hand.
RS: Playing on a cruise ship, that sounds massive. How do you keep your records from skipping?
Darren: Well it should be quite an interesting experience. I have played on a number of small boat parties on the Thames in London believe it or not and you cannot belive how many times the needle jumps, etc. You just have to laugh and get on with it, although this cruise ship sounds slightly more substantial and hopefullly there won't be too many problems. Email me after next week and I will give you the low down on how it went!!!
RS: What kind of a cruise is it - specialized for clubbers?
Darren: I think that it is a large cruiser which has been converted for the party especially, although the promoters have an excellent reputation for these events. And considering the line up which includes Tall Paul and Armin Van Buuren it sounds like the clubbers know exactly what to expect!!
RS: Your monthly residency at Turnmills - what are your biggest records?
Darren: I think the biggest tracks for me at the moment are Sensorica "Few Days Away" (John Askews remix) which is on Kompressed Recordings, our new sister label at Duty Free Recordings, and Gavyn Mytchel's "Forbidden" (Smith & Pledger Remix) on Intensive Recordings. Although this is also part of Duty Free these two tracks typify the Gallery vibe hence us signing them for the label.
RS: How long have you been there?
Darren: I will have been lucky enough to been playing at The Gallery for over 9 years now.The club is part of the Tall Paul Newman establishment and this is how I first came to know the tall man himself. They were looking for new DJs to play when they first opened the night over 9 years ago, and I was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time. a I have witnessed some of the best clubbing experiences that I will ever witness in my DJing career.
RS: What exactly is "robotic magic dust"?
Darren: Don't tell me you haven't heard this saying before!! It's produced when things go particularly well in the studio!!
RS: How would you define your musical style?
Darren: Hopefully crowd pleasing, blending mixture of different styles!!!
RS: Who are your favorite DJs to go out and listen to / dance to? Who are your inspirations?
Darren: My favourite DJs would have to be Fatboy Slim,Chemical Brothers, Tall Paul and John Askew.
RS: What's the first record you ever bought?
Darren: Run DMC's " Walk this way"!!
RS: On a typical night - how much do you play vinyl vs CD?
Darren: I try and play as much vinyl as possible but with some much new material being sent on CDR it's difficult to ignore but I reckon it's a 75%-25% split in favour of vinyl!!!
RS: What's your take on the MP3 DJing craze?
Darren: I think that it works for some DJs and as the technology improves it will no doubt grow further but it's not for me.
RS: How about mashups?
Darren: Bring them on!!!
RS: Do you have a mixed CD in the works?
Darren: I will have the facility where people will be able to check out my mixes on my website in the next couple of weeks, so check it out on www.darrenchristian.com
